• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 15

  April 14, 2025 Doug Bidwell

  There are so many announcements, and one of the big ones is ACS 1.1.9.8! We downloaded the new ACS and we have used this for a day, and so far there are no known issues at this time. We suggest treading lightly with this tool until after general availability on April 18. But it is looking good so far, though!

  There is also a new security vulnerability, which is Security Bulletin: IBM i is vulnerable to an out-of-bounds write in NTP services due to multiple vulnerabilities. More information available at this link. The issue can be addressed by applying …

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• Steve Will Lifts the Curtain On “Major IBM i Announcement,” But Just A Smidge

  March 3, 2025 Alex Woodie

  If you haven’t heard yet, here it is: IBM is planning to make a major IBM i announcement soon. IBM i chief architect Steve Will said as much during his recent IBM i Guided Tour. While Will shared a general outline of what IBM has in mind for the major announcement, specifics still are few and far between.

  Will, who also holds the titles of IBM i CTO and IBM distinguished engineer, teased the IBM i community with his one-hour February 12 presentation, which is titled IBM i in 2025 – A Strategic Preview. You can access a recording …

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• ACS Password Leaks Are A Security Issue On IBM i

  February 17, 2025 Alex Woodie

  IBM i shops that are relying on the old WINLOGON process with their Access Client Solutions (ACS) installations will need to find a new way to synchronize passwords between Windows clients and IBM i servers. According to a new report from Silent Signal, the passwords could still be compromised.

  In early January, Big Blue published an IBM Support document about problems that IBM i shops were having after they applied the Windows 11 24H2 update, which Microsoft had started rolling out in October 2024. IBM i customers who used the ACS Windows Application Package told IBM they were no longer …

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• Guru: Creating An RPG Stored Procedure With Parameters

  January 20, 2025 Mike Larsen

  There are times we need to build processes that will be used across different platforms. An example is a pricing routine. When a system needs to get pricing, we need to make sure the price the customer pays is the same regardless of how the order was created in our system.

  One way to create this functionality is using web services. Another way we can provide this functionality is through stored procedures. This series of tips will focus on different ways we can build stored procedures on IBM i.

  For the first part, I created an RPG program (Figure 1) …

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• What’s New on PHP? Seiden Delivers the Goods

  October 23, 2024 Alex Woodie

  PHP has been around so long on the IBM i server that it’s practically a legacy technology at this point (not that that’s a bad thing). But if you haven’t looked at PHP lately, you might be surprised at what’s going on with the newer releases. PHP guru Alan Seiden recently brought us up to speed with the Web development language with a webinar sponsored by TUG.

  Seiden has been involved with PHP on IBM i for about 20 years. He was playing around with the open source language even before IBM and Zend worked together to bring the first …

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• Surprise! It’s 2024 Fall TR Time for IBM i

  October 9, 2024 Alex Woodie

  IBM announced the Technology Refreshes (TRs) for IBM i version 7.5 and 7.4 yesterday, bringing a host of new capabilities to the proprietary operating system. As expected, the surprise update covers a range of IBM i facilities, including Db2, Navigator, ACS, PowerHA, and the development tools.

  Navigator gets several more enhancements with the new TRs, including: a new dashboard with software licensing information; Web-based administration of network facilities; support for monitoring of Java 11 and Java 17 jobs; enhancements to the Performance Data Investigator (PDI); and new options for working with audit journals, among other capabilities.

  IBM also includes the …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 26, Number 38

  October 7, 2024 Doug Bidwell

  There is a hodge podge of stuff that you need to deal with this week when it comes to patching your IBM i system.

  First, there is a security vulnerability. Read all about it in Security Bulletin: Vulnerability in Node.js affects IBM Rational Developer for i RPG and COBOL + Modernization Tools, Java Edition (CVE-2024-36138), which you can find out more about at this link. The issue can be fixed by loading an interim fix. IBM strongly recommends addressing the vulnerability now by upgrading to Node.js 18.20.4. Please follow Upgrading the Node.js that is used by Cordova or NodeRed …

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• IBM Bolsters Run SQL Scripts In ACS 1.1.9.6

  August 12, 2024 Alex Woodie

  IBM last week shipped a new release of Access Client Solutions (ACS) that contains several user-requested updates for Run SQL Scripts (RSS), the popular tool that allows users to execute SQL statements. ACS 1.1.9.6 also brings enhancements to the data transfer, IFS, and 5250 emulator components of ACS, among others.

  ACS, of course, is the universal Java-based utility that IBM unveiled 12 years ago to replace Client Access. It’s a must-have tool for any IBM i user, as it contains a slew of facilities for interacting with the system, including RSS, data transfer, IFS file viewing, spool file management, 5250 …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 26, Number 31

  August 12, 2024 Doug Bidwell

  As we report elsewhere in this issue, the big news this week in IBM Software Land is a new release of Access Client Solutions, which is rolled out as a PTF update for the currently supported releases of the IBM i operating system. Our story is here, and the release notes are there.

  We did not see any new security vulnerabilities, which is always good news.

  Here is the rundown of PTF Groups by IBM i release level since we last published:

  PTF Groups 7.5:

  • IBM i Access Client Solutions V1.1.9.6
  • SAP Support Required PTF List for IBM

  …

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• Spring 2024 IBM i Technology Refresh Unveiled by IBM

  May 8, 2024 Alex Woodie

  IBM today took the wraps off the latest Technology Refresh for the IBM i platform. When IBM i 7.5 TR4 and 7.4 TR10 ship on June 14, customers will find enhancements such as Merlin version 2, new features in Navigator and ACS, security improvements, a couple of RPG enhancements, HA and DR enhancements, and a host of new SQL-based database services, among other capabilities.

  In addition to new features, which we’ll get to in a second, the launch of IBM i 7.5 TR4 and 7.4 TR10 is important for an unexpected reason: It will mark the beginning of IBM’s transition …

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