• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 22, Number 47

  November 23, 2020 Doug Bidwell

  As we report elsewhere in this issue of The Four Hundred, there is a new security bulletin that has been issued relating to a speculative execution vulnerability that affects Power9 systems running the Virtual I/O Server in general and AIX 7.1 and AIX 7.2 in particular. As such, it indirectly affects all four IBM i releases, from 7.1 through 7.4. See Security Bulletin: Vulnerability CVE-2020-4788 at this link.

  The patches to deal with this vulnerability are as follows:

  • IBM i 7.4: MF68089 and MF68090
  • IBM i 7.3: MF68094 and MF68095
  • IBM i 7.2: MF68096 and MF68097
  • IBM i

  …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 22, Number 46

  November 18, 2020 Doug Bidwell

  First, thank you to Kent Stoner for catching the error in the IBM i 7.3 Defective PTF. It should have been SI73926 – it has been corrected below. There are new Cumes for IBM i 7.2, IBM i 7.3, and IBM i 7.4, and we made it through Friday the 13^th and the new Technology Refreshes for IBM i 7.3 and IBM i 7.4 were indeed available. Also, a reminder that there is a new version of Access Client Solutions that is due in the first week of December, and finally, there are no new defective PTFs this week. …

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• Guru: RDi V9.6, Part 10 – Debugger Enhancements

  November 16, 2020 Susan Gantner

  Here I go again – more enhancements to talk about that have come about in RDi V9.6. This time, it’s the debugger that has been enhanced. The 9.6.0.7 fix pack included some new goodies for the debugger.

  Both of the enhanced features were popular Requests for Enhancement (RFEs) — the ability to display very large variable values and the addition of a condition to Service Entry Points (SEPs). These are further proof that the RFE process works. If you haven’t visited the RFE site to vote for your favorite suggested features for RDi, do it now. . . or maybe …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 22, Number 45

  November 11, 2020 Doug Bidwell

  There is not a lot of action on the PTF front this week, but we once again want to remind you that the new Technology Refreshes for IBM i 7.3 and IBM i 7.4 are going to be available on Friday the 13th, and so will the Tech Refresh resaves related to them. Also, there is a new version of Access Client Solutions that is due in the first week of December.

  Here is the rundown of PTF Groups by IBM i release level:

  PTF Groups 7.4:

  • HIPERs
  • Temporary Storage

  PTF Groups 7.3:

  • HIPERs

  PTF Groups 7.2:

  • HIPERs

  PTF Groups …

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• Guru: Manage PTFs With The Administration Runtime Expert

  November 9, 2020 Dawn May

  This fourth article in my series on using the Administration Runtime Expert (ARE) reviews how ARE is used to manage PTFs. This article assumes you have already learned the basics of how to use ARE from the prior articles.

  PTF management with ARE features these key functions:

  • Check your installed group PTF levels compared to the latest levels available from IBM
  • Verify consistent PTF levels installed across multiple partitions
  • Distribute PTF images to endpoint systems
  • Optionally load and apply PTFs

  The ARE Template Editor provides the interface to define your templates for PTF management.

  

  Start by determining what type of …

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• Additions To The Db2 Web Query Family

  November 9, 2020 Alex Woodie

  Change is in the air for Db2 Web Query, the primary business intelligence tool for IBM i environments from Big Blue. Earlier this year, IBM launched two new versions of the product, and this fall, IBM delivered version 2.3 of the product. Finally, there’s been a change of ownership of the third-party company behind the software.

  Let’s start with the change in ownership. Last month, TIBCO Software announced its intent to acquire Information Builders, the privately held New York City business intelligence software company that Gerald Cohen founded way back in 1975. IBI’s primary product is WebFOCUS, which forms …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 22, Number 44

  November 4, 2020 Doug Bidwell

  You may or may not be aware of this news so it is worth sharing: there is a new version of Access Client Services that is due in the first week of December this year. And, a final reminder that the new Technology Refreshes for IBM i 7.3 and IBM i 7.4 are going to be available on November 13, and so will the Tech Refresh Resaves related to them.

  Here is the rundown of PTF Groups by IBM i release level:

  PTF Groups 7.4:

  • QMGTOOLS

  PTF Groups 7.3:

  • QMGTOOLS

  PTF Groups 7.2:

  • QMGTOOLS

  PTF Groups 7.1:

  • Nothing here.

  New …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 22, Number 43

  October 28, 2020 Doug Bidwell

  Let’s start this edition of the IBM i PTF Guide with a few reminders. First, the new Technology Refreshes for IBM i 7.3 and IBM i 7.4 are going to be available on November 13, and so will the Tech Refresh Resaves related to them. Next, the IBM Systems TechU – The Virtual Edition takes place from October 26 through 29. You can find out more at this link.

  Next, there is a new Security Bulletin: BIND for IBM i is affected by CVE-2020-8622 and CVE-2020-8624, which is available at this link. The IBM i PTF numbers are: …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 22, Number 42

  October 21, 2020 Doug Bidwell

  All is quiet on the Western and Eastern fronts as we await the delivery of the Technology Refreshes for IBM i 7.3 and IBM i 7.4 on November 13. The Tech Refresh Resaves will also be available at that time. Other than some nips and tucks in the IBM i PTF Guide, there is not a lot to report, but we do this every week to keep you up to date. From a system administrator point of view, knowing when nothing big is going on is almost as useful as knowing when there is a lot going on.

  To …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 22, Number 41

  October 14, 2020 Doug Bidwell

  As we have been reporting since October 6, there are new Technology Refreshes that have been launched, and we have come to find out that the Technology Refresh Resaves, which are an important part of the distribution of IBM i code, will be available on November 13.

  Here is the PTF rundown by release:

  PTF Groups 7.4:

  • HIPERs (High Impact/Pervasive)
  • Security
  • Performance Tools

  PTF Groups 7.3:

  • HIPERs (High Impact/Pervasive)
  • Security
  • Performance Tools

  PTF Groups 7.2:

  • HIPERs (High Impact/Pervasive)
  • Security

  PTF Groups 7.1

  • There is occasionally stuff here, thanks to extended support. But not this week, again.

  New (or updated) links …

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