• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 21, Numbers 51 And 52

  January 6, 2020 Doug Bidwell

  The PTFs keep rolling even through the holidays, so this is our time to get caught up with the last two weeks of patches in 2019 as the new year is beginning.

  In PTF Number 51, we dug a little deeper into the issue we found out about just as The Four Hundred was going on hiatus where LPARs are hanging on machines that have the latest Technology Refreshes applied to IBM i 7.3 and IBM i 7.4 in cases where the Hardware Management Console (HMC) is not managing the partitions.

  The details of the issue with the Technology Refreshes …

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• Cloud Walkers Makes LPARs More Native On IBM i

  December 16, 2019 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  There are a few different technologies that have been grafted onto the OS/400 and IBM i platform from the outside that are just architected differently from and run somewhat counter to the integrated nature of that platform, and all of them are involved, in one way or another, with managing logical partitions on the Power Systems platform and all of them make IBM i shops cranky.

  They are, in no certain order: the PowerVM hypervisor, the Hardware Management Console (HMC), the Virtual I/O Server (VIOS), the PowerVC variant of OpenStack that is native to Power Systems, and external disk arrays, …

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• Important: Some LPARs Hang With New TRs – IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 21, Number 50

  December 16, 2019 Doug Bidwell

  Listen up, folks. This one is serious. A few weeks ago, there were some bad patches on the Db2 for i database for IBM i 7.3, as we detailed here, and as last week was coming to a close, we found out that LPARs are hanging on machines that have the latest Technology Refreshes applied to IBM i 7.3 and IBM i 7.4 in cases where the Hardware Management Console (HMC) is not managing the partitions.

  The details of the issue with the Technology Refreshes are outlined in APAR MA48101, which is essentially a bug report that warns …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 21, Number 49

  December 11, 2019 Doug Bidwell

  After last week’s database action with IBM i 7.3, you could use a breather. And there is not a lot going on this week, thankfully. First, there is a new Redbook called “IBM Db2 Mirror for i Getting Started,” which you can check out at this link.

  There are new Temporary Storage fixes for IBM i 7.4, 7.3, and 7.2 – get ‘em while they’re hot! There is also a new version of IBM i Access Client Solutions V1.1.8.3, and new HIPER groups for IBM i 7.4, 7.3, and 7.2.

  There are no new or updated links in the …

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• Samba Patch Caps Busy Year for IBM i Security

  December 4, 2019 Alex Woodie

  IBM last week patched a moderately severe security flaw in IBM i’s Samba implementation that could enable hackers to access data they really shouldn’t be able to access. The disclosure caps a rather busy second half of the year for security patches on IBM i that saw 26 emergency PTFs and Yum updates for Node.js, Python, the Apache HTTP Server, OpenSSL, ISC Bind, IBM Navigator, and even Db2 Mirror for IBM i.

  On November 26, IBM issued this security bulletin to let people know about the new flaw in the Samba client. The flaw could allow a hacker to not …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 21, Number 48

  December 4, 2019 Doug Bidwell

  This is important: If you are running IBM i 7.3, the Db2 for IBM i Group SF99703, Level 16, dated November 13 is defective. Do not install this group. Instead, install Level 17, which was made available on November 25. If you are not able to do that, contact IBM for assistance. Our understanding is that critical PTFs were not included in Level 16 update for the Db2 group, and the resulting issue is that both the A and B side will lock up and require a SLIP install to repair. You want to avoid that.

  Also, there is updated …

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• Db2 For IBM i 7.3 Hits A Bad Patch

  December 2, 2019 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  As you know, we are among the people in the IBM i community who are always telling you to keep current on your PTF patches for the best operating system available on Power Systems. (No, we are not talking about AIX or Linux.) But every now and again, as happens with all operating systems, something gets fixed and the fix is worse than the problem it was solving.

  That has apparently happened with the database patches for the Db2 for i relational database management system embedded in the IBM i 7.3 release once the Db2 Group patches from November 13 …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 21, Number 47

  December 2, 2019 Doug Bidwell

  We hope that everyone in the United States had a Happy Thanksgiving, and we are still “playing ketchup” on the PTF leftovers before that holiday, which gets us into the final stretch of 2019, rolled around. Ketchup is good on turkey, but cranberry sauce is better.

  Just a reminder to everyone: IBM i 7.2 will reach end of support on April 30, 2021. That may seem like a long time from now, but you will be surprised at how fast it comes up. IBM did not say very much in its end of support announcement, which you can see here …

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• Latest TRs For IBM i Now Available

  November 20, 2019 Alex Woodie

  IBM last week delivered the latest IBM i operating system Technology Refreshes, giving good IBM i boys and girls around the world early Christmas presents in areas like programing, operations, database, and security. Here’s a quick recap of the new stuff in IBM i 7.4 TR1 and 7.3 TR7.

  There were several general enhancements with IBM i 7.4 TR1 and 7.3 TR7. For starters, administrators gained more control over resources available to the Integrated Web Server (the one powered by Apache) with the new capability to install it the Web server in a user-specified sub-system. Admins also get new functions …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 21, Issue 46

  November 20, 2019 Doug Bidwell

  There have been plenty of weeks when there was not much to report in PTF Land. This is not one of those weeks. We have lots of new cumes to tell you about, as well as news on Db2 Mirror for i and other tidbits for you. Let’s start with the cumes.

  When going through this week’s guide, be on the lookout for a new cume for 7.4 (C9304740), new cume for 7.3 (C9311730), and a new cume for 7.2 (C9297720). Also, don’t miss the new DB2 for IBM i Group for 7.4 and 7.3, as well as the new …

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