RE: Immediate PTF -- What's the point?

After thinking about this one for the last couple of days I did finally come
up with a reason.

Delayed PTF's will not apply during an Abnormal IPL, e.g. the first IPL
after using the ENDJOBABN command.  In this case you could apply the PTF
immediately and let the IPL activate it, but you could not apply it delayed
without doing two IPL's.

That said, the directive was sent to the developers several years ago that
PTF's should be enabled for immediate apply whenever possible.  Myself, I
will not apply CA or TCP PTF's immediately at all.  I've seen these take
down communications even when the activativation instructions seem
completely innocuous.

Scott Ingvaldson
AS/400 System Administrator
GuideOne Insurance Group 

-----Original Message-----
date: Mon, 07 Apr 2003 21:17:43 -0400
from: qsrvbas@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Tom Liotta)
subject: Immediate PTF -- What's the point?

I've bbeen away from PTF maintenance for a while (generally a couple years),
so maybe things have happened that I've missed. Can anybody explain the
following two sections of a PTF cover letter?

ACTIVATION INSTRUCTIONS :
-------------------------

   If this PTF is applied as an immediate PTF, an IPL of the system is
required to activate this PTF.                                         
   If this PTF is applied as a delayed PTF, no further action is required.

DEFAULT INSTRUCTIONS :
----------------------
   THIS PTF CAN BE APPLIED IMMEDIATE OR DELAYED.

Now, what is the point of an "immediate" PTF if it requires an IPL to
"activate"? (Sure, I know, I should've noticed the activation instructions
when I first read the cover letter in IBM's PTF database, but still...?)

Thank you for any light you can shed.

Tom Liotta