Re: Firmware Updates

Are the firmware PTFs included in group PTFs? On my LAN console S914 I
always use SNDPTFORD for those specifically. I guess it's possible that it
just takes too long for those PTFs to make it into the groups. MH01965 was
released in January but wasn't included in the groups I downloaded on the
01 February 2024.



date: Wed, 28 Feb 2024 07:30:36 -0600

from: Jim Oberholtzer <midrangel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
subject: Re: Firmware Updates

?At the risk of igniting a flame war, (and this is the last I?ll say about
it), Patrick, for those of us who are System Administrators on IBM i ,
firmware updates are particularly simple. If you don?t have an HMC, then
regularly apply PTF groups (as you should anyway) and the system will
simply deal with that for you. If you have an HMC and wish the HMC to
manage it, then you can update the firmware, often times without disruption
and at will, and it?s particularly simple. You just tell it to go out and
get the appropriate update and apply it, the HMC does the rest. Only when
the firmware falls way behind does it get more complicated.

Linux (Unix including AIX) is still a bit of challenge for me since so
much of the Admin is done manually, and on demand as opposed to
automatically like IBM i . Updating device drivers for instance is a
separate action from updating the OS system. Not so on IBM i, IBM puts all
the device drivers in a group and applies them for you, then updates the
devices. Linux most likely could do that too, but the culture of Linux
administration would most likely veto that since direct absolute control
over the environment is highly desired. You know Linux very well so it is
plain and simple to you, not so much for the uneducated and
unexperienced.

ARE is a fabulous tool that IBM created primarily for its own use in
troubleshooting customer issues, and made it available to anyone. With a
little Java programming you could use ARE to find system related issues and
correct them automatically. (The programming part is in the correction of
the issue) I don?t remember if ARE is available to the older OS VRM that
you typically report using but if it is you should have a look.


Jim Oberholtzer
Agile Technology Architects