RE: Product ID for PTFs -- MIDRANGE-L

Good feedback from everyone on this thread.
You may have noticed my response to this yesterday where I said my first thought
About the IBM i Notification was: ""What is the licensed product for this PTF?"
It would be nice if the product ID was on the same page as the PTF where as Jim said, is applicable.

I went to fix central, proceeded to locate the PTF and did a bit of looking around and noticed it was 5733OMF.

As for using the "IBM blue feedback boxes" as Rob mentioned - that works most of the time. Usually someone will
get back to you in a reasonable amount of time. I've managed to acquire quite a list of IBM'ers that way. I keep their
names in my phone so in the event I need a specialist, I try to ask for that tech when / if I open a ticket.
Sometimes I do get that person to work with.

Very Respectfully,
Michael Mayer
IBM i on Power System Admin.
IT Operations.
The Florida Bar
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2300
mmayer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
https://www.floridabar.org
Office: 850.561.5761
Cell: 518.641.8906

IBM i Personal Blog Page: https://ibmireference.blogspot.com/

----------------------------------------------------------------------

1. RE: Product ID for PTFs (Greg Wilburn)
2. Re: Product ID for PTFs (Jim Oberholtzer)
3. RE: Product ID for PTFs (Rob Berendt)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

message: 1
date: Thu, 10 Mar 2022 14:28:47 +0000
from: Greg Wilburn <gwilburn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
subject: RE: Product ID for PTFs

OK... So it's not just me (something I'm missing).
Thanks for the info, but that only helps with PTFs ON on my system (not for a product or PTF not on my system).

Some context:

With the recent log4j and such, I've subscribed to IBM Security Bulletins (if you haven't, I highly recommend it). I'll paste one below.
I receive these for all IBM i products (whether I have them or not).
The bulletin tells you the NAME of the product... the link shows me what PTFs correct the issue for each level of the OS (i.e. v7r4, v7r3, and v7r2). But NO WHERE does it give the product ID!

I'm sorry... I simply don't give a rip about IBM's history and how difficult something may be for them - they're supposed to be the world's foremost computing company! "Building a Smarter Planet", Watson, AI and such.

Hey IBM - this is simply UNACCEPTABLE!

All I ask is that they put the product ID on the website with the PTF number - how hard could that be??

Thanks for letting me vent.

EXAMPLE:

IBM My Notifications

See what's new at IBM Support

IBM i
Security bulletin: Security Bulletin: IBM i is vulnerable to bypass security restrictions due to Samba SMB1 (CVE-2021-43566 and CVE-2021-44141)

Samba is available on IBM i to provide file system access. Samba is vulnerable to the issues described in the vulnerability details section. IBM i has addressed the applicable CVEs in the Samba implementation by providing a fix.

This is the link:
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6560396?myns=ibmi&mynp=OCSWG60&mync=E&cm_sp=ibmi-_-OCSWG60-_-E

-----Original Message-----
From: MIDRANGE-L <midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Rob Berendt
Sent: Wednesday, March 9, 2022 12:47 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: Product ID for PTFs

You're welcome.
I might suggest changing the equal to an IN. You can then easily add others to "check to see if you have these 5 ptf's".

Rob Berendt
--
IBM Certified System Administrator - IBM i 6.1 Group Dekko Dept 1600 Mail to: 7310 Innovation Blvd, Suite 104
Ft. Wayne, IN 46818
Ship to: 7310 Innovation Blvd, Dock 9C
Ft. Wayne, IN 46818
http://www.dekko.com

-----Original Message-----
From: MIDRANGE-L <midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Andrew Lopez (SXS US)
Sent: Wednesday, March 9, 2022 12:41 PM
To: midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Product ID for PTFs

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

Could IBM do a better job of building a searchable cross reference,
maybe so, but I'll follow that up with a question; Do you want IBM spending its limited resources building cross reference software for PTFs or rather spending that money on software enhancements, support, and quality control?

Then again, I know of one business that looks at how much time I spend on iSeries admin (not much), and would like to see that number at zero. As far as they are concerned, the IBM i is a dead man walking. They want me back on the Business Analyst side. For myself, I highly resent being forced to dig further to find if I have a PTF installed or not.

In that vein, thank so much Rob for the following suggestion. That immediately got saved for future use.

select PTF_PRODUCT_ID, PTF_IDENTIFIER, PTF_LOADED_STATUS, PTF_ACTION_PENDING, PTF_ACTION_REQUIRED, PTF_STATUS_TIMESTAMP, PTF_TEMPORARY_APPLY_TIMESTAMP from qsys2.PTF_INFO where PTF_IDENTIFIER='SI69953'

_____________________________________________________________________
Spirax-Sarco Engineering Plc. This e-mail has been scanned for viruses by Cisco Cloud Email Security.

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------------------------------

message: 2
date: Thu, 10 Mar 2022 08:58:24 -0600
from: Jim Oberholtzer <midrangel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
subject: Re: Product ID for PTFs

Greg,

Now your asking for something far more reasonable, a slight modification to the notices that are sent out. So instead do saying just the HTTP server they add 5770-DG1 option *BASE to the notice. That is something I?d like to see as well, although over the years I?ve learned most of the product designations.

The open source parts that are administered via ACS would not have quite the same designations since they don?t have LPP numbers, so in the case of Samba, you would not get a program ID.

There will be times where that?s not feasible due to some of the interdependence of the software stack, but those should be somewhat limited.

Jim Oberholtzer
Agile Technology Architects

On Mar 10, 2022, at 8:28 AM, Greg Wilburn <gwilburn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

?OK... So it's not just me (something I'm missing).
Thanks for the info, but that only helps with PTFs ON on my system (not for a product or PTF not on my system).

Some context:

With the recent log4j and such, I've subscribed to IBM Security Bulletins (if you haven't, I highly recommend it). I'll paste one below.
I receive these for all IBM i products (whether I have them or not).
The bulletin tells you the NAME of the product... the link shows me what PTFs correct the issue for each level of the OS (i.e. v7r4, v7r3, and v7r2). But NO WHERE does it give the product ID!

I'm sorry... I simply don't give a rip about IBM's history and how difficult something may be for them - they're supposed to be the world's foremost computing company! "Building a Smarter Planet", Watson, AI and such.

Hey IBM - this is simply UNACCEPTABLE!

All I ask is that they put the product ID on the website with the PTF number - how hard could that be??

Thanks for letting me vent.

EXAMPLE:

IBM My Notifications

See what's new at IBM Support

IBM i
Security bulletin: Security Bulletin: IBM i is vulnerable to bypass
security restrictions due to Samba SMB1 (CVE-2021-43566 and
CVE-2021-44141)

Samba is available on IBM i to provide file system access. Samba is vulnerable to the issues described in the vulnerability details section. IBM i has addressed the applicable CVEs in the Samba implementation by providing a fix.

This is the link:
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6560396?myns=ibmi&mynp=OCSWG60&;
mync=E&cm_sp=ibmi-_-OCSWG60-_-E

-----Original Message-----
From: MIDRANGE-L <midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of
Rob Berendt
Sent: Wednesday, March 9, 2022 12:47 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
<midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: Product ID for PTFs

You're welcome.
I might suggest changing the equal to an IN. You can then easily add others to "check to see if you have these 5 ptf's".

Rob Berendt
--
IBM Certified System Administrator - IBM i 6.1 Group Dekko Dept 1600
Mail to: 7310 Innovation Blvd, Suite 104
Ft. Wayne, IN 46818
Ship to: 7310 Innovation Blvd, Dock 9C
Ft. Wayne, IN 46818
http://www.dekko.com

-----Original Message-----
From: MIDRANGE-L <midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of
Andrew Lopez (SXS US)
Sent: Wednesday, March 9, 2022 12:41 PM
To: midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Product ID for PTFs

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

Could IBM do a better job of building a searchable cross reference,
maybe so, but I'll follow that up with a question; Do you want IBM spending its limited resources building cross reference software for PTFs or rather spending that money on software enhancements, support, and quality control?

Then again, I know of one business that looks at how much time I spend on iSeries admin (not much), and would like to see that number at zero. As far as they are concerned, the IBM i is a dead man walking. They want me back on the Business Analyst side. For myself, I highly resent being forced to dig further to find if I have a PTF installed or not.

In that vein, thank so much Rob for the following suggestion. That immediately got saved for future use.

select PTF_PRODUCT_ID, PTF_IDENTIFIER, PTF_LOADED_STATUS, PTF_ACTION_PENDING, PTF_ACTION_REQUIRED, PTF_STATUS_TIMESTAMP, PTF_TEMPORARY_APPLY_TIMESTAMP from qsys2.PTF_INFO where PTF_IDENTIFIER='SI69953'

_____________________________________________________________________
Spirax-Sarco Engineering Plc. This e-mail has been scanned for viruses by Cisco Cloud Email Security.

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------------------------------

message: 3
date: Thu, 10 Mar 2022 15:23:48 +0000
from: Rob Berendt <rob@xxxxxxxxx>
subject: RE: Product ID for PTFs

That ptf, on that link, is part of 5770SS1. I verified that by looking at the cover letter for it. On the link you sent it says "Affected products IBM i" which technically is 5770SS1. But, in your defense, maybe that one is just a bad example.
On that link, off to the right, is a blue box for submitting feedback. Sometimes that's effective. Sometimes not. Often it depends on the author for that particular document.

Rob Berendt
--
IBM Certified System Administrator - IBM i 6.1 Group Dekko Dept 1600 Mail to: 7310 Innovation Blvd, Suite 104
Ft. Wayne, IN 46818
Ship to: 7310 Innovation Blvd, Dock 9C
Ft. Wayne, IN 46818
http://www.dekko.com

-----Original Message-----
From: MIDRANGE-L <midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Greg Wilburn
Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2022 9:29 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: Product ID for PTFs

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

OK... So it's not just me (something I'm missing).
Thanks for the info, but that only helps with PTFs ON on my system (not for a product or PTF not on my system).

Some context:

With the recent log4j and such, I've subscribed to IBM Security Bulletins (if you haven't, I highly recommend it). I'll paste one below.
I receive these for all IBM i products (whether I have them or not).
The bulletin tells you the NAME of the product... the link shows me what PTFs correct the issue for each level of the OS (i.e. v7r4, v7r3, and v7r2). But NO WHERE does it give the product ID!

I'm sorry... I simply don't give a rip about IBM's history and how difficult something may be for them - they're supposed to be the world's foremost computing company! "Building a Smarter Planet", Watson, AI and such.

Hey IBM - this is simply UNACCEPTABLE!

All I ask is that they put the product ID on the website with the PTF number - how hard could that be??

Thanks for letting me vent.

EXAMPLE:

IBM My Notifications

See what's new at IBM Support

IBM i
Security bulletin: Security Bulletin: IBM i is vulnerable to bypass security restrictions due to Samba SMB1 (CVE-2021-43566 and CVE-2021-44141)

Samba is available on IBM i to provide file system access. Samba is vulnerable to the issues described in the vulnerability details section. IBM i has addressed the applicable CVEs in the Samba implementation by providing a fix.

This is the link:
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6560396?myns=ibmi&mynp=OCSWG60&mync=E&cm_sp=ibmi-_-OCSWG60-_-E

-----Original Message-----
From: MIDRANGE-L <midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Rob Berendt
Sent: Wednesday, March 9, 2022 12:47 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: Product ID for PTFs

You're welcome.
I might suggest changing the equal to an IN. You can then easily add others to "check to see if you have these 5 ptf's".

Rob Berendt
--
IBM Certified System Administrator - IBM i 6.1 Group Dekko Dept 1600 Mail to: 7310 Innovation Blvd, Suite 104
Ft. Wayne, IN 46818
Ship to: 7310 Innovation Blvd, Dock 9C
Ft. Wayne, IN 46818
http://www.dekko.com

-----Original Message-----
From: MIDRANGE-L <midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Andrew Lopez (SXS US)
Sent: Wednesday, March 9, 2022 12:41 PM
To: midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Product ID for PTFs

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

Could IBM do a better job of building a searchable cross reference,
maybe so, but I'll follow that up with a question; Do you want IBM spending its limited resources building cross reference software for PTFs or rather spending that money on software enhancements, support, and quality control?

select PTF_PRODUCT_ID, PTF_IDENTIFIER, PTF_LOADED_STATUS, PTF_ACTION_PENDING, PTF_ACTION_REQUIRED, PTF_STATUS_TIMESTAMP, PTF_TEMPORARY_APPLY_TIMESTAMP from qsys2.PTF_INFO where PTF_IDENTIFIER='SI69953'

_____________________________________________________________________
Spirax-Sarco Engineering Plc. This e-mail has been scanned for viruses by Cisco Cloud Email Security.

--
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