IBM i began supporting USB flash drives back in 2012, but their use was restricted to save/restore and IFS options (refer to the blog IBM i Now Supports USB Flash Drives for additional background information). Many users downloaded the IBM Fix (PTF) DVD images, copied them to a flash drive, and then discovered they could not access the fixes because the entire DVD image was “just a file”.
(more…)New with the 7.3 release is the ability to automatically download PTF groups to your IBM i partition. The PTFs are downloaded in save files and stored on your system, ready to be installed. This enhancement was requested by requirements received through the COMMON Americas and COMMON Europe Advisory Councils.
I am not sure how many of you have heard about IBM Administration (Application) Runtime Expert for i (ARE) nor am I sure how many of you have actually used PTF support offered by ARE. Hopefully this blog entry can explain to you why you would want to explore the ARE tool overall and especially when it comes to managing your PTFs.
(more…)I’ve previously written about IBM i PTF enhancements in Group PTF Currency, Audit PTF Install History and Manage PTFs With Navigator. This week, I have another PTF enhancement to share with you – conditional immediate PTFs in 7.2.
(more…)A couple weeks ago, I wrote Group PTF Currency. In that blog, I gave a very basic introduction to IBM i Services. This week, I’m going to provide a little more information on what they are and why you should be interested in them.
(more…)A few weeks ago, I wrote about how you can Manage PTFs with Navigator; that blog reviewed the PTF management capabilities that you can now use to manage your PTFs via the Web browser. I also mentioned that you can acquire your PTFs from Fix Central. However, there’s one additional thing to consider – how do you easily know if there are PTF updates applicable to your system that you should download?
(more…)