In this section we will help you develop a strategy for streamlining maintenance issues on your System i, as well as helping to identify issues before they are likely to cause your business a problem.

This month there have been only a small number of changes within the area of preventative service, once again, these are outlined in their relevant sections.

Below you will find links to keeping your code up-to-date.

HMC:

Service Package 2 is now available for V7R3.3

V7R3.3.0_SP2 is now available. This can be installed by downloading PTF MH01119.

This should be downloaded and burned to media, it is not a bootable image, instead it is installed using the 'install corrective service' link on the HMC.

You do not have to install SP1 before installing SP2, as it is a cumulative package.

Notes:

MH01097 will allow upgrades to V7R3.3.0SP0 from V7R3.1.0 or above, or used for a clean install of V7R3.3.0.

After you install V7R3.3.0, you MUST install PTF MH01102 (Mandatory eFix), you can then proceed with the installation of Service Package 1.

For HMCs managing POWER5 servers: If your HMC is at HMC V6 R1.2 or V6 R1.3, upgrading your HMC to HMC V7 R3.3.0 is a two-step process. You must first upgrade the HMC to HMC V7 R3.1.0, and then upgrade to HMC V7 R3.3.0.

Full details of download and installation are available from the HMC corrective service website. Please note - V7 of the HMC will support Power5 and Power6 servers, but V6 and below of the HMC will not support the Power6 range of servers.

Server firmware must be updated to SF240_299 or later before upgrading the HMC to Version 7. In addition, the HMC must be at 6.1.2 to upgrade to Version 7

Server Firmware:

Available at the following site.

http://www-912.ibm.com/s_dir/slkbase.nsf/ibmscdirect/E58D7BBF0EAC9A2786256EAD005F54D8

The latest level of firmware is unchanged since last month

Power5:

SF240_338_201.

Power6:

EH330_046_034....Current server firmware EH330 fixpack for the 9119-FHA. 

EM320_076_045....Current server firmware EM320 fixpack for the 9406-MMA and 9117-MMA

EL320_076_045....Current server firmware EL320 fixpack for the 9407-M15, 9408-M25, & 9409-M50.

EM320_046_031....Previous server firmware EM320 fixpack for the 9406-MMA and 9117-MMA

EL320_046_031....Previous server firmware EL320 fixpack for the 9407-M15, 9408-M25, & 9409-M50.

EM310_069_048....Current server firmware EM310 fixpack for the 9406-MMA.

Integration code.

Latest V6R1 PTF Group = Level 4 - SF99357

Latest V5R4 PTF Group = Level 7 - SF99348

If you have System x or Blades integrated with System i, then there are some new fixes available which should be applied over and above the integration group PTF. These new fixes are designed to update firmware levels, allow ESX support and much more. Full details can be found from the System i Integration pages. This page also details many more functionality improvements and new code versions for IBM Director.

Group PTFs.

Please note that there is now a group PTF for security, for all supported versions, you should take this into consideration when planning any PTF installations.

A full list of group PTFs can be found here.

Defective PTFs

A full list of defective PTFs and corrective action can be found at:

• V6R1 (SF98028) 

• V5R4 (SF98018)

• V5R3 (SF98088)

 The latest Cumulative packages are as follows

V6R1    C8190610  - began shipping worldwide on 21st July 2008.

Previous Packages..  C8064610, C8127610

V5R4    C8183540 (Covers microcode levels M0 and M5) - began shipping worldwide on 14th July 2008.

Previous Packages.. C5326540 C5354540 C6024540 C6066540
     C6115540 C6192540 C6297540 C7002540
     C7107540 C7226540 C7282540, C8057540

V5R3    C8085530 (Covers microcode levels M0 and M5) - began shipping worldwide on 7th April 2008.

Previous Packages.. C4083530  C4153530  C4272530  C5102530  C5298530  C6101530
     C4118530  C4209530  C5032530  C5207530  C6045530  C6142530 
     C6178530  C6255530  C7016530  C7121530  C7198530 C7303530

As always, ensure you take relevant backups prior to undertaking any changes to system level code.