4.5.4 Remove Action

4.6 Maintaining Optional Software (Applying Updates)

Software that is distributed to fix a problem in a product is called an update. All software products have a version number and a release number that identify the release level of the product. In addition to this, product updates are assigned a modification level number and a fix level number to identify the level of the update. See 4.2 Understanding Maintenance Levels for information on maintenance levels.

Suppose that you have your system currently running 4.3.1.0, and all the filesets are at 4.3.1.0 maintenance level. IBM has just released a latest maintenance level for systems on 4.3.1.0. You have to upgrade your system to bring it to the latest maintenance level.

Bringing a system to the latest maintenance level involves a number of steps that are listed below:

4.6.1 Listing the Current Maintenance Level of the Software

The lslpp command displays information about installed filesets or fileset updates. The FilesetName parameter is the name of a software product. The FixID (also known as PTF or program temporary fix ID) parameter specifies the identifier of an update to an AIX 3.2 formatted fileset. In order to see what maintenance level your filesets are currently on, use the command: 

lslpp -l

This will list all the software that is installed on your system showing the current maintenance level. An output similar to Figure 25 is shown.



Figure 25: lslpp -l Command Output

4.6.2 Downloading Fixes

IBM provides a number of mirrored sites on the Internet where you may freely download AIX-related fixes. The current anonymous FTP servers are shown in Table 21.


Table 21: Current FTP Servers

IBM also provides access to an emergency fix server located in the U.S. using anonymous FTP: software.watson.ibm.com (129.34.139.5)

To help customers browse and download fixes stored at the fix sites, IBM has released a freely available service tool called FixDist. FixDist is a tool designed to enable customers to select and download a fix and any necessary requisite fixes.

FixDist and the user guide are available using an anonymous FTP from any of the servers listed above. Many of these sites are also Web servers (an example URL is: http://service.software.ibm.com).

Once you have installed and set up the FixDist tool on your AIX system, the next step is to download the updates you want. On the command line, enter:

  1. fixdist

    A screen similar to Figure 26 is shown.



    Figure 26: fixdist - Step 1

    In this case, you have chosen to download all our PTFs to the /ptf file system. It is possible that you might be running a number of different releases of AIX in your environment. In this case, it is recommended that you keep your update downloads in different directories naming them according to the release level. In this example, we will be moving our AIX 4.3.1 updates to the /ptf/aix431 directory.

  2. Click on Generally Available Fixes to list what updates are available from IBM. A screen similar to Figure 27 is shown.



    Figure 27: fixdist - Step 2

  3. Select the updates you want to apply to your system by clicking on the name of the update/fix. In this case, since you are applying the latest updates for AIX 4.3.1.0, select the latest fixes for 4.3.1.0.

  4. After you have selected the updates you want, you have the option to preview what will be downloaded, the estimated size of the images that will be downloaded, and so on. It is a good practice to download all your fixes into one file system.

FixDist will download all the fixes in the directory given at the start of the FixDist process as shown in Figure 26. All the files are downloaded in the bff format. bff stands for Backup File Format, which means that the file was created using the AIX backup command and can be read using the AIX restore command. In addition to the .bff files, .info files are also downloaded that give a brief summary of what the fileset is for and what has been fixed by this fileset.

If you apply updates frequently and keep all the updates in the same directory, then the .toc file might be outdated. The command installp uses the .toc file to carry out installations. In order to have the correct and latest software installed when you actually do the installation, it is recommended that you rebuild the .toc file. This can be done by using the inutoc command. The general syntax of inutoc command is: 

inutoc [Directory name]

The inutoc command creates a .toc file for directories that have backup format file install images. This command is used automatically by the installp command and the install script if no .toc file is present but is not run if a .toc file already exists.

4.6.3 Displaying and Updating Installed Software to the Latest Level

Once you have downloaded all the fixes into the /ptf directory, the next step is to install them and bring your system to the latest maintenance level. In this section, the following procedures are discussed:

4.6.3.1 Displaying An Individual Fix (instfix Command)

You can download an individual fix using FixDist following the same procedure given in 4.6.2 Downloading Fixes . In order to find out if a fix is installed on your system or to install a fix, use the instfix command. The general syntax of the instfix command is as follows: 

instfix [ -T ] [ -s String ] [ -S ] [ -k Keyword | -f File ] [ -p ] [ -d Device ] [ -i [ -c ] [ -q ] [ -t Type ] [ -v ] [ -F ] ] [ -a ]

The general flags used with instfix command are given in Table 22.


Table 22: instfix Command Flags

The instfix command allows you to install a fix or set of fixes without knowing any information other than the Authorized Program Analysis Report (APAR) number or other unique keywords that identify the fix.

Any fix can have a single fileset or multiple filesets that comprise that fix. Fix information is organized in the Table of Contents (TOC) on the installation media. After a fix is installed, fix information is kept on the system in a fix database. The instfix command can also be used to determine if a fix is installed on your system.

On the command line, enter: 

# instfix -ivk IX57214
IX57214 Abstract: dce login returns error without prompt for password
Fileset dce.client.core.rte.security:2.1.0.10 is applied on the system.
Fileset dce.msg.en_US.client.core.rte:2.1.0.6 is applied on the system.
All filesets for IX57214 were found.

In order to list all the fixes that are installed on your system enter the command: 

# instfix -iv
IX81899 Abstract: HOT: lava asserted

    Fileset bos.net.nfs.cachefs is not applied on the system.
    Fileset bos.net.nfs.client:4.3.2.0 is applied on the system.
    All filesets for IX81899 were found.
IX81900 Abstract: HOT:titan crashed on 9832B

    Fileset bos.net.nfs.cachefs is not applied on the system.
    Not all filesets for IX81900 were found.

You can also use SMIT to find out what fixes are installed on your system. Use the SMIT fast path:

  1. smitty show_apar_stat

    A screen similar to Figure 28 is shown.



    Figure 28: instfix Device Input

  2. Press F4 in the FIX ID field to get a list of all the fixes that are installed on the system. The output from this command is similar to the instfix -iv command.

4.6.3.2 Installing an Individual Fix by APAR Number

In order to install the fixes using SMIT, use the SMIT fast path:

  1. smitty instfix or smitty update_by_fix

  2. In the INPUT device / directory for the software field, enter the name of the device (or directory if you downloaded the fixes to your system) from which to install the fixes and press Enter. A screen similar to Figure 29 is shown.



    Figure 29: instfix Fix Selection

  3. In the FIXES to Install field, press F4 to get a list of fixes that are available on the media and select the fixes you want to install.

  4. Press Enter.

The system will update the maintenance level of the fileset you selected. You have successfully updated the maintenance level of your software.

4.6.3.3 Updating All FileSets to the Latest Level

In order to install all new fixes that are available through IBM, use the fast path:

  1. smitty update_all

    A screen similar to Figure 30 is shown.



    Figure 30: update_all - Step 1

  2. In the INPUT device/directory for software field, enter the name of the device (or directory if you have fixes on your hard disk) from which installation will be carried out. Press Enter.

    A screen similar to Figure 31 is shown.



    Figure 31: update_all - Step 2

  3. It is best to set the PREVIEW only? (update operation will NOT occur) field to YES by pressing the Tab key. The Preview option makes a dry run of the task you are trying to perform and reports any failures that might be encountered when you do the actual installation. This will ensure that your installation does not fail.

Once you are sure that there are no prerequisites that you are missing, you can do the actual installation. This procedure will update your software to the latest maintenance level.

In order to view the new maintenance level of your software, on the command line enter: 

lslpp -l

This will show you the latest maintenance level of the filesets including those you just updated.

4.7 Creating Installation Images on a Hard Disk