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SNDPTFORD Enhancements for IBM i 6.1

IBM i 6.1 offers several enhancements, one of which is a better way to manage your PTFs

Several changes come with the introduction of the new IBM i 6.1. One of those is the way Send Program Temporary Fix Order (SNDPTFORD) works. The SNDPTFORD command lets you send an order for a specific fix, a list of fixes or a fix package to IBM. The changes include:

 

• A new Image Catalog (IMGCLG) parameter, which can be used to store the images ordered
• A new Image Option (IMGOPT) parameter, which can be used to specify when you want images to be downloaded
• A new time limit for downloading PTFs electronically

Image Catalog Option

SNDPTFORD has been downloading images since V5R3. Now in i 6.1, it’s been enhanced to store the image orders in a virtual optical storage area called image catalog.

To do this, just enter the name of the image catalog on the new parameter IMGCLG. It doesn’t matter whether the image catalog name already exists. If it doesn’t, the SNDPTFORD code will create the image catalog.

Once you’ve ordered all the fixes and they’re in the image catalog, you can load your catalog to the virtual optical device using the Load Image Catalog (LODIMGCLG) command. In this way, you can distribute your fixes across multiple systems.

Virtual media is a preallocated space on disk, which can be used in a similar manner as physical media. Using Virtual Media Installation (VMI) to load and apply PTFs makes it easy to manage multiple systems and systems in different locations. There’s no need to change CD volumes since the VMI changes them for you. It’s also easier and faster than loading from multiple physical media.

Unlike save files, all the save restore commands are valid with virtual media, including SAVSYS, SAVLIB(*NONSYS) and more. And multiple libraries can be saved to virtual media whereas only one library is allowed per save file.

Here’s an example of downloading a complete PTF group package using the image catalog:

SNDPTFORD PTFID((*HIPERGRP)) DLVRYFMT(*IMAGE) REORDER(*YES) IMGDIR('/fixes') IMGPFX(HIPER_) IMGCLG(GRPFIXES)

In this example, the whole HIPER (High Impact and Pervasive) PTF group is ordered with image format and the image will be stored in GRPFIXES image catalog with prefix of HIPER_. In this case, the directory entered in IMGDIR parameter is used to create the GRPFIXES.

Tip: The key to download the complete PTF group package is REORDER(*YES).

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