Installing interim fixes and fix packs on z/OS operating systems

Product fix packs contain bundled service to bring WebSphere® Application Server up to a new product level. Interim fixes provide corrective service for specific known problems. You can use IBM® Installation Manager to update the product with the fixes that are available for your service level of WebSphere Application Server Version 9.0.

Before you begin

Contact the IBM Software Support Center for information about upgrades for WebSphere Application Server for z/OS®. For more information about upgrades, see the WebSphere Application Server for z/OS: Program Directory. The most current information is available from the IBM Software Support Center and Fix Central.

IBM Installation Manager is used to apply product maintenance to WebSphere Application Server for z/OS. A set of scripts called the post-installer, a part of WebSphere Application Server for z/OS, is used to make any configuration file system changes that are required as a consequence of product maintenance.

When you install a fix pack, Installation Manager automatically reapplies any installed interim fixes if they apply to the updated fix pack level. Interim fixes that do not apply, such as if the updated fix pack contains the fix, are uninstalled. In some cases, Installation Manager must uninstall an interim fix that you must manually reapply. For example, you might update to a fix pack that does not contain the fix and requires an updated interim fix level. Installation Manager notifies you if any interim fixes must be manually reapplied. You can verify which interim fixes are installed by running the versionInfo -ifixes command.

Notes:

In WebSphere Application Server for z/OS Version 7 and earlier, a highly pervasive (HIPER) APAR or program-error (PE) PTF was flagged as HIPER or PE. These flags indicated issues that might cause outages or exceptions in common product usage. When applying a PTF, SMP/E would warn you if you were applying a PTF level that contained a HIPER or PE issue. You could then bypass it manually or move up in PTF level where the HIPER or PE had been resolved.

Due to packaging and installation changes introduced in WebSphere Application Server Version 8.0, APARs taken against Version 8.0 and higher are no longer flagged HIPER nor PE. Instead, APARs that would have previously been considered HIPER are raised for customer awareness through FLASH notifications. You should sign up for and manage your notification subscriptions to ensure that you are receiving FLASH notices using the "Notifications" section of the WebSphere Application Server support website.

APARs that would have previously been flagged PE are added to a table near the affected levels' fix-pack web pages. The fixing APAR's "Special Activity" field is also updated with "MDVREGR" if it is fixing a regression or "MDVPARTL" if it is a partial fix. If the problem is highly pervasive, a FLASH notification is sent as well.

Procedure

  1. Use Installation Manager to apply the required maintenance to your product dataset and file-system structure.
    1. For a list of fixes that are available for WebSphere Application Server Version 9.0 and specific information about each fix, perform the following actions.
      1. Go to Fix Central.
      2. Select the Select product tab.
      3. Select WebSphere as the product group.
      4. Select WebSphere Application Server as the product.
      5. Select the version of the product to be updated.
      6. Select your operating system as the platform, and click Continue.
      7. Select Browse for fixes, and click Continue.
      8. Click More Information under each fix to view information about the fix.
      9. Recommendation: Make a list of the names of the fixes that you would like to install.
    2. Update WebSphere Application Server Version 9.0 with the fixes using one of the following procedures.
      • To update the product with interim fixes or fix packs, access the live service repository that contains the fixes and use web-based updating.
        Use Installation Manager on your local system to update WebSphere Application Server Version 9.0 with the interim fixes from the live web-based service repositories.
        • For the live service repositories, use the same URLs as those used for the generally available product-offering repositories during installation. These URLs are based on the following pattern: 
          http://www.ibm.com/software/repositorymanager/offering_ID
          where offering_ID is the offering ID that you can find in WebSphere Application Server product offerings for supported operating systems.
        • These locations do not contain web pages that you can access using a web browser. They are remote web-based repository locations that you specify for Installation Manager so that it can maintain the product.
        To install a fix from a service repository, perform the following actions:
        1. Mount the product file system, read and write, at the path at which it was originally mounted with Installation Manager.
        2. If you do not already have an Installation Manager credential storage file containing your IBM software user ID and password, create one that will allow you to access the repository.
          Note: These are the credentials that you use to access protected IBM software websites.
          Use the imutilsc saveCredential command to create a keyring or add additional credentials to it:
          imutilsc saveCredential 
  -secureStorageFile storage_file
  -userName IBM_software_ID
  -userPassword IBM_software_password
  -url repository_URL

          For information on the imutilsc saveCredential command, read the IBM Installation Manager documentation.

          Tip: When creating a storage file, append /repository.config at the end of the repository URL location if the imutilsc command is unable to find the URL that is specified.
        3. From the Installation Manager user ID, perform the following actions:
          1. Change to the Installation_Manager_binaries/eclipse/tools directory, where Installation_Manager_binaries is the installation root directory for the Installation Manager.
          2. Install the fix.
            To install an interim fix, use this command:
            imcl install fix_name
  -installationDirectory product_installation_location
  -repositories repository_URL
  -secureStorageFile storage_file
            To install a fix pack, use this command:
            imcl install offering_ID_offering_version
  -installationDirectory product_installation_location
  -repositories repository_URL
  -secureStorageFile storage_file
  -acceptLicense
            Tips:
            • The offering_ID is the offering ID that is listed in WebSphere Application Server product offerings for supported operating systems.
            • The offering_version, which optionally can be attached to the offering ID with an underscore, is a specific version of the offering to install (9.0.0.20160503_0200 for example).
              • If offering_version is not specified, the latest version of the offering and all interim fixes for that version are installed.
              • If offering_version is specified, the specified version of the offering and no interim fixes for that version are installed.
              The offering version can be found attached to the end of the offering ID with an underscore when you run the following command against the repository:
              imcl listAvailablePackages -repositories source_repository
            • You can also specify none, recommended or all with the -installFixes argument to indicate which interim fixes you want installed with the offering.
              • If the offering version is not specified, the -installFixes option defaults to all.
              • If the offering version is specified, the -installFixes option defaults to none.
          3. Optional: List all installed packages to verify the installation:
            imcl listInstalledPackages -long
      • To update the product with interim fixes or fix packs, download the files that contain the fixes from Fix Central and use local updating.
        You can download compressed files that contain the fixes from Fix Central. Each compressed fix file contains an Installation Manager repository for the fix and usually has a .zip extension. After downloading the fix files, you can use Installation Manager to update WebSphere Application Server Version 9.0 with the fixes.
        1. To download the fixes, perform the following actions:
          1. Go to Fix Central.
          2. Select the Select product tab.
          3. Select WebSphere as the product group.
          4. Select WebSphere Application Server as the product.
          5. Select the version of the product to be updated.
          6. Select your operating system as the platform, and click Continue.
          7. Select Browse for fixes, and click Continue.
          8. Select the fixes that you want to download, and click Continue.
          9. Select your download options, and click Continue.
          10. Click I agree to agree to the terms and conditions.
          11. Click Download now to download the fixes.
          12. Transfer the compressed fix files in binary format to the z/OS system on which they will be installed.
          13. If you are installing a fix pack, extract the compressed repository files to a directory on your system.
        2. To install a fix from a downloaded file, perform the following actions:
          1. Mount the product file system, read and write, at the path at which it was originally mounted with Installation Manager.
          2. From the Installation Manager user ID, perform the following actions:
            1. Change to the Installation_Manager_binaries/eclipse/tools directory, where Installation_Manager_binaries is the installation root directory for the Installation Manager.
            2. Install the fix.
              To install an interim fix, use this command:
              imcl install fix_name 
   -installationDirectory product_installation_location
   -repositories compressed_file
              To install a fix pack, use this command:
              imcl install offering_ID_offering_version
  -installationDirectory product_installation_location
  -repositories location_of_expanded_files
  -acceptLicense
              Tips:
              • The offering_ID is the offering ID that is listed in WebSphere Application Server product offerings for supported operating systems.
              • The offering_version, which optionally can be attached to the offering ID with an underscore, is a specific version of the offering to install (9.0.0.20160503_0200 for example).
                • If offering_version is not specified, the latest version of the offering and all interim fixes for that version are installed.
                • If offering_version is specified, the specified version of the offering and no interim fixes for that version are installed.
                The offering version can be found attached to the end of the offering ID with an underscore when you run the following command against the repository:
                imcl listAvailablePackages -repositories source_repository
              • You can also specify none, recommended or all with the -installFixes argument to indicate which interim fixes you want installed with the offering.
                • If the offering version is not specified, the -installFixes option defaults to all.
                • If the offering version is specified, the -installFixes option defaults to none.
            3. Optional: List all installed packages to verify the installation:
              imcl listInstalledPackages -long
      • To update the product with fix packs, apply fix-pack PTFs to the SMP/E-managed repository and use local updating.

        You can add a new fix-pack level of the product to the SMP/E-managed repository that contains the base product by applying PTFs for the fix pack to the repository. See the WebSphere Application Server for z/OS service page for a listing of available fix packs and PTFs. After installing the PTFs, you can use Installation Manager to update WebSphere Application Server Version 9.x with the new fix pack.

        1. Apply the PTFs for the fix pack to the WebSphere Application Server Version 9.0 repository (FMID HBBO900).
        2. Perform the following actions:
          1. Mount the product file system, read and write, at the path at which it was originally mounted with Installation Manager.
          2. From the Installation Manager user ID, perform the following actions:
            1. Change to the Installation_Manager_binaries/eclipse/tools directory, where Installation_Manager_binaries is the installation root directory for the Installation Manager.
            2. Use the imcl install command to install the new product fix-pack level. For example: 
              imcl install com.ibm.websphere.zOS.v90_offering_version
  -installationDirectory product_installation_location
  -repositories /usr/lpp/InstallationManagerRepository/HBBO900
  -acceptLicense
              Tips:
              • offering_version can be found attached to the end of the offering ID with an underscore when you run the following command against the repository. For example:
                imcl listAvailablePackages 
  -repositories /usr/lpp/InstallationManagerRepository/HBBO900
              • When the product is installed for use with WebSphere Application Server Version 9.0, it is installed into the WebSphere Application Server product file system.
            3. Optional: List all installed packages to verify the installation:
              imcl listInstalledPackages -long

    For more information on updating WebSphere Application Server, see Updating the product on z/OS.

  2. Remount the product file system at its production location.

    The file system should normally be mounted read-only.

  3. Perform any other migration actions as instructed in fix or APAR cover letters.
  4. Start your server(s) to complete any necessary post-installation tasks.

    At server startup, the post-installer will run automatically against each node in order to update the configuration file system to the new service level.

    Note: In Network Deployment cells, the deployment manager node must be at the same or a later service level than the cell's application server nodes. You must ensure that the deployment manager node is upgraded to the new service level.