MAS and Manage - What are major and minor releases, patches, and Limited Availability Fixes?

Answer

***This document is current as of June 2023. All information is subject to change***

MAJOR RELEASES

• New Features Introduced
• Only upgrade that can introduce breaking changes that could require a migration process
• Fully tested and verified
• Cumulative in nature for fixes

MINOR RELEASES

• New Features Introduced
• Undergo a full development release cycle like a Major release
• Fully tested and verified
• Cumulative in nature and each new Minor release contains all fixes from all previous releases
• Can contain currency updates

CD (Continuous Delivery) & LTS (Long-Term Support)

We recommend you review the following document, which provides an explanation of CD and LTS: 

https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/maximo-application-suite-faq-continuous-delivery-and-long-term-support-releases

 PATCHES

• Patches are where maintenance is delivered for both the Maximo Application Suite and Manage.
• Contain bug fixes
• Can contain security updates
• Rarely - if ever - contain class structure or DB changes that would affect customisations
• QA testing at Minor Release Level
• Cumulative and includes all known and resolved fixes for the version
• Released on a monthly schedule or sooner

Patches are released in line with the N-1 model. N being the most recent release, and N-1 being the previous release. For example, if N is 8.10 (LTS), then N-1 is 8.9 (CD). In addition, we provide patches on all current LTSs. For examples: 

When 8.12 is released, we patch 8.12 (N), 8.11 (N-1) and 8.10 (current LTR). 

When 8.13 is released, we patch 8.13 (N), 8.12 (N-1) AND 8.10 (current LTR), but not 8.11.

LIMITED AVAILABILITY FIX (LA FIX) – NOT RECOMMENDED

An LA Fix is an unofficial mechanism to deliver a single, temporary, fix specific to one or more scenarios, as detailed in the APAR or defect in Manage. It is at IBM’s discretion to provide an LAFIX or not.

LA fixes are NOT available for the Maximo Application Suite (MAS). 

IBM does not recommend the usage of LA Fixes as they:

• Are high risk fixes to the system when applied versus a Patch, as they are not rigorously tested.
• Make a customer environment unique and more difficult to troubleshoot by the customer and IBM Support.
• Make applying future maintenance more complex and these Fixes must be kept track of. Most of the time these Fixes are not overwritten by subsequent patches, which could cause unique issues to the environment where applied.
• Cannot be applied to other environments than the environment it was built for.
• Could cause you, under certain circumstances, to not be able to apply any further maintenance through Patches. That is, until you upgrade to the newest version of Manage that contains the same fix is released.
• IBM does not fix data issues caused by an LAFIX

IBM Maximo Development is phasing out LAFIXes for Manage. However, we are striving to develop mechanisms to deliver Patches in a more expedient manner.