Interim fix support

Fixlets for interim fixes, which are released through an AIX vulnerability advisory or subscription notification, are available for installation from the BigFix console.

An interim fix (previously called emergency fix) is a temporary solution for defects or known Authorized Program Analysis Reports APARs, which can be used to resolve critical problems until a permanent fix (PTF) becomes available. Interim fixes are tested for functionality and regression before they are made available. However, the scope and configurations are limited, and generally regression is not done in full. Before you install such fixes, ensure that you consider the nature of the issue and the available fix.

BigFix provides Fixlets for Security Advisories (SA) and High Impact/Highly Pervasive Fixes (HIPER) interim fixes for IBM AIX versions that are active in the last three years.

These Fixlets include fixes for the AIX operating system and third-party applications.

BigFix provides two types of Fixlet content to ensure that endpoints are secure and contain the fixes based on an endpoint's APAR applicability. One is mainly for inventory and tracking purposes, which means that it doesn't contain a way to apply the fix. The second type of content provides you a way to automatically apply the fix to the endpoints directly from the BigFix console.

The following table shows the difference between these two types of content.

Table 1. Difference between the audit Fixlet and interim fix Fixlet for SA and HIPER

	Audit Fixlet	Interim Fix Fixlet
Applicability and pre-checks	Includes an applicability check based on the system's current Technology Level and Service Pack. This means that the Fixlet displays as Relevant if the APAR is applicable to your system.	Includes an applicability check based on the system's current Technology Level and Service Pack, and a preview installation embedded in the Fixlet action. This means that the Fixlet displays as Relevant if the APAR is applicable to your system.
Available actions	Provides a link to retrieve more information about the APAR, as well as steps on how to manually create a Fixlet using the AIX Interim Fix Management Wizard.	Provides a mechanism to automatically download the interim fix package (.epkg.Z file) from Fix Central to the BigFix server.
Categorization	Content are categorized as Security Advisory, High Impact/Highly Pervasive, and PTF in Error.	Content are categorized as Interim Fix - Security Advisory and Interim Fix - HIPER.
Conflict resolution	Not Applicable	Checks for conflicting interim fixes and provides an option to resolve locked filesets, by removing the previous interim fix, before applying the new interim fix.