Creating Fixlets for PowerVM VIOS fileset updates

Before you begin

Before you use the wizard to deploy fileset updates, obtain the filesets that you want from the IBM website.

Note: The fileset names must be unique and not contain mixed cases. If the files contain the same name with mixed cases, you must rename these files before importing them into the wizard.

You can access the VIOS fixes from the following link: IBM Support Fix Central.

For detailed instructions about using the IBM software support website, see the following technote: IBM Support.

To deploy PTFs, you must identify the Fix Packs for which you are downloading the PTF to reduce the size of your download.

About this task

PowerVM VIOS Fix Packs updates are developed, tested, and released as fix pack bundles. They are intended to be installed as full bundles rather than as individual filesets.

You can use .bff files to create Fixlets for fileset updates or PTFs. Some PowerVM VIOS fixes might have a different format. For example, the fix packs for IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition uses the .sdk format. To allow the VIOS Deployment Wizard to use the fix, rename its extension to .bff file. For example, rename Java6.sdk to Java6.sdk.6.0.0.495.bff.

Procedure

From the BigFix console, click Patch Management > OS Vendors > Patch for VIOS > Dashboards > VIOS Deployment Wizard.

Figure 1. The VIOS Deployment Wizard from the navigation tree

Note: If the checkbox is not selected, the wizard will use the geninstall command to update all the latest filesets included in the media source.
Click Fileset to deploy PowerVM VIOS fileset updates.

Figure 2. Fileset updates
Enter the location of the filesets.
You can provide this information by using the following options:
- Download from URL
  Note: Ensure that you have a sufficient amount of disk space on the /var partition to accommodate large files. Use the available tasks to set any size or space limitations. For more information, see Fix pack download configuration.
- File (for a single fileset)
- Folder (for multiple filesets)
- Network File System (NFS) path
Click Next.
Select the relevant platforms and customize the text fields as necessary.
Select the appropriate check box to update only the filesets that are already installed on the endpoint, which are available in the source media.
The install_all_updates command is used to perform the update.
Filesets that are present on the media source, but are not installed on the endpoint will not be considered for the update except in the following situations:
- The new filesets are installed as requisites of other filesets.
- The /var/adm/ras/bosinst.data filesets ALL_DEVICES_KERNELS to yes.
Note: If the check box is not selected, all the latest filesets that are included in the media source with the geninstall command.
Select the appropriate check box to remove all the interim fixes that are installed on the endpoint before deploying the fileset updates.
Select the appropriate check box to create a one-time action rather than a reusable Fixlet.
Optional: Select the appropriate check box to create a preview-only action.
This preview runs the pre-installed verification checks. The results of those checks are available in the PowerVM VIOS Pre-Install Verification Results analysis.
After you set the necessary parameters, click Finish.

Results

After completion, the generated one-time action or Fixlet displays in the BigFix console. You can use it to deploy the PowerVM VIOS update to the relevant computers.

What to do next

To view detailed information about the results of deploying your PowerVM VIOS fileset update, activate the PowerVM VIOS Custom Fileset Deployment Results analysis (ID #22).

Click All Patch Management > Analyses > By Site > Patches for VIOS > PowerVM VIOS Custom Fileset Deployment Results > Activate.

Figure 3. Activating the VIOS Custom Fileset Deployment Results analysis