Content deleted Content added
m v2.04b - Fix errors for CW project (Break in list) |
SMP is only for OS/360 and successors |
||
Line 6:
A PTF normally follows an APAR ([[Authorized Program Analysis Report]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=IBM Corporation |title=IBM Security: APARs explained |url=https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/ibm-security-apars-explained |website=ibm.com |accessdate=Oct 14, 2019}} a formal report from IBM development to customers that have notified IBM of a problem or suspected defect.</ref>), and where an "APAR fix" was issued, the PTF "is a tested APAR"<ref name=Gabe/> or set of APAR fixes. However, if an APAR is resolved as "Fixed If Next" or "Permanent Restriction" then there may be no PTF fixing it, only a subsequent release.
==PTF installation==
{{expand section|Maintenance vehicles for other platforms|talk=Service cycle}}
Initially, installations had to install service via a manual process. Over time, IBM started to provide tools to automate the installation of batches of PTFs. For [[OS/360 and successors]], this culminated in System Modification Program (SMP) and [[System Modification Program/Extended]] (SMP/E).
==PTF usage==
{{expand section|Maintenance vehicles for other platforms, alternate methodologies|talk=Service cycle}}
PTFs used to be distributed in a group on a so-called ''Program Update Tape'' (''PUT'') or ''Recommended Service Upgrade'' (''RSU''), approximately on a monthly basis. They can now be downloaded straight to the system through a direct connection to IBM support. In some instances IBM will release a "Cumulative PTF Pack", a large number of fixes which function best as a whole, and are sometimes codependent. When this happens, IBM issues compact discs containing the entire PTF pack, which can be loaded directly onto the system from its media drive.
| |||