---------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- PMP INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS ----------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------ AIX PMP 3251 -------------------- 1.0 This document describes how to install the AIX* 3.2.5 Preventive Maintenance Package (PMP) 3251. I. INTRODUCTION II. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE YOU BEGIN INSTALLING ON STANDARD SYSTEMS Installation Preview Installing Using update_all Limited Disk Space Procedure INSTALLING ON DISKLESS SERVERS INSTALLING ON REMOTE /usr SERVERS AND CLIENTS III. APPENDICES Appendix A - Network Install Support for FDDI Appendix B - Copying Package onto Hard Disk Appendix C - Using an Alternate File System Appendix D - Freeing Up Disk Space Appendix E - oslevel Command * AIX is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation I. INTRODUCTION WHAT IS A PMP? A Preventive Maintenance Package is a cumulative update package containing all selective fixes and their requisites for a given set of software products. AIX PMP 3251 is the third PMP to be released for IBM's AIX 3.2 operating system. IBM has provided this package with the expressed intent that this package be used to cumulatively update all the products to a common maintenance level, however, care has been taken to ensure that individual updates can be applied from this package. When you have installed this package, you will be able to take advantage of the following benefits: o The installation time to apply future fix packages is significantly reduced, since necessary requisites would already be applied. o These same fix packages will be smaller and more manageable. o An enhanced method for determining your system's maintenance level is enabled with this package. PROCEDURAL OVERVIEW o Read all the Vital PTF Information. It consists of these PMP Installation Instructions and important customer notifications. o Understand that installing this package will require you to reboot your system. You will need to reboot your system only one time. o Install this package following the appropriate installation instructions. USE THE AIX INSTALLATION GUIDE As a new customer to AIX, you should first refer to your AIX Version 3.2 Installation Guide for complete instructions on installing AIX 3.2.5 and conceptual information. Then, return to the PMP Installation Instructions for specific installation instructions. II. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE YOU BEGIN The following information will be helpful in successful installation of this package. Please review this information before attempting installation. o Create a current back up of your system. Refer to the 'Backing Up Your System' section of the Installation Guide for more information. o The root user environment should be the default system environment, running Korn shell (/bin/ksh), and should not include additional aliases, functions, or environment variables that may interfere with the update process. o Set the LANG environment variable to 'C' before beginning the installation. Use the command: export LANG=C This will reduce the installation time and avoid any language specific installation problems. o This package will copy your /etc/sendmail.cf file to /etc/sendmail.cf.old. After you install this package, compare the new sendmail.cf file to your old one. You can do one of the following: - Use the new sendmail.cf file, taking advantage of all the latest changes. Do the following: o Reconfigure sendmail.cf o Run sendmail -bz o Run refresh -s sendmail - Use the old sendmail.cf file. Do the following: o Copy sendmail.cf.old over sendmail.cf o Run sendmail -bz o Run refresh -s sendmail o Do not perform the update process from an Xstation if that Xstation has been booted from the system you are about to update. Communication to the system will be lost. o Do not run AIXwindows during this update process. o If you plan on installing this package from a network maintenance server using Network File System (NFS) or Andrew File System (AFS), please read important information in APPENDIX B - Copying Package onto Hard Disk. o You can specify another file system other than /usr to act as a save location. See APPENDIX C - Using an Alternate File System. II. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS (continued) o You can recover a significant amount of disk space before you install this package if you do not plan on ever using this system as a Diskless Server or as a Remote /usr Server. See APPENDIX D - Freeing Up Disk Space Procedure. o This PMP does not include InfoExplorer databases. Before installing this PMP, enter cd /usr/lpp/info/data cp ispaths ispaths.save After Installing this PMP, enter: cd /usr/lpp/info/data cp ispaths.save ispaths You can now access all previously installed InfoExplorer databases using your old ispaths file. Or, if you did not copy ispaths to ispaths.save before installation of this package, enter: cd /usr/lpp/info/data cp ispaths.full ispaths You can now access your previously installed InfoExplorer databases using the AIX 3.2.5 ispaths file. The compiler InfoExplorer databases are in a separate library with 3.2.5. To access installed compiler InfoExplorer databases (FORTRAN, Pascal, C++), enter: info -t content -l compilers o You should create BOSboot diskettes or a mksysb backup after updating to AIX Version 3.2.5. The following diskettes are now required: - Boot diskette - Display Extensions diskette - Display diskette - Install/Maintenance diskette Warning: The BOS Display Extensions diskette is now required even on systems with no graphics adapters. Use the bosboot, mkextdskt, mkdispdskt, and mkinstdskt commands to create the AIX boot diskettes. Be sure to use the Display Extensions diskette after the boot diskette. Note: Special Notice for Kanji (Japanese Locale) Users: You do not need to create the BOSboot diskettes. Kanji systems use the standard National Language Services diskettes to boot and install AIX Version 3.2. INSTALLING ON STANDARD SYSTEMS There are two sets of procedures for installing the PMP onto standard systems. A standard system is one that is not functioning as a Diskless Server, Diskless Client, or as a Remote /usr Client. In addition, you can now preview the installation to ensure that all necessary updates are present on the media, and sufficient disk space is available prior to installing. Refer to the INSTALLATION PREVIEW section for instructions. Installing Using update_all The update_all procedure makes the update process easier by providing a prompt-driven utility. This procedure will commit the PMP 3251 package. IBM recommends using this procedure. Limited Disk Space Procedure This procedure provides step-by-step instructions, but performs the same tasks as when installing using the update_all command. This procedure will commit the PMP 3251 package. IBM recommends the update_all procedure. INSTALLATION PREVIEW The following steps allow you to preview the installation in order to ensure that all necessary updates are present on the media, and that sufficient disk space is available to successfully complete the update process. 1. Insert the installation media. 2. If the installation media is a CD-ROM, mount the CD-ROM using the commands: mkdir /tmp/cd mount -o ro -v cdrfs /dev/cd0 /tmp/cd 3. Enable the new preview technology by updating the installation utilities. Run the following command: installp -BXacgq -d bos.obj 3.2.0.0.U437028 \ 2>&1 | tee /tmp/installp.log Where: is the name of the installation device. Example: -d /dev/rmt0.1 (tape devices must include the '.1' extension) | is the pipe character. \ is the backslash character used for line continuation. 4. Preview installation of the Preventive Maintenance Package. Run the following command: installp -BNXacgpq -d.1 bos.obj 3.2.0.0.U493251 \ 2>&1 | tee /tmp/preview.log Where: is the name of the installation device. Example: -d /dev/rmt0.1 (tape devices must include the '.1' extension) | is the pipe character. \ is the backslash character used for line continuation. 5. If the installation device is a CD-ROM, unmount the CD-ROM using the command: umount /tmp/cd 6. Review the output in the /tmp/preview.log file. Items in the WARNINGS section are not likely to cause an installation failure. The SUCCESSES section should include: Selected Filesets ----------------- bos.obj 3.2.0.0.U493251 # AIX Maintenance Level The RESOURCES section provides information on disk space and other system resources that will be required to successfully complete the installation. INSTALLING USING update_all This package contains a new update_all utility. The update_all procedure makes the update process easier by providing a prompt-driven utility. This procedure will commit the PMP 3251 package. IBM recommends using this procedure. This utility is not intended for those customers who are: o Updating only a portion of their system o Updating network installation server install images o Updating a Diskless or Remote /usr Client The program checks that your system has sufficient resources to update, and offers you the opportunity to allocate additional resources if they are available. This prompt-driven utility will also free up disk space before and after the update, if you wish. This program will prompt you to reboot the system when the update is complete. 1. Insert the installation media. 2. If the installation media is a CD-ROM, mount the CD-ROM using the commands: mkdir /tmp/cd mount -o ro -v cdrfs /dev/cd0 /tmp/cd 3. Install the latest update_all utility. Run the following command: installp -BXacgq -d.1 bos.obj 3.2.0.0.U437401 \ 2>&1 | tee /tmp/installp.log Where: is the name of the installation device. Example: -d /dev/rmt0.1 (tape devices must include the '.1' extension) | is the pipe character. \ is the backslash character used for line continuation. 4. If the installation device is a CD-ROM, unmount the CD-ROM using the command: umount /tmp/cd 5. Place the entire system in a dormant state by making sure that all users are logged off and by stopping all applications. This will help to avoid any compatibility problems that may be encountered if you attempt to update an active system. Do not put your system in single-user mode or shutdown your system. INSTALLING USING update_all (continued) 6. Install the Preventive Maintenance Package. Run the following command: /usr/sbin/update_all If the update_all command fails, take the appropriate steps indicated by the messages displayed. If the bosboot command fails during the install process, DO NOT REBOOT your system. Correct the problem indicated by the messages displayed and rerun the bosboot command. To run the bosboot command, enter: bosboot -ad /dev/ipldevice 7. After the update is complete, the update_all program prompts you to reboot your system. If you decide not to have the update_all command reboot your system for you, please reboot your system now. Run the following commands: shutdown -Fr You have completed the installation of PMP 3251 using update_all. LIMITED DISK SPACE PROCEDURE This procedure provides step-by-step instructions. This procedure will apply and commit the PMP 3251 package. Using the update_all installation procedure will automatically perform these steps. Special Note: A disk space cleanup utility has been provided with this package. You can recover a significant amount of disk space before and after installing this package. See APPENDIX D - Freeing Up Disk Space. 1. Place the entire system in a dormant state by making sure that all users are logged off and by stopping all applications. This will help to avoid any compatibility problems that may be encountered if you attempt to update an active system. Do not put your system in single-user mode or shutdown your system. 2. Commit all software currently applied to your system. To generate a list of all software products that are currently applied but not committed, run the following command: lslpp -acl all | egrep APPLIED | tee /tmp/ptfs.applied Note: For systems using National Language Support, you may need to replace the word APPLIED with an equivalent translation. Commit all software currently applied to your system. Run the following command: installp -Xc all 2>&1 | tee /tmp/commit.log Note: Committing existing applied software frees up some disk space. If any product is committed, you may execute this command again until an empty log is produced. If some updates will not commit, it may be due to missing requisite PTFs. This can happen if you recently installed new software products but did not install the software updates to those products. You can proceed with installing the PMP if this condition exists. LIMITED DISK SPACE PROCEDURE (continued) 3. Ensure that the install process will have write access to the /usr/lpp/info/En_US directory. Run the following command: touch /usr/lpp/info/En_US/aixmin/aixmin.key If you receive errors, they are probably due to one of the following conditions: o You are accessing the InfoExplorer database files from compact disc (CD), Network File System (NFS), or Andrew File System (AFS). Action: Unmount the file system Action: Run the touch command again o You do not have a /usr/lpp/info/En_US/aixmin directory. Action: mkdir /usr/lpp/info/En_US/aixmin Action: Run the touch command again 4. Insert the installation media. 5. If the installation media is a CD-ROM, mount the CD-ROM using the commands: mkdir /tmp/cd mount -o ro -v cdrfs /dev/cd0 /tmp/cd 6. Enable new fix technology by updating the installation utilities and associated SMIT menus. Run the following command: installp -BXacgq -d.1 bos.obj 3.2.0.0.U437028 \ 2>&1 | tee /tmp/installp.log Where: is the name of the installation device. Example: -d /dev/rmt0.1 (tape devices must include the '.1' extension) | is the pipe character. \ is the backslash character used for line continuation. LIMITED DISK SPACE PROCEDURE (continued) 7. Install the Preventive Maintenance Package. Run the following command: installp -BNXacgq -d.1 bos.obj 3.2.0.0.U493251 \ 2>&1 | tee /tmp/installp.log Where: is the name of the installation device. Example: -d /dev/rmt0.1 (tape devices must include the '.1' extension) | is the pipe character. \ is the backslash character used for line continuation. UNATTENDED INSTALL NOTE: Please stay and monitor the screen output for the first 15 minutes. Results from requisite and disk space checking may take up to 15 minutes. 8. Verify that the PMP has been installed successfully. Run the following command: lslpp -hB U493251 If the command fails to indicate that PTF U493251 has been installed successfully, review the /tmp/installp.log file and take corrective action. 9. Verify system consistency. Run the following command: lppchk -v This command may take up to 10 minutes to complete. Any output indicates there is an inconsistency. If the command indicates system inconsistency, review the /tmp/installp.log file and take corrective action. 10. Reboot the system by running the following command: shutdown -Fr You have completed the installation of PMP 3251. OPTIONAL CLEANUP STEP: If you never plan to use this system as a Diskless Server or as a Remote /usr Server, you can free up a significant amount of disk space after installing the PMP 3251. See APPENDIX D - Freeing Up Disk Space. INSTALLING ON DISKLESS SERVERS This document provides step by step procedures for installing the PMP onto a client's Shared Product Object Tree (SPOT) if the server's /usr file system is functioning as the SPOT for that client. Due to the highly variable configurations of diskless environments that do not use the server's /usr file system as the client SPOT, specific installation steps for such environments are not outlined in this document. For more information on updating such environments, see the revised AIX Version 3.2 Installation Guide SC23-2341-09. FOR SPOT THAT IS THE SERVER'S /usr FILE SYSTEM This section provides instructions for installing the PMP onto the client SPOT of the diskless server. In this case, the server's /usr file system is the SPOT for the diskless/dataless clients. 1. Install the PMP on the server using one of the installation procedures found in the section "Installing on Standard Systems" of this document. 2. Shutdown all clients associated with the SPOT. 3. Update the clients root part to be consistent with the server's /usr. Run the following command on the server: smit -C diskless_install +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | Install / Update Software | | | | Move cursor to desired item and press Enter. | | | | Install / Update Software | | Clean Up After a Failed Installation | --> Finish Incomplete Client Installation | | List All Software on Installation Media | | List All Problems Fixed by Software on Installation Media | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Action: Select Finish Incomplete Client Installation Action: Press Enter INSTALLING ON DISKLESS SERVERS (continued) A screen similar to the following is displayed: +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | Finish Incomplete Client Installation | | | |Type or select values in entry fields. | |Press Enter AFTER making all desired changes. | | | | [Entry Fields] | |* SPOT (/usr) name [] +| +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Action: Press F4 to generate a list of SPOTS Action: Select the desired SPOT Action: Press Enter The root portion of the software products for all clients will now be updated to be consistent with the SPOT. 4. Verify system consistency. Run the following command: lppchkclient -S SPOTname -v | tee /tmp/lppchkclient.log This command may take up to 10 minutes to complete. Any output indicates there is an inconsistency. If the command indicates system inconsistency, review the /smit.log file on the server and take corrective action. 5. Boot the clients. 6. Verify that the PMP has been installed successfully. Run the following command on all the clients: lslpp -hB U493251 If the command fails to indicate that PTF U493251 has been installed successfully, please review the /smit.log file on the server and take corrective action. You have completed the installation of PMP 3251. INSTALLING ON REMOTE /usr SERVERS AND CLIENTS This section provides instructions for installing the PMP onto a Remote /usr Client. 1. Backup the /usr server and all /usr clients prior to beginning the installation process. Refer to "Backing Up Your System" in the AIX Version 3.2 Installation Guide. 2. Prior to updating the /usr server to 3.2.5, create a backup directory on the server containing programs and libraries necessary to update /usr clients in a later step. mkdir /usr/oldlib cd /usr/bin cp -p bsh ksh smitty /usr/oldlib cd /usr/lib cp -p libasl.a libc.a libcurses.a libodm.a libbsd.a libcfg.a \ libiconv.a libs.a /usr/oldlib 3. Login to all /usr clients as root on the console. 4. Update the /usr server to AIX 3.2.5 using the procedures provided in the section titled INSTALLING ON STANDARD SYSTEMS, and then return to step 5. 5. Execute the following commands on the server to circumvent a problem in the /usr client update process. mv /usr/lpp/msg/En_US/codepoint.cat /sbin ln -s /sbin/codepoint.cat /usr/lpp/msg/En_US INSTALLING ON REMOTE /usr SERVERS AND CLIENTS (continued) 6. The /usr client should still be waiting at the root prompt, but all commands attempted will terminate with a "Killed" message due to incompatibility between the running kernel and new libraries. If the client is not in this state, use the following procedure to bring it to this state. o Disconnect the client from the network and reboot it with the key in the "NORMAL" position. The boot process will take much longer than normal, but the /usr clent will boot from it's local /usr filesystem. o Once the client has booted, reconnect it to the network and login as root on the console. o Mount the /usr filesystem from the server by executing the following command on the client, substituting the hostname of the server. mount -oro server_hostname:/usr /usr 7. Build a 3.2.5 boot image on the /usr client and reboot the client by executing the following commands on the client. export LIBPATH=/usr/oldlib /usr/oldlib/ksh /usr/bin/bosboot -ad /dev/ipldevice \ -p /usr/lib/boot/netdisk.proto reboot 8. Update the client using the SMIT option "Install / Update This Client From Remote /usr". III. APPENDICES APPENDIX A - NETWORK INSTALL SUPPORT FOR FDDI After installing this package, your system will be able to allow clients to perform network installations over your FDDI adapters. You will need to create an additional "Communications Extension" diskette that will be part of your boot diskettes. Your client will need this diskette if installing via the FDDI interface. Creating the Communications Extension Diskette o The system used to create the set of boot diskettes must have the PMP 3251 package already installed. o This system must have a FDDI adapter installed and available. o This system must have the following LPPs installed: fddi.obj FDDI Software Support (device drivers) fddi.mc FDDI Microcode o Use the bosboot, mkdispdskt, mkinstdskt, and mkextdskt commands to create the boot diskettes. When you run the mkinstdskt command, the FDDI adapter will be detected and you will receive a prompt to insert a formatted diskette. The prompt is: Insert a Formatted Diskette for the Communications Extensions...then press enter. After the diskette is created, label it appropriately. Using the Communications Extensions Diskette When you choose the FDDI adapter as the input device, you will be prompted to insert the Communications Extensions diskette. Network Install Images Must Include FDDI Support When installing a system over a FDDI network, be sure that the images include the fddi.obj and fddi.mc products. If the bos.obj image is a mksysb image, ensure that the image already contains the fddi.obj and fddi.mc products. If the bos.obj image is the bos.obj image from an installation tape, be sure to select the fddi.obj and fddi.mc products in addition to the normal bosnet and language products. APPENDIX B - COPYING PACKAGE ONTO HARD DISK The following procedures document a method for updating the installation utilities on your maintenance server and copying the package onto a hard disk. After performing these procedures, you should be able to use the package for network installs. Space required to copy this package to hard disk is approximately 420MB. 1. Determine if you have already updated the installation utilities on the server. Run the following command: lslpp -hB U437028 If the PTF is already installed, proceed to step 6. The installation utilities on your server have already been updated. 2. Insert the installation media. 3. If the installation media is a CD-ROM, mount the CD-ROM using the commands: mkdir /tmp/cd mount -o ro -v cdrfs /dev/cd0 /tmp/cd 4. Enable new fix technology by updating the installation utilities and associated SMIT menus. Run the following command: installp -BXacgq -d.1 bos.obj 3.2.0.0.U437028 \ 2>&1 | tee /tmp/installp.log Where: is the name of the installation device. Example: -d /dev/rmt0.1 (tape devices must include the '.1' extension) | is the pipe character. \ is the backslash character used for line continuation. 5. If the installation device is a CD-ROM, unmount the CD-ROM using the command: umount /tmp/cd APPENDIX B - COPYING PACKAGE ONTO HARD DISK (continued) 6. To copy the software updates onto a hard disk, run the following command: smit -C bffcreate +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Copy Software to Hard Disk for Future Installation | | | | Type or select a value for the entry field. | | Press Enter AFTER making all desired changes. | | | | [Entry Fields] | | * INPUT device / directory for software [] + | | | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ Action: Press F4 Action: Select the Installation Device Action: Press Enter +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Copy Software to Hard Disk for Future Installation | | | | Type or select values in entry fields. | | Press Enter AFTER making all desired changes. | | | | [Entry Fields] | | * INPUT device / directory for software /dev/rmt0.1 | | * SOFTWARE name [all] + | | DIRECTORY for storing software [/usr/sys/inst.images] | | DIRECTORY for temporary storage during copying [/tmp] | | EXTEND file systems if space needed? yes + | | | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ Action: Make appropriate changes as needed. Action: Press Enter APPENDIX C - USING AN ALTERNATE FILE SYSTEM With this package comes a new installation feature called "ALTERNATE Save Directory" (or the -t flag of the installp command). This feature allows you to use a separate, temporary file system to save replaced files during the install of PTFs. This option is primarily useful in the following two circumstances. o You have enough local disk space for saving replaced files but you do not want to permanently expand the /(root) or the /usr file systems. In this circumstance, you can choose to use or create a different file system for the alternate save directory. Once you have finished installing and committing the updates, that disk space can be used for other purposes. o If you do not have enough local disk space for saving replaced files but you have access to ample disk space on a remote system, you can specify a directory that is mounted from a remote file system. It is recommended that if a remote file system is used, you should commit the installation as soon as possible. You may want to initiate the installation action as an apply and commit operation (-ac flags). If you want to apply only in order to retain the capability of rejecting any unwanted updates, then it is highly recommended that you test the newly installed updates as soon as possible and then commit or reject them. ENABLING THE NEW -t OPTION In order to take advantage of this new feature of the installp command you must first enable the new fix technology by updating the installation utilities and associated SMIT menus. 1. Determine if you have already updated the installation utilities on the server. Run the following command: lslpp -hB U437028 If the PTF is already installed, the new fix technology is already installed, and you may skip the following steps. 2. Insert the installation media. 3. If the installation media is a CD-ROM, mount the CD-ROM using the commands: mkdir /tmp/cd mount -o ro -v cdrfs /dev/cd0 /tmp/cd ENABLING THE NEW -t OPTION (continued) 4. Enable new fix technology by updating the installation utilities and associated SMIT menus. Run the following command: installp -BXacgq -d.1 bos.obj 3.2.0.0.U437028 \ 2>&1 | tee /tmp/installp.log Where: is the name of the installation device. Example: -d /dev/rmt0.1 (tape devices must include the '.1' extension) | is the pipe character. \ is the backslash character used for line continuation. RESTRICTIONS The -t and the -N (no to SAVE replaced files prompt) options are mutually exclusive. Installp will not allow you to say "no" to "SAVE replaced files?" and also specify an ALTERNATE save directory. The following restrictions apply in a diskless workstation environment: o If a system's /usr file system is being used as the Shared Product Object Tree (SPOT) server in a diskless workstation environment, and if the system uses alternate save directories during installation, the SPOT must never be administered from a superclient. o A system's /usr file system must never be used as the input device for a mkspot command if the system uses alternate save directories during installation. APPENDIX D - FREEING UP DISK SPACE Every RISC System/6000 running AIX version 3.2 is capable of supporting Diskless Clients and Remote /usr Clients. This feature is made possible, in part, by the duplicate existence of many AIX commands. Systems that are never configured to be Diskless Servers or Remote /usr Servers, do not need these duplicate commands. These duplicate commands can occupy a significant amount of disk space. The amount varies depending on the number of licensed program products and the number of selective fixes installed. The PMP 3251 package provides a utility called ptfdir_clean that can be used to tell you how much disk space is being used by these duplicate commands. If you decide to remove these commands, the utility will delete them. ACCESSING THE UTILITY The ptfdir_clean utility is contained in the update_all PTF U437401. After you have installed U437401, you will be able to run the ptfdir_clean utility. 1. Determine if you have already applied the update_all PTF on the server. Run the following command: lslpp -hB U437401 If the PTF is already installed, you may skip the following steps. Proceed to "USING THE UTILITY". 2. Insert the installation media. 3. If the installation media is a CD-ROM, mount the CD-ROM using the commands: mkdir /tmp/cd mount -o ro -v cdrfs /dev/cd0 /tmp/cd 4. Install PTF U437401 using the following command: installp -BXacgq -d.1 bos.obj 3.2.0.0.U437401 \ 2>&1 | tee /tmp/installp.log Where: is the name of the installation device. Example: -d /dev/rmt0.1 (tape devices must include the '.1' extension) | is the pipe character. \ is the backslash character used for line continuation. 5. If the installation device is a CD-ROM, unmount the CD-ROM using the command: umount /tmp/cd USING THE UTILITY Run the following command to identify how much disk space would be recovered (execution time may take up to 15 minutes): /usr/sbin/ptfdir_clean Run the following command to recover the disk space: /usr/sbin/ptfdir_clean -y APPENDIX E - oslevel COMMAND The oslevel command is used to determine the maintenance level of a system. The oslevel command has been redesigned to support this, and future Preventive Maintenance Packages, and to provide additional information useful for reducing package sizes when ordering fixes (PTFs). Particularly useful options include: oslevel -? Outputs usage information for the oslevel command. oslevel -q Lists known maintenance levels. oslevel -b Determines the maintenance level of your system. The resulting output is useful when ordering fixes to reduce the package size by eliminating fixes that you already have installed. oslevel -m Lists the fixes required by your system to be at the specified maintenance level.