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October 2012 iTech Solutions because IBM i (AS/400, iSeries) didn't come

with a System Administrator.

In This Issue

Technology Refresh 5

Cleaning up Save Files

Upcoming Events

get ready for Disaster

Recovery

Release levels and PTFs

Quick Links

More About Us

Upcoming Events

Quick Links

Register Now

Last Month'sNewsletter

More About Us

Common ConnectArticle on V6R1

Greetings!

i can do anything with iTech Solutions

If you live in the area impacted by Hurricane

Sandy, we hope this newsletter finds you

and your loved ones safe. We also wanted

to let you know that iTech Solutions is here

for you during this time.

We sent out a special newsletter on Monday

with instructions for performing a full

system backup. I believe that it is

important to review your backups, analyze

what is being backed up, and what isn't, and

what plans do you have to put your system

back together in the unlikely event that you

were to have another disaster. Remember,

backup isn't just about checking to make

sure there are error messages in QSYSOPR,

but actually testing a full system restore.

You want to test out the process when it

isn't an emergency. This isn't an option, it

is for a full test. If you don't have a machine

to test a recovery on, contact Paul and he

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How to make yourTransition to IBM i

6.1 easier

can setup a contract for you to use one of

our systems in your location, or our location

to perform a disaster recovery test.

It has also been a very busy speaking season

with presentations at local user groups in

Vermont and Rhode Island, COMMON Fall

conference in Columbus, Ohio, the iBelieve

event in New York city, and the IBM Power

Technical Conference in Las Vegas. The IBM

technical conference is usually all IBM

speakers, but Pete Massiello of iTech

Solutions will be there presenting 7 sessions

there. Of course one of them will be How to

successfully upgrade to IBM i 6.1 or 7.1. If

IBM relies on iTech Solutions to present OS

upgrade information to their users, shouldn't

you be thinking about using iTech Solutions

for your upgrade?

This issue of our newsletter has five articles.

In the first article, IBM has released

Technology Refresh 7.1 for IBMi and the

details are presented. The second article is

how to cleanup Save Files on your system.

The third article lists some of the upcoming

events in which iTech Solutions will be

participating. The fourth article is about

doing Disaster Recovery testing, and getting

the funding to afford what you need to

protect the business. The last article is for

your reference with updated PTF

information. Please note that we have

added a new PTF group to our recommended

list, which is the High Availability Group. If

you are an iTech Solutions PTF Maintenance

customer, you will receive this on your next

application of PTFs.

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If you are still on V5R4, send Pete an emailand he can help you upgrade to 6.1 or 7.1.With more upgrades than anyone else to6.1/7.1 done to date you know iTechSolutions has the expertise and know how.

iTech Solutions can help you improveperformance, perform security audits;implement a High Availability solution;perform health checks, systemsmanagement, remote administration, PTFmanagement, blade installations, iSCSIconfigurations, backup/recovery; upgrade anexisting machine; or upgrade to a newmachine. If you are thinking of LPAR orHMC, then think iTech Solutions. We havethe skills to help you get the most out ofyour IBM i.

For more information on any of the articles

below please visit us on the web at iTech

Solutions or email iTech Solutions. We

would love for you to let us know any

articles that you wish for the future, or if

you enjoy any of the articles in the current

newsletters.

Technology Refresh5.

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Right on schedule, IBM has delivered new

features, functions, and enhancements to

IBM i 7.1 with Technology Refresh 5 (TR5).

We have been running this release for a

while, and it has been extremely stable. You

install TR5 like installing a PTF Group or

Cumulative package. For a list of the

inprovements, please click this link

Instead of going into all the details, I am

going to provide a link. There is some very

cool stuff in the link, so just relax and do

some reading.

Identifying and

cleaning up

Save Files

(*SAVF).

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Disk space no matter how cheap disk prices

become, always seems to be an issue. I was

recently at a new client, which had so many

save files on their system they were just

drowning in them. In fact, they didn't even

realize actually how many they had so I

thought tracking and identifying save files

would be a good topic.

There are many times that a customer will

ask iTech Solutions to come in and find out

where all their disk space has gone. We have

discussed the use of RTVDSKINF and

RTVDIRINF to gather the information in

previous newsletters. Sometimes we need to

do a little more analysis than these tools

provide. One area that is worth looking into

on your machine is the amount and size of

Save Files (also known as *SAVF). Save files

are a special type of file in IBM i (OS/400 or

i5/OS) which emulate a tape device, a file

where you can back up libraries or data.

Many programmers will back up a library to

a save file prior to running an update

program, or an operator will do a fast back

up of a library. While save files serve a great

purpose, people tend to forget to delete the

save files after they are no longer required.

So first let's look at how to create a list of

all the save files on your system. First and

foremost, we need to make sure we don't

clean up any save files in the IBM libraries:

those would be the libraries starting with Q.

So, let's then concentrate our investigation

into the user libraries. Generate a list with

this command:

DSPOBJD OBJ(*ALLUSR/*ALL) OBJTYP(*FILE)

OUTPUT(*OUTFILE)

OUTFILE(ITECHSOL/SAVFS).

You will want to submit this to batch since

this will be a long running command. When

it's complete, we need to review the list of

save files, and we can use either Query/400

or SQL to get our data. Here is basically

what we want:

Select the input file as

ITECHSOL/SAVFS

Select these fields ODLBNM, ODOBNM,

ODOBSZ, ODOBOW, ODLDAT, & ODUDAT

Sort by ODOBSZ

Select records by: ODOBAT EQ 'SAVF'

This will provide a list of our save files. The

field ODOBSZ will show you the size of the

save file, and we sorted by the largest save

files at the top of our list. The field ODLBNM

is the library and the field ODOBNM is the

filename. But just because the file appears

on this list doesn't mean you can delete

them. You should look at the last two fields-

-last date used and last date updated--to

see how recently the files have been used.

I would always make sure I have a good

backup before deleting any files that I'm not

certain about. Once you get rid of all these

save files that you no longer need, you will

then see your disk utilization reduced, and

most likely the duration of your backups will

also be decreased. If you are unsure or need

some help with this process, give us a call at

203-744-7854 or contact us via email and we

can work on this together with you.

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The more you clean, the quicker your

backups will be, the more free space that

will be on your system, and if you had to

restore the system, that would certainly be

quicker.

Upcoming Events.

Some of the events that we will be speaking

at, or exhibiting at are listed below. Don't

forget the iTech Solutions web site at

http://www.itechsol.com.

October 29 to November 2 - IBM Power

Systems Technical University - Las Vegas,

NV.

Tips and Tricks to improve performance

and reduce disk space.

Everything to Get Started with the new

Systems Navigator for IBM i

Understanding the HMC, FSP, Firmware,

and IBM i. Putting the pieces together.

What do you need to know when

upgrading to IBM i 6.1 & 7.1.

Building Virtual i partitions hosted by

IBM i.

December 11 - FASUG, in Norwalk, CT

www.fasug.org

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www.fasug.org

Programmer's future: Looking back to

see into the Future.

December 12 - LISUG in Woodbury, Long

Island www.LISUG.org

Programmer's future: Looking back to

see into the Future.

"The best way to

motivate management to

invest in a DR plan is to

set the building across

the street on fire" -

unknown

A friend of mine sent me that

quote in an email, and I had a

really good laugh. Now, I am

not advocating anyone do

anything crazy like that, but if

you sit back and think about

that statement for a minute, there certainly

is some truth in it. People don't get serious

about DR, backups, or recovery, until

something happens. Don't let that be you.

How many times do you think about disaster

recovery, but just know the boss isn't going

to sign the PO to get a second machine for

High Availability, or even signup with a Hot

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Site for Disaster Recovery? I was at a new

prospect a while ago, and I got on their 170

machine to just "poke around", and I noticed

that they didn't have any disk protection

(i.e. no Raid nor Mirroring). That machine is

over 12 years old, how much longer before a

disk failure? They are living on borrowed

time. I then looked for when the last time

they did a full backup, and it was over 4

years ago. So, I asked them "When was the

last time you backed up the machine?". They

told me "last night". I said to them, "No, you

just backed up your data library last night,

when was the last time you did a full system

backup". They gave me the funny look, like I

have no idea. I said, "How about 4 years

ago". They said "No way", and went over to

the filling cabinet (not a fireproof cabinet,

but just a filling cabinet you purchase at

Staples to hold files) to pull out the last full

save. She read the label on the tape, looked

at me and said "How did you know that?". I

then ask her, "What would happen to your

business if you lost this computer". We

scheduled a full system save for that night,

and moved it off site to the CEO's house.

While that isn't the best location for the

tape, being off-site 15 miles away is

certainly better than 5 feet away from the

machine.

Many shops don't understand the need for

taking an occasional full backup, and also

moving that backup off-site. They

understand when a disaster occurs and they

need to recover. The reason the title of this

article is so apropos, is that don't let a

disaster happen in your shop or across the

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street to then examine your plan. Can you

sleep with your answers to these questions:

How often do I do a full system backup?

Is it at least monthly?

Do I have written procedures off-site

that describes what is backed up and

how to recover?

Are the tapes off-site?

Are the tapes labeled?

Have you thought about backing up to

the cloud instead?

Do I know which tapes and how to

recover?

Have I tested my plan in the last year?

Do I have a site that I can run a test

recovery on?

Do I have a site I can recover to?

What happens if my staff isn't available

to recover?

What about the other machines in your

network?

If you have HA software, when was your

last roll-swap?

If I have an HMC can I recover that?

Is my I_BASE_01 CD/DVD someplace

safe and accessible?

Disaster Recovery is a vital function that

your company can't afford to just gloss over.

It starts with good solid backups. If you

don't understand backups, aren't sure if you

are doing backups correctly, or wonder if

you have everything? Then bring in iTech

Solutions for our Backup/Recovery analysis

and we will insure your backups are

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complete. While there are some customers

who can't afford a second machine, or others

that don't want a cold site (where you

restore your backups to). Check out iTech

Solutions answer to these problems at

www.i-in-the-cloud.com. The easiest thing

to do is a full backup at whatever frequency

you think you can afford. I would

recommend at least monthly, but some

customers will do this quarterly. But just

remember, you can't recover without a good

backup. If you are unsure of what you are

backing up, you can be sure you will have no

idea what to restore and if you restored

everything.

We are working with a few customers right

now to either bring in a second machine in

for High Availability or host them in our

cloud with High Availability, as well as

working with a few customers documenting

and testing their disaster recovery. These

customers have seen the holes in their

disaster recovery, and are doing the right

steps to insure in a disaster they can recover

their machine and the data on it. Would you

wait for the building across the street to be

on fire before you test your fire

extinguishers? Probably not, so why wait to

test your DR plans. As IT professionals, I

believe that it is our responsibility to make

management aware of the need for a proper

DR plan, and the risks they are taking by not

testing and investing in a good DR plan. If

management isn't willing to invest in any

plan, make sure you have written evidence

that you made suggestions and they decided

to not fund them. This is what we call CYA.

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I certainly hope you look at your plans right

after reading this article, and don't wait

until you see the fire trucks coming down

the road. If you need some help, send Paul

an email so that he can get you out a quote

for help. Perhaps an early response to an

SOS - Save our System.

Release levels and PTFs

People are always asking me

how often they should be

performing PTF maintenance,

and when is the right time to upgrade their

operating system. I updated this article

from last month with the current levels of

PTFs. Let's look at PTFs. First, PTFs are

Program Temporary Fixes that are created

by IBM to fix a problem that has occurred or

to possibly prevent a problem from

occurring. In addition, some times PTFs add

new functionality, security, or improve

performance. Therefore, I am always

dumbfounded as to why customers do not

perform PTF maintenance on their machine

at least quarterly. If IBM has come out with

a fix for your disk drives, why do you want

to wait for your disk drive to fail with that

problem, only to be told that there is a fix

for that problem, and if you had applied the

PTF beforehand, you would have averted the

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problem. Therefore, I think a quarterly PTF

maintenance strategy is a smart move.

Many of our customers are on our quarterly

PTF maintenance program, and that provides

them with the peace of mind of knowing

their system is up to date on PTFs. Below is

a table of the major group PTFs for the last

few releases. This is what we are

installing for our customers on iTech

Solutions Quarterly Maintenance program.

Releases

7.1 6.1 V5R4 V5R3

Cumul. Pack 12279 12122 12094 8267

Tech. Refresh 5

Grp Hipers 70 132 186 169

DB Group 17 27 33 24

Java Group 10 21 30 23

Print Group 6 24 46 20

Backup/Recov. 17 30 48 33

Blade/IXA/IXS 12 24 15 -

HTTP 14 26 32 17

TCP/IP 6 14 21 16

Security 22 36 30

High Availability 2 1

Hardware 2 2

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The easiest way to check your levels is to

issue the command WRKPTFGRP. They

should all have a status of installed, and you

should be up to the latest for all the above,

based upon your release. Now there are

more groups than the ones listed above, but

these are the general ones that most people

require. We can help you know which group

PTFs you should be installing on your

machine based upon your licensed programs.

Here is a nice tidbit. The Cumulative PTF

package number is broken down as YDDD,

where Y is the year and DDD is the day it

was released. Therefore, if we look at the

cumulative package for V5R4, the ID is 9104.

We can determine that it was created on the

104th day of 2009, which is April 14, 2009.

Look at your machine and this will give you a

quick indication of just how far out of date

in PTFs you may be. I left V5R1 & V5R2 off

the list, because if you are on V5R1 or V5R2,

you don't need to be worrying about PTFs,

you really need to be upgrading your

operating system. The same can be said for

V5R3, but there are still customers who are

on those releases.

If you have an HMC, you should be running

V7R7.5 with Service Pack 1. If your HMC is a

C03, then it should stay at V7R3.5 SP4.

For your Flexible Service Processor (FSP)

that is inside your Power 5 or Power5+ (520,

515, 525, 550, 570), the code level of the

FSP should be 01_SF240_417. Power 6 (940x

M15, M25, & M50 machines, and 8203-E4A,

8204-E8A, & 8204-E4A) customers should be

running EL350_132. For Power6 (MMA, 560,

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and 570 machines) your FSP should be

at EM350_126. If you have a Power6 595

(9119) then you should be on EH350_126.

Depending on which POWER7 model &

generation (B or C). The firmware level is

AL730_095 for 8202-E4B & 8205-E6B (710,

720, 730, 740), AL730_095 for 750 (8233-

E8B) & 755 (8236-E8C). Use AM730_095 for

770 (9117-MMB) & 780 (9179-MHB). The

firmware level is AL740-088 for 8202-E4C &

8205-E6C (710, 720, 730, 740). Use

AM740_088 for 770 (9117-MMC) & 780 (9179-

MHC).

If you need help with upgrading your HMC or

FSP just give us a call. We will be happy to

perform the function for you or assist you in

doing it. Contact Pete Massiello.

We have the skills to help you get the most

out of your IBM i. For more information on

any of the articles please contact us at

info@itechsol.com . We would also like to

know what you think of this newsletter and

any items you would like us to discuss in

future issues.

Our staff of Certified i5/OS professionals can

help you get more out of your machines.

Remember,

i want everything to work.

i want control.

i want an i

i need iTech Solutions.

Sincerely,

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Pete Massiello

iTech Solutions

www.itechsol.com