Re: How often to IPL?

[Justin Taylor <jtaylor.0ab@xxxxxxxxx>]

IBMi downloads group PTFs automatically on the 1st, and I have a scheduled
job to do an IPL the following Sunday.



date: Tue, 23 May 2023 14:33:37 -0400
> from: Rob Berendt <robertowenberendt@xxxxxxxxx>
> subject: How often to IPL?
>
> A recent discussion on LinkedIn discouraged IPLing frequently. And they
> have a good point as each IPL resets your query optimizer and throws out
> all temporary indexes. The catch was basically you should reduce IPLs for
> PTF's, etc.
>
> Here's the catch though: How often should you put on the PTF's? I think
> we're better than most shops because we put on the latest cume and groups
> on a quarterly basis. And there's always those shops that want to be some
> lengthy amount of time behind. But how do you explain to your stakeholders
> that you were notified that you were potentially exposed because you don't
> have this Java group ptf on, or you don't have this level of firmware on,
> or this Hiper group on? Do you tell them:
>
> - "I know of the risk that we could lose a bunch of confidential
> information but what if there's a flawed PTF and it causes issues?"
>
> - "I know that IBM found an issue with the current level we're at and
> issued a fixing PTF but what if that fixing PTF causes issues?"
>
> - "We've been on this level for two years now and nothing has happened so
> why fix what isn't broken?"
>
> We're finding out that newer certification levels are requiring you to put
> patches on much more frequently than most people do. And, frankly, it takes
> less disruptive time to patch an IBM Power system than it does a Windows
> Server.
>
> If there's an incident, and management finds out that you were notified by
> IBM notifications and you didn't put on the patch, are you going under the
> bus?