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Firmware Support Practice for IBM Cloud Pak System products

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Abstract

This document provides information on the Firmware Levels of support for the following IBM appliance solutions and software: Cloud Pak System, Cloud Pak System Software, and Cloud Pak System Software Suite.
Previous product names used include PureApplication (System, Platform, Software, Software Suite) and Bluemix Local System.

Content

IBM Cloud Pak System, Cloud Pak System Software, and Cloud Pak System Software Suite (with previous product names of Bluemix Local System, PureApplication System,  PureApplication Platform, PureApplication Software and PureApplication Software Suite) includes system firmware to support operation of the appliance solution.

The system firmware follows the IBM version, release, maintenance, fix pack number (V.R.M.F) maintenance delivery terminology.

The Cloud Pak System family of products generally provide a minimum of 2 years of support for each system firmware release beginning at the general availability (GA) of the release. However, exceptions may be made at the discretion of IBM when necessary. Please refer to the specific release (GA and withdrawal) announcements for details.

A system firmware release is a change in either the version or the release or the modification of the firmware. System firmware release maintenance and fix packs will be made available from Fix Central. Releases of IBM Cloud Pak System firmware that are older than 2 years are subject to support withdrawal at any time.


The Cloud Pak System firmware support withdrawal practice will:

  • Publish a notice of support discontinuance (end of service) for a firmware level at least twelve (12) months before the effective date.
  • Publish firmware release withdrawal of support dates in the table below.
  • NOTE:  Notification and duration exceptions may occur due to underlying support of dependencies being removed or severe security issues being discovered.
Release GA Date Firmware End of Service Date Notice of Firmware
Support Withdrawal (EOS)		 Applies to the follow Program Numbers (PIDs)
2.2.1 17-Jun-2016 30-Sep-2018 Withdrawal of 2.2.1 announcement 5725-Q52, 5737-B07, 5725-G32, 5725-F46, 5725-Q93, 5725-Q94, 5725-R71, 5725-R72, 5725-X32, 5725-Z16, 5725-Z17
2.2.2 09-Sep-2016 30-Sep-2018 Withdrawal of 2.2.2 announcement 5725-Q52, 5737-B07, 5725-G32, 5725-F46, 5725-Q93, 5725-Q94, 5725-R71, 5725-R72, 5725-X32, 5725-Z16, 5725-Z17
2.2.3 05-May-2017 30-Sep-2019 Withdrawal of 2.2.3 announcement 5725-Q52, 5737-B07, 5725-G32, 5725-F46, 5725-Q93, 5725-Q94, 5725-R71, 5725-X32, 5725-Z16, 5725-Z17
2.2.4 29-Sep-2017 30-Sep-2019 Withdrawal of 2.2.4 announcement 5725-Q52, 5737-B07, 5725-G32, 5725-F46, 5725-Q93, 5725-Q94, 5725-R71, 5725-X32, 5725-Z16, 5725-Z17
2.2.5 30-Mar-2018 30-Sep-2020 Withdrawal of 2.2.5 announcement 5725-Q52, 5737-B07, 5725-G32, 5725-F46, 5725-Q93, 5725-Q94, 5725-R71, 5725-X32, 5725-Z16, 5725-Z17
2.2.6 31-May-2019 31-Dec-2020 Withdrawal of 2.2.6 announcement 5725-Q52, 5737-B07, 5725-G32, 5725-F46, 5725-Q93, 5725-Q94, 5725-R71, 5725-X32, 5725-Z16, 5725-Z17
2.3.0 28-Jun-2019 30-Sep-2023 Withdrawal of 2.3.0 announcement 5725-Q52, 5737-B07, 5725-Q93, 5725-Q94, 5725-R71, 5725-X32, 5725-Z16, 5725-Z17
2.3.1 26-Nov-2019 5725-Q52, 5737-B07, 5725-Q93, 5725-Q94, 5725-R71, 5725-X32, 5725-Z16, 5725-Z17
2.3.2 27-Mar-2020 5725-Q52, 5737-B07, 5725-Q93, 5725-Q94, 5725-R71, 5725-X32, 5725-Z16, 5725-Z17
2.3.3 09-Oct-2020 5725-Q52, 5737-B07, 5725-Q93, 5725-Q94, 5725-R71, 5725-X32, 5725-Z16, 5725-Z17, 5737-N47


What is considered "firmware" in Cloud Pak System and Cloud Pak System Software?

Software Layers
Examples
Firmware
Lifecycle Practice
Pre-Entitled patterns
  • IBM DB2 with BLU Acceleration
  • IBM GPFS pattern
  • WebSphere Application Server (WAS) editions
NO
Lifecycle of the IBM software product within the pattern determines the end of support date for the pattern. For example, GPFS pattern v1.2.9.0 ends support at the same time as GPFS v4.1.1.1.
OS Images
  • IBM OS Image for Red Hat Linux
  • IBM OS Image for AIX
NO
Operating System(OS) Software within the Pattern determines the end of support date for the pattern. For example, support for IBM OS Image for AIX pattern v2.1.12 ends on the same date as AIX 7.1 TL5.
Foundation Pattern
  • Shared Services: Monitoring, Caching, ELB, Patching
YES
 Same date as the firmware release end of service
Software firmware
  • Pure Systems Manager
YES
Same date as the firmware release end of service
Hardware firmware
  • Storage, network, compute firmware
YES
Same date as the firmware release end of service


Additional Information:

Appliance Solution Hardware Lifecycle specifics:
See the Appliance Support Handbook for information about the overall appliance lifecycle.

Note: 

  • PureApplication System W1500 (5725-G32) & W1700 (5725-F46) appliance hardware reached end of support 30-Sep-2019, and service extensions are not provided.
  • PureApplication System W2500 (5725-Q93) & W2700 (5725-Q94) appliance hardware reached end of support 30-Sep-2021, and service extensions are not provided.

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Document Information

Modified date:
25 July 2023

UID

swg21667771

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