Applying fix packs to the virtual system patterns

You can apply the latest maintenance fixes. You can update your virtual system patterns with the fix packs that are released for the software image version that you are using. Applying fixes to a virtual system pattern affects all future deployments of that pattern.

You can download a fix pack from IBM® Fix Central and then add it to the internal IBM Installation Manager repository. You can then apply the fix to the virtual system patterns. When you deploy these patterns, the new level of the pattern is installed on the resulting virtual system instances.

About this task

To ensure that the latest fix level of the software image is used when you deploy patterns, add fix packs to the appliance.

Procedure

  1. Go to Fix Central.
  2. Browse for fixes for the product, version, and operating system.
  3. Download the archive file for the required fix pack.
  4. Load the archive file into the appliance as a software package. You can either use the workload console (for files that are smaller than 2 GB) or use the command-line interface:
    • To use the workload console:
      1. Log in to the appliance by using the following web address:

        http://appliance_IP

        where appliance_IP is the IP address or host name of the appliance.

      2. Click Workload Console and then click System > IBM Installation Manager Repository.
      3. Click Add New and select Add New Software Package.
      4. In the resulting window, click Browse, go to the location where you downloaded the archive file, and then select the archive file.
      5. From the Category field, specify a category for the package (for example, Rational).
      6. Click Add to add the archive file as a software package. A message is displayed to indicate that the software package was successfully loaded. For example:
        Software packages import completed. Number of software packages that imported successfully: 1
      (com.ibm.rational.rit_8.7.1.20151215-1023'). Number of software packages that failed to import: 0.
    • To use the command line:
      1. Download and install the command-line interface tool to your local computer. This tool provides a scripting environment in which you can run commands to manage the appliance remotely. For more information, see Downloading the command-line interface.
      2. Go to the pure.cli/bin subdirectory in the location where you installed the command-line interface tool.
      3. Start the command-line interface by running the following command:

        pure –h appliance_IP

        Where appliance_IP represents the host name or the IP address of the appliance.

      4. When prompted, enter your user ID and password.
      5. Run the deployer.imrepositories.uploadPackageFromLocal command to load the archive file to the appliance as a software package. Use the following syntax:

        deployer.imrepositories.uploadPackageFromLocal('category','fully_qualified_archive_filename')

        where category represents the category under which you want to store the package, and fully_qualified_archive_filename represents the file name and location of the archive file that you downloaded.

        For example:

        deployer.imrepositories.uploadPackageFromLocal('Rational','/tmp/RITfix.tar.gz')

        When the command completes, a confirmation message is displayed. For example:
        {'success': ['com.ibm.rational.rit._8.7.1.20151215-1023'], 'fail': []}
        Tip:
        • The level of the com.ibm.rational.rit package that is shown in the message represents the fix level that you loaded.
        • You can additionally list the installed repositories by running the deployer.imrepositories.listPackage() command.
  5. Optional: To verify that the fix was loaded, complete the following steps:
    1. From the workload console, click System > IBM Installation Manager Repository.
    2. Expand the category to which you added the package, locate and expand the package, and review the version of the fix level.

What to do next

After you load the fix pack, you must edit each of the supplied patterns to use the new fix level. To do so, you must clone each pattern to create a copy, and then edit the copy to specify the fix level. You can then deploy the cloned patterns.
  1. From the appliance workload console, click Patterns > Virtual System Patterns.
  2. Locate the virtual system pattern in the pattern list; for example, IBM Rational® Integration Tester. Then, click the pattern name to show details of the pattern.
  3. Click Clone.
  4. In the Name field, specify a meaningful name, which indicates that the pattern will deploy a fix level; for example, IBM Rational Integration Tester – IVXXXXX.
  5. Click OK to create the clone.
  6. When the cloning operation completes, click the new pattern in the pattern list to show details of the new pattern.
  7. Click Open.
  8. For all software components on the canvas, complete the following steps to set the version of the base image to the new fix level:
    1. Select the software component.
    2. In the menu that displays the ship level (for example, 8.7.1.0), select the fix level that you require. For example, select 8.7.1.0_IVXXXXX.
  9. To save the changes to the pattern, click Save.
  10. Close the Pattern Builder.

When a cloned pattern is deployed, the instance will be at the fix level that is specified in the pattern.

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