Applying maintenance to your GPFS system

Before applying maintenance to your GPFS™ system, there are several things you should consider.

Remember that:
  1. There is limited interoperability between GPFS 4.2 nodes and nodes running GPFS 4.1 This function is intended for short-term use. You will not get the full functions of GPFS 4.2 until all nodes are using GPFS 4.2.
  2. Interoperability between maintenance levels will be specified on a per-maintenance-level basis. See the IBM Spectrum Scale™ FAQ in IBM® Knowledge Center.
  3. Maintenance images for GPFS Linux retrieved from the web are named differently from the installation images of the GPFS Linux product. Maintenance images contain the word update in their name, for example: gpfs.base-4.2.2-0.x86_64.update.rpm.
  4. When applying maintenance, the GPFS file systems will need to be unmounted and GPFS shut down on the node being upgraded. Any applications using a GPFS file system should be shut down before applying maintenance to avoid application errors or possible system halts.
    Note: If the AIX® Alternate Disk Install process is used, the new image is placed on a different disk. The running install image is not changed, and GPFS is not shut down. The new image is not used until the node is rebooted.
  5. For the latest service information, see the IBM Spectrum Scale FAQ in IBM Knowledge Center.

To download fixes, go to the IBM Support Portal: Downloads for General Parallel File System and obtain the fixes for your hardware and operating system.

To install the latest fixes: