IBM Support

DS8000 Code Recommendation

Preventive Service Planning


Abstract

DS8000 Code Recommendation

Content

This generalized recommendation is made available to assist Clients in implementing a code update strategy. It is a full field perspective, and as such, a customized recommendation, which takes into account specifics such as business upgrade windows, length of time since last update, decommission plans, etc., may require assistance from local support teams.  

IBM recommends Clients evaluate code update / value options annually.

In the following table, the levels shown under the Minimum Installed Level heading, are considered stable release levels. Clients running at or above these levels may remain in place unless an update is required for specific fixes or new function.

The levels shown under the Recommended "go-to" Level heading are considered stable release levels, that have accumulated a reasonable amount of runtime in Client environments, and/or contain critical fixes. Clients who are planning to upgrade code, should choose a level from this column, unless a higher level is required for specific fixes or new function.

DS8900F code stream(s) actively being maintained: 89.3x.xx.xx, 89.4x.xx.xx
DS8880 code stream(s) actively being maintained: 88.5x.xx.xx

The word "must" in the notes below refers to bundles resolving specific problems for a targeted subset of DS8000 systems and communicated via My Notifications to clients, or ECA (Engineering Change/Field Actions) Information Alerts to IBM Service colleagues.

In this document, text highlighted in blue denotes a hyperlink to additional information.

Notice:
Call-home server IP address changes require:
DS8000 Code update (ICS), and Client firewall and/or proxy updates prior to 1 March, 2024, and
- Implement FQDN filtering prior to 1 November 2024.

Remote Code Load is supported for all DS8900F, and DS8880 systems.

Model Minimum
Installed Level
Recommended
"go to" Level
Latest Level
DS8900F (R9.4) R9.4 GA - 89.40.83.0
[Dec 2023]  ( 53 )
R9.4 GA2 - 89.40.89.0
[Jan 2024]
R9.4 GA2 - 89.40.89.0
[Jan 2024]
DS8900F (R9.3)
R9.3 GA - 89.30.68.0
[May 2022]  ( 48, 49, 51, 53, 54 )
R9.3 SP2.1 - 89.32.40.0
[Feb 2023]  ( 48, 52, 53, 54 )
R9.3 SP3.4 - 89.33.48.0
[Jan 2024]
DS8900F (R9.2)
R9.2 SP1.2 - 89.21.31.0
[Jan 2022]  ( 48, 49, 51, 53, 54 )
R9.3 SP2.1 - 89.32.40.0
[Feb 2023]  ( 48, 52, 53, 54 )
R9.2 SP2.2 - 89.22.19.0 
[Dec 2022]  ( 48, 53, 54 )
Move to the recommended R9.3 microcode level
DS8880 (R8.5)
R8.5 SP5.2 - 88.55.9.2
[Aug 2020]   ( 2639, 4243, 46, 48, 51 )
R8.5 SP8 - 88.58.3.0
[Mar 2021]  ( 2642, 46, 4851 )
R8.5 SP13 - 88.59.49.0
[Sep 2023]  ( 26, 42 )
Move to the recommended R8.5 microcode level
Footnotes:
The following footnotes apply only to the code levels where cited above.
Click the blue links at the left for more information.
 

Note 26: DS8880 Clients running IBM Z workloads on R8.3 or later must review HIPER APAR OA55379 .
Note 39: DS8880 Clients using Safeguarded Copy must be at R8.5.SP7 - 88.57.8.0 or higher.
Note 42: Potential data loss in systems with very low usage, and specific Flash Drive models.
Note 43: DS8880 clients using eXtended Remote Copy (XRC) must be at R8.5 SP8 - 88.58.3.0 or higher.
Note 46: Clients using Safeguarded Copy on DS8880 are recommended to be at R8.5 SP10.1 - 88.59.21.0 or higher.
Note 48: DS8900F and DS8880 Clients using Transparent Cloud Tiering (TCT) must be at R9.2 SP1.4 - 89.21.34.0 ( R9.3 SP3.3 - 89.33.45.0 recommended) / R8.5 SP10.2 - 88.59.28.0 or higher. 
Note 49: DS8900F Clients running XRC are strongly encouraged to be on R9.3 SP1 - 89.31.26.0 / R9.2 SP2.2 - 89.22.19.0 or higher.
Note 51: DS8900F and DS8880 Clients running PPRC are recommended to be on R9.3 SP2.1 - 89.32.40.0 / R9.2 SP2.2 - 89.22.19.0 / R8.5 SP12 - 88.59.42.0 or higher.
Note 52: For DS8900F Clients using LDAP, recommended go-to level is R9.3 SP3.1 - 89.33.40.0 or higher
Note 53: DS8900F Clients running Safeguarded Copy must be on R9.3 SP3.4 - 89.33.48.0 / R9.4 GA2 - 89.40.89.0 or higher.  
Note 54: Potential DS8900F Data Loss during a power failure event

 

DS8900F Flashes, Alerts and Bulletins

DS8880 Flashes, Alerts and Bulletins


Historical Information

Model End of Support Dates
DS8880 Models 980, 981, 982, 98B, and 98E End of service as of 31 December, 2022
Last code level was R8.5 SP12 - 88.59.42.0 [Nov 2022]
DS8870 End of service as of 31 December, 2020
Last code level was R7.5 SP13.1 - 87.52.45.0 [Aug 2020]
DS8800 End of service as of 31 March, 2019
Last code level was R6.3 SP18 - 86.31.225.0 [Aug 2018]
DS8700
End of service as of 31 December, 2017
Last code level was R6.3 SP16.1 - 76.31.190.0 [Jul 2017]
DS8100 / DS8300
End of service as of 31 March, 2016
Last code level was R4.3 SP20 - 64.36.105.0 [Mar 2015]
Historical footnotes:

Note 1: DS8100/DS8300 code updates are a chargeable activity as of 31 March,2016
Note 2: DS8100/DS8300 RAID 10 or RAID 6 configurations require R4.3 SP10 efix1 - 64.36.48.1 or above.
Note 3: DS8700/DS8800 Clients using RAID 10 must be at or above bundles R6.2 SP2 - 76.20.90.0/86.20.114.0. Clients using RAID 10 or RAID 6 configurations below R6.2 SP4.1 - 76.20.107.0/86.20.130.0, are recommended to move to the current recommended R6.3 level.
Note 4: DS8700/DS8800 Clients using Extended Address Volume (EAV) capability in combination with FlashCopy must be at or above bundle R6.2 SP2.1 - 76.20.94.0/86.20.117.0.
Note 5: DS8700/DS8800 Clients using zHPF must be at R6.3 SP13 - 76.31.159.0/86.31.184.0 or higher.
Note 6: DS8870 Clients using zHPF must be at or above R7.4 SP4 - 87.41.42.0, or R7.5 SP2 - 87.51.23.0
Note 7: DS8870 Clients on R7.4 GA that would like to take advantage of the new DS8000 GUI must be at or above R7.4 SP1.1 - 87.41.9.0 or higher to avoid issues with open system hosts that are using LUN mapping.
Note 8: DS8870 Clients with High-Performance Flash Enclosures should install R7.5 SP2.3 - 87.51.23.4 or higher
Note 9: DS8870 Clients running Global Mirror are recommended to be at or above R7.5 SP2.3 87.51.23.4, to avoid Global Mirror suspend caused by a Track Format Descriptor mismatch.
Note 10: IBM i hosts and DS8870 or DS8880 with 16 Gb host adapters require minimum code levels 87.51.38.0 for DS8870 or 88.1.26.0 for DS8880
Note 11 : DS8000 Clients with VMWare® hosts must be at or above: R4.3 SP20 - 64.36.105.0 for DS8100/DS8300, R6.3 SP10 - 76.31.131.0 for DS8700, R6.3 SP10 - 86.31.152.0 for DS8800, R7.4 87.41.17.0 / R7.3 87.31.16.0 for DS8870.
Note 12: N-Series with DS8870 require 87.51.38.1, or 87.51.52.0 and above. With DS8880 require 88.1.32.0, or 88.1.40.0 and above.
Note 13: Users of GDPS/PPRC, GDPS/PPRC HyperSwap Manager, and GDPS/MTMM require the PTFs for APARs PI67964 and PI62614 before running with this release of microcode. This is especially important for those installations that use PPRCFAILURE=COND (in PPRC or MTMM) or CONDLAST (in MTMM), to ensure proper GDPS response to Freeze events.
Note 14: DS8880 systems running R8.1 microcode in zOS environment must upgrade to 88.11.25.0 or higher.
Note 15: DS8700/DS8800 Clients who prefer to migrate Remote Support from modem to AOS must be at R6.3 SP9 - 76.31.121.0/86.31.142.0 or higher.  For DS8870, AOS is supported at R7.1 GA or higher.
Note 16: Global Mirror may stop forming consistency groups after volumes are removed from the session.
Note 17: DS8700/DS8800 Clients using Global Mirror must be at R6.3 SP15.1 - 76.31.183.0/ 86.31.209.0 or higher.
Note 18: DS8870 Possible Data Loss with applications using FlashCopy Fast Reverse Restore (FRR) with ESE volumes.
Note 19 : DS8880 Clients using small extents must be at R8.1 SP3 - 88.11.45.0 or R8.2 SP2 - 88.22.33.0 or higher
Note 20: DS8880 Clients running FlashCopy with Preserve Mirror, and/or CSM on z/OS with ESE volumes, must be at R8.2 SP3.2 - 88.23.27.0 or higher.
Note 21: DS8880 systems below 88.24.6.0 may be exposed to a temporary Loss of Access condition every 389 days
Note 22: DS8880 Clients running Global Mirror on R8.3 must be at R8.3 GA2 - 88.30.141.0 or higher
Note 23: DS8880 Clients running Metro Mirror or Global Copy on R8.3 with ESE CKD volumes must be at R8.3 SP1 - 88.31.46.0 or higher.
Note 24: DS8880 Clients running IBM Z and Dataset Level FlashCopy on R8.3 must be at R8.3 SP1 - 88.31.46.0 or higher.
Note 25: DS8880 Clients running Open Systems hosts on R8.3 with > 15 connections per LUN must be at R8.3 SP1.3 - 88.31.51.0 / R8.3 SP3.1 - 88.33.35.0 or higher.
Note 27: DS8880 Clients running R8.3 or later code bundles and IBM i below 7.2 TR7 or 7.3 TR3, must be at R8.3 SP3.3 - 88.33.46.0 or higher.
Note 28: DS8880 Clients using SafeGuarded Copy must be at R8.5 SP1 - 88.51.49.0 or higher
Note 29: As of April 30, 2019, security fixes are being provided at or above 8870 bundle R7.5 SP10 - 87.52.19.0, and 8880 bundle R8.4 SP1 - 88.41.5.0.
Note 30: DS8880 Clients on 88.52.21.0, or 88.52.23.0, using Metro-Global-Mirror on z/OS, must be at R8.5 SP2.2 - 88.52.23.1 or higher.
Note 31: DS8880 Clients running Multi-Target PPRC must be at R8.5 GA2 - 88.50.184.0 or higher.
Note 32: DS8880 Clients on 88.52.21.0, or 88.52.23.0, using Metro Mirror or Metro-Global-Mirror must be at R8.5 SP2.2 - 88.52.23.1
Note 33: DS8880 Clients running Multi-Target PPRC or Metro-Global-Mirror must be at R8.5 SP3.2 - 88.53.15.0 or R8.5 SP4.1 - 88.54.37.0 or higher.
Note 34: DS8880 Clients using SafeGuarded Copy must be at R8.5 SP4.1 - 88.54.37.0 or higher.
Note 35: DS8900F or DS8880 Clients using IBM i Skip Write function, are recommended to be at R9.0 SP2.1 - 89.2.40.0 / R8.5 SP5 - 88.55.9.0 or higher.
Note 36: DS8900F Clients using 32Gb Host Adapters and SyncSort must be at R9.0 SP3 - 89.3.6.0 or higher
Note 37: Clients running 88.54.31.0 through 88.55.9.1 on DS8880, or 89.2.xx.x and below on DS8900F, and using DB2 System Backup and Restore Utility on z/OS with Preserve Mirror must be at R8.5 SP5.2 - 88.55.9.2 or R8.5 SP6 - 88.56.9.0 or higher for DS8880, or R9.0 SP3 - 89.3.6.0 or higher for DS8900F.
Note 38: Clients running R8.5 SP5.0 - 88.55.9.0,  R8.5 SP5.1 - 88.55.9.1, or R9.at or below SP2.2 - 89.32.40.1, and using cascaded Metro Global Mirror on z/OS, managed by CSM, must be, respectively, at 88.55.9.2, or R8.5 SP6 - 88.56.9.0, and R9.0 SP3 - 89.3.6.0 or higher.
Note 40: DS8900F Clients using SafeGuarded Copy must be at R9.0 SP4 - 89.4.8.0 or R9.1 SP2 - 89.12.8.0 or higher.
Note 41: DS8900F Clients below R9.1 SP2 - 89.12.8.0 are exposed to potential data loss during an unexpected/unplanned power outage.
Note 44: Copy Services Manager (CSM) hosted on DS8000 HMCs may fail to start up after a code bundle update.
Note 45: DS8900F Clients running IBM Z workloads on R9.2 are strongly encouraged to be at R9.2 SP1.2 - 89.21.31.0 or higher.
Note 47: Clients using Safeguarded Copy on DS8900F must be at R9.2 SP1.5 - 89.21.35.0 or higher.
Note 50: DS8900F Clients running Safeguarded Copy are recommended to be on R9.3 SP3 - 89.33.35.0 or higher.

[{"Line of Business":{"code":"LOB26","label":"Storage"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU058","label":"IBM Infrastructure w\/TPS"},"Product":{"code":"SSHGBU","label":"IBM DS8900F"},"ARM Category":[{"code":"","label":""}],"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Version":"Version Independent"},{"Line of Business":{"code":"LOB26","label":"Storage"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU058","label":"IBM Infrastructure w\/TPS"},"Product":{"code":"ST5GLJ","label":"DS8880"},"ARM Category":[{"code":"","label":""}],"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Version":"Version Independent"}]

Document Information

Modified date:
26 January 2024

UID

ssg1S1004456