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Program temporary fix
In IBM terminology, a program temporary fix or product temporary fix (PTF), sometimes depending on date, is a one or more bug fixes – distributed in a form ready to install.
A PTF normally follows an Authorized Program Analysis Report (APAR), and where an "APAR fix" was issued, the PTF "is a tested APAR" or set of APAR fixes. However, if an APAR is resolved as "Fixed If Next" or "Permanent Restriction" then there may be no PTF fixing it, only a subsequent release.
Initially, installations had to install service via a semi-manual process.
Over time, IBM started to provide service aids such as IMAPTFLE and utilities such as IEBEDIT to simplify the installation of batches of PTFs. For OS/360 and successors, this culminated in System Modification Program (SMP) and System Modification Program/Extended (SMP/E).
For VM, this culminated in Virtual Machine Serviceability Enhancements Staged (VM/SP SES) and VMSES/E.
For DOS/360 and successors, this culminated in Maintain System History Program (MSHP)
PTFs used to be distributed in a group on a so-called Program Update Tape (PUT) or Recommended Service Upgrade (RSU), approximately on a monthly basis. They can now be downloaded straight to the system through a direct connection to IBM support. In some instances IBM will release a "Cumulative PTF Pack", a large number of fixes which function best as a whole, and are sometimes codependent. When this happens, IBM issues compact discs containing the entire PTF pack, which can be loaded directly onto the system from its media drive.
One reason for the use of physical media is size, and related (default) size limits. "By default, the /home file system on VIOS (Virtual I/O Server) for System p is only 10GB in size." If the "Cumulative PTF Pack" is larger than the default, "If you try (to) FTP 17GB of ISO images you will run out of space."
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Program temporary fix
In IBM terminology, a program temporary fix or product temporary fix (PTF), sometimes depending on date, is a one or more bug fixes – distributed in a form ready to install.
A PTF normally follows an Authorized Program Analysis Report (APAR), and where an "APAR fix" was issued, the PTF "is a tested APAR" or set of APAR fixes. However, if an APAR is resolved as "Fixed If Next" or "Permanent Restriction" then there may be no PTF fixing it, only a subsequent release.
Initially, installations had to install service via a semi-manual process.
Over time, IBM started to provide service aids such as IMAPTFLE and utilities such as IEBEDIT to simplify the installation of batches of PTFs. For OS/360 and successors, this culminated in System Modification Program (SMP) and System Modification Program/Extended (SMP/E).
For VM, this culminated in Virtual Machine Serviceability Enhancements Staged (VM/SP SES) and VMSES/E.
For DOS/360 and successors, this culminated in Maintain System History Program (MSHP)
PTFs used to be distributed in a group on a so-called Program Update Tape (PUT) or Recommended Service Upgrade (RSU), approximately on a monthly basis. They can now be downloaded straight to the system through a direct connection to IBM support. In some instances IBM will release a "Cumulative PTF Pack", a large number of fixes which function best as a whole, and are sometimes codependent. When this happens, IBM issues compact discs containing the entire PTF pack, which can be loaded directly onto the system from its media drive.
One reason for the use of physical media is size, and related (default) size limits. "By default, the /home file system on VIOS (Virtual I/O Server) for System p is only 10GB in size." If the "Cumulative PTF Pack" is larger than the default, "If you try (to) FTP 17GB of ISO images you will run out of space."