MJB wrote:
> jbjr:
>
> Thanks, that SUMA looks very promising and easy. I ran the recommended
> connectivity test:
>
> suma -x -a Action=Preview -a RqType=Latest
>
> but it failed with:
>
> 0500-013 Failed to retrieve list from fix server
>
> I guess my server cannot access the internet - can ftp from external
> sites though - must be an http issue?? ...
>
> jbjr wrote:
> > MJB wrote:
> > > Hi all,
> > >
> > > I'm looking for some help/advice on patching AIX. We are in the
> > > process of moving from Sun/Solaris to IBM/AIX. We have a few p5
> > > servers running 5.3 and I want to make sure the OS stays up to date.
> > > On Solaris you could just download the latest recommended patch cluster
> > > from Sunsolve, unzip it and install it.
> > >
> > > How does it work with AIX? I've been to:
> > >
> > > http://www-912.ibm.com/eserver/support/fixes/fcgui.jsp
> > >
> > > I plug in my system info and then have to select from:
> > >
> > > Technology Level
> > > Service Pack
> > > Maintenance Level
> > > etc, etc
> > >
> > > I have no idea which one I need to download/install. Does AIX have a
> > > 'recommended cluster' equivalent? If so am I looking in the right
> > > place?
> > >
> > > Dare I inquire about the equivalent to Sun's OBP/firmware?
> > >
> > > Thanks
> >
> > Look into SUMA. I don't know how many machines you have to maintain or
> > how you do your provisioning or what not. But we use SUMA on our 520s
> > and it's great. Every night it downloads the latest patches. We have
> > a set schedule. We install new patches in the applied state, test
> > them, and just run them as applied until testing is complete and it is
> > time to apply a new round of patches. Then we commit all and apply the
> > new ones. That's an important step.
> >
> > So give smitty suma a look and see if it helps you out. You will have
> > to do a little work to configure it, but nothing terribly
> > sophisticated. The only information you should need with respect to
> > maintenance levels etc. is your output from oslevel -r.

You may need to use the -c option to suma to add a HTTP_PROXY if you
use one. man suma gives good details on this.