Edit: This is still pretty neat
Originally posted August 11, 2020 on AIXchange
Rob McNelly has a hack for accessing AIX information and IBM solutions without needing to rely on a search engine.
If you’re looking for lifecycle information for AIX® or any number of related IBM solutions, you don’t have to resort to a search engine. If you have curl loaded on your system, it’s simply a matter of downloading and installing a shell script.
Which script? Armin Schmidt has the details.
How often have you searched the lifecycle information (start of general availability and end of support) for AIX, VIOS, PowerHA or HMC via Google?
This information can also be found easily using the command line of the IBM FLRT API.
All you need is:
* a direct internet connection or connection via an HTTP proxy
* an installed version of curl
Sample output is provided:
$ show_life_cycle VERSION GA EOSPS UPDATE UPGRADE 7200-04-02 2020.05.15 2022.11.30 – – 7200-04-01 2019.11.15 2022.11.30 – – 7200-04-00 2019.11.15 2022.11.30 7200-04-01 – 7200-03-04 2020.02.14 2021.09.30 – 7200-04-01 7200-03-03 2019.05.10 2021.09.30 7200-03-04 7200-04-01 7200-03-02 2018.11.16 2021.09.30 7200-03-04 7200-04-01
Download the tool here. Search for show_life_cycle.
PowerCampus lists a number of other tools and corresponding presentations (in English and German). For instance if you’re interested in the LPAR-Tool, you may also wish to download the LPAR-Tool PDF. Additionally, I recommend this article on Inventory Scout, an IBM tool for monitoring firmware and microcode levels.
I love learning of new (to me) tools and scripts and sharing this information with you. And I appreciate those who take the time to share their finds with me.