Edit: I still use them both.
Originally posted March 8, 2016 on AIXchange
I’ve mentioned FLRT previously (here, here and here). Hopefully you’ve taken advantage of the tool. On countless occasions it’s helped me determine the latest versions of OSs, firmware and applications, along with end of life, etc.
From IBM:
“The Fix Level Recommendation Tool (FLRT) provides cross-product compatibility information and fix recommendations for IBM products. Use FLRT to plan upgrades of key components or to verify the current health of a system. Enter your current levels of firmware and software to receive a recommendation. When planning upgrades, enter the levels of firmware or software you want to use, so you can verify levels and compatibility across products before you upgrade.”
If you’re new to FLRT, here’s how to get started. First, go to the IBM link above and select your server machine type and model. Then skip down to Partition OS and select AIX, and then select the version you’re running. At this point you can click submit and confirm your AIX level. You’ll also be provided with recommendations for updates and/or upgrades.
That’s just the beginning. FLRT allows you to really drill down and find out the recommendations for your entire stack, including machine firmware, HMC code levels, operating system levels, cluster/virtualization and POWER software, and even disk subsystems.
As useful as FLRT is, for the uninitiated, the tool comes with a learning curve. Getting a response to even a simple query — something like, what is the latest version of AIX? — can be a painful exercise. Fortunately, if you’re just looking for a quick answer to a single question, there’s FLRT LITE.
It is a simple interface, it just asks you to choose from one of these products. Once you click on it, the information you are interested in is at your fingertips:
Power, PureFlex and Power Blade System Firmware
HMC and HMC Virtual Appliance
AIX
PowerVM Virtual I/O Server
PowerHA SystemMirror
Cluster Systems Management
General Parallel File System
General Parallel File System Standard Edition
General Parallel File System Express Edition
General Parallel File System Advanced Edition
LoadLeveler
Parallel Engineering and Scientific Subroutine Library
Parallel Environment
Parallel Environment Developer Edition for AIX
Parallel Environment Runtime Edition for AIX
PowerVP Standard Edition
PowerKVM
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
PowerVC Standard Edition
Spectrum Scale
To learn more about FLRT LITE, read these articles (here and here).
As I said, I use FLRT a lot. How about you? How often do you need to look up OS versions and related information? Do you know of an easier way to get it?