Installing an update takes too much time

The install of updates is slow.

Problem

When installing updates, the process is slower than expected.

Investigation

These are steps that can be performed during the install of an update. Step 3 is always performed. Steps 1 and 2 are done as part of the installation process, if it is determined that they have not already been done separately.

Download update over the Internet to the management server.
Stage the update for installation over the customer network.
Install the update using an installer on the system.

Each of these steps can be run individually to determine which step is taking the most time to complete. The size of the update will greatly impact the performance of the first two steps.

Before installing the update, the download task can be selected to download the update. Once this task completes, the installation staging task can then be ran on the update to stage it over the customer network for eventual installation.

If manually running the download and install staging tasks does not improve the time that it takes to run the install task, compare the performance of installing with IBM® Flex System Manager to installing the update using the native platform methods. The time should not be significantly different. If the time is significantly different, ensure that network connectivity and response is good, and check the logs for errors.

Remember that some updates take a considerable amount of time to install due to the nature of the platform, operating system, or the update itself.

Resolution

Run the installation staging task before the install maintenance window, to avoid the time it takes to download and transfer the update over the network. The install task should then provide better performance during the installation maintenance window.