Acquiring and installing updates with the IBM Flex System Manager Web interface

Use the update manager tasks in the IBM® Flex System Manager Web interface to acquire updates, stage your installation, manage update groups, and install updates on your systems.

  • Showing needed updates
    Use the Show and install updates function to identify updates that are needed by your systems.
  • Showing all installable updates
    Use the Show all installable updates function to identify all updates that are available for installation on your systems.
  • Showing installed updates
    Use the Show installed updates function to determine which updates are installed on a particular system. This task shows those updates that were installed by IBM Flex System Manager. Updates installed by other means are not displayed.
  • Checking for new updates
    Use the Acquire updates task to periodically load new updates into update manager. Schedule a check for updates task to run frequently, at least once a week.
  • Downloading updates
    While the download of updates happens automatically as needed, you might want to download updates when it is most convenient for your network, and to ensure that the updates are available at the time of installation.
  • Importing updates
    There are multiple methods that you can use to import updates and install them.
  • Exporting updates
    Use the Export function to copy updates from the update library to a target directory on the management server. The target directory must be accessible to the management server.
  • Installation staging
    Use installation staging to copy the files that comprise an update to an appropriate location for eventual installation. That location might not be the system that the update is to be installed on. This task is not required. If you skip this step, the update is staged when it is needed. This task is provided to save time during installation maintenance windows, in order to minimize system downtime and unavailability.
  • Viewing information about updates
    Information about updates and updates groups is often needed to decide whether to install the update.
  • Managing update groups
    You can group updates to form an update group, which can then be managed as if it were an individual update. The use of update groups can save time and limit the complexity of the update tasks.
  • Installing updates on systems
    Use the Install wizard to install updates on systems or groups of systems. If you choose to install updates that have not been downloaded or staged for installation, these tasks will be automatically performed as part of the installation task.
  • Removing update files
    When an update is no longer needed, you can remove its associated installable files to save space.
  • Uninstalling updates
    It might be necessary to remove an update from a system or group of systems. Use the Uninstall updates task to do this. Not all updates support the uninstall task. For updates that cannot be uninstalled, it might be possible to roll them back to an earlier version by installing an older version on top of the current one.
Parent topic: Acquiring and installing updates