Order fix topics
Download methods description

The following sections describe the different methods of downloading your ordered fixes.

 Download individual fixes directly to my system

Make sure your system and PC both meet all of the requirements for connecting to your system.

  1. Enter the hostname or IP address and a profile name and password to log into your system for the download. If you have already logged into your system during this order, this step will be skipped.
  2. The PTFs you ordered will be downloaded to your system. The savefiles will be placed in QGPL and logged to *SERVICE. The cover letters will be placed in QAPZCOVER. The savefiles and cover letters will not be downloaded again if they are already on your system in QGPL. If this is a customized order, Fix Central will also skip any fixes that are already loaded or applied on your system, regardless of whether the savefiles or cover letters are there.
  3. After the download is complete, you can load and apply the PTFs using GO PTF (Option 8) on your system and selecting *SERVICE as the device.

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  Download virtual images using Download Director

When you place an order for virtual images using Download Director you are provided with an estimated time for when your order will be ready. Return to Fix Central after that time to resume your order. Ensure that you meet all of the requirements for using Download Director, and for connecting to your system if you will be downloading to an image catalog.

  1. Click the “Resume my pending orders” link from the “Order summary” page if still available. Otherwise, from the Fix Central entry page select “System i” from the Product group pulldown, and select “IBM i” from the Product pulldown, then select “Resume my pending orders” from the right navigation panel.
  2. The “Resume my pending orders” page lists all Download Director image orders you have placed that are still available to be downloaded. Orders will remain available for 72 hours after being placed. Select the order you want to resume and click Continue.
  3. If the order is not ready yet, you will be given a new estimated time to try again. However, if the order is ready you will be presented with a list of files for your order and the option to either download the images to your PC, or to an image catalog on your system. Select one of these options and follow the appropriate instructions below.

Download to PC

When you choose to download to your PC, the Download Director Java application is used. The Download Director application provides enhanced download capability to IBM customers who download our products from the internet. It provides high-performance, reliable downloads with pause and resume capability. It starts in a separate window as a Java Web Start application and provides a graphical user interface (GUI) to specify the download location, and view download status.

For more information, see Download Director FAQs.

Download to image catalog

Fix Central allows you to download virtual images and load them directly into an image catalog on your system. For more information about using image catalogs, see Process to Load PTFs using FTP and Virtual Images From Fix Central. The steps outlined in this document have now been automated by Fix Central. When downloading your virtual images to an image catalog using Fix Central, follow these steps:

  1. Enter the hostname or IP address and a profile name and password to log into your system for the download. If you have already logged into your system for this order, this step might be skipped.
  2. If any image catalogs already exist on your system, they will be listed here. You can select one of them from the pulldown, click Continue, and begin downloading to that image catalog right away. If there are no image catalogs on the system, or you want to create a new one, select the radio button next to “Create a new image catalog” and click Continue.
  3. If you are creating a new image catalog, give it a name and a directory in IFS, then select an existing virtual optical device from the pulldown, or specify a name to create a new virtual optical device. Click Continue to begin the download.
  4. When the download is finished, the “Order summary” page is shown. If everything was successful, you may now load and apply the PTFs by using the GO PTF (Option 8) command on your system, specifying the image catalog name as the device. If the order summary shows “false” for either “Image catalog verified?” or “Image catalog loaded?” you may need to load and verify your image catalog by hand before using it. See troubleshooting image catalogs for more information.

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  Download virtual images using FTP
When you choose to download virtual images using FTP, you will receive an email when your order is ready to be downloaded. Follow the instructions in the email to obtain your images. Your order will remain available to download for 72 hours.