Overview of HP Patch/iX

Overview

The MPE/iX Patch Management tool, HP Patch/iX, was introduced with PowerPatch C.50.05 based on MPE/iX General Release 5.0, and is available with the MPE/iX Release 6.0 Fundamental Operating System (FOS) software.

HP Patch/iX provides a user-friendly environment for customization and installation of Hewlett-Packard supported patches on an MPE system. The new tool provides the functionality of simultaneous installation of a PowerPatch tape with Reactive patches, thus reducing system unavailability associated with patch installations by as much as three hours per system. This downtime eliminates one of the system UPDATE/REBOOTs.

HP Patch/iX also provides qualification of all patches being applied to the system (both PowerPatch tapes and Reactive patches), thus reducing the likelihood of an older patch backing out a previously installed newer patch.

Detailed information on supported processes and comprehensive usage instructions are included in the HP 3000 MPE/iX System Software Maintenance Manual.

Benefits and Features

HP Patch/iX allows the following processes:

HP Patch/iX Supported Processes

HP Patch/iX supports the following installation processes:

	NOTE: HP Patch/iX does not support the UPDATE of a system from one MPE release to another. A system installed with MPE/iX 5.5 cannot be UPDATEd to MPE/iX 6.0 via HP Patch/iX. The system must already be installed with MPE/iX 6.0 if patches are to be applied via Patch/iX. Additionally, HP Patch/iX does not support the addition of a SUBSYS product without a PowerPatch tape (SUBSYS Add-On only), because there are required information files on the PowerPatch tape about the SUBSYS components.

Reflection Users

Reflection is a separately purchasable third-party product that is a PC-based terminal emulator program.

If you want to use Patch/iX from a PC using Reflection software, you must install Reflection with the MPE/iX POSIX option (if available). Otherwise, Patch/iX will not work from your PC.

For more information on the Reflection MPE/iX POSIX option, see the installation instructions for Reflection.