IBM i 7.5 Technology Refresh 1: Let's create a new level of integrated simplicity

IBM Europe Software Announcement ZP22-0343
October 11, 2022

Table of contents

	Overview		Technical information
	Key requirements		Ordering information
	Planned availability date		Terms and conditions
	Description		Prices
	Program number		Regional availability
	Publications

Overview

Continuing the 2022 IBM® theme of Let's Create, IBM i 7.5 Technology Refresh 1 (TR1) delivers numerous enhancements to improve the experience of IBM i. Improved performance, improved ease-of-use, and increased efficiency are delivered to all users, from developers to administrators to end users.

IBM i Operating System

Compression

IBM i Main Store Dumps incorporate the use of the ZLIB algorithm to compress dumps to a smaller result than previously available options and does so with better performance when running on an IBM Power10 processor.

Clustering

A set of usability enhancements makes it easier to administer a cluster. The DSPASPSTS command is enhanced to draw attention to inquiry messages that require a response when monitoring the progress of IASP vary operations. Additional attributes for user profiles are now monitored for synchronization. Job submission processing is enhanced to avoid some unusual timing situations when deleting monitored resources.

IBM Navigator for i

IBM is pleased to deliver new tasks and features in this technology refresh that provide administrators with additional information not available in previous versions. Additionally, IBM has added more features similar to those previously found in IBM i Heritage Navigator.

IBM i Integrated Web Services Server

The IBM i Integrated Web Services Server, Integrated Rest API engine adopts the latest in industry standards and functions to provide Rest capabilities that meet the many diverse needs of IBM i application developers.

HTTP Server

The IBM HTTP Server (Powered by Apache) has been updated in this technology refresh.

IBM i Common Cryptographic Architecture Cryptographic Service Provider (CCA CSP)

IBM i CCA CSP, delivered as IBM i Option 35, supports the IBM 4769 Cryptographic Coprocessor with release 7.3.x for CCA.

IBM i Access Client Solutions (5770-XJ1)

The Access Application Package Family has been updated to provide secure connections for all platforms connecting with the ODBC interface.

IBM Db2® for i

Db2 for i, the integrated database for IBM i, is enhanced to include new and enhanced capabilities for SQL application developers, database engineers, and anyone interested in modern and advanced systems and security management techniques.

IBM i Services

IBM i Services, the SQL alternative to APIs and CL commands, is a focal point for enhancements, providing enhanced productivity and insight to all IBM i users.

Open source

IBM investment in open source technologies is focused on ease-of-use, interoperability with other technologies, and application development.

Licensed Program Products

IBM Rational® Development Studio for i (5770-WDS)

(Rational Development Studio) RDS is adding capabilities consistent with the requirements from the user community to meet the needs of RPG and COBOL application programmers.

IBM Rational Developer for i

The newest version of Rational Developer for I (RDi) focuses on delivering capabilities in programmer productivity and ease-of-use features.

IBM i Modernization Engine for Lifecycle Integration (Merlin)

IBM i Modernization Engine for Lifecycle Integration is a container-based ecosystem for developing IBM i applications with modern tools and methodologies. IBM is providing new functions in direct response to requests from IBM i application developers.

IBM Db2 Mirror for i (5770-DBM)

IBM Db2 Mirror for i is adding two new features in this technology refresh: support for replicating the state of a submitted JOB and usability enhancements when managing integrated file systems.

IBM PowerHA® SystemMirror® for i (5770-HAS)

IBM PowerHA SystemMirror for i 7.5 delivers several enhancements to the PowerHA portfolio, including:

A new, modern web-based interface for monitoring PowerHA environments
Enhanced administrative domain integration with support for synchronizing user auditing (CHGUSRAUD) and maximum sign-on attempts (MAXSIGN) profile attributes for user profiles across the environment
IBM FlashSystem® and Spectrum Virtualize FlashCopy® enhancements, including additional automation and simplification of IASP-based FlashCopy

IBM Backup and Recovery Media Services for i (BRMS) (5770-BR1)

IBM BRMS provides new updates each quarter. Highlights of the September updates include the addition of SQL Services to provide improved performance and ease-of-use improvements.

IBM Web Enablement for i (5733-WE3)

IBM i 7.5 clients who need the WebSphere® Application Server products delivered with Web Enablement for i (5733-WE3) should order the Web Enablement for i product.

Hardware and firmware interfaces

Password protection for NVMe devices

The ability to password-protect the data on an NVMe device is now available. This can provide better protection to the data in various situations, including loss of power to the device or accidental assignment to a different partition. This new capability protects the confidentiality of stored business data should the device leave the business owner's control.

IBM i exploits VIOS NPIV multiple queues for Virtual Fibre Channel

IBM i 7.5 TR1 exploits VIOS NPIV multiple queues for virtual Fibre Channel adapters to improve I/O throughput, reduce latency, and achieve more I/O requests per second.

Disable automatic attempts for disk path recovery

Existing LIC recovery algorithms that value redundancy for disk paths are designed to automatically recover from incidental errors. However, if those errors are frequent, performance is affected by the repeated automatic attempts at recovery. System administrators who have enough redundant functional paths and who value performance over redundancy can now manually disable a frequently failing disk path as they wait for repairs.

Power® offerings optimized

IBM i exploits selected offerings from Power to ensure clients have the hardware and virtualization capabilities they need to run their businesses.

Key requirements

IBM i 7.5 is supported on selected IBM Power servers with IBM Power10 and IBM Power9 technology-based processors.

Clients using servers with earlier processors need to move to newer systems to take advantage of the features in IBM i 7.5.

For up-to-date information about all types of code levels needed for support of a particular feature, see the IBM Prerequisites website.

See the Technical information section for specific hardware and software prerequisites.

Planned availability date

December 2, 2022, except for PowerHA SystemMirror for i
December 16, 2022, for PowerHA SystemMirror for i

Availability within a country is subject to local legal requirements.

Description

Continuing the theme of Let's Create, IBM i 7.5 TR1 delivers numerous enhancements to improve the experience of IBM i. Improved performance, improved ease-of-use, and increased efficiency are delivered to all users, from developers to administrators to end users.

For technical details for IBM i enhancements delivered with IBM i 7.5 TR1, see the IBM i Technology Updates wiki.

To make it easy to find IBM i 7.5 TR1 specific enhancements, see the aggregated list of enhancements on the IBM i 7.5 TR1 wiki landing page.

IBM i Operating System

New compression algorithm ZLIB is fast and produces smaller result for Main Store Dumps

Use of the ZLIB compression algorithm is now incorporated into the Main Store Dump processing. Test results show it is often faster than previously available algorithms that were used for Main Store Dumps and generally produces a smaller result, though actual results will vary, depending on the compressibility of the data. The new algorithm automatically uses the Nest Accelerator (NX) GZIP when running in Power10 compatibility mode on a Power10 processor and is therefore less CPU-intensive than MSD processing in prior releases.

Clustering

When using the DSPASPSTS command to see the progress of IASP vary status, it wasn't apparent that sometimes the IASP vary process was held up waiting for a response to an inquiry message that had been sent to the QSYSOPR message queue. The DSPASPSTS command is enhanced to display the inquiry message at the bottom of the Display ASP Status screen to make the user aware of the message that requires a response.

To make it easier for system administrators to ensure their user profiles are the same on multiple nodes, the Cluster Administrative Domain is enhanced to synchronize additional attributes for user profiles: MAXSIGN, OBJAUD, and AUDLVL. The MAXSIGN attribute is new in 7.5 and can be set using the CRTUSRPRF or CHGUSRPRF command. The OBJAUD and AUDLVL attributes are set using the CHGUSRAUD command, which requires *AUDIT special authority. Any user profiles that currently monitor all attributes will automatically monitor the new attributes when the whole cluster is at modification level 9, or later.

Currently, Cluster Administrative Domain submits jobs using default SBMJOB parameters to delete certain monitored resources. There are problem situations that might occur when using those default parameters. For instance, the job queue associated with the job description for the user profile might be held, or the subsystem might not be started, or one or more of the libraries in the initial library list might be in an independent ASP that might not be available on that node, or the initial ASP group is specified but the ASP group might not be available. The Cluster Administrative Domain is now enhanced to use QSYSNOMAX for the job queue, along with specifying INLLIBL(*NONE) and INLASPGRP(*NONE) when submitting a job to delete monitored resources to prevent these problem situations.

IBM Navigator for i

GUI node Single Sign-On (SSO) with Kerberos
Update Permissions for Objects
IASP support for IBM i
- IASP on the home page
- Allow IASP to be specified on the system connection configuration
ObjectConnect for Db2 Mirror Configuration
IPP server and IPP printers
- GUI integrated within Navigator
- Back end IPP server running in Admin1 server
Active jobs: improved support for systems with large numbers of jobs
Full LDAP instance management
Integrated file system tree navigation support
Intrusion Detection Services (IDS) support
New VPN functions have been added:
- New connection wizard
- Dynamic key connection
- Rules for key groups and packets
Security Info updated with the latest enhancements from SECURITY_INFO
Performance
- Removed dependence on the PT1 product for access to all PDI perspectives.
- Job Watcher and Disk Watcher start, stop, and add definition actions now supported.
- Interval Details panel for Job Watcher.
- Define Health Indicators function.
- Visualize Monitor data: view real-time updates to all the monitor metrics for each monitor on one panel.
- Allow customized values for top contributors.

Integrated Web Services Server (IWS) - Integrated Rest API Engine for IBM i

The IBM i Integrated Web Services Server, Integrated Rest API engine is adopting the latest in industry standards and functions to provide Rest capabilities that meet the many diverse needs of IBM i application developers.

Cross Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) header support for IWS connections has been added.
HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) support has been added to IWS connections. This means that you can set your response headers so that your server advertises to clients that it accepts only HTTPS requests.
Binary Payload support has been added to the Axis Client support.

IBM i Access Client Solutions (5770-XJ1) (ACS version 1.1.9.1)

With this announcement, the Access Client Solutions interface is being updated and enhanced to meet the requests from IBM i administrators.

When configuring IBM i Access Client Solutions (ACS), a new utility is available for an administrator to automatically cause the propagation of an updated JRE to their users. The administrator may also choose to automate the installation of the new JRE as well. This configuration option is under "Help->Check for Updates". Other miscellaneous updates throughout the product are being delivered as well.

IBM i Access Client Solutions (5770-XJ1) access application packages

The Access family has application packages that provide access from many different client operating systems. These packages allow applications running on Windows™, Linux®, macOS, and PASE-based IBM i applications the ability to leverage a native ODBC driver for safe and now secure connection and access. The ODBC driver can now be configured for TLS to ensure the secure transport of data between a Linux or macOS client application and IBM i.

IBM HTTP Server (powered by Apache) (5770-DG1)

The IBM HTTP Server is the key interface for accessing IBM i from the web. The web server provides a robust, secure place for hosting web interfaces and applications. The Apache server support has been updated to 2.4.53. This new version includes many updates, fixes, and improvements. One of the key updates is to the latest PCRE (regular expression engine) levels for the Apache server.

IBM i CCA for the Cryptographic Coprocessor 4769

IBM i CCA 7.3.x supports use of this adapter with IBM i 7.5 TR1 plus additional PTFs. For the latest information, including PTF numbers, see the IBM i CCA Release 7.3.x support for Crypto Coprocessor 4769 section in the IBM i Technology Updates wiki.

Db2 for i

Db2 for i enhancements

As with the theme of previous technology refreshes, Db2 for i is enhancing SQL, the language of the database, and much more.

SQL enhancements:

In keeping with the theme of ongoing enhancement of Db2 for i with key technologies, this technology refresh adds the industry-leading geospatial functions from IBM Watson® into Db2 for i. With these analytic functions, which include projection-free Ellipsoidal support and native geohashes, the IBM i client can easily use SQL to leverage Watson Geospatial technology.
SQL programmers and those who need to manage applications that utilize SQL have a new feature to help them identify and understand SQL failures. The SQL Error Logging Facility (SELF) provides a simple and safe approach to capturing point-of-failure detail in a centralized resource. SELF can be used to discover application failures and to easily identify and remediate application or user failures.
As more and more IBM i clients adopt Db2 for i generated columns, change management has become more complex. With this technology refresh, change management becomes simple and safe with a new ability to move rows with SQL, without having Db2 for i produce new values for SQL-generated columns.
The performance of some SQL language features have been improved. Simply by moving up to the Db2 for i PTF Group, some clients can enjoy improved performance.
The SQL language is enhanced in several ways to allow IBM i clients to not only accomplish more with SQL but also to simplify application logic by shifting complexity from the application and into the SQL query.
Database engineers will find new capabilities to achieve proactive data model management by using SQL to access enhanced database statistical catalogs.
Other enhancements are described in the IBM i Technology Updates wiki.

IBM i Services

IBM i Services, the strategic method for gaining access to many IBM i objects and system information, is growing. Leveraging the power of SQL and the Db2 for i SQL Query Engine (SQE), application developers, database engineers, and system managers have an easy pathway to explore IBM i objects and data in ways that were not possible with previous technologies.

New or enhanced IBM i Services:

COMMAND_INFO: One row for every command, columns for every command attribute.
HISTORY_LOG_INFO: The SQL alternative to Display Log (DSPLOG) is easier to consume.
SYSTEM_STATUS_INFO: The addition of Batch job summary detail.
ASP_INFO: Enhanced to return Geographic Mirror insight and more.
ACTIVE_JOB_INFO: Shift the workload group information under the WORK option for improved efficiency of capturing only work management detail for active jobs.
AUDIT_JOURNAL_XX helper functions: Many new table functions are added to SYSTOOLS for specific audit journal entry type, making it possible and easy to understand the archive of security enforcement using SQL, or through Navigator for i.
Other enhancements, as described in the IBM i Technology Updates wiki.

Open source

The open source ecosystem is growing, with particular emphasis on the RPM-based set of deliveries. These enhancements make it easier than ever to adopt new technology on IBM i. To get started with RPMs, see the IBM i open source RPM website.

Node.js version 18

The latest release of Node.js that will be on a long-term support (LTS) schedule is available. This release has numerous improvements in performance, security, and diagnostics. For more information about the Node.js release schedule, see the Nodejs GitHub page.

The IBM i 7.5 repository may need to be installed. For more information, see the Release-specific IBM repositories documentation page.

TLS support for tn5250

The open source ‘tn5250' emulator that is available for PASE now has support for creating connections using TLS encryption. For more information, see the Source Forge Telnet Client tn5250 emulator project.

Distribution enhancement for Linux ODBC driver

The IBM i Access Client Solutions Linux Application Package, which delivers the IBM i Access ODBC driver, is now more easily installable. IBM has provided public repositories that can be configured for multiple distributions of Linux. For more information, see IBM-provided Repositories ODBC Linux Driver Repositories.

Enhancements to Visual Studio Code extensions

Various enhancements have been made to IBM i extensions for VSCode, both by IBM and the community. Some examples:

Database tooling now includes a new and improved schema browser.
SQL results are now only loaded "as needed" for large queries.
Major RPGLE linter auto-fix performance improvements.
Improved globalization support.

For more information about IBM i extensions, see the IBM i Development Pack download page.

Licensed Program Products

IBM Rational Development Studio for i (5770-WDS)

Rational Development Studio for i is responding to the many requests from the community, outlining the needs of RPG and COBOL application programmers. The following new features have been added:

RPG

Support string operations by characters rather than by bytes or double-bytes for UTF-8, UTF-16, and mixed-SBCS/DBCS
New built-in function %CHARCOUNT to return the number of characters in a string, which might be different from the number of bytes or double bytes
New built-in functions for concatenating strings:
- %CONCAT: concatenate several items with an optional separator.
- %CONCATARR: concatenate the elements of an array with an optional separator.
Prototyped-parameter option *CONVERT for string or pointer parameters, to allow any data type to be passed as a parameter
A new optional parameter for %STR to specify the CCSID of the data for the pointer

COBOL

Support for a Target CCSID (TGTCCSID) has been added for ILE COBOL.

IBM Rational Developer for i, V9.6.0.12 (5733-RDW or Passport Advantage® part number D0C5FLL)

This release focuses on delivering capabilities in programmer productivity and ease-of-use features. Specifically, this announcement includes Refactor and Quick fix additions that help improve the programmer productivity.

The new features that have been added are grouped into three categories and are listed here.

General currency items
- Compiler error list support for CRTPGM and CRTSRVPGM.
- RPG language updates: new opcodes ON-EXCP and SND-MSG; new BIFs %MSG and %TARGET (including updated program verifier).
- Update JTOpen to 11.0.
- Update IBM Java™ 8 JVM.
Community-driven enhancements
- Add LPEX filter for subroutines and procedures.
- Add preference for default case for Context Assist insertions.
- Add preference to change default insert mode for editor.
- Include Left Hand Indicators in Outline.
- Add MONMSG to control codes when filtering view by control; improve [Shft]+[Ctrl]+[M] behavior.
- Show file name in hover text for record formats.
- Outline does not show the data structure is modified by XML-INTO.
- Display contents of the save file (SAVF).
Developer productivity enhancements
- Quick fix to comment out unused variables.
- Quick fix to create missing variables and procedures.
- Single select compare with user input.
- Add a right-click context menu item for toggling edit/browse mode.
- Improve connection status monitoring and control.
- Object Table quick filter entry fields should support [CTRL]+[V], [CTRL]+[C] for Paste and Copy.
- Add a keyboard short-cut [ALT]+[SHFT]+[T] to the Extract Constants menu action.
- Extract procedure: support embedded SQL statements in selection.

For more information about this new release, go to the IBM RDi hub.

IBM i Modernization Engine for Lifecycle Integration (Merlin)

Debugger: The IBM Developer IDE within Merlin now includes the ability for developers to leverage an interactive debugger, improving the ability to quickly solve problems and respond to the needs of the business.

IBM Backup, Recovery, and Media Services for i (BRMS) (5770-BR1)

BRMS is enhanced every quarter with new capabilities and features.

BRMS SQL service enhancements have been added for the BRMS enterprise function. These new services give users the ability to set up nodes in a BRMS enterprise network and to schedule and manage BRMS reports from a central system.
BRMS enterprise reporting has been enhanced to support the PRTMOVBRM command for reporting when using the new BRMS SQL service procedures.
BRMS has been enhanced with a new append to media volume selection that ensures mounted volumes are reserved to the job before using them for backups. The purpose of this new volume selection algorithm is to prevent concurrent backup jobs from using the same volume.
The following previously deprecated functionality has been disabled:
- The parameter Option OPTION(*SECUREDDM) with Action ACTION(*SET) on the Initialize BRMS (INZBRM) command has been disabled and will fail with message BRM412B. BRMS encourages using the alternate method of implementing the QDDMDRDASERVER special value in the SERVER parameter of the Add Server Authentication Entry (ADDSVRAUTE) command.
- The Work with Media Policies (WRKPCYBRM *MED) command interface to create or change a media policy with a Media class special value of *ADSM has been disabled and will fail with message BRM1174. The reason for this change is that IBM Tivoli® Storage Manager (TSM) reached End of Support (EOS) in April of 2015.

The BRMS PTF that delivered the enhancements is IBM i 7.5 - SI80273 and became available in September 2022.

To discover more detail on these and other BRMS enhancements, see the Enhancements to BRMS wiki.

IBM PowerHA SystemMirror for i (5770-HAS)

IBM PowerHA SystemMirror for i 7.5, delivered in level 5.2.2, brings a new set of enhancements centered around web-based administration, FlashCopy automation, and the administrative domain.

New modern web-based interface

PowerHA has always required minimal ongoing monitoring and management. Previously, most monitoring and management for PowerHA was done either through the green screen command-line interface, SQL services, or through the PowerHA web interface built into the heritage Navigator for i.

This update provides the first installment of a new modern web interface for PowerHA, giving at-a-glance health information from a web browser.

Enhanced administrative domain integration

The administrative domain in PowerHA synchronizes security and configuration-related objects across a PowerHA environment, including user profiles so that changes to resources monitored by the administrative domain are automatically synchronized with the other nodes.

With this enhancement, PowerHA now supports synchronizing additional attributes on user profiles, including the following:

Synchronization of user auditing (CHGUSRAUD), including the object auditing value (OBJAUD) and user action auditing (AUDLVL) attributes
Support for synchronizing the new user-level maximum sign-on attempts (MAXSIGN) attribute on user profiles

Existing monitored resources in the administrative domain that previously monitored all attributes for user profiles will automatically begin monitoring the new attributes after all nodes are updated to PowerHA SystemMirror for i 7.5, level 5.2.2.

Integrated FlashCopy automation enhancements

Previously, PowerHA introduced automation for IBM FlashSystems and Spectrum Virtualize IASP-based FlashCopy, reducing the need for customized scripts or external tools. This update provides additional automation, including:

The ability to run a user exit program as part of FlashCopy operations
Simplified management with the ability to suspend and resume FlashCopy sessions

These PowerHA SystemMirror for i 7.5 enhancements will be available in level 5.2.2 on December 16, 2022.

IBM Db2 Mirror for i (5770-DBM)

New support for replicating the state of a submitted job

In the event of a failure, it may be important to know which scheduled jobs were actually running and which ones remain in the job queue. Db2 Mirror now can select job queues and track the status of the submitted jobs on those queues. This status is replicated to the other node in the Db2 Mirror configuration. In the event of a failure, this status information can be used to resubmit a job to run on the other node.

Usability enhancement for setting up Db2 Mirror managed integrated file systems

The configuration of setting up and managing an IFS instance that can be accessed and changed from both nodes has been simplified by new GUI support. If geographic mirroring is being used for the IFS replication, all setup and management can be done from the Db2 Mirror UI (both command line and GUI).

IBM Web Enablement for i (5733-WE3)

Software Announcement ZP22-0088, dated May 3, 2022, stated that for IBM i 7.5 clients, Web Enablement for i (5733-WE3) can no longer be ordered. However, now IBM i 7.5 clients who need the WebSphere Application Server products delivered with Web Enablement for i can order the product. As stated in the May 3, 2022, announcement letter, Web Enablement for i products are not preloaded and not available on physical media.

Hardware and virtualization improvements

Password protection for data on NVMe devices on Power10 processor-based Power servers

All NVMe devices that IBM i currently supports are self-encrypting drives (SED), meaning that the data is encrypted at rest. However, the key used to encrypt and decrypt the data is not protected, so any "bad actor", once in possession of the device, can access all the data. IBM i support for password protection of the data on an NVMe device protects the data upon loss of power to the device by utilizing the Trusted Computer Group (TCG) Opal Security Subsystem Class (SSC) specification for storage. By supporting this Opal Storage specification, the device can protect the confidentiality of stored user data against unauthorized access once it leaves the owner's control.

Currently supported NVMe feature numbers include these disk devices: #ES3A, #ES3C, #ES3E, and #ES3G.

IBM i leverages VIOS NPIV multiple queues for virtual Fibre Channel

Fibre Channel (FC) adapters with high bandwidth, such as 16 Gb or 32 Gb, support multiple request and completion queues for storage I/O communication. Use of multiple work queues in the physical FC stack significantly improves the I/O requests per second (IOPS) due to the ability to drive the I/O operations in parallel through the FC adapter.

The recently announced IBM PowerVM® VIOS support for multiple queues for the interfaces between virtual FC client and server adapters, as announced in Software Announcement ZP20-0454, dated October 6, 2020, exposed the physical FC adapter capabilities to the client operating system. Now IBM i takes advantage of that support to use multiple request and response queues in the IBM i virtual FC client adapter to provide increased parallelism throughout the entire virtual I/O stack. This has the potential to improve overall virtual FC I/O throughput, reduce latency, and achieve higher IOPS. This function is supported for both Power10 and Power9 servers. See NPIV Multiple-Queue support in IBM Documentation for more information.

Manual disable of a disk path

Previously, the system would always automatically attempt recovery from errors on a disk path. However, this meant that a partially working path would cause delays in overall performance of the system, even if other better paths were available. Now a system administrator who is aware that a path is having trouble can disable it to allow a better path to be used instead.

IBM i clients benefit from Power offerings

IBM i exploits selected offerings from Power to ensure clients have the hardware and virtualization capabilities they need to run their businesses. Those offerings include:

The Power S1022s offering is being enhanced with an 8-core (2 x 4-core) option. This supports IBM i natively at a P10 software tier and provides more PCIe slots in the system unit compared to current P10 software tier offerings.
Two new NVMe U.2 (15mm) Flash drive bays for Power E1080 servers.
New PCIe4 2-port 100Gb NIC/RoCE QFSP56 Adapter.
New PCIe3 4-port 10GbE BaseT RJ45 Adapter.
New PCIe4 64Gb 2-port Optical Fibre Channel Adapter.
New PCIe4 32Gb 4-port Optical Fibre Channel Adapter.
Support for VIOS 3.1.4, including VIOS dump improvements.

Reference information

For information about:

IBM i 7.4 TR7, see Software Announcement ZP22-0344, dated October 11, 2022
Virtualization enhancements, see Software Announcement ZP22-0338, dated October 11, 2022
IBM Power Systems Enhancements, see Hardware Announcement ZG22-0110, dated October 11, 2022

Program number

Program number	VRM	Program name
5770-SS1	7.5	IBM i 7.5 TR1

Publications

None

Services

IBM Consulting™

As transformation continues across every industry, businesses need a single partner to map their enterprise-wide business strategy and technology infrastructure. IBM Consulting is the business partner to help accelerate change across an organization. IBM specialists can help businesses succeed through finding collaborative ways of working that forge connections across people, technologies, and partner ecosystems. IBM Consulting brings together the business expertise and an ecosystem of technologies that help solve some of the biggest problems faced by organizations. With methods that get results faster, an integrated approach that is grounded in an open and flexible hybrid cloud architecture, and incorporating technology from IBM Research® and IBM Watson AI, IBM Consulting enables businesses to lead change with confidence and deliver continuous improvement across a business and its bottom line.

For additional information, see the IBM Consulting website.

IBM Technology Support Services (TSS)

TSS helps organizations plan, deploy, support, operate and refresh the foundation for their hybrid cloud and enterprise IT data centers. Deep expertise in IBM Systems, open source and third-party vendors, streamlined processes and advanced technologies such as AI, enable organizations to protect their infrastructure investment and consistently maintain high availability for mission-critical workloads across the product lifecycle.

IBM Technology Services, formerly known as IBM Systems Lab Services, is part of TSS. Technology Services offers a wide range of infrastructure services for IBM Power servers, IBM Storage systems, IBM zSystems, IBM LinuxONE, Red Hat® and open source software. Technology Services has a global presence and can deploy consultants online or onsite. Consultants have deep technical expertise, valuable tools, and successful methodologies. Technology Services is designed to help organizations solve business challenges, gain new skills, and apply best practices.

For more information about IBM's infrastructure support and services, see the Technology Lifecycle Services for your hybrid cloud infrastructure web page.

IBM Expert Labs

Expert Labs can help clients accelerate their projects and optimize value by leveraging their deep technical skills and knowledge. With more than 20 years of industry experience, these specialists know how to overcome the biggest challenges to deliver business results that can have an immediate impact.

Expert Labs' deep alignment with IBM product development allows for a strategic advantage as they are often the first in line to get access to new products, features, and early visibility into roadmaps. This connection with the development enables them to deliver First of a Kind implementations to address unique needs or expand a client's business with a flexible approach that works best for their organization.

For additional information, see the IBM Expert Labs website.

IBM Security® Expert Labs

With extensive consultative expertise on IBM Security software solutions, Security Expert Labs helps clients and partners modernize the security of their applications, data, and workforce. With an extensive portfolio of consulting and learning services, Security Expert Labs provides project-based and premier support service subscriptions.

These services can help clients deploy and integrate IBM Security software, extend their team resources, and help guide and accelerate successful hybrid cloud solutions, including critical strategies such as zero trust. Remote and on-premises software deployment assistance is available for IBM Cloud Pak® for Security, IBM Security QRadar®/QRoC, IBM Security QRadar SOAR, IBM Security Verify, IBM Security Guardium®, and IBM Security MaaS360®.

For more information, contact Security Expert Labs at sel@us.ibm.com.

For additional information, see the IBM Security Expert Labs website.

Technical information

Specified operating environment

Hardware requirements

IBM i 7.5 is supported on select Power servers with Power9 or Power10 processors.

For up-to-date information about all types of code levels needed for support of a particular feature, see the IBM Power Systems Prerequisites website.

For additional information, see the System to IBM i mapping website.

Software requirements

To find the supporting technical details and software requirements for IBM i 7.5, see the TR1 enhancements website.

IBM Support

IBM Support is your gateway to technical support tools and resources that are designed to help you save time and simplify support. IBM Support can help you find answers to questions, download fixes, troubleshoot, submit and track problem cases, and build skills.

Additional IBM support

IBM Client Engineering for Systems

Client Engineering for Systems is a framework for accelerating digital transformation. It helps you generate innovative ideas and equips you with the practices, technologies, and expertise to turn those ideas into business value in weeks. When you work with Client Engineering for Systems, you bring pain points into focus. You empower your team to take manageable risks, adopt leading technologies, speed up solution development, and measure the value of everything you do. Client Engineering for Systems has experts and services to address a broad array of use cases, including capabilities for business transformation, hybrid cloud, analytics and AI, infrastructure systems, security, and more. Contact Client Engineering for Systems at sysgarage@ibm.com.

Planning information

Packaging

This program, when downloaded from a website, contains the applicable IBM license agreement and License Information, if appropriate, which will be presented for acceptance at the time of installation of the program. For future reference, the license and License Information will be stored in a directory such as LICENSE.TXT.

Ordering information

Consult your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner.

The ordering information is not changed by this announcement.

Charge metric

Select your language of choice and scroll down to the Charge Metrics section. Follow-on releases, if any, may have updated terms. See the License Information documents website for more information.

Terms and conditions

Not applicable

Statement of good security practices

IT system security involves protecting systems and information through intrusion prevention, detection, and response to improper access from within and outside your enterprise. Improper access can result in information being altered, destroyed, or misappropriated or can result in misuse of your systems to attack others. Without a comprehensive approach to security, no IT system or product should be considered completely secure and no single product or security measure can be completely effective in preventing improper access. IBM systems and products are designed to be part of a regulatory compliant, comprehensive security approach, which will necessarily involve additional operational procedures, and may require other systems, products, or services to be most effective.

Important: IBM does not warrant that any systems, products, or services are immune from, or will make your enterprise immune from, the malicious or illegal conduct of any party.

Prices

The prices are unchanged by this announcement.

IBM Global Financing

IBM Global Financing offers competitive financing to credit-qualified clients to assist them in acquiring IT solutions. Offerings include financing for IT acquisition, including hardware, software, and services, from both IBM and other manufacturers or vendors. Offerings (for all client segments: small, medium, and large enterprise), rates, terms, and availability can vary by country. Contact your local IBM Global Financing organization or go to the IBM Financing website for more information.

IBM Global Financing offerings are provided through IBM Credit LLC in the United States, and other IBM subsidiaries and divisions worldwide to qualified commercial and government clients. Rates are based on a client's credit rating, financing terms, offering type, equipment type, and options, and may vary by country. Other restrictions may apply. Rates and offerings are subject to change, extension, or withdrawal without notice.

Regional availability

Europe: Aland Islands, Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Bulgaria, Union of the Comoros, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Holy See (Vatican City State), Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jersey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Republic of North Macedonia, Norway, Pitcairn, Poland, Portugal, Reunion, Romania, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spain, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna

Middle East and Africa: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bahrain, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Republic of Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Kingdom of Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, State of Palestine, Qatar, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Trademarks

IBM Consulting is a trademark of IBM Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

IBM, Db2, Rational, PowerHA, SystemMirror, IBM FlashSystem, FlashCopy, WebSphere, Power, Passport Advantage, IBM Watson, Tivoli, PowerVM, IBM Research, IBM Security, IBM Cloud Pak, QRadar, Guardium and MaaS360 are registered trademarks of IBM Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

The registered trademark Linux® is used pursuant to a sublicense from the Linux Foundation, the exclusive licensee of Linus Torvalds, owner of the mark on a worldwide basis.

Oracle and Java are trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates in the United States, other countries, or both.

Red Hat is a registered trademark of Red Hat Inc. in the U.S. and other countries.

Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

Terms of use

IBM products and services which are announced and available in your country can be ordered under the applicable standard agreements, terms, conditions, and prices in effect at the time. IBM reserves the right to modify or withdraw this announcement at any time without notice. This announcement is provided for your information only. Reference to other products in this announcement does not necessarily imply those products are announced, or intend to be announced, in your country. Additional terms of use are located at

For the most current information regarding IBM products, consult your IBM representative or reseller, or go to the IBM worldwide contacts page

IBM Directory of worldwide contacts