FIRMWARE_CURRENCY view

The FIRMWARE_CURRENCY view implements a live comparison of the firmware fix level installed on the partition against the level available through a feed from the Fix Level Recommendation Tool (FLRT).

When queried, the view uses Display Hardware Resources (DSPHDWRSC) and Display Firmware Status (DSPFMWSTS) commands and the JSON_TABLE and HTTPGETCLOB functions to consume a live JSON feed from the Fix Level Recommendation Tool. When querying this view, the job CCSID cannot be 65535 or the query will fail.

The result of the query shows the firmware fix level installed on the partition and the firmware latest fix levels made available by IBM®. It also returns the general information shown by the DSPFMWSTS command.

Authorization: See Note below.

The following table describes the columns in the view. The system name is FWCUR. The schema is SYSTOOLS.

Table 1. FIRMWARE_CURRENCY view
Column name	System column name	Data type	Description
FW_CURRENCY	FW_CRNCY	VARCHAR(28)	A description of the firmware status. Values returned are: INSTALLED LEVEL IS CURRENT The firmware fix level installed matches the most current available from IBM UPDATE AVAILABLE An update is available from IBM UPGRADE AVAILABLE An upgrade is available from IBM UPDATE AND UPGRADE AVAILABLE Both an update and an upgrade are available from IBM
FW_CURRENTFIXPACK	FW_FIXPACK	VARCHAR(20)	The current fix level on the partition.
FW_RELEASE_DATE	FW_GA	DATE	The general availability date of the firmware on the partition.
FW_MACHINE_TYPE_MODEL	FW_MTM	VARCHAR(20)	The machine type model of the partition.
FW_RECOMMENDED_UPDATE	FW_RUPD	VARCHAR(20) Nullable	The update fix level of the firmware. Contains the null value if no update version is available.
FW_RECOMMENDED_UPGRADE	FW_RUPG	VARCHAR(20) Nullable	The upgrade fix level of the firmware. Contains the null value if no upgrade version is available.
FW_UPDATE_ACCESS_KEY_ EXPIRATION	KEY_EXP	DATE Nullable	The expiration date of the Update access key. Server firmware fix packs with a later date are not activated until a valid Update access key expiration date is detected. Contains the null value if the update access key expiration date is not available.
FW_SERVICE_PARITITON	SVC_PART	VARCHAR(3)	Indicates whether the logical partition is operating as a service partition. NO The logical partition is not operating as a service partition. YES The logical partition is operating as a service partition.
FW_UPDATE_POLICY	UPD_POLICY	VARCHAR(5)	Indicates how changes are made to the server firmware. HMC The server firmware is managed by a Hardware Management Console (HMC). The operating system is not allowed to make changes to the server firmware. OPSYS The server firmware is managed by the operating system using Program Temporary Fixes (PTFs) for the specified server firmware product ID/release (FW_PRODUCT_ID and FW_PRODUCT_RELEASE).
FW_IPL_SOURCE	IPL_SRC	VARCHAR(9)	The copy of the server firmware that was used on the previous server IPL. PERMANENT The last server IPL used the permanent copy of the server firmware. TEMPORARY The last server IPL used the temporary copy of the server firmware.
FW_IPL_REQUIRED	IPL_REQD	VARCHAR(3)	Whether an IPL is required to activate PTFs for the server firmware product. NO PTFs are active. YES PTFs are applied but are not active.
FW_PRODUCT_ID	PRODUCT_ID	VARCHAR(7) Nullable	The IBM i product that matches the level of the server firmware on the system. Managing the server firmware level is performed by applying or removing PTFs for this product. Contains the null value if no product ID exists for the active server firmware.
FW_PRODUCT_RELEASE	RELEASE	VARCHAR(6) Nullable	The release corresponding to FW_PRODUCT_ID. Contains the null value if no product ID exists for the active server firmware.
FW_TEMPFIXPACK	FW_TEMPFP	VARCHAR(20)	The temporary copy of the server firmware. It has been downloaded to the server and is available to be active but might not be currently active.
FW_PERMFIXPACK	FW_PERMFP	VARCHAR(20)	The permanent copy of the server firmware.

Notes

The view requires the system to have access to the internet with the ability to access the FLRT website. The FLRT website is:
```
https://esupport.ibm.com/customercare/flrt/liteTable?prodKey=fw&format=json
```
If the FLRT website is relocated, this view can be updated by the user. Use the Insert Generated SQL feature in ACS to extract the source for the SYSTOOLS.FLRT_FW_INFO table function. Update the link and recreate the table function.
If any of the CL commands or SQL functions used by the view encounter an error, an error will be returned to indicate the failure. The job log can be examined to determine the root cause of the problem.
This view is provided in the SYSTOOLS schema as an example of how to retrieve live data using an SQL view and table function. Similar to other Db2® for i provided tools within SYSTOOLS, the SQL source can be extracted and used as a model for building similar interfaces, or to create a customized version within a user-specified schema.
Services provided in SYSTOOLS have authorization requirements that are determined by the interfaces used to implement the service. To understand the authority requirements, extract the SQL for the service and examine the implementation.

Example

Examine the firmware fix level information for the partition.

SELECT * FROM SYSTOOLS.FIRMWARE_CURRENCY;