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.Please open a ticket/CPS with Service. It's possible there is a defect with your scenario, but more likely a misunderstanding in how Omit works. Service will direct you to provide the exact steps used and the debug data needed. This would be DSPPTF and DSPSFWRSC listings before the PTF install, joblog of INSPTF with OMIT parm (use INSPTF instead of GO PTF so I can see OMIT PTFs). Note GO PTF just calls INSPTF command, so it's the same code path. If you install PTFs delayed, then I'll also need the SCPF joblog where the PTFs are installed. Then get another DSPPTF listing after install. Also include how the image catalog was created, that is, multiple PTF groups, cumulative PTF package, singles, etc. Thanks!
And during this case I opened the case to put in this RFE and the responsible confirmed that the parameter didn't working as expected.
If you perform a test by creating an image catalog with all the PTFs and during the Load request to remove the PTFs for any product, the list will appear empty, however the PTFs will be applied, so the parameter is not working as expected
The OMIT parameter on LODPTF, APYPTF, INSPTF commands, and the Omit PTFs list on GO PTF have always been supported. Note the help text on INSPTF (same as GO PTF) says:
"Specifies the product ID, version, release, modification level, and PTF
ID for PTFs that should not be loaded. The current state of the PTF is
not checked before being passed to LODPTF. If the PTF is already loaded
it is applied. A maximum of 50 PTFs can be omitted."
Perhaps the PTFs specified to be omitted were already in Loaded (Not applied) status. Also note that the Omit parameter does not remove PTFs that are already temporarily applied. The Remove PTF (RMVPTF) command must be used to remove installed PTFs.
If you have a scenario where you specified to Omit PTFs and those PTFs were loaded, please contact Service and provide the debug data they request (DSPPTF listing before and after installing PTFs and the GO PTF joblog).
It sounds to me like this is a bug which should be reported to IBM. The help text on the APYPTF OMIT parameter is pretty clear:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Specifies the PTF numbers that are not applied. Up to 300 PTF numbers
can be specified.
Note: The OMIT parameter cannot be specified if single PTF numbers
are specified for the PTF numbers to select (SELECT) parameter.
character-value
Specify the identification number of each PTF to omit.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The text is basically the same for the LODPTF command.
Is it possible that single PTF numbers were selected?
I am surprised to hear that the OMIT parameter does NOT omit the specified PTF's. If that is indeed the case, it ain't good. We manage over 100 IBM i installations and bad PTF's have caused huge outages in the past, so we recently implemented a rigorous pre-deploy PTF test procedure so we can omit bad PTF's. Since this procedure was implemented we have not yet found a bad PTF, but I would be most distressed to discover the OMIT parameter is ignored or non-functioning, after all the effort we have put in place to catch those bad ones beforehand.