HOWTO determine installed Technology Level

Introduction

The new IBM methodology dictates two Technology Level (TL) releases per year. The first Technology Level includes hardware features, enablement, and software services. The second includes software features in the release, which means the second release is larger and more comprehensive. Finally, there is also now support for new hardware on older Technology Levels. This page is dedicated about finding information about AIX systems versions.

Determine machine type

To determine the machine type of an IBM AIX server use the uname command:

Command: determining the machine type

# uname -MuL
IBM,9133-55A IBM,0365B005G 3 65-B005G

The options:
-M: gives the machine type and model.
-u: gives the plant code and machine identifier.
-L: show the LPAR number and name.

so in the example:

The machine type: is 9113,

The model is: 55A,

OF prefix IBM: 0365B005G,

Plant code is 3,

Sequence number, 65-B005G

Determine OS level and maintenance level

To determine the AIX OS level and maintenance level use the instfix command with the option -i:

Command: determining the operating system level

# instfix -i | grep AIX_ML
    All filesets for 5.3.0.0_AIX_ML were found.
    All filesets for 5300-01_AIX_ML were found.
    All filesets for 5300-02_AIX_ML were found.
    All filesets for 5300-03_AIX_ML were found.
    All filesets for 5300-04_AIX_ML were found.
    All filesets for 5300-05_AIX_ML were found.
    All filesets for 5300-06_AIX_ML were found.
    All filesets for 5300-07_AIX_ML were found.
    All filesets for 5300-08_AIX_ML were found.

You can also use the command oslevel to determine the current AIX version, the -r option determines the highest recommended technology level.

Command: determining the highest technology level

# oslevel -r
5300-08