🟠 High   ⏱ 5–30 min  Last verified: 19 May 2026
Affected versions: IBM AIX 7.3

📖 ~1 min read

Table of contents
  1. Symptom & Impact
  2. Environment & Reproduction
  3. Root Cause Analysis
  4. Quick Triage
  5. Step-by-Step Diagnosis
  6. Solution – Primary Fix
  7. Solution – Alternative Approaches
  8. Verification & Acceptance Criteria
  9. Rollback Plan
  10. Prevention & Hardening
  11. Related Errors & Cross-Refs
  12. References & Further Reading

Symptom & Impact

`smitty update_all` finishes with `REJECTED` filesets and `oslevel -s` shows the old TL.

Environment & Reproduction

AIX 7.3 LPAR running `update_all` against an NFS-mounted lpp_source.

Root Cause Analysis

Mixed COMMITTED/APPLIED state or missing prerequisite filesets blocks the update.

Quick Triage

Run `instfix -i | grep ML` and `lppchk -v` to spot inconsistent filesets.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Capture `/smit.log` and `/var/adm/ras/installp.summary` from the failed run.

Illustrative mockup for aix-7.3 — smitty_update_all-fail_terminal
Terminal diagnostics for TL update_all rejected filesets on IBM AIX 7.3 — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Primary Fix

Commit pending updates first: `installp -c all`, then retry `install_all_updates -d -Y`.

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Illustrative mockup for aix-7.3 — smitty_update_all-fail_logs
Logs and evidence for TL update_all rejected filesets on IBM AIX 7.3 — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Use `geninstall -d -I aY all` to force accept licences during the retry.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

`oslevel -s` matches the target TL/SP and `lppchk -vm3` returns no output.

Rollback Plan

Reject the partial update with `installp -r ` and reboot to the prior state.

Prevention & Hardening

Always pre-stage `bos.rte.install` updates and free `/usr` and `/tmp` before updating.

Pairs with `0503-005`, `0503-464` and missing requisite `bos.rte` errors.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for aix-7.3.

View all aix-7.3 tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

IBM Docs: `install_all_updates`, `instfix`, AIX 7.3 TL release notes.

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