IBM AIX 7.1 – Common Problem 056 – Diagnosis and Fix

📖 ~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

installp returns ‘PREREQUISITE FAILURE’ or filesets stay in BROKEN state.

Environment & Reproduction

Applying TL/SP without all required base filesets installed.

Root Cause Analysis

Dependency tree references missing or downlevel filesets.

Quick Triage

Run lslpp -L | grep -i broken and installp -s for incomplete actions.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Use installp -p -aXgYd /dir all to preview and identify missing prereqs.

Solution – Primary Fix

Run installp -C to clean and installp -acgXY -d /lpp_source .

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Use smit update_all with COMMIT=no for safer rollback before retry.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

lslpp -l shows all filesets COMMITTED at expected TL/SP.

Rollback Plan

installp -r rejects bad updates and restores prior level.

Prevention & Hardening

Always run inutoc and check oslevel -rq before TL upgrades.

Related Errors & Cross-Refs

BROKEN fileset state, install_all_updates errors.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for aix-7.1.

View all aix-7.1 tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

AIX installp and Service Update Management Assistant docs.