fixing was and portal

since I declared that IBM outpaced MS at efixes and fixes for WebSphere and Portal, let's see how do we apply these fixes. Until an equiv "Tools\Windows Update" will be made available for WAS/Portal, applying fixes has to be done manually.

Fortunately, for V6.x version there are two UpdateInstaller programs which should do most of the stuff:
- one UpdateInstaller is for WAS and is usually located into WAS install_path. If it's not, you need to download and install it.
- the second UpdateInstaller is for Portal itself, and make note this is different from the WAS's one, even if we do have the same name.

You most likely need an X server of Unix machines, though I think there are possible solutions to apply fixes from the command line. Still, the UpdateInstaller is a Java app, so you'd be better with an X server on your Unix (use export DISPLAY=your_ip:0.0 if your X is not running on the box).

I will not go into further details, as you need to carefully evaluate your current version of Java, WAS and Portal. I am saying that using WAS UpdateInstaller you can update both Java and WAS on your server, while Portal UpdateInstaller updates your Portal install.

A very useful link is now the Fix Central site, which requires your IBM id.

Instructions for each of fix applied need to be carefully evaluated. For instance, you cannot just upgrade to Portal 6.0.1.3 :) You need to upgrade your Java, then WAS to a certain version, if you want to be successful.

What did I said about similarity between this and the good old days of MS, when one patch depended on another ? :) Here's an area needing improvement on our side ...