Microcode Discovery Service and VPD Capture Service

Audience: All

Date: February 23, 2001

AIX development recently announced two utilities that centralize and simplify configuration management tasks. The utilities are Microcode Discovery Service and VPD Capture Service.

Microcode Delivery Service identifies downlevel microcode on a group of RS/6000 or SP systems. (You are keeping your microcode current, aren't you?)

VPD Capture Service records hardware configuration information for IBM to insure the correct system upgrade components are shipped.

Both services can be run from a centralized PC browser using a Java Applet. The services use a new AIX command and daemon: invscout and invscoutd. Both are included in the 10/00 AIX 4.33 update, and in AIX 5.0. For prior releases and for documentation see:

Microcode Discovery Service Inventory Scout

VPD Capture Service https://techsupport.services.ibm.com/server/aix.invscoutVPD