Maintenance package removal?

[terrywashington]

I have been asked to "back-out" or remove a maintenance package that I recently installed on an rs6000
7044-270. It is running AIX 5.1 5100-03. I have been asked to restore it to 5100-02. The developers that own the box feel that the update is causing problems with their apps. Is this possible (or recommended)? How would I do it?

 

[bi]

If it was installed with the options "Commit software updates?" set to no and the "Save replaced files" set to yes, it is easy to back out. (This is the safest way to apply maintenance levels, by the way.)

You would use the smit fastpath command smit maintain_software, choose "Reject Applied Software Updates (Use previous version), and select what you want to reject.
You can tell if software has been applied but not committed by running lslpp -l and looking for "Applied" in the State column.

If the ML wasn't installed with the easy backout, I think you can back it out, but then you would have to reapply the old ML.

Expect to have to boot the system no matter which method you have to use.

And do a mksysb before and after you do all this -- "just in case."