Working Magic with hmcscanner
Rob McNelly conjures an Excel file and gets a timely reminder
I’ve written about hmcscanner over the years, including this overview back in 2012. Recently though, I encountered an interesting issue with it.
I asked a customer to run hmcscanner on their systems and send me the output. To my surprise, I received the directory that hmcscanner creates when it runs, but not the Excel file to go with it.
As I looked through the files, I wondered if there was a way to generate the Excel file. If you run hmcscanner by itself, it will print out a usage statement. The -readlocal flag causes hmcscanner to read existing local data without contacting the HMC.
All I had to do was run hmcscanner as usual, but instead of entering the HMC name, I entered the directory where the files were located, along with a dummy user and password. I ran:
hmcScanner.bat testdir hscroot -p 12345 -readlocal
Like magic, it generated my Excel file and I was able to use it like normal.
OS/2 Is Still Out There
As an actual OS/2 user (mentioned at the end of this post), I always appreciate periodic reminders that the product of the long-ago IBM/Microsoft union still exists:
“IBM OS/2 was an alternative to Microsoft Windows throughout the 1990s, but Microsoft won out in the end, and the operating system was relegated to niche use cases. Over 24 years since the final OS/2 release, and 19 years since IBM’s support ended, the officially-sanctioned continuation ArcaOS is still going.
“ArcaOS 5.1.2 was released on March 8, 2026, with bug fixes for UEFI-based computers, localization improvements, newer USB and NVMe drivers, and other minor changes. It’s not an exciting update, but its mere existence is strange and fascinating. Even though there are some modern enhancements, ArcaOS hasn’t diverged much from the final release of OS/2 Warp 4.52, which IBM put out in December 2001 before ending all OS/2 support in December 2006.”
I recall running OS/2 during the timeframe when Windows would regularly blue screen. I didn’t have that trouble with OS/2, yet I seemed to be the only one in the office who preferred it. Others wanted to use the same OS that the people around them were running. Of course there was logic to that; when you encountered problems, you knew you could find someone to turn to for help. As an OS/2 user, my primary help resources were physical computer magazines and hard-cover books. This was the early 1990s, after all. Anyway, even now, I can’t help but wonder what might have been with OS/2.
A Video Overview of IBM Power Virtual Server
IBM Power Virtual Server is a family of configurable, multi-tenant virtual Power servers that provides access to IBM Cloud services, web, DevOps and Db2. To learn more, check out this YouTube page, which contains a series of short videos (22 as of this writing). For instance, you can learn how to create a Power Virtual Server instance. You can also hear about the 90-day trial offer.
I have been using Power Virtual Server more and more. I learn best by hands-on trial and error. If you’re a similar type of techie and you’ve yet to test it out, you might want to create an account and build some LPARs.
Security Advisories and Fixes
IBM Support has recently issued a number of security advisories and fixes.
* AIX 7.3 TL 7300-03 fixes: “This is a list of identified PTFs in Error (PEs) for AIX 7.3 Technology Level 7300-03 that are fixed in Service Pack 7300-03-02-2546”
* Notification: “Potential undetected data loss after PowerHA failover during jfs2 filesystem recovery.”
“When a PowerHA node acquires a jfs2 filesystem that had not been cleanly unmounted, such as after a crash or halt, the filesystem log may not be replayed when fsck is executed on the filesystem. This may result in undetected data loss as the filesystem is brought to a consistent state without replaying the log.”
* PowerHA with AIX 7.3: “IBM.SoftwareRM subsystem may kill all processes on PowerHA node.”
“Due to a memory leak and incorrect initialization, the RSCT subsystem IBM.SoftwareRM may kill some or all processes on a PowerHA node.”
* Multiple vulnerabilities impact AIX/VIOS due to OpenSSL: “Vulnerabilities in OpenSSL could allow an attacker to potentially execute arbitrary code (CVE-2025-15467) or cause a denial of service (CVE-2025-68160, CVE-2025-69418, CVE-2025-69419, CVE-2025-69420, CVE-2025-69421, CVE-2026-22795, CVE-2026-22796). OpenSSL is used by AIX as part of AIX’s secure network communications.”
* backupios fails with savevg error:
$ backupios -file /backup/mksysb.file -nomedialib 2>&1 0512-009 savevg: Invalid or missing Volume Group Name. Usage: savevg [-X] [-V] [-i] [-m] [-e] [-b blocks]\ [-f device] [-p] [-v] [-r] [-a] [-A] [-Z] [-P]\ [-x filename] [-T] vgName -X Expand /tmp if needed. -V Verify backup readability (tape only).
…
Local Fix
Use the "-nosvg" option to not save other VG data.”
As stated in the link, this is a duplicate of this issue.
* viosupgrade duplicates entry in cron root: “After viosugprade, the cron root may duplicate an entry.”
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Tips from IBM Support
Also from IBM Support: a couple of explainers on rsyslog and dynamically creating and adding a virtual Ethernet adapter to the SEA on VIOS.
* “This document explains how to download, install and use rsyslog instead of the AIX native syslog logging service.”
* “How can a Virtual Ethernet Adapter be dynamically created and added to the SEA on VIOS?”