IBM continues its commitment to innovation and enterprise resilience with the release of AIX 7.3 Technology Level 4 (TL4). This latest update is designed to help businesses respond faster to dynamic demands, maximize system availability, strengthen security from core to cloud, and streamline administration through automation and open technologies.
Respond Faster to Business Demands
AIX 7.3 TL4 introduces significant performance enhancements for network throughput and scalability on multi-core LPARs, ensuring efficient handling of high packet rates. Improved BPF performance reduces overhead during tcpdump or libpcap usage. A tech preview for NVMe over TCP opens new possibilities for high-speed storage connectivity. Additionally, support for up to 256 cores and 2048 hardware threads per LPAR empowers organizations to scale workloads like never before.
Maximize Availability and Reliability
Downtime for any enterprise is costly, and TL4 addresses this head-on. Live Kernel Update (LKU) blackout times are reduced by up to 70%, and overall LKU time is improved by 50% compared to earlier releases. With Live Library Update now supported in production environments, businesses can apply critical updates without disrupting operations. Enhanced compatibility between physical volume encryption and LKU further reinforce system reliability. Businesses can now perform critical operations like VIOS maintenance and adapter microcode updates with minimal disruption. Thanks to significantly faster path fail-over times in redundant NPIV configurations
Protect Data from Core to Cloud
Security remains a cornerstone of AIX. TL4 introduces vTPM 2.0 support on IBM Power10 and Power11 systems for trusted boot and remote attestation, aligning with TCG standards. The User Space Platform KeyStore (PKS) now supports object wrapping for better key management, while OpenSSL 3.5 with quantum-safe encryption is available as a tech preview. Additional enhancements include FIDO-based SSH authentication, improved LDAP integration with Windows AD, and runtime verification of shared object files for trusted execution.
Streamline Insights and Automation
Automation is key to operational efficiency, new Ansible modules for system monitoring, paging space management, password encryption, and Live Kernel Update operations simplify administration. Demo playbooks and improved idempotency ensure smooth automation workflows, while integration with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform provides enterprise-grade support.
Additional Enhancements
AIX TL4 also brings updated open-source packages, including OpenSSL 3.0.16, OpenSSH 9.9p2, and Python 3.11 as the default version. The introduction of LLDB for source-level debugging demonstrate IBM commitment to modern development tools.
Why This Matters
AIX 7.3 TL4 delivers important enhancements that help businesses improve performance, strengthen security, and maintain reliability in hybrid cloud environments. These updates are designed to support operational efficiency and provide a solid foundation for future growth.
References
AIX 7.3.4 Enhancements: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/announcements/aix-availability-enhancements
AIX 7.3.4 Release Notes: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/aix/7.3.0?topic=notes-aix-734-release
AIX 7.3.4 Expansion Pack Release Notes: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/aix/7.3.0?topic=notes-aix-734-expansion-pack-release