Technical newsletter n°9

New Releases for Flash for i _ Control for i

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Hello 

New releases of Flash for i & Control for i are now available :

The new Flash for i release (v5.10) mainly delivers compatibility updates, BRMS-related fixes, and several stability improvements. It also introduces encrypted communications with Proxy partitions, documentation enhancements, and a number of corrections designed to improve reliability and simplify administration.

The new v4.03 Control for i release introduces several enhancements focused on improving monitoring reliability, simplifying plugin management, and extending scenario analysis capabilities. It also includes firmware validation against IBM’s website and improvements to encrypted communications .

Below is a full list of changes.

You can download the latest versions of our products on the M81 Downloads Webpage(1).

Upgrading (2) to the latest release  usually takes only about 10 to 15 minutes, and you then can take advantage of new useful features.


Best regards

Pascal Ruckebusch


(1)To access files in this webpage, please provide your email and password. If needed, you can automatically regenerate your password. If you do not have any password, please fill the contact form with ” Profile request for download”  checked.


(2)To determine the current version and release of the product you are using, use the command FLDSPINF for Flash for i and CTDSPINF for Control for i.

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Flash for i – new release – 17 APR 2026 (Documentation = V5.10)

‘Flash for i‘ allows you to gain agility: Don’t stop production for backup tasks | Data copies made before and after critical batches | Your test or acceptance data updated at a glance | A prod relieved of heavy requests | Fast restart after data corruption. More info


⚠️Important: 5.09 version is required for using BRMS version BR2 in a BRMS network environment.

The new 5.10 release introduces the following enhancements:

Security & Proxy

  • Encrypted communications now supported with Proxy partitions.

BRMS Enhancements & Fixes 

  • Q1ABRMNET subsystem handling improved on clone partitions when saving QUSRBRM.
  • Fixed an issue where, in some BR1 environments, the BRMS network did not switch to *FLASHCOPY *STRPRC mode on production systems.
  • BRMS GUI web services are now stopped  when receiving  QUSRBRM, preventing related error messages.
  • FLBRMLCK: the license key is no longer checked on the clone partition, allowing BRMS usage on the clone when required.

Documentation Improvements

  • Addition of a version compatibility table
  • Definitions for key terms commonly used in Flash for i.

Additional Fixes & Improvements

  • FLCHGHMCRS ( resource transfers): improved handling of *SLOT-type moves.
  • Fix for duplicate log record messages on production.
  • VMAX storage support added for versions 10.0 and 10.1.
  • Removed unnecessary disk array connection attempts from cloned partition.

For details of these features and all the ones added in previous releases:

Download “evolution tracking” Document: here

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Control for i – new release – 18 MAY 2026 (Documentation = V4.03)

‘Control for i‘ allows you to gain proactivity: Integrate IBM i into your existing monitoring tool (like Nagios, PRTG, etc) 200+ ‘Plug & Play’ controls: One tool to monitor everything |
IBM i monitoring is ready to meet its challenges |Continuity of service, lower emergency response costs. More info

The new 4.03 release introduces the following enhancements:

Agent & Plugin Enhancements

  • New CTPARAM / AGENTLIBL parameter to add up to 10 libraries to the LIBL of CTAGENT and CTAUTO jobs.
  • Secure and non-secure plugins have now been unified into a single plugin per operating system (Windows/Linux), using the new -secure yes/no parameter.
  • Plugin improvements:
    • Fixed Windows execution issue when .exe extension was omitted.
    • Lookup files in PRTG taken into account even if renamed.
    • Validation of required parameters (-p, -t, -monitor).

Scenario & Monitoring Improvements

  • Scenarios (CTWRKMSG) can now analyse QPJOBLOG spool files from completed jobs (*OUTQ support in addition to *ACTIVE).
  • New CHKIBMWEB parameter in CTCHKFMW to compare installed firmware with the latest level available on IBM’s website.
  • CTCHKCPU now displays the number of CPU cores assigned to the partition.
  • CTCHKBCH now supports the *NOMAX value to disable maximum job count checking.

Encrypted Mode Improvements

  • Major redesign of encrypted mode agent programs, improving reliability and removing several error conditions.

Additional Fixes & Improvements

  • M3 monitoring: other GRID checks now continue even if one component ends in error.
  • CTCHKJOB: new *NOSTS value for STSALERT to support jobs without a status (transitional status).
  • New CTPARAM / TECHNICAL parameter to control whether temporary IFS files generated by commands are kept or automatically deleted.
  • CTCHKMSGQ: fixed an issue affecting *JOBLOG scenario checks after monitoring restarts.
  • CTCHKMSGQ now validates that all scenarios in a provided list exist and are active before processing.

For details of these features and all the ones added in previous releases:

Download “evolution tracking” Document: here

Want to learn more ?

Visit our website www.m81.eu

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Technical Newsletter Nr.9_DE