Systems administration
PTF and Technology Refresh currency, work management and subsystem tuning, journaling, BRMS backup and recovery strategy, performance triage, and day-two operations done properly.
SIGN ON · SYSTEM: YOURS
Your IBM i runs the business. Someone should run the IBM i.
Independent systems administration and infrastructure consulting for IBM i on Power Systems — PTF currency, OS upgrades, security, HA/DR, and the automation that keeps it all boring in the best possible way.
IBM i 7.3 → 7.6
POWER9 / POWER10
PowerHA · BRMS
PowerVM / VIOS
FlashSystem
Python · Ansible · CL
GO MAIN
WRKPTFGRP
WRKHDWRSC
WRKCLU
WRKFCNUSG
WRKJOBSCDE
WRKSYSSTS
Services
Every card below starts with the command an administrator would actually type. If your team recognizes them, we'll get along fine. If nobody left on your team recognizes them — that's exactly why I exist.
Infrastructure & upgrades
OS release upgrades, POWER hardware migrations, LPAR and VIOS design, FlashSystem storage layout, and capacity planning — executed with rollback plans, not hope.
High availability & DR
PowerHA clustering, logical replication, role-swap testing, and disaster-recovery runbooks you have actually rehearsed — because an untested DR plan is a rumor.
Security & identity
Certificate lifecycle automation for Digital Certificate Manager, Kerberos single sign-on, privileged credential vaulting, exit-point control, and audit-ready configurations.
Automation & monitoring
Python, Ansible, and CL automation for the work humans shouldn't repeat — cert renewals, keytab rotation, maintenance windows — plus monitoring that pages you before users call.
Managed operations
A monthly retainer for shops without a full-time IBM i administrator: proactive health checks, patching cadence, on-call escalation, and a named human who knows your system.
DSPSYSVAL QRETSVRSEC
The platform isn't the risk. The empty chair is.
IBM i has quietly run manufacturing, distribution, banking, and healthcare for four decades. It is not going anywhere — but the administrators who know it are retiring faster than they are being replaced.
That's the actual exposure: not the operating system, but the moment your last RPG-era administrator hands in their badge and nobody knows why that job runs at 2 a.m.
Documentation first
Every engagement produces runbooks your team owns. My goal is to be un-hire-able for the same problem twice.
Automation over heroics
Recurring work gets scripted, scheduled, and monitored. Heroic 2 a.m. saves are a process failure, not a service.
Independent advice
No hardware resale, no software commissions. Recommendations are what your system needs — nothing else.
SBMJOB CMD(ENGAGE)
How an engagement runs
A fixed sequence, because order matters: you can't automate what isn't stable, and you can't stabilize what hasn't been assessed.
Assess
A structured health check: PTF levels, security posture, backup integrity, storage, and performance. You get a written findings report either way.
Stabilize
Close the urgent gaps first — patching, backup verification, certificate expirations, single points of failure.
Automate
Script and schedule the recurring work, wire it into monitoring, and make the system tell us when something drifts.
Transfer
Runbooks, documentation, and hands-on knowledge transfer to your team — or a managed-care plan if you'd rather keep me around.
SNDDST
Start with a system review
A short call about your environment, then a fixed-scope health check. No obligation past the findings report — most shops learn something from the first pass alone.
Email me
Uretok Consulting
IBM i systems administration & infrastructure
Holly Springs, North Carolina
Remote engagements across the US
hello@uretok.com · (___) ___-____
IBM i systems administration & infrastructure
Holly Springs, North Carolina
Remote engagements across the US
hello@uretok.com · (___) ___-____