AIX binary compatibility guarantee

IBM has a long history of allowing applications created on earlier releases or technology levels of AIX to run unchanged and without recompilation on later releases or technology levels of AIX. This capability has allowed you to take advantage of new AIX releases without having to recompile your applications.

The AIX 7 release continues this legacy of binary compatibility by allowing clients to run applications created on AIX V5 (and in some cases, earlier AIX releases) without recompiling the application.

IBM underscores this commitment to binary compatibility by providing a binary compatibility guarantee for clients moving up to AIX 7 from previous AIX releases.

The terms and conditions of the guarantee are available in the AIX Binary Compatibility Guarantee Agreement and Submission Form below. In general, the guarantee provides that 32-bit or 64-bit applications that are well-behaved and do not use non-portable programming techniques can be executed on AIX 6 without recompilation if they executed on AIX 6 or AIX 5L.

The guarantee also provides that well behaved 32-bit applications that execute on AIX V4.1, V4.2, or V4.3 can be executed on AIX 7 without recompilation.

Submission process

The submission process uses the existing IBM AIX support infrastructure to resolve binary compatibility issues. To be eligible for the AIX Binary Compatibility Guarantee, you must read and accept the terms and conditions of the AIX Binary Compatibility Guarantee Agreement according to this process.

  1. Read the AIX Binary Compatibility Guarantee Agreement (available in multiple languages).
  2. Open a Problem Management Record (PMR) with IBM AIX support using your normal procedures. You must have a valid Software Maintenance Agreement in place to submit a claim under the AIX Binary Compatibility Guarantee.
  3. After opening a PMR, fill out the submission form available below. Be sure to include the PMR number obtained in step 2 on the form.
  4. Sign and fax the completed submission form to the number included on the form. All submissions must be in English.
  5. The IBM AIX support team will provide support for your binary compatibility issues through the normal support process.

Submission forms

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