Over the years, I've fallen in love with the AIX multibos command. Here's a little procedure howto test patches without even a reboot of the system :

• First, clear out all references to old multibos instances :

# multibos -R

mount the patch server directory with the patch bundle :

# mount nim:/patches /mnt

Create a multibos instance of the running kernel and update it :

# multibos -Xs

[...]

# multibos -Xac -l /mnt/6100-07-07

Check the Standby BOS and review any problems :

# multibos -S

	MULTIBOS> oslevel -s

	6100-07-07-1316

WARNING : adding multibos, will change bootlist, if not wanted, use -t flag :

# bootlist -m normal -o

hdisk0 blv=bos_hd5 pathid=0

hdisk0 blv=bos_hd5 pathid=1

hdisk0 blv=hd5 pathid=0

hdisk0 blv=hd5 pathid=1