IBM i Technology Refresh (TR)
An IBM i Technology Refresh, or TR, is how IBM adds new function to an IBM i release a shop is already running: it arrives as one Technology Refresh PTF Group, and installing it leaves the release level and the machine code level unchanged. TRs are also where the platform's AI groundwork shows up, because IBM's own IBM i 7.6 TR2 notes from July 2026 document the Code for IBM i editor extensions and the IBM Bob Premium Package for i, and list 17 new IBM i Services an agent can read over SQL.
What is a Technology Refresh?
A Technology Refresh, almost always shortened to TR, is a batch of new function IBM adds to an IBM i release that is already out. IBM describes it as new hardware and firmware function for a general availability release. The pieces are developed together, packaged together, tested together and delivered together as a single PTF Group. PTF stands for Program Temporary Fix, which is IBM's name for a unit of fix or update code.
Think of your phone. A TR is the free update that adds features to the version you already carry. It is not the new phone.
- Support for new hardware
- Support for new virtualization functions, performance improvements, or new function enablement
- General Licensed Internal Code or IBM i updates for defect fixes
Does a TR change my release?
No, and IBM is blunt about it. When an IBM i Technology Refresh is installed, the release level of the system does not change, and the machine code level does not change. A box running IBM i 7.5 with TR8 applied is still a 7.5 box.
Each TR also carries everything from the TRs before it. IBM calls later refreshes supersets of earlier ones, so a shop applies the newest one and gets the whole set.
That superset rule is why you cannot ask for an older level. Only the latest level of the Technology Refresh PTF Group is available. IBM's guidance is to install that group plus the latest Cumulative PTF package, or the resave that matches the TR level plus the group plus the latest cumulative package.
When did the recent ones land?
IBM i 7.6 and 7.5 updates, as IBM lists them
- April 2025IBM i 7.6 ships as a base release. Its first items include encryption for ASP 1 to protect user data and use of the Platform KeyStore for iSCSI credentials.
- July 2025A Power 11 GA PTF Group for 7.6 lands beside IBM i 7.5 TR6 and 7.4 TR12, bringing IBM i Secure Boot and NVMe Hot Spare on Power 11 only.
- November 2025IBM i 7.6 TR1 and IBM i 7.5 TR7 arrive. The TR1 notes list nine new IBM i Services.
- July 2026IBM i 7.6 TR2 and IBM i 7.5 TR8 are announced on July 15, 2026, the same day as the entry-level Power S1112 server.
Months are the ones IBM prints on its IBM i Functional Enhancements Details page. The two supported releases take their refreshes together, so a 7.5 shop and a 7.6 shop are updated in the same round.
What does a TR have to do with AI on IBM i?
IBM now documents its IBM i AI tooling inside the TR notes. The IBM i 7.6 TR2 page has a section for Code for IBM i, the VS Code extension set IBM i developers work in, and a section for the IBM Bob Premium Package for i, which IBM says extends IBM Bob with AI capabilities tailored for IBM i application development.
A TR also grows Db2 for i and IBM i Services, and IBM i Services are the surface an AI agent actually reads. IBM's own IBM i MCP Server defines each of its tools as a SQL statement, such as a select against QSYS2.SYSTEM_STATUS. Every service a refresh adds is one more question an agent can ask with no new code written.
New IBM i Services listed in each IBM i 7.6 Technology Refresh
Counted from the new-service lists on IBM's IBM i 7.6 TR1 and TR2 enhancement pages. TR2 also names 10 existing services that were improved, and its Db2 for i changes come through Db2 for i PTF Group SF99960 Level 3. IT Jungle's July 2026 report gives the same 17 new and 10 enhanced.
IBM's line about the Bob Premium Package for i is product wording, not a measured result. And a TR does not install an AI tool for you. It updates the operating system the tool talks to.
How do you put one on?
IBM's recommended way to move to a new TR level
- Match the TR to your releaseA refresh belongs to one release. IBM i 7.6 takes TR1 and TR2. IBM i 7.5 takes TR7 and TR8. You apply the refresh built for the release you run.
- Install the latest Technology Refresh PTF GroupOnly the newest level is available, and it already holds everything from the earlier levels. These groups carry an identifier such as SF99737.
- Add the latest Cumulative PTF packageIBM recommends the Technology Refresh group plus the latest cumulative package. The other supported choice is the resave that corresponds with that TR level, plus the group, plus the latest cumulative package.
A resave is release media that corresponds with a particular Technology Refresh level, which is why IBM lists it as the alternative to applying the group on its own.
Related Terms
IBM i
IBM's operating system for Power servers running traditional AS/400-lineage business applications, with Db2 for i built directly into the OS.
IBM i Services
IBM i Services are SQL views, table functions, procedures and functions that IBM ships inside the operating system, so you can read system information with a SELECT instead of coding to a system API. Most live in the QSYS2 schema, and they are how AI agents read an IBM i box: every tool in IBM's own IBM i MCP Server is a SQL statement against a service such as QSYS2.SYSTEM_STATUS or QSYS2.NETSTAT_INFO.
Db2 for i
The relational database management system built into every IBM i operating system, tightly integrated with IBM i rather than a separately installed database product.
IBM Power 11
IBM's current generation of Power processor and server hardware, announced July 8, 2025 and generally available July 25, 2025, carrying forward Power10's on-chip Matrix Math Acceleration and becoming the first Power generation to support the IBM Spyre Accelerator card.
Bob Premium Package for i
The IBM i-specific add-on to IBM Bob, generally available June 24, 2026. It gives Bob about 40 skills and workflows and about 30 tools that work directly against QSYS, the IFS, CL, SQL and Db2 for i on a live system.
Code for IBM i
Code for IBM i is the free, open source Visual Studio Code extension that lets a developer browse libraries and edit and compile RPG, CL, COBOL and C source on an IBM i over SSH. It owns the connection to the system, so other extensions plug into it rather than building their own, and IBM Bob Premium Package for i installs it automatically, which makes it the layer AI coding help on IBM i actually runs on.