SPARTA News

May 2017

SPARTA President’s Corner

contributed by Randy Springs

We are all aware of the impact of mobile apps on business processes, especially marketing. We are targeted when we research prices for an item on Amazon and then have that item show up in ads on other web sites, such as FaceBook or even WRAL. Amazon is offering same-day delivery on many items, with local warehouses stocking the items we use most often.

My company is making constant improvements to our mobile app and our online processes, as well. My recent mortgage process was completed totally online, and I never met my mortgage officer face-to-face. Our CEO was in the news last month announcing the closing of around 100 branches soon due to the popularity of our online and mobile activities.

We are looking forward to our next SPARTA meeting on May 2. We will hear from Gregg Willhoit, who is Chief Technologist at Rocket Software, working on their z/OS integration products. He will speak to us on the use of APIs on z Systems.

Please plan to join us for networking, pizza, fun and education on Tuesday, May 2 at 6:15 p.m. at our usual LabCorp meeting location.

Randy Springs
BB&T

Future Speakers

(subject to change)

May 2, 2017 - API Revolution on z Systems by Gregg Willhoit of Rocket Software

June 6, 2017 - Virtual Tape Update by Brian Kithcart of EMC

We need ideas and volunteers for future speakers. Presentations don’t have to be fancy, just informative and interesting. Even a 5 or 10 minute talk can start an interesting interaction. Contact Ron Pimblett by phone as noted below.

2016-2017 SPARTA

Board of Directors

Randy Springs - President

BB&T                  (919) 745-5241

3200 Beechleaf Court, Suite 300

Raleigh, NC 27604

Ron Pimblett - Vice President

MDI Data Systems

Land line 613 599 6970

Mobile 613 981 6919

190 Guelph Private

Kanata, ON K2T 0J7

Mike Lockey -  Secretary

Guilford Co. Information Services  336-641-6235

201 N. Eugene St.

Greensboro, NC 27401

Pam Tant - Treasurer

DTS Software Inc.                  919-833-8426 x124

4350 Lassiter at N. Hills Avenue

Suite 230

Raleigh, NC 27609

Ed Webb -  Communications Director

SAS Institute Inc.  919-531-4162

SAS Campus Drive

Cary, NC 27513

Meetings

Meetings are scheduled for the first Tuesday evening of each month (except no meeting in January), with optional dinner at 6:15 p.m. and the meeting beginning at 7:00 p.m.

These monthly meetings usually are held at LabCorp’s Center for Molecular Biology and Pathology (CMBP) near the Research Triangle Park (see last page). Take I-40 to Miami Boulevard and go north. Turn right onto T.W. Alexander Drive. Go about a mile or so. Then turn right into LabCorp complex and turn Left to the CMBP Building (1912 T.W. Alexander Drive). In the lobby, sign in as a visitor to see Bill Johnson. Bill will escort you to the conference room.

Call for Articles

If you have any ideas for speakers, presentations, newsletter articles, or are interested in taking part in a presentation, PLEASE contact one of the Board of Directors with your suggestions.

Newsletter e-Mailings

The SPARTA policy is to e-mail a monthly notice to our SPARTA-RTP Group. The newsletter is posted to the website about five (5) days before each meeting so you can prepare. The SPARTA-RTP Group is maintained by Chris Blackshire; if you have corrections or problems receiving your meeting notice, contact Chris at chrisbl@nc.rr.com.

March 2017 “CBT Tape” Shareware Online

The directory and files from the latest CBT tape V494 (dated March 5, 2017) are available from www.cbttape.org.

If you need help obtaining one or more files, contact Ed Webb at SAS (see Board of Director’s list for contact info).

Minutes of the April 4, 2017 Meeting

• The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Randy Springs, the SPARTA President.

• The meeting was held at a LabCorp conference room in RTP, N.C.

• Twelve (12) people were present of which all are 2016/2017 members.

• Everyone introduced themselves, told where they worked, and briefly described their job functions or their job hunting challenges.

• The minutes for the February 7, 2017 meeting were approved as published in the March 2017 newsletter. The minutes of the March 7, 2017 meeting were approved as published in the April newsletter.

• The April 2017 Treasurer's report was approved as read by Pam Tant. The balance was $383.36. (See details later in this newsletter)

OLD BUSINESS

• Call For Articles: Articles are needed for this newsletter. If you would like to write an article for this newsletter, please contact Ed Webb. Keep in mind that you don't really need to write the article, it can be an article that you read that you would like to share with the membership.

• The SPARTA Web page is available. To access the SPARTA Web page, point your Web browser to this site: http://www.spartanc.org. Please send any comments or suggestions about the Web page to Mike Lockey. Be sure to check the Web page every once in a while to see any new or changed information.

• Randy reminded everyone to leave the LabCorp conference room clean.

• Future Speakers and Topics (subject to change based on internal politics, budget, the weather):

If you have suggestions about speakers and topics, contact Ron Pimblett.

• The next SPARTA monthly meeting will be on Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at LabCorp in RTP.

• Food for the May 2 meeting will be Pizza.

• The 2017 dues are due ($30) starting in February 2017. Please pay Pam Tant.

• Thanks to LabCorp and Bill Johnson for hosting the meeting.

• There are currently 66 people on the SPARTA-RTP e-mail list.

• Send any e-mail address changes to Chris Blackshire so he can update the SPARTA-RTP Listserv. You will be added by the moderator (Chris = SPARTA-RTP-owner@yahoogroups.com) sending you an invitation to Join the list.

NEW BUSINESS

• Pam Tant and Randy Springs opened a free checking account at First Citizens (the not-free BB&T checking has been closed). Pam is still working with Kathy Thomas to deposit the outstanding funds.

• A officer nominations committee and 2017 elections need to be setup.

The Business portion of the meeting ended about 8:10 P.M.

Presentation

• SHARE 128 - March 5-10, 2017 - San Jose, California
By Ed Webb of SAS

AGENDA

• Why Go to SHARE?

• Odds and Ends

• Best Sessions That I Attended

• Sessions of Interest

• z/OS Service Status

• SHARE Status

• WHY GO TO SHARE?

- IBM review of z/OS 2.3 functions and late-breaking news

- SHARE Requirements Carry More Weight with IBM than an individual RFE

- IBM's committed to satisfy 20% of SHARE Core Technology Top 80 Requirements in z/OS 2.3

- Delivered 5, Rejected 6, Planned 4 of Top 82

- Networking with peers and IBM developers and executives re-energizes your z work back home

• ODDS AND ENDS

- SHARE Requirements now connects to IBM Development via the IBM RFE system

- - Delivered in June 2016
- - -Submit your SHARE requirements here

- Request for Enhancements (RFE) for new suggestions or requirements to IBM
- - http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rfe/

- IBM z13 HMC is last one to support Classic Interface

- August 2016 Hot Topics #30 magazine is a Great Reference for z/OS V2R2 Topics
- - http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/z/os/zos/library/hot-topics/hot-topics.html

- APAR PI70511 z/OSMF Incident without requiring an SVCDump (UI43522)
- - My Requirement from 5 years ago
- - Delivered in December 2016

• BEST SESSIONS THAT I ATTENDED

- z/OS Platform Installation Strategy (1 and 2)
- - by Multiple ISVs and IBM
- ISVs Mainframe "Open Source" Install Project is now the z/OS Platform Installation Strategy
- 30+ vendors involved in year long discussions
- Common install desired by customers
- Both Sessions, IBM's Overview and Vendor Response, are SHARE Live! presentations
- z/OSMF is the delivery vehicle
- - Initial Availability in December 2016/January 2017
- - Software Management no longer requires SMP/E-deliverable products
- - 2019 is IBM's Goal for Full Function
- - SMP/E Provides Crucial Infrastructure for Product Delivery of Package
- - - RECEIVE ORDER
- - - HTTPS or FTPS
- - - APIs are Available to Vendors

• 20728 Live! z/OS Platform Installation Strategy
- - by John Eells of IBM
- See session handout at
http://events.share.org/Winter2017/Public/SessionDetails.aspx?FromPage=Sessions.aspx&SessionID=2291&SessionDateID=18

• 20729 Live! z/OS Platform Installation Strategy: Vendor Viewpoint
- Reps from CA Technologies, BMC, Compuware
- http://events.share.org/Winter2017/Public/SessionDetails.aspx?FromPage=Sessions.aspx&SessionID=2292&SessionDateID=18

• 20526 What's New in z/OS 2.3 : Silicon Valley Edition
- z/OS 2.3 Requires z12 or later z System
- z/OSMF 2.3
- - Parallel Sysplex Management Application
- - Console Application (in 2.2 SPE now)
- SMF Realtime APIs and Services (in 2.2 now)
- zFS shrinking function
- RMODE64 support in Binder, Java JIT, Contents Supervisor
- 8 character TSO userid support

• 20526 What's New in z/OS 2.3 : Silicon Valley Edition
- KC4z upgrade with message lookup support (Knowledge Center for z/OS)
- SCRT Java version shipped in z/OS 2.3
- Non-executable memory
- SAF security deployment descriptor for RACF, CA Top Secret, and CA ACF2
- RACF and BPXPRMxx SUPERUSER sync
- 10 Font products added to z/OS Font Collection
- z/OSMF 2.3 Migration Workflow via z/OS

• 20695 Mining z/OS Debugging Nuggets
- - by Patty Little and John Shebey of IBM
- IPCS 2.6i toolkit
- - IEAVDUMP -overview of an SVCDump
- - IEAVCPUI -detailed CPU information
- - HELP for each EXEC
- - - Example: IP IEAVCPUI HELP
- - IEAVLOGD -LOGREC records to one line entries
- - IGVVSMIN -below-the-bar and -line storage
- SYSTRACE

• 20602 The New and Improved DS8880 Family
- - by Nick Clayton of IBM
- DS8886 is the workhorse; hybrid flash and HDD
- All models can now be "all flash"
- Hardware RAID engine for "good path"
- - processor does management and error recovery
- Faster in future because not at hardware limits
- Standard 2.5" flash drives
- RAID6 is default
- 46U height?

• 20602 The New and Improved DS8880 Family
- zHyperlink is direct connect to DS8880
- - low latency interconnect
- - hardware ready -will enable when feature is ready
- Transparent Cloud Tiering for DS8K
- - OpenStack Swift, AWS S3
- SuperPAVs - share Aliases between SSIDs
- Thin Provisioning - small extents in 21 cylinder chunks to support EAV
- - limits to 2 Petabytes in DS8K
- - not for zLinux and z/VM

• 20347 Create Your Own z/OSMF Workflow Lab
- http://events.share.org/Winter2017/Public/SessionDetails.aspx?Fr omPage=Sessions.aspx&SessionID=2051&SessionDateID=18

• 20522 ISPF Hidden Treasures, Coming Changes
- - by Sam Reynolds (IBM RTP)
- z/OS 2.2 stuff
- - 3.17 File Systems menu like ishell FS menu
- - - collapsed list, can be expanded
- - Set F4 PFKey to ZEXPAND for wider Command Line
- - UDLIST /etc to go directly to a directory
- - Set UDLIST options ìEnter z/OS UNIX Commands in Command Field"
- - - / on UDLIST Command Line to see Unix Commands (like TSO Commands)
- Even More z/OS 2.2 stuff
- - SCRNAME name to set a name for a session
- - - SWAPBAR shows SCRNAME
- - Set up ZSTART or MYSTART with multiple START commands
- - - In 7.3, set ZSTART
- - - - ZSTART P ISPF;START 11;I;SWAP 2
- - - - ISPF BASIC bypasses ZSTART
- - - - => See Panel 45 in this presentation
- - UNDO Storage Size in ISPCONFG
- - - SETUNDO ON and FORCE
- z/OS 2.3 stuff
- - Eight Character TSO Userids
- - ZCURDEP ZCURWID current Screen Depth and Width delivered by APAR OA51216 (UA91206)
- - ISPF Editor Extended Stats
- - - If all 3 line count values do not exceed 65535, that is, <=65535, show current Stats
- - - If any of 3 counts exceed 65535, then show Extended Stats

• 20727 IBM Skunkworks Projects for z/OS
- - by Steve Warren, Maura Schoonmaker, and Paul Taukatch of IBM
- z Advanced Technical Team managed by Maura S.
- prototypes, incubator for projects
- z/OS Cloud Data Access
- - set of APIs to get, write, delete, and list objects in "cloud"
- - Cloud Provider frameworks for AWS, Microsoft, Google, etc.
- PGP encryption => Enterprise PGP
- mkt@us.ibm.com Maura S.
- zidea@us.ibm.com Ideas for the team to explore

• SESSIONS OF INTEREST

• 20755 MVS Core Technologies Project
- - by Scott Engleman of IBM
- z/OS Directions
- - Continuous delivery is a one-train method
- - Big Data CAMSS (Cloud, Analytics, Mobile, Security, Social)
- - Agile Development, Design Thinking
- - API Economy -RESTful APIs to expose internal access and services to third parties
- - z/OS 2.3 Available Sept. 29, 2017
- - Security Enhancements : more encryption for Data Sets and Coupling Facility
- - Simplification
- - z/OSMF Cloud Management and Provisioning
- - Fast deployment for subsystems like CICS
- - Real Time use of SMF data

• 20512 Bit Bucket x'35'
- - by a host of characters
- (From Sam Knutson of Compuware):
- - OSA-ICC Requirement SSMVSE11008 in July 2011 (requested by Brad Carson of LabCorp)
- - Requested Again in 2014 (#21 in Top 50)
- - - IBM replies that OSA-ICC stabilized
- - But MCL P08440.004! allows use of larger screensize

• z/OS SERVICE STATUS
- z/OS 1.9 End of Service was Sept. 30, 2010
- z/OS 1.10 End of Service was Sept. 30, 2011
- - Two more years (until Sept. 2013) for a fee
- z/OS 1.11 End of Service was Sept. 30, 2012
- - Two more years (until Sept. 2014) for a fee
- z/OS 1.12 End of Service was Sept. 30, 2014
- z/OS 1.13 End of Service was Sept. 30, 2016
- z/OS 2.1 End of Service is Sept. 30, 2018
- z/OS 2.2 End of Service is Sept. 30, 2020
- z/OS 2.3 End of Service is Sept. 30, 2022
- z/OS V2 has 5 years of Support plus 3 more years of fee-based Support

• SHARE STATUS
- SHARE Attendance Trending Upward
- - 1103 Attendees (1100+ Total Onsite)
- - 892 in Orlando, 890 in Seattle, 524 in Anaheim, 638 in Boston,
- - 579? in San Francisco, 527 in Anaheim, 612 in Atlanta,
- - 600+ in Orlando, 673 in Anaheim, Ö.
- 193 First Time Attendees
- 200+ Member Companies
- SHARE Live! Recorded 33 Sessions in San Jose
- - 140+ registered by week's end (New Record! Again!)
- SHARE Execforum
- - Once a Year
- - Returned in San Jose with 64 Attendees
- SHARE Monthly Webinars between Conferences
- - Registration required but free
- - Some vendor sponsored
- SHARE 'Day' 8:30-5:15 (most breaks 15 min.)
- SHARE Affiliate Rate is $99 Per Year (no voting)
- SHARE Select Membership (Annual Corporate) includes SHARE Live! and Archived Sessions
- Backpacks Given Away for San Jose
- - Not tablet cases like Atlanta and Orlando
- SHARE 129 is August 6-11, 2017 in Providence, RI
- SHARE 130 is March 11-16, 2018 in Sacramento
- SHARE Mobile App for iOS and Android
- - Earlier Availability for San Jose
- - Better but sharing between device still needs work
- Submit Your Proposal to Speak at SHARE in Providence by Friday, April 7, 2017
- SHARE Proceedings Access Needs SHARE Userid (free)
- - Go to www.share.org

• Presentation Access - See SPARTA webpage for the complete presentation

• Contact Info:

Ed Webb
SAS Institute Inc.
SAS Campus Drive
Cary, NC 27513

E-mail: Ed.Webb@sas.com
Work Phone: (919) 531-4162

• The April 2017 meeting ended about 9:15 P.M.

Treasurer’s Report for April 2017

contributed by Pam Tant

The balance in the account is $320.87 as of April 30, 2017.

SPARTA Financial Report
3/01/2017 through 04/30/2017

Items of Interest

SPARTA Schedule and Menu for 2017

contributed by Chris Blackshire

May 2, 2017 - Pizza

June 6, 2017 - Chicken

July 11, 2017 - Subs

Aug. 1, 2017 - BarBQ

Aug. 29, 2017 - Durham Bulls (buy your food at the game)

Oct. 3, 2017 - Pizza

Nov. 7, 2017 - Chicken

Dec. 5, 2017 - Subs

Time to Book Hotel for SHARE in Providence

contributed by Ed Webb

SHARE in Providence is August 6-11, 2017. Hotel Reservations and SHARE Registration opportunities are available now. Go to the Event webpage for details.

Book a hotel room now (under the Experience dropdown); there are 3 to choose from: Omni Providence, Biltmore Providence, and the Providence Hilton. Most if not all meetings are in the Convention Center adjacent to the Omni and a short walk from the Biltmore and the Hilton.

Besides details on z/OS 2.3, announced to ship in late September, there are rumors of an update to z System that will be of interest in the next several months.

"SHARE Providence features over 500 educational sessions in a range of topics such as z/OS 2.3, Blockchain, Docker and new Security technologies. Plan to join us in Providence, August 6 -11, 2017 to expand your knowledge and network with hundreds of fellow enterprise IT professionals and industry vendors. Register by June 23, 2017 to receive $200 off your registration."

SHARE San Jose Event Proceedings Available

contributed by Ed Webb

SHARE San Jose event proceedings are now available to download in the SHARE.org Content Center. Explore session handouts with all the hottest topics from San Jose, including:
• Application Architecture Development
• Information Management
• Linux & VM
• And more!
In an effort to make content easily accessible post-event, SHARE is no longer distributing DVD copies of the event proceedings. Here's where to start to see the San Jose Proceedings.

Write Your Own Checks With z/OS Health Checker

contributed by Ed Webb

The IBM Health Checker for z/OS is a component of MVS that provides the framework for checking z/OS system and sysplex configuration parameters and the system environment. This helps determine where an installation may be deviating from suggested settings or where there might be configuration problems. IBM provides a set of check routines—over 200 to date—for IBM Health Checker for z/OS that examine specific settings or values for potential problems. Check routines can also be provided by ISVs, or written by users themselves.

As a follow-up to the article, "Healthy Status," that was published in the January/February 2017 Tech Corner section of IBM Systems Magazine, this article is the first of a multi-part series that will describe the general steps of planning and developing your own health check. This first part will provide a minimal, but fully functional, sample health check written in System REXX that summarizes the topics discussed.

Read more in this April 2017 article by George Ng and Ulrich Thiemann in IBM Systems Magazine.

The biggest problem in DevOps isn't what you expect

contributed by Chris Blackshire

Posted by IDG Connect on April 6, 2017
The following is a contributed article by Lucas Carlson, VP of strategy at business automation vendor Automic Software, and an author and entrepreneur.