Rocket Mainframe DevOps

zowe 2 introduces a major change to the way profiles are now created. Gone are the individual profiles for each subsystem. Also gone now is the need to saved userids and password in clear text in those profiles which was clearly a security issue. Now, credentials are saved in the operating systems secure credential storage. As a result, the old zowe supplied secure credentials storage' plugin is no longer required. To get a better understanding of zowe 2 profiles, please refer to this Medium blog post -  Zowe CLI — Getting Started, Made Easy! zowe 2 profiles are stored in a zowe.config.json file that resides in the <homedir>/.zowe/ folder..Also stored along with the profile is a zowe.schema.json file. (This file should never be changed). zowe 2 profiles no longer contain any user identifiable information. This allows an admin to create a zowe.config.json profile file and distribute that file to users who then do not need to know any particular settings. Instead, the use

Online ChangeMan ZMF documentation can be found by following various different links on the Micro Focus Support site or by clicking here.  By default, only the documentation for the latest release of ZMF is displayed on this screen. However, clicking on the ‘More’ dropdown button allows customers to view the documentation associated with earlier releases of ZMF, too.#SupportTips/KnowledgeDocs#ChangeManZMF#SupportTip

When ending a ZMF ISPF edit session, a user sees the following type of screen: CMNSTDWN Serena(R) ChangeMan(R) ZMF Down Command ===> Unable to establish session with ChangeMan ZMF Started Task for Subsystem ID "T" . User disconnected from SerNet If you have Load Balancing enabled, contact your ChangeMan ZMF Administrator to have ChangeMan ZMF for Subsystem ID "T" started on one Logical Partition at your installation. If yo

When creating a package in ZMF4ECL, if the ‘No implementation instructions’ option is selected the package is always generated with the Manual scheduler option. This is regardless of the ‘Default job scheduler’ specified in application admin options (A.A.1 Part 2 of 4).Issue recreated running against both 8.2 Patch 7 and 8.3 Server environments. Full article: https://portal.microfocus.com/s/article/KM000016884#ChangeManZMF#SupportTips/KnowledgeDocs

Attempts to export a ZMF CMN990 report fail with no visible error messages being issued to the user. An 'Unhandled event loop exception/java.lang.NullPointerException' error message can be seen in the workspace .log file. At least some other reports, e.g. a CMN110 report, can be saved without any problems. Full article: https://portal.microfocus.com/s/article/KM000016877#SupportTips/KnowledgeDocs#ChangeManZMF

In the following, when the HLLX DETACH is issued there is the CMNx482I message, but it is not followed by ‘CMNx483I CMNSTART Termination of HLL exit address space complete’.  Instead, it has the message ‘CMNx499E HLLX address space is no longer active.’:                   MODIFY CHGMAN.CHGMAN,CMN,DETACH,HLLX SER0850I Operator command: CMN,DETACH,HLLX CMN1482I CMNSTART Termination of HLL exit address space requested. CMN1499E HLLX address space is no longer active. IEA995I SYMPTOM DUMP OUTPUT 738 SYSTEM COMPLETION CODE=0C4 REASON CODE=00000011 TIME=08.22.24 SEQ=37663 CPU=0000 ASID=0458 PSW AT TIME OF ERROR 078D0000 B537E8A0 ILC 4 INTC 11 ACTIVE MODULE ADDRESS=00000000_35379000 OFFSET=000058A0 NAME=CMNSTART

The use of the StarTool FDM STARBAT COPYMBR/NEWMBRS parameters generates invalid PDS member names when and asterisk (*) is used for masking. For example, the intention of the following is to replace the last two characters of the member name, currently ’57’, with ‘60’:   DD01 COPYMBR MEMBERS=*57,NEWMBRS=*60, Here are the input member names:   MEMBER57 MEMBE57 MEMB57 MEM57 ME57 Here are the expected member names to be generated: MEMBER60 MEMBE60 MEMB60 MEM60 ME60 When using the asterisk (*) for masking, the member names generated are invalid: *60BER57 *60BE57 *60B57 *6057 *607 Full article: https://portal.microfocus.com/s/article/KM000015706#Comparex#StarTool#SupportTips/KnowledgeDocs

Is anyone running Changeman ZMF V8.1.4 and z/OS 2.5?     We plan to upgrade changeman,  but not before the mainframe systems team upgrades to z/OS 2.5. We will standup a test changeman environment on the test box when they upgrade to z/OS 2.5 to see if we have any issues#ChangeManZMF

The very simple answer is that they do not differ, and have not differed for a very long time (i.e. 20+ years). As documented in the “Creating a Change Package” section of the User’s Guide (the 8.3 version of which can currently be found here): “...There are no processing difference [sic] between super and complex change packages...” Both terms have been retained simply to ensure that customers can stick to the name with which they are comfortable. Technically they are identical.#ChangeManZMF#SupportTips/KnowledgeDocs#SupportTip

Request to help with cics TS 5.6 compatibility for the below micro focus products.   ChangeMan SSM       8.3.2 ChangeMan ZMF       7.1.2 Mainframe Access      3.1.0 Sernet  8.4.0#ChangeManSSM

It is worth stressing that use of IBM’s Application Transparent Transport Layer Security (AT-TLS) product is the only supported method of securing connections to ZMF-related applications that run in the supplied Apache Tomcat address space. This includes the REST services (zmfrest.war), zMobile (zmobile.war), and the base ZMF web services (zmfws.war). Whilst it may technically be possible to run secure versions of some of these applications in other ways, e.g. by implementing native Tomcat SSL functionality, this is not a supported configuration. If problems are experienced running in such a manner it may be necessary to switch to AT-TLS before assistance can be provided. This AT-TLS requirement is documented in the ChangeMan ZMF REST Services Getting Started Guide, the 8.3 version of which can be found here, but also applies to the other applications listed above.#SupportTip#ChangeManZMF#SupportTips/KnowledgeDocs

A REST API webhook is configured for package audit in a German-speaking environment, e.g. one using codepage 1141 in TSO emulator sessions. The expected EVENT50 step is included in the audit job and appears to complete successfully. I.e. it ends with a step RC=0 and all of the usual SYSPRINT messages ending with: … Results follow: --------------- HTTP/1.1 200 Processing complete with return code: 00 However, the Tomcat task shows no sign of the transaction being processed and the procedure specified by the target URL is not executed. Full article: https://portal.microfocus.com/s/article/KM000016535#ChangeManZMF#SupportTips/KnowledgeDocs

Although referenced in the ChangeMan ZMF 8.3 Readme, it is worth stressing that 5 new package status values were introduced in this release of the product. They are as follows: AIP - Approval in progress XDS - Distribute failedXIN - Install failed XBK - Backout failedXRV - Revert failed Customers should consider these new values when upgrading any custom processing or routines that look at the ZMF package status field.#ChangeManZMF#SupportTip#SupportTips/KnowledgeDocs

When doing a promote in ZMF4ECL the ‘Site’ column does not display the entire length of the ‘Site’ name on the ‘Promotion Site Selection' screen.  From a useability standpoint it would be better to increase the size of the ‘Site’ display to accommodate the maximum length of the site name. Full article: https://portal.microfocus.com/s/article/KM000016132#SupportTips/KnowledgeDocs#ChangeManZMF

Client Pack/ZMF4ECL is no longer displaying previously promoted components on ‘Demotion Options’ screen.  ‘Full’ Demotion will still work, but you can no longer select components for a ‘Selective’ Demotion.Note: Same demotion scenario with ZMF4ECL 8.2 Patch 6 Build 609 displays the components and 'Selective' Demotion works as expected.  Full article: https://portal.microfocus.com/s/article/KM000016094#ChangeManZMF#SupportTips/KnowledgeDocs

A standard set of variable names, all documented in the ZMF REST Services Getting Started Guide, may be passed to the routine (e.g. Jenkins job/pipeline, etc.) specified by a ZMF REST API webhook subscription. These variables include, where appropriate, values for APPL, PACKAGE, LIBTYPE, PROMOTIONNAME, etc.However, a customer wishes to pass additional, non-standard variables. Can this be achieved? For example, can the CMN$$EVT skel be customised to include the additional data? Full article: https://portal.microfocus.com/s/article/KM000016198#SupportTips/KnowledgeDocs#ChangeManZMF

A need exists to create a webhook that is triggered using a log event rather than a skel or HLLX event. How does this work and are any additional steps required to enable this functionality? Full article: https://portal.microfocus.com/s/article/KM000016203#ChangeManZMF#SupportTips/KnowledgeDocs

When a promotion overlay situation exists, using ZMF4ECL 8.3.0 Build 674 displays the message ‘CMN3252A – xxxxxxxx.xxx exists in target promotion library, attempt to overlay’.  Clicking on ‘OK’, returns you to a prior screen and the promotion does not take place.  Checking the package in ZMF confirms the promotion did not take place.  Promoting the package in ZMF completes just fine.Note: Same promotion scenario with ZMF4ECL 8.2 Patch 6 Build 609 does not display the error message and the promotion completes as expected.  Full article: https://portal.microfocus.com/s/article/KM000015928#SupportTips/KnowledgeDocs#ChangeManZMF

The html XML Service documentation and the ‘yellow’ COBOL copybook information related to the recent ZMF 8.3 release can be found in the following KB articles: - the XML Services Reference Tables (html) can be found here. - the XML Services Delta Report 8.3 vs 8.2 Patch 7 can be found here. - and the XML Services COBOL copybooks for the yellow services can be found here.  Caution: Yellow services are intended for use by Professional Services and customers with detailed knowledge of the ZMF meta data. Yellow services are intermediate services which provide access to CREATE, UPDATE, and some DELETE functions. Careful design and testing should be conducted to ensure your implementation of a yellow service functions as intended and does not harm the integrity of the ZMF meta data. Incorrect or misuse of the yellow services can lead to irrecoverable problems in your ZMF instance.#ChangeManZMF#SupportTip#SupportTips/KnowledgeDocs

When upgrading ZMF it can sometimes be easy to overlook the migration step that covers the re-build of the assembler exits (i.e. those named CMNEXnnn). However, significant changes to the shipped CMNEXITS copybook in the ZMF 8.3 release make this extremely important when migrating to ZMF 8.3 or, in future, when migrating to any release that spans the original ZMF 8.3 GA release. Failure to rebuild these exits could result in a number of different failures that could potentially span almost every facet of ZMF processing. A knowledgebase article that echoes this message and which contains an example of such a failure can be found here.#SupportTip#SupportTips/KnowledgeDocs#ChangeManZMF

From my WorkStation (Mac in this case) I execute by curl an api authenticating me through a personal certificate: jmfernandezp@Josemas-MacBook-Pro ~ % curl -X GET -k -H 'CICS-Environment: A6' -i 'https://zosa.tor.es.ibm.com:7050/issdbdc/progprba/Hola' --cert ~/Customizacion\\ Productos/Certificados/personal_p083598.pem:JosemaHTTP/1.1 200 OKX-Powered-By: Servlet/3.1Content-Type: application/json; charset=UTF-8Content-Language: en-USContent-Length: 146Set-Cookie: LtpaToken2=orhzg9vapG1Pc+FCqUDptJERA9U2SNWGPUvdAVrShFHFiKZP6sE8DBi9jFh88MV4VcbyNUGr6o8nxNScDZFZX9RQfOuARKMyCmaGrHFSkScTWkkCxyV3WRngiKPA/4OYRRTt+eArYFyouzMsmOetUdt/QuXbh7moFJol1OcrNFJtu9cbQqKg0uL/fjM2kJ8CgaoBZUL/WJw9b804oZfe//Nvon0bhI4C8lYt77F9F8m7ZEOHbtgYQ9SsnZ6AdprMxv78OrwjaJntZedkAWEotEk0kNjzvLLDzMrdgOHnmVtAEN4yfZHxe+hwIq6MjJDH; Path=/; HttpOnlySet-Cookie: JSESSIONID=0000WLMVWLLT710Qmo9JJwgmF67:dd4c67f3-f2dd-48b7-b879-31de8f82960a; Path=/; Secure; HttpOnlyDate: Thu, 30 Mar 2023 11:35:24 GMTExpires: Thu, 01 Dec 1994 16:00:00 GM

Idea for STARBAT improvement.  Allow a mass rename of PDS members using NEWMBRS parm with an asterisk as a wildcard DD01 COPYMBR MEMBERS=*OLD,NEWMBRS=*NEW Currently this doesn't work.  The hyphen "-" is the only allowed wildcard character.  #StarTool#STARBAT

Users encounter the following abend in their external file tailoring task (e.g. CMNADSP) attempting to promote a package after upgrading a ZMF system from 8.2 Patch 7 to the 8.3 GA release and when the CMNEX023 exit is active: IEA995I SYMPTOM DUMP OUTPUT 143 SYSTEM COMPLETION CODE=0C1 REASON CODE=00000001 TIME=07.42.52 SEQ=01448 CPU=0000 ASID=00C8 PSW AT TIME OF ERROR 078D1000 9780530E ILC 2 INTC 01 ACTIVE MODULE ADDRESS=00000000_17805250 OFFSET=000000BE NAME=CMNEX023 DATA AT PSW 17805308 - F1F9F940 0000000B 00000008 GR 0: 00041120 1: 00040338 2: 00000001 3: F0000000 4: 17805284 5: 97727B5C 6: 00041000 7: 1772A660

A customer running ZMF 8.2 Patch 7 encountered a S878-10 in their ZMF Server started task. The abend occurred whilst processing a mass stage for approximately 20 components, although this may be irrelevant. Their symptom dump follows: IEA995I SYMPTOM DUMP OUTPUT 847 SYSTEM COMPLETION CODE=878 REASON CODE=00000010 TIME=17.14.45 SEQ=09593 CPU=4000 ASID=01BA PSW AT TIME OF ERROR 070C1000 814FD40A ILC 2 INTC 0D NO ACTIVE MODULE FOUND NAME=UNKNOWN DATA AT PSW 014FD404 - 00181610 0A0D18CE 18FB180C GR 0: 84000000 1: 84878000 2: 0075C170 3: 00000052 4: 0089CE88 5: 008BFD40 6: 814F7F68 7: 00EDC100 8: FFFF8000 9: 000222E8 A: 00000000 B: 7F5D0C10

Users encounter the following abend in their external file tailoring task (e.g. CMNADSP) when attempting to build a SRC component after upgrading a ZMF system from 8.2 Patch 7 to the 8.3 GA release: 07.53.49 S0833809 IEA995I SYMPTOM DUMP OUTPUT 693 693 SYSTEM COMPLETION CODE=0C4 REASON CODE=00000010 693 TIME=07.53.41 SEQ=01348 CPU=0000 ASID=00C8 693 PSW AT TIME OF ERROR 078D2000 87145180 ILC 4 INTC 10 693 NO ACTIVE MODULE FOUND 693 NAME=UNKNOWN 693 DATA AT PSW 0714517A - 1255A784 00069540 5000A774 693 GR 0: 00000498 1: 179EFFF0 693 2: 00000000 3: 00000004 693 4: 00000004 5: 40404040