SOAP Gateway should support an IMSplex

Support an IMSplex with multiple SOAP Gateways with minimal duplication. Currently, it appears that I can have one SMP/E environment and one IM environment, but need to create a new Installation Kit for each instance of the STC that I want to run. IMS Connect, like almost all other mainframe software, has a runtime library and a configuration member, dataset or file. The runtime library is shared across all instances of the program (and is reentrant), while the configuration member contains all uniqueness, such as internal name, remote connections, logging level (frequently modifiable by JCL PARM=), etc. Logging for a mainframe program goes to the DD specified in the JCL, so there isn't a concern for logs overlaying each other, either. However the configuration member is done, it needs to be easy to modify and to stand up a new instance that is 95% similar to the prior one.

The desired maintenance methodology would ideally be to have SMP/E install to an "install location", then we copy it to create two "sides" or versions. The overall idea is that the tasks would be running on one "side" and we would copy the new maintenance from the install location to the side not in use and update the JCL for the STCs to point to the freshly updated side. That allows us to maintain constant availability across the IMSplex by performing a rolling bounce of the STCs to pick up the new maintenance while still allowing us to quickly return to the prior side as a backout.

If you have any questions about this, please, please, please call me, or we can even have a video and screen share so that I can demonstrate. The z/OS system programs here at USAA also use the SYS Percent Facility to accomplish the same type of thing for the entire operating system and almost all of the vendor products outside of DB2, CICS and MQ.