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Status Under review
Created by Guest
Created on Oct 8, 2025

USERMAC needs to be able to be part of a deployable software stack

Requirement:

All configuration files need to be under version control. Software is not to be configured locally on a sysplex in our shop, but implemented by distributing a (subset of a) software stack through a secured pipeline from a SMPE sysplex. 

Configure/install of IZBR takes place on the SMPEPLX. Datasets like SBRNLOAD are direct output from SMPE without client modification. 
Members of USERMAC are generated with modifications, therefor not direct output from SMPE, therefor must be placed under intern version control in GIT.

The configured IZBR components form a deployable softwarestack on the SMPEPLX, that are distributed through a secured distribution pipeline to inactive device(s) on target systems.
Activation of the updated software stack is done by rolling IPL from Inactive DASD. Each sysplex will be updated with the same softwarestack, where usermac config is of the same version as SBRNLOAD members.

Painpoints:

USERMAC smpe maintenance is designed to use option 15.2.4.2 or BRNGENJB functionality to be used locally on each sysplex.

-In that case SMPE target is also the active usermac. This leads to a moment where SBRNLOAD already needs to be on version +1, while USERMAC is still on version 0.
It is questionable that this is always supported. Most likely there will be situations where downtime for IZBR would be needed.

-This way a single ptf would need to be applied not once but 11 times. This is error-prone and requires a multiple of 11 times the effort in maintaining a product.

Configure/install on SMPEPLX directly in “active” USERMAC library on the SMPE system makes this library: 
1. The target for Configure/install. 
2. The source for configured software stack
3. The target library in our secured distribution pipeline.

Usermac is currently designed to be updated on an active system making it unable to be a target for a deployable softwarestack.

Suggestions:

-Usermac cannot be output to any production process like LEGTABLE and APPTABLE.

-Differentiate/split the content of USERMAC between: 
- Static members like SORT statements and skeletons. They are not updated by clients and can be direct output from SMPE apply without the need for BRNGENJB or config panels
- Configurable members like SMFPARMS and VFISTASK that are designed to be updated by clients based on their needs.
- Members like DB2DDL and KEYJRBLD that are part of cntl/samples

Idea priority High