IBM Z Software


This portal is to open public enhancement requests against IBM Z Software products. To view all of your ideas submitted to IBM, create and manage groups of Ideas, or create an idea explicitly set to be either visible by all (public) or visible only to you and IBM (private), use the IBM Unified Ideas Portal (https://ideas.ibm.com).


Shape the future of IBM!

We invite you to shape the future of IBM, including product roadmaps, by submitting ideas that matter to you the most. Here's how it works:

Search existing ideas

Start by searching and reviewing ideas and requests to enhance a product or service. Take a look at ideas others have posted, and add a comment, vote, or subscribe to updates on them if they matter to you. If you can't find what you are looking for,

Post your ideas

  1. Post an idea.

  2. Get feedback from the IBM team and other customers to refine your idea.

  3. Follow the idea through the IBM Ideas process.


Specific links you will want to bookmark for future use

Welcome to the IBM Ideas Portal (https://www.ibm.com/ideas) - Use this site to find out additional information and details about the IBM Ideas process and statuses.

IBM Unified Ideas Portal (https://ideas.ibm.com) - Use this site to view all of your ideas, create new ideas for any IBM product, or search for ideas across all of IBM.

ideasibm@us.ibm.com - Use this email to suggest enhancements to the Ideas process or request help from IBM for submitting your Ideas.

Add a new idea Subscribe
Status Not under consideration
Workspace Z Open Automation Utilities
Created by Guest
Created on Jan 10, 2023

RELATED IDEAS

IBM Z Open Automation Utilities should eliminate dependencies on SSVIVERS returned by SSI 54.

SSVIVERS has been a highly-volatile field over the years for both JESes. Historically, these values have been:

JES2 Value   JES3 Value   OS Release
'SP v.r.m'   'SP v.r.m'   MVS/SP
'OS v.r.m'   'OS v.r.m'   OS/390 V1.1 through V2.9
'OS 2.10 '   'OS 2.10 '   OS/390 V2.10
'z/OS v.r'   'z v.r.m '   z/OS V1.1 through V1.9
'z/OSv.rr'   'z v.rr.m'   z/OS V1.10 through V1.13
'z/OS v.r'   'z/OS v.r'   z/OS V2.1 through V2.5

These values -- sourced from &J2LEVEL and &J3LEVEL in their respective JESes -- include product names (or their abbreviations) and product release numbers, do not collate, and are not intended for release-level checking. SSVIPLVL and SSVISLVL are defined and maintained for that purpose. They contain monotonically-increasing values that are unaffected by product name changes and version/release number resets.

The JES manuals (for example https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/zos/2.5.0?topic=routine-determining-jes2-release-level) contain admonishments against the use of &J2LEVEL and &J3LEVEL (and by implication SSVIVERS) for release-level checking and recommend use of the product-agnostic PLVL/SLVL fields instead. Beginning in z/OS 3.1, the MVS manuals will contain similar admonishments and recommendations as will SYS1.MACLIB(IEFSSVI).

Incompatibilities arise when SSI exploiters fail to check JES release levels using the intended SSVIPLVL/SSVISLVL interface. One notable example is JES3plus -- a derivative work developed under a license agreement between IBM and Phoenix Software International. As expected, JES3plus maintains the monotonically-increasing JES3 SSVIPLVL/SSVISLVL values and alters SSVIVERS. Specifically, it removes the z/OS product name and resets the version/release values. A similar incompatibility will occur if/when IBM renames the operating system again.

Idea priority High
  • Admin
    Sebastian Torf
    Reply
    |     Jun 21, 2023

    Strategically, IBM’s JES2 will serve as the supported job entry subsystem going forward for Z Open Automation Utilities (ZOAU). Users are encouraged to migrate to IBM’s JES2 subsystem before attempting to use ZOAU.

By clicking the "Post Comment" or "Submit Idea" button, you are agreeing to the IBM Ideas Portal Terms of Use.
Do not place IBM confidential, company confidential, or personal information into any field.