Working notes from real z/OS engagements — Endevor-to-Git migrations, DBB builds, IDz performance, code pages, and mainframe CI/CD. The same knowledge we bring to yours.
A good systems programmer should generally know how to monitor the health of his or her z/OS system. However, if you’re using z/OS Development and Test (ZD&T), you’re likely a developer with only the basic skills. Fortunately, the product comes with Health Checker for z/OS, and it should be configured to run out of the … Read more
Overview IDz is offered in three different packaging options. Overall, its the exact same client, but the licensing differs considerably. First, let’s discuss how these packages flesh out: IBM Developer for z/OS This is the “base” edition, and is common for smaller companies (well, smaller compared to say a global bank). It includes editing, analysis … Read more
A debugger profile is a type of configuration that allows a developer to debug a program under certain conditions. There are two debugger profiles types: non-CICS, and CICS. For CICS, it is a DTCN profile. Many developers have used the DTCN transaction for years to setup a debugging session between IDz, and the debugger once … Read more
If you’re using UCD in a large z/OS mainframe environment, and want to take advantage of agent pools, there are some “gotchas” you need to be aware of. What are agent pools? An agent pool is a group of Urbancode started tasks (BUZAGNT) running on more than one z/OS LPAR. These agents respond to deployment … Read more
Here’s the scenario: You’ve got an application process in one project area for IBM Urbancode Deploy. Its taken time to develop, and you’ve spent many hours debugging it. Then you realize you don’t have a “copy” feature for an application process. Ooops. Now you’re worried you’ve got to hand build the process in other project … Read more
If you’ve been using IDz for a while, you’re surely familiar with filters when browsing your MVS, JES, or Unix subsystems. If you’ve gotten to the point that you have to scroll up and down to view all your filters, you’re likely in need of turning on Filter Pools. A z/OS system can have hundreds, … Read more
IBM has released its updated Jazz platforms, and in the process rebranded most of the tools. As of this writing you can now download the updated parts from Passport Advantage, but Jazz.net will be available for download shortly. The products have been rebranded as follows: Old Name New Name Acronym Rational Continuous Engineering IBM Engineering … Read more
In some recent customers we’ve had to install various IBM CLM components on different servers to balance workload for a large user base. When doing this, you need to route traffic through a proxy HTTP server. We’ve touched on why you need to use an HTTP server before, and remain adamant about it. IBM also … Read more
If you work on a mainframe, you’ve almost certainly heard of CA Endeavor, Serena Changeman, IBM SCLM, or Panvalet Librarian. All of which are legacy source code management systems that have been used for decades. Those SCM’s simply cannot compete with the features of modern SCM’s as we detailed previously. Perhaps your distributed development teams … Read more
I’ve recently worked with a customer who could not find good documentation on how to apply token licenses to his Rational Team Concert server. Here are some concise instructions on how to handle this as the Knowledge center is rather sparse on this topic. This topic applies to several products including: Rational Team Concert (soon … Read more