As 2Q 2022 is nearing the end, the IBM z/OS continuous delivery (CD) model continues the streak of delivering new features and enhanced capabilities quarterly, without requiring the effort of a full release upgrade and with no impact to stability, complexity or costs. 

The z/OS V2.5 2Q 2022 CD announcement contains new key features and functional enhancements across areas ranging from systems management, application development, resiliency, compliance, and more to help extend the capabilities of z/OS V2.5, as well as additional z/OS support for the recent IBM z16 announcement. Read the full announcements for details.

                                                                                                                --------- What's New ----------


z/OS Parallel Sysplex enhancements for the IBM z16 CFLEVEL 25
IBM recently announced z/OS support for the new IBM z16 level of coupling facility CFLEVEL 25. This new support provides enhancements for improved Parallel Sysplex performance, scalability, and resiliency. Specific z/OS enhancements include the following: 

• CF cache and lock structure resiliency improvements now implement a functional retry buffer capability to improve the resiliency of CF structure operations. With the PTFs for APAR OA60275, the z/OS operating system support for retry buffer enhancements are is available on z/OS V2.2 and later. 

• New CF cache structure monitoring and metrics provide cache structure exploiters with additional cache object information that can be used to provide improved cache management, either directly by the exploiter or through improved cache usage reporting by the exploiter. With the PTFs for APAR OA60650, the z/OS operating system support for cache structure object residency time metrics is available on z/OS V2.3 and later.

CFRM support for 4096 CF structures in a Parallel Sysplex
Previously announced support for up to 4096 CF structures in a sysplex has been temporarily disabled/withdrawn, pending a complete resolution to issues found with the support. In the future, z/OS intends to provide a complete solution and re-enable the support for formatting a CFRM couple data set for up to 4096 CF structures with APAR OA63039 on z/OS V2.3 and later. Clients are cautioned not to format CFRM couple data sets for more than 2048 CF structures, until APAR OA63039 is installed. IBM recommends installing APARs OA62823 and OA63039 when available.

z/OS support for System Recovery Boost
z/OS has extended the System Recovery Boost solution with additional recovery process boost use cases to provide value for a new set of z/OS recovery and diagnostic events. These enhancements that accompany the IBM z16 can provide boosted processor capacity and parallelism for specific recovery events. Client- selected middleware starts and restarts may be boosted to expedite recovery for middleware regions and restore steady-state operations as soon as possible. SVC dump processing and HyperSwap configuration load and reload may be boosted to minimize the impact to running workloads. The z/OS support for IBM z16 System Recovery Boost requires PTFs for z/OS V2.4 or V2.5 and are included in a z/OS FIXCAT designated specifically for System Recovery Boost support, named "IBM.Function.SystemRecoveryBoost".
 
In addition, RMF now reports System Recovery Boost for Middleware. Monitor II provides 
for filtering address spaces by boost state while Monitor III reports on each address space boost state. With the PTFs for APAR OA62806 for RMF and OA61036 for ADG, this function is available on z/OS V2.4 and later.

z/OS upgrade improvements for IBM z16
The z/OS IBM z16 Upgrade Workflow, which provides all the necessary information to position z/OS on the IBM z16 server, has been provided in a program temporary fix (PTF) to help position z/OS for usage on the new IBM z16 server. For more information, see the Abstract for the z/OS Upgrade Workflow web page.

z/OSMF ServerPac update
IBM has previously announced the intention to keep the CustomPac Dialog ServerPac as an installation option until the z/OSMF Software Management data set merge function is available and the z/OSMF ServerPac Portable Software Instance has enabled it. Because the z/OSMF Software Management data set merge function is now available as of March 2022, and the z/OSMF ServerPac Portable Software Instance has enabled it as of May 2022, the CustomPac Dialog installation method is planned to be removed on July 10th. After July 10, 2022, IBM intends that any ServerPac for z/OS, IBM CICS, IBM Db2, IBM IMS, or program products ordered through Shopz will be packaged and installable only with z/OSMF.
 
For more information about how to install ServerPac with z/OSMF Software Management, see the ServerPac Installation using z/OSMF content solution.

IBM z/OS Management Facility (z/OSMF) enhancements
IBM z/OSMF provides a framework for managing various aspects of a z/OS system through a task- oriented, web browser interface. z/OSMF continues to deliver enhancements and new functionality to help drive its effort of automating traditional tasks and simplifying areas of system management to help reduce the level of expertise needed for managing a system. This quarter, z/OSMF has been enhanced with the following key productivity functions:
 

• The z/OSMF Sysplex Management plugin plug-in is enhanced to support Import/Export of CFRM policy data to help users to better leverage existing CFRM Policy Editor function, as well as added support for bulk copy of structures so that editing multiple structures could be more efficient and less error prone. With the PTFs for APAR PH39687, this function is available on z/OS V2.4 and later.
• The REST data set and file APIs are enhanced to support creating or deleting UNIX System Services (USS) symbolic links, as well as support for passing in TSO procedures and region size with headers for more flexibility. With the PTFs for APAR PH44068, this function is available on z/OS V2.4 and later.
• z/OSMF Systems task have has been enhanced to support validating the connection status of managed systems with just a few clicks. With the PTFs for APAR PH44158, this function is available on z/OS V2.4 and later

Cloud Provisioning and Management for z/OS
z/OS V2.5 introduced a new capability in Cloud Provisioning and Management for z/OS to allow z/OS system programmers to create a new z/OS system in a monoplex configuration from scratch. IBM is enhancing the z/OS provisioning user experience by expanding the type of potential configurations a user can modify during the provisioning process. This can help with creating a more complete z/OS system from the start and is intended to save time and streamline the provisioning experience, as opposed to performing several manual configurations on a provisioned system after-the-fact. Cloud Provisioning and Management for z/OS now supports additional options in a z/OS Provisioning template for a more comprehensive provisioning experience, such as the addition of an empty RACF database for security configuration, support for shared resource pools, and more.
 
In addition, IBM continues to enhance the Cloud Provisioning and Management framework with added user experience enhancements that apply when provisioning any software service instance that can help first-time users can get started with creating a software service instance more quickly and make faster and better-informed decisions. With the PTFs for APAR PH44613, these enhancements are available on z/OS V2.4 and later.

z/OS Management Services Catalog enhancements
The new release of z/OS Management Services Catalog is designed to provide numerous improvements to the user experience flow to help z/OS system programmers more efficiently and effectively create and manage z/OS management services. Some highlights include Service creation, Service management, Service submission, and Monitoring service submissions enhancements.
 
With two new sample services, z/OS Management Services Catalog now help system programmers get started creating and running services, and demonstrate best practices. To learn more, including helpful instructions about how to get started, see the z/OS Management Services Catalog website. With the PTFs for APAR PH44234, these enhancements are available on z/OS V2.4 and later.

z/OS Job REST Completion Notification to eliminate Common Information Model (CIM)
JES2 and z/OS have support for indicating a server that is the target of job completion notifications. The asynchronous job completion notification function of the z/OS REST jobs API has been enhanced to:
·       Remove the dependency on CIM and CEA, thus simplifying configuration
·       Issue the notifications for jobs that fail early in input phase processing
·       Reissue notifications if the target URL is not available when the job completes 

 
These improvements are designed to enhance the resiliency of the asynchronous job completion notification function. With the PTFs for APAR OA61231, this support is available on z/OS V2.5. This level of the code is shipped disabled and should be enabled when the prior CIM and CEA configuration has been disabled. Failure to properly migrate to the new support could result in duplicate notifications being sent, one by JES2 and one by CIM/CEA.

z/OS Container Extensions (zCX) enhancements
A new performance improvement has been delivered to z/OS Container Extensions that enables clients using zCX to improve the performance of containerized Linux on IBM Z workloads by reducing the amount of locking and optimizing critical high frequency code paths. With the PTFs for APAR OA62255, this function is available on z/OS V2.4 and later.

Data Set File System 
IBM provides a new physical file system called Data Set File System that renders traditional z/ OS data sets accessible by programs, shell scripts scripts, and end users of z/OS UNIX System Services. Satisfying many customer requirements, the Data Set File System is designed for z/OS UNIX applications, tools, and utilities to provide transparent access to data in these data sets in a secure and consistent manner. Data Set File System provides support for various data sets and user abilities, including cataloged data sets, compressed and uncompressed data sets, encrypted and unencrypted data sets, and more. With the PTFs for APAR OA62150, this function is available on z/OS V2.5.

COBOL-Java interoperability
The IBM Semeru Runtime Certified Edition for z/OS, Version 11 (Java) has been enhanced in FixPack 11.0.14.1 to provide the 31-bit/64-bit interoperability support. With this support, 31-bit COBOL applications can be extended to call 64-bit Java programs using the IBM Semeru Runtime. See APAR IJ33273 for additional details.

IBM Open XL C/C++ 1.1 compiler
A new IBM Open XL C/C++ 1.1 compiler component for z/OS V2.4 and z/OS V2.5 is now available. This compiler is ideal for porting distributed applications, and to improve and simplify C/C++ 64-bit application development for the IBM z/OS UNIX Systems Services environment.
 
Open XL C/C++ 1.1 for z/OS delivers numerous language standards support, and targets the recent hardware features, including the latest technology advancements in IBM z16. Open XL C/C++ 1.1 is an optional compiler for z/OS clients that have enabled the optionally priced XL C/C++ compiler feature on z/OS V2.4 or z/OS V2.5. IBM Open XL C/C++ 1.1 for z/OS V2.4 and z/OS V2.5 is a web deliverable compiler and was made available on May 27, 2022, from the z/OS Downloads website.

Resource Measurement Facility (RMF) and Advanced Data Gatherer (ADG) enhancements 
RMF and ADG have been enhanced to report on the new Crypto Express 8S (CEX8S) card of the IBM z16. With the PTFs for APAR OA60737 for RMF and OA59874 for ADG, this function is available on z/OS V2.3 and later.
The RMF Monitor III CPC report has also been enhanced to show all logical partitions of a central processor complex (CPC). With the PTFs for APAR OA63142 for RMF and OA63108 for ADG, this function is available on z/OS V2.3 and later and is required on the IBM z16 to allow machine configurations with up to 256 physical processors.

MEMLIMIT diagnostics for CICS and Java enhancements
Serviceability is enhanced for MEMLIMIT diagnosis in high virtual memory; for example, Java out-of-memory conditions, allowing problem diagnosis and resolution the ability to be faster. With the PTFs for APAR OA63030, this function is available on z/OS V2.4 and later.

z/OS Encryption Readiness Technology (zERT) Network Analyzer enhancements
The zERT Network Analyzer z/OSMF plug-in is enhanced to support the use of passphrases as an authentication credential. The same panel is enhanced to allow the saving of empty Db2 user ID and password and passphrase values for greater flexibility. This function is available on z/OS V2.3 with the PTF for APAR PH43118, and on z/OS V2.4 and V2.5 with the PTF for APAR PH43119.

RACF Database Encryption
Continuing the pervasive encryption roadmap, RACF now supports RACF database encryption. This function allows an installation to encrypt a VSAM data set that is used as a part of a RACF data base as well as share that data set among z/OS systems in certain configurations to help further strengthen the overall security posture of the z/OS platform. With the PTF for APAR OA62267, this function is available on z/OS V2.5.

Compliance support for z/OS
z/OS has been enhanced to modernize compliance data reporting which enables the collection of compliance data from numerous IBM z16 and z/OS products and components. z/OS has also simplified auditing by contributing IBM z/OS V2R5 with RACF Benchmark v1.0.0, which provides security best practices and guidance to clients and auditors. To learn more, see the CIS Benchmarks website.


Statements of Direction:
Validated Boot for z/OS
IBM plans to deliver a solution providing Validated Boot, also known as Secure Boot or Boot Integrity Validation, capability for z/OS IPLs and is designed to meet the requirements for achieving the National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP) OS Protection Profile 4.2.1 Certification.
 
Package signing
IBM plans to provide the capability to digitally sign electronically and physically delivered software packages, designed to allow a user to ensure the package hasn't been tampered with and that the package was signed by the expected provider of the package. This support for signing and verification is planned to be available in both SMP/E and z/OSMF Software Management on all supported z/OS releases.
 
Encryption of tape data sets
IBM intends to enhance pervasive encryption to perform encryption within the access methods for tape data sets. It is expected to be transparent to the application program unless it uses EXCP. This new data set encryption support is intended to be independent of any encryption that occurs in the tape subsystem.
 
Deprecation of DFSMS Distributed FileManager
z/OS V2.5 is planned to be the last release to support the DFSMS Distributed FileManager (DFM), a seldom used function in z/OS. If you use DFM to enable remote clients in your network to access data on z/OS systems, it is recommended to use the z/OS Network File System (NFS) instead.
 
System Display and Search Facility (SDSF) ISFPARMS removal
Beginning with the following release after z/OS V2.5, IBM plans that only the ISFPRMxx parmlib member format will be supported. For this reason, if the parmlib member ISFPRMxx is not currently being used, IBM recommends clients convert to using ISFPRMxx to avoid being impacted in the future.
 
Statements by IBM regarding its plans, directions, and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice at the sole discretion of IBM. Information regarding potential future products is intended to outline general product direction and should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision. The information mentioned regarding potential future products is not a commitment, promise, or legal obligation to deliver any material, code, or functionality. Information about potential future products may not be incorporated into any contract. The development, release, and timing of any future features or functionality described for IBM products remain at the sole discretion of IBM.
 



Additional resources:
z/OS homepage
Full 2Q 2022 Enhancements Announcement
Past z/OS announcements
Learn more about Comm Server support for IBM z16