Overview:

• Important z/VSE 6.2 APARs/PTFs
• Update of the z/VSE 6.2 Knowledge Center
• z/VM 7.2 available
• Virtual conference 14th European GSE / IBM Technical University for z/VSE, z/VM, KVM and Linux auf IBM Z
• SCRT 28.1.0 reports on System Recovery Boost events

Important z/VSE 6.2 APARs/PTFs

• APAR DY47825 “OPENSSL UPGRADE TO 1.1.1D” (PTF UD54364) upgrades OpenSSL to 1.1.1d.
• APAR DY47832 “SYSTEM RECOVERY BOOST SUPPORT” (PTFs UD54376, UD54377, and UD54378) adds native support for the System Recovery Boost feature of the IBM z15 Models T01 and T02. See my related blog post Support for System Recovery Boost in z/VSE 6.2 fur further details.
• APAR DY47834 “CRYPTO EXPRESS 7S CARD IS SHOWN AS CRYPTO EXPRESS 6S OR CEX6S IN COMMAND OUTPUT FOR HARDWARE CRYPTO COMMANDS AND MESSAGES” (PTF UD54382) adds support for the Crypto Express7S (CEX7) card. See my related blog post Support for Crypto Express7S in z/VSE 6.2 for further details.
• APAR DY47835 “NJE DATA TRANSFER FROM|TO VSE/POWER VIA PNET TCPIP CONNECTION IS LIMITED TO 90KB/SEC FOR EACH CONNECTION” (PTFs UD54380 and UD54381) greatly improves the VSE/POWER PNET TCP/IP performance. Stay tuned for a related blog post in the near future. See my related blog post POWER PNET TCPIP performance improvement in z/VSE 6.2 for further details.

Please see the z/VSE Service and Support - Corrective Service web page for complete lists of the latest APARs separated by z/VSE components and products.

Update of the z/VSE 6.2 Knowledge Center

The z/VSE Knowledge Center has been enhanced and updated. The z/VSE Knowledge Center contains the z/VSE manuals as well as links to technical articles and whitepapers from the z/VSE team. Most of the manuals are available in an online browsable and searchable form. Many more are available for download in PDF format. Follow the link "PDF Library" in the left navigation pane for the list of manuals available for download as PDF.

Following is an incomplete list of enhancements and updates that were recently made to the z/VSE Knowledge Center:

• Integration of the following VSE/ICCF and VSE/REXX manuals to be browsable and searchable online: VSE/ICCF Administration and Operation, VSE/ICCF User’s Guide, REXX/VSE User’s Guide, and REXX/VSE Reference.
• Update of the manuals z/VSE Administration, z/VSE System Control Statements, and z/VSE Messages and Codes Volume 1 with regards to native System Recovery Boost support that is provided by APAR DY47832 "SYSTEM RECOVERY BOOST SUPPORT".
• Update of the z/VSE Planning manual with regards to IBM z15 Model T02.
• Clarification of the description in the z/VSE Installation manual of “Step 5 - Performing a REIPL or IPL from DOSRES” during Manual Installation for both LPAR Mode and Under z/VM. During Manual Installation you can use the REIPL command in any case to REIPL from DOSRES after restore of IJSYSRS. If installation is performed on SCSI disk or from an installation disk you must use the REIPL command.
• Update of appendix Apply PTFs from the Internet in the z/VSE System Upgrade and Service manual.
• Correction of the description of how to handle the resource constraint Hardcopy File Full Condition in the z/VSE Guide for Solving Problems manual.
• Language Matters: Remove the unnecessary use of the terms Master and Slave in sample source code in the z/VSE Guide to System Functions manual.

z/VM 7.2 available

z/VM 7.2 is available since September 18, 2020. z/VM Version 7 ushered in the continuous delivery model and the concept of a two-year release cadence. z/VM 7.2 is the second release in this model. It includes all new function APARs and service provided in previous versions of z/VM. It also includes two new key features: Centralized Service Management and MSS Multi-Target PPRC exploitation.

You can learn more on the z/VM 7.2 web site and the z/VM 7.2 announcement.

Virtual conference 14th European GSE / IBM Technical University for z/VSE, z/VM, KVM and Linux auf IBM Z

The conference 14th European GSE / IBM Technical University für z/VSE, z/VM, KVM und Linux auf IBM Z will take place as a virtual event this year. Due to the rising COVID-19 cases worldwide the physical event was postponed to 2021. Instead a virtual event will take place on November 3 and 4, 2020. The live sessions will be in German on the first day and in English on the second day.

You can learn more and register at https://gse.paxido.com/vmvse2020-virtual-event/registration. Participation is free of charge. The number of participants is limited though. Therefore an early registration is recommended.

SCRT 28.1.0 reports on System Recovery Boost events

The Sub-Capacity Reporting Tool (SCRT) 28.1.0 is available since October 11, 2020. It includes support for System Recovery Boost reporting. A new report section G8 indicates the number of report hours in which a System Recovery Boost event occurred. A new report section V8, enabled via the GENERATE_DETAILED_DATA control statement (or GUI or CLI equivalent), indicates System Recovery Boost events on a per hour, per image basis.

You can download SCRT 28.1.0 from the SCRT Homepage and learn more about all the changes in the SCRT Current Levels document and SCRT User’s Guide manual.

Note: IBM will accept SCRT Version 28 or SCRT Version 27 reports beginning with the October report period (2 October 2020 - 1 November 2020). IBM will accept only SCRT Version 28 reports beginning with the November report period (2 November 2020 - 1 December 2020).

Special Note: Version 28 of the Sub-Capacity Reporting Tool will be the last version to run on a Java 7 JVM. Subsequent versions of SCRT will require a Java 8 (or later) JVM on all platforms (i.e. z/OS, Windows, and Linux). All in-service z/OS releases currently support Java 8.

I greatly appreciate your feedback either in the comments or via the z/VSE contact form.

Disclaimer: My posts and opinions are my own.

EDIT 2020-11-02: Added link to my POWER PNET TCPIP performance improvement in z/VSE 6.2 post.