Added 2026-04-06:

Removal of Support for Virtual Equals Real (V=R) Jobs

What is being removed or changed

z/OS 3.2 is planned to be the last release to support Virtual Equals Real (V=R) jobs.

Required customer migration or upgrade actions

Identify V=R jobs and remove ADDRSPC=REAL dependencies.

•    Remove the ADDRSPC=REAL specification on the JOB or EXEC statement.
•    Remove the REAL= and VRREGN= IEASYSxx parameters.
•    Remove references to the RSM_REAL health check in HZSPRMxx.

Why is IBM making this change?

V=R processing is based on memory management assumptions that are no longer aligned with modern z/OS architecture. Removing support simplifies memory management and job execution processing.

Links to the relevant documentation

z/OS 3.2 Announcement - Statement of Direction AD26-0005

Removal of Support for DFSMSdfp Checkpoint/Restart

What is being removed or changed

z/OS 3.2 is planned to be the last release to support DFSMSdfp Checkpoint/Restart. The intent is not to require changes to applications with regards to usage of the CHKPT macro.

Usage of the CHKPT macro is intended to be syntax checked and ignored. To indicate this behavior, DFSMSdfp will issue the following messages (with return code 1, reason code 0) whenever a program invokes the checkpoint or restart functions:

IHJ106I JJJ,SSS<.PPP> (DDN,UTN,SER) CHECKPOINT HAS BEEN REQUESTED HOWEVER, IT HAS NO EFFECT BECAUSE CHECKPOINT AND RESTART ARE NOT SUPPORTED IN THIS RELEASE.

IHJ107I JJJ,SSS<.PPP> (DDN,UTN,SER) RESTART FAILED BECAUSE CHECKPOINT and RESTART ARE NOT SUPPORTED IN THIS RELEASE.

Any remaining z/OS software that still depends on checkpoint/restart capability might need to be redesigned to remove the dependency on checkpoint/restart. Updates to allow identification of usage of checkpoint/restart are planned to be available with the Generic Tracker Facility.

z/OS continues to provide job restart processing, which works on a step basis as well as capabilities like Transactional VSAM which may provide the basis for solutions that could replace checkpoint/restart.

Required customer migration or upgrade actions

To prepare for this change, plan to update any applications that still depend on the DFSMSdfp checkpoint/restart capability and remove these dependencies.

Check for programs that use the DFSMSdfp checkpoint/restart facility, for example, by using the Generic Tracking Facility. See APAR OA64519 on z/OS 2.5 and later for the Generic Tracking Facility support.

Why is IBM making this change?

Checkpoint/restart usage has declined significantly as newer recovery and restart capabilities have become available. IBM is simplifying the operating system while preserving access to more modern recovery approaches.

Links to the relevant documentation

z/OS 3.2 Announcement - Statement of Direction AD26-0005

Regarding DFSMSdfp Checkpoint/Restart:

z/OS 3.2 Upgrade Workflow V3 mentions that IHJ106I/IHJ107I message will be issued whenever program invokes checkpoint or restart functions in future z/OS release.

BTW, starting with DFSMS APAR OA64519 for z/OS V2R5, 3.1, and 3.2, new message IHJ105I (Routing code : 11) will be issued for upcoming deprecation of Checkpoint/Restart in future z/OS release and processing is continued. You can find affected jobs without activating "IBM Generic Tracker (GTZ) for z/OS" by checking IHJ105I message.

Example of successful CHKPT macro:

21.13.47 JOB01836  IHJ105I IBM PLANS TO REMOVE THE CHECKPOINT/RESTART FUNCTIONS FROM THE SYSTEM IN A FUTURE RELEASE

21.13.47 JOB01836  IHJ004I BEANSZZ,GO (CPPCHK,VIO, ) CHECKPOINT SUCCESSFUL. ID=CPPIVP CHCKPOINT

Example of failed CHKPT macro:

17.56.50 JOB01831  IHJ105I IBM PLANS TO REMOVE THE CHECKPOINT/RESTART FUNCTIONS FROM THE SYSTEM IN A FUTURE RELEASE

17.56.50 JOB01831  IHJ000I CHECKPOINT BEANSZZ,GO (????????) NOT TAKEN (117) MODULE = IHJACP00

Thanks!

Shigeki

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Shigeki Kimura
zMigration Office Technical Lead
IBM Japan
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