IBM Z Open Automation Utilities V1.0.2 Generally Available
Today we announce
Z Open Automation Utilities 1.0.2Job Control Language (JCL) has been used for a long time for performing or automating a set of steps on the z/OS operating system. Though JCL has evolved with the times, it is inevitably foreign to people familiar with environments such as Linux, UNIX, and Windows.
On z/OS, as an alternative to using JCL in MVS, developers can write scripts to automate tasks in the UNIX System Services (USS) environment. Such scripts are easier to understand and to manage, and many open source tools are also available in UNIX System Services.
However, there is a gap in some cases, and z/OS developers have to fall back to submitting JCL jobs, which requires z/OS specific knowledge. In addition, JCL jobs are asynchronous, which means you must submit them to batch and wait for the result; as a result, they do not fit in well with the rest of the script, which is typically synchronous.
Z Open Automation Utilities (ZOAU) fills the gap by providing the underlying runtime to support executing automation tasks on z/OS via Java, Python, and shell commands. With ZOAU, you can run traditional MVS commands, such as
IEBCOPY,
IDCAMS, and
IKJEFT01, as well as perform a number of data set operations in the scripting language of your choice.
ZOAU is designed as a natural way for programmers familiar with Linux and UNIX to use the UNIX System Services environment directly to access traditional MVS resources such as data sets directly, without the need for JCL. The utilities have a name and syntax that is familiar to UNIX developers. For example, you can use the
dls command to list data sets, which has a similar syntax and output to the ls command that is available on UNIX and Linux environments.
Use the language you like: shell, Python, or Java
ZOAU commands are true UNIX System Services commands and support piping and redirection of stdin, stdout, and stderr. This makes it easy and natural to incorporate the ZOAU commands into your shell and bash scripts, with no complex dependencies.
Man pages are provided for the ZOAU commands so that you can learn the details of the commands in the same way as other Linux or UNIX commands.
ZOAU provides easy-to-use class libraries for accessing MVS resources such as data sets directly from the language you want, without requiring installation or configuration of other software.
You can also create your own libraries in other programming languages, such as
Node.js, by using the shared library provided by ZOAU.
Use Ansible to access z/OS through Z Open Automation Utilities
ZOAU is a prerequisite for
Red Hat Ansible Certified Content for IBM Z, which provides new capabilities to IBM Z customers by helping them to seamlessly unite workflow orchestration with configuration management, provisioning, and application deployment in an easy-to-use platform. Customers are now able to connect IBM Z into their wider enterprise automation strategy leveraging a leading open solution in the market. This Red Hat Ansible Certified Content for IBM Z is the latest in a growing list of key technologies which positions IBM Z as a critical component for mission-critical workloads in the hybrid multi-cloud ecosystem for the Enterprise.
Z Open Automation Utilities is now FREE!And here is the best part! ZOAU is a
free of charge product available on
ShopZ, with optional S&S subscription available.
Resources:
ZOAU 1.0.2 is also included in:
IBM Dependency Based Build 1.0.8IBM Developer for z/OS Enterprise Edition 14.2.3Application Delivery Foundation for z/OS 3.2.1IBM Z Open DevelopmentMore information on ZOAU :
http://tech.mikefulton.ca/ZOAU102Kaleb talks ZOAU (and more!) :
http://tech.mikefulton.ca/KalebPythonPodcastZOAU Blog :
http://tech.mikefulton.ca/ZOAU102Blog