FAQ CSM EOL & z/OSMF Software Management
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FAQ CSM EOL & z/OSMF Software Management

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Article ID: 261725

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Common Services COMMON SERVICES FOR Z/OS COMMON PRODUCT SERVICES COMPONENT

Issue/Introduction

Frequently Asked Questions regarding CSM End of Life(EOL) and z/OSMF Software Management.

Resolution

Table of Contents

When are Broadcom Mainframe products going to be available in PSWI format?

The current list of mainframe products that can be installed or configured using z/OSMF can be found here.. All remaining mainframe products that can be installed using CSM today will have PSWI available before the CSM EOL effective date - June 30, 2023

Can I use CSM after the EOL effective date?  

On June 30, 2023, when CSM reaches the end of life, the services that support many of the functions in CSM will also be turned off.  That will render CSM incapable of assessing entitlement, displaying available software or maintenance, etc.  Therefore, downloading fixes or products using CSM will not be possible.  Our recommendation for customers going forward no longer includes the use of CSM.  For the installation of new software, we recommend that you download new software packages in Portable Software Instance (PSWI) format and install them using z/OSMF Software Management.  For maintenance, we recommend the use of SMP/E Internet Service Retreival and z/OSMF Software Update.

There is no technical reason that would prevent you from manually acquiring maintenance or product packages that already support CSM and then still using CSM to install them beyond the EOL date.  However, no support will be available and Broadcom will no longer be delivering new software packages in a format that can be used with CSM beyond the EOL date.

Will CARS levels still be available? Will z/OSMF allow to upgrade to a specific CARS level?

There is no change in how CARS are being delivered. CARS can be applied using z/OSMF by selecting the Recommended Service in Software Update. z/OSMF currently does not provide the option to select a specific CARS level, only the latest recommended level can be applied. You can apply specific PTFs using the Corrective service option in Software Update.

Can I use CSM and z/OSMF at the same time to maintain my Broadcom products?

Yes, after you register your existing CSIs into z/OSMF you can still manage them with CSM while you learn to use z/OSMF Software Update.

Will you be able to see a list of available PTFs as with CSM?

Base z/OSMF currently does not provide this functionality. We are developing a z/OSMF plugin that lets users view detailed SYSMOD information from the SMP/E CSI directly in z/OSMF. It can analyze any SMP/E installed product and help answer questions such as:

  • What is the current maintenance level of a product?
  • How can I determine what PTFs and APARs are currently installed?
  • Where can I find a description of each PTF or APAR installed?

 Early access to the plugin is now available through our validation project.

Do I need to download z/OSMF PSWI to my hard drive and then upload it to the mainframe?

No, the Broadcom support portal allows you to receive portable software instances from the network directly to z/OSMF. You can order the desired software from the support portal using the GIMZIP button and just wait for a confirmation email that the order is ready. In the email, you will find a link that will take you back to the portal and you can just copy-paste an XML snippet into z/OSMF to acquire the software directly to the mainframe.

Do I need to reinstall my existing products using z/OSMF PSWI to be able to maintain them using z/OSMF?

No, you can register your existing CSIs as new software instances in z/OSMF using our migration utility or manually in z/OSMF. 

When using ‘Software Update’ to install Corrective/Recommended/Functional maintenance getting the following IKJ messages?

IZUDXAPL rexx exec did not start processing correctly.
IKJ56423I REGION SIZE 0050000 EXCEEDS LIMIT SIZE 0004096
IKJ56429A REENTER -
IKJ56700A ENTER REGION SIZE – 

To prevent exceeds maximum region size errors, verify that the z/OSMF user’s TSO maximum region size is a minimum of 65536 KB for the z/OS system.

What is the recommended size for the UNIX System Services (USS) directory to receive the z/OSMF pax file?

The USS directory should be 3.5 times the size of the z/OSMF pax.Z file.

Can the Deployment or Workflow jobs be submitted all at once or must the jobs be submitted one by one?

Deployment and workflow jobs cannot be submitted all at once, must be submitted one at a time. Each job must be the next job in the sequence and the previous job must be complete.

In the 'Configure Deployment' 'Data Sets' step where sites can 'Accept the default names, volumes, and storage classes, or use the Modify action to modify them.', when the new 'To:' dataset high level qualifier is not defined, z/OSMF builds the subsequent deployment job IZUD01RA RACF job, but I am running ACF2, why?

When specifying the data set names in the 'Configure Deployment' 'Data Sets' step, be sure to specify a HLQ that is defined. The z/OSMF generated IZUD01RA RACF job states: "This sample job can be used to create RACF definitions for data set prefixes that are not found in the driving system catalog.".

The Deployment Checklist ‘Perform workflows’ step does not contain any workflow jobs, why?

The ‘Perform workflows’ step will not contain any workflow jobs if the previous ‘Submit deployment jobs’ step successfully completes(the three deployment jobs’ Status marked Complete) and z/OSMF ‘Submit Deployment Jobs’ window is CLOSEd. Verify that all three of the deployment jobs’ Status is marked complete. Verify the z/OSMF ‘Submit Deployment Jobs’ window is fully expanded(and the   button appears at the bottom of the screen) so the window can be closed.

Using the Software Management application, running the Download Portable Software Instance to add(acquire) job getting RC=0012 with a JVMJ9VM015W message, why?

JVMJ9VM015W Initialization error for library j9gc29(2): Failed to instantiate compressed references metadata.  200M requested.                                 
Error: Could not create the Java Virtual Machine.                              
Error: A fatal exception has occurred. Program will exit.       
GIM69209S ** GIMGTPKG PROCESSING HAS FAILED BECAUSE PROGRAM GIMJVCLT COULD NOT  BE STARTED.                                                      
GIM20501I    GIMGTPKG PROCESSING IS COMPLETE. THE HIGHEST RETURN CODE WAS 12.     

The error is likely caused by region size not being large enough. To address the error, change the jobcard and specify a larger region size, ie REGION=0M.

Two z/OSMF users with the same security level access, one user is not getting full access to z/OSMF functional application(icons) on main panel/screen, why?

The z/OSMF desktop may not be built with all of the available apps. However, they may be present in another location. The very first time that a user logs on to z/OSMF one may observe that some application 'icons' are missing. This is not an issue of granting access authority to a user. If the additional or missing apps are not added to the user’s desktop they would need to do that manually.

To add additional z/OSMF apps, click on the App center icon in the lower left corner of the desktop
Icons from the App center can be dragged out of the App center to the desktop.

What criteria does z/OSMF Software Update use to select maintenance for ‘Install Recommended’?

z/OSMF Software Update ‘Install Recommended’ does an SMP/E APPLY of maintenance associated with the SOURCEIDs RSU*, SECINT, HIPER, CAR*, RSL* and PRP.

What criteria does z/OSMF Software Update use to select maintenance for ‘Install Functional’?

z/OSMF will list the SOURCEIDs of Fix Categories for Functional updates from which sites can select one or more fix categories that contain updates to install, for example:

Fix Categories
CA.Function.SCRT.Reporting
CA.Product.RequiredService.CA-Trusted.Access.Manager.V1R1
CA.TargetSystem-RequiredService.CICS.V6R1
CA.TargetSystem-RequiredService.IBM.Multi-FactorAuth.V1R1
CA.TargetSystem-RequiredService.JES3plus.V1R2
CA.TargetSystem-RequiredService.z/OS.V2R5
CA.TargetSystem-RequiredService.z/OSMF.V2R5

z/OSMF Product Workflow Job gets BPXF135E RETURN CODE 00000081, REASON CODE EF096055, what causes this error?

Article Id: 260939 z/OSMF Product Workflow Job gets BPXF135E RETURN CODE 00000081, REASON CODE EF096055 provides details on addressing this Workflow zFS issue.

Is there a recommended sequence to go through the z/OSMF software management online self-study sessions at learning@broadcom?

Getting started:

  1. z/OSMF Introduction, Process, and Impact to Existing Customers 200
  2. zOSMF Migrate SMPE Environments 200 - 15 Minutes

Maintenance:

  1. CA SMPe Retrieval 200 - 20 Minutes
  2. Create Service Order - 12 Minutes
  3. zOSMF Product Maint Install 200 - 15 Minutes

New install:

  1. zOSMF Acquire Product 200 - 10 Minutes
  2. zOSMF Product Install 200 - 25 Minutes

Others:

  1. Mainframe Software Management and Maintenance Tips and Tricks 200.
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