z/VSE 6.1, CICS Transaction Server for z/VSE V2.1 and upcoming Live Virtual Class

During my absence z/VSE V 6.1 (ZP15-0281) and CICS Transaction Server for z/VSE V2.1 (ZP15-0494) were announced. In the meantime these products are already available since last week, but I still wanted to mention them because there's a Live Virtual Class tomorrow December1, 2015 at 17PM Brussels Time.

The content of this Live Virtual Class

This LVC session gives some information about the z/VSE 6.1 release content. z/VSE 6.1 comes with a new CICS TS version, the first new version since 16 years. The new CICS functions will be discussed. z/VSE 6.1 focuses also on security, networking, hardware exploitation and connectivity to Linux on z Systems and other platforms. Both TCP/IP stacks come with a new version or release. Their functionality is addressed, too.

You can find all the necessary information about it and the link to register over here.

Nevertheless let me also give you the highlights of these two products. Apparently it's a big year for z/VSE. z/VSE celebrated its 50th anniversary (that's actually 1965-2015) and there's a new CICS version for z/VSE for the first time in 16 years (that means since last century in 1999) !

IBM® z/VSE® V6.1 is designed to:

Exploit innovative IBM z13™ technology

• Configurable Crypto Express5S for data encryption and SSL acceleration.
• FICON® Express16S supporting a link rate of 16 Gbps.

Support enhanced IBM System Storage® options

• IBM System Storage TS7700 Virtualization Engine Release 3.3.
• IBM System Storage DS8870 Release 7.5 (ECKD™ and FCP-attached SCSI disks).
• IBM FlashSystem® V9000 for use with FCP-attached SCSI disks.

Introduce an architectural level set of IBM System z10®, or later

Deliver CICS® TS for z/VSE V2.1. CICS TS for z/VSE V2.1 can only be used with z/VSE V6.1, and replaces CICS TS for VSE/ESA V1.1.1. New functionality includes:

• Update and control capabilities to CICS resources for the CICS Explorer® system management tool.
• A new API to enable the transfer of large amounts of structured data between CICS applications to meet the needs of growing workloads.

Deliver IBM TCP/IP for z/VSE V2.1

• This new version replaces IBM TCP/IP for VSE/ESA V1.5F, and includes firewall functionality and other enhancements.

Deliver IBM IPv6/VSE V1.2

• This new release of IPv6/VSE provides firewall functionality, increased network availability, and other enhancements.

Add trigger functionality for the WebSphere® MQ Client for VSE

• The MQ Client Trigger Monitor adds trigger functionality for the WebSphere MQ Client for VSE to ease asynchronous message processing.

Some more useful information.
Those who are really into z/VSE know of course that I'm only their secondary blog source of information about z/VSE. For those who don't know it yet, I'll mention it again : Ingolf Salm does a far more extensive (ànd better) job at blogging about z/VSE than I do. So, go and have a look over there if you're into z/VSE.

Recent security vulnerabilities

OK, I admit, you haven't heard much of me lately but I've been too busy with other stuff that was not all that mainframe related. Still, I couldn't help noticing that there were quite some security issues lately. So, I thought I'd put up a couple of links that might be helpful. And I hope I'll find the time to blog a little more again from now on.

• Security Bulletin: Vulnerability in SSLv3 affects IBM Virtualization Engine TS7700 (CVE-2014-3566)
  SSLv3 contains a vulnerability that has been referred to as the Padding Oracle On Downgraded Legacy Encryption (POODLE) attack. SSLv3 is enabled in IBM Virtualization Engine TS7700.
  
• Security Bulletin: Vulnerability in SSLv3 affects TS3500 (CVE-2014-3566)
  SSLv3 contains a vulnerability that has been referred to as the Padding Oracle On Downgraded Legacy Encryption (POODLE) attack. SSLv3 is enabled in TS3500.
  
• Security Bulletin: POODLE vulnerability in SSLv3 affects IBM Explorer for z/OS and IBM CICS Explorer (CVE-2014-3566)
  SSLv3 contains a vulnerability that has been referred to as the Padding Oracle On Downgraded Legacy Encryption (POODLE) attack. This vulnerability affects all versions of IBM Explorer for z/OS and IBM CICS Explorer.
  
• Security Bulletin: A Security vulnerability has been discovered in Apache Struts which impacts the DS8000 GUI (CVE-2014-0114)
  
  A security vulnerability has been discovered in Apache Struts which impacts the DS8000 GUI

IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V5.2 open beta offering

"IBM beta programs for software allow customers to sign up for and acquire early releases of a product for the purposes of testing, prior to it being made commercially available. Open beta programs do not usually require customers to register before taking part in the program. Typically, product offerings, that are provided by a beta program:

• Are free of charge
• Are not warranted
• Have no support of any kind
• May not be used for productive purposes
• Contain a disabling device that will prevent it from being used after the test period ends

Details of the terms and conditions of the beta program are found in the supplied license files for the offering.

Participants in the beta program gain insight into IBM strategy and direction, and are able to build skills and develop expertise. They also obtain earlier benefit and payback from new function, may gain competitive edge, and the opportunity for public recognition as a technology leader. Participants are encouraged to provide feedback and articulate their own requirements to IBM, with the potential to help influence the shape future IBM products.

An online forum is provided for discussion and debate. The CICS development team will attempt to answer any questions and resolve any problems that may be encountered in the beta. Participants can also benefit from other participants' experiences, becoming part of a group, with a close working relationship with IBM development.

The CICS TS V5.2 open beta offering is available for download, direct from IBM from the date of availability onwards, by visiting

http://www.ibm.com/cics/openbeta

To register your interest in the CICS TS V5.2 open beta program, prior to the date of availability, contact the CICS Early Programs coordinator by email, at

cicsep@uk.ibm.com

"

As you can see, I just quoted the text straight from the announcement (ZP14-0021) as it describes so well how the open beta works. You can find the announcement over here.

A couple of extra details : availability date is February 24, 2014 and minimum z/OS version is 1.13.

CICS : 1.157.407 transactions per second

From time to time you have to have an eye catcher to draw the attention. Well, this was one at the bottom of the CICSbuzz - the IBM CICS Newsletter.

And there's also a short video that accompanies this. It puts the power of CICS into perspective, comparing it with e.g. Facebook and Twitter. Just have a look at it.

 

By the way, if you aren't subscribed to the CICSbuzz newsletter yet, just go over here to do it. You also find all previous issues over there.

Announcement : CICS Transaction Server for z/OS Value Unit Edition V5.1

Last week IBM announced CICS TS VUE pricing : 'IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS Value Unit Edition V5.1 offers a one-time-charge price metric for net new Java workloads (ZP13-0207)'.

We already have this type of pricing for DB2 for z/OS. It's not the simplest matter at hand and the best way to find out whether you qualify for this kind of pricing and whether it's financially interesting is to turn to your local IBM or BP representative. Belgian customers can surely turn to me for assistance in this matter.

What's it about ? Lots of softwares like e.g. z/OS, DB2 and CICS fall under MLC pricing and you pay for what's reported on your monthly SCRT report. Now, at a certain point in time, pricing for z/OS was reduced when people invested in New Workloads on System z. There were several pricing mechanisms that supported this but eventually we now still have zNALC pricing (New Application License Charge). As a rule of thumb you can say that z/OS costs about one tenth of the regular price in a zNALC LPAR.

Other initiatives followed to further encourage New Workload on System z. A couple of years ago DB2 for z/OS VUE (Value Unit Edition) was introduced. Instead of through MLC pricing, DB2 VUE was handled through IPLA pricing. IPLA pricing is perhaps still better known as OTC or One Time Cost pricing. It means you once buy a number of Value Units for that particular software. There are several exhibits and according to the applicable exhibit the Value Units represent a certain number of MSUs. You are then entitled to use that number of MSUs for this software. And that's it. No more monthly payments. Unless you're interested in support or a free upgrade path to future releases and versions. Then you can pay for Subscription & Support.

Well now, CICS TS VUE also follows this mechanism and it should be less expensive than the regular CICS TS pricing. But before you want to convert all your CICS TS licenses to CICS TS VUE you must know there are restrictions : it's for eligible workloads that are deployed in a qualified zNALC LPAR. "Eligible Workload is defined as net new Java workload that executes within the CICS TS VUE Java Virtual Machine (JVM) server environment, on condition that the workload is qualified and approved through the zNALC qualification process. The OTC price metric provides an alternative pricing model for new CICS Java applications and new CICS Java-based, service enablement workloads".
Further requirements are z/OS V1.13 and the minimum required level of Java is IBM 64-bit SDK for z/OS, Java Technology Edition, V7 SR1.

Why every IT architect should understand something about CICS

Sometimes you stumble across a topic or some documentation that's just too good not to post about (Is that a correct English sentence ?). Even if it has already been brought to your attention through several other resources. So, I read about the new 'Architect's Guide to IBM CICS on System z' in the new CICS Portfolio eNewsFlash which you can find over here. And there were also some links to some other sources about it. So, instead of writing my own post about it, I'm going to do a bit of stealing (yes, even my post title) and I'll give you the references.

Bottom line is : every IT architect should know about the value of CICS. That's why Martin Keen starts his post on the IBM Software blog like this :

How many times did you use CICS Transaction Server this year? This week? Today? Unless you're already familiar with IBM's 43 year-old transaction server, you might be scratching your head and thinking “I've never used it!”.

Think again.

Have you had lunch yet? If so, did you pay with a debit or credit card? Then you've used CICS. Did you pay for lunch with cash instead? CICS entered your life then too – when you went to the ATM to withdraw the money.

And you're not alone. CICS Transaction Server handles a dizzying number of transactions every day. More than 30 billion transactions a day in fact(...)

Go on over there and read about the value of CICS and why every IT architect should know about it.

The same introduction to the Redbook is found on Youtube.



Still not convinced ? Then take a look over here to find out what inspired the writers of the Redbook.

But of course, do go and read the 'Architect's Guide to IBM CICS on System z' over here. And don't think : 'Oh, it's definitely beginner's stuff' because Martin Keen concludes :This is an essential book for architects, and a lot of other people besides. Even people who consider themselves CICS experts will learn something from reading it. I highly recommend it".

Still not enough ? Here's another 10-pager on the 'CICS Transaction Server Application Architecture'.

So, as I always say, do check them out !

IBM System z software announcements : CICS

I told you lots of announcements were made on October 3, so here's some more. There were also announcements around DB2, IMS and CICS. So let me start out with the CICS announcements.

First of all there's the announcement of CICS Transaction Server V5.1 (ZP12-0422). CICS V5.1 is mainly focusing on two areas : driving operational efficiencies, while increasing service agility.

Driving Operational Effeciencies focuses on four areas :

• Greater capacity is delivered through significant vertical and horizontal scalability enhancements.
• Managed operations are provided through the introduction of policies, which deliver automated control over critical system resources
• Increased availability enhancements reduce the need for planned outages
• Deeper insight into performance and compliance information can help to tune and audit system usage

Increasing service agility also focuses on four key areas :

• First-class applications enable the creation of agile services from existing assets
• First-class platforms enable the creation of agile service delivery runtimes
• Modern interfaces enable customers to build rich web experiences for critical applications
• Foundational enhancements extend the core CICS capabilities in a number of areas

Planned availability is December 14, 2012.

There will also be a CICS TS Developer Trial V5.1 and that one will be available from January 11, 2013. As you know the Developer Trial version was first introduced with CICS TS 4.2. That trial version can still be ordered until January 8, 2013.

There were a couple of other CICS related announcements :

• IBM CICS Transaction Gateway V9.0 (ZP12-0420)
• IBM CICS Tools for z/OS V5.1 (ZP12-0478) : these include CICS Interdependency Analyzer for z/OS, CICS Deployment Assistant for z/OS, CICS Configuration Manager for z/OS, CICS Performance Analyzer for z/OS, CICS VSAM Recovery for z/OS and a plug-in for CICS VSAM Transparency for z/OS.

If you want to have more details on these announcements, links to webpages, datasheets and so on, then do have a look at the new CICS Portfolio eNewsLetter which you can find over here. Again, they did a great job at gathering all the relevant information around these new announcements.

Price changes for some CICS and IMS versions

On September 1, 2012 IBM announced some price changes. The first one is for CICS : ‘Price Changes on IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V3 and V4 Software Program Products (ZA12-1058)’. Effective with the billing period that starts on or after July 1, 2013, the monthly license charges (MLC) will increase for the following programs and its features : CICS Transaction Server for z/OS Version 3 and CICS Transaction Server for z/OS Version 4. In the meantime IBM also makes the intention to keep supporting CICS TS V3.2 until at least 3Q 2014 and CICS TS V4.2 until at least 3Q 2017.
In general, EMEA prices for these recurring charges (MLC) will increase by 9%.

Another announcement was about IMS : ‘Price Changes on IBM IMS V9 and V10 Database Manager and Transaction Manager Software Program Products (ZA12-1054)’. Effective with the billing period that starts on or after January 1, 2013, the monthly license charges (MLC) will increase for the following programs IMS V9 Database Manager, IMS V9 Transaction Manager, IMS V10 Database Manager, IMS V10 Transaction Manager. IMS V9 will be priced consistent with the price of IMS V10 today, and IMS V10 will be priced consistent with the price of IMS V11.
“Average VWLC and AWLC increases for a 500 MSU configuration will be within a bandwidth of +9% to +11%, depending on the program product and the country. Average EWLC and AEWLC increases for a 150 MSU configuration will be within a bandwidth of +8% to +10% depending on the program product and the country” (< EMEA Newsletter).

I know what IBM announced last summer : CICS

Unfortunately IBM doesn't stop making announcements because it's summer holiday. So I'm going to try and tell you about recent announcements. Let me start out with CICS. Afterwards I'll have another post on System z and on storage.

The first announcement is 'Software withdrawal: IBM CICS selected products part numbers - Alternatives available (ZP12-0314)'. IBM support will discontinue for IBM CICS Transaction Gateway (CICS TG) for Multiplatforms V7.1 (5724-I81) on September 30, 2013 and for IBM CICS Universal Client V7.1 on (5724-J09) on April 30, 2014. Of course replacements are available.

The second announcement is entitled 'Statement of general direction: IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS (ZP12-0417)'. There are some (intended) product enhancements : "IBM intends to update IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS ( CICS TS), to provide new application, platform, and policy capabilities that can help customers build private clouds from new and existing CICS applications". As far as support is concerned : "IBM intends to continue to support both CICS TS V3.1 and CICS TS V3.2 until at least third quarter, 2014" and "both CICS TS V4.1 and CICS TS V4.2 until at least third quarter, 2017". Mind you, these are Statements of Directions, subject to change etc.

While I'm on the CICS subject I'd also like to point out this System z event : 'CICS goes mobile'. The webcast is taking place on August 29, 2012 at 11.00 am EDT (17h in Brussels). The level is basic - introductory. To give you an idea of the content :

"In this (...) webcast you have the opportunity to hear from two of IBM’s expert speakers on how CICS is addressing the mobile marketplace. How does CICS help to empower the individual with a smartphone in his pocket? How does CICS make use of new smartphone features, such as GPS, mobile Internet and RFID NFC communications? We’ll show you how CICS Dynamic Scripting is an ideal method for deploying mobile applications quickly and easily. We’ll answer many common questions about where and how CICS fits in a mobile strategy, including : how CICS can speak to mobile when mobiles don’t understand typical CICS interfaces".

Don't forget to register !

CICSdev Community

Don't you hate it too ? You're looking at a site which has (flashy !, flashy !!) a new holiday promotion. But when you're looking a bit closer, it turns out to be for 2009. To quote Homer : "Duh!". So when last week my sister asked me about setting up a website for a club we started to discuss the content of the site. So far, so good. But then I pointed out we hadn't talked about the most important part of it : updating and maintaining the website. Regularly adding new content, updating the agenda, removing older items etc. etc. Ouch ! So this means you have to at least once a week spend time maintaining the thing. Yes, it does. And if you don't : no information, no visitors, no nothing. So the idea was put to rest there and then.

For the same reason, I'm always a bit sceptical when I'm looking at yet another new community site. We've seen them come and go or perhaps rather stay but with no interesting content after a while.

But this one, that's apparently active since the beginning of the year, seems to be different : CICSdev or The CICSdev community. As they say themselves : "The CICSdev Community is the place to discuss, share and learn about developing for CICS". Well, I must say, it looks good : very easy navigation but also very interesting content. There's a blog that's e.g. mentioning on July 13 that the CICS TS V5.1 open beta, I also wrote about, is now available for download. There's a download tab where you find the information where to download this beta and the CICS TS V4.2 Developer Trial I also talked about earlier. There's a learning tab with articles, videos and presentation. I also like the participation tab. Did you know there's a forum ? I also found out (shame on me) , there's a CICS discussion list just like e.g. the IBM-MAIN list. If you're looking for the links, I deliberately let them out. So you have to go and have a look for yourself.

I hope I didn't put the expectations too high, or perhaps I do. So keep coming with new and interesting content !

Announcement - Software withdrawal : IBM System z selected products

I've been asked what's happening over here because my post rate has dropped to practically below zero. Almost like the weather over here. Well, there's just one reason, or actually there are three : work, work and work. So I'll try and catch up a bit. Sorry if this one's old news for you, but I only now had the time to have a look at it. But hey, I haven't seen it anywhere else as well.

On June 5 IBM made the following announcement : 'Software withdrawal: IBM System z selected products - Some replacements available (ZP12-0244)'.

Maybe the most important one here is that SystemPac for z/OS V1.12 will be withdrawn on July 23, 2013. It was previously announced as withdrawn on July 24, 2012 but evidently due to the announced changed release schedule for z/OS, this has been prolonged.

Others that are listed

• Lifecycle Extension for z/OS 1.9 will be withdrawn from marketing (WDFM) August 27, 2012. After that "extended service for z/OS V1.9 will be evaluated on an individual basis".
• CICS Transaction Server for z/OS 4.1 will be WDFM September 10, 2012 

But of course there are a lot of others. I'd say : just check them out !

CICS Transaction Server V5.1 Open Beta

Yesterday, IBM announced its new CICS TS generation 'IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V5.1 open beta introduces cloud-style applications and cloud-style infrastructure (ZP12-0216)'.
The announcement is summarized as follows :

"CICS Transaction Server for z/OS (CICS TS) V5.1 open beta introduces cloud-style CICS development, deployment, and operations, by delivering:

• New Platform as a Service (PaaS) capabilities that can be used to host Software as a Service (SaaS)-based CICS applications.
• Foundational advancements in both capability and scalability that allow CICS applications to do more, more easily.

The combination of these two sets of capability areas will greatly simplify the assembly, deployment, and lifecycle management of CICS applications, delivering many of the characteristics found in private-cloud computing systems. CICS TS V5.1 open beta gives you the opportunity to explore the concept of a cloud-style CICS deployment in your own environment."

Date of availability is June 13, 2012. From that day onwards you will be able to download CICS TS 5.1 by visiting : http://www.ibm.com/cics/openbeta.

If you want to have more information on this announcement and some related announcements on CICS Explorer, CICS Configuration Manager plug-in, CICS Performance Analyzer plug-in, WebSphere eXtended Transaction Runtime and IBM Rational Development and Test Environment for System z, then do take a look over here at the Cics Portfolio eNewsletter. It really provides you with lots of additional information.

Oh, by the way, a tweet from IBM_CICS brought me to this page where you can find all Announcement Letters for CICS Products' brought together.

Try-before-you-buy edition of CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V4.2

I don't think I've seen something similar for CICS TS as offered in this new IBM announcement : 'IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS Developer Trial V4.2 delivers a 'try-before-you-buy' edition of CICS Transaction Server for z/OS (ZP12-0014)'.

As a matter of fact, it's nothing more or less than a try-before-you-buy license for CICS TS V4.2. Why would you want to do that ?

"It has a zero-cost license charge and does not initiate any Single Version Charging (SVC) period.

CICS TS Developer Trial is designed for customers who want to assess the value that could be gained from a CICS TS upgrade, before making an upgrade decision. This enables the evaluation of the latest CICS TS capabilities, in a non-production environment, without the prerequisite time and resources commitments required for a full production migration project".

This looks like a nice offer to me. And, to me, it seems to take away the pressure about getting into production before the end of your SVC period.

Of course "there are a number of imposed restrictions, in performance and capacity, licensing terms, and a fixed expiry date, that make CICS TS Developer Trial suitable only for use in non-production environments".
About the fixed expiry date, it provides "at least 90 days operation from the date of fulfillment. New releases can be installed to extend this period. There is no limit to the number of times CICS TS Developer trial can be reordered, installed and used". So this should be pretty flexible, no ?

Planned availability : January 27, 2012.

The History of CICS

So I'm back and I'm starting off with a short post on the history of CICS. You can find a brief survey of all CICS releases and some interesting side information over here. I was seven when CICS was first introduced in 1968. Oddly enough CICS was "not expected to last more than a few years". Support, originally in Palo Alto, was moved to Hursley in 1976 in exchange for PL/I. The first version I got to work with was, if I remember correctly, CICS/VS 1.6 dating from 1983. The most current version is CICS Transaction Server (CICS TS) V4.2.

As I always say, just check it out !

(*) Picture comes from a blog post at The Master Terminal.

IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V4.2

Last week IBM announced CICS TS for z/OS V4.2 : 'IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS , V4.2, further reinforces competitiveness, compliance, and control (ZP11-0104)'. I'll just give you a few quotes to give you an idea of the announcement. The first quote is from the announcement itself.

"CICS TS V4.2 builds upon the new and enhanced capabilities developed and delivered in CICS TS V4.1 to enable users to compete in the marketplace, comply with standards and regulations, and control their business".

The second quote is from the CICS Portfolio eNewsLetter which was issued on April 5, 2011 and it gives a summary of the main domains where CICS TS V4.2 is delivering innovations.

"CICS TS V4.2 delivers technical innovation and significant business value in the following five main focus areas:

• Event processing is extended with new system events that give you real-time feedback of potential problems, and new life-cycle support to make events easier to manage
• Java improvements include a new 64bit multi-threaded JVM server environment built on the OSGi model for higher scalability and easier application management, and a new Axis2-based Java web services stack enabling zAAP offload
• Connectivity using IPIC is extended to cover function shipping of File Control, Temporary Storage, and Transient Data requests to take you a step closer to an IP-only environment, and HTTP improvements can help to improve performance
• Management improvements include a new transaction tracking capability to speed problem determination, new CICSPlex SM workload management algorithms to give more control over workload distribution, new support for password phrases up to 100 characters, along with many CICS Explorer enhancements
• Scalability of CICS is enhanced with new threadsafe support for IMSDB and function shipping mirrors when using IPIC, plus new 64-bit exploitation by Trace and Temporary Storage, helping to improve throughput and performance"

This eNewsLetter is really worth a look. You can subscribe to it over here. The April version is over here. And if you go one level up, you'll also find the previous versions.

This CICS TS V4.2 requires z/OS 1.11 and it becomes available June 24, 2011. If you want to test it earlier you can subscribe to the beta version. There's more information on the IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V4.2 page. You can find more information on the Open Beta over here.

One final remark I also pick up from the eNewsLetter : since there will be a price increase for CICS TS V3 bringing prices close to those of CICS TS V4 (cf. my post over here), price may no longer be a reason to stay much longer on CICS TS V3.

New for z/OS software pricing : IBM Integrated Workload Pricing (IWP)

Here's another announcement on software pricing. Good news this time. It's about an addition to the MLC pricing for AWLC customers : 'IBM Integrated Workload Pricing for zEnterprise clients can significantly improve price/performance of collocated workloads on z/OS (ZP11-0018)'. At first sight it looks a bit complicated (hey, it's IBM software pricing) but thanks to some clarifications from Marc Wesemael (IBM Belgium) I can take you through it, now.

First, the prerequisites :

• z196 Enterprise System processor with AWLC pricing
  
• z/OS V1.10, or higher, with SMF APAR OA31615
• Installation and use of SCRT V19.2.0
• Use of the SCRT IWP control statement

What is it ? In short : if you have running some IPLA software in an LPAR (actually it's restricted to some Websphere products) then you might see a reduction of the MSUs of some MLC softwares that are also running in that same LPAR.

What's the story ? You might remember that some IPLA softwares are eligible for Getting Started Subcapacity Pricing. For example, a Web Application Server is running in a large partition with a rather small workload. Normally, this IPLA software is execution-based. So you have to buy as many Value Units as needed to cover for the entire LPAR. With the Getting Started pricing, the workload of the Websphere Application Server is measured and you only have to have enough Value Units to cover for the actual workload - following certain rules of course.

Now, with Integrated Workload Pricing (IWP) we go one step further. In the announcement you find a list of Websphere IPLA products which are called the defining programs. Next to that there's a list of MLC programs which are eligible to be adjusted by IWP. This boils down to let's say all CICS and IMS versions. The MSUs of these softwares are lowered based on the utilisation of the defining programs, which have to be present in the same LPAR.

How is this calculation done ?
"SCRT calculates the 4-hour rolling average of the general purpose processor time consumed by the IWP Defining Programs and subtracts those values from the traditional sub-capacity values for the MLC programs eligible to be adjusted by IWP, on an hour by hour basis, per LPAR". This can give you a lower MSU value for your CICS and/or IMS products.

You can find more information on Software Pricing on the IBM System z Software Pricing page and there's also already a section on IWP pricing.

Price Changes for IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V3

We had something similar a couple of months ago with DB2 V8. Here's an announcement now about a price increase on CICS TS V3 : 'Price Changes on IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS V3 Software Program Products (ZA11-1002)'. The price change will become effective July 1, 2011. How much ? This depends a bit on the pricing metric but the announcement says : "With this increase, the price of IBM CICS TS V3 will become consistent with the price of IBM CICS TS V4".

The reason for this is very similar to the reason expressed for raising the price for DB2 V8. CICS TS 3.1 has been around since 2005 and lots of new functionalities (also with release 3.2) have been added over the years without any price increase. IBM also guarantees that it will continue to support V3 at least until September 2013. But apparently all this comes with a certain price . . .

AD2R abend after upgrading to DB2 9.1 when running CICS TS 4.1

Thought I might as well mention this flash (alert). I'm just quoting the alert you can find over here.

Abstract
After you upgrade to DB2 V9.1, transactions in your CICS Transaction Server for z/OS (CICS TS) V4.1 region start to fail with an abend AD2R ( abendAD2R ). The CICS exception trace indicates that the DB2 thread abended with an 0C4 Reason 0003EB60 ( RSN3EB60 ). Your CICS TS V3.2 regions are not affected by the change.

Content
DB2 V9.1 APAR PM20489 has been opened to address an abend 0C4 in DSNMLTOK at offset 4 and will fix this problem. If possible, you should wait until the PTF for this APAR is available before upgrading to DB2 V9.1 if running CICS TS V4.1.

As soon as PM20489 closes and the PTF becomes available, this document will be updated and included in the My Notifications email for CICS Transaction Server and on Twitter for IBM_CICS. You can also track specific CICS APARs if you would like to be notified when the PTF for this APAR becomes available.

Diagnosing the Problem
Following is the CICS exception trace entry:
AP 319D D2EX1 *EXC* THREAD TCB HAS ABENDED WITH ABEND
000000C4,REASON,0003EB60

The reason code is not a valid DB2 reason code.

Prior to this, within the CICS trace entries, you will see:
AP 3180 D2EX1 ENTRY APPLICATION REQUEST EXEC SQL UNKNOWN

If a system dump is captured for the abend AD2R, the kernel error table will show an abend0C4 followed by transaction abend percolates:
ERROR TYPE ERR_CODE MODULE OFFSET
PROGRAM_CHECK 0C4/AKEA UNKNOWN UNKNOWN
TRAN_ABEND_PERCOLATE ---/AD2R DFHPCP 00000604
TRAN_ABEND_PERCOLATE ---/AD2R DFHD2EX1 00002CDC
TRAN_ABEND_PERCOLATE ---/AD2R DFHERM 0000137E

The PSW of this abend0C4-38 points into module DSNLMTOK +4 to a StoreMultiple (EBEC D008 0024 STMG R14,R12,8(R13) ).

CICS 40 years in 40 minutes

It's been a while since I put a movie on my blog, so here's one about CICS. It's already from mid last year but I hadn't seen it yet.



I came across it via this nice publication I mentioned before : CICS Transaction Server in your SOA. And that's the one that really deserves your attention. The movie is just an eye catcher. The publication really contains lots of information on CICS TS and you can find it on the IBM support portal. So, if you have anything to do with CICS, just have a look at it.

Oh, by the way, no see-eye-see-ess but kicks !

CICS TS v2.3 End of Support next September

I'm just grabbing this from the CICS e-Newsletter I mentioned a couple of posts ago :

"IBM has announced the withdrawal of support for CICS Transaction Server V2.3, effective September 2009 - see details in the announcement letter here. (...)

When planning version-to-version migrations, don’t forget that CICS Interdependency Analyzer V2.2 now contains new queries to help to identify those applications most sensitive to change, helping target testing where it is most needed".

I guess the people involved already know they are going EOS with CICS TS V2.3, but I'm not sure every one knows this CICS Interdependency Analyzer. I, for one, did not. So I gathered some material about it :

• The announcement of this IPLA software (no, it's not for free) : 'IBM CICS Interdependency Analyzer for z/OS V2.2 makes it easier than ever to understand, reuse, and manage your critical CICS Transaction Server applications (ZP07-0450)' : "In particular, CICS IA V2.2 facilitates projects like CICS version-to-version migration, affinity removal, and Web service refactoring that depend for their success on deep knowledge of application, system, and resource relationships".
  
• General CICS IA for z/OS page
• There are lots of reports, redbooks, brochures etc. on the Library Page.

But there's more : the CICS Interdependency Analyzer is one of the IBM CICS Tools for which you can download a free 60-day trial version. If you're not interested in this one, you might want to check out the other IBM CICS Tools at the same page.