z/VM 6.1 Documentation

As I was reading about the new z/VM 6.1 announcements I came across several z/VM information pages. So I thought I might as well gather them here . . . with focus on z/VM 6.1.

• IBM General z/VM page
• IBM z/VM News site
  
• z/VM End of Support Dates and z/VM Withdrawal from Marketing Dates
• z/VM Data Sheet
• z/VM Reference Guide
• z/VM General Information : technical introduction containing Introduction to z/VM, How z/VM V6.1 can help you, What is new or changed in z/VM V6.1, Hardware and software requirements, Guide to the z/VM product information . . .
• z/VM V6.1 FAQ
• z/VM V6R1 Bookshelf
• z/VM V6R1 PDF List
• z/VM V6R1 Information Center
• z/VM Redbooks
• IBMVM Listserv Archives

Enjoy the reading !

Hot Flashes and Tool Bags

I'm referring to two presentations I stumble across from time to time and when it happens I always take the opportunity to have a look. Both are regularly updated and each time contain some goodies and pieces of information that make them worth checking out.
The first one is "Cheryl's Hot Flashes". You can find it in the presentation section of Cheryl Watsons site. She is regularly presenting it at user meetings like e.g. the Share meeting at Tampa in February. There's e.g. always some interesting survey results : who's on z/OS 1.8, how many people are using the zAAP/zIIP or are planning to. But the last one also discusses user experiences on zIIP and there are always some quite technical topics too like e.g. 'interesting APARs' ...
By the way, all Tampa Share presentations are available on the Share site.
The second is "A System Programmer Productivity Tool Bag" by Bette Brody. you find the latest two versions over here with a list of topics covered. This one really contains a wealth of information for every system programmer focusing on recent announcements, Statements of Direction, interesting new publications, redbooks and white papers, downloads like e.g. the Health Checker and the free Omegamon z/OS management Console, some info on using ShopzSeries, tips on installing Server Pacs, the use of all kinds of tools like zPCR, some interesting z/OS links and many other topics.

IBM Mainframe Discussion List

You might've noticed that my list of links is (in view of the subject of this blog) rather short. That's because I've seen lots of blogs flooded with links, and no one has the courage to wade through them. I could easily put tens and tens of links, but I've chosen to build this up gradually, each time giving a little explanation when I'm adding a new link.
Today it's the "IBM Mainframe Discussion List". I guess any person who's doing system related work on the mainframe knows it. For those who don't : the list is thé community of z/OS system engineers exchanging thoughts and problems on anything related to z/OS in particular and mainframe in general. You might compare it with the forums we all know on the net, but this system is set up via e-mail. You subscribe to the list and you get every post via e-mail and you can participate in the discussions. If you don't want to be flooded with mails you can e.g. ask to group them and have them sent once a day. If you don't know this list, you should really go and take a look. I suggest you start with the archives to give you an overall idea of the list. It's also a good starting point when you want to ask a question. It might've been treated before.

Some items I've covered here were also covered in the discussion list (e.g. new software pricing) - correlating dry announcements with real-life situations and comments.

Of course there are more discussion lists than just this one. I only mention a couple of them :

• DB2 : http://www.idugdb2-l.org/archives/db2-l.html
• RACF : http://listserv.uga.edu/archives/racf-l.html
• VM : http://listserv.uark.edu/archives/ibmvm.html

If you want to search for others you can go to the L-Soft List Search Page.