SPARTA News

November 2024

SPARTA President’s Corner

contributed by Randy Springs

This month, we canceled our November 2024 SPARTA meeting because our speaker became unavailable at the last minute.

If you have suggestions for topics or speakers for SPARTA or want to volunteer to speak yourself, please contact Ron Pimblett.

We hope to see you online on Tuesday, December 3, on Zoom. Watch for meeting information coming your way soon.

Randy Springs
Retired (Truist)

Future Speakers (subject to change)

November 5, 2024 - Cancelled by Speaker Availability issue

December 3, 2024 - TBA by TBD of Unknown

We need ideas and volunteers for future speakers. Presentations don’t have to be fancy, just informative and interesting. Even a 5 or 10 minute talk can start an interesting interaction. Contact Ron Pimblett by phone as noted below.

2024-2025 SPARTA

Board of Directors

Randy Springs - President

Retired (Truist)                  (919) nnn-nnnn

street

Raleigh, NC 27604

Ron Pimblett - Vice President

MDI Data Systems

Land line 613 599 6970

Mobile 613 981 6919

190 Guelph Private

Kanata, ON K2T 0J7

Chris Blackshire - Secretary

Retired (Dell, Perot Systems, Nortel)  (919) nnn-nnnn

street

Durham, NC 27713

Randy Springs - (Acting) Treasurer

Retired (Truist)                  (919) nnn-nnnn

see Randy

Springs earlier

Ed Webb -  Communications Director

Retired (SAS Institute Inc.)  (919) nnn-nnnn

street

Apex, NC 27523

Mike Lockey -  Web Master

Guilford Co. Information Services  336-641-6235

201 N. Eugene St.

Greensboro, NC 27401

Meetings

Coronavirus Change: All meetings for the foreseeable future will be held online at 3 p.m. via the Zoom App. The link to meeting is sent to SPARTA Mailing list within 24 hours of the meeting time for security reasons. Stay safe.

Meetings are scheduled for the first Tuesday evening of each month (except no meeting in January), with optional dinner at 6:15 p.m. and the meeting beginning at 7:00 p.m.

These monthly meetings usually are held at LabCorp’s Center for Molecular Biology and Pathology (CMBP) near the Research Triangle Park (see last page). Take I-40 to Miami Boulevard and go north. Turn right onto T.W. Alexander Drive. Go about a mile or so. Then turn right into LabCorp complex and turn Left to the CMBP Building (1912 T.W. Alexander Drive). In the lobby, sign in as a visitor to see Bill Johnson. Bill will escort you to the conference room.

Call for Articles

If you have any ideas for speakers, presentations, newsletter articles, or are interested in taking part in a presentation, PLEASE contact one of the Board of Directors with your suggestions.

Newsletter e-Mailings

The SPARTA policy is to e-mail a monthly notice to our SPARTA-RTP Group. The newsletter is posted to the website about five (5) days before each meeting so you can prepare. The SPARTA distribution List is maintained by Chris Blackshire; if you have corrections or problems receiving your meeting notice, contact Chris at chrisbl@nc.rr.com.

August 2024 “CBT Tape” Shareware Online

The directory and files from the latest CBT tape V507 (dated August 7, 2024) are available from www.cbttape.org.

If you need help obtaining one or more files, contact Ed Webb (see Board of Director’s list for contact info).

Minutes of the October 1, 2024 Meeting

• The October 1, 2024 meeting was called to order at 3:00 PM by Randy Springs, the SPARTA President.

• The October 1, 2024 meeting was cancelled because of speaker availability issues.

• This Forty-fourth (April 2020 to October 2024) virtual SPARTA meeting was held via the Zoom Software.

• Fifteen (15) people were present at the virtual meeting.

• The business portion of the meeting followed the presentation.

• The meeting started at 3 PM to accommodate the speaker's availability.

OLD BUSINESS

• The minutes of the September 9, 2024 meeting as published in the October 2024 Newsletter were approved.

• The minutes of the last meeting as published were approved.

• The September 31, 2024 Treasurer's report as published in the October 2024 Newsletter was approved. As of September 31, 2024, the current balance is $805.46.

• Call For Articles: Articles are needed for this newsletter. If you would like to write an article for this newsletter, please contact Ed Webb. Keep in mind that you don't really need to write the article, it can be an article that you read that you want to share with the membership.

• The SPARTA Web page is available at this site: http://www.spartanc.org. Please send any comments or suggestions about the Web page to Mike Lockey. Be sure to check the Web page every once in a while to see any new or changed information.

• 2024 meeting dates, Future Speakers and Topics (subject to change based on internal politics, budget, the weather):

If you have suggestions about speakers and topics, contact Ron Pimblett.

• The next SPARTA monthly meeting will be held virtually on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.

• The annual dues have been suspended (motion passed in the March 2021 monthly meeting).

• Thanks to Randy Springs for online hosting the September meeting via Zoom.

• There are currently about 100 people on the SPARTA e-mail distribution list.

• Send any e-mail address changes to Chris Blackshire so he can update the SPARTA distribution List. The SPARTA meeting notices are being sent via a simple distribution list maintained by Chris.

• Randy Springs is looking for a new Treasurer volunteer. He projects about 2 hours per month is needed.
- Contact Randy if you are interested.

• Randy Springs has setup a SPARTA group on LinkedIn. Please join.

• There was discussion about a possible 2024 in-person meeting, depending on vaccinations and room availability. Stay tuned.
- Randy will contact Bill Johnson to determine the LabCorp meeting place status.
- Jay Hall will look into using a NCSU Centennial Campus room.

NEW BUSINESS

• There was significant discussion about how to increase attendance at SPARTA meetings. After discussing ending SPARTA given lack of participation, the attendees decided to keep trying for another six months.

• We will continue meeting virtually for now with a future in-person meeting date TBD. Stay tuned.
• The Business portion and the meeting ended about 4:10 P.M.

• The Presentation started at 3:12 PM after attendee introductions.

• Presentation Topic: Customizing z/OSMF Using Plugins

By Jerry Spencer of DTS Software LLC

• Agenda
• Download The IBM Sample Plugin
• Install The IBM Sample Plugin
• Overcome My Personal Issues
• Understand The IBM Sample Plugin
• Create Your Own Plugin
• Wrap Up

• Presentation Access - See Below for a full outline of the presentation.

See the SPARTA webpage for all recent presentations including this September one with the presentation recording.

• Contact Info:
Speaker: Jerry Spencer
DTS Software
4350 Lassiter at North Hills Ave #230
Raleigh, NC 27609
Phone: 919-833-8426 x 0165
E-mail: jerry@DTSsoftware.com
Web site: https://www.dtssoftware.com

• The presentation and questions/answers ended about 4:00 P.M.
• The October 1, 2024 monthly meeting ended about 4:12 P.M. after a short business meeting.

Treasurer’s Report for October 2024

contributed by Randy Springs

The balance in the account is $805.46 as of October 31, 2024.

SPARTA Financial Report
10/01/2024 through 10/31/2024

Items of Interest

SPARTA Schedule and Menu for 2024

contributed by Chris Blackshire

Nov 5, 2024 Subs
Dec 3, 2024 BarBQ

Unlocking the Full Potential of z/OSMF

contributed By Ed Webb

"When z/OSMF first debuted in z/OS Version 1.1, it was less than stellar. As with anything new it was not perfect, but has matured and grown a lot. In the 14 years since its initial launch, z/OSMF has come a long way.

Version 3.1 has evolved into a true modernization GUI web browser that will make your standard workflow processes going forward much easier, both for your existing programs and net new additions.

As a web-based interface, z/OSMF is accessible through standard web browsers, eliminating the need for terminal-based interactions. It provides a centralized point of control for various system management tasks including configuration, monitoring, and automation.

z/OSMF allows customization of interfaces and workflows to your specific organizational needs, thanks to its flexibility in being able to integrate seamlessly with other IBM and third-party tools. And as a feature of z/OS, it has the same robust security capabilities to safeguard your resources that you have come to expect from the mainframe.

How z/OSMF Can Help
Overall, z/OSMF aims to improve the usability, productivity, and efficiency of managing IBM z/OS systems by providing a more intuitive and integrated management environment. Though z/OSMF can feel overwhelming at first—change is hard—you will find that as your organization continues to utilize it many of the features will become habitual. And once you are familiar with z/OSMF you can expect to see:
• Enhanced Efficiency: z/OSMF simplifies and automates routine tasks, reducing manual effort and streamlining operations.
• Improved Accessibility: z/OSMF allows remote management of mainframe systems from anywhere with internet access.
• Modernization: z/OSMF offers a modern, web-based interface, making mainframe management more accessible to a broader range of users.
• Cost Reduction: z/OSMF helps lower operational costs by optimizing resource utilization and improving productivity.
• Compliance and Governance: z/OSMF facilitates compliance with industry regulations and governance standards through built-in security features and audit capabilities."

For more about using z/OSMF, see this article from Enterprise Executive.

New ftp hostname and ip addresses for IBM Support in 2025

Contributed by Ed Webb

If you interact with IBM support, changes are underway (October 29) with full implementation by Monday, March 10, 2025. Here's what IBM says.

"Changes to the ftp hostnames and ip addresses are being implemented to transfer documentation to IBM Support. Action required before 10 March 2025.

Starting 29 October 2024, additional hostnames and ip addresses will be implemented and available for use. Please start utilizing them based on the protocol being used for data transfer. Static ip addresses are not intended for use. The ip with the fastest response time will be used. Ensure any firewalls in place are updated to allow connectivity. PDUU APAR OA66961 will be necessary to accept the new hostname.

Effective 10 March 2025, ONLY the REVISED hostnames and ip addresses will be available for use. Documentation transferred using any of the old (current) hostnames and ip addresses will fail and will not be available to support personnel for analysis."

Please review these details for more information including hostnames and ip addresses.

z/OS 3.1 3Q 2024 Enhancements

Contributed by Ed Webb

IBM announced a few enhancements in its summary of z/OS 3.1 3Q2024 changes.

"IBM z/OS 3.1 was announced on August 8th, 2023 and made generally available September 29th, 2023. z/OS 3.1 intends to follow the traditional z/OS continuous delivery (CD) model by delivering new features and enhanced capabilities quarterly, which is intended to avoid the effort of a full release upgrade with no impact to stability, complexity or costs. The following enhancements have been delivered for z/OS 3.1 in 3Q 2024.

Overview:
z/OS infrastructure architects and storage administrators can utilize the following enhancements, designed to better manage the growth of data and eliminate impactful data constraints and complexities:

z/OS DFSMS enhancements. Users can now request that the system convert a newly allocated encrypted data set to non-encryption during the first open.
Cloud Data Access (CDA) enhancements. Uploads of data to Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) cloud providers can have the data protected by signing the payload.

Infrastructure architects and system programmers are better equipped with detection, reaction, and alerting updates that enable more resilient applications for business continuity:
z/OS BCPii enhancements. z/OS BCPii was enhanced to be more resilient and transparent regarding its handling of CPC communication loss

In addition, z/OS system programmers can take advantage of updated support levels of the IBM Customized Offerings Driver for their installations:
IBM Customized Offerings Driver enhancement. Support has been extended to include a subset of various functions that can now be run on a z/OS V2.5 system."

Read the summaries and find links to details about these newly available enhancements in this IBM Z Community posting.

Humor

Wit and Wisdom continued

contributed by Ed Webb

Why is it easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one's neighbor?
You can have a lot to live on, and still have nothing to live for.
There is no right way to do a wrong thing.

An intelligent man knows everything. A shrewd man knows everybody.
A guru is someone who knows more acronyms than you.
Before borrowing money from a friend decide which you need most.

Membership Information

Don’t Forget the Next SPARTA Meeting

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Time: 3 p.m.

Location: Online

Information about access to our online meeting will be sent to our e-mail list by Tuesday, November 5.

Free Food before meeting: Your Food at Your Home

Program:

XXXX

Speaker:

YYY of ZZZZ

SPARTA Corporate Sponsors:

October 2024 Presentation outline

• Presentation Topic: Cancelled Because of Speaker Issues

By Jerry Spencer of DTS Software LLC

The presentation minutes are shorter than usual as you can watch the entire recorded presentation on the SPARTA website.

• Agenda
• Download The IBM Sample Plugin

• Download The IBM Sample Plugin

The presentation and questions and answers ended about 4:00 PM and the meeting ended at 4:12 PM after a short business meeting.