Getting the z/OS standard image to work.

I had a lot of challenges getting the zD&T replacement (the standard image) to work. I do not know if this is the same image that every one else gets, or if mine was “a special” one. Some things did not work, somethings were not best practice.

I also wanted to use the data from my previous systems, my PDS, my Unix file systems, my keyrings etc. I also wanted to future proof migrating to the next code drop from IBM.

Summary of actions

Below is a list of the things I did to get the system up and working as I expected it to look.

I’ve grouped them by area. In the main body of the document, they are in the approximate order of execution

Problems

Customising

Before you start using it

Missing download and setting the IBMUSER password

The files on the IBM Passport Advantage site are incomplete. The documentation tells you do download the ZDTDPY volume, edit it to set the password, and boot the system. This download was not on the download site.

I had an old z/OS system I could use and so could reset the password. See Help, I cannot logon to my z/OS system

It is not difficult to write a C program to prompt for a password on the z/OS console – and have the value not displayed. See How do I enter a password on the z/OS console for my program?

I needed to configure my laptop

The IP address of z/OS is 172.26.1.2. I configured my startup script to have

#  define route from my laptop to my server
sudo ip route add 10.1.1.0/24 via 10.1.0.3

# define route from my laptop to z/OS on the server
sudo ip route add 172.26.1.0/24 via 10.1.0.3

# connect to the server
ssh -X colin@10.1.0.3

The sample devmap is wrong, it does not provide 3270’s

The system would not IPL with a console, the output came out printer like.

I edited the devmap file:

  • add the 3270port 3270. Without this you do not get any 3270’s defined, and you get a line printer like console.
  • Change the processors to match what your server has. My dongle has support for 3 CPUs – but I can define 3-1 ZIIPs
  • Check the memory to match you configuration
  • I removed the IPL and put it in my shell script.

The top of my devmap is

[system]
processors 5 cp cp cp ziip ziip # number of processors
memory 10G
system_name VS01

3270port 3270 # port number for TN3270 connections

First IPL

The IPL parameters are configured to start up lots of subsystems I didn’t want to use I used

ipl DE27 parm DE28AU

Logon with userid IBMUSER and the password you configured.

Configure parmlib

The sys0.iplparm points to loadxx members. You need a load member with USER.PARMLIB in it (such as LOADAU)

  • Copy LOADAU to LOADCP
  • In LOADCP change SYSPARM to SYSPARM AU,CP
  • In user.parmlib create IEASYSCP (CP matching the CP above)
  • add your parameters, such as OMVS=(CP) for IP(V6) support

You can IPL with this

ipl DE27 parm DE28CP

If this fails to IPL, to back to parm DE28AU

Add userids

The userid IBMUSER is all powerful. I prefer using a less powerful userid.

I wanted to save my userids from the previous system. I wrote code makeRACF. With this you run a program on your old system, and specify a userid or dataset prefix. The program then generates the RACF commands to recreate the userid or resource.

Because the TSO configuration is different from the previous zD&T systems I had to configure the definitions

TSO (ACCTNUM ('ACCT001') - 
COMMAND ('ex ''colin.zlogon.clist''') -
PROC (PROC001 ) -
SIZE (2096128) -
MAXSIZE (2096128) -
USERDATA (0000) -
UNIT (3390))

I created some definitions to my userid COLIN access to resources on the new system

ALTUSER COLIN SPECIAL AUDITOR OPERATIONS                             
ALTUSER COLIN DFLTGRP(SYS1)
ALTUSER COLIN tso( ACCTNUM('ACCT001') -
CoMMAND('ISPF') PROC(PROC001 ) -
SIZE(2096128) MAXSIZE(2096128) USERDATA(0000) UNIT(SYSDA))
permit ACCT001 class(ACCTNUM) id(COLIN ) access(READ )
permit ACCT# class(ACCTNUM) id(COLIN ) access(READ )
permit JCL class(TSOAUTH)id(COLIN) access(REAd)
permit CONSOLE class(TSOAUTH)id(COLIN) access(REAd)
permit PROC001 class(TSOPROC)id(COLIN) access(REAd)
permit ISPFPROC class(TSOPROC)id(COLIN) access(REAd)
setropts raclist(TSOAUTH) refresh
setropts raclist(ACCTNUM) refresh
setropts raclist(TSOPROC) refresh
PERMIT *.** CLASS(JESSPOOL) ID(COLIN) ACCESS(ALTER)
SETR RACLIST(JESSPOOL) REFRESH

I created JCL for these definitions, so for system refreshes, I just rerun the jobs.

I did not use the UNIX facility to allocate a (random) UID. I specified the UID I had before.

On the ZFS with my files, I needed the uid of the file owner to be the same as my users uid. If z/OS allocated me a uid, I would not be able to access my files. I would then have to go through and change the owner of them.

I recreated userids COLIN and START1.

You need to see what groups the userids belonged to, and you may need to recreate the groups, or just us what are already defined.

Import user catalogs

I have user catalogs for all of my data sets. These catalogs need to be imported into the master catalog

//IBMUSERT JOB 1,MSGCLASS=H                                           
//S1 EXEC PGM=IDCAMS,REGION=0M
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSIN DD *
IMPORT CONNECT -
OBJECTS -
(('A4USR1.ICFCAT' VOLUME(A4USR1) DEVICETYPE(3390) -
))
/*

How do you find out what user catalogs you have?

On the old system.

//IBMUSERT JOB 1,MSGCLASS=H                               
//S1 EXEC PGM=IDCAMS,REGION=0M
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//DD1 DD DISP=SHR,VOL=SER=D5SYS1,UNIT=3390
//SYSIN DD *
LISTCAT CATALOG(CATALOG.Z31B.MASTER) USERCATALOG ALL FILE(DD1)
/*

or

//IBMUSERT JOB 1,MSGCLASS=H                               
//S1 EXEC PGM=IDCAMS,REGION=0M
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSIN DD *
LISTCAT USERCATALOG ALL
/*

The ALL Parameter also lists the Aliases using the user catalog.

Define aliases to map high level qualifier to a user catalog.

Once you have imported the catalogs you can define the data set aliases

//IBMUSERT JOB 1,MSGCLASS=H                                     
//S1 EXEC PGM=IDCAMS,REGION=0M
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSIN DD *
DEFINE ALIAS (NAME(BACKUP) RELATE('A4USR1.ICFCAT') )
DEFINE ALIAS (NAME(COLIN ) RELATE('A4USR1.ICFCAT') )
/*

What aliases do I have?

//IBMUSERT JOB 1,MSGCLASS=H                                         
//S1 EXEC PGM=IDCAMS,REGION=0M
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSIN DD *
LISTCAT ALIAS
/*

Define user directories

For each file system, and each user, they need a directory defined. The standard image uses automount to create a ZFS for each entry in /u. If my RACF profile says my home directory is /u/colin, it will create a ZFS for this. If /u/colin already existed, it will not be used.

I created entries in /usr. If you try to make a directory, it may fail because /usr is mounted read only.

From userid IBMUSER to into Unix ( TSO OMVS)

  • mkdir /usr/colin
  • If this fails use
    • chmount -w /usr … do your work … chmount -r /usr
  • mkdir /usr/tmp
  • mkdir /usr/tmp/zowet
  • mkdir /usr/tmp/zowet/colin Userid COLIN has HOME= /usr/tmp/zowet/colin
  • You may need to change the ownership of the directory
    • chown -R colin:sys1 mkdir /usr/tmp/zowet/colin
  • If you need to…
    • chmount -r /usr

Mount the ZFS

Once I had imported the catalogs, and defined the aliases I could try to mount my ZFS

I created USER.PARMLIB(BPXPRMUS) and added

MOUNT FILESYSTEM('COLIN.ZFS.ZOWE.TEMP') TYPE(ZFS) 
MOUNTPOINT('/usr/tmp/zowet') MODE(RDWR)
PARM('AGGRGROW') AUTOMOVE

MOUNT FILESYSTEM('COLIN.ZOPEN.ZFS') TYPE(ZFS)
MOUNTPOINT('/usr/zopen') MODE(RDWR)
PARM('AGGRGROW') AUTOMOVE

The activate using the operator command

T OMVS=(US)

I was then able to logon to my newly created userid COLIN, and go into z/OS Unix.

Configure VTAM to give you greater than 80 *24 screen size

VTAM configuration

  • Edit SYS1.VTAMLST(EXLOCAL). You have to edit this because NET does not have USER.VTAMLST configured.
  • Create EXLOCALO from it (for backup)
  • change DLOGMOD to have value D4B32XX3,
  • create an entry for CUADDR=061,

Clean up

  • Edit SYS1.VTAMLST(ATCCON00). Remove IVPLCLI,IVPLCLT because the devices they reference do not exist.

If your changes to EXLOCAL do not work, use

V NET,ACT,ID=EXLOCALO

TCPIP

The provided TCPIP procedure creates certificates etc and does other work. It creates a new CA certificate, I need to export it, and sent it to my machines which connect in, and to all my keyrings.

I want to use the set up I have, so my TCPIP V6 Procedure is

USER.PROCLIB(TCPIP)

//TCPIP    PROC PARMS='CTRACE(CTIEZB00)' 
//TCPIP EXEC PGM=EZBTCPIP,PARM='&PARMS',REGION=0M,TIME=1440
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSERR DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSERROR DD SYSOUT=*
//ERRORFIL DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSDEBUG DD SYSOUT=*
//PROFILE DD DISP=SHR,DSN=USER.TCPPARMS(PROFILE)
//SYSTCPD DD DISP=SHR,DSN=TCPIP.TCPPARMS(TCPDATA)

Support TCPIP V6

The TCPIP as shipped does not support IP V6. You need to create a BPXPRMxx member and activate it

You need a BPXPRMv6 member in user.parmlib

FILESYSTYPE TYPE(CINET) 
ENTRYPOINT(BPXTCINT)
SUBFILESYSTYPE NAME(TCPIP)
TYPE(CINET)
ENTRYPOINT(EZBPFINI)
DEFAULT
NETWORK DOMAINNAME(AF_INET6)
DOMAINNUMBER(19)
MAXSOCKETS(50000)
TYPE(CINET)

In USER.PARMLIB(IEASYSXX) use BPX=(V6).

In USER.TCPPARMS(PROFILE) I have

...
DATASETPREFIX TCPIP

TCPCONFIG TTLS
INCLUDE USER.TCPPARMS(IPV6)

...

and the IPV6 member has

IPCONFIG6 MULTIPATH

TCPIP Resolver

See Why is the wrong TCPIP Resolver proc being used?

Create USER.PROCLIB(RESOLVER)

//* TCPIP RESOLVER - COLINS 
//*
//RESOLVER PROC PARMS=CTRACE(CTIRES00)
//*
//EZBREINI EXEC PGM=EZBREINI,REGION=0M,TIME=1440,
// PARM=('&PARMS',
// 'ENVAR("RESOLVER_TRACE=/var/log/resolver"/')
//SETUP DD DISP=SHR,DSN=COLIN.TCPPARMS(GBLRESOL),FREE=CLOSE
//SYSTCPT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSOUT DD SYSOUT=*
//*

Create COLIN.TCPPARMS(GBLRESOL) with

Copy

  DEFAULTTCPIPDATA('COLIN.TCPPARMS(GBLTDATA)') 
GLOBALTCPIPDATA('COLIN.TCPPARMS(RESOLVE)')
# GLOBALTCPIPDATA(/etc/resolv.conf)
;
# -----------------------------------------------------------------
# Default zPDT Linux Base to z/OS Tunnel (Stand-Alone)
# -----------------------------------------------------------------
;
# GLOBALIPNODES(/etc/hosts)
GLOBALIPNODES('COLIN.TCPPARMS(HOSTS)')
....

Change the operator console PFKeys (to add the shutdown command)

See How do I change the PFKeys on the console?

Copy SYS1.PARMLIB(PFKTAB00) to USER.PARMLIB

  • Change PF12 to be PFK(12) CMD(“%NETV SHUTSYS”) CON(Y)
  • Change any other keys you fancy.

Fix SMF

Message HSF0066W

I was getting

HSF0066W Required exit IEFU86 for SMF subsystem SYS not enabled. Some data may be missing in SDSF event log.

Copy SYS1.PARMLIB(SMFPRM00) to USER.PARMLIB(SMFPRM00) add IEFU86

SYS(EXITS(IEFACTRT,IEFUJI,IEFU83,IEFU84,IEFU85,IEFUJV,IEFU86)), 
SUBSYS(STC,EXITS(IEFU83,IEFU84,IEFU85,IEFU29,IEFU86),
INTERVAL(SMF,SYNC))

Message IEE391A

IEE391A SMF ENTER DUMP FOR DATA SET ON VOLSER OPEVS1 DSN=SYS1.VS01.MAN1

Create in USER.PROCLIUB(SMFCLEAR)

//SMFCLEAR PROC MAN='SYS1.VS01.MAN1' 
//*
//* CLEAR SMF DATASET -
//* SMF MAN DATASET DUMPED REQUIRED MESSAGE RECIEVED
//* OR ISSUE SWITCH, I SMF, THEN THAT FILE WILL BE CLEARED
//*
//*
//DUMP1 EXEC PGM=IFASMFDP,REGION=1M
//INDD1 DD DSN=&MAN,DISP=SHR
//DUMPOUT DD DUMMY
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=D
//SYSIN DD *
INDD(INDD1,OPTIONS(CLEAR))

Then you can use either of

S SMFCLEAR
S SMFCLEAR,MAN='SYS1.VS01.MAN2'

SETSMF command not enabled

I could not issue

setsmf recording(logstream)
setsmf recording(dataset)

setsmf recording(logstream)

commands, to be able to change the SMF LOGSTREAM.

I created USER.PARMLIB(SMFPRM00) from SYS1.PARMLIB and added AUTHSETSMF – it defaults to NONE.

...
DEFAULTLSNAME(IFASMF.VS01.DATA)
AUTHSETSMF
NOPROMPT,
REC(PERM),
,,,

Configure SYSLOGD

Define the started task

//IBMUSERT JOB 1,MSGCLASS=H 
//S1 EXEC PGM=IKJEFT01,REGION=0M
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSTSPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSTSIN DD *
RDEFINE STARTED SYSLOGD.* STDATA(USER(IBMUSER))
SETR RACLIST(STARTED) REFRESH

SYSLOGD is used by many Unix processes for recording errors and other information.

Create USER.PROCLIB(SYSLOGD)

//SYSLOGD PROC 
//* Licensed Materials - Property of IBM *
//* "Restricted Materials of IBM" *
//* 5650-ZOS *
//* Copyright IBM Corp. 1992, 2013 *
//* Read parms from /etc/syslog.conf
//CONFHFS EXEC PGM=SYSLOGD,REGION=4096K,TIME=NOLIMIT,
// PARM='ENVAR(''CEE_ENVFILE_S=DD:STDENV'')/-c -i '
//STDENV DD DISP=SHR,DSN=USER.PROCLIB(SYSLOGDD)
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSIN DD DUMMY
//SYSERR DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSOUT DD SYSOUT=*
//CEEDUMP DD SYSOUT=*

Create USER.PROCLIB(SYSLOGDD)

I have

*.INETD*.*.*       /var/log/inetd.log 
auth.* /var/log/auth.log
mail.* /var/log//mail -F 640 -D 770
local1.err /var/log/local1.log
*.err /var/log/errors.log
# *.CPAGENT.*.* /var/log/CPAGENT.log
*.CPATTLS.*.* /var/log/CPATTLS
*.TTLS*.*.* /var/log/TTLS.log
*.Pagent.*.* /var/log/Pagent.log
*.TCPIP.*.debug /var/log/TCPIPdebug.log
*.TCPIP.*.warning /var/log/TCPIP.log
*.TCPIP.*.err /var/log/TCPIPerr.log
*.TCPIP.*.info /var/log/TCPIPinfo.log
*.SYSLOGD*.*.* /var/log/syslogd.log
*.TN3270*.*.* /var/log/tn3270.log
*.SSHD*.*.* /var/log/SSHD.log
*.FTPD*.*.* /var/log/FTPD.log
daemon.debug /var/log/SSHDdebug.log
*.TCPIP.*.none;
*.err /var/log/errors
*.CPAGENT.*.* /var/log/CPAGENT.log
*.TRMD1.*.info /var/log/TRMD1I.log
*.DMD.*.* /var/log/DMD.log

You can use this as a basis and change it as needed.

Configure SSHD

The SSHD procedure in SYS1.PROCLIB, invokes a shell script which then spawns the SSHD code with a name like SSHD.

I use

//SSHD    PROC 
//SSHD EXEC PGM=BPXBATCH,REGION=0M,TIME=NOLIMIT,
// PARM='PGM /usr/sbin/sshd -f /etc/ssh/sshd_config '
//* PARM='PGM /bin/sh -c /etc/ssh/sshd.sh'
//* STDIN AND STDOUT ARE BOTH DEFAULTED TO /dev/null
//STDERR DD PATH='/tmp/sshd.stderr',PATHOPTS=(OWRONLY,OCREAT,OAPPEND),
// PATHMODE=(SIRWXU)
//STDOUT DD PATH='/tmp/sshd.stdout',PATHOPTS=(OWRONLY,OCREAT,OAPPEND),
// PATHMODE=(SIRWXU)

Note that SSHD uses the /etc/ssh/sshd_config directory. You should back this up regulary. When IBM replaces the image this would be replace

After thought, I could always use -f /usr/colin/ssh/

Edit the configuration file and add either userids or groups.

# Allow specific user IDs 
AllowUsers IBMUSER COLIN
AllowGroups SYS1 IZUADMIN

If you add groups and not userids, you need to connect the userid to a group.

RACF changes

You can issue some racf commands on the z/OS console for example

<RVARY

To change this character (<) copy SYS1.PARMLIB(IEFSSN00) to USER.PARMLIB(IEFSSN01) and change the entry for RACF.

Define IXGLOGR as a started task to eliminate security messages

//IBMIXL  JOB 1,MSGCLASS=H 
//STEPNAME EXEC PGM=IKJEFT01
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSTSPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSTSIN DD *
* IXGLOGR EXISTS AS A GROUP - IT REALLY SHOULD BE A USERID
ADDUSER IXGLUSER
CONNECT IXGLUSER GROUP(IXGLOGR)
RDEFINE STARTED IXGLOGR.* STDATA(USER(IXGLUSER) +
PRIVILEGED(YES) TRUSTED(YES) GROUP(IXGLOGR ))
SETROPTS RACLIST(STARTED) REFRESH
/*

Add missing groups

To protect datasets such as SYS1.*, the high level qualifier should be defined as a group. I have JCL ADDGROUP

//IBMKEY2 JOB 1,MSGCLASS=H 
//STEPNAME EXEC PGM=IKJEFT01
//SYSTSIN DD *
ADDGROUP SYS1
ADDGROUP ADCD
ADDGROUP AOK
ADDGROUP AOP
ADDGROUP AZD
ADDGROUP BBL
ADDGROUP CATALOG
ADDGROUP CBC
ADDGROUP CEE
ADDGROUP CFZ
ADDGROUP CNJ
ADDGROUP COUPLE
ADDGROUP CSD
ADDGROUP CSF
ADDGROUP CSQARC1
ADDGROUP CSQARC2
ADDGROUP EUVF
ADDGROUP FEU
ADDGROUP FEU1
ADDGROUP FFST
ADDGROUP GDDM
ADDGROUP GIM
ADDGROUP GLD
ADDGROUP GSK
ADDGROUP GTFNO
ADDGROUP GTFRACF
ADDGROUP HAP
ADDGROUP HLA
*DDGROUP IBMUSER
ADDGROUP ICQ
ADDGROUP IOE
ADDGROUP ISF
ADDGROUP ISP
ADDGROUP IXGLOGR
ADDGROUP IZU
ADDGROUP IZUSVR
ADDGROUP NETVIEW
ADDGROUP NFS
ADDGROUP SMPE
ADDGROUP STCJMON
ADDGROUP SYT1
ADDGROUP TCPIP
ADDGROUP USER
ADDGROUP ZFS
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSTSPRT DD SYSOUT=* g

Protect system data sets

You should define profiles for all datasets. I had a a member ADDSD.

//IBMKEY2 JOB 1,MSGCLASS=H 
//STEPNAME EXEC PGM=IKJEFT01
//SYSTSIN DD *
ADDSD 'SYS1.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
PERMIT 'SYS1.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
ADDSD 'ADCD.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'AOK.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'AOP.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'AZD.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'BBL.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'CATALOG.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'CBC.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'CEE.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'CFZ.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'CNJ.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'COUPLE.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'CSD.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'CSF.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'CSQARC1.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'CSQARC2.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'EUVF.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'FEU.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'FEU1.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'FFST.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'GDDM.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'GIM.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'GLD.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'GSK.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'GTFNO.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'GTFRACF.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'HAP.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'HLA.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'IBMUSER.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'ICQ.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'IOE.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'ISF.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'ISP.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'IXGLOGR.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'IZU.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'IZUSVR.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'NETVIEW.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'NFS.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'SMPE.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'STCJMON.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'SYT1.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'TCPIP.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'USER.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
ADDSD 'ZFS.**' GENERIC UACC(READ) WARNING
PERMIT 'ADCD.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'AOK.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'AOP.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'AZD.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'BBL.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'CATALOG.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'CBC.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'CEE.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'CFZ.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'CNJ.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'COUPLE.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'CSD.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'CSF.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'CSQARC1.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'CSQARC2.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'EUVF.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'FEU.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'FEU1.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'FFST.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'GDDM.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'GIM.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'GLD.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'GSK.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'GTFNO.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'GTFRACF.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'HAP.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'HLA.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'IBMUSER.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'ICQ.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'IOE.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'ISF.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'ISP.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'IXGLOGR.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'IZU.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'IZUSVR.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'NETVIEW.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'NFS.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'SMPE.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'STCJMON.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'SYT1.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'TCPIP.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'USER.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
PERMIT 'ZFS.**' ACCESS(ALTER) ID(SYS1)
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSTSPRT DD SYSOUT=*

You should have started tasks defined

Started tasks should be defined, so end users cannot just create a Started Task, and run it as an authorised task.

Define a default

//IBMKEY2 JOB 1,MSGCLASS=H 
//STEPNAME EXEC PGM=IKJEFT01
//SYSTSIN DD *
RDEFINE STARTED *.* OWNER(IBMUSER) +
DATA('GENERIC DEFINITION - COLIN') +
STDATA( USER(=MEMBER)
SETROPTS RACLIST(STARTED) REFRESH

Export certificates and keyrings

I have member EXPRING. this runs the LRING Rexx which creates a data set containing certificates used by the userid. They are stored in &USERID..CERTS.START1

//IBMKEYR JOB 1,MSGCLASS=H 
//STEPNAME EXEC PGM=IKJEFT01,PARM='LRING START1',REGION=0M
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSEXEC DD DISP=SHR,DSN=USER.Z31B.CLIST
//SYSTSPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSTSIN DD DUMMY

Import certificates and keyrings

Use the Rexx program to export certificates from your old system, and import them into the new system.

Import

//IBMKEYR JOB 1,MSGCLASS=H
//STEPNAME EXEC PGM=IKJEFT01,PARM='IRING COLIN.CERTS.START1',
// REGION=0M
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSEXEC DD DISP=SHR,DSN=USER.Z31B.CLIST,UNIT=3390,VOL=SER=B3CFG1
//SYSTSPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSTSIN DD DUMMY

RRS Error messages

At the start up of RRS I got

ATR132I RRS LOGSTREAM CONNECT HAS FAILED FOR
– OPTIONAL LOGSTREAM ATR.VS01.ARCHIVE.
– RC=00000008, RSN=0000080B

See here

Issue the operator command

SETRRS ARCHIVELOGGING,DISABLE 

ICSF

ICSF

I have my own (I)CSF data sets, containing my keys. My Started Task JCL is the same as the default, but with a different member

//CSF  PROC PRM=CP 
//CSF EXEC PGM=CSFINIT,PARM=&PRM,REGION=0M,TIME=1440,MEMLIMIT=NOLIMIT

You could use the provided JCL, then stop and restart CSF

P CSF
S CSF,PRM=CP

The PARM=CP points to a member CSFPRMCP in USER.PARMLIB. Mine has

CKDSN(COLIN.SCSFCKDS) 
PKDSN(COLIN.SCSFPKDS)
TKDSN(COLIN.SCSFTKDS) qq
DOMAIN(0)
SSM(YES)
KEYARCHMSG(YES)

If this member does not exist you get an abend

IEF764I CSF CSF IEFPARM CSFMIOPD HCR77F0 PARMLIB READ FAILED - MEMBER CSFPRMCP NOT FOUND.        
CSFO0016 ERROR OCCURRED OPENING OPTIONS FILE. MEMBER CSFPRMCP IN DDNAME IEFPARM RC=12 RS=1.
...
DUMP TITLE=COMPON=CSF...ABEND=S018F,REASON=0000001B

Logrec EREP

When LOGREC fills up, you get a retained message on the console.

You can print the contents of the EREP file using

//PRINTLOG JOB (ACCT),'PRINT LOGREC',CLASS=A,MSGCLASS=H           
//STEP EXEC PGM=IFCEREP1,PARM='CARD'
//SERLOG DD DISP=SHR,DSN=VSPROV.VS01.LOGREC
//DIRECTWK DD UNIT=SYSDA,SPACE=(CYL,10,,CONTIG)
//EREPPT DD SYSOUT=A,DCB=BLKSIZE=133
//TOURIST DD SYSOUT=A,DCB=BLKSIZE=133
//ZERLOG DD SYSOUT=A,DCB=BLKSIZE=133
//SYSIN DD *
PRINT=PS
ACC=N
ZERO=Y
ENDPARM
/*

and clear it using a procedure in USER.PROCLIB(CLLOGREC)

//CLLOGREC  PROC 
//STEP1 EXEC PGM=IFCDIP00
//SERERDS DD DISP=OLD,DSN=VSPROV.VS01.LOGREC,
// UNIT=3390,VOL=SER=OPEVS1

and the started task definition in STLOGREC

//IBMUSERT JOB 1,MSGCLASS=H 
//S1 EXEC PGM=IKJEFT01,REGION=0M
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSTSPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSTSIN DD *
RDEFINE STARTED CLLOGREC.* STDATA(USER(IBMUSER))
RDEFINE STARTED PRLOGREC.* STDATA(USER(IBMUSER))
SETR RACLIST(STARTED) REFRESH

JAVA message and SMFLIM

I was getting messages

JVMJ9VM015W Initialization error for library j9shr29(11): JVMJ9VM009E J9VMDllMain failed
Error: Could not create the Java Virtual Machine.
Error: A fatal exception has occurred. Program will exit.

See JVMJ9VM015W Initialization error for library j9shr29(11): JVMJ9VM009E J9VMDllMain failed

I created USER.PARMLIB(SMFLIM00) with

REGION JOBNAME(JCACHER) JOBMSG(ISSUE) MAXSHARE(80000) 

SMF logstream data sets are too small

Im getting message allocating data sets like IXGLOGR.IFASMF.VS01.DATA… every couple of minutes.

The log stream is define with

LOGSTREAM NAME(IFASMF.VS01.DATA) STRUCTNAME() LS_DATACLAS()
LS_MGMTCLAS() LS_STORCLAS() HLQ(IXGLOGR) MODEL(NO) LS_SIZE(500)
STG_MGMTCLAS() STG_STORCLAS() STG_DATACLAS() STG_SIZE(500)
LOWOFFLOAD(0) HIGHOFFLOAD(80) STG_DUPLEX(YES) DUPLEXMODE(UNCOND)
RMNAME() DESCRIPTION() RETPD(2) AUTODELETE(YES) OFFLOADRECALL(YES)
DASDONLY(YES) DIAG(NO) LOGGERDUPLEX() EHLQ(NO_EHLQ) GROUP()
MAXBUFSIZE(65532)

Where LS_SIZE(500) is 45 tracks.

I used JCL

//IBMLOG JOB 1,MSGCLASS=H                                   
//LOGDEF EXEC PGM=IXCMIAPU,REGION=4M
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSIN DD *
DATA TYPE(LOGR) REPORT(YES)
UPDATE LOGSTREAM NAME(IFASMF.VS01.DATA)
LS_SIZE(15000)
/*

I could not run this, because the log stream was in use.

I had to create an USER.PARMLIB(SMFPRMNO) with

ACTIVE, 
DSNAME(SYS1.VS01.MAN1,
SYS1.VS01.MAN2),
RECORDING(DATASET)
DEFAULTLSNAME(IFASMF.VS01.DATA)
...

Then use

T SMF=NO

The run the command to update the logstream

and then switch back

T SMF=00

What’s next?

That’s as far as I’ve got. As I do more I’ll update this document.

How do you validate files on z/OS, at install time and long term?

You’ve been asked to install some files. You are not sure of their provenance, or if they have been changed from what the author wrote, and what you have received. How can you check these files?

You have some systems which are meant to be identical how can you easily check this?

One way of doing these activities is to calculate a digital hash of the file, sign the hash value, and use it.

See background for information on public/private keys.

Digitally signing is to take value, encrypt it with your private key and send it out with your certificate. To verify the signature you use the public key from the certificate to decrypt the data. It should match your copy of the value. If it matches you know it came from the certificate owner.

On z/OS you can sign load modules. These are signed at bind time, and, if configured, are checked at execution time.

Packages like openssl, and GPG (Pretty Good Privacy) have the facilities to sign objects.

This blog post covers

Installing packages

On the author’s machine

You have the Certificate Authorities file ca256.pem. This is available to every one. This could have been provided by a commercial Certificate Authority.

You have a public certificate which you will send with your package.

You have a private key matching the public certificate.

On the recipient’s machine

You have the Certificate Authority file ca256.pem.

How you do it

Create the package

You want to package data.file and distribute it. Calculate the digest of the file, and digitaly sign it

openssl dgst -sign cert.key.pem -out data.file.signature  data.file

The signature is put into data.file.signature. The signature data is in binary.

Send the following to the recipient

  • data.file
  • data.file.signature
  • your public certificate matching the private key used to sign the data. (colins.cert.pem)

Validate the package

Validate the certificate against the CA.pem 

openssl verify -CAfile ca256.pem colins.cert.pem 

If this works, you can trust the certificate.

Extract the public key from the certificate

openssl x509 -pubkey -noout -in colins.cert.pem > colins.pubkey

Validate the checksum of the file

This uses the public key extracted above

openssl dgst -verify ./colins.pubkey  -signature data.file.signature  data.file

z/OS dataset

You can use z/OS dataset, for example

openssl dgst -sign z256.key.pem -out upa.signature "//'USER.Z31B.PARMLIB(AUTORCP)'"  

where you need the double quotes and the single quotes.

Package up a package

You could create a shell script to work on a directory. For example

#!/bin/bash
for filename in ./*; do
[ -e "$filename" ] || continue
echo $filename
FILE="$(basename "${filename}")"
openssl dgst -sign z256.key.pem -out signatures/$FILE.signature $filename
done

When I ran this, the signatures directory contained the signatures of the files in the current directory.

Long term validation

You’ve validated that the files you have installed are the correct ones. Has anyone changed them since they’ve been installed?


You can issue the command to calculate the digest(hash) of a file.

openssl dgst index.txt >> dgst.txt

Which says calculate the digest – but do not sign it. The output is

SHA256(index.txt)= 1c6e0089a3ceebddf1f8e475c164162c06d7d58f29cc0b2d4c230e4e7a79cbce
SHA256(aa.txt)= d8b1fb09ac7649b61d13ca9cde72851037a83c0bca60a8545310645bb0b3da7d

You can now periodically reissue the commands, and check the value are the same as they were previously. If the values have changed – the files have changed. You can also extend this (with a small bit of Python or shell code) to include the system name

SYS1 2026/04/22 SHA256(index.txt)= 1c6e0089a3ceebddf1f8e475c...e7a79cbce
SYS2 2026/04/22 SHA256(index.txt)= d8b1fb09ac7649b61d13ca9cd...bb0b3da7d

If those files are meant to be the same on both of the systems, they clearly are not. If you run the digest command weekly you will be able to see approximately when the file was changed. It may be that maintenance was applied to one system, and the other system was overlooked.

Using code signing on z/OS

There is an IBM document Task roadmap for program signing and signature verification, this provides some of the information, and some of the information is wrong!

I’ve documented Signing load modules on z/OS.

I hit various problems. The return code from the program signing function are documented here.

Using signed modules on your system

You have been sent some modules which have been signed, and you want to user the signature verification on these modules.

One-of system wide setup

Define the system wide keyring

For the validation of signed modules there is one system wide key ring. It needs to have the signing certificates (or the CA certificates) for all of the modules being used.

RACDCERT ADDRING(VERIFY) ID(COLIN ) 

* now the profile
RDEFINE RDATALIB COLIN.VERIFY.LST UACC(NONE)
PERMIT COLIN.VERIFY.LST CLASS(RDATALIB) ID(COLIN ) ACCESS(UPDATE)
SETROPTS RACLIST(RDATALIB) REFRESH

Connect the IBM CA to the keyring

You need to connect the IBM Provided Certificate authority, to be able to verify the signature of IBM provided modules. See Listing of RACF supplied certificates.

RACDCERT ID(COLIN )CONNECT(RING(VERIFY) - 
CERTAUTH -
LABEL('STG Code Signing CA - G2')

RACDCERT LISTRING(VERIFY) ID(COLIN )

Note the lower case name.

Tell the certificate certificate facility which key ring to use.

 RDEFINE FACILITY IRR.PROGRAM.SIGNATURE.VERIFICATION  - 
APPLDATA('COLIN/VERIFY')

This ring has the certificates needed to verify.

Define the program that does the signature validation.

RDEFINE PROGRAM IRRPVERS ADDMEM('SYS1.SIEALNKE'//NOPADCHK) UACC(READ)- 
SIGVER(SIGREQUIRED(YES) FAILLOAD(ANYBAD) SIGAUDIT(ANYBAD))

Run the IRRVELD job

I had to run this when setting up for the first time. When I next IPLed, I did not need to run it. I think that RACF checks to see if the above RACF profile exists – if so – loads the code.

See here.

//IRRVERLD JOB                        
//IRRVERLD EXEC PGM=IRRVERLD

When successful, this starts and ends with return code 0 and

ICH448I RACF program signature verification function is loaded. Program signature verification is available on this system.

Define your programs that need validation

RDEFINE PROGRAM ZZZDATA  ADDMEM('COLIN.ZWIRESHA.LOAD'//NOPADCHK) - 
UACC(READ) -
SIGVER(SIGREQUIRED(YES) FAILLOAD(ANYBAD) SIGAUDIT(ANYBAD))

SETROPTS WHEN(PROGRAM) REFRESH

Where my program is called ZZZDATA and it is loaded from COLIN.ZWIRESHA.LOAD. The definition SIGVER(SIGREQUIRED(YES) FAILLOAD(ANYBAD) SIGAUDIT(ANYBAD)) says that signature is required, and if verification fails do not load the module, and write an audit record.

Each userid (or group) needs a RACF profile to specify which keyring to use to sign the programs

If you want to do IPL data signing for Validated Boot for z/OS you need the profile IRR.PROGRAM.V2.SIGNING…..

If you want to validate a general program you need the profile IRR.PROGRAM.SIGNING….

Where you can specif userid, group, or group and userid.

  • IRR.PROGRAM.SIGNING.userid
  • IRR.PROGRAM.SIGNING.goup
  • IRR.PROGRAM.SIGNING.group.user
                              
RDELETE FACILITY IRR.PROGRAM.SIGNING.COLIN
RDEFINE FACILITY IRR.PROGRAM.SIGNING.COLIN -
APPLDATA('SHA256 COLIN/SIGNING')
PERMIT IRR.PROGRAM.SIGNING.COLIN CLASS(FACILITY) -
ID(COLIN) ACCESS(CONTROL)
SETROPTS RACLIST(FACILITY) refresh

This says for userid COLIN use SHA256 and keyring COLIN/SIGNING. It will use the default key in the keyring.

You sign a module at bind time, by specifying the binder options SIGN=YES.

I added sign=yes to the binder JCL

Create a certificate to sign it

RACDCERT ID(COLIN) GENCERT -                                 
SUBJECTSDN(CN('10.1.1.2') -
O('SIGNER521') -
OU('SSS')) -
ALTNAME(IP(10.1.1.2))-
SIZE(2048) -
NOTAFTER( DATE(2026-04-22) TIME(15:22:00) ) -
KEYUSAGE(HANDSHAKE DOCSIGN) -
SIGNWITH (CERTAUTH LABEL('SIGNCA')) -
WITHLABEL('SIGNER521')

RACDCERT id(COLIN) ALTER(LABEL('SIGNER521'))TRUST

SETROPTS RACLIST(DIGTCERT) REFRESH
RACDCERT ID(COLIN )CONNECT(RING(SIGNING) -
ID(COLIN) -
DEFAULT -
LABEL('SIGNER521') )

It seems to need KEYUSAGE HANDSHAKE and DOCSIGN.

It needed the default RSA size 2048. It did not work with an ECC algorithm.

It needs to be the default in the keyring.

Execute the program

When you come to execute the signed program, the system uses the keyring defined in the

IRR.PROGRAM.SIGNATURE.VERIFICATION CLASS(FACILITY) profile. I believe this has the certificates needed to verify the programs signature.

I used keyring COLIN/VERIFY.

IEW2494E 9116 A PROBLEM WAS ENCOUNTERED WITH THE SETUP OF THE DIGITAL CERTIFICATES REQUIRED FOR PROGRAM SIGNING. RACF RETURNED SAF RETURN CODE 8 RACF RETURN CODE 8 RACF REASON CODE 00000070.

R_PgmSign 70 Ver Key ring or token does not exist or does not contain a default certificate.

Signing load modules on z/OS

There is an IBM document Task roadmap for program signing and signature verification, this provides some of the information, and some of the information is wrong!

This blog post describes how to set up your environment to sign load modules. I’ve documented Using code signing on z/OS

I hit various problems. The return code from the program signing function are documented here.

Create RACF profiles

Each userid (or group) needs a RACF profile to specify which keyring to use to sign the programs

If you want to do IPL data signing for Validated Boot for z/OS you need the profile IRR.PROGRAM.V2.SIGNING…..

If you want to validate a general program you need the profile IRR.PROGRAM.SIGNING….

Where you can specify userid, group, or group and userid.

  • IRR.PROGRAM.SIGNING.userid
  • IRR.PROGRAM.SIGNING.goup
  • IRR.PROGRAM.SIGNING.group.user
                              
RDELETE FACILITY IRR.PROGRAM.SIGNING.COLIN
RDEFINE FACILITY IRR.PROGRAM.SIGNING.COLIN -
APPLDATA('SHA256 COLIN/SIGNING')
PERMIT IRR.PROGRAM.SIGNING.COLIN CLASS(FACILITY) -
ID(COLIN) ACCESS(CONTROL)
SETROPTS RACLIST(FACILITY) refresh

This says for userid COLIN use SHA256 and keyring COLIN/SIGNING. It uses the default key in the keyring.

How to sign a load module

You sign a module at bind time, by specifying the binder options SIGN=YES.

I added SIGN=YES to the binder JCL

When it failed, there were messages like

IEW2494E 9116 A PROBLEM WAS ENCOUNTERED WITH THE SETUP OF THE DIGITAL CERTIFICATES REQUIRED FOR PROGRAM SIGNING. RACF RETURNED SAF RETURN CODE 8 RACF RETURN CODE 8 RACF REASON CODE 00000098.

These are from the R_PgmSignVer (IRRSPS00): Program Sign and Verify callable service. See the return codes. The return codes in the messages are in hex; in the documentation they are in decimal. 0x98 is decimal 152. 152 is CA or signing certificate is expired or not yet active. This was true – my signing certificate had expired.

Create a certificate to sign load modules.

RACDCERT ID(COLIN) GENCERT -                                 
SUBJECTSDN(CN('10.1.1.2') -
O('SIGNER521') -
OU('SSS')) -
ALTNAME(IP(10.1.1.2))-
SIZE(2048) -
NOTAFTER( DATE(2026-04-22) TIME(15:22:00) ) -
KEYUSAGE(HANDSHAKE DOCSIGN) -
SIGNWITH (CERTAUTH LABEL('SIGNCA')) -
WITHLABEL('SIGNER521')

RACDCERT id(COLIN) ALTER(LABEL('SIGNER521'))TRUST

SETROPTS RACLIST(DIGTCERT) REFRESH
RACDCERT ID(COLIN )CONNECT(RING(SIGNING) -
ID(COLIN) -
DEFAULT -
LABEL('SIGNER521') )

It seems to need KEYUSAGE HANDSHAKE and DOCSIGN.

It needed the default RSA size 2048. It did not work with an ECC algorithm.

It needs to be the default in the keyring.

Code signing – error messages

The messages I received were from R_PgmSignVer (IRRSPS00 or IRRSPS64): Program Sign and Verify

Return code hex 70, decimal 112

  • ICH440I Program signature error 0x10/0x00000070 for program IRRPVERS in library SYS1.SIEALNKE.
  • The program was not loaded.
  • ICH442I The digital signature appears to be valid but the root signer is not trusted.
  • ICH451I RACF encountered an error while attempting to load the program verification module. Operation code = X’06’.
  • Return code X’00000306′ and Reason code X’00000040′.
  • Supplemental diagnostic code 1 = X’00000000′.
  • Supplemental diagnostic code 2 = X’00000000′.
  • Supplemental diagnostic code 3 = X’00000000′.
  • Supplemental diagnostic code 4 = X’00000000′.
  • Supplemental diagnostic code 5 = X’00000000′.

The certificate CERTAUTH LABEL(‘STG Code Signing CA – G2’) was not trusted.

R_PgmSignVer return codes code 0x70 is 112. Key ring or token does not exist or does not contain a default certificate.

I had mis typed the certificate name.

Action:

The the name of the keyring, there is a default certificate, and the certificate has not expired.

Return code hex 64, decimal 100

At execution time I got.

ICH440I Program signature error 0x10/0x00000064 for program ZZZDATA in library COLIN.ZWIRESHA.LOAD. The program was not loaded. ICH442I The digital signature appears to be valid but the root signer is not trusted.

code 0x64 is decimal 100 which is

The program appears to be correctly signed but one of the following conditions exists:

  • The root CA certificate in the zOSSignatureInfo structure of the program object is not connected to the signature-verification key ring.
  • The root CA certificate is marked NOTRUST.

The CA of the signing code was not in the verify keyring at execution time.

Action:

Connect the certificate or its CA to the verify keyring.

Return code hex 88, decimal 136

IEW2494E 9116 A PROBLEM WAS ENCOUNTERED WITH THE SETUP OF THE DIGITAL CERTIFICATES REQUIRED FOR PROGRAM SIGNING. RACF RETURNED SAF RETURN CODE 8 RACF RETURN CODE 8 RACF REASON CODE 00000088.

The default certificate in the key ring or token does not have code signing capability.

  • When Num_parms = 10, the keyUsage extension is optional. If the extension is present, the digitalSignature bit must be set.
  • When Num_parms = 11, the keyUsage extension must be present and the digitalSignature bit must be set.

The real reason is “HANDSHAKE” or “DOCSIGN” was missing from the KEYUSAGE().

Action:

Fix the keyusage field.

Return code hex 90, decimal 144

IEW2494E 9116 A PROBLEM WAS ENCOUNTERED WITH THE SETUP OF THE DIGITAL CERTIFICATES REQUIRED FOR PROGRAM SIGNING. RACF RETURNED SAF RETURN CODE 8 RACF RETURN CODE 8 RACF REASON CODE 00000090.

The key type of one or more certificates in the key ring or token is not supported. This reason code is also issued for the following conditions:

  • When Num_parms = 11, the signing key can be stored in ICSF, but it must be a 521-bits NIST Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) key. Also, the key size of any other certificates in the key ring or token must be at least 2048 bits for RSA keys, or 224 bits for NIST ECC and Brainpool ECC keys.
  • When Num_parms = 10 and an RSA CA certificate in the chain has a key size less than 2048 bits.

This was caused by using a key with

NISTECC -
SIZE(521 ) -

using the followin

RSA
SIZE(2048) -

Works.

Action:

Use RSA key with size 2048;

How do you download and use a dataset from z/OS.

Transferring a dataset from z/OS to Windows or Linux and using it can be a challenge.

A record in a data set on z/OS has a 4 byte Record Descriptor Word on the front of the record. The first two bytes give the length of the record (and the other two bytes are typically 0)

FTP has two modes for transferring data ASCII and BIN.

ASCII

With ASCII mode, FTP reads the record,

  • Removes the RDW
  • Converts it from EBCDIC to ASCII
  • Adds a “New Line” character to the end of data
  • Sends the data
  • Writes the data to a file stream.

On Unix and Windows a text file is a long stream of data. When the file is read, a New Line character ends the logical record, and so you display the following data on a “New Line”.

Binary mode

Binary mode is used when the dataset has hexadecimal content, and not just printable characters. The New Line hex character could be part of a some hexadecimal data, so this character cannot be used to delineate records.

FTP has an option for RDW

quote site RDW

The default is RDW FALSE.

If RDW is FALSE then FTP removes the RDW from the data before sending it. At the remote end, the data is a stream of data, and you have no way of identifying where one logical record ends, and the next logical record starts.

If RDW is TRUE, then the 4 byte RDW is sent as part of the data. The application reading the file can read the information and calculate where the logical record starts and ends.

For example on z/OS the dataset has (in hex) where the bold data is displayed when you edit or browse the dataset. The italic data is not displayed.

00040000C1C2C3C4
00020000D1CD2
00050000E1E2E3E4E5

If the data was transmitted with RDW FALSE the data in the file would be

C1C2C3C4D1D2E1E2E3E4E5

If the data was transmitted with RDW TRUE the data in the file would be

00040000C1C2C3C400020000D1CD200050000E1E2E3E4E5

Conceptually you can process this file stream using C code:

short RDW;  // 2 byte integer
short dummy; // 2 byte integer

RDW = fread(2); // get the length
dummy = fread(2); // ignore the 0s
mydata = fread(RDW -4); // -4 for the RDW already read

...
RDW = fread(2); // get the length
dummy = fread(2); // ignore the 0s
mydata = fread(RDW -4); // -4 for the RDW already read

(Thanks to pjfarley3 who pointed out the RDW length includes the 4 byte RDW – so the application data length is RDW -4.)

In practice this will not work because z/OS has numbers which are Big Endian, and X86 and ARM machines are Little Endian. (With Big Endian – the left byte is most significant, with Little Endian, the right bit is most significant – the bytes are transposed.)

On z/OS 0x0004 is decimal 4. On X86 and ARM 0x0400 is 4.

In practice you need code on X86 and ARM, like the following, to get the value of a half word from a z/OS data set.

char RDW[2];  // 2 characters
RDW = fread(2); // get the length
length = 256 * RDW[0] + RDW[1]

and similarly for longer integers.

Python

If you are using the Python struct facility, you can pass a string of data types and get the processed values.

  • The string “>HH” says two half words, and the > says the numbers are Big Endian.
  • The string “<HH” says two half words and the < says they are Little Endian
  • The string “HH” says two half words – read in the default representation.

Conversion

You’ll need to do your own conversion from EBCDIC to ASCII to make things printable!

How do you trust a file?

I was asked this question by someone wanting to ensure their files have not been hacked. In the press there are articles where bad guys have replaced some code with code that steals credentials, or it allows an outsider access to your machine. One common solution to trusting a file uses cryptography.

There are several solutions that do not work

Checking the date of a file.

This does not work because there are programs that allow you to change the date and time of files.

Checking the number of bytes

You can list a file’s properties. One property is the size of the file. You could keep a list of file, and file size.

There are two problems

  1. You can change the contents of the file without changing the size of the file. I’ve done this. Programs used to have a patch area where skilled people could write some code to fix problems in the program.
  2. Someone changes the size of the file – but also changes your list to reflect the new size, and then changes the date on file and your list so they look as if they have not changed.

Hashing the file contents

Do a calculation on the contents of the file. A trivial function to implement and easy to exploit, is to treat each character as an unsigned integer, and add up all of the characters.

A better hashing function is to do a calculation cs = mod(c **N,M). For example when the current character is 3, n is 7 and m is 13; find the remainder of 3*3*3*3*3*3*3 when divided by 13, the answer is 3. N and M should be very large. Instead of using one character you take 8 or more. You then apply the algorithm on the file.

cs = 0
do 8 bytes of the file at a time
cs = mod((cs + the 8 bytes)** N,M)
end
display cs

Some numbers N and M are better that others. Knowing the value cs, you cannot go back and recreate the file.

If you just store the checksum value in a file, then the bad guys can change this file, and replace the old checksum with the new checksum of the file with their change. It appears that doing a checkum on the file does not help.

Cryptography to the rescue

To make things secure, there are several bits of technology that are required

  • Public and private keys
  • How do I trust what you’ve sent me

Public and private keys

Cryptography has been around for thousands of years. This typically had a key which was use to encrypt data, and the same key could be used to decrypt the data.

The big leap in cryptography was the discovery of asymmetric keys where you need two keys. One can be used for encryption, and you need another for decryption. You keep the one key very secure (and call it the private key) and make the other key publicly available (the public key). Either key can be used to encrypt, and you need the other key to decrypt.

The keys can be used as follows

  • You encrypt some data with my public key. It can only be decrypted by someone with my private key.
  • I can encrypt some data with my private key and sent it to you. Anyone with my public key can decrypt it. In addition, because they had to use my public key, then they know it came from me (or, to be more accurate, someone with my private key).

How do I trust what you’ve sent me

I would be very suspicious if I received an email saying

This is your freindly bank heree. Please send us your bank account details with this public key. Pubic keys are very safe and we are the only peoples who can decrypt what you send me.

Digital certificates and getting a new passport

A public certificate has

  • Your name
  • You address such as Country=GB, Org=Megabank.com,
  • Your public key
  • Expiry date
  • What the certificate can be used for

I hope the following analogy explains the concepts of digital certificates.

Below are the steps required to get a new passport

  • You turn up at the Passport Office with your birth certificate, a photograph of you, a gas bill, and your public certificate.
  • The person in the office checks
    • that the photo is of you.
    • your name is the same as the birth certificate
    • the name on the gas bill matches your birth certificate
    • the address of the gas bill is the same as you provided for your place of residence.
  • The office creates the passport, with information such as where you live (as evidenced by the gas bill)
  • The checksum of your passport is calculated.
  • The checksum is encrypted with the Passport Office’s PRIVATE key.
  • The encrypted checksum and the Passport Office’s PUBLIC key are printed, and stapled to the back of the passport
  • The passport is returned to you. It has been digitally signed by the Passport Office.

How do I check your identity?

At the back of MY passport is the printout of the Passport Offices’ public key. I compare this with the one attached yo your passport – they match!

I take the encrypted checksum from your passport, and decrypt it using the Passport Office’s public key (yours or mine – they are the same). I write this on a piece of paper.

I do the same checksum calculation on your passport. If the value matches what is on the piece of paper, then you can be confident that the passport has not been changed, since it was issued by the Passport Office. Because I trust the Passport Office, I trust they have seen your birth certificate, and checked where you live, and so I trust you are who you say you are.

But..

Your passport was issued by the London Passport Office, and my passport was issued by the Scottish Passport Office, and the two public certificates do not match.

This problem is solved by use of a Certificate Authority(CA)

Consider a UK wide Certificate Authority office. The Scottish Passport Office sent their certificate (containing, name address and public key) to the UKCA. The UKCA did a checksum of it, encrypts the checksum with the UKCA PRIVATE key, attached the encrypted checksum, and the UKCA public certificate to the certificate sent in – the same process as getting a passport.

Now when the Scottish Passport office process my passport, they do the checksum as before, and affix the Scottish Passport Offices’ public certificate as before… but this certificate has a copy of the UKCA’s certificate, and the encrypted checksum stuck to it. The passport now has two bits of paper stapled to it, the Scottish Passport Office’s public certificate, and the UKCA’s public certificate.

When I validate your passport I see that the London Passport office’s certificate does not match the Scottish Passport Offices certificate, but they have both been signed by the UKCA.

  • I compare the UKCA’s public certificates – they match!
  • I decrypt the checksum from the London office using the UKCA’s certificate and write it down
  • I do the same checksum calculation on the London offices’s certificate and compare with what is written down. They match – I am confident that the UKCA has checked the credentials of the London office
  • I can now trust the London certificate, and use it to check your passport as before.

What happens if I do not have the UKCA certificate

Many “root” certificates from corporations, are shipped on Windows, Linux, z/OS, Macs etc. The UKCA goes to one of these corporations, gets their certificate signed, and includes the corporations certificate attached to the UKCA certificate. Of course it costs money to get your certificate signed by one of these companies

You could email the UKCA certificate with the public key to every one you know. This has the risk that the bad guys who are intercepting your email, change the official UKCA certificate with their certificate. Plan b) would be to ship a memory stick with the certificate on it – but the same bad guys could be monitoring your mail, and replace the memory stick with one of theirs.

How does this help me trust a file?

The process is similar to that of getting a passport.

My “package” has two files abx.txt and xyz.txt

At build time

  • Create the files abc.txt and xyz.txt
  • Calculate the checksum of each file, and encrypt the value – this produces a binary file for each abc.txt.signature
  • Create a directory with
    • Your public certificate/public key
    • A directory containing all of the signature files
    • A list of all of the files in the signature directory
    • A checksum of the directory listing. directory.list.signature

You ship this file as part of your product.

When you install the package

  • Validate the certificate in the package against the CA stored in your system.
  • Decrypt the list of files in the directory (directory.list.signature). Check the list of files is valid
  • For each line in the directory list, go through the same validations process with the file and it’s signature.

For the paranoid

Every week calculate the checksum of each file in the package and sent it to a remote site.

At the remote site compare the filename, checksum combination against last week’s values.

If they do not match, the files have been changed.

Of course if your system has been hacked, the bad guys may be intercepting this traffic and changing it.

How do I do it?

I have a certificate mycert.pem, and my private key mycert.private.pem. It was signed by ca256.

Build

Run the command against the first file

openssl dgst -sign mycert.key.pem abc.txt   > abc.txt.signature

Move the abc.txt.signature to the package’s directory,

Create the trust package

/
.. /mycert.pem
.. /directory.list.txt
.. /directory.list.txt.signature
.. /signatures/
.. .. /abc.txt.signature
.. .. /xyz.txt.signature

Validate the package

Validate the certificate in the package.

openssl verify -CAfile ca256.pem mycert.pem 

extract the public key from the certificate.

openssl x509 -pubkey -noout -in mycert.pem > mycert.pubkey

validate the checksum of the abc file using the public key.

openssl dgst -verify ./mycert.pubkey  -signature abc.txt.signature  abc.txt

Does it work with data sets ?

On z/OS I created a signature file with

openssl dgst -sign tempcert.key.pem  "//'COLIN.JCL(ALIAS)'"  > jcl.alias.signature

and validated it with

openssl dgst -verify tempcert.pubkey -signature jcl.alias.signature  "//'COLIN.JCL(ALIAS)'"   

Formatting SYSADATA from HLASM

I wanted to extract information about DSECTS from the SYSADATA output from compiling an assembler program on z/OS.

On the whole it was pretty easy – but had some surprises!

I’ve put some Python code up on github. It runs on my z/OS.

Where is the record layout documented?

The record layout is documented in HLASM V1R6 Programmer’s Guide. Dsects for the various types are provided in HLA.SASMMAC1(ASMADATA).

I used record type 0x0042 for symbols. To get a record in this section of the ADATA it needs a label.

For example

      DSECT COLIN2
ABCD DS CL8
ABCDE DS CL8

This will not produce a record for the DSECT – because it does not have a label.

ESDID – section names

Each DSECT or CSECT will have an External Symbol Directory ID.

  • CSECT start at 1, and increment, so 1,2
  • DSECTs start at -1 and decrement 4294967295= 0xffffffff(-1), 4294967294 = 0xfffffffe(-2)

Field order

The order of records seems to be random. The CSECT/DSECT statement is often after some fields in the CSECT/DSECT.

To find the xSECT for each symbol, I saved the SECT name and ESDID, and post processed the list of symbols by adding the xSECT information afterwards from the ESDID.

Field offsets

The offsets in each record seem to be the offset from the first instruction. I had to save the offset from the CSECT statement, then post process the records to calculate (offset of symbol in CSECT) = symbol offset – start_of_CSECT offset.

“Problems”

Missing data

To get a record into the ADATA ensure it has a label.

Output from my code

     ESDID              Symbol  Offset  Length TypeA       SymType    CSECT
4294967295 ABCD 0 8 C OrdinaryLabel COLIN2
4294967295 COLIN2 0 1 J DSECT COLIN2
4294967295 ABCDE 8 8 C OrdinaryLabel COLIN2
1 CSQ6LOGP 0 1 J CSECT CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGP 0 8 D OrdinaryLabel CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGPID 0 2 R OrdinaryLabel CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGPLL 2 2 R OrdinaryLabel CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGPEID 4 4 C OrdinaryLabel CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGPMRTU 8 2 R OrdinaryLabel CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGOPT1 10 1 R OrdinaryLabel CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGOPT2 11 1 R OrdinaryLabel CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGPMCOF 12 2 R OrdinaryLabel CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGPOBPS 16 4 R OrdinaryLabel CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGPIBPS 20 4 R OrdinaryLabel CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGPARCL 24 4 R OrdinaryLabel CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGPWRTH 30 2 R OrdinaryLabel CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGPLVL 32 7 C OrdinaryLabel CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGPLVLN 39 1 R OrdinaryLabel CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGPDMIN 40 2 R OrdinaryLabel CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGPDSEC 42 2 R OrdinaryLabel CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGPCOMP 44 4 R OrdinaryLabel CSQ6LOGP
1 LOGPEND 256 1 U EQU CSQ6LOGP

Re-entrant assembler macros in z/OS

In a C program on z/OS you can code assembler macros. See Putting assembler code inside a C program

I wanted to use a WTO/WTOR macro to put a message onto the operator console. This took a few hours to get working, firstly I needed to understand using Re-entrant macros, and secondly see Using Re-entrant assembler macros in C ASM().

Background to using re-entrant macros in assembler

Programming in assembler

You can write a macro like

   WTO  'Colins message'

This generates code

         WTO   'Colin'               

BRAS 1,LABEL1 Set register 1 to the following DC and jump to the label
LENDATA DC AL2(9)
DC B'0000000000000000'
DC C'Colin'
LABEL1 DS 0H
SVC 35

This works.

I can pass a string to the macro – a half word length followed by the data – like LENDATA above. This makes the WTO macro more complex.

You can pass a variable content message to WTO. The code following

  • creates data in the correct format (length followed by the data).
  • The WTO creates the data structure
  • The WTO updates the data structure from the data passed to the macro
* define the variable data, and point register 2 to it
BRAS 2,OVERTEXT
DATA DC AL2(5) Length of string
DC C'Colin' the data to display

* invoke WTO. (2) says the address of the data is in register 2
OVERTEXT DS 0H
WTO TEXT=(2)

* This generates...
CNOP 0,4
BRAS 1,TWOLABA branch around definition
* The WTO data structure
DC AL2(8) TEXT LENGTH
DC B'0000000000010000' MCSFLAGS
TEXTADDR DC AL4(0) MESSAGE TEXT ADDRESS
..
* The instructions to update the data structure from the passed data
WTOLABA DS 0H
LR 14,1 FIRST BYTE OF PARM LIST
SR 15,15 CLEAR REGISTER 15
AH 15,0(1,0) ADD LENGTH OF TEXT + 4
AR 14,15 FIRST BYTE AFTER TEXT
ST 2,4(0,1) STORE TEXT ADDR INTO PLIST
SVC 35 ISSUE SVC 35

Where

  • BRAS 2,OVERTEXT saves in register 2 the address of data, then branches to the label OVERTEXT
  • BRAS 1,WTOLABA saves in register 1 the address of the structure following the instruction, then branches to label WTOLABA
  • ST 2,4(0,1) this saves what register 2 points to – my data; and stores it at the front of the control block data in field TEXTADDR

This fails to execute because the whole program is Re-entrant (RENT) and so the whole program is read only. The program is trying to store register 2 into read only storage.

Solving the RENT problem.

The problem of trying to write into read only storage is solved splitting the above code into two parts and using thread read write storage.

  • define the structure for the constants in read only storage
  • copy the read only structure to thread read write storage
  • use the thread read write storage for the request.

Define the structure for the constants in read only storage

You use an extra parameter on the macro call

WTOS      WTO TEXT=(),MF=L  
ETWOS DS 0H

This generates code

WTOS     WTO   TEXT=(),MF=L                                       
WTOS DS 0F
DC AL2(8) TEXT LENGTH
DC B'0000000000010000' MCSFLAGS
DC AL4(0) MESSAGE TEXT ADDRESS
...
DC AL4(0) WSPARM ADDRESS
ETWOS DS 0H

This has created the data structure. The data is of length EWTOS-WTOS

Copy the read only structure to thread read write storage

In assembler you can use MVC or MVCL to copy from the read only data to thread read/write storage.

Use the thread read write storage for the request.

If the static part of the structure was copied to the block of storage userdata, the code below will issue the WTO request

WTOL   WTO TEXT=((2)),MF=(E,userdata)

This generates the code to update the structure in read only storage

         WTOR  TEXT=((2)),MF=(E,userdata)                                
LA 1,userdata LOAD PARAMETER REG
LR 14,1 FIRST BYTE OF PARM LIST
SR 15,15 CLEAR REG 15
AH 15,0(1,0) ADD LENGTH OF TEXT + 4
AR 14,15 ADDR OF BYTE AFTER TEXT
ST 2,4(1,0) MOVE TEXT INTO PARM LIST
OI 4(14),B'00000000' SET EXTENDED MCS FLAGS
OI 5(14),B'10000000' SET EXTENDED MCS FLAGS2
SVC 35 ISSUE SVC 35

Note:

Some z/OS components use MF=(S,name) to generate the Static structure with the specified name, others use MF=(L).

They all use MF=(E,name).

Moving to the z/OS standard image and onward

For vendors and people like me who used ZD&T or zPDT to run z/OS on an IBM provided emulator on Linux, moving to the new standard image is a challenge.

Below are my thoughts on how to make it easier to use the standard image.

What does migration mean?

The term migration may mean different things to different people.

  • “Production customers” have a z/OS image, and they refresh the products, while keeping userid, user datasets etc. the same. The products (from IBM and vendors) gradually changes over time, typically changing every 3-6 months. This process is well know, and has been used over many decades.
  • With the IBM standard image, IBM makes a new level of z/OS available, and you have to migrate userids, datasets etc into the image. Every 3-6 months there may be a new image available. Moving from one level of standard image to another level of standard image is new and not documented. It looks easy to do it wrong, and make migration hard. It may take time to migrate to the first standard image, but moving to later images should take no more than half an hour.

This blog post is to suggest ways of making it easy to set up the to use the standard image.

Moving to the first standard image may mean a lot of work, but if you do it the right way moving on should be easy.

Setting the direction

My recommendations are (I would welcome discussion on these topics).

A couple of years ago I wrote a series of blog post starting with Migrating an ADCD z/OS release to the next release. A lot of the information is still relevant. Below I’ve tried to refine it for the migration to the standard image.


Restrict what you put into the master catalog.

You can restrict what user put into the master catalog. For example, enforce every data set High level qualifier has a RACF profile, and only allow user catalog entries to be added to the catalog by general users.

See

Ensure you use a user catalog

If your datasets are in a user catalog, then to go to the next standard image, you just import the user catalog. If you’ve cataloged dataset in the master catalog, then these are not immediately transferable to a new system.

Use USER. datasets, not SYS1. datasets

You can configure z/OS so it uses parmlib and proclib datasets you specify. On the ZD&T there are USER.Z31B PROCLIB, PARMLIB, CLIST datasets etc. You can copy/use these on each new standard image.

If you have changed ADCD.* or SYS1.* datasets, you can use ISPF 3.4, then sort on the “changed” column to see members changed since you first used the system. Then move them to the USER.* dataset.

Create resources using JCL rather than issuing commands, or using the ISPF panels

Use JCL to issue commands in batch TSO, rather than issue the commands manually. For example with the standard image you may get one userid (IBMUSER), and you want to create more userids. Have a JCL member with the commands to create the additional userid commands.

Once created, you just submit the JCL for the follow-on standard image.

Have an ordering to the members in your migration dataset.

If you have to define a group before you create a userid which uses this group, then have members R1GROUP, R2USER1, or have multiple PDSEs, eg COLIN.DO1GROUP.JCL, COLIN.DO2USERS.JCL. where the members within a data set can be issued in any order.

OMVS file systems

I have multiple ZFS (file systems) which I mount on the z/OS image. If these are cataloged in the user catalog, they can be mounted on the new system and used.

You need to think about where to mount them. If the new image has been configured to use automount, this can cause problems. Automount is an OMVS facility which can create a ZFS and mount it for a user. You can allocate a ZFS on a per userid basis, so if one userid use lots of disk space, it does not affect other users. They just run out of space.

When automount is active on the /u directory, if I try to mount my file system on /u, for example /u/colinzfs, the mount will fail because /u/colinzfs is already allocated.

You need to use another directory perhaps /my to mount your ZFS on.

If user’s home directory is something like /my/colin, SSH certificates will be available on the new system, without having to set them up again.

Changing files in system file systems

Try to avoid changing the system file systems, for example /etc/ /var, /usr/

If you have changed the system file systems, see here to see which files have changes since you started using the current image, and move them to your own file system.

Userids and OMVS

You can use the RACF autoid facility which allocates a UID for the userid. This means you do not need to mange the list of UIDs. This makes life easier for an administrator, but harder for a standard image user.

If you use the autoid on the current system you may get an UID such as 990021. On the newer image, your userid may be given a difference UID – depending on the order and number of requests made. Having a different UID can cause problems when using your ZFS. For example the files for my userid COLIN have owner with UID 990021. On the newer system, I may get UID 990033. As this UID is different to 990021, I will not have access to my files.

You should consider explicitly allocating a UID which stays with the user.

If you want to extract RACF profiles from the current system. See the extract program. This will create the RACF command needed to define the profiles. You can specify userids, datasets or classes.

Certificates

You can use RACF commands to display and extract keyring information, and certificates (public and private parts). These can be imported on the newer system. This means your client applications will continue to work.

ICSF

You can configure which data sets ICSF uses in the (CSFPRMXX) member in parmlib. Mine are prefixed with COLIN…

Started tasks

Many started tasks associated with OMVS, (or TCPIP) store configuration in /etc/. For example the file /etc/hosts and the directory /etc/ssh.

You may be able to change the started tasks to use files in your ZFS.

For example

//SSHD    PROC 
//SSHD EXEC PGM=BPXBATCH,REGION=0M,TIME=NOLIMIT,
// PARM='PGM /usr/sbin/sshd -f /my/etc/ssh/sshd_config '

What packages are installed?

You can issue

zopen query -i > installed 

to see what is installed

This gave me

Package   Version  File                               Releaseline             
bash 5.3.9 bash-5.3.20260204_143226.zos STABLE
curl 8.18.0 curl-8.18.0.20260205_151329.zos STABLE
git 2.53.0 git-v2.53.0.20260212_134939.zos STABLE
gpg 2.5.17 gnupg-2.5.17.20260130_021013.zos STABLE
jq 1.8.1 jq-jq-1.8.1.20250919_125054.zos STABLE
less 692 less-v692-rel.20260209_153821.zos STABLE
libpsl 1.0.0 libpsl-master.20260102_060204.zos STABLE
libssh2 1.11.1 libssh2-1.11.1.20260102_060940.zos STABLE
meta 0.8.4 meta-main.20260116_055504.zos STABLE
ncurses 6.6 ncurses-6.6.20260129_223023.zos STABLE
openssl 3.6.0 openssl-3.6.0.20260101_102819. STABLE

and

pip list

which gave

Package      Version
------------ -----------
ansible-core 2.20.3
cffi 1.14.6
cryptography 3.3.2
Jinja2 3.1.6
MarkupSafe 3.0.3
packaging 26.0
pip 26.0.1
pycparser 2.20
pysear 0.4.0
PyYAML 6.0.3
pyzfile 1.0.0.post2
resolvelib 1.2.1
six 1.16.0
tzdata 2025.3
zoautil-py 1.2.5.10