Last Updated: 17 March 2023
z/VM Continuous Delivery News
Upcoming and available new function for z/VM 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3
- March 17: Added Thin Stack Adapter Interrupt Support. Minor content updates.
- February 23: Added VMEVENT Enhancements.
- February 15: Added Greater than 1TB Guest Support.
Introduction
Not all enhancements to z/VM are part of a new release or even a formal IBM announcement letter. This page is a resource to learn about enhancements going out through continuous delivery for z/VM. It's also different from formal announcements as it shows work in progress. Think of it as a living preview announcement for z/VM. As significant changes take place, this page will be updated. Check back often or subscribe. Note: The z/VM Web site subscription service is intended to provide email alerts when specific z/VM pages are updated. If you are interested in receiving APAR updates, click the link for the individual APAR and subscribe to updates on that page.
You may notice that some new functions are actively seeking sponsor users. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor user for a particular function, visit the z/VM Sponsor User page for more details. Also important, these and other ideas from customers and vendors are frequently discussed at the z/VM Council. For more information and details on how to join, please see the z/VM Council web page.
Characteristics of a New Function APAR
New Function Information | |
Name | The name of the project. This can include any previous names the project was known by. |
---|---|
Description | A brief summary of what changes, who it effects, and why you would care. |
Status | Along with the current status, this will give indication of key changes since the last iteration of this page. |
Target availability | Depending on the project, where it is in the cycle, and other factors, this will list TBD, a quarter, a month, or, in cases where it has become available, a date. This is not a commitment and as more is learned about the work and priorities the target availability date will likely be adjusted. |
Compatibility | This will describe how compatible an item is. In most cases, this will say 'No known incompatibilities'. It is not meant to list all details like a migration guide, but to give some indication of what to expect. |
Enablement | This will briefly describe how enablement is managed for this Small Product Enhancement. Can it be enabled or disabled? What is the default? Can it be done dynamically? Is it on a virtual machine basis or system wide basis? It is not meant to describe all details of that process, but to give an idea of what's involved. Will also give indication of whether an IPL of the z/VM system is required, or just recycle of virtual machines or new CMS modules. |
Effect | Describes what effect enabling the code may have beyond the compatibility statement above. Such as may slightly elongate logoff time or CCW translation code paths changed. These are basically meant to be hints as to how the system may respond or behave differently. |
ISV impact | Indicates any impacts to ISV related products that are known, such as "If using a directory manager product, see vendor for required updates." |
Linux or hardware interaction | Indicates whether a special level of Linux or hardware is required because of an interaction or dependency. |
Environment variable name |
If the CP New Function Indication API (APAR VM66439) is installed, the variable name is
used to determine if the function is present on the z/VM system. Variable names are only present on CP New
Function APARs released after the z/VM 7.2 GA date. For non-CP
function, such as CMS, TCP/IP, Performance Toolkit, etc., or CP APARs released prior to z/VM 7.2, there will be no variable associated with the
function and this field will show "N/A". Some new function APARs may introduce more than one environment
variable and/or add new valid values to existing variables. Please see the z/VM
New function Variable List for more information.
This cell has been intentionally highlighted. Cells with this shading have been recently changed. |
Release(s) | Indicates the releases planned for this enhancement. |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | Information and link to the Authorized Program Analysis Report. |
PTF | Information and link to the Program Temporary Fix. |
RSU | Information and link to the Recommended Service Upgrade. |

New Function APARs
New function in progress | Target date | Last updated |
---|---|---|
Thin Stack Adapter Interrupt Support | TBD | March 17, 2023 |
VMEVENT Enhancements | 2Q 2023 | February 23, 2023 |
Greater than 1TB Guest Support | 2Q 2023 | February 15, 2023 |
Support Larger NVMe EDEVICE Page Space Allocations | 2Q 2023 | March 17, 2023 |
Large Guest LOGOFF Reset Time Mitigation | 2Q 2023 | March 17, 2023 |
System SSL 2.5 Uplift | TBD | November 18, 2022 |
Warning Track Interruption Facility | TBD | November 18, 2022 |
Query z/VM System Security Settings | TBD | June 10, 2022 |
Key Vault Utility | 2Q 2023 | March 17, 2023 |
REXX Sockets Enhancements * | TBD | September 28, 2022 |
Timing Enhancements * | TBD | February 4, 2021 |
Active Drain for PAGE Volumes * | TBD | August 4, 2022 |
CPU Measurement Facility Host Sampler Exploitation | TBD | September 28, 2022 |

Available new function | Date released | Last updated |
---|---|---|
SMAPI FCP EQID API Support | September 23, 2022 | January 18, 2023 |
DIRMAINT Automatic Sensing of Disk Volume Sizes | September 16, 2022 | October 24, 2022 |
ESM Control of DEFINE MDISK Command | September 16, 2022 | September 16, 2022 |
NVMe EDEVICE Support for z/VM | September 16, 2022 | September 16, 2022 |
CSM Fixpack | September 16, 2022 | September 16, 2022 |
SSI Eight Member Clusters | September 16, 2022 | September 16, 2022 |
Host Exploitation of Crypto Interruptions | June 1, 2022 | June 10, 2022 |
DirMaint Performance Enhancements | March 16, 2022 | March 21, 2022 |
SMAPI Query Processors API | December 10, 2021 | December 10, 2021 |
VSwitch Bridge Port Enhancements | December 10, 2021 | December 10, 2021 |
Preserve Partial Dump Across IPL | December 10, 2021 | December 10, 2021 |
Query GSKKYMAN Certificates | December 10, 2021 | December 10, 2021 |
EDEVICE Path Management | August 31, 2021 | September 1, 2021 |
Direct to Host Service Transfer | August 31, 2021 | March 10, 2022 |
Improved LGR for Mixed-Level Crypto Environments | August 11, 2021 | August 12, 2021 |
IPv6 Layer 2 Query VSwitch Support | August 11, 2021 | August 12, 2021 |
Dynamic Memory Downgrade | August 6, 2021 | August 12, 2021 |
Help File Improvements | August 3, 2021 | March 10, 2022 |
z/XC Architecture Support | March 29, 2021 | March 31, 2021 |
Improve I/O Time for Dump Processing | March 1, 2021 | March 10, 2022 |
Fast z/VM Dump Distiller | March 1, 2021 | March 10, 2022 |
Automatic STANDBY Memory for Guests | March 3, 2021 | March 4, 2021 |
Four TB Main Memory Support | March 3, 2021 | July 7, 2021 |
Spool Information Enhancements | March 1, 2021 | March 10, 2022 |
TLS / SSL OCSP Support | January 6, 2021 | March 10, 2022 |
DirMaint Health Checker | December 11, 2020 | March 4, 2021 |
CP Query Devices | December 8, 2020 | March 31, 2021 |
SET EDEVICE Optional LUN Specification | December 8, 2020 | March 31, 2021 |
Guest 1-End HyperPAV Aliases | December 8, 2020 | March 31, 2021 |
Perfkit SMT Support | December 8, 2020 | December 14, 2020 |
FlashCopy Preserve Mirror Support | October 15, 2020 | March 31, 2021 |
CP New Feature Interrogation API | October 15, 2020 | March 31, 2021 |
Centralized Service Management | September 18, 2020 | September 24, 2020 |
MSS Multi-Target PPRC Exploitation | September 18, 2020 | September 24, 2020 |
TLS/SSL Certificate Verification | June 16, 2020 | December 10, 2021 |
CMS Pipelines SSL/TLS Enhancements | June 3, 2020 | August 12, 2021 |
Multifactor Authentication for z/VM | May 22, 2020 | August 12, 2021 |
Fast Minidisk Erase | December 5, 2019 | December 12, 2019 |
Dynamic Crypto | September 20, 2019 | February 24, 2020 |
80 Logical Processor Support | August 1, 2019 | February 24, 2020 |
EAV Paging | June 20, 2019 | September 27, 2019 |
VSwitch Priority Queuing | May 23, 2019 | September 27, 2019 |
Elliptic Curve Support | December 13, 2018 | May 14, 2019 |
RSCS Query System Service | December 4, 2018 | May 14, 2019 |
Dump Scalability | September 21, 2018 | September 25, 2018 |
80 Logical Processor Support | |||
Name | 80 Logical Processor Support | ||
---|---|---|---|
Description | This enhancement will relieve the limitation of 64 logical processors per LPAR by increasing the number of logical processors. The objective is to allow customers to run more workload on z/VM by increasing the number of supported logical processors which is especially important when multithreading is enabled. From the customer's viewpoint, this will allow them to define more logical processors for running more workload on each LPAR and possibly use fewer number of LPARs for the same amount of workload. The new limit will be fenced at 80 logical processors. | ||
Status | Available August 1, 2019 | ||
Target availability | July 2019 | ||
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. | ||
Enablement | APAR VM66301 / PTF UM35496 must be installed as a pre-requisite. Apply PTFs and re-IPL z/VM to activate the code. | ||
Effect | View the 80 Logical Processors performance report. | ||
ISV impact | No known ISV impacts. | ||
Linux or hardware interaction | Requires z14 or higher. No known Linux interaction at this time. | ||
Environment variable name | N/A | ||
Release(s) | z/VM 7.1 New Function APAR | ||
Service details | CP | SAD | Perfkit |
APAR | VM66265 | VM66296 |
7.1: VM66292 6.4: VM65863 |
PTF | R710 UM35474 | R710 UM35499 | R710 UM35501 R640 UM35472 |
RSU | z/VM 7.1 - 2001 | ||
Additional information | z/VM Spotlight: 80 Logical Processor Support |
Host Exploitation of Crypto Interruptions | |
Name | Host Exploitation of Crypto Interruptions (Cyrpto Interrupt Support) |
---|---|
Description | This enhancement makes z/VM's APVIRT processing more event-driven. This avoids the overhead of polling by z/VM's control program associated with the previous implementation. This enhancement uses Crypto-related interruptions to achieve this. |
Status | Available June 1, 2022 |
Target availability | May 2022 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | This support will be enabled after z/VM is IPL'd with the APAR. It cannot be disabled. |
Effect | There is no effect to systems that do not use APVIRT. For those with APVIRT, there is a potential performance improvement in terms of the lower IBM Z or LinuxONE processor resources associated with managing APVIRT. |
ISV impact | No known impacts. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction at this time. |
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.CRYPTO.INTERRUPTIONS |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66534 |
PTF | UM35974 |
RSU | TBD |
Sign up | Contact Kerry Wilson - kerryw@us.ibm.com to become a Sponsor User. |
Active Drain for PAGE Volumes | |
Name | Active Drain for PAGE Volumes |
---|---|
Description | A new Active Drain feature will allow moving all pages from in-use PAGE slots off a volume marked DRAIN to other, non-draining, PAGE volumes. This allows PAGE volumes to fully drain and be removed without a system outage. |
Status | Currently in development. |
Target availability | TBD |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | TBD |
Effect | No known side-effects when not being used. Does require resources to determine page slot content to move and additional I/O proportional to the number of allocate slots that must be drained. IBM intends to provide more details in performance report in the future. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction at this time. |
Environment variable name | TBD |
Release(s) | TBD |
Service details | TBD |
APAR | TBD |
PTF | TBD |
RSU | TBD |
Sign up | Contact Kerry Wilson - kerryw@us.ibm.com to become a Sponsor User. |
Automatic STANDBY Memory for Guests | |
Name | Automatic STANDBY Memory for Guests |
---|---|
Description |
To dynamically increase the amount of memory a guest can bring online requires two steps: 1. Raising the maximum in the directory 2. Issuing a DEFINE STORAGE command to add this to the guest's STANDBY memory. Often step 2 is issued via a COMMAND statement in the directory or in a PROFILE EXEC. Forgetting to update the DEFINE STORAGE command when the guest's maximum memory is updated can result in an extra IPL of the guest. This item will add INITIAL and REMAINDER keyword to the DEFINE STORAGE command. This will mean all memory from the AS (configured) amount up to the guest's maximum will be put to STANDBY. Note that this is different than CP SET RESERVED. |
Status | Available March 3, 2021 |
Target availability | March 2021 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities, but existing commands may need to change to use the new keywords. |
Enablement | Apply PTFs and re-IPL z/VM to activate the code. Update existing DEFINE STORAGE command to say DEFINE STORAGE INITIAL STANDBY REMAINDER to use the new support. |
Effect | No effect to current usage of DEFINE STORAGE, current keywords will remain unchanged. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux interaction at this time. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR |
Service details | Delivered with z/VM Four TB Main Memory Support |
APAR | See Four TB Main Memory Support |
PTF | See Four TB Main Memory Support |
RSU | TBD |
Centralized Service Management | |
Name | Centralized Service Management (CSM) |
---|---|
Description | Enhances z/VM service process by allowing service to be applied in a multiple z/VM system environment (without SSI) from a centralized system. This initial effort would apply to the z/VM base system and associated priced features. |
Status | Available September 18, 2020 |
Target availability | September 18, 2020 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Install 7.2 release on all z/VM systems that will be centrally managed. Inititialize and configure master and target z/VM systems. Initially, CSM will not be supporting z/VM systems within an SSI cluster. |
Effect | While it adds more options to service process, if not using the new capability, there should be only minor effects to current usage. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 Base |
Service details | N/A part of z/VM 7.2 base |
APAR | N/A |
PTF | N/A |
RSU | N/A |
CSM fixpack | |
Name | Centralized Service Management (CSM) fixpack |
---|---|
Description |
Enhancements are planned for the Centralized Service Management (CSM) and is a collection of multiple follow-on functionality improvements. There are four specific enhancements planned each as described below.
|
Status | Available September 16, 2022 |
Target availability | September 2022 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Apply PTFs and re-IPL z/VM to activate the code. |
Effect | No known effect. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.3 Base |
Service details | N/A part of z/VM 7.3 base |
APAR | N/A |
PTF | N/A |
RSU | N/A |
CMS Pipelines SSL/TLS Enhancements | |
Name | CMS Pipelines SSL/TLS Enhancements |
---|---|
Description | Enhancements to the CMS Pipelines TCP/IP stages that allow applications to establish secure connections using SSL/TLS. Both implicit SSL/TLS connections (eg HTTPS) and explicit SSL/TLS connections (eg FTP) are supported. A sample stage will be provided to implement a client for FTP with SSL/TLS. |
Status | Available June 3, 2020 |
Target availability | June 3, 2020 |
Compatibility | Upward compatible; existing applications that do not require SSL will continue to work as before. |
Enablement | Requires a working z/VM System SSL configuration. CMS Pipelines applications need some changes to enable secure connections. |
Effect | TBD |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | N/A |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.1 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66365 |
PTF | UM35658 |
RSU | z/VM 7.1 - 2101 |
CP New Feature Interrogation API | |
Name | CP New Feature Interrogation API (CP New Function Indication API) |
---|---|
Description | Provides an interface for interrogating whether a named capability is present in the running CP system. This enhancement simplifies scripting and automation written by customers and vendors sensitive to the function level of CP. It facilitates adaptation of vendor products to varying CP code levels. |
Status | Available October 15, 2020 |
Target availability | October 2020 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Apply PTF and re-IPL z/VM to activate the code. |
Effect | No other effects when not using the new API. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66439 |
PTF | UM35761 |
RSU | z/VM 7.2 - 2101 |
CP Query Devices | |
Name | CP Query Devices |
---|---|
Description | The CP QUERY DEVICES project adds the DEVICES subcommand of the QUERY command to report real device settings established by the DEVICES configuration statement and the SET DEVICES command. The objective of the CP QUERY DEVICES project is to allow clients to confirm that device settings are as intended. It is an extension of the existing support that is intended to simplify configuration management and problem determination. |
Status | Available December 8, 2020 |
Target availability | December 2020 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Installation and re-IPL of the z/VM system required. |
Effect | No known effects. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.QUERY.DEVICES |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66469 |
PTF | UM35797 |
RSU | z/VM 7.2 - 2101 |
CPU Measurement Facility Host Sampler Exploitation | |
Name | CPU Measurement Facility Host Sampler Exploitation |
---|---|
Description |
A z/VM system programmer can exploit existing hardware sampling to help IBM Service shed light on an LPAR's performance behavior.
|
Status | Currently in development. |
Target availability | TBD |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement |
|
Effect | While the capability is not in use, there should be no performance effects. Real memory must be temporarily reserved for use during the measurement and data extraction process, and can then be returned to general use. Performance impact during this period is to be studied during development. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux interaction. CMS tools to dump and pack experiment data. z13 or later hardware is required. |
Environment variable name | TBD |
Release(s) | TBD |
Service details | TBD |
APAR | TBD |
PTF | TBD |
RSU | TBD |
Sign up | Contact Kerry Wilson - kerryw@us.ibm.com to become a Sponsor User. |
Direct to Host Service Transfer | |
Name | z/VM Direct to Host Service Transfer |
---|---|
Description | This new function provides an optional way to transfer service to your z/VM system. A new web interface will simplify downloading z/VM service ordered through IBM Shopz. The service files can be transferred either through direct-to-host connection or uploading the files from a workstation. The data is verified and unpacked during transfer to the z/VM host system. |
Status | Available August 31, 2021 |
Target availability | September 2021 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Apply PTF, configure SSL, ensure enough space is available for the service you want to transfer, run CMS program using the MAINT720 user ID to transfer the service files. |
Effect | No known effect. |
ISV impact | No known impacts. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR. |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66540 |
PTF | UM35899 |
RSU | z/VM 7.2 - 2102 |
Additional information | GetShopz - Direct to Host Service Download information |
DIRMAINT Automatic Sensing of Disk Volume Sizes | |
Name | DIRMAINT Automatic Sensing of Disk Volume Sizes |
---|---|
Description |
DirMaint uses volume sizes when managing minidisk allocation. Prior
to this support, the size of a volume was defined based solely on the
device type. The device type and its size were defined either in a
DEFAULTS DATADVH data file maintained by IBM or within the DEFAULTS
section of the EXTENT CONTROL file when updated by the installation.
Basing size solely on the device type can lead to incorrect assumptions
for maximum size of a volume and lead DirMaint to fail minidisk
allocation because the size of the device type does not match the
actual size of the volume.
This support enhances DirMaint to use CP QUERY DASD DETAILS to obtain the maximum size of volumes. DirMaint queries the DASD details when it builds the VCONTROL file for the volume. The VCONTROL file is used during minidisk allocation. DirMaint performs this query for volumes defined in the EXTENT CONTROL file or the source user directory. The size is obtained for volumes attached to the system on which the DIRMAINT server is running and in an SSI environment from the systems where satellite servers are defined. If the size of the volume cannot be obtained then the device type size as specified in the DEFAULTS DATADVH data fle or the DEFAULTS section of the EXTENT CONTROL file is used. |
Status | Available September 16, 2022 |
Target availability | September 2022 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | This support is automatically enabled. |
Effect | The construction of VCONTROL files as part of reload the EXTENT CONTROL file (RLDEXTN command) will take a little bit longer in an SSI environment as the DIRMAINT server performs the CP queries on the SSI members. The construction is performed when the RLDEXTN command is issued on once a day as part of new day processing. |
ISV impact | No known impacts. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.3 Base |
Service details | N/A part of z/VM 7.3 base |
APAR | N/A |
PTF | N/A |
RSU | N/A |
DirMaint Health Checker | |
Name | DirMaint Health Checker |
---|---|
Description | This support provides an automated set of procedures to validate the configuration and health of the DirMaint servers on a daily basis and on demand. The tests are orchestrated by the DirMaint server and run on the DirMaint server, datamove and satellite servers. Installation support are notified of the results of the tests. |
Status | Available December 11, 2020 |
Target availability | December 2020 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement |
The DirMaint configuration files control whether the tests are
automatically run. Defaults are provided in that automatically run the
tests once a day as the result of DirMaint New Day processing (dirven by
the DVHNDAY exec). The installation may specify:
|
Effect | The DirMaint Health Checker code is automatically driven daily as part of DirMaint New Day processing (driven by the DVHNDAY exec). |
ISV impact | No known impacts. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR. |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66175 II14866 |
PTF | UV99389 |
RSU | TBD |
DirMaint Performance Enhancements | |
Name | DirMaint Performance Enhancements |
---|---|
Description | Performance improvements to DirMaint processing of user and server requests. Additional tests related to performance and reliability are added to the Automated IVP that was introduced as a new function APAR for z/VM 7.2 in December 2020. |
Status | Available March 16, 2022 |
Target availability | March 2022 |
Compatibility | As part of this support, DirMaint monitor files introduced with the IVP support in December 2020 will be maintained on the A-disk of the DirMaint server for each DirMaint server (DIRMAINT, satellite and datamove server) rather than only on the DIRMAINT server's E disk. |
Enablement | Applying this support and restarting the DirMaint servers enables the support. |
Effect | No known effect. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR. |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66298 |
PTF | UV99411 |
RSU | TBD |
Dump Scalability | |
Name | Dump Scalability |
---|---|
Description | Dump processing will be enhanced to reduce the time required to create, process, and transmit data from SNAPDUMP and Hard Abend dumps. A new system default will generate dump data that is usually considerably smaller in size, requiring less space to store these dumps in the system SPOOL and as CMS files. The increased efficiency of dump processing saves time and resources, and removes an inhibitor to the deployment of z/VM configurations with large amounts of memory. |
Status | Available September 21, 2018 |
Target availability | September 21, 2018 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | IPL the z/VM system with the dump scalability support to activate. |
Effect | TBD |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.1 |
Service details | Included as part of z/VM 7.1 release |
APAR | N/A |
PTF | N/A |
RSU | N/A |
Dynamic Crypto | |
Name | Dynamic Crypto |
---|---|
Description | Dynamic Crypto support will enable dynamic changes to the cryptographic (crypto) environment on a z/VM system. This will allow the addition or removal of Crypto Express adapters, as well as maintenance and repair of Crypto Express adapters, to be less disruptive to the system and guests running on the system. It will also allow the flexibility to change crypto resources between dedicated and shared use. New commands will be added to provide customers with an interface to make these changes without requiring an IPL of z/VM or an IPL of the guest. |
Status | Available September 20, 2019 |
Target availability | Third Quarter 2019 |
Compatibility | QUERY CRYPTO and QUERY VIRTUAL CRYPTO output will have incompatible changes. |
Enablement | APAR VM66206 / PTF 35449 must be installed as a pre-requisite. This PTF must be installed on all members of an SSI cluster regrardless of whether Dynamic Crypto is on the other systems. Apply Dynamic Crypto PTFs and re-IPL z/VM. Use new crypto commands to execute function. |
Effect | Allows greater flexibility and less disruption in managing crypto resources. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | For dedicated crypto resources, additional steps may be needed to make a crypto resource offline/online from the guest's perspective (e.g. using Linux commands). |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.1 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66266 |
PTF | UM35531 |
RSU | z/VM 7.1 - 2001 |
Additional information | z/VM Spotlight: Dynamic Crypto |
Dynamic Memory Downgrade | ||
Name | Dynamic Memory Downgrade (DMD) | |
---|---|---|
Description | Dynamic Memory Downgrade, also known as Memory or Storage Reclamation, extends the real storage dynamic management characteristics of z/VM to include removing up to 50% of the real storage from a running z/VM system. Previous versions of z/VM allow adding storage dynamically, but not removing it. | |
Status | Available August 6, 2021 | |
Target availability | August 2021 | |
Compatibility | Several commands associated with dynamic memory management will have incompatible changes. | |
Enablement | Applying PTFs will enable code, use of new function will be from commands and configuration file settings. Requires an IPL of the z/VM system to activate the code for this PTF. | |
Effect | Most mainline paths are unaffected by these changes, but code paths for initialization and adding memory have significant changes. | |
ISV impact | Some monitor changes are needed. Fields in the RSMBK control block will change offsets. If you have a performance product, please see your vendor. | |
Linux or hardware interaction | Will require z14 or higher. No known Linux interaction at this time. | |
Environment variable name | CP.LIMIT.MEMORY.RECONFIG CP.FUNCTION.MEMORY.RECLAIM |
|
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR | |
Service details | CP | Perfkit |
APAR | VM66271 | VM66285 |
PTF | UM35561 | UM35562 |
RSU | TBD | TBD |
Additional information | Dynamic Memory Downgrade information |
EAV Paging | |||
Name | EAV Paging | ||
---|---|---|---|
Description | Support for Extended Address Volumes (EAV) for z/VM paging space. This New Function APAR enhances the z/VM Control Program (CP) by allowing paging space to be located on Extended Address Volumes. As systems continue to grow, the need for paging space has increased. This New Function APAR will allow allocation and use of paging space on ECKD devices above x'FFF0' cylinders. Support for larger paging devices allows customers to define sufficient paging capacity for z/VM partitions with large memory sizes and reduces the burden of managing a large number of smaller paging devices. | ||
Status | Available June 20, 2019 | ||
Target availability | July 2019 | ||
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. | ||
Enablement | System would need to be IPLed to pick up code (both CP and the CPFMTXA utility would be updated), Extended Address Volumes would need to be available and formatted for paging space. | ||
Effect | Expect paging subsystem to have significant updates to code, but the paging rate is not expected to change. | ||
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. | ||
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux interaction at this time. Extended Address Volumes would need to be available and formatted for paging space. | ||
Environment variable name | N/A | ||
Release(s) | z/VM 7.1 New Function APAR | ||
Service details | CP | CMS | Perfkit |
APAR | VM66263 | VM66297 | VM66293 |
PTF | R710 UM35475 | R710 UM35483 | UM35484 |
RSU | z/VM 7.1 - 1902 | ||
Additional information | z/VM Spotlight: EAV Paging |
EDEVICE Path Management | |
Name | EDEVICE Path Management |
---|---|
Description |
The component responsible for path management in the SCSI-FCP device
driver has been upgraded in the areas:
|
Status | Available August 31, 2021 |
Target availability | August 2021 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Apply PTFs and re-IPL z/VM to activate the code. |
Effect | No known effects at this time when ALUA storage devices are not in use but expect EDEV path selection to have significant updates to code. Expands the usage of 'QUERY EDEV <rdev>'. |
ISV impact | Some monitor changes are needed. If you have a performance product, please see your vendor. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux interaction. ALUA storage devices would be needed to take advantage of path optimization. |
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.EDEVICE.PATH_MANAGEMENT |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66507 |
PTF | UM35902 |
RSU | TBD |
Elliptic Curve Support | |
Name | z/VM TCP/IP Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) Cipher Suite Support for Transport Layer Security (TLS) |
---|---|
Description | Enable support for the new cryptographic algorithms that were previously added for use by System SSL through the gskkyman interface. These new cryptographic algorithms provide stronger security ciphers for the TLS/SSL server and brings it closer to TLS 1.2 compliance. |
Status | Available December 13, 2018 |
Target availability | December 13, 2018 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities |
Enablement | ECC Ciphers will be enabled by default for use by TLS/SSL (Table 39 in the z/VM TCPIP Planning and Customization will be updated to indicate the ciphers enabled by protocol and mode). In order to use this support, an ECC certificate must be created in the gskkyman database and specified for use on a secure connection. |
Effect | There may be a slight performance improvement since ECC is considered to be faster than traditional cryptographic algorithms. View the Elliptic Curve Support performance findings. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.1 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | PI99184 |
PTF | UI60128 |
RSU | z/VM TCP/IP 7.1 - 1901 |
ESM Authorization and Auditing of SMAPI Requests | |
Name | ESM Authorization and Auditing of SMAPI Requests |
---|---|
Description |
When an ESM is present, programs can use the ESM for all SMAPI
authorization decisions at the same granularity used with the SMAPI
existing authorization mechanism. The ESM logs the decision (or not)
that is based on its active policy, without SMAPI knowledge or
intervention.
When an ESM defers its authorization decision to SMAPI, one of the following actions are taken based on a configuration option:
|
Status | Available September 27, 2018 |
Target availability | September 2018 |
Compatibility | Properties in the DMSSICNF COPY file control the ESM authorization setting. If you are migrating from a release prior to z/VM 7.1, the contents of your DMSSICNF COPY file will include duplicates of properties found in the IBMCNF COPY file. You can remove from DMSSICNF COPY any properties that are also found in IBMCNF COPY. |
Enablement |
First, configure your ESM to control system APIs by (a) enabling the
FACILITY class and (b) creating new ESM profiles which map to your
desired security policy. Your ESM will not need to be restarted;
however, a REFRESH may be necessary for updated policy to be
detected.
Then, update DMSSICNF to indicate either Authorization_Policy = Authorization_Policy_EsmList (default) or Authorization_Policy = Authorization_Policy_EsmOnly. For details, refer to the z/VM 7.1 System Management Application Programming manual |
Effect | Security policy for control and/or audit of API usage will now be handled by your ESM, if available. |
ISV impact | This function is available with non-IBM External Security Manager programs; refer to local documentation for instructions on ESM set-up. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.1 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66167 |
PTF | UM35358 |
RSU | TBD |
ESM Control of DEFINE MDISK Command | |
Name | External Security Manager (ESM) Control of DEFINE MDISK Command |
---|---|
Description | Addition of CP and RACF support to allow CP DEFINE MDISK to be a command controlled by an External Security Manager. |
Status | Available September 16, 2022 |
Target availability | September 2022 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement |
After application of the PTFs, security administrators may define
controls upon the DEFINE MDISK command, and permit users to access same.
In the case of RACF/VM, this would be accomplished via: RDEFINE VMCMD DEFINE.MDISK AUDIT(ALL,(READ)) UACC(NONE) PERMIT DEFINE.MDISK CLASS(VMCMD) ID(SYSOP1) ACCESS(UPDATE) SETROPTS REFRESH RACLIST(VMCMD) |
Effect | A z/VM user not authorized to use this support will receive pertinent error messages from the ESM when attempting to execute DEFINE MDISK. |
ISV impact | If using an External Security Manager from Broadcom (formerly CA), consult with their support for availability of a PTF. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux interaction. |
Environment variable name | CP.ESM.CONTROL.DEFINE.MDISK |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.3 Base |
Service details | N/A part of z/VM 7.3 base |
APAR | N/A |
PTF | N/A |
RSU | N/A |
Fast Minidisk Erase | ||
Name | Fast Minidisk Erase | |
---|---|---|
Description | Remove data from minidisks more quickly than current techniques | |
Status | Available December 5, 2019 | |
Target availability | Fourth Quarter 2019 | |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. | |
Enablement | Apply PTFs and replace CPFMTXA exec. Function is enabled through DirMaint or by using a new option on CPFMTXA. Does not require IPL of z/VM CP to pick up changes. | |
Effect | Reduces elapsed time to delete users with DirMaint and for other activities that require minidisk data erasure. | |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. However, exploitation is possible. | |
Linux or hardware interaction | No Linux or hardware interaction. | |
Environment variable name | N/A | |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.1 New Function APAR | |
Service details | CP | DirMaint |
APAR | VM66288 | VM65784 |
PTF | UM35563 | UV99356 |
RSU | z/VM 7.1 - 2001 | z/VM 7.1 DirMaint - 2001 |
Fast z/VM Dump Distiller | |
Name | Fast z/VM Dump Distiller |
---|---|
Description | Some dumps CP takes include large structures (frame table and/or pageable PGMBKs) to aid diagnosis of memory management problems. A new "DISTILL" option on DUMPLOAD extracts an abridged dump omitting these structures from a hard abend dump or snapdump on spool. This smaller dump is easier to manage and faster to transmit to IBM, allowing diagnosis to begin sooner. The complete dump remains in spool and can be loaded and sent later if needed. |
Status | Available March 1, 2021 |
Target availability | March 2021 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Apply PTF and rebuild DUMPLOAD MODULE. |
Effect | None anticipated. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No interaction or dependency is anticipated. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR. |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66430 |
PTF | UM35823 |
RSU | z/VM 7.2 - 2102 |
FlashCopy Preserve Mirror Support | |
Name | FlashCopy Preserve Mirror Support |
---|---|
Description | Provides new operands to z/VM FlashCopy commands to allow FlashCopy relationships between PPRC primary devices without affecting the PPRC status of the target devices. This particularly avoids PPRC suspend conditions on the target device of the FlashCopy. |
Status | Available October 15, 2020 |
Target availability | October 2020 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Apply PTFs and re-IPL z/VM to access the new operands. |
Effect | Preserve Mirror prevents FlashCopy from affecting full duplex PPRC relationships. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | Disk hardware must support preserve mirror to be able to exploit the new operands. Command response will indicate if specified devices do not support the feature. |
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.COPYSERVICES.FC_PRESERVE_MIRROR |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.1 and 7.2 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66433 |
PTF | R710 UM35762 R720 UM35763 |
RSU |
z/VM 7.1 - 2101 z/VM 7.2 - 2101 |
Four TB Main Memory Support | |
Name | Four Terabyte Main Memory Support |
---|---|
Description | Four TB Main memory support, would support the definition and use of real memory up to the four TB line for first level z/VM systems. Over-commitment of total virtual memory across all guests beyond four TB would be supported. The per guest limit of one TB of virtual memory would remain unchanged. |
Status | Available March 3, 2021. |
Target availability | March 2021 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | LPAR would need four TB memory defined. |
Effect | TBD |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux interaction at this time. System needs enough paging DASD to support >4 TB paging. |
Environment variable name | CP.LIMIT.MEMORY.REAL_TOTAL |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR |
Service details | TBD |
APAR | VM66173 |
PTF | UM35834 |
RSU | TBD |
Additional information |
March 22, 2021: z/VM customers with RACF installed will receive message VMFAPP2120W indicating that rework is required for part HCPRPP TXT when applying the PTF for APAR VM66173. See March 22, 2021 z/VM Red Alert for more details.
July 1, 2021: APAR VM66173 (PTF UM35834) for 4TB REAL MEMORY SUPPORT is in error. Apply PTF UM35556 for APAR VM66289 as soon as possible. See July 1, 2021 z/VM Service Red Alert for more details. |
Greater than 1TB Guest Support | |
Name | Greater than 1TB Guest Support; >1TB Guest Support |
---|---|
Description | Support guests that are defined with more than 1TB of memory, subject to a set of documented guidelines and considerations (DRAFT). |
Status | In development |
Target availability | Second Quarter 2023 |
Compatibility | This support is upward compatible. While there is no associated code change, it is advisable to apply the PTF for the APAR associated with the "Large Guest LOGOFF Reset Time Mitigation" new function prior to exploiting this capability. |
Enablement | Enabled when such a guest is defined. |
Effect | Guests can exploit larger memory, subject to some considerations. |
ISV impact | To exploit large memory effectively with Oracle, patch 33787325 should be applied. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction at this time. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.3 New Function APAR |
Service details | No code changes. Once finalized, follow the guidelines and considerations. |
APAR | None |
PTF | None |
RSU | N/A |
Guest 1-End HyperPAV Aliases | |
Name | Guest 1-End HyperPAV Aliases |
---|---|
Description | Allows client to use the DEFINE HYPERPAVALIAS command to define and associate virtual HyperPAV Alias devices with Base minidisks defined with the MDISK directory statement from real cylinder 1 to END. |
Status | Available December 8, 2020 |
Target availability | December 2020 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement |
Apply PTFs and re-IPL z/VM to activate the code. MDISK user directory statement defining Base device from real cylinder 1 to END and DEFINE HYPERPAVALIAS command. User directory example: COMMAND DEFINE HYPERPAVALIAS 2F0 FOR BASE 200 MDISK 200 3390 1 END SW2112 MWV |
Effect | Protects real volume label and allocation map by preventing access from guest virtual machine. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | Linux guest must be configured to exploit HyperPAV Base and Alias devices. |
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.DASD.HYPERPAV_1_END |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66421 |
PTF | UM35784 |
RSU | z/VM 7.2 - 2101 |
Help File Improvements | |||
Name | Help File Improvements | ||
---|---|---|---|
Description | Provides improvements to the z/VM Help facility by adding help information for CP Directory Statements and for CP System Configuration Statements. | ||
Status | Available August 4, 2021 | ||
Target availability | July 2021 | ||
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. | ||
Enablement | Apply PTFs, re-access the help minidisk. | ||
Effect | No known effects. | ||
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. | ||
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. | ||
Environment variable name | N/A | ||
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR | ||
Service details | CP | CMS | VMSES |
APAR | VM66511 | VM66512 | VM66513 |
PTF | UM35886 | UM35885 | UM35875 |
RSU | z/VM 7.2 - 2102 |
Improve I/O Time for Dump Processing | |
Name | Improve I/O Time for Dump Processing |
---|---|
Description | This project exploits DASD zHPF I/O, when available, when writing CP Hard Abend and Snap Dumps to CP Dump / Spool space. The goal is to reduce the amount of time a system is unavailable while a dump is being taken, before the system is re-IPLed. This will shorten unplanned outages on systems with large amounts of real memory. This can be especially advantageous combined with the Fast z/VM Dump Distiller project, which reduces the time required to load and send a dump to IBM for diagnosis. |
Status | Available March 1, 2021 |
Target availability | March 2021 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Apply PTF and rebuild CPLOAD MODULE. Also requires zHPF to be enabled on storage controller containing dump spool space. |
Effect | Reduced time to take CP Hard and Snap Dumps. This enhancement has potential to reduce elapsed dump time by about 50%. Customers' actual results will depend upon their workloads and configurations. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | zHPF must be enabled on storage controller that contains the dump spool space. No Linux interaction. |
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.DUMP.SPEEDUP |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR. |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66431 |
PTF | UM35822 |
RSU | z/VM 7.2 - 2102 |
IPv6 Layer 2 Query VSwitch Support | |
Name | IPv6 Layer 2 Query VSwitch Support |
---|---|
Description | For ETHERNET VSwitches, support has been added to collect and report IPv6 addresses on the Query Vswitch, Query Virtual NIC and DIAG 26C. As IPv6 usage becomes more prevalent, this information will be more important for diagnostics. In addition, the VSwitch Unicast IP table structure has changed from a linked list to a hash table. |
Status | Available August 11, 2021 |
Target availability | August 2021 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Apply PTF and re-IPL z/VM to activate the code. |
Effect | The Unicast IP hash table will allow for more efficient table searches. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.VSWITCH.IPV6QUERY |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR. |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66485 |
PTF | UM35894 |
RSU | TBD |
Key Vault Utility | |||
Name | Key Vault Utility, CMS Password Vault | ||
---|---|---|---|
Description | A new CMS password/key management utility -- KEYVAULT -- is planned to allow applications to securely store and retrieve user ID keys (logon passwords) that are needed for data transfers (such as using FTP/FTPS) or automated login procedures. | ||
Status | Currently in system test; soliciting sponsor user feedback. | ||
Target availability | Second Quarter 2023 | ||
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. | ||
Enablement | Apply PTF and re-IPL z/VM to activate the code. | ||
Effect | No known effect. | ||
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. | ||
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. | ||
Environment variable name | N/A | ||
Release(s) | z/VM 7.3 New Function APAR. | ||
Service details | CMS | SES | TCP/IP |
APAR | VM66453 | VM66457 | PH51239 |
PTF | TBD | TBD | TBD |
RSU | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Large Guest LOGOFF Reset Time Mitigation | |
Name | Large Guest LOGOFF Reset Time Mitigation |
---|---|
Description | Reduce the amount of time that a large guest is unavailable for LOGON because of memory reset during LOGOFF. |
Status | Currently in system test; soliciting sponsor user feedback. |
Target availability | Second Quarter 2023 |
Compatibility | Once a guest enters the memory reset phase, its virtual devices have been released and it can be logged on again. The old instance of the guest is still in memory reset, but its user ID has been translated to lower case and it cannot be observed except by the QUERY NAMES, INDICATE PAGING, and LOCATE VMDBK commands, all of which will report its status as "LOGOFF" or, for QUERY NAMES, "LOF". The response to INDICATE PAGING has a new column appended to report the guest status (either "LOGOFF" or "---"). |
Enablement | Apply PTFs and re-IPL z/VM to activate the code. |
Effect | Because the memory reset process is underway for the old guest, its memory demand will still exist but will decrease over time. Restarting a memory-intensive workload on the guest may not be advisable unless there is adequate real memory configured to accommodate that. The intention is to allow a new instance of the guest to be activated prior to the completion of memory reset so that configuration, operating system or application maintenance can be applied without delay. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | TBD |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.3 New Function APAR. |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66673 |
PTF | TBD |
RSU | TBD |
Improved LGR for Mixed-Level Crypto Environments | |
Name | Improved Live Guest Relocation for Mixed-Level Crypto Environments. Formerly known as, LGR Improvements for APVIRT, and Mixed-APVIRT LGR. |
---|---|
Description | This support enables successful Live Guest Relocation (LGR) for APVIRT crypto users when the type of the shared crypto resource on the source system does not match the type of shared crypto resource on the target system. QUERY VIRTUAL CRYPTO on any system in a relocation domain will report the lowest level of crypto express adapter available in the shared pools of all systems in a relocation domain. By reporting the functional capability of the lowest level adapter, APVIRT crypto users are able to determine the level of functionality that can be used to enable relocation between systems in the relocation domain without using the FORCE ARCHITECTURE option. |
Status | Available August 11, 2021 |
Target availability | August 2021 |
Compatibility | When running in an SSI environment, QUERY VIRTUAL CRYPTO will report the lowest level of shared crypto express adapter available in a relocation domain. |
Enablement | IPL the z/VM system with the LGR Improvements for APVIRT support to activate. |
Effect | In an SSI environment with mixed levels of Crypto Express adapters and guests in relocation domains that span those mixed levels, they will see the lower level attributes even when running on the member with the higher level Crypto Express (with all members having the PTF applied). When a subset of the members have the PTF applied, there will be a mixture of the rules in place, dependent on the source and target of an relocation. Additional information will be available when the PTF is released. No effect when not in an SSI environment. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | Linux currently uses the results of an AP crypto instruction to determine the level of function available in a relocation domain. No updates to Linux are required. |
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.CRYPTO.MIXED_APVIRT_LGR |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR. |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66496 |
PTF | UM35893 |
RSU | TBD |
MSS Multi-Target PPRC Exploitation | |
Name | MSS Multi-Target PPRC Exploitation |
---|---|
Description | Multi-target PPRC allows both a local and a remote target. One Metro
Mirror target could be in the same data center as the local production
to protect from a single storage controller failure. A secondary
Metro Mirror or Global Mirror target could be in a separate location
to protect against a more widespread issue that affects the entire
local data center.
Multi-Target PPRC is currently supported by z/VM. However, all PPRC target (secondary) devices must reside in subchannel set zero (the default subchannel set). The new z/VM support will add support for up to 3 alternate subchannel sets allowing each PPRC secondary target device of a Multi-Target primary device to exist in a separate alternate subchannel set. This support will also allow Alias devices associated with each secondary target device to reside in the secondary device's corresponding alternate subchannel set. This support will be interlocked with related GDPS xDR support. With this enhancement, the aliases of the primary devices must reside in the same subchannel set as their base devices, even if that is the default subchannel set 0. This differs from the z/OS implementation where all aliases can exist in a separate alternate subchannel set. |
Status | Available September 18, 2020 |
Target availability | September 18, 2020 |
Compatibility | The concept of logical subchannel set 1, no matter the real subchannel set ID, will be removed in the VM externals. A real device defined in an alternate subchannel set will maintain its real subchannel set ID, even after a Hyperswap. There will however still be the concept of an Active vs. Stand-by set of DASD devices. |
Enablement | Installation and re-IPL of the z/VM system required. |
Effect | No effect when not exploiting the new capability, but will impact any client who exploits VMs current alternate subchannel set support. |
ISV impact | No known ISV impacts. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux interaction. Does require storage server that allows mutli-target PPRC. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 Base |
Service details | N/A part of z/VM 7.2 base |
APAR | N/A |
PTF | N/A |
RSU | N/A |
Multifactor Authentication for z/VM | |
Name | Multifactor Authentication for z/VM |
---|---|
Description | Introduces support for a z/VM system with an External Security Manager to authenticate a z/VM userid via a non-password token. |
Status | Available May 22, 2020 |
Target availability | May 22, 2020 |
Compatibility | No change to default authentication behaviors. If enabled for MFA use, fallback support will be configurable for emergency-use only. |
Enablement |
After application of the PTF, use appropriate ESM commands to designate
a z/VM userid as requiring MFA for logon (RAC ALTUSER or similar). Note
that the IBM Z Multifactor Authentication product must be installed in
order to process MFA requests from z/VM; refer to the
announce
letter for IBM Z MFA for more information.
For information regarding set-up and configuration, consult the IBM Z MFA documentation. |
Effect | No effect for any z/VM guest which is not marked as requiring MFA support. Users of MFA support will need to acquire a derived credential from the MFA web service in order to logon via TN3270 (Telnet) or FTPS. The time of validity for this credential, as well as its reuse, is configurable. Administrators should only enable MFA for human users, as technical users (service virtual machines) or existing applications may not be able to acquire derived credentials in an appropriate time window. |
ISV impact | If you have an ISV product for ESM, please see your vendor for appropriate updates. |
Linux or hardware interaction | The MFA web service must run inside a Linux on Z guest. It is recommended that this Linux guest be configured exclusively for MFA use, in order to prevent any potential security or privacy issues in sharing a guest for multiple functions. Please consult appropriate product information (5655-MA1) for details regarding minimum service levels, package requirements, and supported distributions. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.1 with the PTF for CP APAR VM66324 applied |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66338 |
PTF | UV99363 |
RSU | z/VM 7.1 RACF - 2101 |
Additional information | July 7, 2021: MFA fixpack is now available. See z/VM Service APAR VM66528: RACF FIXPACK TO ADDRESS MFA ISSUES / PTFs UV99401 (7.1), UV99401 (7.2) for more information. |
NVMe EDEVICE Support for z/VM | |
Name | NVMe EDEVICE Support |
---|---|
Description | This support allows Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) devices connected via PCI Express (PCIe) adapters to be defined and managed as Fixed-Block Architecture (FBA) emulated devices (EDEVICEs). |
Status | Available September 16, 2022 |
Target availability | September 2022 |
Compatibility | FEATURES ENABLE PCI is no longer required - PCI support is always enabled and FEATURES ENABLE PCI and FEATURES DISABLE PCI are accepted but ignored. |
Enablement | Install PCIe adapter and NVMe device. Define device with SET EDEVICE command. Customer is responsible for acquiring a supported NVMe SSD and for device monitoring and management. A sample CMS-based monitoring utility is provided. |
Effect | TBD |
ISV impact | Monitor records are enhanced and produced in new combinations, reflecting support for multiple HyperPAV bases and aliases associated with a single EDEVICE. |
Linux or hardware interaction | LinuxONE hardware required. |
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.EDEVICE.NVME |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.3 Base |
Service details | N/A part of z/VM 7.3 base |
APAR | N/A |
PTF | N/A |
RSU | N/A |
Sign up | Contact Kerry Wilson - kerryw@us.ibm.com to become a Sponsor User. |
Perfkit Support for SMT | |
Name | Performance Toolkit Support for Simultaneous Multi-Threading (SMT) |
---|---|
Description | This enhancement provides new reports within the Performance Toolkit Feature in support of SMT. New reports will display SMT metrics for each core in a partition, and for each core type. Reports will also display the three views of user processor time: raw time, MT-1 equivalent time, and prorated core time. These reports will assist in understanding processor usage and efficiency. |
Status | Available December 8, 2020 |
Target availability | December 2020 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Apply PTF and recycle Perfkit to pick up SMT enhancements. |
Effect | No known effect. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66215 |
PTF | UM35495 |
RSU | z/VM Perfkit 7.2 - 2101 |
Preserve Partial Dump Across IPL | |
Name | Preserve Partial Dump Across Initial Program Load (IPL) |
---|---|
Description | Preserving partial dumps caused by a re-IPL of the partition before the dump completion. Currently, dumps which are terminated by a re-IPL of the partition are not preserved across the re-IPL. |
Status | Available December 10, 2021 |
Target availability | December 2021 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Apply PTFs and re-IPL z/VM to activate the code. |
Effect | No known effect. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No interaction or dependency is anticipated. |
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.DUMP.PRESERVE_PARTIAL |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66560 |
PTF | UM35921 |
RSU | TBD |
Query GSKKYMAN Certificates | |||
Name | Query GSKKYMAN Certificates | ||
---|---|---|---|
Description | Provides support in z/VM TCPIP for querying ceritficates within a specific GSKKYMAN certificate database. The query will list certificate labels and display certain attributes of the certificates. This item is part of the z/VM TCP/IP Streamlined SSL Configuration project. | ||
Status | Available December 10, 2021 | ||
Target availability | December 2021 | ||
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. While new interfaces may be introduced, there is currently no intention to remove existing interfaces, programmatic or otherwise. | ||
Enablement | A new CERTMGR command will be shipped with a QUERY option. The CMS DEFAULTS command will be used for setting the defaults certificate database. | ||
Effect | No known effect. | ||
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. | ||
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. | ||
Environment variable name | N/A | ||
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR | ||
Service details | TCP/IP | CMS | VMSES |
APAR | PH40080 | VM66561 | VM66581 |
PTF | UI78359 | UM35911 | UM35914 |
RSU | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Query z/VM System Security Settings | |
Name | Query z/VM System Security Settings |
---|---|
Description | This item will provide a centralized 'collector' program which gathers security-relevant configuration information from various z/VM components (CP, TCP/IP, DirMaint, RACF) and provides them to a system programmer or security administrator via a single pane of glass. This item will also provide an API (via SMAPI) by which z/VM management programs, or compliance programs, can collect this data if authorized. |
Status | Currently in design. |
Target availability | TBD |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement |
After application of PTF, an authorized virtual machine may execute the
function via issuance of the relevant invocation string. Program will
detect how (or if) security relevant features are enabled.
Configuration and control of SMAPI will be required in order to use the API functionality provided by this item. |
Effect | TBD |
ISV impact | Directory manager and/or security manager software provided by vendors may need additional enablement support in order to provide data via this interface. |
Linux or hardware interaction | API support is intended for use by the IBM zSCC (Security & Compliance Center). |
Environment variable name | TBD |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.3 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | TBD |
PTF | TBD |
RSU | TBD |
Sign up | Contact Kerry Wilson - kerryw@us.ibm.com to become a Sponsor User. |
REXX Sockets Enhancements | |
Name | REXX Sockets Enhancements |
---|---|
Description | This project augments REXX Sockets with additional IOCTL functions to support TLS, adds support for IPv6, improves Domain Name Server support, implements two new socket functions and enhances diagnostics. As a side-effect, it also removes addressability constraints, allowing code to be added easily and naturally in future. |
Status | Currently in test; soliciting sponsor user feedback |
Target availability | TBD |
Compatibility | TBD |
Enablement | TBD |
Effect | TBD |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | TBD |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | TBD |
PTF | TBD |
RSU | TBD |
Sign up | Contact Kerry Wilson - kerryw@us.ibm.com to become a Sponsor User. |
RSCS Query System Service | |
Name | RSCS Query System Service |
---|---|
Description | This provides a means for querying the latest APAR applied to each part that makes up the RSCS LOADLIB. |
Status | Available December 4, 2018 |
Target availability | December 2018 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Apply PTF and re-IPL the RSCS server to activate the code. |
Effect | None |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.1 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66174 |
PTF | UV99342 |
RSU | z/VM RSCS 7.1 - 1901 |
SET EDEVICE Optional LUN Specification | |
Name | SET EDEVICE Optional LUN Specification |
---|---|
Description | SET EDEVICE Optional LUN Specification will allow the LUN operand on the SET EDEVICE command and the EDEVICE system configuration statement to be optional after the first path has been established. |
Status | Available December 8, 2020 |
Target availability | December 2020 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Apply PTFs and re-IPL z/VM to activate the code. |
Effect | No effect on current SET EDEVICE command or EDEVICE statement. |
ISV impact | No known impacts. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.EDEVICE.DEFINITION |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66420 |
PTF | UM35785 |
RSU | z/VM 7.2 - 2101 |
SMAPI FCP EQID API Support | |
Name | SMAPI FCP EQID API Support |
---|---|
Description | A new z/VM System Management API (SMAPI) called System_FCP_EQID_Set is created to provide a SMAPI API to enable modification of device equivalency IDs (EQID) for real FCP Adapter devices. This new API is particularly beneficial for customers who use SCSI disks connected via FCP (not edevices) and desire to utilize Live Guest Relocation (LGR) in an SSI environment. |
Status | Available September 23, 2022 |
Target availability | TBD |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Apply PTFs and re-start SMAPI to activate the code. |
Effect | No known effect. |
ISV impact | No known ISV impacts. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction at this time. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.3 New Function APAR. |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66626 |
PTF | UM36014 |
RSU | TBD |
SMAPI Query Processors API | |
Name | SMAPI Query Processors API |
---|---|
Description | A Systems Management API (SMAPI) that provides information about the real processors available to a z/VM system. |
Status | Available December 10, 2021 |
Target availability | December 2021 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | No impact to any existing z/VM functionality. This new function will be available via a SMAPI API call. |
Effect | No known effect. |
ISV impact | No known ISV impacts. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction at this time. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | New Function APAR for z/VM 7.2. |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66568 |
PTF | UM35922 |
RSU | TBD |
Spool Information Enhancements | |
Name | Spool Information Enhancements |
---|---|
Description | The Spool Information Enhancements project enhances spool subsystem interfaces to provide additional information. Its objective is to enable spool management software such as z/VM Operations Manager to facilitate client DASD migration and backup activities. These extensions to the existing interfaces will allow clients to manage spool files and volumes more effectively. |
Status | Available March 1, 2021 |
Target availability | March 2021 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Apply PTFs and re-IPL z/VM to activate the code. |
Effect |
Diagnose X'D8' can return information indicating which CP-owned volumes
contain at least one page of a designated spool file. Diagnose X'D8' and the *SPL IUCV System Service can process spool files on the System Data File (NSS/DCSS, UCR, IMG, NLS, and TRF files) queue. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time, although ISVs may choose to exploit the new functions to deliver new capabilities. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction at this time. |
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.SPOOL.EXTENSIONS |
Release(s) | New Function APAR for z/VM 7.2. |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66479 |
PTF | UM35825 |
RSU | z/VM 7.2 - 2102 |
SSI Eight Member Clusters | |
Name | SSI Eight Member Clusters |
---|---|
Description | This New Function APAR increases the maximum size of a Single System Image (SSI) cluster from four members to eight members. Four-member clusters may be installed initially, and then additional members may be added to the cluster. This will allow customers to grow their SSI clusters to allow for more workload, and more flexibility in using live guest relocation (LGR) for non-disruptive upgrades and workload balancing. |
Status | Available September 16, 2022 |
Target availability | September 2022 |
Compatibility | TBD |
Enablement | TBD |
Effect | TBD |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | CP.LIMIT.SSI.MEMBERS |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.3 Base |
Service details | Part of z/VM 7.3 base. See pre-requisisite service below. |
APAR | N/A |
PTF | N/A |
RSU | N/A |
Support Larger NVMe EDEVICE Page Space Allocations | |
Name | Support Larger NVMe EDEVICE Page Space Allocations |
---|---|
Description | Allow paging space to be allocated anywhere on an NVMe EDEVICE and to be of any size up to the available capacity. |
Status | Currently in system test; soliciting sponsor user feedback. |
Target availability | Second Quarter 2023 |
Compatibility | This support is upward compatible. It depends on an updated version of ICKDSF. |
Enablement | Enabled when the PTF is applied and NVMe EDEVICEs are allocated with large extents using CPFMTXA (ICKDSF). |
Effect | NVMe FBA EDEVICEs can handle large paging workloads more effectively. |
ISV impact | No known impacts. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.EDEVICE.NVME |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.3 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66675 |
PTF | TBD |
RSU | TBD |
System SSL 2.5 Uplift | |
Name | System SSL 2.5 Uplift |
---|---|
Description | An update of the cryptographic services library is planned to allow for enhanced certificate diagnostic enhancements, improved algorithmic support, and future enablement of TLS 1.3 for secure connectivity to the z/VM platform. |
Status | Currently in development. |
Target availability | TBD |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Apply PTF and re-IPL z/VM TLS Server(s) or z/VM LDAP Server(s) to activate the code. |
Effect | No known effect. |
ISV impact | No known impacts. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.3 New Function APAR |
Service details | TBD |
APAR | TBD |
PTF | TBD |
RSU | TBD |
Thin Stack Adapter Interrupt Support | |
Name | Thin Stack Adapter Interrupt Support |
---|---|
Description | This enhancement updates the Thin Stack FCP SCSI device driver and associated IO routines to exploit adapter interruptions. It also provides improved error handling to the SCSIDISC command. Use of adapter interruptions is required for Thin Stack to be compatible with future models of the z processor. |
Status | Currently in system test. |
Target availability | TBD |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Required the use of an updated SALIPL (CMS command), SCSIDISC (CMS command), and CPLOAD. All three component may be used independently, however the full benefit of this line item is not achieved until all three items are installed and the IPL record for FCP SCSI based z/VM system has been re-written using the updated SALIPL. The new SALIPL will install an updated SAPL system loader program. |
Effect | This enhancement impacts: IPL from FCP SCSI devices, dump to FCP SCSI devices using abend and SNAPDUMP processing, the SALIP and SCSIDISC commands. |
ISV impact | No known impacts. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.THINSTACK |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.3 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66654 |
PTF | TBD |
RSU | TBD |
Timing Enhancements | |
Name | z/VM Timing Enhancements |
---|---|
Description | The z/VM Timing Enhancements line item will improve the current support of the Server Time Protocol (STP) by including leap seconds in several key interfaces where z/VM reports on civil time. When leap seconds are properly configured to the Central Processor Complex (CPC), this will mean that time generated by z/VM and time generated by other operating systems that support STP and are part of the same timing network, will be consistent. |
Status | Currently in development; soliciting sponsor user feedback. |
Target availability | TBD |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | TBD |
Effect | TBD |
ISV impact | TBD |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | TBD |
Release(s) | TBD |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | TBD |
PTF | TBD |
RSU | TBD |
Sign up | Contact Kerry Wilson - kerryw@us.ibm.com to become a Sponsor User. |
TLS/SSL Certificate Verification | |||
Name | TLS/SSL Certificate Verification | ||
---|---|---|---|
Description |
Add support to allow authentication of client certificates, host
name validation and extraction of fields from a certificate.
Client certificate authentication support will allow a server to verify a client by examining the client certificate to ensure it has been signed by a certificate authority that the server trusts and that it has not expired, The client authentication support that was previously added to dynamically secured Telnet connections will be expanded to the z/VM FTP and SMTP servers. Additionally, the PORT statement in the TCPIP Config file will be updated to allow client certificate authentication for statically secured connections. Host Name Validation support will allow a client to verify the identity of a server by passing a string containing a Host Name, Domain Name or IP Address on the handshake request. The string will be compared to fields in the server certificate. If the string is not contained within the server certificate, the client may decide to fail the handshake. In addition to the above support, new APIs will be provided to allow fields to be extracted from a client or server certificate. Finally, this PTF also changes the z/VM Telnet server's default CLIENTCERTCHECK setting from NONE to PREFERRED. |
||
Status | Available June 16, 2020 | ||
Target availability | Second Quarter 2020 | ||
Compatibility |
LE APAR VM66349 changes the definition of the SecureDetail structure.
Any programs currently using the SecureDetail structure may need to be
modified. When Host Name Verification is enabled, values inside your server's digital certificate will be checked against the hostname or IP address of the TCP/IP stack. Use of this option may potentially require new or updated digital certificates, if such fields have not already been included. |
||
Enablement |
New configuration options will be added to the SECURE statements in the
FTP and SMTP server configuration files to request verification of
client certificates. For statically secured connections, new options
will be added to the PORT statement.
New APIs will allow fields to be requested from a local or partner certificate. The new APIs include a TCPSCERTDATA call for Pascal routines and a new SIOCGCERTDATA ioctl code for IUCV and C routines. For Host Name Verification, the SecureDetailType structure has been updated with a new Version field. When the Version is set to 1, a new SecureDetailExtension can be included on a secure client call to specify an FQDN, host name or IP Address to be compared against a server certificate to verify the identity of the server. The z/VM Telnet client will be updated to use the new SecureDetailExtension. The above support requires new TCPIP, SSLSERV, NETSTAT, SRVRFTP, SMTP, FTP and TELNET modules. In addition, a new version of CMS and LE is required for the SSL servers and any users that will be issuing the new SIOCGCERTDATA ioctl. A restart of all of these clients and servers will be required. No restart of z/VM itself is required. |
||
Effect | Because of the change to the z/VM Telnet server's default CLIENTCERTCHECK setting, connections to the z/VM Telnet server might take longer to establish and CPU consumption in the z/VM TLS/SSL servers might increase. | ||
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. | ||
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. | ||
Environment variable name | N/A | ||
Release(s) | z/VM 7.1 New Function APAR | ||
Service details | TCP/IP | CMS | LE |
APAR | PH18435 | VM66348 | VM66349 |
PTF | UI69975 | UM35651 | UM35650 |
RSU | z/VM 7.1 TCP/IP - 2101 | z/VM 7.1 - 2101 | z/VM 7.1 - 2001 |
TLS / SSL OCSP Support | |
Name | TLS / SSL OCSP Support |
---|---|
Description | This support provides general peer certificate cross-checking against an external source, via OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol) and via the CRL (Certificate Revocation List) Distribution Points (CDP) mechanisms embedded as part of the z/VM System SSL Cryptographic library, when the peer certificate is built with the extension(s) for CDP and OCSP. Online Certificate Protocol was codified in RFC 6960 and CDP was documented as part of RFC 5280. Support for these has been part of z/OS System SSL for some time; this deliverable allows enablement and configuration of that support on z/VM 7.2. |
Status | Available January 6, 2021 |
Target availability | December 2020 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | This function is enabled and configured through new DTCPARMS configuration parameters for the SSL/TLS Server. Changes made to the SSL configuration parameters will require a restart of the SSL servers. A small enhancement is also made to the TCPIP stack so a restart of TCP/IP will be required after the PTF is applied. |
Effect | Security is enhanced by verifying that a client certificate has not been revoked. When this support is enabled, the handshake time will increase when a peer certificate is presented with CDP and/or OCSP extensions, since a connection needs to be made to an external server. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | N/A |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | PH28216 |
PTF | UI72963 |
RSU | z/VM 7.2 - 2102 |
VMEVENT Enhancements | |
Name | VMEVENT Enhancements |
---|---|
Description |
Additional information is provided through the *VMEVENT CP system service:
|
Status | Currently in development. |
Target availability | Second Quarter 2023 |
Compatibility |
This support is upward compatible. Where existing event record formats are modified, the new information
is appended at the end. Existing fields retain their prior content, with one exception: previously, a
logoff-timeout value above 65535 seconds was incorrectly truncated to 16 bits; the maximum representable
value, 65535, will be presented in this field instead.
Existing programs that consume *VMEVENT data must be able to tolerate (e.g., ignore) new record types as well as content appended to existing record types. |
Enablement | Apply PTF and re-IPL z/VM to activate the code. |
Effect | No known effects. |
ISV impact | No known impacts. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.VMEVENT |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.3 New Function APAR |
Service details | TBD |
APAR | TBD |
PTF | TBD |
RSU | TBD |
VSwitch Bridge Port Enhancements | |
Name | VSwitch Bridge Port Enhancements |
---|---|
Description | VSwitch Bridge Port Enhancements adds a new NICDISTRIBUTION option to the VSwitch HiperSockets Bridge. When activated, this new option enables the Bridge to distinguish and manage separately the traffic generated by various HiperSocket connections on the same HiperSocket CHPID used by the Bridge. Traffic entering and exiting the Bridge Port via an OSA link aggregation group will be more evenly distributed among the assigned OSAs in the group. Activation of the new option also enables the VSwitch to extract IPv4 and IPv6 address assignments for display in QUERY VSWITCH. |
Status | Available December 10, 2021 |
Target availability | December 2021 |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Apply PTFs and re-IPL z/VM to activate the code. The NICDISTRIBUTION feature can be set on a VSwitch basis. The default behavior is how it currently works. It can be changed dynamically with the SET VSWITCH BRIDGEPORT NICDISTRIBUTION command. |
Effect | With a NICDISTRIBUTION ON configuration, there is additional processing to interrogate each Ethernet frame and inspect the source MAC Address. Performance measurements indicate no noticeable impact by this change. It is, of course, work load dependent. With NICDISTRIBUTION OFF, the extra frame inspection is not performed. |
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. |
Linux or hardware interaction | No known Linux or hardware interaction. |
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.VSWITCH.NICDISTRIBUTION |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR |
Service details | See below for the IBM service information. |
APAR | VM66557 |
PTF | UM35920 |
RSU | TBD |
VSwitch Priority Queuing | |||
Name | VSwitch Priority Queuing | ||
---|---|---|---|
Description | Currently all VSwitch outbound traffic to the external network is transmitted at the same priority. When VSwitch Priority Queuing is enabled, z/VM will establish multiple OSA QDIO Output queues, and transmit data to the external network at different priorities. | ||
Status | Available May 23, 2019 | ||
Target availability | June 2019 | ||
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. | ||
Enablement | Apply PTFs and re-IPL z/VM. Enablement can be handled through DEFINE VSWITCH command. Priorities can be set via NICDEF or SET VSWITCH. Priority queueing on the OSA card is enabled by default. | ||
Effect | View the VSwitch Priority Queuing performance report. | ||
ISV impact | ISV directory maintenance support products may require changes for the new option on the NICDEF directory statement. ISV performance monitoring products may require changes for the new Monitor record fields. | ||
Linux or hardware interaction | Priority queueing is supported on all available OSA-Express features. It does require an OSA configuration change via IOCP or HCD. No known Linux interaction. | ||
Environment variable name | N/A | ||
Release(s) | z/VM 7.1 New Function APAR | ||
Service details | CP | TCPIP | DirMaint |
APAR | VM66219 | PH04703 | VM66223 |
PTF | UM35465 | UI62768 | UV99352 |
RSU | z/VM 7.1 - 1902 | z/VM 7.1 TCP/IP - 1902 | z/VM 7.1 DirMaint - 1901 |
Additional information |
z/VM Spotlight: Virtual Priority Queuing Virtual Switch Priority Queuing PDF presentation (16 slides, 1MB) |
Warning Track Interruption Facility | |
Name | Warning Track Interruption Facility |
---|---|
Description | Warning Track Interruption Facility will be exploited at z/VM host level to receive warnings that PR/SM will undispatch a logical CPU from its backing physical CPU. With these warnings, CP can undispatch work running on said logical CPU to make it redispatchable elsewhere. |
Status | Currently in development; soliciting sponsor user feedback. |
Target availability | TBD |
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. |
Enablement | Apply PTF and re-IPL z/VM to activate the code. The function will be enabled by default. The support will include a new SRM configuration statement option as well as a new SET SRM dynamic command option to enable/disable Warning Track exploitation in z/VM. |
Effect | Warning Track intends to reduce suspend time and other poor performance symptoms observed when low entitlement LPARs consume more than their entitlement. |
ISV impact | Some monitor changes will be included in the support. If you have a performance product, please see your vendor. |
Linux or hardware interaction | Requires z14 or higher. No known Linux interaction at this time. |
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.SRM.WARNINGTRACK |
Release(s) | z/VM 7.3 New Function APAR |
Service details | TBD |
APAR | TBD |
PTF | TBD |
RSU | TBD |
z/XC Architecture Support | |||
Name | z/XC Architecture Support | ||
---|---|---|---|
Description | z/XC Architecture support will add a new virtual machine architecture mode that enables CMS applications running in z/Architecture to take advantage of multiple address spaces. A z/XC guest will be able to exploit VM Data Spaces with z/Architecture in the same way that an ESA/XC guest can exploit them with Enterprise Systems Architecture. This support will allow z/Architecture CMS (z/CMS) to use VM Data Spaces for functions such as accessing Shared File System (SFS) Directory Control (DIRCONTROL) directories. It will also allow use of programs employing z/Architecture instructions and registers (within the limits of z/CMS support) and exploiting data spaces in the same CMS session. | ||
Status | Available March 31, 2021 | ||
Target availability | March 2021 | ||
Compatibility | No known incompatibilities. Statement of support for z/VM 7.1 may be limited. | ||
Enablement | Apply the PTF and re-IPL CP. Then, in a virtual machine, SET MACHINE XC and IPL ZCMS. | ||
Effect | None anticipated. | ||
ISV impact | No known impacts at this time. | ||
Linux or hardware interaction | No interaction or dependency is anticipated. | ||
Environment variable name | CP.FUNCTION.ZXC | ||
Release(s) | z/VM 7.1 and z/VM 7.2 New Function APAR | ||
Service details | CP | CMS | PTK |
APAR | VM66201 | VM66425 | VM66489 |
PTF | UM35770, UM35771 | UM35820, UM35821 | UM35816 |
RSU | TBD | TBD | TBD |
All statements regarding IBM's future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only. Target dates shared here are not formal commitments, but meant to assist in your planning purposes. Because of the likelihood of changes, we highly recommend subscribing to the notifications for this page.
Request to become more involved
If you have interest in a project above and would like more information, feel free to contact Kerry Wilson - kerryw@us.ibm.com. Please understand that we may need to limit participation and there are other requirements that may vary from project to project.