On 2019-01-29, at 09:52:18, Allan Staller wrote: > Comments interspersed. > > HTH, > Thanks. It would further be useful if you distinguished quoted material with the customary ">" prefix.
> -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> On Behalf Of > Bob Bridges > Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2019 10:07 AM > To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU > Subject: Newbie SMP/E questions > > I'm the Top-Secret admin for a client whose system programmer retired a > couple years ago. The client tapped another employee to take his place, and > she's learning the job with frantic haste but insists with some justification > that she's not a system programmer yet. Me, I came into security through the > applications-development side so I'm not even close. > > Together she and I are trying to learn SMP/E. The immediate purpose is so we > can apply some TSS-related PTFs, but really, it's become clear to me that we > need no excuses to make it a priority; SMP/E is kind of important. > > I have embarked on a serious reading of the SMP/E User's Guide, but I still > need help. I'll limit myself to a handful of questions to start with: > > Question #1) We started by applying a PTF - call it A for simplicity - and > its prerequisite B. We did that last August and then the project languished > for the sake of other priorities. Now we're working on it again and we want > to restore those two PTFs and do the APPLY again. Why? Well, partly because > it was 'way back in August and we're uncertain about exactly how we did it > back then. We know more now. Partly because we know more now and we want to > practice it better. I dunno, partly because we just want to. I think maybe > we bypassed some HOLDs back then too. > > Anyway, we attempted the RESTORE, but we got lots and lots of error messages > saying we need to include other PTFs in the RESTORE. Some of these have an > indirect connection to A and B; B superceded at least three of them, for > example, which I can see were applied some years ago. Others have no > relation to our PTFs that I can discern. I haven't yet found the place in > the User's Guide that explains these relationship and their relevance. Can > someone give a helpful explanation? > SMPE has 2 basic zones TARGET and DLIB (everything else just supports these 2 > zones.). APPLY/ACCEPT processing installs maintenance into the TARGET/DLIB > zones respectively. Once accepted, the only fallback is dfDSS restore (if you > have backups). > Restore processing returns the environment to the last ACCEPTed level. In > order to complete this process, all maintenance from the accepted level to > the current code level must be restored. > > Question #2) So far as we can tell by issuing LIST XREF commands, whoever ran > this thing in the past never did any ACCEPT, ever, except for the original > function code. I see at least 11 PTFs that were applied (including our two), > but the distribution library shows no PTFs for any module I've yet LISTed. > If true, does that mean that to do a RESTORE of our two PTFs we'll have to > RESTORE everything back to the plain-vanilla base? > It is a common practice not to accept maintenance for 3rd party products. I > will not say it is good or bad, but it is common. In to restore to the > environment "before the 2 PTFs", all non-accept PTFs must be restored and > then re-applied (minus the two PTFS). > This will accomplish what is desired in #1 above. > > Question #3) My partner the not-sysprog has in mind that maybe we need to set > aside this CSI (which is dedicated to Top Secret) and create another one > starting with the base software and build up from there. I didn't realize > this could be done, but she thinks she can do it. If it'll work, I like it; > we'll know in that case what we have, which we do not at present. Anyone > have any thoughts on this plan? > A re-install of the product into separate zones is certainly practical. IMO, > less work, but also less of a learning experience > > Question #4) This is a less-important add-on: In both the online > documentation and the User's Guide, I read if I'm doing a RESTORE and name > PTFs A and B, including the GROUP operand causes SMP/E to add whatever other > PTFs are required for various reasons. It doesn't seem to, though; it names > them and complains about them, but doesn't add them to the list. Have I > misunderstood something? I'm loathe to believe the documentation is flat > wrong. > RESTORE S(A,B) GROUPEXTEND will sometimes miss some items. Include them > manually. E.g . RESTORE S(A,B,C) GROUPEXTEND will sometimes miss some items. > > If you're getting ready to send rushed messages saying "DON'T DO ANYTHING > UNTIL YOU'VE CHECKED...", relax; we're planning to go slow. -- gil ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
