Thanks Alan, that helps. Your explaination is as good as it can be. It was just a question that has been on my mind lately, and as we get hit by another winter snow storm I thought it would be a good time to ask.
-----Original Message----- From: The IBM z/VM Operating System [mailto:ib...@listserv.uark.edu]on Behalf Of Alan Altmark Sent: Friday, January 09, 2009 10:53 AM To: IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU Subject: Re: Relationship question On Friday, 01/09/2009 at 09:47 EST, "Huegel, Thomas" <thue...@kable.com> wrote: > I don't always pay attention to these things so it may just be my ignorance > that has confused me. > > I always thought RSU's were named for the time they came out, i.e. 0802 was the > second RSU for 2008. Yesterday I saw a RSU tape that was labeled 5401. I am > guessing that is for z/VM 5.4 and the first RSU tape presumably we could see > maybe RSU 5407 or something like that in maybe 2011. This labeling scheme > actually makes more sense to me. > > So the question 'when did this change?'. Or has my head been in the sand for > years? Head. Sand. :-) But don't worry, it confuses me, too! The RSU is named according to the release it affects and the RSU instance number for that release, vrnnRSU. 5402RSU is the 2nd RSU for z/VM 5.4. The RSU contains a collection of the most recent service levels for each component. You can see this at http://www.vm.ibm.com/service/rsu/. RETAIN does not understand RSU numbers because an RSU is just a shipping mechanism, not a fix. But when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail, so in order to make it shippable to you via the service stream, it has to have a PTF number. So each release has a special PTF number that orders the latest RSU. (UM97540 for What's a "service level?". A Service Level (QUERY CPLEVEL, GCSLEVEL, CMSLEVEL) is a package of selected PTFs for a specific component and is available only by ordering the RSU. It is named according the year and instance number of within that year, yynn. 0802 is the 2nd service level 'uplift' in 2008. Service Levels are cumulative, so it will contain all prior service levels for that component. E.g. 0901 will contain 0802 and 0801. When a PTF is placed in a service level (aka selected to be placed on an RSU), the PTF is labeled in RETAIN with that service level number and the PTF keeps that label forever. This is seen in our web pages as SERVLVL. In case that's not confusing enough, we used to let you order the individual service levels for each component separately, known as a "non-stacked RSU". As a consequence, the pre-packaged service level was named yynnRSU. You will still find that when you look at the content of the service levels. Today's "stacked vrnnRSU" contains a specific set of yynnRSUs. If you read the Memo to Users that comes with your RSU order, you will find the full explanation. Note that applying corrective service does not change the Service Level of the components as seen via SES commands or QUERY commands, even if you apply all of the PTFs contained in the Service Level! The special "pseudo-PTF" that changes these fields in the system is not available correctively and is not in RETAIN; it is found only on the RSU. We'll take a look and see if we can simplify some of the web pages to make it more obvious, but both vrnnRSU and yynnRSU will continue to be seen for now, as it would take a lot of re-engineering on our part to make yynnRSU go away completely. If we could declare "Do Overs!" we would do it diffferently, but a lot of water has gone under that particular bridge. Bottom line: o vrnnRSU is the "RSU number," a collection of service levels, one for each affected component. Orderable via PTF. o yynnRSU is the "service level," a collection of PTFs for a specific component. Available only within an RSU. Hope this helps. Alan Altmark z/VM Development IBM Endicott
