1997 VM Workshop
Requirements

 The following are the VM and VM related requirements submitted by the attendees of the 1997 VM Workshop. They were voted upon at the closing session on June 13, 1997. The requirements, along with the voting results, will be turned over to IBM for inclusion in their requirements database.

Each attendee voted in one of 3 categories:

Requirement 1: CP Spool System

Submitted by Michael Short, Clarkson University $MAS@CLVM.CLARKSON.EDU

Request: Sometimes a spool volume needs to be able to be moved offline. At a minimum it would be helpful to migrate files off the volume. Being able to list the files on a volume would be very helpful.

Reason: In our situation, spool areas reside on volumes which can contain other system data. If we get an error on the volume which contains the spool data, we have to replace the HDA. This causes an operational problem in that we lose spool files which in themselves are not damaged.

Voting Results: Critical 0; Nice 20; Negative 8

Requirement 2: ARP cache in TCP/IP

Submitted by Michael Short, Clarkson University $MAS@CLVM.CLARKSON.EDU
Co-sponser: Martha McConaghy, Marist College URMM@VM.MARIST.EDU

Request: We need the ability list and control the contents of the ARP cache, preferably via a command that is compatible with other TCP/IP platforms, like OS/2 and AIX. Some suggestions would be ARP or NETSTAT ARP.

For the list command, we would like the ability to do the entire cache, or specify an IP address, MAC address, or DNS name. For example, arp -a 148.100.160.2 or arp -a 0004.ABC6.5555. It would also be nice if the command could take a DNS name as an argument (resolving it into an IP address before processing the command).

Other functions we would like are the ability to flush the entire cache and deleting specific entries. The MVS TCP/IP already has some of these functions. We would like it to be syntactically compatible with other TCP/IP platforms, especially OS/2 and AIX. These functions should not cause a disruption in service.

Reason: Being able to see and control the contents of the ARP cache is an essential element of IP network control and is available on most other TCP/IP platforms, including OS/2, AIX, MVS and routers such as CISCO. The ability to list and use the information in the cache is helpful in developing tools for monitoring the network. The ability to flush and delete records is important when making major changes in network configuration and in resolving problems. Currently, the only way to do this is to take down the entire TCPIP service machine.

Voting Results: Critical 2; Nice 22; Negative 0

Requirement 3: Fetching from a VSE Library

Submitted by Sam Whiteman, Indiana University/Purdue University WHITEMAN@VMB.IPFW.INDIANA.EDU

Request: In older releases of VM (SP3 and 5), it was possible to fetch a phase from a VSE library and execute it under VM. While it is still possible to do this for pre VSE/SP libraries (phase, obj, source, etc), no access is available for LIBR and VSAM libraries. I would like access to the LIBR functions.

Voting Results: Critical 0; Nice 8; Negative 0

Requirement 4: Parallel Sysplex

Submitted by Tony Lotito, Merrill Lynch Tony_Lotito@PCMAILGW.ML.COM

Request: VM support to run parallel sysplex support for MVS guests, particularly support for attachment to coupling facility links so the guests can communicate to an IBM 9674 coupling facility and participate with other MVS images on other machines in a parallel sysplex.

Voting Results: Critical 8; Nice 21; Negative 0

Requirement 5: NFS Client

Submitted by Michael Short, Clarkson University $MAS@CLVM.CLARKSON.EDU

Request: Provide NFS client function using standard CMS commands and functions (ie. access, filedef, xedit, copy, erase).

Reason: With the popularity of UNIX systems and the use of NFS, more and more data are being stored in NFS file systems. It would be very desirable to access the data from the CMS session.

Voting Results: Critical 0; Nice 17; Negative 3