IBM z/OS (Mainframe)

tip

Looking to discover an IBM i/AS400 midrange system? See the IBM i/AS400 docs page.

Device42 can discover IBM mainframes running the z/OS operating system, collecting device details, IP addresses, hardware information, services, and disk space data. Like most discovery jobs, z/OS discovery can be scheduled to run automatically.

This page covers prerequisites, how to create and configure an IBM z/OS discovery job, and the latest discovery enhancements.

Discovered Information

IBM z/OS discovery jobs collect the following details:

Device names
IP addresses (both IPv4 and IPv6)
Machine information (serials, capacities, manufacturers, device names)
OS versions
Hardware (CEC units)
Services attached to service ports

IBM z/OS Discovery Job Prerequisites and Information

Review the following requirements and details before setting up an IBM z/OS discovery job.

License requirement: IBM z/OS discovery requires a license.
Compatibility: IBM z/OS discovery works for almost all z/OS systems.
FTP configuration: Discovery happens via FTP on port 21. FTP must be enabled and connections accepted for an IBM z/OS discovery to succeed. The FTP discovery expects to use the default IBM translation tables. If you encounter an issue with this, contact Device42 Support.
Netstat communication: Device42 requires access to the TSO NETSTAT CONN command.
Permission: Collecting disk information requires access to the STGADMIN.IDC.DCOLLECT profile.
Security: No special security rights are required. A standard TSO logon is sufficient.

Discovery is a non-intrusive process, as no files are created and no software is installed on the z/OS system.

One discovery job must be created per job card. If multiple instances share the same job card (as configured), they can be discovered in the same job, but this is often not the case.

IBM z/OS Discovery Updates

Device42 has enhanced IBM z/OS discovery with the following additional capabilities and device results.

Processor information: The number of IBM z Integrated Information Processors (zIIPs) and IBM z Application Assistance Processors (zAAPs) are recorded as components on the device record.
Disk space details: The number of drives, their capacity, and their space used (in TB) are captured as mount points on the device. Access to the STGADMIN.IDC.DCOLLECT profile is required to collect disk information.
User and connection data: Information on current TSO users, TN3270 connections, and GCP processor capacity in MIPS is added as extra fields on the device record.
Database and queue managers: The data of executing DB Managers for DB2 and IMS or IBM MQ Managers is captured as Services.

Create an IBM z/OS Mainframe Discovery Job

Navigate to Discovery > HyperVisors / *nix / Windows and click Create to create a new discovery job. The following options are available.

Job Name: Enter a unique name to identify the IBM z/OS discovery job.
Remote Collector: Optionally, specify a Remote Collector from which to run discovery instead of from the Main Appliance.
Job Debug level: Turn debug on or off.
Platform: Select IBM z/OS for mainframe discovery.
Discovery Target(s): Specify the FQDN or IP address of the IBM z/OS target you want to discover. If using FQDN, ensure Device42 is set up to resolve DNS. Configure the DNS settings in your Device42 virtual machine (VM) console.
Port: Only change this if your admin has configured a custom listening port. IBM z/OS discovery uses FTP port 21 by default.
ADM Sampling Interval: Specify the application dependency mapping (ADM) data collection interval.

Discovery Target(s) Credential(s): Specify a username with permissions on your z/OS mainframe. Usernames are not case-sensitive on z/OS.

Discover Using FTPS: Use FTPS for the discovery job.
Job Card: Input the job card specific to this discovery job. You may need to contact your administrator to get this information. One job card is required per job, and a new z/OS discovery job must be created for each additional job card.
Alternate zOS TCP Command: Specify the TCP command to use in discovery.

Autodiscovery Schedule: Set z/OS discovery jobs to run automatically on a schedule.

Job Status: View the status of the last discovery job run.
Exclusions: Enter any IP addresses or FQDNs to exclude from the discovery job.
Naming Options: Set a device name as given in the server field of the job, and add non-authoritative aliases.

Host Discovery: Select options for the host OS name, serial number, and UUID. Specify the action to take if no VM is found and select an object category for discovered devices.

Software and Applications: Select options to discover software and services.

Miscellaneous: Select the service level, service customer, device VRF group, and tags.

For information on other jobs that can be run via this screen, see the Linux and Unix Server Discovery page.

Run a Discovery Job

Newly created jobs will not run on the first day they are created to prevent an unintentionally large number of jobs from running initially. To run a job after its initial creation, select Run Now on the job details page.