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Continuing IBM i Education: COMMON Fall Events

I am a big advocate for continuing education. Whether self-study with online materials or attending user group meetings, keeping current with technology is critical for career success. I do online self-study frequently. When I have questions I head straight to the internet. I also make it a point to attend local user group meetings—in my […]

How to Deploy a Simple Grafana Dashboard

A “hidden gem” among IBM i’s open-source examples is a sample backend for Grafana. Grafana is a popular tool for monitoring various parts of your IT infrastructure. Its GitHub page describes it as “The open and composable observability and data visualization platform.” In today’s exercise, we will deploy our sample Grafana backend on IBM i […]

Closing the Skills Gap Through Mainframe Optimization

Mainframe environments are continuously evolving—from the shift toward hybrid cloud, to accelerated application development processes and more. This movement toward optimization has left enterprises poised to better address the mainframe skills gap. And, these innovations are possible because of the brilliant technologists on the platform. In this TechChannel e-book, IBM’s Yvette LaMar and Meredith Stowell explain […]

IBM LinuxONE Emperor 4: Sustainability, Security, Flexibility

The IBM LinuxONE Emperor 4 server introduced today (September 13, 2022) is designed to help IT professionals address some of the most pressing issues facing the industry today. The new product increases efficiencies, reduces energy consumption, improves security and provides flexibility in a highly scalable infrastructure. Emperor 4 will be available at the enterprise level […]

Women of COBOL Episode 4: Creative Solutions for Closing the Mainframe Skills Gap

Misty Decker: Hi and welcome to this episode of Women of COBOL. Today we are talking about changing lives through COBOL. I’m so excited about this one; I hope you are, too. Let me introduce our two guests. Today we’re going to chat with Magie Hall, assistant professor of Strategic Business Analytics at WU Vienna. […]

Maintaining Your AIX Systems

Unfortunately, there are a number of people out there testing your security so it is critical that your systems are regularly updated and patched to avoid problems.  Normally maintenance consists of updating the HMC (both software and the BMC/PNOR), server firmware, I/O adapter firmware, VIO servers and your AIX system. In all cases, there may […]

Introducing IBM i System Subscription

IBM has introduced the IBM i System Subscription, designed for affordability and simplicity. Get insights on this latest announcement from IBM’s Dylan Boday.

IBM, VMware Expand Hybrid Cloud Partnership

At VMware Explore 2022, the tech giants unveiled plans for joint product development and consulting alliance aimed at modernizing hybrid cloud environments in regulated industries

Pat Stanard on Mainframe Optimization Versus Modernization

Reg Harbeck: Hi. I’m Reg Harbeck, and today I’m here with Pat Stanard, who is the chief mainframe architect for Kyndryl US—which is, in my opinion, a pretty impressive title. Pat, great to meet you. Tell me, how did you end up in the world of mainframe? Pat Stanard: Hey, Reg. Hey, it’s good to […]

Open Firmware Macros Tips, and a Closer Look at Power10 Servers

There are several ways to boot LPARs on IBM Power Systems servers. For example, you can boot to your OS of choice—AIX, IBM i, or Linux—or to SMS or open firmware. While most of us are familiar with all of these options, if you’re not, check out this IBM Support document. I’ll highlight the section […]

Explore the Security Audit Journal With Navigator for i

Navigator for i, which I previously referred to as New Nav, is now simply called Navigator. I recommend using this version for most tasks. From now on, I will use the term Heritage Navigator when referencing Old Nav. An exciting new feature is the ability to work with your security audit journal entries. Everyone should […]

Not Your Typical Mainframer: Dr. Magie Hall on COBOL Training

Reg Harbeck: Hi, I’m Reg Harbeck and today I’m here with Dr. Magie Hall, who is assistant professor of strategic business analytics at WU Vienna. Magie, welcome. You’re not a typical mainframer as such, but your role in the mainframe and legacy and business computing ecosystem is tremendously important, so we’re really thankful for this […]

The Ongoing Challenge of Keeping Personal Data Private

Charlie Guarino: Hi everybody, this is Charlie Guarino. Welcome to another edition of TechTalk SMB. I’m very happy today to be sitting with the vice president of strategy, CTO and CISO, which is the chief information security officer, of Arcad Software, none other than Mr. Michel Mouchon. Michel, what a pleasure it is to be […]

Everything You Need to Know About the New IBM i RPM Repositories

You’re probably familiar with IBM’s internet-based distribution technique for many open-source packages. As of today, IBM is restructuring how and where things get published. In today’s post, I’ll discuss why a change is needed and what actions you need to take in order to continue receiving updates. I will be using the word “repository” a […]

Rehost or Refactor: Modernizing Legacy Applications

Nothing happens in a vacuum. No one wakes up one morning and decides to embark on a digital transformation strategy because it’s nice to have newer technology. No: There are very real business drivers that lead companies and institutions to make this journey. All of these business drivers can be categorized as relating to either […]

Emily Drake on SHARE and the IBM Z Community

Reg Harbeck: Hi. This is Reg Harbeck and I'm here with my friend and colleague Emily Drake. Emily is really involved in the SHARE user community and in fact in charge of a lot of making things happen with the editorial committee and just really—well, before I tell you everything, let me ask Emily. Emily, how […]

Why Ansible Is Emerging as a Top Automation Tool for Mainframes

Mainframe sites used to be like small factories in terms of the number of people that were needed to keep the machine running. There were lots of operators who spent their time feeding in card decks and changing tapes on the tape drives. There were systems programmers and application programmers, and a whole host of […]

John Connors and Milt Rosberg on Mainframe Security and Pervasive Encryption

Reg Harbeck: Hi, I’m Reg Harbeck and today I’m here with Milt Rosberg, who is global VP at Vanguard Integrity Professionals, and John Connors, who is CEO at Vanguard Integrity Professionals. And so John, maybe if you could tell us: How did you end up in the world of mainframe and security? John Connors: Well […]

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Power10 and the Impact of Upgrading

Recently, after settling into a new home, I upgraded my cable modem and router. I was fine with the internet service I had, but for the same cost, I was able to go from ~100Mbps to ~1000Mbps download speeds. Obviously those numbers may vary depending on your connection (wired versus wireless), your equipment, and the […]

Work With PTF, Collection Services and Other IBM i 7.5 Hidden Gems: Part 4

In this post, I’ll continue reviewing hidden gems found in the 7.5 release. Work With PTF The Work with PTF (WRKPTF) command is now part of the base OS. The command allows you to work with PTFs for a selected product; you can specify the product name, or use the *SELECT option to choose from a […]

Len Santalucia on His Mainframe Journey and Career

Reg Harbeck: Hi. I am Reg Harbeck and today I’m here with Len Santalucia, my friend and colleague who is the chief technology officer at Vicom Infinity, a Converge company. And you know if you’re on the mainframe, if there is one person you’re likely to know, it’s probably Len. He seems to have the […]

Power10 Planning and Requirements

Jaqui Lynch on the new POWER10 servers and the requirements to support them

How to Manage Prestart Jobs in New Navigator

One of the latest features in New Navigator is the ability to display active prestart jobs. I’ve written extensively about prestart jobs since it can be difficult to understand what these jobs are doing. Some of my earlier articles, such as subsystem configuration, prestart job tuning and client special registers, aid in understanding what prestart […]

Future-Proof Your IBM i Applications

A look at top IBM i concerns, and how to address them through determining best practices for modernization, security, and future planning for IBM i applications

Women of COBOL Episode 3: The Case for Modernization

Misty Decker: Hi and welcome to Women of COBOL, our third episode, today. We are going to be talking with Marianne Bellotti—the author of my favorite book, “Kill it with Fire”; if you don’t have it, you need it—and Susan Drennan, vice president of COBOL sales at Micro Focus. We’re going to be talking about […]