IBM Mainframe Forum

hi, i wanna know how i can make a jcl or if i can use any utility that identifies all software inventory in my z/os and the expirate time of the licences on it.

thx

There are two parts to this query.

• How can identify the software products installed on my system? Basically, you can't. Every vendor installs products there own way, and there is no universal consolidated software inventory system.
• How can I determine when the authorization to use the software expires? Basically, you can't, for the same reason as in the first bullet. CA Technologies (or whatever they call themselves this week), for example, has a small authorization product that all of their products call from time to time. In turn, the authorization product refers to its product data base, which is just a flat data set containing product information and a code for each product. Hidden in this code is expiration information, but nowhere does it say in plain text, when the product expires. Most mainframe product vendors use schemes that are roughly similar.

hi Steve, and thx a lot for ur time i very appreciate but i find programs like: Tivoli License Compliance Manager for z/OS from IBM that consolidate ibm and no ibm software i wanna try make it something like that on rexx or jcl.... or u can tell me if i am wrong and that tivoli product don't do that neither....

Begin by reading the freely available documentation for Tivoli License Compliance Manager. Then realize that you're biting off so big a chunk that you'll choke on it.

Hello and welcome to the forum,

If you are not already familiar with how all of your products are installed and maintained, i suspect trying to "roll your own" for this is too ambitious. Most of us who are quite senior could not sit down and write this this afternoon.

Suggest you review the info at the link Akatsumi posted.

Then consider that there is NO way to do this with "jcl".

Try to envision what you would need to implement to identify/track only one vendor (non-IBM) product - let alone all of them.

i wanna try make it something like that on rexx or jcl.... or u can tell me if i am wrong

I hope you do realize that the Tivoli product probably took THOUSANDS of hours to develop, and IBM has major advantages that you do not -- namely, they build the hardware and the operating system. Our CA products use a memory-resident table established during IPL, our Compuware products use a memory-resident table loaded from a VSAM file, another product has an Assembler macro that encodes the expiration date and must be recompiled into a load module whenever a license renewal occurs, other products provide us a code (completely encrypted so it looks nothing like a date) that is keyed into a TSO screen or used in a batch job, and so forth. There are MANY ways for software vendors to code expiration dates for their products, and it is not likely you're going to be able to find them all out.

In other words, you are wrong and it is almost certainly impossible to write REXX (or JCL, which has to execute a program) to do what you want. Tivoli might be able to do it, but that's IBM - not you.

Robert no ofense but in our Bank we got 200 + products and so far i found 87% of the lic parm where i can get the information that i wanna in only 2 days so is not impossible... and when u see 1 man.. just 1 hack the PENTAGONO or IBM site u can realize that sometimes all u can need is 1 person and time to make the job... but well is just my opinion robert Good Luck thx all for ur comments

Since you have done so wonderfully already, it would hardly seem that you needed our input, does it?

Hi Akatsukami i ask cuz i always like to see if ppl can provide anything new or some idea for what i do... some times i got it others well dont...

Hello,

Finding some "stuff" is rather trivial. Doing what you say you want to do is Not.

We'd be interested to hear when your Tivoli replacement is up and running.