The Four Hundred Archives

Tool Aims To Streamline Git Integration For Old School IBM i Devs

August 18, 2025 Alex Woodie

There’s one school of thought that says IBM i developers should embrace the DevOps revolution and start using mainstream tools like Git and Jira for managing and deploying code. But there’s also a pool of old school programmers who are reluctant to give up their established ways and means. Richard Schoen hopes to bring these worlds together with an update to the iForGit tool from his company MobiGoGo’s that streamlines Git integration for old school IBM i devs who still use PDM and SEU.

Schoen launched his iForGit tool about seven years ago to provide some degree of Git integration …
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IBM To Add Full System Replication And FlashCopy To PowerHA

August 18, 2025 Alex Woodie

IBM will be adding a pair of new technologies to PowerHA SystemMirror in the near future, including Full System Replication (FSR) and Full System FlashCopy (FSFC). The technologies are currently offered through the PowerHA Tools group of products via IBM Expert Labs (formerly Lab Services), but will become part of the mainstream PowerHA offering soon.

FSR and FSFC have been available for years via IBM Expert Labs toolkits, where they have provided IBM i shops with additional forms of data and application protection above and beyond what they get with BRMS and PowerHA, both of which are still required with …
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Guru: Decoding Base64 ASCII

August 18, 2025 Chris Ringer

A co-worker of mine recently asked me how to decode a base64 ASCII string in RPG, received from an HTTP response. My response was “that’s easy”, simply use the relevant SQL function BASE64_DECODE. I promptly wrote some sample code and after some debugging I realized this function threw me a curveball.

Let me demonstrate the issue and offer a simple solution.
```
01 **Free
02 ctl-opt DftActGrp(*No) Copyright('(C) Chris Ringer');

03 dcl-s string_UTF8   varchar(1000) ccsid(*UTF8);
04 dcl-s base64_UTF8   varchar(1350) ccsid(*UTF8);
05 dcl-s decoded_UTF8  varchar(1000) ccsid(*UTF8);
06 dcl-s decoded_Hex   varchar(1000) ccsid(*HEX);

07 Exec SQL Set Option Commit=*NONE, Naming=*SYS;
08 string_UTF8 = 
```
…
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The Price Tweaking Continues For Power Systems

August 18, 2025 Timothy Prickett Morgan

I have said it before and I will say it again: If you think you can keep track of IBM’s pricing for hardware, software, and services given all the ups and downs with pricing, you have a better encyclopedic mind and spreadsheet than we do.

In recent weeks, Big Blue has been at it again with the red grease pencil, making changes in the Power Systems and Storage hardware product lines. Both of the price changes we report on today actually were announced in early July and took effect immediately. They were buried in our torrent of email and I …
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IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Numbers 31 And 32

August 18, 2025 Doug Bidwell

We are finally getting back to the normal cadence for the IBM i PTF Guide by doubling up editions to get everything current. Our apologies for the asynchronous delays, which were caused by vacations that we actually took here at IT Jungle for once.

Number 30 of the Guide was put together on August 2. There were two security vulnerabilities to cope with.

First, we have Security Bulletin: IBM WebSphere Application Server is affected by arbitrary code execution (CVE-2025-36038), with more information at this link. Affected products include IBM WebSphere Application Server 8.5 and 9.0.

Second, we have Security …
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You Can Now Get IBM Tech Support For VS Code For i

August 11, 2025 Alex Woodie

IBM i shops that were on the fence about migrating from Rational Developer for i and adopting VS Code for RPG and COBOL development just received one big reason why they should bite the bullet and make the move: the launch of a new technical support package for Code for i from IBM.

Visual Studio Code is currently the most popular integrated development environment (IDE) on planet Earth, according to multiple measures, such as the Stack Overflow’s 2025 Developer Survey, which found Microsoft VS Code was used by 76 percent of all respondents, more than twice the usage of …
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Price Cut On Power S1012 Mini Since Power S1112 Ain’t Coming Until 2026

August 11, 2025 Timothy Prickett Morgan

We told you a few weeks ago that Big Blue was not planning on putting a kicker to the Power S1012 entry server, what we call a “mini” machine due to its diminutive physical size and capacity, based on a Power11 chip into the field until sometime in early 2026. That leaves customers looking for a machine with a one or two cores and with a desire to stay in a P05 IBM i software tier a bit in a lurch.

So, on August 5, while we are away on vacation in the woods and lakes of upper Michigan, IBM …
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IBM i: Pro and Con

August 11, 2025 Alex Woodie

Everybody has an opinion, and it seems that many people these days feel the need to share those opinions, for better or worse. When it comes to IBM i, the volume of sentiments may be lower than, say, the activities of tech CEOs at Coldplay concerts. However, the proprietary server still elicits thoughts and feelings, both positive and negative, as evidenced by reviews recently shared by the IT marketplace known as G2.

G2 was founded back in 2012 with a simple goal: Provide actionable, crowdsourced information on enterprise IT software and gear, without requiring customers to shell out tens of …
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As I See It: Disruption

August 11, 2025 Victor Rozek

There was a time, not so long ago, that pursuing a degree in Computer Science would all but guarantee a good job and the opportunity for a thriving career. Tech was booming and hungry for talent. Like sporting franchises competing for players, some companies even offered inducements in the form of signing bonuses. Early in my career I was offered a signing bonus large enough to buy a new convertible. No negotiation necessary, it was simply part of the benefits package.

But the industry has changed and career IT jobs are becoming hard to find and harder to keep. Tech …
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IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 30

August 11, 2025 Doug Bidwell

We are still a little bit out of phase with holidays and vacations and playing some catch up with the IBM i PTF Guide. In Number 30, which was put together on July 26, there were a slew of issues and things, starting with three security vulnerabilities.

First, we have Security Bulletin: IBM i is affected by errors in OpenSSL as part of IBM Portable Utilities for i due to multiple vulnerabilities, which you can find out more about here. The issues can be fixed by applying PTFs to IBM i. IBM i 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, 7.3, and …
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