• COMMON Cancels In-Person POWERUp Again, Takes Conference Virtual

  September 22, 2021 Alex Woodie

  COMMON announced last week that it has cancelled the in-person portion of the POWERUp 2021 conference that was scheduled to take place in Virginia Beach due to the Delta variant that is causing coronavirus infections to surge. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the show will go on as a virtual conference October 4-7.

  This was the third time in two years that COMMON has been forced to cancel or delay its POWERUp conference. Like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown just as he’s about to kick it, SARS2 just won’t let COMMON actually hold …

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• Bringing The Benefits Of Low Code Into The IBM i

  September 22, 2021 Eugene King

  Waves of fashion happen in the IT industry just like that do with clothing, and history often repeats itself in unusual ways but with interesting twists and turns with each new phase. So, it is with application programming, where languages come into fashion and sometimes fall out of favor as they reach the limits of their usefulness, and very old ideas are gussied up with a new set of buzzwords and old techniques applied to new languages or frameworks.

  The new low-code movement is just such a repetition in the fabric of history. And so, some history is in order. …

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• IBM Improves Run SQL Scripts with ACS Update

  September 22, 2021 Alex Woodie

  In recent years, Access Client Solutions (ACS) has become an indispensable utility for a range of tasks involving the IBM i. A good reason for that success is the adoption of Run SQL Scripts, which has been enhanced with the latest Technology Refresh for IBM i 7.3 and 7.4.

  ACS is a Java-based product that IBM first unveiled in 2012 and that has replaced other versions of Client Access, including the dedicated Windows utility. No matter what type of computer or device you’re using to work with the IBM i server, be it Windows, Linux, or Mac, you can access …

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• Four Hundred Monitor, September 22

  September 22, 2021 Jenny Thomas

  I was having a conversation with our fearless leader, IT Jungle president and editor-in-chief Tim Prickett Morgan, recently and we were lamenting the fact that it seems like fewer people want to talk on the phone. The exchange of phone numbers in email signature tags isn’t standard operating procedure for everyone these days, as people seem to prefer electronic communication that they can control when it is convenient rather than dealing with the interruption of a phone call. Having come up in the days where everything was done by phone (and fax, for those of us who remember), the adjustment …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 23, Number 38

  September 22, 2021 Doug Bidwell

  Another week, another security vulnerability in open source code. Check out Security Bulletin: ISC DHCP for IBM i is affected by CVE-2021-25217, which you can view at this link. Here are the patches by release that deal with the issue:

  • IBM i 7.4: SI76506
  • IBM i 7.3: SI76507
  • IBM i 7.2: SI76509
  • IBM i 7.1: SI76508

  Another reminder to everyone to participate in POWERUp 2021, which runs virtually from October 4 through 7. Visit the COMMON user group web site to find out the particulars. And we will see you there – virtually, that is!

  Let’s get started this …

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• IBM i Open Source Gets Better With Fall 2021 TRs

  September 20, 2021 Alex Woodie

  The open source community has become a big source of new software for the IBM i platform in recent years, if not the biggest contributor. To that end, the recent Technology Refreshes (TRs) for IBM i 7.3 and 7.4 bring a dozen or so new or updated packages to the platform.

  One of the most exciting additions to IBM i’s open source repertoire is tn5250, a bare-bones terminal emulator for accessing IBM i system and application screens. Distributed via Source Forge, tn5250 is a Windows program that enables users to access green screens from the Secure Shell (SSH) terminal. …

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• Value Stream Management: Bringing Lean Manufacturing Techniques To IBM i Development

  September 20, 2021 Andrew Ireland

  When resources are tight, it is important to optimize their usage and maximize the business value they deliver. This is the very foundation of what is called lean manufacturing or just-in-time manufacturing, which more than a few IBM i shops know a thing or two about because this platform has been used for decades by process and discrete manufacturers to automate their businesses.

  The move toward DevOps has allowed software engineers to adopt many of the best practices developed by manufacturing over the last 100 years. These include automating the flow of code, a repository of standard components and a …

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• Guru: RDi 9.6, Part 11 – New Features for Experienced RDi Users

  September 20, 2021 Susan Gantner

  Just when you thought my multi-part series on V9.6 of RDi was surely finished, it’s back! It seems like the song that never ends. Happily, though, since more new features have been added to RDi, many of which are the direct result of RFEs (a.k.a. Requests for Enhancement) from RDi users like you and me.

  We’ve waited longer than usual for release 9.6.0.11, but it’s available now. I’ll cover the enhancements in this release in a couple of tips. This first tip will target mostly experienced RDi users. The next one will focus on some of the enhancements to ease …

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• Systems Software Stack Gets A Refresh With Power10

  September 20, 2021 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  When there is new server hardware, the systems software stack needs to be tweaked to support it and to take better advantage of it. And that is also a perfect time to add new features to the systems software that can be supported on older iron. (But not too old or customers will never move forward. . . . )

  And so it is with the various core systems software – PowerVM, PowerVC, PowerSC, and the HMC – that runs atop Power Systems machinery and either alongside of or underneath the IBM i operating system and the IBM i Technology …

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• Some Power9 Tweaks And Withdrawals

  September 20, 2021 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  It is a very rare announcement cycle where IBM announces a new machine and does not offer some tweaks to or withdrawals for older machinery. And, as we always expect, Big Blue did both as part of the September 8 IBM i and Power E1080 server announcements.

  In announcement letter 121-052, IBM made some tweaks to the NVM-Express U.2 form factor solid state flash drives for the Power9 entry, midrange, and high end servers. The new U.2 flash drives have an 800 GB capacity and are aimed at AIX and Linux partitions that have 4K block sizes. These drives …

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• The IBM i Job Environment, It’s a Changin’

  September 15, 2021 Alex Woodie

  The IBM i job market ain’t what it used to be. Change is a constant in this world, but the rate of professional change during the current pandemic is of particular interest at the moment. From new technologies and enlarging salary requirements to work-from-home and pending retirements, you could say we’re experiencing a period of punctuated equilibrium when it comes to working in the IBM i ecosystem.

  Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies across many industries have adopted work-from-home mandates. IBM i shops, like all others who can, have moved strongly in that direction. Many have still not …

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• New Nav Puts SQL Services Within Reach

  September 15, 2021 Alex Woodie

  IBM delivered new Technology Refreshes (TRs) for IBM i 7.3 and 7.4 last week, and there’s a lot of good stuff in there. Arguably one of the biggest announcements is the overhaul of IBM i Navigator, which the folks at IBM have taken to calling “New Nav.” But what makes New Nav so special?

  IBM rewrote New Nav from the ground up in Angular, a JavaScript framework for building Web and mobile applications, and PrimeNG, a popular component library for Angular. The combination of these two technologies gives New Nav a fresh-looking interface that will appeal to users of all …

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• Eradani Drives Simplification with API Tool Update

  September 15, 2021 Alex Woodie

  Eradani has always sought to simplify the application programming interface (API) enablement process as much as possible for its IBM i customers. And with the launch of Eradani Connect version 4.1, which features a new GUI, pre-built templates of APIs, and a catalog for the REST-style Web services created with the tool, the Northern California company is taking the simplification mantra to new levels.

  The world is chock full of Web services. Whether it’s real-time weather data, a shipping services, an ecommerce application, or a tax calculator, somebody somewhere is providing information over the Internet. These external APIs generally are …

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• Four Hundred Monitor, September 15

  September 15, 2021 Jenny Thomas

  Does any conversation happen anymore without some reflection on life before the pandemic and how the world has changed since? Not to belabor the point, but it is hard to get around the fact that our workplaces have drastically changed. Zoom quickly became everyone’s go-to for business, and just to get to see the faces of family and friends. Even now, many companies prefer to continue remote work and we are all rapidly adapting to the idea that travel is as necessary as we once thought to exchange ideas (although it is certainly less fun). Our Top Story this week …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 23, Number 37

  September 15, 2021 Doug Bidwell

  Just a reminder to everyone to participate in POWERUp 2021, which runs from October 4 through 7. You can visit in person at Virginia Beach, or you can participate virtually. Visit the COMMON user group web site to find out the particulars. And we will see you there – virtually, at least!

  Let’s get started this week with the rundown of PTF Groups by IBM i release level:

  PTF Groups 7.4:

  • Latest Cumulative PTF Package 21238
  • Technology Refresh 5
  • HIPERs (High Impact/Pervasive)
  • Db2 for IBM i
  • IBM Db2 Mirror for i
  • Rational Developer for i

  PTF Groups 7.3:

  • Latest Cumulative

  … Read more

• Surprise! It’s IBM i Technology Refresh Time

  September 13, 2021 Alex Woodie

  IBM surprised the midrange world last week by announcing Technology Refreshes (TRs) for IBM i 7.3 and 7.4, which became generally available on Friday. The fall TRs, which typically are announced in October, brought support for the new Power10-based Power E1080 server in addition to a slew of enhancements to the operating system and surrounding IBM i products.

  The big piece of news with the new TRs – IBM i TR 7.3 TR11 and 7.4 TR5 – is support for servers based on IBM’s speedy new Power10 processor, which is the first Power chip based on its 7 nanometer …

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• Thoroughly Modern: Making The Case For Code And Database Transformation

  September 13, 2021 Robert Arce

  The last 18 months, we have seen many companies shift their IT plans and prioritize digital transformation around internal and external access to their systems. Some had started their modernization efforts which made the transition easier while many others who thought they had plenty of time had a rude awakening. So many ways of doing business have changed – and they have changed forever. In the face of such rapid changes, companies have realized that IBM i modernization is inevitable.

  

  Simply put, it is about figuring out:

  • How to enhance an application by applying best practices, creating resilient code and

  … Read more

• Guru: What Are Workload Groups And Why Should You Use Them?

  September 13, 2021 Dawn May

  Workload Groups appear to be a hidden gem of IBM i work management. In all my work with clients, I have only encountered one shop actively using workload groups. Introduced in 2010, they provide an additional control on CPU and can also be used to license software products to a fewer number of cores than are active on the partition.

  Workload groups are very simple entities; you add a workload group with the Add Workload Group (ADDWLCGRP) command. You just need to give it a name and how many processor cores, called the processor limit, can be used …

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• As I See It: The Misinformation Crisis

  September 13, 2021 Victor Rozek

  The person who invented the wheel was probably also the first person to run over his/her own toes. That’s just the nature of technology: it’s helpful, but not always friendly. From the wheel to social media, technology has served as both the engine of progress and an instrument of grief. And, paradoxically, there is perhaps no greater accelerant of progress and regress than computer technology.

  The name of Floyd Ray Roseberry is deservedly forgettable, but he recently managed to engineer his ten minutes of digital fame by live-streaming his imagined grievances on Facebook. As a remedy, he claimed to have …

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• The Cacophony Of Many Different Server Markets

  September 13, 2021 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Considering how skittery the global economy is, how wonky the world’s supply chains are, and how capricious spending by the big public clouds and the hyperscalers can be (and how much the top eight server buyers in the world make up of the overall market), the fact that the server market only had a 2.5 percent decline in the second quarter is not a surprise.

  It’s just the normal noise in the data, and perhaps, if IDC is right, a slight shift away from using two-socket servers with a modest number of cores to single-socket servers with a larger number …

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