• Guru: Assertions, Take 2

  February 12, 2024 Ted Holt

  It’s been almost 20 years since Cletus the Codeslinger introduced assertions to the IBM midrange world, and in that time, I have included many assertions in my RPG programs. During that 20 years, RPG has changed a bit and Cletus has quit writing articles (but not source code), so I’ve taken it upon myself to update the code he gave us.

  First, however, it might be a good idea to briefly review the topic of assertions for readers who don’t know what they are. An assertion is a program statement or command that cancels a program if a fatal condition …

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• IBM Patches New Security Vulns In IBM i Components, Power Firmware

  February 12, 2024 Alex Woodie

  IBM has patched a series of moderate security vulnerabilities in IBM i products and Power firmware over the past two weeks. The IBM i flaws span Rational Developer for i (RDi), Access Client Solutions (ACS), and the Java development kit and runtime, while the Power flaw involves PowerVM and its communications with the Hardware Management Console (HMC).

  Concerns over security hit an all-time high in the IBM i community according to the IBM i Marketplace 2024 study conducted by Fortra. The survey found that 79 percent of IBM i professionals considered security a top concern, a 10 percent increase …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 26, Number 6

  February 12, 2024 Doug Bidwell

  This week we have three new security vulnerabilities, but first we want to remind you that you need to prepare firewalls and proxies for the upcoming infrastructure changes for IBM Call Home, Electronic Fix Distribution. This is considered HIPER by IBM (High Impact/Pervasive), which you can read about here. Public Internet IP addresses are changing for the IBM servers that support Call Home and electronic download of fixes for customer systems’ software, hardware, and operating system. This change pertains to all operating systems and applications connecting to IBM for electronic Call Home and fix download. If you have a …

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• RPG Training Program Spun Up by Trucking Industry Outsourcer

  February 7, 2024 Alex Woodie

  If you’re in the trucking business and need RPG programmers, you might want to check out the outsourcing firm DDC FPO, which has spun up a new program in the Philippines to train junior RPG programmers to work at American trucking firms.

  DDC FPO is one of the country’s largest business process outsourcing (BPO) firms serving the trucking industry. The company, which is headquartered in Evergreen, Colorado, works with more than half of the country’s less-than-truckload (LTL) operators. About one-third of the bills of lading generated daily are generated by DDC FPO workers, the company claims.

  The IBM i platform …

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• IBM i + Cloud: A Perfect Pair? Unmasking Myths and Unleashing Potential

  February 7, 2024 Tom Horan

  IBM i has long been the backbone of critical applications, known for its stability, security, and reliability. Yet, the rise of cloud adoption might have you questioning: Can this reliable platform excel in the cloud’s dynamic setting? The answer is a definite yes. The cloud and IBM i can be a great pair. So, how can this robust duo enhance your business operations and drive success in today’s competitive landscape?

  Busting Myths: Addressing Key Concerns

  • Security: One of the biggest concerns around migrating to the cloud is security. However, this worry is often based on misconceptions. In reality, cloud providers

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• IBM i Security Concern Hits All-Time High, But Solution Adoption Lags, Fortra’s Marketplace Study Shows

  February 7, 2024 Alex Woodie

  Security is the number one concern of IBM i professionals, according to Fortra’s Marketplace Study, the seventh straight year that security has topped the charts. More survey respondents chose security as their top concern than any other year. Despite the growing security concern, there doesn’t seem to be a corresponding increase in adoption of security tools, the survey data show.

  Fortra released the 2024 IBM i Marketplace Study last month, representing the 10th straight year that the company (formerly HelpSystems) has conducted the survey and published the findings. Last fall, Fortra surveyed 270 IBM i professionals from around the world, …

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• Four Hundred Monitor, February 7

  February 7, 2024 Jenny Thomas

  We finally flipped the page into February after the year that was January. (Did January seem extra long to anyone else?) While everyone seems to be proceeding with caution in the face of these uncertain economic times and world unrest, we are nonetheless proceeding. This week’s Top Stories continue to focus on AI and cybersecurity, and all things IBM, and that’s probably not going to change any time soon. We are also happy to see our calendar starting to fill back up, so be sure to take a look to see what learning opportunities have been added.

  Top Stories From

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• Hey, Where Did All Of The IBM i Redbooks Go?

  February 7, 2024 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Have you read any good IBM i Redbooks lately? Probably not, and we want to know why.

  Our intrepid colleague, Doug Bidwell, of IBM i PTF Guide fame among many other things, pointed out to us this week that it has been a long, long time since we have seen a Redbook or even a Redpaper concerning the IBM i platform. This seems peculiar to us, considering all of the new features and functions that have gone into IBM i 7.4 and IBM i 7.5. And even IBM i 7.3, which is going the way of all flesh.

  If you …

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• The State Of The Power Systems Base 2024: The Systems

  February 5, 2024 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  The foundation of any system is its processor. It is the central processing unit, or CPU, which used to be part of what we called the main frame in a multi-frame system, that ultimately does the calculations that make computing useful. There have always been many things that wrap around this CPU that turn it into a complete system – memory, networking, other kinds of I/O, various levels of storage, all in their own hierarchies. But if you ask someone what kind of system they have, beyond the vendor and the brand, the next bit of data they will …

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• IBM Retired Db2 Web Query; It’s Time You Did, Too

  February 5, 2024 Bill Langston

  Just as you were returning to work to begin the new year, IBM published a security bulletin alerting Db2 Web Query customers that the software is “vulnerable to a remote attacker bypassing security restrictions or executing arbitrary code, to a local authenticated attacker obtaining sensitive information, or to denial of service.” The Four Hundred reported on the vulnerability in detail here.

  The security bulletin only references release 2.4.0 of the now withdrawn Db2 Web Query software, but we suspect that is only because IBM doesn’t test unsupported releases. We believe the security vulnerabilities listed in the bulletin also exist …

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