Frequently Asked Questions

Check the IOF Q&A Message Board to post your own question, or to browse the questions and answers posted by other IOF users.  Note that to discourage bogus postings on  the Message Board, you are required to answer a very simple question.  Also check the Virtual Help Desk for answers to common questions and problems.

Q. What is the current release of  IOF?

A. Release 8C was officially released on April 23, 2007.  . It fully supports all versions of z/OS through z/OS 1.10.  See the March 2007 Newsletter for more information about release 8C .

Q. What releases of z/OS and OS/390 are supported by IOF Release 8C?

A. Release 8C supports all versions  all versions of z/OS through V1R10.  It may run but has not been tested with OS/390. 

Q. What releases of IOF are currently supported?

A. Release 8C supports all versions of z/OS through V1R10 

 Releases 8B and 8A support all versions of   z/OS through 1.8. 

A. Release 7J  supports all versions of OS/390 and  z/OS through 1.6.  With fix U7J2161 applied it supports z/OS 1.8. 

Releases of IOF prior to 7H have limited support available. 

IOF Rel	z/OS 1.9 & 1.10	z./OS 1.7 & 1.8	z/OS 1.5 & 1.6	z/OS 1.1  thru 1.4	OS/390 All Releases
8C	Supported by spin 2007142	Supported	Supported	Supported	Not tested
8B 8A	Not supported	Supported	Supported	Supported ***	Not tested
7J	Not supported	Supported Maintenance required	Supported	Supported	Supported
7H	Not supported	Not Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported

***  Some features of Releases 8 will not work with z/OS 1.4 and older or with OS/390 for lack of Operating System or JES2 support.

Q. How do I determine the release of  IOF I am running?

A. Enter the VERSION command from any IOF panel. It will show VERvvx where "vv" is the IOF release, and "x" is your local level of IOF. Press the HELP key (PF1 or 13) and the date and time of the last IOF abbreviated GEN will be displayed.

Release 8B has a new "VERSION ALL" command that displays the version of IOF and the version of the CLIST, HELP and ISPPLIB libraries being used.

Q. Can I run release 8C run in parallel with my current IOF release?

A. Yes. In fact, release 8C is shipped with the "IOF8C" Rexx exec which can be used to invoke release 8C in lieu of the current production version of IOF. The "$$TODO" member of the INSTALL library describes how to use "IOF8C" for testing. 

Q. When I install a new version of IOF, do I need to install a new SVC (or ESR)?

A. No. The IOF SVC and optional ESR have not changed since Release 7D.

Q. What is an IOF spin level?

A. IOF is distributed as a single MPI file. Periodically, the MPI file is updated to apply maintenance. The new MPI version is called a spin level. Spin levels of an IOF release are the base level with maintenance applied. The fixes web page for each release shows which spin level, if any, has each fix pre-applied. The "name" of the spin level is the julian date it was built.

Q. I am running an old spin level of IOF 8A. Should I download and install a new copy of the 8A MPI file in order to get a version that contains the latest maintenance?

A. Release 8A is no longer available for downloading. It is recommended that you download and install 8B instead. You will be installing all available maintenance, and get the new features offered by 8B.

To bring your 8A system up to the latest maintenance:

• Download the latest 8A CUMFIX file
• Run the MAINT command
• Receive the downloaded CUMFIX file
• Apply ALL fixes in RECEIVE status

If you apply all maintenance in the CUMFIX file you will bring your IOF up to the latest spin level.  The spin level number will not be updated however.

Q. Do I need a new expiration patch when I convert to a new release of  IOF?

A. No. All  releases of IOF from 7D through 8C use the same expiration patch. The IOF installation dialog automatically copies your old expiration patch (password) from the old options data set to the new options data set.  IOF/TSO and IOF/CICS however do have different passwords.

Q. Do I need a special expiration patch to run IOF at a disaster recovery site?

A. Probably not. As long as the date portion of your normal expiration patch is valid, IOF will run with a "license" error message until the third midnight after IPL. This provides at least 48 hours of disaster testing per IPL. If your disaster test will be longer than 48 hours per IPL, call technical support for a temporary patch.

Q. How do I determine when my IOF expiration patch will expire?

A. Enter "DVAR EXPRDATE" from any IOF panel to display the date the current patch in use will expire in release 7G and later.

A utility function that can be run in batch TSO to provide a warning when IOF is near expiration is available in releases 7J and later.  The  INSTALL library has a new job, M45DATCK,  which can be submitted daily to warn when IOF is approaching expiration.  The job can be edited to change the warning threshold, and to specify userids to be notified of any exception conditions encountered.

Q. I applied my new expiration patch, but IOF still is "expired" What is the problem?

A. There are several possible problems. The most likely problem is that you applied the patch to the wrong linklist library. IOF provides the IOFWHERE Rexx exec to help you find the module that should be patched. From ISPF Option 6, or from TSO READY, enter "IOFWHERE". The library names in which each of the IOF load modules reside will be displayed. You have to zap the "U" module in the library displayed.

Occasionally VLF or some other product that provides similar function prevents the updated load module from being loaded.

See the Virtual Help Desk for additional information.

Q.  The Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandates that DST will start on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November. In 2007, the start and stop dates will be March 11 and November 4, respectively.  How does this effect IOF?.

A.  IOF formats and prints dates from JES2 control blocks, but has no code that is aware of the change to or from DST.  No change to IOF is required.

Q. Does IOF support 64 bit processors?

A.  Yes, IOF runs on 64 bit processors.  IOF does not use 64 bit facilities however. 

Releases 8B, 8A, 7J and 7H run with no additional maintenance required.  Releases 7G, 7F and 7E require maintenance to run in 64 bit mode.  (U7G2041, U7F2041, U7E2041)

Q. Does IOF run with z/OS.e?

A. IOF/TSO runs with z/OS.e.

IOF/CICS will not run because it requires CICS, which is not part of z/OS.e.