MVS/CE Package Manager - MVP

The package manager for MVS

Quick Install

⚠️ MVP might already be installed, try running RX MVP in TSO first ⚠️

If you just want to get started and using it with a default install of MVS/CE sysgen from https://github.com/MVS-sysgen/sysgen/releases, git clone this repo to your MVSCE folder, then from the MVSCE folder run:

• cd MVP
• python3 MVP INSTALL_MVP

All steps must complete with a condition code of 00000 otherwise something went wrong.

Once installed you can begin using it on MVS/CE with: RX MVP for help.

⚠️ if you're installing this on another system other than MVS/CE you must install Jay Moseley's IEFACTRT-4 usermod JLM0001 availble here: http://www.jaymoseley.com/hercules/iefactrt/exit04.htm and in the extras folder.

What is this?

There is a lot of software available for MVS 3.8j but not everyone needs all of it at the same time. I wanted to build a system where people could get a barebones install of MVS 3.8j then install the software they wanted with ease.

To make software instalation easier MVP takes its inspiration from the debian tool apt.

With MVP you can:

• List available packages
• List installed packages
• Install packages
• Search packages
• Show information about specific packages
• Update package listing

MVP will handle dependencies for you, so if one package relies on another MVP will install them all in the correct order.

Example

If you wanted to install the FTP server for MVS/CE you would first search for any packages with FTP then install the package you want:

 READY
rx mvp search ftp
 Searching...

 FTPD 1.5
   MVS 3.8J FTPD Server

 READY
 rx mvp install FTPD

Command Syntax

MVP can take multiple arguments

• UPDATE this argument updates the software descriptions and cache file
• INSTALL this argument will install a package, e.g. RX MVP INSTALL REVIEW
• SHOW/INFO this argument will give you information about a specific package
• SEARCH this argument will search package name and descriptions for the given search term
• LIST this argument lists all available packages
  • --installed this sub-argument will list only installed packages

Two option arguments exist:

• -h will list the help and exit
• -d/--debug will enable verbose debugging

Here are some examples:

• RX MVP LIST List all available packages
• RX MVP INFO RPF --debug Show information about the RPF package and enable debugging information
• RX MVP UPDATE -d Update the package cache and descriptions and enable debugging
• RX MVP INSTALL TSOAUTHC Install the TSOAUTHC package

How does it work?

MVP is made up of multiple components:

• MVP a python script that takes either INSTALL or UPDATE argument and submits the appropriate jobs to the ASCII or EBCDIC reader
  • MVP.ini the config file for MVP see below for details
• cache The database of: software, the type, and version (installed to MVP.PACKAGES(CACHE))
• desc/* Descriptions of each package (installed to MVP.PACKAGES(*))
• MVP.rexx The MVP rexx script which handles all the install and request processing (installed to SYS2.EXEC(MVP))
  • MVP.parmlib A config file for for MVP.rexx (installed to SYS2.PARMLIB(MVP0001))
  • MVP.MVPDB sequential dataset of installed packages

From a high level, when you type a command, for example RX MVP INSTALL MACLIBS, the MVP rexx script does the following:

1. Gathers dependencies
2. Reads the Master Trace Table (MTT) and gets the last run job
3. Issues ADDRESS COMMAND SH ./MVP/MVP INSTALL MACLIB which executes the MVP python script
4. The MVP python script submits a job with the package to install
5. The MVP rexx script reads the MTT waiting until the submitted job is completed
6. Checks return codes for each step
7. Updates the list of installed packages
8. Exits

So basically: RX MVP INSTALL MACLIBS runs the shell command ./MVP/MVP INSTALL MACLIBS which submits the jobstream packages/MACLIBS. It's a little more complicated for XMI files, see the Packages section below.

⚠️ You should never use the MVP python script by itself

Batch Job Usage

A JCL procedure is included with MVP located at SYS2.PROCLIB(MVP) and can be used to install, list, search, packages.

Example 1: Install FTPD

//MVPRFE JOB (SYSGEN),'MVP INSTALL',CLASS=A,MSGCLASS=A,
//       MSGLEVEL=(1,1),NOTIFY=IBMUSER
//* This JCL installs FTP using MVP
//MVPINST EXEC MVP,INSTALL='FTPD' 

Example 2: Install FTPD with debugging enabled

//MVPRFE JOB (SYSGEN),'MVP INSTALL',CLASS=A,MSGCLASS=A,
//       MSGLEVEL=(1,1),NOTIFY=IBMUSER
//* This JCL installs FTP using MVP
//MVPINST EXEC MVP,INSTALL='FTPD -D' 

Example 3: List available packages

//MVPTEST JOB (SYSGEN),'MVP INSTALL',CLASS=A,MSGCLASS=H,
//       MSGLEVEL=(1,1),NOTIFY=IBMUSER                  
//* This JCL LISTS available packages                   
//MVPINST EXEC MVP,ACTION='LIST'                         

Security

To run MVP the user must have read access to the BRXMTTAUTH FACILITY class in RAKF. If you're in the ADMIN group on MVS/CE you already have access.

MVP.ini

The MVP config file is made up of one section (DEFAULT) and contains the following

• hercules_ip ip address of MVS/CE
• ascii_reader the port for the 3505 ASCII reader
• ebcdic_reader the port for the 3505 EBCDIC reader
• user the username used to submit jobs remotely
• password the password used to submit jobs remotely ⚠️ this setting will not exist until you install MVP, if you need to add it (for example your MVP folder becomes corrupt but not MVS/CE) get the password for the MVP user from SYS1.SECURE.CNTL(USERS)
  • When running MVP with INSTALL_MVP a random password will be generated and the MVP user will be added to RAKF
• desc the folder where package descriptions reside
• packages the folder where packages reside
• cache the filename for the cache file

Here's the default ini file:

[DEFAULT]
hercules_ip = 127.0.0.1
ascii_reader = 3505
ebcdic_reader = 3506
user = MVP
desc = desc
packages = packages
cache = cache

Packages Details for Maintainers

cache File

The cache file contains software packages available to be installed. Each line is made up of a:

• Package name
• Type (JCL or XMI)
• Version

For example: DUMMY JCL 1.0

The package name, desription file, package in the package folder (and job name if type is JCL) must all be the same.

Description File

An ASCII file named the same as the package in the cache file located in the desc folder which contains:

• Package: package name
• Version: version number
• Maintainer: Name [email optional] of maintainer
• Depends: Package dependencies
• Homepage: URL to software homepage
• Description: The first line is the short description use do display in search, the rest is the detailed description

For example desc/FTPD contains:

Package: FTPD
Version: 1.5
Maintainer: Soldier of FORTRAN <mainframed767@gmail.com>
Depends: RANDOMPW
Homepage: https://github.com/MVS-sysgen/FTPD
Description: MVS 3.8J FTPD Server

This is the JCC FTPD server with RAKF support, initially from TK4- with
many addition.

Users in the RAKF group *ADMIN* has access to use FTP. To allow users
access to FTP add the user or group to the **FTPAUTH** resource in the
FACILITY class in SYS1.SECURE.CNTL(PROFILES).

To start the FTPD server run the command '/s ftpd' in the hercules console.
To stop the FTP server run the command '/p ftpd' or '/stop ftpd' on the
hercules console. To make changes to the configuration (ports, IP etc)
edit the config file SYS1.PARMLIB(FTPDPM00). Visit the homepage
for more startup and configuration information.

JCL vs XMI

MVP Packages, stored in packages/ come in two flavors: JCL and XMI.

JCL Packages

The JCL files are easy, they're just a job stream that MVP submits to JES through the ASCII socket reader.

An example of a job stream is the DUMMY package which is listed in the cache file as DUMMY JCL 1.0. That JCL there following DUMMY tells both the MVP python script and the MVP rexx script that DUMMY is just a JCL file. The contents of the DUMMY package is:

//DUMMY JOB (TSO),'DUMMY',CLASS=A,MSGCLASS=A,MSGLEVEL=(1,1)
//DUMMY1 EXEC PGM=IEFBR14

More complicated jobstreams like the KLINGON package contain many more steps but its still just a job stream in ASCII. MVP supports as many steps as JES2 can handle. Once completed MVP will check the condition code for reach step to check that it completes with a CC of 00000.

Note: Notice the DUMMY job does not have a USER= or a PASSWORD= field in the jobcard. The MVP python script will read the jobcard for any job and either change the USER/PASSWORD fields to ther user and password declared in the MVP.ini file or it will add them to the job.

XMI Packages

XMI pacakges are a little more complicated. They consist of tasks (either JCL or REXX scripts), some other types of binary files (most likely XMI files) all packaged in to one XMI file. This XMI file is then wrapped in an EBCDIC job stream which unloads the XMI file to MVP.WORK, a temporary dataset used by MVP.

If we use the example of the IMON370 package in the packages folder, it looks like this:

+-------------+
|  MVP.WORK   | XMI File
+-------------+----------------+
|                              |
|     #001JCL                  |
|   +------------+             |
|   |  I370LOAD  | XMI File    |
|   +------------+---------+   |
|   |    GLSPARSE          |   |
|   |    IM                |   |
|   |    IMSWAP            |   |
|   |    IMVTOCRD          |   |
|   |    IM370GAT          |   |
|   |    IM370GLS          |   |
|   |    IM470SPY          |   |
|   +----------------------+   |
|                              |
+------------------------------+

The linux MVP python script, which is called with MVP INSTALL IMON370 will wrap this XMI file in an EBCDIC job stream with a job name the same as the package name, in this case IMON370.

+-----------------------+
|  EBCDIC Job Stream    |
+-----------------------+------------+
|                                    |
|  +-------------+                   |
|  |  MVP.WORK   | XMI File          |
|  +-------------+----------------+  |
|  |                              |  |
|  |     #001JCL                  |  |
|  |   +------------+             |  |
|  |   |  I370LOAD  | XMI File    |  |
|  |   +------------+---------+   |  |
|  |   |    GLSPARSE          |   |  |
|  |   |    IM                |   |  |
|  |   |    IMSWAP            |   |  |
|  |   |    IMVTOCRD          |   |  |
|  |   |    IM370GAT          |   |  |
|  |   |    IM370GLS          |   |  |
|  |   |    IM470SPY          |   |  |
|  |   +----------------------+   |  |
|  |                              |  |
|  +------------------------------+  |
|                                    |
+------------------------------------+

This standard JCL uses RECV370 to unload the XMI file to MVP.WORK, which the MVP rexx scripts will look for.

Here is what that JCL looks like:

//IMON370 JOB (TSO),
//             'MVP INSTALL',
//             CLASS=A,
//             MSGCLASS=A,
//             MSGLEVEL=(1,1),USER=MVP,PASSWORD=MVP
//* CLEAN UP
//CLEANUP EXEC PGM=IDCAMS
//SYSIN    DD *
  DELETE MVP.WORK SCRATCH PURGE
  SET MAXCC=0
  SET LASTCC=0
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//* UNLOAD XMIT TO MVP.WORK
//RECV370 EXEC PGM=RECV370
//STEPLIB  DD  DISP=SHR,DSN=SYSC.LINKLIB
//RECVLOG  DD  SYSOUT=*
//SYSPRINT DD  SYSOUT=*
//SYSIN    DD  DUMMY
//* Work temp dataset
//SYSUT1   DD  DSN=&&SYSUT1,
//             UNIT=VIO,
//             SPACE=(CYL,(5,1)),
//             DISP=(NEW,DELETE,DELETE)
//* Output dataset
//SYSUT2   DD  DSN=MVP.WORK,
//             UNIT=3390,VOL=SER=PUB001,
//             SPACE=(CYL,(10,10,20),RLSE),
//             DISP=(NEW,CATLG,DELETE)
//XMITIN   DD DATA,DLM=$$
[inline XMI file]
$$

After its unloaded the dataset MVP.WORK will contain:

 +-------------+
 |  MVP.WORK   | PDS
 +-------------+-----+
 |  #001JCL          |
 |  I370LOAD         |
 +-------------------+

Once that job is completed the MVP rexx script searches the contents of MVP.WORK for any files named #nnnJCL or #nnnREX where nnn is a zero padded number between 001-999. The MVP rexx script will then begin submitting or executing them in numbered order. If there are any conflicts in numbering the JCL runs first before the REXX.

⚠️ THE JCL MEMBERS MUST HAVE THE SAME JOB NAME AS THEIR FILE NAME OR THE INSTALL WILL FAIL ⚠️

Appendix A - Software Packaging

The package_release.py script in the extras folders was designed to make packaging XMI file based packages easier.

Before we get started you will need a copy of MVS/CE and make sure no other hercules MVS systems are running and python3.

package_release.py takes multiple arguments:

• --xmi-files XMI_FILES [XMI_FILES ...] one (or more) XMI file(s) to include
• --task-files TASK_FILES [TASK_FILES ...] one (or more) JCL/REXX file named #nnnJCL or #nnnREX where nnn is a zero padded number between 001-999. The MVP rexx script will then begin submitting or executing them in numbered order. If there are any conflicts in numbering the JCL runs first before the REXX.
• --mvsce Path to the folder where MVS/CE resides
• --name Name of the output file
• --dlm By default the DLM is ?? but some XMI files may just happen to have this at column zero, use this argument to change it

If we take a look at the example IMON370, as released from https://www.prycroft6.com.au/vs2sw/index.html#imon370 it comes as an XMI named: i370load.xmi. To package up for MVP we create the JCL file below:

//#001JCL JOB (TSO),
//             'Recieve XMI',
//             CLASS=A,
//             MSGCLASS=A,
//             MSGLEVEL=(1,1)
//RECV370 EXEC PGM=RECV370
//STEPLIB  DD  DISP=SHR,DSN=SYSC.LINKLIB
//XMITIN   DD  DSN=MVP.WORK(I370LOAD),DISP=SHR
//RECVLOG  DD  SYSOUT=*
//SYSPRINT DD  SYSOUT=*
//SYSIN    DD  DUMMY
//* Work temp dataset
//SYSUT1   DD  DSN=&&SYSUT1,
//             UNIT=VIO,
//             SPACE=(CYL,(5,1)),
//             DISP=(NEW,DELETE,DELETE)
//* Output dataset
//SYSUT2   DD  DSN=SYSGEN.IMON370.LOAD,
//             UNIT=SYSALLDA,VOL=SER=PUB001,
//             SPACE=(CYL,(15,2,20),RLSE),
//             DISP=(NEW,CATLG,DELETE)
//*
//*  THIS JOB COPIES THE IMON370 TSO PROGRAMS INTO SYS2.CMDLIB
//*
//IMONCOPY EXEC PGM=IEBCOPY
//SYSPRINT DD  SYSOUT=*
//SYSUT1   DD  DSN=SYSGEN.IMON370.LOAD,DISP=SHR
//SYSUT2   DD  DSN=SYS2.CMDLIB,DISP=SHR
//SYSIN    DD  *
  COPY INDD=((SYSUT1,R)),OUTDD=SYSUT2
  COPY INDD=((SYSUT2,R)),OUTDD=SYSUT2

Notice the job name is #001JCL. We save this JCL as the file #001JCL.jcl and place it in the same folder as i370load.xmi. From that folder we run the package release tool:

python3 /path/to/MVP/extras/package_release.py\
 --xmi-files i370load.xmi --task-files \#001JCL.jcl\
 --mvsce /path/to/MVSCE\
 --name /path/to/MVP/packages/IMON370\
 --dlm '?#'

For imon370 we must supply the --dlm but for most programs you wont need to.

This will generate a file with the following structure:

+-----------+
|  IMON370  |  XMI file
+-----------+------------------------+
|                                    |
|  +-------------+                   |
|  |  MVP.WORK   |                   |
|  +-------------+----------------+  |
|  |                              |  |
|  |     #001JCL                  |  |
|  |   +------------+             |  |
|  |   |  I370LOAD  | XMI File    |  |
|  |   +------------+---------+   |  |
|  |   |    GLSPARSE          |   |  |
|  |   |    IM                |   |  |
|  |   |    IMSWAP            |   |  |
|  |   |    IMVTOCRD          |   |  |
|  |   |    IM370GAT          |   |  |
|  |   |    IM370GLS          |   |  |
|  |   |    IM470SPY          |   |  |
|  |   +----------------------+   |  |
|  |                              |  |
|  +------------------------------+  |
|                                    |
+------------------------------------+

A log file called build.log contains the date/time the build was generated as well as the arguments passed to the script.

When complete just update the cache file with IMON370 XMI 1.0 and add the description desc/IMON370 file and you've created your first MVP release!

Appendix B

Some program require changes to hercules config files. With that in mind MVP has an action called WRITE which takes a file name (the file name and path must be lowercase) and the string to write, this entire argument must be surrounded by quotation marks. The file path begins one directory up from the MVP folder and the file will either be created or appended to, if the folder does not exist this will end in error. All strings placed in the file will be uppercase.

for example: ./MVP WRITE "conf/local/dummy.cnf This is an example" will create or append to the file ../conf/local/dummy.cnf the following: THIS IS AN EXAMPLE.