IBM i 7.4 and IBM i Portfolio give strong foundation for continuing innovation
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At a glance<
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IBM(r) i 7.4 brings a wealth of enhancements to all areas of the IBM i Portfolio, including the base OS, selected Licensed Program Products (LPPs), hardware, and firmware. Some of the highlights are:
* Security enhancements include expanding the set of rules for SST user ID passwords, automating certificate management using DCM APIs, and extending Authority Collection to collect information for specific objects.
* Work Management has been enhanced with updates to workload groups, adding exit points to Job Queue job tracking, and adding new capabilities to retrieving Processor Multitasking information.
* Networking enhancements have been updated to include the latest industry standards for TLS, SNMPv3, SMB3, and SMTP.
* Clients interested in upgrading their availability environments will be interested in the enhancements for save and restore operations, and clustering.
* In this release, IBM Db2(r) for i is focused on improving the functionality and performance of SQL as well as adding new function for database engineers.
* Application developers in both traditional environments and open source will see enhancements to RPG IV, COBOL, the System Debugger, Node.JS, and Python, and the addition of new tools and the R language.
* Rest APIs have been extended to now allow SQL to be called directly using the HTTP connection.
* A new LPP, IBM Db2 Mirror for i, provides near-continuous availability.
* In the IBM i Portfolio, many of the LPPs such as IBM Backup, Recovery and Media Services for i (BRMS), IBM PowerHA(r) SystemMirror(r) for i, and Administration Runtime Expert have had significant function added.
* Users of the desktop tools for application development, IBM Rational(r) Developer for i (RDi), system management, and IBM i Access Client Solutions (ACS), will enjoy significant new functionality.
* New fast start with the new IBM Db2 Web Query for i EZ-Install package.
* IBM Domino(r) 10.0.1 and IBM Traveler 10.0.1.1 are now supported on the IBM i operating system.
* ARCAD Observer for IBM i and ARCAD Converter for IBM i have been refreshed for traditional developers.
* IBM Content Manager OnDemand for i 7.4 supports backing up to the cloud using Cloud Storage Solutions for i and provides enhancements to several commands.
* As with every release, many other enhancements have been made, driven by user requests.
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Overview<
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IBM i 7.4 updates span the entire breadth of the portfolio from the base operating system, Db2 for i, and application development through to availability. As always, the new functions are delivered while retaining the industry-leading securability features for which IBM i is known. In response to many user requests, updates and additions have been made to many other parts of the IBM i Portfolio.
The new enhancements and additions in IBM i 7.4 provide a strong foundation for the ongoing innovation being done by IBM i clients. Around the world, clients are extending IBM business applications to include technology such as AI and the Internet of Things. Many of these enhancements will support this continuous innovation.
Highlights of the IBM i 7.4 enhancements include:
* New password rules have been added for service tools user IDs. The password rules can be managed using DST, SST, or by the new CHGSSTSECA command. New commands have been added that provide the ability to create, change, or delete service tools user IDs.
* Digital Certificate Manager (DCM) APIs now allow the management of certificates to be automated. The three categories of API functionality are application definition certificate assignment, certificate authority (CA) trust list management, and request a certificate renewal and import certificate into system store.
* Authority Collection support is enhanced to include the collection of authority information for specific objects. Previously, authority information could be collected only for users, where authority information was collected for all objects accessed by a specific user.
* Workload groups can now be configured by job description. Previously, workload groups could be configured only at the subsystem level, and every job in the subsystem ran in the same workload group. Now, jobs can run in different workload groups within the same subsystem by setting a workload group name on the job description.
* A new system job, QHST, is automatically started at IPL to perform message logging to the history log. This function was done in the SCPF job in previous releases. This change was made to improve availability of the system.
* The Retrieve Processor Multitasking Information (QWCRTVPR) API now returns the current and maximum number of secondary hardware threads in addition to the configured number of secondary hardware threads per processor.
* New exit points have been created to better track and manage jobs submitted to a job queue. The exit points for Submit Job and Change Job can be used, along with the existing Job Notification exit point, to keep track of information needed to resubmit jobs to a JOBQ.
* IBM i System TLS has been enhanced to support the latest industry standard of Transport Layer Security version 1.3 (TLSv1.3) protocol.
* The Simple Network Management Protocol version 3 (SNMPv3) support has been enhanced with the ability to securely send, receive, and forward SNMPv3 Trap and Inform messages, providing additional network security.
* Management of a cluster is now easier. New clustering policies allow for more automation of an administrative domain, particularly when adding and deleting resources. Enhancements have also been made to the behavior for a restore operation and for a primary node failure. The new Container Cluster Resource Group (CRG) allows management of a group of CRGs as a single entity for the purposes of operations. A new option has been added for starting an administrative domain CRG to indicate which node to treat as the source node when changes are made.
* The save and restore menus have been enhanced with a new option to "Start controlling subsystem" that can allow the system to stay in restricted state after the save or restore operation. This can be helpful if you want to install PTFs, perform system maintenance, or IPL the system.
* Service Tools are enhanced to make it easier to set up for debug and remote support, and to allow a larger amount of debug information to be maintained before wrapping occurs.
* As with previous releases, select system limits are raised.
* The Integrated Web Services (IWS) server support is extended to enable the easy creation of REST or SOAP APIs that leverage SQL directly. In the past, an ILE program was required, and now SQL can be used directly through the HTTP request.
* System Debugger is enhanced to allow the relocation of the debug source.
* The Display Module (DSPMOD) command now shows the location (path name) of a module's source code for source that is from a stream file (IFS), providing a similar type of information as for a traditional source file that is specified with LIBRARY/FILE/MEMBER.
* In IBM i 7.4, Db2 for i brings variations for SQL commands, allowing easier ways to do inquiries into data.
* Additional IBM i services are added to IBM i, providing an alternative to using commands and APIs.
* IBM is introducing a new LPP, IBM Db2 Mirror for i, to provide near-continuous availability through an IBM i exclusive Db2 active-active two-system configuration.
* The Node.js and Python ecosystems continue to grow. This includes several package additions and enhancements, as well as newly added IBM i support for popular frameworks. It's easier than ever to integrate these languages with IBM i or write advanced programs that utilize cryptography, data science, or machine learning.
* Several enhancements also allow for better general connectivity through SSL or ODBC. These enhancements can benefit all PASE technologies.
* Other additions include the R programming language and a host of new tools for both users and developers.
* IBM Rational Development Studio for i provides several enhancements for ILE RPG and ILE COBOL.
* Access Client Solutions (ACS) has new features and functions specifically for system managers and database engineers.
* Administration Runtime Expert improves PTF management and improves control through the ARE console capabilities.
* IBM Rational Developer for i provides features improving reliability, productivity, security, and currency.
* IBM PowerHA SystemMirror for i 7.4 provides several new advanced capabilities requested by many clients. Support for DS8000(r) HyperSwap(r) with a Global Mirror link provides continuously available storage plus support for a remote location. Administrative domain automation provides the capability to add or delete monitored resource entries (MREs). In addition, PowerHA SystemMirror for i 7.4 has integrated support for disaster recovery of a Db2 Mirror for i deployment and support for the replication of IFS data in a Db2 Mirror deployment.
* BRMS is the number one solution choice of IBM i clients for the automation of backup recovery operations. The enhancements for BRMS include a new tape device, faster restore operations, turn-key control group backup recovery automation, and more.
* Get a fast start to advanced, visual reporting, and business intelligence with Db2 Web Query for i.
* ARCAD Observer for IBM i and ARCAD Converter for IBM i are being refreshed to include the latest versions of these products.
* IBM i 7.4 will also support the latest firmware, providing the most up-to-date IBM POWER9(tm) functionality.
* New support for I/O adapters, devices, and the new PCIe3 6-slot fan-out module is also included in IBM i 7.4.
* IBM Domino 10.0.1 and IBM Traveler 10.0.1.1 are now supported on the IBM i Operating System.
* Content Manager OnDemand for i 7.4 provides new archive capability to cloud storage and management of cloud storage resources. In addition, there are enhancements to storage management commands and improved management of printing, querying, and retrieving documents.
For more information
Technical detail for IBM i enhancements delivered with IBM i 7.4 can be found in the IBM i 7.4 Overview<
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/ssw_ibm_i_74/rzahg/rzahgicoverview.htm> topic in IBM Knowledge Center.
Additional technical detail is posted on the IBM i developerWorks(r) Technology Updates wiki. This wiki has existed since 2010 and contains information about IBM i enhancements, organized by subject matter.
To make it easy to find IBM i 7.4 specific enhancements, see the aggregated list of enhancements found on the wiki<
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/ibmi/techupdates/i74> landing page. Note that this aggregation link will go live sometime shortly after announce.
Thank You
_____
Paul Steinmetz
IBM i Systems Administrator
Pencor Services, Inc.
462 Delaware Ave
Palmerton Pa 18071
610-826-9117 work
610-826-9188 fax
610-349-0913 cell
610-377-6012 home
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