Service orders contain collections of fixes for your system. Shopz allows you to order a variety of service orders for each operating environment.
z/OS - Service
- Individual PTFs
-
Individual PTFs by PTF number
adds individual PTFs to a system to fix known problems when you know the PTF numbers.
-
Individual PTFs by APAR number
adds individual PTFs to a system to fix known problems when you know the corresponding APAR numbers. If you do not provide an installed software report, PTFs may be delivered for multiple releases, since an APAR may apply to more than one release of a product. This may increase the size of your order.
- Critical (HIPER/PE) service,
Recommended (RSU) service,
All service
-
individual installed FMIDs
adds PTFs not found in the installed software report for the list of selected FMIDs. Selectable FMIDs are determined from the functions listed in the installed software report PRODLIST.
-
individual installed products
adds PTFs not found in the installed software report for the list of selected Products. Selectable Products are determined by the FEATURE data listed in the installed software report.
-
all installed products
adds PTFs not found in the installed software report for all installed FMIDs listed in the installed software report PRODLIST.
All z/OS Service orders are now signed by IBM and it is optional to verify the digital signature when receiving the order on to your system. For further details, see Chapter 6 "Preparing to verify signatures for GIMZIP packages" in z/OS SMP/E Users Guide at https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/zos/2.5.0?topic=guide-preparing-verify-signatures-gimzip-packages
z/VM - Service
- Individual PTFs
-
Individual PTFs by PTF number
adds individual PTFs to a system to fix known problems when you know the PTF numbers.
-
Individual PTFs by APAR number
adds individual PTFs to a system to fix known problems when you know the corresponding APAR numbers. If you do not provide an installed software report, PTFs may be delivered for multiple releases, since an APAR may apply to more than one release of a product. This may increase the size of your order.
- PSP critical service
-
contains Preventive Service Planning (PSP) buckets which include critical service recommendations consisting of fixes for highly pervasive (HIPER) problems. If an available PTF becomes a PTF in Error (PE), the fix for that error is included in the bucket.
- RSU Recommended Service Upgrade,
ESO service
-
VM products are serviced with either an RSU or ESO. For products which do not have an RSU, ESO provides a method of ordering corrective service without having to specify individual PTF numbers. When ordering an ESO you can specify starting and ending service levels.
All z/VM Service orders are now signed by IBM. A small new file will be added to the package. Current procedures for uploading service to z/VM including GetShopz will be unaffected by the change. It is recommended to upload all files. An update to allow for verification of the digital signature is planned for the end of 2023. z/VM Service news information can be found here: https://www.vm.ibm.com/service/news/index.html
z/VSE - Service
- Individual PTFs
-
Individual PTFs by PTF number
adds individual PTFs to a system to fix known problems when you know the PTF numbers.
-
Individual PTFs by APAR number
adds individual PTFs to a system to fix known problems when you know the corresponding APAR numbers. If you do not provide an installed software report, PTFs may be delivered for multiple releases, since an APAR may apply to more than one release of a product. This may increase the size of your order.
- PSP critical service
-
contains Preventive Service Planning (PSP) buckets which include critical service recommendations consisting of fixes for highly pervasive (HIPER) problems. If an available PTF becomes a PTF in Error (PE), the fix for that error is included in the bucket.
When you create a new service order, you will follow a series of steps to configure the order.
Specify order basics
In this step you can provide a name and select the specific package type for your order. Once you proceed to the next step you will not be able to change the package type.
Report installed software
Some service packages require an installed software report, while for others they are optional, and for others, they are not used at all. When ordering service packages which use installed software reports, you can specify a report here. You can upload a new report, select a previously uploaded report, or choose not to use a report, if it is optional. You can also use the My installed software page to manage all of your installed software reports.
Specify order contents
The content of a service package depends on the package type that you selected. For example, for Individual PTFs by APAR number you enter the APAR numbers, or paste them from your clipboard. For other packages, you will select the items you want from lists which are tailored based on your installed software report, if you provide one.
Service types
For some z/OS service orders you can select the type (or amount) of service you would like. There are three types of service you can choose from:
-
Critical (HIPER/PE) service
includes PTFs (program temporary fixes) that resolve HIPER (high impact pervasive) APARs (authorized problem analysis reports) or PEs (PTFs in error). These fixes are also known as HIPER/PRP and are always included when you order preventive software maintenance.
-
Recommended (RSU) service
is a pre-defined collection of PTFs identified with a SOURCEID of RSUyymm, where yy indicates the last 2 digits of the year and mm indicates the month. IBM recommends that customers install all RSU PTFs as preventive software maintenance.
-
All service
includes all available service for the products you select.
If you do not provide an installed software report, you may also need to specify a starting service level.
Including requisite service
Requisite service is service that is required to install other service. For z/OS individual PTF orders, you can decide whether you want requisite service to be included. For z/VSE individual PTF orders, you can also decide whether you want requisite service to be included. If you do not provide an installed software report for z/VSE PTF orders, you may choose to include fixes for a specific z/VSE service level by selecting an item from the pull down menu at the bottom of the page. It is therefore recommended to use an installed software report when ordering individual PTFs/APARs.
Eliminating superseded service
This option is used to remove PTFs from your order that are superseded (replaced) by other PTFs in your order. This decreases the size of the order. This option is only recommended if you plan to install your entire service order immediately upon receipt, because under some circumstances, failure to do so could result in critical problems not being resolved on your system. For example, if you only install the HIPER PTFs (by specifying SOURCEID(HIPER) on the SMP/E APPLY command), the non-HIPER PTFs, including those that supersede HIPER PTFs, would not be automatically selected for installation, potentially leaving a critical problem unresolved on your system. Likewise if a superseding PTF is marked in error (PE) before you installed it, the problem fixed by the superseding PTFs would remain unresolved on your system.
Specify delivery options
With the contents of your order now complete, you are ready to specify how you want your order delivered.
First, you select your preferred delivery media, which is either DVD or Internet, but you should be aware of the requirements for Internet delivery.
Next, you enter your shipping address. For all service orders, the shipping address that you enter is remembered for subsequent service orders. It is required unless you select Internet delivery and request that it not be delivered if it exceeds your size limit.
Note: For z/VM and z/VSE service orders, the Internet order size limit is set to 8 GB by IBM. If the order exceeds 8 GB in size, the order will be converted to physical media delivery if the user has specified an alternate media.
Review and submit
The final step of every service order is to review all of your selections from the previous steps. As you review your order, you can jump back to any step in which you want to change your choices. Once you are happy with your order, you can submit it for fulfillment.