release-v1.11.0

Version 1.11.0

Minor Changes

• zos_apf - Added support for data set names (libraries) with special characters ($, /#, /- and @).

• zos_archive

  • Added support for GDG and GDS relative name notation to archive data sets.
  • Added support for data set names with special characters ($, /#, /- and @).

• zos_backup_restore

  • Added support for GDS relative name notation to include or exclude data sets when operation is backup.
  • Added support for data set names with special characters ($, /#, /- and @).

• zos_blockinfile

  • Added support for GDG and GDS relative name notation to specify a data set. And backup in new generations.
  • Added support for data set names with special characters ($, /#, /- and @).

• zos_copy

  • Added support for copying from and to generation data sets (GDS) and generation data groups (GDG) including using a GDS for backup.
  • Added support for data set names with special characters ($, /#, /- and @).

• zos_data_set

  • Added support for GDG and GDS relative name notation to create, delete, catalog and uncatalog a data set.
  • Added support for data set names with special characters ($, /#, /- and @).

• zos_encode

  • Added support for converting the encodings of generation data sets (GDS).
  • Added support for data set names with special characters ($, /#, /- and @).

• zos_fetch

  • Added support for fetching generation data groups (GDG) and generation data sets (GDS).
  • Added support for data set names with special characters ($, /#, /- and @).

• zos_find

  • Added support for finding generation data groups (GDG) and generation data sets (GDS).
  • Added support for data set names with special characters ($, /#, /- and @).

• zos_job_submit

  • Improved the mechanism for copying to remote systems by removing the use of deepcopy, which had previously resulted in the module failing on some systems.
  • Added support for running JCL stored in generation data groups (GDG) and generation data sets (GDS).
  • Added support for data set names with special characters ($, /#, /- and @).

• zos_lineinfile

  • Added support for GDG and GDS relative name notation to specify the target data set and to backup into new generations.
  • Added support for data set names with special characters ($, /#, /- and @).

• zos_mount - Added support for data set names with special characters ($, /#, /- and @).

• zos_mvs_raw

  • Added support for GDG and GDS relative name notation to specify data set names.
  • Added support for data set names with special characters ($, /#, /- and @).

• zos_script - Improved the mechanism for copying to remote systems by removing the use of deepcopy, which had previously resulted in the module failing on some systems.

• zos_tso_command

  • Added support for using GDG and GDS relative name notation in running TSO commands.
  • Added support for data set names with special characters ($, /#, /- and @).

• zos_unarchive

  • Improved the mechanism for copying to remote systems by removing the use of deepcopy, which had previously resulted in the module failing on some systems.
  • Added support for data set names with special characters ($, /#, /- and @).

Bugfixes

• zos_copy

  • Fixes the issue that prevents the module from automatically computing member names when copying a file into a PDS/E. The module now computes the member name when copying into a PDS/E.
  • Fixes an issue that would perform an unnecessary check if a destination data set is locked for data sets the module created. The module only performs this check for destinations that are present.

• zos_data_set - When checking if a data set is cataloged, module failed to account for exceptions which occurred during the LISTCAT. The module now raises an MVSCmdExecError if the return code from LISTCAT exceeds the determined threshold.

• zos_job_submit - Was not propagating any error types including UnicodeDecodeError, JSONDecodeError, TypeError, KeyError when encountered. The module now shares the error type (UnicodeDecodeError, JSONDecodeError, TypeError, KeyError) in the error message.

• zos_mvs_raw - The first character of each line in dd_output was missing. The module now includes the first character of each line.

Availability

• Automation Hub
• Galaxy
• GitHub

Requirements

The IBM z/OS core collection has several dependencies, please review the z/OS core support matrix_ to understand both the
control node and z/OS managed node dependencies.

Known Issues

• zos_job_submit - when setting 'location' to 'local' and not specifying the from and to encoding, the modules defaults are not read leaving the file in its original encoding; explicitly set the encodings instead of relying on the default.
• zos_job_submit - when submitting JCL, the response value returned for byte_count is incorrect.
• zos_apf - When trying to remove a library that contains the '$' character in the name from APF(authorized program facility), operation will fail.

release-v1.11.0-beta.1

Version 1.11.0-beta.1

Release Summary

Release Date: '2024-08-05'
This changelog describes all changes made to the modules and plugins included
in this collection. The release date is the date the changelog is created.
For additional details such as required dependencies and availability review
the collections release notes <https://ibm.github.io/z_ansible_collections_doc/ibm_zos_core/docs/source/release_notes.html>

Minor Changes

• zos_apf - Added support that auto-escapes 'library' names containing symbols.

• zos_archive - Added support for GDG and GDS relative name notation to archive data sets. Added support for data set names with special characters like $, /#, /- and @.

• zos_backup_restore - Added support for GDS relative name notation to include or exclude data sets when operation is backup. Added support for data set names with special characters like $, /#, and @.

• zos_blockinfile - Added support for GDG and GDS relative name notation to specify a data set. And backup in new generations. Added support for data set names with special characters like $, /#, /- and @.

• zos_copy - Added support for copying from and copying to generation data sets (GDS) and generation data groups (GDG) including using a GDS for backup.

• zos_data_set - Added support for GDG and GDS relative name notation to create, delete, catalog and uncatalog a data set. Added support for data set names with special characters like $, /#, /- and @.

• zos_encode - Added support for converting the encodings of generation data sets (GDS). Also added support to backup into GDS.

• zos_fetch - Added support for fetching generation data groups (GDG) and generation data sets (GDS). Added support for specifying data set names with special characters like $, /#, /- and @.

• zos_find - Added support for finding generation data groups (GDG) and generation data sets (GDS). Added support for specifying data set names with special characters like $, /#, /- and @.

• zos_job_submit

  • Improved the mechanism for copying to remote systems by removing the use of deepcopy, which had previously resulted in the module failing on some systems.
  • Added support for running JCL stored in generation data groups (GDG) and generation data sets (GDS).

• zos_lineinfile - Added support for GDG and GDS relative name notation to specify the target data set and to backup into new generations. Added support for data set names with special characters like $, /#, /- and @.

• zos_mount - Added support for data set names with special characters ($, /#, /- and @).

• zos_mvs_raw - Added support for GDG and GDS relative name notation to specify data set names. Added support for data set names with special characters like $, /#, /- and @.

• zos_script - Improved the mechanism for copying to remote systems by removing the use of deepcopy, which had previously resulted in the module failing on some systems.

• zos_tso_command - Added support for using GDG and GDS relative name notation in running TSO commands. Added support for data set names with special characters like $, /#, /- and @.

• zos_unarchive

  • Added support for data set names with special characters like $, /#, /- and @.
  • Improved the mechanism for copying to remote systems by removing the use of deepcopy, which had previously resulted in the module failing on some systems.

Bugfixes

• zos_copy

  • a regression in version 1.4.0 made the module stop automatically computing member names when copying a single file into a PDS/E. Fix now lets a user copy a single file into a PDS/E without adding a member in the dest option.
  • module would use opercmd to check if a non existent destination data set is locked. Fix now only checks if the destination is already present.

• zos_data_set - When checking if a data set is cataloged, module failed to account for exceptions which occurred during the LISTCAT. The fix now raises an MVSCmdExecError if the return code from LISTCAT is too high.

• zos_job_submit - The module was not propagating any error types including UnicodeDecodeError, JSONDecodeError, TypeError, KeyError when encountered. The fix now shares the type error in the error message.

• zos_mvs_raw - The first character of each line in dd_output was missing. The fix now includes the first character of each line.

Availability

• Galaxy
• GitHub

Requirements

The IBM z/OS core collection has several dependencies, please review the z/OS core support matrix
ibm-ibm_zos_core-1.11.0-beta.1.tar.gz
to understand both the
controller and z/OS managed node dependencies.

Known Issues

• zos_job_submit - when setting 'location' to 'local' and not specifying the from and to encoding, the modules defaults are not read leaving the file in its original encoding; explicitly set the encodings instead of relying on the default.
• zos_job_submit - when submitting JCL, the response value returned for byte_count is incorrect.
• zos_apf - When trying to remove a library that contains the '$' character in the name from APF(authorized program facility), operation will fail.
• In the past, choices could be defined in either lower or upper case. Now, only the case that is identified in the docs can be set, this is so that the collection can continue to maintain certified status.

release-v1.9.2

Version 1.9.2

Bugfixes

• zos_copy - when creating the destination data set, the module would unnecessarily check if a data set is locked by another process. The module no longer performs this check when it creates the data set.

Availability

• Automation Hub
• Galaxy
• GitHub

Requirements

The IBM z/OS core collection has several dependencies, please review the z/OS core support matrix_ to understand both the
controller and z/OS managed node dependencies.

Known Issues

• zos_job_submit - when setting 'location' to 'LOCAL' and not specifying the from and to encoding, the modules defaults are not read leaving the file in its original encoding; explicitly set the encodings instead of relying on the default.

• zos_job_submit - when submitting JCL, the response value returned for byte_count is incorrect.

• zos_job_submit, zos_job_output, zos_operator_action_query - encounters UTF-8 decoding errors when interacting with results that contain non-printable UTF-8 characters in the response. This has been addressed in this release and corrected with ZOAU version 1.2.5.6 or later.

  • If the appropriate level of ZOAU can not be installed, some options are to:

    • Specify that the ASA assembler option be enabled to instruct the assembler to use ANSI control characters instead of machine code control characters.
    • Ignore module errors by using ignore_errors:true for a specific playbook task.
    • If the error is resulting from a batch job, add ignore_errors:true to the task and capture the output into a registered variable to extract the
      job ID with a regular expression. Then use zos_job_output to display the DD without the non-printable character such as the DD JESMSGLG.
    • If the error is the result of a batch job, set option return_output to false so that no DDs are read which could contain the non-printable UTF-8 characters.

• zos_data_set - An undocumented option size was defined in module zos_data_set, this has been removed to satisfy collection certification, use the intended and documented space_primary option.

• In the past, choices could be defined in either lower or upper case. Now, only the case that is identified in the docs can be set, this is so that the collection can continue to maintain certified status.

release-v1.10.0

Version 1.10.0

Major Changes

• Starting with IBM Ansible z/OS core version 1.10.x, ZOAU version 1.3.0 will be required.
• Starting with IBM Ansible z/OS core version 1.10.x, all module options are case sensitive,
  review the porting guide for specifics.
• The README has been updated with a new template.
• The Reference section has been renamed to Requirements and now includes a support matrix.

Minor Changes

• zos_apf - Enhanced error messages when an exception is caught.
• zos_backup_restore - Added option tmp_hlq to the user module to override the default high level qualifier (HLQ) for temporary and backup data sets.
• zos_copy - Documented module options group and owner.

Bugfixes

• zos_apf - Option list previously only returned one data set, now it returns a list of retrieved data sets.

• zos_blockinfile - Option block when containing double double quotation marks results in a task failure (failed=True); now the module handles this case to avoid failure.

• zos_find - Option size failed if a PDS/E matched the pattern, now filtering on utilized size for a PDS/E is supported.

• zos_job_submit

  • Did not default to location=DATA_SET when no location was defined, now the location defaults to DATA_SET.
  • Option max_rc previously did not influence a modules status, now the option value influences the tasks failure status.

• zos_mvs_raw - Option tmp_hlq when creating temporary data sets was previously ignored, now the option honors the High Level Qualifier for temporary data sets created during the module execution.

Porting Guide

This section discusses the behavioral changes between ibm_zos_core v1.9.0 and ibm_zos_core v1.10.0-beta.1.
It is intended to assist in updating your playbooks so this collection will continue to work.

• zos_archive

  • option terse_pack no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption record_format of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption space_type of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption type of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.

• zos_backup_restore - option space_type no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.

• zos_copy

  • suboption record_format of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption space_type of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption type of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.

• zos_data_set

  • option record_format no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • option space_type no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • option type no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • options inside batch no longer accept uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.

• zos_job_submit - option location no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.

• zos_mount

  • option automove no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • option fs_type no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • option mount_opts no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • option tag_untagged no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • option unmount_opts no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.

• zos_mvs_raw

  • options inside dd_concat no longer accept uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption record_format of dd_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption record_format of dd_unix no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption space_type of dd_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption type of dd_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboptions disposition_normal and disposition_abnormal of dd_data_set no longer accept catlg and uncatlg as choices. This also applies when defining a dd_data_set inside dd_concat.

• zos_unarchive

  • suboption record_format of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption space_type of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption type of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.

Availability

• Automation Hub_
• Galaxy_
• GitHub_

Requirements

The IBM z/OS core collection has several dependencies, please review the z/OS core support matrix_ to understand both the
controller and z/OS managed node dependencies.

Known Issues

• zos_job_submit - when setting 'location' to 'local' and not specifying the from and to encoding, the modules defaults are not read leaving the file in its original encoding; explicitly set the encodings instead of relying on the default.

• zos_job_submit - when submitting JCL, the response value returned for byte_count is incorrect.

• zos_data_set - When data set creation fails, exception can throw a bad import error instead of data set creation error.

• zos_copy - To use this module, you must define the RACF FACILITY class profile and allow READ access to RACF FACILITY profile MVS.MCSOPER.ZOAU. If your system uses a different security product, consult that product's documentation to configure the required security classes.

• zos_job_submit, zos_job_output, zos_operator_action_query - encounters JSON decoding (DecodeError, TypeError, KeyError) errors when interacting with results that contain non-printable UTF-8 characters in the response. This will be addressed in ZOAU version 1.3.2 and later.

  • Some options to work around this known issue are:

    • Specify that the ASA assembler option be enabled to instruct the assembler to use ANSI control characters instead of machine code control characters.
    • Ignore module errors by using ignore_errors:true for a specific playbook task.
    • If the error is resulting from a batch job, add ignore_errors:true to the task and capture the output into a registered variable to extract the
      job ID with a regular expression. Then use zos_job_output to display the DD without the non-printable character such as the DD JESMSGLG.
    • If the error is the result of a batch job, set option return_output to false so that no DDs are read which could contain the non-printable UTF-8 characters.

• In the past, choices could be defined in either lower or upper case. Now, only the case that is identified in the docs can be set, this is so that the collection can continue to maintain certified status.

• Use of special characters (#, @, $, - ) in different options like data set names and commands is not fully supported, some modules support them but is the user responsibility to escape them. Read each module documentation for further details.

ibm-ibm_zos_core-1.10.0.tar.gz

release-v1.9.1

Version 1.9.1

Bugfixes

• zos_find - Option size failed if a PDS/E matched the pattern, now filtering on utilized size for a PDS/E is supported.
• zos_mvs_raw - Option tmp_hlq when creating temporary data sets was previously ignored, now the option honors the High Level Qualifier for temporary data sets created during the module execution.

Availability

• Automation Hub
• Galaxy
• GitHub

Requirements

The IBM z/OS core collection has several dependencies, please review the z/OS core support matrix to understand both the
controller and z/OS managed node dependencies.

Known Issues

• zos_job_submit - when setting 'location' to 'LOCAL' and not specifying the from and to encoding, the modules defaults are not read leaving the file in its original encoding; explicitly set the encodings instead of relying on the default.

• zos_job_submit - when submitting JCL, the response value returned for byte_count is incorrect.

• zos_job_submit, zos_job_output, zos_operator_action_query - encounters UTF-8 decoding errors when interacting with results that contain non-printable UTF-8 characters in the response. This has been addressed in this release and corrected with ZOAU version 1.2.5.6 or later.

  • If the appropriate level of ZOAU can not be installed, some options are to:

    • Specify that the ASA assembler option be enabled to instruct the assembler to use ANSI control characters instead of machine code control characters.
    • Ignore module errors by using ignore_errors:true for a specific playbook task.
    • If the error is resulting from a batch job, add ignore_errors:true to the task and capture the output into a registered variable to extract the
      job ID with a regular expression. Then use zos_job_output to display the DD without the non-printable character such as the DD JESMSGLG.
    • If the error is the result of a batch job, set option return_output to false so that no DDs are read which could contain the non-printable UTF-8 characters.

• zos_data_set - An undocumented option size was defined in module zos_data_set, this has been removed to satisfy collection certification, use the intended and documented space_primary option.

• In the past, choices could be defined in either lower or upper case. Now, only the case that is identified in the docs can be set, this is so that the collection can continue to maintain certified status.

release-v1.10.0-beta.1

Major Changes

• Starting with IBM Ansible z/OS core version 1.10.x, ZOAU version 1.3.0 will be required.
• Starting with IBM Ansible z/OS core version 1.10.x, all module options are case sensitive,
  review the porting guide for specifics.
• The README has been updated with a new template.
• The Reference section has been renamed to Requirements and now includes a support matrix.

Minor Changes

• zos_apf - Enhanced error messages when an exception is caught.
• zos_backup_restore - Added option tmp_hlq to the user module to override the default high level qualifier (HLQ) for temporary and backup data sets.
• zos_copy - Documented module options group and owner.

Bugfixes

• zos_apf - Option list previously only returned one data set, now it returns a list of retrieved data sets.

• zos_blockinfile - Option block when containing double double quotation marks results in a task failure (failed=True); now the module handles this case to avoid failure.

• zos_find - Option size failed if a PDS/E matched the pattern, now filtering on utilized size for a PDS/E is supported.

• zos_job_submit

  • Did not default to location=DATA_SET when no location was defined, now the location defaults to DATA_SET.
  • Option max_rc previously did not influence a modules status, now the option value influences the tasks failure status.

• zos_mvs_raw - Option tmp_hlq when creating temporary data sets was previously ignored, now the option honors the High Level Qualifier for temporary data sets created during the module execution.

Porting Guide

This section discusses the behavioral changes between ibm_zos_core v1.9.0 and ibm_zos_core v1.10.0-beta.1.
It is intended to assist in updating your playbooks so this collection will continue to work.

• zos_archive

  • option terse_pack no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption record_format of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption space_type of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption type of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.

• zos_backup_restore - option space_type no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.

• zos_copy

  • suboption record_format of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption space_type of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption type of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.

• zos_data_set

  • option record_format no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • option space_type no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • option type no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • options inside batch no longer accept uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.

• zos_job_submit - option location no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.

• zos_mount

  • option automove no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • option fs_type no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • option mount_opts no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • option tag_untagged no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • option unmount_opts no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.

• zos_mvs_raw

  • options inside dd_concat no longer accept uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption record_format of dd_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption record_format of dd_unix no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption space_type of dd_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption type of dd_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboptions disposition_normal and disposition_abnormal of dd_data_set no longer accept catlg and uncatlg as choices. This also applies when defining a dd_data_set inside dd_concat.

• zos_unarchive

  • suboption record_format of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption space_type of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.
  • suboption type of dest_data_set no longer accepts uppercase choices, users should replace them with lowercase ones.

Availability

• Galaxy
• GitHub

Requirements

The IBM z/OS core collection has several dependencies, please review the z/OS core support matrix to understand both the
controller and z/OS managed node dependencies.

release-v1.9.0

Version 1.9.0

Major Changes

• IBM Ansible z/OS core collection (ibm_zos_core) version 1.9.0 will be the last release to support ZOAU 1.2.x.

  • IBM Ansible z/OS core version 1.9.0 will continue to receive security updates and bug fixes.

• Starting with IBM Ansible z/OS core version 1.10.0, ZOAU version 1.3.0 will be required.

• IBM Open Enterprise SDK for Python version 3.9.x is no longer supported.

Minor Changes

• zos_apf - Improved exception handling when the module is unable to process a response originating as a batch update.

• zos_copy - Improved performance when copying multiple members from one PDS/E to another PDS/E.

• zos_job_output - Has been enhanced to allow for both a job ID and owner to be selected when obtaining job output, removing the prior mutual exclusivity.

• zos_operator - Improved the modules handling of ZOAU import errors allowing for the traceback to flow back to the source.

• zos_job_query - Improved the modules handling of ZOAU import errors allowing for the traceback to flow back to the source.

• zos_job_submit

  • Improved messages in the action plugin.

  • Improved the action plugin performance, flow and use of undocumented variables.

  • Improved the modules handling of ZOAU import errors allowing for the traceback to flow back to the source.

  • Improved job status support, now the supported statuses for property ret_code[msg] are:

    • Job status ABEND indicates the job ended abnormally.
    • Job status AC indicates the job is active, often a started task or job taking long.
    • Job status CAB indicates a converter abend.
    • Job status CANCELED indicates the job was canceled.
    • Job status CNV indicates a converter error.
    • Job status FLU indicates the job was flushed.
    • Job status JCLERR or JCL ERROR indicates the JCL has an error.
    • Job status SEC or SEC ERROR indicates the job as encountered a security error.
    • Job status SYS indicates a system failure.
    • Job status ? indicates status can not be determined.

• zos_tso_command

  • Has been updated with a new example demonstrating how to explicitly execute a REXX script in a data set.
  • Has been updated with a new exmaple demonstrating how to chain multiple TSO commands into one invocation using semicolons.

• zos_mvs_raw

  • Has been enhanced to ensure that instream-data for option dd_input contain blanks in columns 1 and 2 while retaining a maximum length
    of 80 columns for strings and a list of strings. This is generally the requirement for most z/OS programs.
  • Has been updated with new examples demonstrating a YAML block indicator, often helpful when wanting to control the
    instream-data formatting.

Bugfixes

• zos_apf - Fixed an issue that when operation=list was selected and more than one data set entry was fetched, only one
  data set was returned, now the complete list is returned.

• zos_copy

  • Fixed an issue that when copying an aliased executable from a data set to a non-existent data set, the destination
    datasets primary and secondary extents would not match the source data set extent sizes.
  • Fixed an issue when performing a copy operation to an existing file, the copied file resulted in having corrupted contents.

• zos_job_submit

  • Fixed an issue that when no location is set, the default is not correctly configured to location=DATA_SET.
  • Fixed an issue that when a JCL error is encountered, the ret_code[msg_code] no longer will contain the multi line marker used to coordinate errors.
  • Fixed an issue that when a response was returned, the property ret_code[msg_text] was incorrectly returned over ret_code[msg_txt].
  • Fixed an issue that when JCL contained TYPRUN=SCAN, the module would fail. The module no longer fails and an appropriate message and response is returned.
  • Fixed an issue that when JCL contained either TYPRUN=COPY, TYPRUN=HOLD, or TYPRUN=JCLHOLD an improper message was returned and the job submission failed.
    Now the job will fail under the condition that the module has exceeded its wait time and return a proper message.
  • Fixed an issue where when option wait_time_s was used, the duration would be approximately 5 seconds longer than what reported in the duration.
    Now the duration is the accounting from when the job is submitted to when the module reads the job output.

• zos_job_output - Fixed an issue that when using a job ID with less than 8 characters, would result in a traceback. The fix
  supports shorter job IDs as well as the use of wildcards.

• zos_job_query - Fixed an issue that when using a job ID with less than 8 characters, would result in a traceback. The fix
  supports shorter job IDs as well as the use of wildcards.

• zos_unarchive

  • Fixed an issue that when using a local file with the USS format option, the module would fail to send the archive to the managed node.
  • Fixed an issue that occurred when unarchiving USS files, the module would leave temporary files behind on the managed node.

• module_utils

  • job.py - Improved exception handling and added a message inside the content of the ddname when a non-printable
    character (character that can not be converted to UTF-8) is encountered.
  • data_set.py - Fixed an issue that when a volser name less than 6 characters was encountered, the volser name was padded with hyphens to have length 6.

Known Issues

Several modules have reported UTF-8 decoding errors when interacting with results that contain non-printable UTF-8 characters in the response.

• This occurs when a module receives content that does not correspond to a UTF-8 value. These include modules zos_job_submit, zos_job_output,
  ``zos_operator_action_query``` but are not limited to this list. This has been addressed in this release and corrected with ZOAU version 1.2.5.6.

• If the appropriate level of ZOAU can not be installed, some options are to:

  • Specify that the ASA assembler option be enabled to instruct the assembler to use ANSI control characters instead of machine code control characters.
  • Ignore module errors by using ignore_errors:true for a specific.
  • If the error is resulting from a batch job, add ignore_errors:true to the task and capture the output into a variable and extract the job ID with
    a regular expression and then use zos_job_output to display the DD without the non-printable character such as the DD JESMSGLG.
  • If the error is the result of a batch job, set option return_output to false so that no DDs are read which could contain the non-printable UTF-8 characters.

An undocumented option size was defined in module zos_data_set, this has been removed to satisfy collection certification, use the intended
and documented space_primary option.Version 1.9.0

Major Changes

• IBM Ansible z/OS core collection (ibm_zos_core) version 1.9.0 will be the last release to support ZOAU 1.2.x.

  • IBM Ansible z/OS core version 1.9.0 will continue to receive security updates and bug fixes.

• Starting with IBM Ansible z/OS core version 1.10.0, ZOAU version 1.3.0 will be required.

• IBM Open Enterprise SDK for Python version 3.9.x is no longer supported.

Minor Changes

• zos_apf - Improved exception handling when the module is unable to process a response originating as a batch update.

• zos_copy - Improved performance when copying multiple members from one PDS/E to another PDS/E.

• zos_job_output - Has been enhanced to allow for both a job ID and owner to be selected when obtaining job output, removing the prior mutual exclusivity.

• zos_operator - Improved the modules handling of ZOAU import errors allowing for the traceback to flow back to the source.

• zos_job_query - Improved the modules handling of ZOAU import errors allowing for the traceback to flow back to the source.

• zos_job_submit

  • Improved messages in the action plugin.

  • Improved the action plugin performance, flow and use of undocumented variables.

  • Improved the modules handling of ZOAU import errors allowing for the traceback to flow back to the source.

  • Improved job status support, now the supported statuses for property ret_code[msg] are:

    • Job status ABEND indicates the job ended abnormally.
    • Job status AC indicates the job is active, often a started task or job taking long.
    • Job status CAB indicates a converter abend.
    • Job status CANCELED indicates the job was canceled.
    • Job status CNV indicates a converter error.
    • Job status FLU indicates the job was flushed.
    • Job status JCLERR or JCL ERROR indicates the JCL has an error.
    • Job status SEC or SEC ERROR indicates the job as encountered a security error.
    • Job status SYS indicates a system failure.
    • Job status ? indicates status can not be determined.

• zos_tso_command

  • Has been updated with a new example demonstrating how to explicitly execute a REXX script in a data set.
  • Has been updated with a new exmaple demonstrating how to chain multiple TSO commands into one invocation using semicolons.

• zos_mvs_raw

  • Has been enhanced to ensure that instream-data for option dd_input contain blanks in columns 1 and 2 while retaining a maximum length
    of 80 columns for strings and a list of strings. This is generally the requirement for most z/OS programs.
  • Has been updated...

release-v1.9.0-beta.1

Version 1.9.0-beta.1

Minor Changes

• zos_apf - Improved exception handling when the module is unable to process a response originating as a batch update.

• zos_copy - Improved performance when copying multiple members from one PDS/E to another PDS/E.

• zos_job_output - Has been enhanced to allow for both a job ID and owner to be selected when obtaining job output,
  removing the prior mutual exclusivity.

• zos_operator - Improved the modules handling of ZOAU import errors allowing for the traceback to flow back to the source.

• zos_job_query - Improved the modules handling of ZOAU import errors allowing for the traceback to flow back to the source.

• zos_job_submit

  • Improved messages in the action plugin.
  • Improved the action plugin performance, flow and use of undocumented variables.
  • Improved the modules handling of ZOAU import errors allowing for the traceback to flow back to the source.

• zos_tso_command - Has been updated with a new example demonstrating how to explicitly execute a REXX script in a data set.

• zos_mvs_raw

  • Has been enhanced to ensure that instream-data for option dd_input contain blanks in columns 1 and 2 while retaining a maximum length of 80 columns for strings and a list of strings. This is generally the requirement for most z/OS programs.
  • Has been updated with new examples demonstrating a YAML block indicator, often helpful when wanting to control the instream-data formatting.

Bugfixes

• zos_copy

  • Fixed an issue when copying an aliased executable from a data set to a non-existent data set, the destination data sets primary
    and secondary extents would not match the source data set extent sizes.
  • Fixed an issue when performing a copy operation to an existing file, the copied file resulted in having corrupted contents.

• zos_job_output - Fixed an issue that when using a job ID with less than 8 characters would result in a traceback. The fix supports shorter job IDs as well as the use of wildcards.

• zos_job_query - Fixed an issue that when using a job ID with less than 8 characters would result in a traceback. The fix supports shorter job IDs as well as the use of wildcards.

• zos_unarchive

  • Fixed an issue when using a local file with the USS format option that would fail sending it to the managed node.
  • Fixed an issue that occurred when unarchiving USS files that would leave temporary files behind on the managed node.

Known Issues

Several modules have reported UTF-8 decoding errors when interacting with results that contain non-printable UTF-8 characters in the response.

This occurs when a module receives content that does not correspond to a UTF-8 value. These include modules zos_job_submit, zos_job_output, zos_operator_action_query but are not limited to this list. This will be addressed in ibm_zos_core version 1.10.0-beta.1. Each case is unique, some options to work around the error are below.

• Specify that the ASA assembler option be enabled to instruct the assembler to use ANSI control characters instead of machine code control characters.
• Add ignore_errors:true to the playbook task so the task error will not fail the playbook.
• If the error is resulting from a batch job, add ignore_errors:true to the task and capture the output into a variable and extract the job ID with a regular expression and then use zos_job_output to display the DD without the non-printable character such as the DD JESMSGLG.

Availability

• Galaxy
• GitHub

Reference

• Supported by z/OS® V2R4 or later
• Supported by the z/OS® shell
• Supported by IBM Open Enterprise SDK for Python 3.9 - 3.11
• Supported by IBM Z Open Automation Utilities 1.2.5 (or later) but prior to version 1.3.

release-v1.8.0

Version 1.8.0

New Modules

• zos_script - Run scripts in z/OS

Minor Changes

• zos_archive

  • Add validation into path joins to detect unauthorized path traversals.
  • Enhanced test cases to use test lines the same length of the record length.

• zos_copy

  • Add validation into path joins to detect unauthorized path traversals.
  • Add new option force_lock that can copy into data sets that are already in use by other processes (DISP=SHR). User needs to use with caution because this is subject to race conditions and can lead to data loss.
  • Includes a new option executable that enables copying of executables such as load modules or program objects to both USS and partitioned data sets. When the dest option contains a non-existent data set, zos_copy will create a data set with the appropriate attributes for an executable.
  • Introduces a new option 'aliases' to enable preservation of member aliases when copying data to partitioned data sets (PDS) destinations from USS or other PDS sources. Copying aliases of text based members to/from USS is not supported.
  • Add support in zos_copy for text files and data sets containing ASA control characters.

• zos_fetch - Add validation into path joins to detect unauthorized path traversals.

• zos_job_submit

  • Change action plugin call from copy to zos_copy.
  • Previous code did not return output, but still requested job data from the target system. This changes to honor return_output=false by not querying the job dd segments at all.

• zos_operator - Changed system to call wait=true parameter to zoau call. Requires zoau 1.2.5 or later.

• zos_operator_action_query - Add a max delay of 5 seconds on each part of the operator_action_query. Requires zoau 1.2.5 or later.

• zos_unarchive

  • Add validation into path joins to detect unauthorized path traversals.
  • Enhanced test cases to use test lines the same length of the record length.

• module_utils/template - Add validation into path joins to detect unauthorized path traversals.

• zos_tso_command - Add example for executing explicitly a REXX script from a data set.

• zos_script - Add support for remote_tmp from the Ansible configuration to setup where temporary files will be created, replacing the module option tmp_path.

Bugfixes

• zos_copy

  • Update option to include LIBRARY as dest_dataset/suboption value. Documentation updated to reflect this change.
  • When copying an executable data set from controller to managed node, copy operation failed with an encoding error. Fix now avoids encoding when executable option is selected.
  • When copying an executable data set with aliases and destination did not exist, destination data set was created with wrong attributes. Fix now creates destination data set with the same attributes as the source.
  • When performing a copy operation to an existing file, the copied file resulted in having corrupted contents. Fix now implements a workaround to not use the specific copy routine that corrupts the file contents.

• zos_job_submit

  • Temporary files were created in tmp directory. Fix now ensures the deletion of files every time the module run.
  • The last line of the jcl was missing in the input. Fix now ensures the presence of the full input in job_submit.

• zos_lineinfile - A duplicate entry was made even if line was already present in the target file. Fix now prevents a duplicate entry if the line already exists in the target file.

• zos_operator

  • The last line of the operator was missing in the response of the module. The fix now ensures the presence of the full output of the operator.
  • The module was ignoring the wait time argument. The module now passes the wait time argument to ZOAU.

• zos_operator_action_query - The module was ignoring the wait time argument. The module now passes the wait time argument to ZOAU.

• zos_unarchive - When zos_unarchive fails during unpack either with xmit or terse it does not clean the temporary data sets created. Fix now removes the temporary data sets.

Known Issues

• Several modules have reported UTF8 decoding errors when interacting with results that contain non-printable UTF8 characters in the response. This occurs when a module receives content that does not correspond to a UTF-8 value. These include modules zos_job_submit, zos_job_output, zos_operator_action_query but are not limited to this list. This will be addressed in ibm_zos_core version 1.10.0-beta.1. Each case is unique, some options to work around the error are below. - Specify that the ASA assembler option be enabled to instruct the assembler to use ANSI control characters instead of machine code control characters. - Add ignore_errors:true to the playbook task so the task error will not fail the playbook. - If the error is resulting from a batch job, add ignore_errors:true to the task and capture the output into a variable and extract the job ID with a regular expression and then use zos_job_output to display the DD without the non-printable character such as the DD JESMSGLG.
• With later versions of ansible-core used with ibm_zos_core collection a warning has started to appear "Module "ansible.builtin.command" returned non UTF-8 data in the JSON response" that is currently being reviewed. There are no recommendations at this point.

Availability

• Automation Hub
• Galaxy
• GitHub

Reference

• Supported by z/OS®_ V2R4 or later
• Supported by the z/OS® shell
• Supported by IBM Open Enterprise SDK for Python 3.9 - 3.11
• Supported by IBM Z Open Automation Utilities 1.2.4 (or later) but prior to version 1.3.

release-v1.8.0-beta.1

Version 1.8.0-beta.1

New Modules

• zos_script - Run scripts in z/OS

Minor Changes

• zos_archive

  • Add validation into path joins to detect unauthorized path traversals.
  • Enhanced test cases to use test lines the same length of the record length.

• zos_copy

  • Add validation into path joins to detect unauthorized path traversals.
  • Add new option force_lock that can copy into data sets that are already in use by other processes (DISP=SHR). User needs to use with caution because this is subject to race conditions and can lead to data loss.
  • includes a new option executable that enables copying of executables such as load modules or program objects to both USS and partitioned data sets. When the dest option contains a non-existent data set, zos_copy will create a data set with the appropriate attributes for an executable.
  • introduces a new option 'aliases' to enable preservation of member aliases when copying data to partitioned data sets (PDS) destinations from USS or other PDS sources. Copying aliases of text based members to/from USS is not supported.
  • add support in zos_copy for text files and data sets containing ASA control characters.

• zos_fetch - Add validation into path joins to detect unauthorized path traversals.

• zos_job_submit - Change action plugin call from copy to zos_copy.

• zos_operator - Changed system to call 'wait=true' parameter to zoau call. Requires zoau 1.2.5 or later.

• zos_operator_action_query - Add a max delay of 5 seconds on each part of the operator_action_query. Requires zoau 1.2.5 or later.

• zos_unarchive

  • Add validation into path joins to detect unauthorized path traversals.
  • Enhanced test cases to use test lines the same length of the record length.

• module_utils/template - Add validation into path joins to detect unauthorized path traversals.

Bugfixes

• zos_copy - Update option limit to include LIBRARY as dest_dataset/suboption value. Documentation updated to reflect this change.
• zos_job_submit - Temporary files were created in tmp directory. Fix now ensures the deletion of files every time the module run.
• zos_job_submit - The last line of the jcl was missing in the input. Fix now ensures the presence of the full input in job_submit.
• zos_lineinfile - A duplicate entry was made even if line was already present in the target file. Fix now prevents a duplicate entry if the line already exists in the target file.
• zos_operator - The last line of the operator was missing in the response of the module. The fix now ensures the presence of the full output of the operator.

Known Issues

• Several modules have reported UTF8 decoding errors when interacting with results that contain non-printable UTF8 characters in the response. This occurs when a module receives content that does not correspond to a UTF-8 value. These include modules zos_job_submit, zos_job_output, zos_operator_action_query but are not limited to this list. This will be addressed in ibm_zos_core version 1.10.0-beta.1. Each case is unique, some options to work around the error are below. - Specify that the ASA assembler option be enabled to instruct the assembler to use ANSI control characters instead of machine code control characters. - Add ignore_errors:true to the playbook task so the task error will not fail the playbook. - If the error is resulting from a batch job, add ignore_errors:true to the task and capture the output into a variable and extract the job ID with a regular expression and then use zos_job_output to display the DD without the non-printable character such as the DD JESMSGLG.
• With later versions of ansible-core used with ibm_zos_core collection a warning has started to appear "Module "ansible.builtin.command" returned non UTF-8 data in the JSON response" that is currently being reviewed. There are no recommendations at this point.

Availability

• Galaxy
• GitHub

Reference

• Supported by z/OS® V2R4 or later
• Supported by the z/OS® shell
• Supported by IBM Open Enterprise SDK for Python 3.9 - 3.11
• Supported by IBM Z Open Automation Utilities 1.2.4 (or later) but prior to version 1.3.