This one's important! This should match what gets posted at the
now-broken link but if they differ, the posted one wins:
Title: z/OS Unicode Services Conversion Information Service fails after
December 15, 2015
Abstract:
Unicode Services conversion information service on all current z/OS
releases will return incorrect return code on systems IPLed on or after
December 15, 2015 affecting many system services and applications.
Action is required to prevent failures.
Description:
A recent problem was discovered in Unicode Services where the check for
the availability of the Conversion Information service, introduced in
z/OS 1.10, is checking the wrong bit in the Unicode UCCB to determine if
the function is available. Unfortunately, the wrong bit happens to be
within a timestamp reflecting the time at which the UCCB was created at
IPL time. That bit in the timestamp will change when the system is
IPLed on or after December 15, 2015, causing the availability check to
fail and resulting in an error return code back to every caller of the
service. The intention of the Unicode service itself is not related to
time or the timestamp in any way.
The users of the Unicode Conversion Information service may vary by
release. In z/OS 2.1 and z/OS 2.2, LE C/C++ Runtime iconv() is a major
user of these Unicode services, including such functions as Telnet,
System Automation, BCPii, ICONV sample job EDCICONV, FTP / SFTP, Java /
Websphere applications and others. These functions may not work after
an IPL with a date on or after December 15, 2015.
Please see APAR OA48941 for more details and latest information.
Users Affected:
The problem was introduced in z/OS 1.10 with the creation of the
Conversion Information service and applies to all current z/OS levels.
Given the LE iconv() exploitation in z/OS 2.1 and 2.2, these releases
are significantly impacted, however any callers of the Unicode service
will be affected.
Recommended Actions:
It is strongly recommended to install the appropriate level fix for
OA48941, prior to December 15, 2015 to avoid any issues related to this
problem. Please see the details in the APAR text to obtain fixes,
including ++APARs that are currently available. PTFs are planned for
mid October. An IPL is required to activate the fix.
If IPLs can not be scheduled to apply the fix before December 15, 2015,
an alternative approach may be to install the fix on a SYSRES, and IPL
with that SYSRES in the event of an unplanned IPL on or after December
15, 2015. A scheduled IPL should be planned for the fix as soon as
possible afterwards, if not yet installed.
--
John Eells
z/OS Technical Marketing
IBM Poughkeepsie
[email protected]
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