On Monday, 01/09/2006 at 06:50 EST, Gregg C Levine 
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Just how easy now is it to setup a completely new z/VM and Linux
> system? Or did I miss the meaning behind the thread?

Well, it's pretty easy (now) to get the system up and running.  The 
Getting Started book helps you learn a lot of what you have to do to keep 
it running (even if you don't use DirMaint!), but it doesn't cover 
everything.

Even experienced sysprogs end up writing tools to help them do things that 
are hard to remember or repetitive.  Examples:
- Do you have the PTF for APAR VM12345 applied?  Is it running right now 
in production?
- Quick, what do you do when you get a "spool 80% full" message?

There are things a systems programmer must do and then there are things 
administrators do.  The line between the two is fuzzy, at best, but I like 
to think that "a sysprog bails out the sysadmin when the admin tools quit 
working".  That is, the sysprog must know something about the system's 
architecture and how to get things done.  E.g. "Just IPL with NODIRECT and 
use DEFINE MDISK" is not something I would let a sysadmin do.

My point was that IBM Virtualization Engine is currently geared towards 
sysadmins, not sysprogs, though both jobs may be done by the same person.

Alan Altmark
z/VM Development
IBM Endicott

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