ISHELL
The ISPF shell: a menu-driven way to browse and work with Unix System Services files and directories using ISPF screens.
Also written ISH, ISPF shell, z/OS UNIX ISPF shell
ISHELL, the ISPF shell, gives you Unix System Services files inside ISPF screens. Instead of typing shell commands, you see a directory as a list, and work with files through menus and line commands, much as you would with datasets in ISPF 3.4.
You start it by typing ISHELL, or TSO ISHELL from an ISPF command line. From there you can move through directories, browse and edit files with the normal ISPF editor, copy and rename files, change permissions, and see file attributes such as the owner and the code page tag.
It is often the easiest way to reach Unix files for people who know ISPF well and are less used to a Unix command line. It is also useful for quick tasks, such as editing a configuration file.
For people who prefer the command line, the OMVS command in TSO opens a Unix shell in a 3270 screen, and SSH gives a normal terminal session. All three work with the same files.
Where can I learn this hands-on?
Right here, at ZedBank. You take a junior job at a simulated bank and learn each part of the work by doing it, with Zed beside you. There's nothing to install.
Start at ZedBankRelated
- Unix System ServicesA full Unix environment built into z/OS, with a shell, directories and files alongside the traditional mainframe world.
- zFSThe z/OS File System: the type of file system that holds Unix files and directories on z/OS.
- ISPFThe full-screen, menu-driven workbench most people use to do their day-to-day work on z/OS.
- File taggingMarking a Unix file on z/OS with its code page and whether it is text, so it can be converted correctly when read.
- TSO commandA command typed at a TSO prompt or on an ISPF command line to ask the system to do something directly.