SMP/E
System Modification Program/Extended: the tool used to install and maintain z/OS and other software, keeping a record of every piece and every fix.
Also written SMPE, System Modification Program/Extended, RECEIVE APPLY ACCEPT, CSI, SYSMOD, FMID
SMP/E is how software is installed and maintained on z/OS. z/OS and most products that run on it are made of thousands of parts: modules, macros, panels and more. SMP/E keeps an inventory of every part, which version of it is installed, and which fixes have been applied.
Changes to software are packaged as SYSMODs, system modifications. A product's base function has an FMID, and fixes are usually PTFs. SMP/E handles them in steps. RECEIVE reads them into its records. APPLY installs them into the target libraries the system runs from. ACCEPT copies them into the distribution libraries, the master copy, once they are proven. RESTORE can back out an applied change that has not been accepted.
The records are kept in datasets called the CSI, divided into zones: a global zone, target zones and distribution zones.
SMP/E checks that the pieces fit together, for example that a fix needs another fix first. That is what lets a site apply hundreds of fixes safely. It is mainly a system programmer's tool, and usually the first thing they learn.
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
- PTFProgram temporary fix: a packaged fix from IBM for a problem in z/OS or another IBM product, installed with SMP/E.
- APARAuthorized Program Analysis Report: IBM's official record of a reported problem in its software, and of how it is fixed.
- System programmerThe person who installs, configures, tunes and upgrades the operating system and its subsystems.
- Change controlThe process every change goes through before reaching production: reviewed, approved, scheduled and reversible.
- z/OS releaseThe version number of z/OS a system runs, such as 2.5 or 3.1, which IBM updates with a new release every two years.