Sticky bit

Some of the optional z/OS® Explorer Extensions services require that MVS load modules are available to z/OS UNIX. This is done by creating a stub (a dummy file) in z/OS UNIX with the "sticky" bit on. When the stub is executed, z/OS UNIX will look for an MVS load module with the same name and execute the load module instead.

The z/OS UNIX sticky bit is set during SMP/E install where needed. These permission bits might get lost if you did not preserve them during a manual copy of the z/OS Explorer Extensions directories.

The following z/OS Explorer Extensions files must have the sticky bit on:
  • /usr/lpp/IBM/zee/bin/
    • AZUTSTRN
    • CRASTART
Use z/OS UNIX command ls –l to list the permissions, in which the sticky bit is marked with the letter t, as shown in the following example ($ is the z/OS UNIX prompt): 
$ cd /usr/lpp/IBM/zee
$ ls -l bin/CRA*
-rwxr-xr-t   2 user     group         71 Jul  8 12:31 bin/CRASTART
Use z/OS UNIX command chmod +t to set the sticky bit manually, as shown in the following example ($ and # are the z/OS UNIX prompt): 
$ cd /usr/lpp/IBM/zee
$ su
# chmod +t bin/CRA*
# exit
$ ls -l bin/CRA*
-rwxr-xr-t   2 user     group         71 Jul  8 12:31 bin/CRASTART
Note: To be able to use the chmod command, you must have at least READ access to the SUPERUSER.FILESYS.CHANGEPERMS profile in the UNIXPRIV class of your security software, or be a superuser (UID 0) if this profile is not defined. For more information, refer to UNIX System Services Planning (GA22-7800).