Feedback

To allow z/OSMF users to provide feedback on their z/OSMF experience directly to IBM, use the Feedback tab in General Settings. The Feedback tab also allows z/OSMF to automatically collect product usage information and send that data directly to IBM. The data includes which z/OSMF services are enabled, the z/OSMF tasks and REST services usage, and the system operational data.

Before you begin

The z/OSMF users at your installation can manually provide feedback on their z/OSMF experience directly to IBM. Such feedback might be useful to IBM in determining the effectiveness of a particular function, or for collecting user requirements for enhancements to z/OSMF. In addition to the manual mode of feedback submission, z/OSMF administrators can also allow the z/OSMF server to automatically send product usage information directly to IBM monthly.

To allow the z/OSMF server to automatically send product usage information monthly, enable the option Start of change Send system operational information monthly End of change in the Automatic feedback settings of the Feedback tab. This option is enabled by default.

To submit feedback manually, enable one or more questions from the Manual feedback settings in the Feedback tab. Otherwise, when the Provide IBM feedback option is selected, an alert will prompt the user to enable questions in General Settings.

About this task

You must be a z/OSMF administrator to enable feedback in this tab.

To send feedback to IBM, a user ID requires at least read access to the following SAF profile:

<SAF-prefix>.ZOSMF.SEND.IBM.FEEDBACK

z/OSMF administrators can optionally include usage information about enabled z/OSMF services, z/OSMF tasks and REST services usage, and system operational data with their feedback information. To do so, a user ID requires at least read access to the following SAF resource profile:

<SAF-prefix>.ZOSMF.ADMINTASKS.USAGESTATISTICS

Note: Access to both SAF profiles is required only for the manual mode of feedback submission.

Procedure

Follow these steps to configure the settings to submit feedback manually.
1. In the z/OSMF desktop, select General Settings.
2. Click the Feedback tab.
3. If you have not set up your outgoing email configuration in Notification settings, Mail Configuration in Notification Settings is displayed. Click this link to open Notifications Settings and complete the configuration to send feedback to IBM in an encrypted email.
  When a user completes their feedback submission, a window is displayed to confirm that the feedback was submitted. Otherwise, a window is displayed to indicate that the feedback was not submitted.
  Alternatively, users can download the feedback to their local system and use a local email server to submit feedback to IBM. The IBM email address is shown in the window. Feedback that is sent through this alternative method is not encrypted.
4. To enable users to send system operational information along with their feedback, configure the Data Gatherer Server URL.
  The value for this field will be the z/OSMF server where z/OS Data Gatherer: Monitor II REST Services are enabled. By default, the field contains the primary z/OSMF server URL. The following shows an example of a Data Gatherer Server URL:
```
https://<host>:<port>/zosmf/
```
  You can check whether a connection can be successfully made to the Data Gatherer server by clicking the Check Connection button.
5. Review the feedback questions in Manual Feedback settings and choose which questions to display to z/OSMF users by selecting Enabled or Disabled. You cannot enable Question 2 without enabling Question 1.
  The questions that you enable will be displayed to users who access the Provide IBM Feedback page. Users can complete the information by answering the questions in the survey. z/OSMF administrators can optionally select to include information about enabled z/OSMF services, z/OSMF tasks and REST services usage, and system operational data with their feedback.
Follow these steps to configure the z/OSMF server to automatically send system operational information monthly.
1. In the z/OSMF desktop, select General Settings.
2. Click the Feedback tab.
3. If you have not set up your outgoing email configuration in Notification settings, Mail Configuration in Notification Settings is displayed. Click this link to open Notifications Settings and complete the configuration.
  If this step is not completed, feedback cannot be sent automatically.
4. To include system operational information as part of the product usage information, configure the Data Gatherer Server URL.
  The value for this field will be the z/OSMF server where z/OS Data Gatherer: Monitor II REST Services are enabled. By default, the field contains the primary z/OSMF server URL. The following shows an example of a Data Gatherer Server URL:
```
https://<host>:<port>/zosmf/
```
  You can check whether a connection can be successfully made to the Data Gatherer server by clicking the Check Connection button.
5. Select the option Send system operational information monthly in the Automatic Feedback settings. This option is enabled by default. To disable, change the setting from enabled to disabled. For more information about z/OS system operational information, see z/OS Licensed Program Specifications.
  All feedback sent to IBM through this method is encrypted.

Results

System operational information is send with the feedback, if you have correctly configured the Data Gatherer Server URL.
Feedback is submitted monthly if you have enabled automatic feedback. The feedback data persists in the feedback directory within the z/OSMF data directory /global/zosmf/data.
The questions that you enable in the Manual feedback settings will be displayed to users who access the Provide IBM Feedback page.