Retrieving product information from SMP/E global and target zones

To retrieve the product, feature, and FMID information from SMP/E global and target zones and make it available to z/OSMF, add, copy, or modify a software instance or invoke the Retrieve Product, Feature, and FMID Information action.

About this task

When you complete one of these actions, z/OSMF searches the SMP/E global zone and target zones associated with the software instance and gathers the following information:
  • Name, ID, version, release, modification level, and vendor for the products contained in the software instance.
  • Name of the features contained in the software instance.
  • Identifier and description for the FMIDs contained in the software instance, and the name of the target zones where the FMIDs are installed.
Note: If a software instance contains a product and information about that product is not provided in the Software Management task, more than likely, the product, feature, and FMID information for that software instance has not been retrieved.

To ensure that SMP/E and z/OSMF are synchronized, it is recommended that you retrieve product information from SMP/E global and target zones when you make a change to your installation that affects one or more software instances, such as installing new product releases or removing software. If you do not periodically re-retrieve this information, you could open a view or create a report that is incorrect, incomplete, or outdated.

z/OSMF automatically retrieves this information for a software instance when you add, modify, copy, or deploy the software instance; therefore, the instructions that follow explain how to retrieve this information using the Retrieve Product, Feature, and FMID Information action.

Procedure

  1. To display a table where you can access the Retrieve Product, Feature, and FMID Information action, complete one of the following steps:
    1. Click Software Instances on the Software Management page.
    2. Select Software Instances from the Switch To menu provided on the Deployments page and the Products page.
    3. In the Software Instances view, invoke the View > Products, Features, and FMIDs action.
    4. In the Products view, invoke the View > Software Instances action.
    5. Create or re-display the End of Service report.
    6. Invoke the action to create, modify, or copy a deployment. As you navigate through the deployment checklist, several opportunities are provided for you to work with software instances. For example, when you navigate to the Select the software instance to deploy step and the Check for missing SYSMODs step, a list of software instances is displayed.
  2. In the table, select the software instance for which you want to retrieve the product, feature, and FMID information. You can select only one software instance.
  3. From the Actions menu or context menu, select Retrieve Product, Feature, and FMID Information. You might be prompted for additional information such as your login credentials for the system or the HTTP proxy information. If prompted, provide the requested information.

Results

A progress indicator is displayed that informs you that z/OSMF is processing the request and might take several minutes to complete. For more details about the indicator, see help topic About progress indicators.

If the request completes without errors, the date in the Product, Feature, and FMID Information Retrieved column is updated.

What to do next

To obtain more information about a product, such as its general availability date, end of service date, and other product information, complete the steps provided in help topic Retrieving product information from product information files.

Parent topic: Retrieving product information

Related reference

Software Instances page
About the End of Service report
View Products, Features, and FMIDs page
View Software Instances by Product page