Network configuration notes

SMP/E assumes that you have network connectivity from your z/OS® system to the IBM® servers through the Internet. Consult your network administrator and the z/OS Communications Server: IP Configuration Guide for information about how to set up your z/OS system’s network configuration properly.

The HTTP(S) and FTP operations performed by SMP/E require host name to IP address resolution. This is usually accomplished using a Domain Name System (DNS) name server. A name server is defined using the NSINTERADDR or NAMESERVER statement within a resolver configuration file (TCPIP.DATA information). There are several different locations where a resolver configuration file can be found when using an application such as SMP/E. Because SMP/E uses a UNIX process for its HTTP(S) and FTP operations, the z/OS UNIX search order is used to find the resolver configuration file. See the topics titled “Resolver configuration files” and "Search orders used in the z/OS UNIX environment" in z/OS Communications Server: IP Configuration Guide for details on specifying the location of the resolver configuration file. However, because of the asynchronous UNIX process used by SMP/E for its HTTP(S) and FTP operations, there are two exceptions to the documented search order: neither the SYSTCPD DD statement, nor the RESOLVER_CONFIG environment variable can be used to define the location of the resolver configuration file.

You can verify your name server setup by using the following sample job to invoke the NSLOOKUP command:

//jobname  JOB ...
//NSLOOKUP EXEC PGM=BPXBATCH,
//         PARM='PGM /bin/nslookup eccgw01.boulder.ibm.com'
//STDOUT   DD PATH='/tmp/&SYSUID..bpxbatch.stdout',
//         PATHOPTS=(OWRONLY,OCREAT,OTRUNC),PATHMODE=SIRWXU
//OUTSTEP  EXEC PGM=IKJEFT01
//SYSTSPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//INPUT    DD PATH='/tmp/&SYSUID..bpxbatch.stdout',
//         PATHOPTS=(ORDONLY),PATHDISP=DELETE
//OUTPUT   DD SYSOUT=*,DCB=(RECFM=V,LRECL=256)
//SYSTSIN  DD *
  OCOPY INDD(INPUT) OUTDD(OUTPUT)
/*

Note: Although the NSLOOKUP command can be run from the OMVS shell, this sample job runs the command in an environment similar to that in which SMP/E runs.

If your name server is set up properly, the nslookup command returns the IP address for the server. The output of the command is similar to the following output:

Defaulting to nslookup version 4
Starting nslookup version 4
Server:  local.dns.com
Address:  9.0.2.1
  
  Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    eccgw01.boulder.ibm.com
Address:  207.25.252.197

If an IP address for the eccgw01.boulder.ibm.com server is not returned, then verify that your name server setup and resolver configuration file are proper. See the topic titled "Diagnosing resolver problems" in z/OS Communications Server: IP Diagnosis Guide for details about using the Trace Resolver debug facility.