1
Release Information

This chapter provides details about supported Oracle products, software and hardware requirements, and known problems or product issues.

The following topics are included:

• Overview

• Product Set

• Oracle9i for OS/390 Documentation

• New Features and Functions

• Unsupported Features and Functions

• Known Restrictions

• Hardware Requirements

• Software Requirements

• Distribution Kit

Overview

Oracle9i for OS/390 is based on OSDI (Operating System Dependent Interface), an execution environment for Oracle products on OS/390 which was introduced with Oracle8i for OS/390, release 3 (8.1.7). The Oracle8i products on OS/390 were released in two forms: one based on the older MPM and TNS subsystems and another based on OSDI. In Oracle9i, products on OS/390 are available only with the new OSDI architecture.

OSDI represents a significant change from the old subsystems in terms of how Oracle products interact with the OS/390 operating system. These changes do not generally affect Oracle product behavior and the interfaces used by customer applications, but they do affect the installation, configuration, and administration of these products on OS/390.

If you are already an Oracle for OS/390 customer with existing MPM or TNS subsystems, refer to the Oracle9i Enterprise Edition System Administration Guide for OS/390 to learn more about the OSDI differences. Of particular importance is the chapter on "Migration and Upgrade Considerations," which covers considerations for moving from the old subsystems to OSDI.

If you are a new Oracle for OS/390 customer, you can proceed directly to installing the software and configuring Oracle9i products. For configuration information, refer to the Oracle9i Enterprise Edition System Administration Guide for OS/390.

Before Installing Oracle9i Enterprise Edition for OS/390

Before installing Oracle9i Enterprise Edition for OS/390, please visit the Oracle Support Services web site at http://www.oracle.com/support/. There, you will find links to login or register to visit the Oracle MetaLink web site. At the MetaLink site, you should search for any software updates that may be available for the Oracle for OS/390 products you are installing.

Product Set

The versions of the major components and utilities included on the tape are:

Oracle9i Server Enterprise Edition	9.0.1.0.20
Oracle9i JVM (formerly JServer)	9.0.1.0.20
Oracle9i Text	9.0.1.0.20
Oracle Access Manager for CICS	9.0.1.0.20
Oracle Access Manager for IMS TM	9.0.1.0.20
Oracle Enterprise Manager Intelligent Agent and Data Gatherer	9.0.1.0.20
Oracle Net TCP/IP	9.0.1.0.20
Oracle Real Application Clusters	9.0.1.0.20
PL/SQL	9.0.1.0.20
Pro*C/C++	9.0.1.0.20
Pro*COBOL	1.8.75.0.1 9.0.1.0.20
Pro*FORTRAN	1.8.75.0.1
Pro*PL/1	1.6.28.0.1
SQL*Plus	9.0.1.0.20

Oracle9i for OS/390 Documentation

The OS/390-specific publications supporting the products included with this release are:

Part Number	Title	Release
A89900	Oracle9i Enterprise Edition Installation Guide for OS/390 (this book)	9.0.1
A90089	Oracle9i Enterprise Edition Messages Guide for OS/390	9.0.1
A90090	Oracle9i Enterprise Edition Release Notes for OS/390	9.0.1
A89899	Oracle9i Enterprise Edition System Administration Guide for OS/390	9.0.1
A90087	Oracle9i Enterprise Edition User's Guide for OS/390	9.0.1

New Features and Functions

This section describes features and functions that are new with the release of Oracle9i for OS/390, and have platform-specific implications. For a complete list of new features for Oracle9i, refer to Oracle9i New Features. Existing customers should also consult the Oracle9i Enterprise Edition System Administration Guide for OS/390 for features or functions that should be taken into consideration during a migration or upgrade.

Features and functions that are new with the release of Oracle9i for OS/390 include the following:

• Oracle9i Real Application Clusters

• Database File Extension

• Variable Database Blocks

• Oracle9i Data Guard Support

• Oracle Managed Files (OMF)

• Character Set Scanner Utility

• Oracle9i PL/SQL Server Page Loader

• SPFILE (Server Parameter File) Support

Oracle9i Real Application Clusters

Oracle9i Real Application Clusters provides applications with highly available access to the database, with near-linear scalability. Configuring an Oracle database instance to use Oracle9i Real Application Clusters is simple, and parallel-aware design changes are not required, so you can easily and quickly add nodes to your cluster as your needs change. This scalability and availability is accomplished without the need for specialized coupling hardware, extending the benefits of Real Application Clusters to a wider OS/390 community. Refer to the Oracle9i Enterprise Edition System Administration Guide for OS/390 and the Oracle9i Real Application Clusters Book Set for more information.

Database File Extension

Oracle9i for OS/390 now supports database file extension using the SQL statements ALTER DATABASE DATAFILE...AUTOEXTEND or ALTER DATABASE DATAFILE...RESIZE. Refer to the Oracle9i Enterprise Edition System Administration Guide for OS/390 for more information.

Variable Database Blocks

With the release of Oracle9i for OS/390 you can specify a logical database blocksize of 8K, 16K, or 32K in addition to the 4K blocksize previously supported. Refer to the Oracle9i Enterprise Edition System Administration Guide for OS/390 for more information.

Oracle9i Data Guard Support

Oracle9i Data Guard improves availability by supporting simple, complete, and fully automated switchover to a standby database. The Data Guard tools can support disaster recovery in real-world scenarios with a minimum of administrative intervention. Processing on the primary database instance can be easily resumed when convenient. Refer to the Oracle9i Enterprise Edition User's Guide for OS/390 and the Oracle9i Data Guard Book Set for more information.

Oracle Managed Files (OMF)

Oracle9i for OS/390 supports Oracle Managed Files (OMF), a feature which eliminates the need to directly manage the operating system files comprising an Oracle database. Refer to the Oracle9i Enterprise Edition System Administration Guide for OS/390 and the Oracle9i Administrator's Guide for more information.

Character Set Scanner Utility

The character set scanner utility can be used by application developers to quickly identify potential issues in migrating an Oracle database to a new character set. Refer to the Oracle9i Enterprise Edition System Administration Guide for OS/390 for more information.

Oracle9i PL/SQL Server Page Loader

The Oracle9i PL/SQL Server Page Loader utility, provided under OS/390 USS, enables you to load PL/SQL Server Pages (PSPs) into the database as stored procedures. For example, you can use PSPs to embed PL/SQL scripts in HTML or XML documents and then load the PSP files into the database as stored procedures. Refer to the Oracle9i Enterprise Edition User's Guide for OS/390 and the Oracle9i Application Developer's Guide - Fundamentals for more information.

SPFILE (Server Parameter File) Support

A server parameter file is a repository for initialization parameters which is maintained on the machine where the Oracle database resides. Initialization parameters stored in an SPFILE are persistent. Refer to the Oracle9i Administrator's Guide and the Oracle9i SQL Reference for more information.

Unsupported Features and Functions

This release of Oracle9i for OS/390 does not include support for the following features and functions. Existing customers should also consult the Oracle9i Enterprise Edition System Administration Guide for OS/390 for unsupported features or functions that should be taken into consideration during a migration or upgrade.

• CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) and EJB (Enterprise Java Beans) Applications

• Dynamic Database Parameters (or Dynamic SGA - System Global Area)

• External Routines

• HSM Recall of Migrated Data Sets - Currently no support is available for automatically recalling OS/390 data sets that are used by the Oracle server if they have been migrated to other media by IBM's DFSMShsm or a similar product. This applies to the VSAM linear data sets (LDS) comprising the database as well as to non-VSAM data sets such as parameter files. All such data sets must be on disk in their original form at the time that they are opened by the server.

• Oracle Call Interface (OCI) Callbacks - Oracle9i for OS/390 OCI does not support use of callback functions: callbacks to process LOB read/write operations, callbacks to support application failover, and callbacks from PL/SQL. Refer to the Oracle9i Enterprise Edition User's Guide for OS/390 for more information.

• Oracle interMedia Audio, Video, Image, and Locator

• Oracle Internet Directory (OiD)

• Oracle Label Security Option

• Oracle Locale Builder

• Oracle Net Enhancements - With Oracle8, features were included in Oracle Net to improve the handling of a large number of connections. On the OS/390 platform, these features were already available with the Oracle7 implementation of SQL*Net on OS/390. As a result, some features, such as connection pooling, are not required for Oracle Net on OS/390 and are therefore not included. For more information, refer to the Oracle9i Enterprise Edition System Administration Guide for OS/390.

• Oracle OLAP Services

• Oracle Spatial Option

• Oracle Trace

• Oracle9i JVM Java Bytecode Accelerator

• Oracle9i JVM Java Server Pages

• PL/SQL Native Compilation

• RAC Guard

• UTL_HTTP PL/SQL Package

• XML Parser for C++

Known Restrictions

This release of Oracle9i for OS/390 has some restrictions in the following features:

• ALTER DATABASE...RESIZE

• Oracle Access Manager for CICS and for IMS TM

• Oracle C++ Call Interface (OCCI)

• Oracle External Tables

• Oracle JDBC OCI Driver

• Oracle Security Server

• Oracle Transparent Gateway Support

• XML-based Internet Document Access Protocol (iDAP)

ALTER DATABASE...RESIZE

Oracle9i database files on OS/390 are implemented as VSAM data sets. VSAM does not support the ability to decrease the size of a VSAM data set. Therefore, Oracle9i for OS/390 cannot decrease the size of a datafile.

Oracle Access Manager for CICS and for IMS TM

This release of the Oracle Access Manager for CICS and the Oracle Access Manager for IMS TM have the following restrictions.

• You can access only an Oracle9i database.

• Oracle Access Manager for CICS does not support the Version 7 Oracle Call Interface.

• Multiple versions of Oracle Access Manager for CICS can coexist in the same CICS region as long as the release levels are compatible. For example, release 9i can co-exist with another release 9i version but not with a release 8.1.7 version.

Oracle C++ Call Interface (OCCI)

OCCI classes using the STL (Standard Template Library) are currently not supported. The classes in this category include string, wstring, and vector.

Oracle External Tables

The only external file system currently supported is HFS.

Oracle JDBC OCI Driver

The Oracle JDBC OCI driver is not available with this release of Oracle9i for OS/390.

Oracle Security Server

For Oracle Security Server, an Oracle9i server or client on OS/390 cannot be a participant in an Oracle security connection. However, an Oracle database server on OS/390 can be the security repository.

Oracle Transparent Gateway Support

If you are using a Version 4 or Version 8 Oracle Transparent Gateway, you must use an Oracle Net connection between an Oracle9i integrating server and the Gateway agent; cross-memory connections are not supported in this configuration. The Oracle9i Gateway, when released, will support cross-memory connections. Refer to the "Migration and Upgrade Considerations" chapter of the Oracle9i Enterprise Edition System Administration Guide for OS/390, for more information.

XML-based Internet Document Access Protocol (iDAP)

To enable message operations such as enqueue and dequeue to be performed across the Internet, a new XML-based Internet Document Access Protocol (iDAP) is provided that allows message operations to be requested across firewalls. Message non-repudiation is not supported in this release.

Hardware Requirements

CPU

Oracle9i for OS/390 requires any processor capable of running the required OS/390 operating systems listed in the section Software Requirements.

Disk Space

Refer to Appendix A, "Data Set Names and Space Allocations", to determine the total static Oracle non-database requirements, including code for the products on the tapes, JCL, and samples.

Dynamic requirements such as SQL files, host language programs, and output spool files depend on Oracle application usage.

Tape Drive

A tape device is required for installation. A tape device is recommended for database backup and export operations. This can be any device supported by the OS/390 sequential access method, including the IBM 3480 and 3490 cartridge systems.

Terminals for Installation of Oracle9i

Oracle9i supports any terminal supported by TSO for line mode operations.

Software Requirements

The system software configuration described in the following requirements is supported by Oracle Corporation as long as the underlying system software products are supported by their respective vendors. Verify the latest support status with your system software vendors.

Oracle9i for OS/390

Operating System

OS/390 V2R7 or higher is required.

Unix System Services (USS)

An operational OS/390 Unix System Services (USS) is required.

IBM Maintenance

Oracle Corporation recommends running Oracle9i for OS/390 at the most current operating system service level. Apply the appropriate PTFs for the following IBM APARS:

APAR Number	Description
OW37514	IEBCOPY fails intermittently with message IGW01352T when attempting to load PDSE members.
OW40649	IEBCOPY requires multiple mounts of the same tape when loading a PDSE from a multi-volume file. This impacts the ORPIJD00 installation job that copies Oracle products from installation tape.
OW43816	Abend EC6 RSN083404P2 on socket() or accept() call from an SRB.
PQ07992 -- IMS V5	In the ESAF create thread exit, the CTPTRCM field of the exit parameter list is set incorrectly.
PQ08611 -- IMS V6	In the ESAF create thread exit, the CTPTRCM field of the exit parameter list is set incorrectly.
PQ35713	The client server applications hang or are timing out. Errno 10200.

Additional OS/390 Software Requirements

The following software is required for installing Oracle9i for OS/390:

Product	Use
ISPF	IBM Interactive System Productivity Facility (ISPF) release 3.5 is required. IBM ISPF release 3.5 is used during the installation of Oracle. If you are using a lower level, Oracle Corporation recommends you change the text in all your REXX EXECs to uppercase. This avoids problems with ISPEXEC functions and parameters.IBM ISPF Version 4 is now supported with the following restriction: For all panels to function correctly, set ISPF option 0.4 (Display Characteristics) COMMAND LINE PLACEMENT ===> ASIS, and do not split the screen. Splitting the screen can cause the CUA Action Line prompts to appear, and setting COMMAND LINE PLACEMENT ===> BOTTOM can cause part of the dialog panel titles to be obscured.
Java	IBM Java version 1.1.8 is used during the installation process. (Oracle9i for OS/390 is not supported with Java version 1.3.)
REXX	The IBM REXX product is used during the installation process.

Oracle Access Manager for CICS

IBM CICS release 4.1 or higher is required when you install Oracle Access Manager for CICS.

Oracle Access Manager for CICS supports Pro*C, Pro*COBOL, Pro*PL/1, and Oracle Call Interface.

Oracle Access Manager for IMS TM

Oracle Access Manager for IMS supports Pro*C, Pro*COBOL, Pro*PL/1, and Oracle Call Interface.

Language Compilers

These compilers can be used to develop applications with Oracle9i for OS/390.

Precompiler	Compiler	Required Compiler Release
Pro*C	IBM C/C++ SAS/C	1.1 or higher 3.01 or higher
Pro*COBOL V9	VS COBOL II IBM COBOL for OS390 + VM	1.4 or higher 2.1
Pro*COBOL V1	VS COBOL II, IBM COBOL for OS/390 + VM	1.4 or higher 2.1
Pro*FORTRAN	VS FORTRAN	1.4 or higher
Pro*PL/I	IBM OS PL/I Compiler	2.3 or higher

Oracle Net Requirements

When you install Oracle Net, you have additional software and hardware requirements. One or more of the following products is required, depending on the protocol that you use:

Oracle Net Protocol	Product	Required Protocol Release
Oracle Net IBM TCP/IP	IBM TCP/IP or Computer Associates Interlink TCP/IP Note: Computer Associates Interlink SNS/TCP access release 5.2 or above is supported via the HPNS interface only with the Oracle Net IBM TCP/IP driver.	3.5 or higher 5.2 or higher

Oracle Net IBM TCP/IP

An OS/390 host using Oracle Net IBM TCP/IP requires any hardware capable of interfacing with the IBM TCP/IP stack.

The IBM TCP/IP software must be on the same OS/390 system as Oracle Net IBM TCP/IP.

Distribution Kit

Before installing your Oracle software, verify that you have a complete distribution package.

Tapes

The Oracle9i for OS/390 software is distributed on several tapes. Refer to the Oracle9i Enterprise Edition Release Notes for OS/390 for the volume serial numbers of these tapes. The data set names on these tapes are in the following format:

ORACLE.prodspec.Fn

where:

prodspec	is a product specification.
n	is a sequential number for each file type needed for the product.

Documentation

Verify you have the correct documentation for your installation:

• Oracle platform-specific documentation appropriate to Oracle9i for OS/390

• Oracle product-specific documentation for the products that you ordered, including Oracle9i Server, Release 9.0.1

Documentation is available from the Oracle website at http://docs.oracle.com.