Release Notes

Universal Agent release 7.8.0.0 contains the following high-level features. For a complete list of all the included features and fixes please refer to the Universal Agent 7.8.x Maintenance list.

z/OS JES3 Statement of Support

Universal Agent for z/OS has always been targeted for complete compatibility with JES2. Nearly all feature development, feature validation, and acceptance and regression testing are done on JES2 systems. For most functionality required by the Agent, this is sufficient and is generally found to be compatible with IBM JES3.

However, some features have required targeted changes to work in a JES3 environment, and some of those changes are only provided in newer releases.

While every attempt to certify new features against IBM JES3 will be made with each new release, some incompatibility with newer JES3 versions may find their way into Agent releases. Stonebranch will evaluate any such instances on a case-by-case basis.

See the IBMz Enhancements table below for items that Universal Agent 7.8.0.0 provides to enhance JES3 support.

z/OS 2.3 Statement of End of Support

Universal Agent 7.8.x is the last version that will support z/OS 2.3. Universal Agent 7.8.x will remain supported by Stonebranch until March 2027.

Universal Agent for z/OS will continue to be supported for z/OS 2.4, 2.5, and 3.1.

z/OS 2.3 was withdrawn by IBM in 2022.

GDG Resolution for z/OS Task Rerun

A change provided for D-11743 (see the Universal Agent 7.8.x Maintenance List) may result in UAG requesting confirmation of JCL changes in situations where it previously did not.

This increased JCL change confirmations are a result of the improved detection of changes for relative and absolute GDG names upon a task rerun/restart.

UDM Default Behavior Change

The Universal Agent 7.8.0.0 delivery provides a change to Universal Data Mover's (UDM) default behavior on z/OS.

The change for D-13141 (see the Universal Agent 7.8.x Maintenance List) disables the Large Block Interface (LBI) by default for file transfers to z/OS. A new attribute, "lbi", is available to re-enable it for transfers that require it (e.g., transfers to tape, datasets with very large block sizes).

This change should be transparent for most transfers, but please review the maintenance list and assess the possible impact for your environment.

Statement of HP-UX Support

The Universal Agent for HP-UX is still supported for this release (and supported maintenance releases), but it is not posted along with Universal Agent packages for other supported platforms. If you need this package, please contact Stonebranch Customer Support and they will provide it.

Universal 7.8.0 will be the last release for which an HP-UX package will be built.

Starting with the Universal Agent 7.9.0.0 release (Q3 delivery), Universal Agent for HP-UX will no longer be provided.

SAP Task Enhancement

Backlog	Title	Description
B-18389	SAP task step monitoring	Add the ability for USAP to collect real-time job-step execution updates and relay the information to the associated task instance in the Controller.

Security

Backlog	Title	Desciption
B-20246	TLS SNI support	Add the ability to configure and provide the TLS SNI extension in the ClientHello request during the TLS/SSL handshake when connecting to an OMS Server.

User Experience

Backlog	Title	Desciption
B-21232	PAM sessions support for Unix/Linux tasks	Provides support for the PAM module type `session` for Unix/Linux tasks, using the SECURITY configuration for UAGSRV.

IBMz Enhancements

Backlog	Title	Desciption
B-21212	Sysplex support enhancements	Provide sysplex support for the z/OS External Monitor task.
B-21530	JES3 error handling	Updates the UAG Server for z/OS to better detect jobs that fail before reaching the JES queue in a JES3 environment.

IBMi Enhancements

Backlog	Title	Desciption
B-20664	Task execution support	Provide Universal Agent support for the SBMJOB command type added to IBM i tasks.