If curious about other IBM Z Operating systems, then visit:
IBM Z IT Infrastructure Operating systems
While z/OS has many connection services, you are only required to connect to 2 services during the contest.
Each connection service uses the same IP Address but different Port numbers.
If unable to connect from school campus, try from home. You or a faculty member may need to communicate
the following information to your school campus network administrator to ensure the following IP address
and port numbers are allowed to be accessed from the school campus network.
Service | Port |
---|---|
TN3270 | 23 |
SSH | 22 |
FTP (Optional) | 21 |
IDz (Optional) | 4035 and 6715 |
Db2 (Optional) | 5040 |
Please take the time to validate communication path.
From workstation command prompt:
The contestant must install various software depending on the workstation's operating system. Please see the section below that corresponds to your workstation.
The following software is required for contestants running Linux workstations:
Refer to your respective Linux workstation distribution's repository to acquire and install x3270. If you are unsure of what the previous sentence means, use your favorite search engine to search for something like “Ubuntu 16.04 x3270 installation” or “Fedora 24 x3270 installation”. Once installed, you can open the 3270 emulator from the local terminal by entering the command x3270 or by searching the application menu.
In general, OpenSSH is installed by default into Linux. Test this by opening a local terminal session and entering the command ssh.
The following software is required for contestants running Mac workstations:
Option #1 - x3270 Client Installation
Review Instructions here: http://planetmvs.com/mvsintosh/x3270.html
Option #2 - Brown University provides a tn3270 client that is freely-licensed for non-commercial use.
Download it from here: http://www.brown.edu/cis/tn3270/
Select the tn3270 release that supports your OS X version. Most Mac users will select the latest 3.4.0 release as it supports OS X 10.3.9 and later.
In general, OpenSSH is installed by default into Mac OS X. Test this by opening a local terminal session and entering the command ssh.
The following software is required for contestants running Windows workstations:
Tom Brennan Software is providing their tn3270 client along with licensing to all contestants of the Master the Mainframe contest. Follow this link, download, and install Vista V1.27:
http://www.tombrennansoftware.com/download.html
Check the email from the IBM Master the Mainframe Contest team for the license key that allows extended academic use of Vista tn3270.
PuTTY is a free telnet/SSH client provided by Simon Tatham. It can be downloaded from here:
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html
See the FAQ for questions and problems: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/faq.html
To connect to z/OS TN3270 (TSO, ISPF, etc) from a Linux workstation x3270 client, first start the client.
From a console command line, run “x3270”. This opens a new x3270 session window.
Ensure that your client is set to "Model 4". Click Options -> Screen Size -> Model 4 (80x43).
Click Connect at the top and in the "Enter Hostname" box, type in IP address for z/OS.
Then click Connect.
At this point, you can rest assured that the connectivity to z/OS is
functioning properly.
Refer to the Part One challenge documentation for
instructions on how to log onto z/OS.
Thanks to Brown University: Download and Install Brown tn3270 for MAC
Navigate to the folder that contains the tn3270 software and double-click
the tn3270 X icon to start tn3270.
You may see a prompt about the application being downloaded from the internet.
Select Open.
Thanks to our IT professional friend, David, at PlanetMVS:
Download and Install x3270 for MAC
from http://planetmvs.com/mvsintosh/x3270.html
In the new window, enter the IP address for the contest z/OS system as
the hostname and a Window Title of your choosing.
IP Address in example below must be replaced with 192.86.32.153
Click on "Screen Format" and set the "Large Screen Size:" option to 43x80 (Model 4). Then click Okay.
Select Open Connection. It may take a few seconds for the z/OS or z/VM
welcome screen to appear.
Once you see this screen, congratulations, you are
connected!
If this is your first time using Vista TN3270,
Start Vista TN3270 and click File -> New Session Ask
If you have used the Vista TN3270 software before, you will automatically
be brought to the Vista TN3270 - Start a New Terminal Session window.
Alternatively, overtype tn3270.mycompany.com with 192.86.32.153 as shown below
Click Connect. Once you see the following screen, you've successfully connected to z/OS.
To change Vista TN3270 to a model 4 display, click Options -> Options.
Next, select the Display tab at the top and click the Mod 4 radio button. Mod 4 enlarges the display to 43 Rows by 80 Columns from the Mod 2 default of 24 rows by 80 columns.
After clicking Okay, Vista TN3270 should prompt you for a reconnect. Click OK.
Once logged back into z/OS, you'll note the screen resolution has increased.
To change Vista TN3270 Keyboard, click icon as shown in picture below.
To use the Vista TN3270 Keypad, click icon as shown in picture below
From a local terminal, run the command ssh
z#####@192.86.32.153.
The first time you connect you will be prompted to
verify the authenticity of the host. Enter “yes” to continue connecting.
You will be greeted with the following screen.
At this point, you can rest assured that SSH connectivity to z/OS is functioning properly.
Use the same instructions as to connect from Linux; these should work in Mac.
After starting PuTTY, enter the IP address of the contest z/OS system in
the Host Name (or IP address) box.
Ensure that the port is set to 22 and the SSH option is selected.
Then enter MTM-Unix (or a description of
your choosing) in the Saved Sessions box and
click Save.
The next time you start PuTTY, you can just double click the newly created Saved Session "MTM-Unix" to quickly reconnect.
Click on the Open button at the bottom.
The first time you connect to z/OS Unix, you will be see a Security Alert. Click Yes to continue.
Enter USERID at the 'login as:' prompt to test the connection.
If you are prompted for a password, you are ready to connect to the z/OS USS contest environment. Well done!