MVS Optional Materials tapes
5 April 2020 Update - I was attempting to track down a macro library. According to an archived post I was able to find online, the macro library I was seeking had been created from one of the libraries included on the MVS 3.8 Optional Materials tapes. The macro library appears on the more recent Turnkey system, but is not present on any of the first three versions of the Turnkey system created and distributed by Volker Bandke. However, the optional materials libraries are included on Volker's version 3 of the Turnkey CDs (and perhaps earlier, although I didn't check). I knew that at one time I had acquired a copy of these tapes, so I went looking in the back of a closet where I store very old CDs that I just can't bring myself to discard. And I found the CDs where I had burned copies of these tapes. It blows my mind a bit when I hold in my hand something that indicates I have been doing things with Hercules and MVS for almost two decades, but the creation date on these files is June, 2000, so there is the indelible proof.
I thought it might be of some use to place these files online, so I restored them to a 3380-K volume and it may be downloaded from this page.
The 3380-K volume contains its own User Catalog, into which all the datasets on the volume are catalogued. The volume is available from mvssrc.tgz (147.3 MB) [MD5: c56ee75d5621de2e3c52658bcd02511d]. The archive contains a DASD volume image and a jobstream. Extract the volume into the directory holding your DASD images for Hercules, using your preferred program (WinZip, WinRar, UnZIP, tar). Edit your Hercules' configuration file to add the DASD into your system at an available (unused) address for a 3380 DASD or use the 'attach' command on the Hercules console. The volume contains its own User Catalog into which all of the datasets have been catalogued. The provided jobstream will import/connect the User Catalog to your Master Catalog and define an Alias to allow access to the individual datasets via the catalog. Alternatively you can access them using RPF option 3.4 and specify the Volume Serial # to access the datasets without using the catalog.
If you intend to leave the DASD volume permanently mounted, it is suggested that you edit your VATLST to add an entry for the volume to direct MVS to place it into the category of PRIVATE at IPL time:
MVSSRC ,1,2,3380 ,N PRIVATE-MVS SOURCE MATERIALS/3380
The DASD image, as supplied, is uncompressed. If you wish to compress the volume use the Hercules' utility: dasdcopy -z <uncompressed image file> <compressed image file> to it after unpacking from the archive.
An VTOC listing for the volume may be viewed at: MVSSRC.3380 VTOC.
14 February 2021 Update - I created a cross-reference listing of the members of the 21 partitioned datasets containing the source that may be viewed at: MVSSRC_cross_reference.pdf.
26 May 2020 Update - I found a scanned manifest for the optional materials that was obviously originally printed on an impact printer, which may be viewed at mvs.optional.materials.manifest.pdf
I have been preparing to update my instructions for installing MVS 3.8. While sorting through a tremendous amount of material I have collected over the years, I came across reference summary for the MVS 3.8 distribution tapes. I do not know the origin of this pdf, but I am glad that I saved it, especially in light of the collapse of the Yahoo Groups and the loss of all the material collected in the messages, links, and files over 20+ years time. I am making the pdf document available from my site at: IBM 3.8J Distribution Reference Summary. Of particular relevance to this page is the material shown on page 2 of the document, highlighted in green:
These are the tapes that make up the optional materials contained on the volume above.
31 January 2022 Update - Peter Stockdill is the creator of the document above. He posted it to the, now defunct, Yahoo Hercules MVS group on November 26, 2003. Following the migration of the Hercules forums to groups.io we have the contents of the Yahoo files, but the origin information was lost during that transition. Thank you, Peter, for contacting me to let me know the origin.
I hope that you have found my instructions useful. If you have questions that I can answer to help expand upon the information I have included here, please don't hesitate to send them to me:
