DJ's Weblog

TurnkeyScreenshot

Originally uploaded by qmacro.

As an ex MVS chap (I managed VSAM (DL/1) based SAP R/2 systems on IMS DB/DC at the start of my career) I was amazed some months back to find Hercules, the open source S/370 emulator.

So imagine my delight when I revisited Hercules the other day, to find a chap called Volker Bandke had put together an MVS 3.8J Turnkey system that you can install and run on your emulated mainframe.

Using the ISPF-alike RPF, and QUEUE, a facility similar to SDSF, I am in oldtimer-heaven.

And of course, the first thing I tried (after a bit of jiggery pokery setting things up) had to be the inevitable:

//HWORLD  JOB  CLASS=A,MSGCLASS=A,
//             MSGLEVEL=(1,1),REGION=256K
//STEP1   EXEC PGM=IEBGENER
//SYSUT1   DD  *
HELLO WORLD!
//SYSUT2   DD  SYSOUT=A
//SYSPRINT DD  SYSOUT=A
//SYSIN    DD  DUMMY

Welcome back JCL, my long lost friend.

Update

I found some great pictures of real vintage terminals connected up to contemporary emulators (of vintage hardware) at Corestore Collection. This is what the site’s owner calls “technological hooliganism” Seeing this picture of a 3278 takes me back – I spent a good part of the start of my IT career in front of one of these…