What’s new in Virtel 4.63 Release
The following newsletter summaries the new features and maintenance updates that can be found in Virtel Release 4.63 at update level 6200.
New features
Connectivity Enhancements: TN3270 Client
The Virtel server now integrates a TN3270 client which enables Telnet bounces towards other Telnet servers such as remote z/OS and VSEn systems, z/VM systems, OSA-ICC Consoles, IBMi systems (AS400), TPF etc. This is further documented in the Virtel Connectivity Guide (Section - TN3270 Lines)
Security Enhancements
The Virtel SSO Gateway allows external authentication (AD, OIDS, SAML…) to Mainframe applications for end-users, allowing them to connect to Mainframe applications using their Windows/AD password.
The Virtel session tokens have been re-engineered, in order to be harder to hack
It is now possible to set customized HTTP Security Headers (Strict Transport Security, etc.) for all pages and files served by the Virtel web server. This allows the Virtel web server to be compliant with the most recent security standards.
UX Enhancements
Improved support for the TSO OMVS application. The command line is now preserved when the screen is refreshed.
Note
This feature requires update level 6216 or higher.
Administration Enhancements
New administrator panel to kill active Virtel sessions
Search field introduced on several panels, to improve management of large configurations
Simplified CSS customization for creation of new colour schemes
New LU Nailing feature, integrated into the Virtel ARBO file (no longer relies on RACF groups)
Migration considerations
End of support for COMPATIBILITY mode
The “COMPATIBILITY” mode for w2hparm, that was introduced in version 4.54 to provide seamless migration of V4.53 w2hparm to V4.54. w2hparm is no longer supported from V4.61 onwards. It is recommended to switch to “Option” mode before migrating later releases.
6046 DCB value of STATS file changed to 255
This was increased to 255 in Virtel 4.61. Reallocate any STATS file with a LRECL=255,RECFM=VB,BLKSIZE=4096
Version support
Virtel versions 4.59 and older are no longer supported. It is recommended to migrate to the latest GA release.
ARBO changes
There have been no changes to the ARBO which would require specific migration actions from v4.60 and upwards.
List of updates:
Administration changes
6107 VIRCONF Versioning
Files unloaded using the VIRCONF procedure now include a comment identifying which version of Virtel was used to create the VIRCONF file.
6110 Update SAMPLIB(DEFTRSF)
Sample Job DEFTRSF has been fixed (missing parenthesis on RECSZ parameter)
6116 Update ARBOLOAD in Samplib
Various fixes to ARBOLOAD installation job.
6122 Update SMFREXX to translate out null values.
The SMFREXX procedure has been fixed to accept NULL values in fields.
6124 Enhancements to 3270 ADMIN applications
New CANCEL feature for active Virtel sessions. Various improvements to Admin panels.
6129 VIRCONF UNLOAD does not work from a Virplex WRITER task
VIRCONF program improved to support unload from VIRPLEX instance of Virtel.
6131 Change SAMPLES (SSLSETUP) to include options on RDATALIB Class
SSLSETUP JCL adapted to more modern implementations of AT-TLS
6134 PARM6 not initialy set in VIR0021W. Potential for MAPFAIL condition.
Improve Virtel resilience in regards to MAPFAIL conditions on USSTAB files.
6143 New ADMIN 3270 Applications
Update screens in Security Manager to enable dynamic updates of USER relay session information.
6145 Update SAMPLIB and INSTALL.TXT
Add example Security Manager to SAMPLIB ARBOSECU
6147 Virtel Line Status Display PF7 Previous returns to top of the first page not previous Page
Fix various navigation issues in admin panels.
6149 Display USERPARM in TCT command
Expand display of USERPARMS in /F VIRTEL,TCT command
6151 User Parm Manager Feature
Add field in “Correspondents” admin panel to display centralized user parms for a given user
6155 LU Nailing Table Option
New LUNSIZE TCT option to manage size of internal LU Nailing table.
6156 Correct VSAMTYP= operand in VIRTERM
VSAMTYP= should only accept READONLY, WRITER, [NORMAL] as operands in VIRTERM macro.
6159 LANG= TCT parameter validation
LANG= TCT parameter to support values: ‘E’ English / ‘F’ French / ‘ ‘ French / Blank Backward Compatibility
6160 Correct OPTION field length in MAP10
Update MAP10 (Transaction Detail) OPTION field to 32 bytes. Same as VIRCONF.
6163 fix samplib job VIR4INST
Fix allocation parameters for file SAMPTRSF.
6173 ADMIN 3270 Updates
Various cosmetic updates to admin panels
6179 Correct LOGMODE in VIR0021W
Allow different LOGMODEs for USSTAB
Base Components
6109 MQCLOSE when stopping an MQ Line
Fix issue for Virtel MQ Lines that are incompletely closed when line is stopped.
6123 Reformat message VIRHT57E to accomodate IPV6 address
Message VIRHT57E can now include IPv6 addresses
6136 PTON 00000031 (00000049) error with CALLER=(BEGIN RULE
Allow Rules to include more than one proxy name.
6142 possible abend after receiving a series of invalid VirtelSession
Fix abend condition reached after receiving multiple invalide VirtelSessions
6144 Correct message VIR0057I
Remove invalid text from message VIR0057I
6148 VIRHTML opened r/w on a virplex reader task
Force R/O opening of VIRHTML file on reader instances of Virplex
6150 VIR0537E - LINE T-TNSPT1(TNSPT1 ) HAS NO TERMINALS LINKED
Fix allocation of terminals for TN3270 lines with large numbers of pseudo-terminals
6154 Virtel VSE z404 when logging off application
Fix z404 error condition in Virtel VSE at end of session.
6158 Fix S0E0 Abend in VIR0008U
Correct ABEND S0E0 in VIR0008U when printing TS table with OPTION=NY set. Y= Debug LU Nailing On.
6181 Update message VIR123E in VIR0U12
Add reason code to message VIR123E when Virplex broadcast fails
Interconnection
6111 TN3270 updates to work with OSA card telnet server
Add TN3270 support for OSA-ICC telnet server
6118 TN3270 stuck after entering L TSO in USSTABTX
Fix error when calling a TN3270 line from Virtel usstab program
6128 TN3270 possible ASRAs and/or shifted screens
Fix various abends with TN3270 features
6139 TN3270 - force LU name on client side (for OSA-ICC connections)
Add new URL option TNLUNAME=xx to force LUNAME on TN3270 outbound connections
6141 TN3270 Add support for other terminal models - 3 (32x80); 4 (43x80); 5 (27x132)
Add support for terminal models 3, 4 and 5
6176 Allow use of logmode parm for TN3270 transactions
Allow to set the TN3270 terminal model using the Virtel SNX3270x logmode parameters.
Scenario Language
6113 Scenario not called on non HTTP line
Add support for .390 scenarios on “non-HTTP” lines (such as MQ for example)
**6138 COPY$ SCREEN-TO-VARIABLE gives only first line in a FOREACH$ **
Fix compatibility between the COPY$ SCREEN-TO-VARIABLE instruction and the FOREACH$ instruction.
6167 during UPLOAD of templates, matches WHEN-EXISTS and END-WHEN-EXISTS
Add check during upload to Virtel for unmatched WHEN-EXISTS / END-WHEN-EXISTS sections
6182 Interpret variables in HEADER field of OPTION$
Allow usage of Virtel variables in the HEADER field of an OPTION$ TO-HTTP statement
Security
6114 Logon hangs for revoked passphrase user
Fix issue for revoked passphrase user that could cause Virtel logon panel to hang
6115 secu=5 - 283-04C ABEND in RACINIT after timeout
Trap RACF abend when timeout occurs on logon panel
6130 Block usage of outdated options SECUR=RACF and SECUR=TSS
Only support RACROUTE authentication for RACF and TSS shops.
6132 Password buffer in Security 1 is not limited to 8 characters
Block authentication for password users when password entered in Browser Sec.1 panel is longer than 8 characters
6133 Allow usage of Passticket for Virtel transactions
Allow Passticket authentication to access Virtel application menu when calling from Virtel SSO Gateway.
6140 Passphrase support for Virtel User Signon Code
Allow passphrase access for transactions defined with Sec.5
6161 Invalid SAF call for NAME-OF GROUP if not signed on
Fix invalid ICH408I when accessing userparms for users that are not signed on to RACF.
6162 Multiple calls to SAF with invalid pwd can lead to revoked user
Fix http realm issue to avoid users being revoked for wrong reason
6169 Change SAMPLES (SSLSETUP) to include options on RDATALIB Class
Update SSLSETUP installation job to suggest more modern ways to implement AT-TLS
6171 Support for custom HTTP security headers
Introduces a new TCT parameter HDRSEC which allows to define customized security headers to be added to pages served by Virtel. This is documented in the Virtel Installation Guide.
6180 Passphrase cleanup for Sec.4
Passphrases were not correctly cleared from Virtel storage when closing a session in Sec.4. This is now fixed.
6191 USERPARMS inconsistent security
Transactions W2H-00P and CLI-00P should be defined with Sec.0 - the installation procedure has been fixed, and a warning message VIRHT65I is now generated if security is not set to 0 for these transactions.
6193 LOCK parameter causes Browser to resend invalid password
The TCT LOCK parameter caused browser to memorise an invalid password for transactions in Sec.1. This is now fixed.
User Interface
6112 keymapping adjustments
Remove use of deprecated keyboard JavaScript functions.
6126 correction of a potential bug due to SYSLANG undefined
Fix issue by which end users are incorrectly prompted to choose a language for the Virtel interface.
6127 Cursor character color small changes
Cursor color fixed for certain screens that made it hard to identify.
6137 New method to customize colors for 3270 and gray styles
Introduce a new method to customize colors for 3270 and gray styles. This method relies on two new files that must be present in all the Virtel directories: WEB3270_Custom.css and WEBgray_Custom.css These two files are now delivered with commented examples in the CLI-DIR directory.
6174 Ctrl+PFkeys shortcut for macros
Several macro shortcuts were not functional, this has been fixed.
6177 Remove session tokens from Virtel URLs
Session tokens are no longer sent as URL parameters, as this is considered a potential security risk.
6196 Long Poll Synchronization for TSO OMVS
Improved support for the TSO OMVS application. The command line is now preserved when the screen is refreshed.
VSR
6120 VSR - incorrect length for INITIAL-COMPONENTs containing special characters
Fixed an issue where the length of a field was badly calculated by VSR if it contained special characters.