Why Does My Userid Not Work?

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Why Does My Userid Not Work?

Postby steve-myers » Wed 04 Feb 2015, 07:37

Why do the admins “ban” userids? There are a number of reasons.

  • Refusal to supply a valid programmer name

    This is the number 1 reason userids are “banned.” A valid programmer name must have at least two words. “IVAN” will not be accepted. “IVAN JONES” will work. The name must look like a real name. “MAINFRAME LOVER,” while a nice sentiment, will not pass muster, nor will “IVAN J.” The admins will reject “IVAN THE TERRIBLE.” Unfortunately, names of famous people will not work. Sorry “BARACK OBAMA” and “TOM CRUISE.” If your real name is really Barack Obama, send a note to prino, who will forward it to other admins.

  • Training

    The use of Fandezhi for training is prohibited. Unfortunately detection of trainees is subjective, and the admins sometimes goof. I think they are right about 95% of the time. It's not that Fandezhi's owners and the admins don't like trainees, but the admins cannot hold trainee's hands, and the limited resources of the system would never permit the number of trainees that appear to want to use the system.

    I think the system is hosted on a Linux PC server that also runs this forum.

  • Commercial use

    Fandezhi is intended for hobby use. Another reason why trainees are prohibited is it is seen as commercial use. Training establishments should provide their own z/OS systems.

  • RACF violations

    Many users are banned for repeated RACF violations.

    About two years ago the system was locked down pretty hard. One of the things done as part of this lock down is your data sets cannot be accessed by other users; most RACF violations come from this restriction.

    We see relatively frequent attempts to update the system's master catalog. Many of these attempts, the admins believe, are trainees attempting to follow some sort of improperly conceived training script, but the admins regard this as an attempt to damage the system.

    Fandezhi may well be the only MVS system in the world not locked behind some sort of fire wall. As such, the admins believe wanna be hackers try to sabotage the system. RACF violations are the primary reason these probes can be detected.

    The admins understand some RACF violations are accidental. They will tolerate a few. I will not disclose the number, but it is low and greater than 1. It is safe to look at most SYS1.xxx data sets, but don't try to modify them. Many SYSFAN.xxx data sets contain Fandezhi system data you can review, but don't try to modify them.

    A weakness in the security environment allows you to look at most other user's data in SDSF. A few users are defined so you cannot. If SDSF will not let you look at another user's data, STOP. These attempts generate RACF violation messages, and if you try too often, your ID will be banned.
steve-myers
 
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