ICMF - ISPF Configuration Management Facility

Enhanced Definition

ICMF, the ISPF Configuration Management Facility, is a component of IBM's ISPF (Interactive System Productivity Facility) that provides centralized control and management over ISPF configurations, user profiles, and application settings across a z/OS environment. Its primary purpose is to standardize and maintain consistent ISPF environments for multiple users or groups, ensuring uniformity and simplifying administration.

Key Characteristics

- Centralized Control: Allows system administrators to manage ISPF settings, panel definitions, command tables, and key assignments from a single point.
- Profile Management: Facilitates the creation, modification, and deployment of standardized ISPF user profiles, ensuring consistent user experiences.
- Version Control: Supports managing different versions of configurations, enabling rollback to previous states and tracking changes over time.
- Deployment Automation: Streamlines the distribution and activation of ISPF configurations to individual users or groups across the z/OS system.
- Security Integration: Integrates with z/OS security managers (e.g., RACF, ACF2, Top Secret) to control access to ICMF functions and configuration data.
- Auditing Capabilities: Provides logging and auditing features to track who made changes to ISPF configurations and when.

Use Cases

- Standardizing Developer Environments: Ensuring all developers in a project use the same ISPF panel layouts, command sets, and editor settings for consistency.
- Deploying New ISPF Applications: Pushing out new ISPF-based tools or utilities, along with their required panel definitions and command tables, to all relevant users.
- Disaster Recovery and System Migration: Rapidly restoring or replicating a standardized ISPF environment on a new system or after a system failure.
- User Onboarding: Automatically providing new mainframe users with a pre-configured, secure, and efficient ISPF workspace upon their initial logon.
- Enforcing Corporate Standards: Implementing company-wide naming conventions, security settings, or specific ISPF options across the entire user base.

Related Concepts

ICMF is intrinsically linked to ISPF itself, as it manages the very environment in which ISPF operates. It works in conjunction with TSO/E (Time Sharing Option/Extensions), under which ISPF runs, to provide a controlled interactive user experience. System programmers and administrators leverage ICMF to manage the datasets that store ISPF profiles and configurations, often integrating with z/OS security software (like RACF) to define who can access and modify these critical settings.

Best Practices:

Implement Granular Security: Use your z/OS security product to define precise access controls for ICMF functions and configuration datasets, limiting modification rights to authorized personnel.
Utilize Versioning: Always maintain multiple versions of your ISPF configurations within ICMF, enabling quick rollbacks in case of errors or unintended changes.
Test Changes Thoroughly: Before deploying any configuration changes to production, test them rigorously in a controlled, non-production ISPF environment.
Document All Standards: Maintain comprehensive documentation of all standard ISPF configurations managed by ICMF, including their purpose, version history, and deployment scope.
Regularly Audit Configurations: Periodically review ICMF settings and audit logs to ensure compliance with security policies and operational standards, and to identify unauthorized changes.