Alex Woodie
Alex Woodie is Senior Editor at IT Jungle. He was previously editor of two of IT Jungle's main newsletters, Four Hundred Stuff and The Windows Observer. Prior to joining Midrange Server (as Guild Companies was formerly called) in October 2001, Alex was a products editor at now defunct publisher Midrange Computing, where he was first introduced to the AS/400 and covered hardware, software, and services for Midrange Technology SHOWCASE magazine. Before joining Midrange Computing, Alex was a staff writer for The Insurance Journal and a reporter and columnist with The Paradise Post newspaper. Woodie obtained his Bachelors of Arts degree in journalism from Humboldt State University in 1997. Upon graduation, Alex intended to make his way onto a major daily newspaper, but in 1999 he found himself drawn to the high-technology industry, where his background in science and engineering has suited him well. He lives in Northern San Diego County. When he is not writing next week's newsletters, Alex can be found in his favorite chair reading the day's paper, in the kitchen, or at the beach.
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Summer of IBM i Vulnerabilities
September 18, 2024 Alex Woodie
IBM has patched more than two dozen software vulnerabilities in the IBM i stack over the past few months, including flaws in Merlin, MQ, OpenSSH, the Java stack, Db2, Performance Tools, and the HTTP Server (the one powered by Apache). Nine of the security vulnerabilities carry CVSS Base scores of 7 or higher, while one is above 8, making these serious security threats. If you haven’t applied the patches yet, you’re encouraged to do it soon.
Working backwards from the most recent security bulletins, we start with September 5, when IBM issued patches for three vulnerabilities in Merlin, which officially …
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Ethical Hackers Discuss Penetration Work On IBM i
September 16, 2024 Alex Woodie
The IBM i server is heralded as a secure platform, but in reality, it is susceptible to a range of attacks, including common ones and others that are unique to the platform. To help push the security ball forward and encourage secure IBM i configurations, researchers from Silent Signal recently discussed their latest work during a European ethical hacking conference.
In just a few years working on IBM i, Bálint Varga-Perke and Zoltan Panczel, the co-founders of the Hungarian company Silent Signal, have identified a handful security vulnerabilities on the platform, including a moderate security flaw in DDN in …
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IBM Clarifies Where It’s Going with IBM i Subscriptions, Product Realignment
September 11, 2024 Alex Woodie
As an avid IT Jungle reader, you’re probably aware that IBM is moving its IBM i software stack from a traditional licensing scheme to one based on subscriptions. The company is in the middle of the move at the moment, and it’s also in the middle of a product realignment, which has been the source of some confusion. IBM hosted a webinar recently that helped to clarify where it’s at now with the shift to subscriptions and the product realignment, and where it’s going in the future.
IBM first announced back in May 2022 that it was shifting to subscription-based …
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COMMON to Kick Off First of Two Fall NAViGATE Shows
September 11, 2024 Alex Woodie
What’s better than having one fall COMMON conference to learn new IBM i skills and meet with other midrange folks? The answer, of course, is to hold two NAViGATE shows – one in sizzling Florida next week, followed by a second event in November in the cooler climate of Toronto, Ontario.
The IBM i community will converge on the Gulf Coast of Florida next week for NAViGATE 2024 Bonita Springs, which is being held at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point from Monday September 16 through Wednesday September 18.
Hundreds of attendees are expected at the fall COMMON conference next week, …
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IBM Introduces Mapepire, The New Db2 For i Client
September 9, 2024 Alex Woodie
IBM has released a new client for connecting applications to the Db2 for i database. Dubbed Mapepire, the open source client is designed to be faster, lighter weight, and easier for developers to work with compared to existing ODBC and JDBC database clients, especially in cloud environments.
Building an application-side database client using existing Db2 for i’s database drivers, such as ODBC and JDBC (included in the JTOpen Java toolbox for IBM i) typically entails cramming a lot of overhead into the client component, says Liam Allan, who helps develop new open source development tooling at IBM.
“For example, jtopen …
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Could a CrowdStrike-Type Outage Hit IBM i?
August 21, 2024 Alex Woodie
It’s been a month since CrowdStrike caused a massive IT outage that took down large swaths of the Internet, causing billions of dollars in damage. The CrowdStrike outage was a Windows-only affair, but it’s worth asking: Could a similar incident impact IBM i?
The largest IT outage in history began the morning of July 19, when a poorly configured update to CrowdStrike’s endpoint security software, called Falcon, caused 8.5 million Windows computers to crash, resulting in the dreaded blue screen of death (BSOD).
For computer users of a certain vintage, the BSOD is – or at least was – …
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Is It Worth Investing in IBM i and RPG?
August 21, 2024 Alex Woodie
Nobody is mistaking the IBM i server as a brand-new system. It can’t hide from its status as a legacy platform. But does that mean that it’s no longer worth investing in IBM i and RPG? That’s the focus of a new paper by the outsourcing company DDC FPO.
DDC FPO is an Evergreen, Colorado-based business process outsourcing company that serves the trucking industry and specializes in things like freight billing and customer service for truckers. Considering the continued popularity of the IBM i server in the trucking business, it’s not surprising that DDC has taken an interest in the …
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IBM Kills Off Fax/400, But Alternatives Are Available
August 19, 2024 Alex Woodie
IBM will cease supporting Facsimile Support for i, commonly known as Fax/400, with the next release of the IBM i operating system, it announced last month. That tees up an opportunity for third-party vendors like Fresche Solutions and others to fill the void for a communication technology that is still used by businesses.
The IBM Facsimile Support for i (5798-FAX) product was not among the group of 16 IBM i products that IBM initially withdrew from sales and support with its discontinuance of support letter back on May 7, the same day that it announced the latest technology refreshes (TRs) …
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IBM Bolsters Run SQL Scripts In ACS 1.1.9.6
August 12, 2024 Alex Woodie
IBM last week shipped a new release of Access Client Solutions (ACS) that contains several user-requested updates for Run SQL Scripts (RSS), the popular tool that allows users to execute SQL statements. ACS 1.1.9.6 also brings enhancements to the data transfer, IFS, and 5250 emulator components of ACS, among others.
ACS, of course, is the universal Java-based utility that IBM unveiled 12 years ago to replace Client Access. It’s a must-have tool for any IBM i user, as it contains a slew of facilities for interacting with the system, including RSS, data transfer, IFS file viewing, spool file management, 5250 …
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Kisco Names Two IBM i Fellowship Winners, Expands Program
August 7, 2024 Alex Woodie
Kisco Systems last month unveiled the next batch of recipients for its unique IBM i fellowship program. The individuals, who hail from Oklahoma and Georgia, will receive IBM i training from imPower Technologies and attend COMMON conferences in Florida and California at Kisco’s expense. The company also announced that it will expand the fellowship to three recipients next year.
Justin Loeber, who purchased Kisco Systems from his father Richard in 2021, started the Richard C. Loeber Fellowship for Careers in IBM i last year as a way to incentivize the development of IBM i skills outside of the university setting. …
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