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Version: v1.17.x LTS

Verify Zowe runtime directory

The Zowe runtime directory RUNTIME_DIR contains the code modules that make up Zowe. If these code modules are altered in any way, the behavior of Zowe is unpredictable. To check if the RUNTIME_DIR has been altered, Zowe provides a verify tool that comprises a script file zowe-verify-authenticity.sh and the files it needs to check the release contents.

You can use this verify tool on Zowe version 1.9 and later.

  • If you use Zowe version 1.14 or later, the verify tool is delivered with Zowe, so you can skip Step 1 below, but you can still download the verify tool if required.
  • If you use Zowe version 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 1.12, and 1.13, you must obtain the verify tool separately and use it to verify the RUNTIME_DIR.

Contents in this topic

Step 1: Obtain the verify tool (Required for versions before v1.14)#

  1. Start a USS terminal session with the z/OS system where Zowe is installed.

  2. Create a new, writable, local directory, for example, /u/username/hash.

  3. Go to the download link to download the fingerprint.pax PAX file.

  4. Upload the downloaded file to a temporary directory such as /tmp on your z/OS USS file system by using SFTP or a similar file transfer utility. When you transfer the PAX file between systems, you must use binary transfer mode.

  5. Extract the PAX file from inside the local directory you created (in this example, it is /u/username/hash) using commands like the following one:

    cd /u/username/hash
    pax -ppx -rf /tmp/fingerprint.pax
  6. When the PAX file is extracted, you will see the following files in your /u/username/hash directory:

    • HashFiles.class (binary)
    • RefRuntimeHash-1.9.0.txt (text)
    • RefRuntimeHash-1.10.0.txt (text)
    • RefRuntimeHash-1.11.0.txt (text)
    • RefRuntimeHash-1.12.0.txt (text)
    • RefRuntimeHash-1.13.0.txt (text)
    • zowe-verify-authenticity.sh (text)

Each RefRuntimeHash-V.v.p.txt file is specific to a Zowe release, where V.v.p is your Zowe release number, for example, 1.9.0. This list of files is updated to include new Zowe releases as they become available. For example, if you use Zowe version 1.14, you will see RefRuntimeHash-1.14.0.txt in the list.

Step 2: Verify your runtime directory#

Now you are ready to verify your runtime directory RUNTIME_DIR, for example, /usr/lpp/zowe/v1.14, which contains the following files. You can show these files by using the ls command.

/u/username/hash:>ls /usr/lpp/zowe/v1.14
bin components fingerprint install_log manifest.json scripts

Note that you will not have a fingerprint directory in releases prior to v1.14.0.

  1. Change to the runtime directory.

    cd /usr/lpp/zowe/v1.14
  2. Run the zowe-verify-authenticity.sh script.

    The script will automatically choose the correct RefRuntimeHash-V.v.p.txt file that matches the release found in your runtime directory.

    For Zowe v1.14 and later

    Issue the following command. You do not need to specify any parameters to this script.

    bin/zowe-verify-authenticity.sh

    If you suspect that the versions of the files in RUNTIME_DIR have been altered since this version of Zowe was installed, you might want to use the verify tool's script or files which you downloaded instead of the ones in your runtime directory. In this case, you can call the downloaded script and specify the options -f and -h in the following way:

    /u/username/hash/zowe-verify-authenticity.sh -f /u/username/hash -h /u/username/hash

    To display a list of parameters, enter this command

    bin/zowe-verify-authenticity.sh -?

    For Zowe releases prior to v1.14

    Issue commands similar to the following. In this example, you use Zowe v1.9.

    /u/username/hash/zowe-verify-authenticity.sh -r /usr/lpp/zowe/v1.9 -f /u/username/hash -h /u/username/hash

The zowe-verify-authenticity.sh script creates a CustRuntimeHash.txt file, which it compares with the RefRuntimeHash-V.v.p.txt file.

Step 3: Review results#

You will get one of the following results.

Mismatch#

When files don't match, you see output similar to the following.

USERNAME:/u/username/hash: >zowe-verify-authenticity.sh -l ~/hash-v1.12.0
zowe-verify-authenticity.sh started
Info: Logging to directory /u/username/hash-v1.12.0
Info: zoweVersion = 1.12.0
Info: Gathering files ...
Info: Checking java ...
Info: Calculating hashes ...
Info: Comparing results ...
Info: Number of files different = 14749
Info: Number of files extra = 171
Info: Number of files missing = 22
Error: Verification FAILED
Info: Result files and script log are in directory /u/username/hash-v1.12.0
zowe-verify-authenticity.sh ended
USERNAME:/u/username/hash: >

Troubleshooting and hints#

This is a worst-case scenario of a bad mismatch. To find out what the problem is, you could, for example, start by referring to the manifest.json file to see whether one of the components is from the wrong release.

If you have many files different but none missing or extra, you might have a file tagging or code-page problem. Check that the environment variables are set as required according to zowe-set-env.sh.

The hash files mentioned above are left in the /u/username/hash directory in case you want to use a GUI tool to perform a better file comparison.

Match#

When files match, you see output similar to the following.

zowe-verify-authenticity.sh started
Info: Logging to directory /u/username/hash-v1.12.0
Info: zoweVersion = 1.12.0
Info: Gathering files ...
Info: Checking java ...
Info: Calculating hashes ...
Info: Comparing results ...
Info: Number of files different = 0
Info: Number of files extra = 0
Info: Number of files missing = 0
Info: Verification PASSED
Info: Result files and script log are in directory /u/username/hash-v1.12.0
zowe-verify-authenticity.sh ended

zowe-verify-authenticity.sh parameters#

Usage:

zowe-verify-authenticity.sh [-r <runtime-dir>] [-h <HashPgm-dir>] [-f <HashRef-dir>] [-l <output-dir>]
  • All parameters are optional
  • You can use dot (.) and tilde (~) in the parameters

Description of parameters:

  • -r <runtime-dir>

    Root directory of the executables used by Zowe at run time. The typical value is /usr/lpp/zowe. The default value is the parent directory of the bin folder where this script is located.

  • -h <HashPgm-dir>

    Directory of the hash key program. The typical value is /usr/lpp/zowe/fingerprint. The default value is the fingerprint directory of the parent folder where this script is located.

  • -f <HashRef-dir>

    Directory of the reference hash key file RefRuntimeHash-V.v.p.txt. The typical value and default value are the same as that of the -h parameter. The values specified for -h and -f can be the same or different.

  • -l <output-dir>

    Output directory where the following log and output files will be written.

    zowe-verify-authenticity.log
    CustRuntimeHash.sort
    CustRuntimeHash.txt
    RefRuntimeHash.sort

    The typical value is ~/zowe/fingerprint. The directory will be created if you specify it but it does not exist.

    The following defaults will be tried in the listed order:

    /global/zowe/log
    ~/zowe
    $TMPDIR
    /tmp

Use of zowe-verify-authenticity.sh by zowe-support.sh#

Starting in Zowe v1.14, the zowe-verify-authenticity.sh script is automatically called, with no parameters, by zowe-support.sh.