With z/OS, products such as z/OS features, can use registration services to determine if they are enabled to run on a particular system, which requires that the product be defined appropriately in the enablement policy for the system.

The IFAPRDxx parmlib member contains the enablement policy, which the customer defines for a system.

Figure 1 shows how the product code, the enablement policy, and MVS™ registration services fit together to determine whether a product is enabled.

Figure 1. An overview of product enablement

As Figure 1 shows, the product code issues the register request to indicate that it is running and check its enablement status. The customer policy in IFAPRDxx defines enablement status for products. When MVS processes the register request, it matches the product name definition in the request with the entries in the enablement policy to determine if the product is enabled on the system, then issues a return code to indicate enablement status. Based on the return code, the product continues to run or ends its processing.

IBM® products that package priced optional features together with the base product, like z/OS, will use the z/OS product registration and enablement services to control access to optional features based on what the customer orders.