6 Feb
2026
6 Feb
'26
6:55 a.m.
Thanks Dave, the 3270 terminal screen makes sense. Or to make use of the
system and resources, you'd remote to it using a 3270.
So it may have been at a time no one thought to snap a photograph of any of
those 3270s in use (not just a "room full of 3270's" kind of photo - but of
the actual screen, showing whatever it was they were doing; managing
tape/disk resources, files, users, or running APL or something. That's
more what I was looking for, when you "used VM/370 {or remoted into it},
this is what it looked like."
There had to be some kind of installer? Or maybe I'm viewing it wrong -
they (a business) didn't just buy a S/370 then decide what OS to install.
But rather it was a packaged prepared by IBM, so maybe it was pre-installed
with VM/370 and configured to whatever the arrangement/contract was? Or a
way to say "when someone used a S/370 {or CMS}, this is what the console
content looked like" (printed, or by that time yea probably more likely a
CRT).
“The Origin of the VM/370 Time-Sharing System” – R.J. Creasy gives a little
bit of a description on those components CP, CMS, and RSCS. But no
photo/image yet of a terminal with content to identify "yeah, see they are
using a S/370 there" (maybe its listing disk packs, tapes, memory
resources, etc?) I got something like this for the earlier CTSS and
TOPS-10.
-Steve
On Fri, Feb 6, 2026 at 6:32 AM David Wade via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
wrote:
On 06/02/2026 08:30, Steve Lewis via cctalk wrote:
Hey all,
I was trying to track down some kind of image/photo of "what IBM VM/370
looks like" (the operating system)
Well its software, so its hard to say what it looks like!
Seriously it changed a lot over the years, and so you need to say
"when", oh I see from below 1970s.....
I tried looking also in the IBM manuals - I'm
just not finding much.
Some
kind of image of what maybe a remote login looked
like, a task process
list, or maybe basic file/folder management commands, or how an editor or
programming worked on that system.
There is no "Task/process" list. VM , more usually called CP creates a
virtual machine for each user.
The user then IPLs CMS into that virtual machine, hence VM/370 -. every
one gets a virtual 370 or VM/CMS most people run CMS in their virtual
machine.
so you can do a query names which shows you who is logged on...
query names
OPERATOR - 009, WAKEUP - DSC, CMSBATCH - DSC, CPWATCH - DSC
MAINT - 0C1, CMSUSER - 0C0
Ready; T=0.01/0.01 12:27:04
and use the indicate command to see how the machine is performing...
indicate load
CPU-002% APU-000% Q1-00 Q2-00 STORAGE-012% RATIO-01.0
Ready; T=0.01/0.01 12:29:07
indicate user
PAGES: RES-0119 WS-0059 READS=000019 WRITES=000000 DISK-0000 DRUM-0000
VTIME=000:01 TTIME=000:02 SIO=001039 RDR-000000 PRT-000000 PCH-000000
Ready; T=0.01/0.01 12:30:07
There is a bit of media with a VM/370 emulator,
but I wasn't sure how
accurately representative it was of a kind of "look and feel" of that OS.
probably representative, but its hard to say what is realistic. Many
sites had one extensions in the form of SEPP or BSEPP which were
licenced from IBM and appear to be lost.
Those that didn't have those wrote their own extensions, many of which
have been preserved.
What I'd need is maybe photographs of
teletype printouts? This was still
early 1970s. Which is understandable not much of that was probably kept
around.
no one used a teletype on VM/370, and in the 1970s it was VM/370. Almost
always a 3270 screen or a 2741 but not many 2741.
I think most common reason for a 2741 was that you were running APL.
/I know at this point some one will pop-in and say they did, but it was
really rare./
Thanks, just digging around - like wasn't
sure if VM/370 was still
six-character filename limited like earlier 60s era OS's, or whatever
characteristics it had in operating it.
It is even weirder. There are no folders or directories, just
8-character file name, 8-character file type, and file mode, so a disk
letter and sort of permissions number. e.g.
list ab* * a
ABSLDR ASSEMBLE A1
ABSLDR LISTING A1
ABSLDR TEXT A1
ABSTRACT ABS3 A1
ABSTRACT ABS5 A1
ABSTRACT P3 A1
ABSTRACT R5 A1
ABSTRACT R6 A1
ABSTRACT R6A A1
ABSTRACT WATER2 A1
Ready; T=0.01/0.01 12:17:27
and just to confuse things
files of type "TEXT" or the equivalent of "OBJECT" files in most
other
systems.
-Steve
Dave