DS8000 generations: from DS8700 to DS8A00

The practice shell is a DS8A50, so it can’t pretend to be a DS8870 or DS8880, but it can teach you the identification habit: read the code level, the model and the machine type, then match them to a generation. You’ll also decode some real values quoted from the older Redbooks.

Practice shell note: the practice shell is our teaching tool, not IBM software. Real DS CLI output looks very much like this but is not identical. Every output below is what the shell really printed. All outputs are from a G10 (DS8A50) system; older generations print different values, quoted in Step 4 with their Redbook pages.

1Reset and read the code level

Run this:

python ds8sim.py -cfg lab.profile
simctl reset
ver -l

You should see this:

dscli> simctl reset
SIM0100I simctl: factory state restored (users and passwords kept; use simctl reset -all to reset them too).
dscli> ver -l
Date/Time: 24 October 2026 19:51:00 UTC IBM DSCLI Version: 7.10.10.348 DS: IBM.2107-78SV001
DSCLI 7.10.10.348
StorageManager 10.2.2507181727
HMC DSCLI 7.10.10.348
==================Version==================
Storage Image    LMC         Bundle Version
===========================================
IBM.2107-78SV001 7.10.10.348 10.10.106.0

LMC 7.10.10.348 with bundle 10.10.106.0 means Release 10.1, so this is a G10 system, and the DS CLI version matches the LMC, which is what you want to see.

✅ Checkpoint: Bundle 10.10.106.0 on IBM.2107-78SV001.

2Read the model and machine type

Run this:

lssi -l
showsi IBM.2107-78SV001

You should see this:

dscli> lssi -l
Date/Time: 24 October 2026 19:51:00 UTC IBM DSCLI Version: 7.10.10.348 DS: IBM.2107-78SV001
Name         ID               Storage Unit     Model WWNN             State  ESSNet
====================================================================================
ds8k-g10-lab IBM.2107-78SV001 IBM.2107-78SV000 A05   5005076303FFF0DD Online Enabled
dscli> showsi IBM.2107-78SV001
Date/Time: 24 October 2026 19:51:00 UTC IBM DSCLI Version: 7.10.10.348 DS: IBM.2107-78SV001
Name             ds8k-g10-lab
desc             SaatVedha practice DS8A50
ID               IBM.2107-78SV001
Storage Unit     IBM.2107-78SV000
Model            A05
WWNN             5005076303FFF0DD
Signature        5a7e-0d5a-8a50-0001
State            Online
NVS Memory       64.0 GB
Cache Memory     832.0 GB
Processor Memory 1015.6 GB
MTS              IBM.5341-78SV000
(output shortened)

Model A05 is the DS8A50 base frame. MTS shows the real machine type, 5341, while the ID still says 2107, and that mix confuses a lot of people. 2107 is the family name the DS CLI has used for every generation; the machine type you order and service is the one in MTS.

The NVS of 64 GB matches the smallest DS8A50 memory option (1,024 GB system memory).

✅ Checkpoint: Model A05, MTS IBM.5341-78SV000, NVS 64.0 GB.

3Look at the servers and consoles

Run this:

lspnode -l
lshmc

You should see this:

dscli> lspnode -l
Date/Time: 24 October 2026 19:51:00 UTC IBM DSCLI Version: 7.10.10.348 DS: IBM.2107-78SV001
ID State  Release Processor       Memory   Location
==============================================================
00 Online R10.1   Power9+ 20-core 512.0 GB U9009.42A.78SV00-P1
01 Online R10.1   Power9+ 20-core 512.0 GB U9009.42A.78SV01-P1
dscli> lshmc
Date/Time: 24 October 2026 19:51:00 UTC IBM DSCLI Version: 7.10.10.348 DS: IBM.2107-78SV001
Name          State  Role         Release                  Management-IP Location-Code    Machine-Type Machine-Model Memory Disk
================================================================================================================================
DS8A50-1A.LAB Online Primary(1)   R10.1 bundle 10.10.106.0 10.0.0.1      U7063CR2.78SV1DD 7063         CR2           33GB   1TB
DS8A50-1B.LAB Online Secondary(2) R10.1 bundle 10.10.106.0 10.0.0.2      U7063CR2.78SV2DD 7063         CR2           33GB   1TB

There are two CPCs with 20 Power9+ cores each, as you’d expect on a DS8A50, and two HMCs of type 7063-CR2, which are the 1U Power HMCs of G10. A DS8870 would show one laptop HMC in the base frame instead. Also, lspnode is one of the G10 hardware list commands, so don’t expect every list command to exist on an older release.

✅ Checkpoint: Nodes 00 and 01 are Online; two 7063 CR2 HMCs.

4Decode older systems on paper

These lines are quoted from the IBM Redbooks. Before you open the answer key, write down the generation for each one in your notebook.

✅ Checkpoint: You got at least five of six right without the key.

5Let a script name the generation

Now let a script do the habit for you. This small Python script lives in the lab folder next to ds8sim.py and runs on your laptop, never on the DS8000. It calls the DS CLI, reads lssi -l and lspnode -l, and looks the model up in a table built from the Redbooks.

It needs an auto.profile that gives comma-separated output. If you made one in another lesson, reuse it; otherwise save these 8 lines as auto.profile (with your own path to security.dat) and store your password once from inside the shell.

File auto.profile:

hmc1: 10.0.0.1
username: admin
pwfile: C:\ds8k-lab\security.dat
devid: IBM.2107-78SV001
banner: off
header: on
format: delim
delim: ,

Run this (inside the shell, once):

managepwfile -action add -name admin -pw <your password> -pwfile C:\ds8k-lab\security.dat
quit

File whatbox.py:

# Runs on your workstation or jump server, not on the DS8000.
# It talks to the DS8000 only through the DS CLI (auto.profile: banner off, header on, format delim).
import csv, subprocess
DSCLI = ["python", "ds8sim.py", "-cfg", "auto.profile"]   # at work: ["dscli", "-cfg", "auto.profile"]

def dscli(*args):
    """Run one DS CLI command and return its rows as dictionaries."""
    out = subprocess.run(DSCLI + list(args), capture_output=True, text=True).stdout
    lines = [l for l in out.splitlines() if l and not l.startswith("SaatVedha") and not l.startswith("CMUC")]
    return list(csv.DictReader(lines))

# Base-frame model number -> (family, processor), from the IBM Redbooks for each generation
MODELS = {
    "941": ("DS8700", "POWER6"),   "951": ("DS8800", "POWER6+"),  "961": ("DS8870", "POWER7 / POWER7+"),
    "984": ("DS8884 / DS8884F", "POWER8"), "985": ("DS8886 / DS8886F", "POWER8"),
    "986": ("DS8886 / DS8886F", "POWER8"), "988": ("DS8888F", "POWER8"), "983": ("DS8882F", "POWER8"),
    "993": ("DS8910F rack-mounted", "POWER9"), "994": ("DS8910F", "POWER9"),
    "996": ("DS8950F", "POWER9"), "998": ("DS8980F", "POWER9"),
    "980": ("DS8880 family, earlier model", "POWER8"), "981": ("DS8880 family, earlier model", "POWER8"),
    "982": ("DS8880 family, earlier model", "POWER8"),
    "A00": ("DS8A10 rack-mount", "Power9+"), "A01": ("DS8A10", "Power9+"),
    "A05": ("DS8A50", "Power9+"), "A08": ("DS8A80", "Power9+"),
}

for si in dscli("lssi", "-l"):
    family, cpu = MODELS.get(si["Model"], ("unknown model", "?"))
    print(f"{si['Name']}  {si['ID']}  model {si['Model']}  ->  {family} ({cpu} family)")
for node in dscli("lspnode", "-l"):
    print(f"  CPC {node['ID']}: {node['Processor']}, {node['Memory']}, {node['State']}")

Run this (in the lab folder, not in the shell):

python whatbox.py

You should see this:

ds8k-g10-lab  IBM.2107-78SV001  model A05  ->  DS8A50 (Power9+ family)
  CPC 00: Power9+ 20-core, 512.0 GB, Online
  CPC 01: Power9+ 20-core, 512.0 GB, Online

At work you’d point DSCLI at the real dscli and loop over every system in your estate. Run it weekly from a jump server and you get a list of which generation and model sits in each data centre, and that’s the list you check before anyone books an engineer.

✅ Checkpoint: The script prints DS8A50 (Power9+ family) and both CPCs Online.