VTS Gate is an optional DataKinetics product, which requires an additional license to operate, that adds enhanced security to VTS-TSRs (Virtual Table Share table spaces), layering on top of tableBASE’s standard VTS administration. It provides three protection mechanisms that can be used individually or in combination:
- Read-only access — restricts a VTS so user applications can only read from it; updates require an MVS-authorized program to explicitly switch the VTS into read-write mode.
- SAF interface protection — delegates access control to an external security tool (ACF2, RACF, or Top Secret), granting authorization levels (ALTER/CONTROL, UPDATE, READ, NONE) that determine whether a user can read, update, start up, or shut down the VTS.
- Hardware key protection — builds the VTS in a hardware key–protected dataspace that only MVS-authorized programs running in supervisor state and key 0 can update; this mode is always read-only.
These protections can be combined — for example, a hardware key–protected VTS may also be SAF protected — though a hardware key–protected VTS is always read-only regardless of other settings.
At a facilities level, VTS Gate touches several areas of VTS administration:
- Run time options (TSRACCESS, RACF_VTS, TSR_KEY_PROTECT, STROBEMETHOD) configure which protections are active for a given VTS Agent.
- Command classification — tableBASE commands are grouped by whether they read from, write to, or don’t access a TSR, which underlies how access levels are enforced.
- VTS switching — the VV (Vary VTS) command allows an authorized batch program to move a read-only VTS into read-write mode, taking an exclusive lock until it’s switched back.
- Strobe reporting — hardware key–protected VTSs use a special dataspace and a minute-based reporting interval (STROBEMETHOD=3) for usage statistics, since applications can’t write directly to the protected space.
- Licensing — VTS Gate is separately licensed, with startup failing and a specific message (DK100901S) issued if any VTS Gate–specific option is used without a valid license.
VTS Gate exists to let installations lock down who can read, write, start, or stop a VTS, and to enforce that control either through OS-level security tools or through hardware-enforced access restrictions.