Hercules is an emulator, which it makes possible, IBM large computer S/360, S/370, to emulate S/390 or zSeries on a Linux or a Windowssystem. Run all operating systems, which were written for these processors.

The emulator does not have anything to do with HGC (Hercules Graphics Card), an old graphics standard.

In practical application the newest operating system, which can be used on Hercules by amateurs, is MVS 3,8 from the eighties. Later operating system versions are licensed on certain processors and may not be installed therefore not on Hercules. It is however well-known that IBM internally"” ThinkPad "“- Notebooks with installed z/OS uses.

The company IBM published also Redbooks so mentioned, those the installation of large computer operating system on Notebooks with the program FLEX-ES of the company fundamentally software, Inc. describe. Here it concerns a commercial product, which likewise is able to emulate IBM large computer systems on PCs.

Restrictions: Since various Interna is not too parallel Sysplex and Coupling Facility published, appropriate functionalities cannot be implemented.

Hercules is freely available and is subordinate to the Q Public License. For a risers a distribution with a before-generated system (Tur (n) key system) with JES2 and TSO is available. As replacement for the license-requiring ISPF RPF is installed.

In the meantime there are also, beyond the provided, documentation and Scripts, which facilitate the daily work with Hercules. Many users use Hercules also with current operating systems IBM, in order to evaluate any things.

For the emulation on a Windows system a telnet TN3270 program, as well as numerous libraries is needed.

Related links

• Hercules homepage (English)
• Tur (n) key (English)
• Documentation/extensions (English/German)

Articles in category "Hercules (emulator)"

We found here 2 articles.

Related Websites

We found here 3 related websites.

• Hercules Version 3: Technical Support
  TURNKEY-MVS: Support for Volker Bandke's "MVS Tur(n)key System", a freely available pre-built MVS 3.8J Operating System running under the Hercules emulator! ...


• schaefernet.de Hercules emulator pages
  Introduction and links about the Intel-based Hercules mainframe emulator, as well as an MVT tutorial...


• The Hercules System/370, ESA/390, and z/Architecture Emulator
  An open source System/370, ESA/390, and z/Architecture emulator for Linux, MacOS, and Windows.