k6-z

k6-z is a set of Grafana k6 test scripts and prebuilt binaries for load testing IBM z/OS. It covers the four interfaces a z/OS system exposes to a test driver, and ships k6 binaries for s390x, which upstream k6 does not publish.

Documentation: msradam.github.io/k6-z

The repository ships a stand-in z/OSMF server, so the scripts can be run and reviewed by someone with no mainframe access.

git clone https://github.com/msradam/k6-z.git
cd k6-z
make build

python3 tools/mock-zosmf.py &

ZOSMF_URL=http://127.0.0.1:10443 ZOS_USER=IBMUSER ZOS_PASSWORD=mock \
  ./dist/k6-z run scripts/zosmf/job-submit.js

That submits JCL, polls the job to completion, reads its spool, and purges it, with thresholds on turnaround time. Against a real system the only thing that changes is ZOSMF_URL.

Start with the smoke test:

./dist/k6-z run \
  -e ZOSMF_URL=https://zosmf.example.com \
  -e ZOS_USER=IBMUSER -e ZOS_PASSWORD="$ZOS_PASSWORD" \
  scripts/zosmf/info.js

scripts/       samples, grouped by interface
bundles/       two Go modules that build the release binaries
tools/         mock z/OSMF server, stdlib Python
environments/  how to run Galasa SimBank locally for the TN3270 scripts
docs/          the documentation site

Download from releases, or build:

make build                          # both bundles, host platform
make build GOOS=linux GOARCH=s390x  # cross-compile
make check                          # compile every sample script
make test                           # run the z/OSMF samples against the mock

Two archives are published because k6 2.0 changed its Go module path and not every extension has followed. k6-z tracks current k6 with xk6-ssh; k6-z-3270 stays on k6 1.x to keep TN3270. Platforms: linux/s390x, linux/amd64, linux/arm64, darwin/arm64.

For k6 on z/OS UNIX itself, use the z/OS Open Tools port:

zopen install k6

See install for the details, including building on z/OS with extensions.

The z/OSMF endpoints are the documented REST services. The ZOAU commands are display and read commands drawn from IBM's zoau-samples. The TN3270 scripts target Galasa SimBank, which runs on a laptop, so you can get one working before going near an LPAR.

The scripts are starting points, not a benchmark suite. Nothing here produces a number you should compare against another shop's number. Every host name, user id, and qualifier comes from the environment, so the scripts describe a shape of test rather than a particular system.

Repository content is Apache-2.0.

The binaries on the releases page are builds of Grafana k6 and are distributed under AGPL-3.0. The pinned module files under bundles/ make every release reproducible from public sources. See NOTICE.