CICS® Deployment
Assistant uses several types of connections to access the CICS DA host component: an FTP
connection, CMCI or CICSPlex® SM
data interface connections, and HTTP connections. When you configure
the CICS DA system connection,
you provide details about the connection, credentials, type of FTP
connection (implicit or explicit), and other related details.
Before you begin
Ensure that you understand your CICS DA system connection details, that you
have the correct level of authorization to connect to your system,
and that you are connected to your company network. You must have
at least one connection credential before you can connect to a CICS DA system. A credential is
a repository for a user ID and password combination. If you do not
have a credential, you are prompted to create one. For more information
about creating credentials, see Defining connection credentials in
the z/OS® Explorer User Guide.
If
your CICS DA connections are
already configured, you can view the details in the Host
Connections view.
If CICS DA
is not configured, or if you want to add a connection, perform the
following steps:
Procedure
- Open the Host Connections view by
choosing one of the following choices:
- On the workbench menu bar, click Window > Manage
Connections.
- Right-click in the DA Explorer view and
click New > Server Connection.
The Host Connections view is displayed.
If your connections are preconfigured, you see the connections that
are listed under the connection categories in the view. If not, the
connection categories are empty. The following example screen capture
shows the Host Connections view. There are connections that are defined
for the CICS Management Interface
category and z/OS FTP category.
Both connections are associated with the credential Nick. The credential
is shown in brackets after the connection name.
- In the Connections section, select the CICS Deployment Assistant category and click Add to
open the Add Connection window. Complete the
fields with the details provided by your system administrator. The
following table provides a description of the fields:
Option |
Description |
Name |
The local name that is used to identify this connection. You
can use any name that helps you distinguish between different connections.
If you do not enter a name, then the first part of the host name followed
by the port number is inserted in this field. For example, if your
host name is myserver.example.ibm.com and your
port number is 2232, then the name displays as myserver:2232. |
Host name |
The TCP/IP name of the CICS DA
server. The host name is typically also the host name that is used
for FTP when you select Default connection (port 21) in
the FTP Connection field. |
Port number |
The port number of the CICS DA
active spool component. The port number that is configured in the CICS DA server.
|
SSL connection (TSL/SSL) |
Select this box for a secure connection that uses the TSL
or SSL protocol. You configure your keystore and truststore details
in the Security and certificate management preferences page. The page
is accessed form the CICS Explorer® menu bar by clicking Window > preferences
> Explorer > Certificate Management Note: If you are using
SSL, you must ensure that the FTP connection you use is also secure.
If the FTP connection is not secure, the CICS DA connection fails.
|
- Click the System tab and complete
the fields:
Option |
Description |
FTP Connection |
The default FTP connection (Default connection
(port 21)) or the name of an FTP connection that you create. By
default, CICS DA automatically
uses an implicit FTP connection, based on port 21 and a Passive transfer
mode, to the host specified on the DA Connection setting, and with
the same credentials as the DA connection. If you do not want to use
the default setting, you must first create an FTP connection and then
specify the name of that connection in the DA connection. You might
have an extra FTP connection if you want to use a different set of
credentials for the FTP connection than for the CICS connection, or you want to use Active transfer
mode, or if you have different FTP security options. Note: If you are
using SSL, you must ensure that the FTP connection you use is also
secure. If the FTP connection is not secure, the CICS DA connection fails.
|
JES Member Name |
The four-character JES member name of the system you are connecting
to. |
z/OS Console |
The two to eight-character name of the console, which is based
on your user ID that is unique to the sysplex. For example, TSO/SDSF
users with a console name of their TSO user ID must use a different
console name for CICS DA. Using
a different console name to the TSO console name means that you can
use both TSO and CICS DA at
the same time. The first character must be an alphabetic character,
#, $, or @.
Some console names are reserved. For more information,
see Reserved Console Names.
|
- Click the Job Card tab and complete
the fields:
Option |
Description |
Job Card |
A typical MVS™ job card.
The job name sets the job name prefix. All CICS DA jobs are short-running tasks, so the
Class used must be appropriate. When a CICS DA
job completes successfully, the output is automatically purged by
the CICS DA client. Do not
use a MSGCLASS parameter that causes output to
be purged automatically at job completion. The following code block
shows an example job card://NICKA JOB ,'CICSDA GENERATED JCL',CLASS=A,
// MSGCLASS=H
|
Job Name prefix |
The job name prefix for jobs that are generated by CICS DA. CICS DA sets the value of this field, which
is based on the job name that is specified on the job card. |
- Select the Timeout tab and complete
the fields:
Option |
Description |
Job retry count |
The number of attempts to fetch the job output before the
job fails. |
Job retry delay |
The delay in milliseconds before the attempt to fetch the
job output is tried again. |
MVS command timeout |
The timeout value in seconds for MVS commands. |
Note: If you get timeout errors when you are not running a discovery
operation, for example when CICS DA is fetching job output, you can
increase the values on the Timeout tab. If
you are getting timeout errors during a discovery operation, then
you might need to get your system administrator to change the timeout
values in the CICS DA server properties file. A discovery operation
is run under the user ID that is associated with the server, so the
timeout settings in the server properties file, cphprops,
are used rather than the client settings.
- Choose one of the following actions:
- Click Save and Connect to save the
configuration and connect to the server.
- Click Save and Close to save the configuration
and close the window.
- Click Close to cancel the process and
close the window view without saving the new connection.
Results
If you clicked Save and Connect the Signon window
is displayed. You must provide details of the connection you want
to use when you connect to the server. If you have already some credentials
defined, you can choose the one to use from the list. Alternatively,
you can choose to create new credentials. When you click OK,
you must first confirm or enter your password, and then CICS DA attempts to connect to the server you
defined. A message is displayed in the workbench status bar indicates
whether the connection is successful or not.