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. For more information,
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.
If your connections are preconfigured, you see the
connections 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 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. The Add Connection window opens.
The following example shows the Add CICS Deployment Assistant
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 is
inserted in this field. For example, if your host name is myserver.example.ibm.com then
the name would display as myserver. |
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 configured in the CICS DA server.
|
SSL connection (TSL/SSL) |
Select this box for a secure connection using the TSL or SSL
protocol. 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 will fail.
|
- 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 additional 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 will fail.
|
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, 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. |
Job Name prefix |
The job name prefix for jobs that are generated by CICS DA. CICS DA sets the value of this field, based
on the job name 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 receive timeout errors when fetching job output
you can increase the values on the Timeout tab.
- 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 displayed in the workbench status bar indicates
whether the connection is successful or not.