Configuring a system connection

Before you can view any information, you must establish a connection between CICS® Explorer and your CICS systems by providing details about the system connection, its location, and authentication requirements. By default, CICS Explorer attempts to connect using the SSL protocol. If the SSL connection is not successful, the connection will be re-attempted without SSL.

Before you begin
Before proceeding, ensure that you have all your system connection details, that you have the correct level of authorization to connect to your system, and that you are connected to your company's network. If you are connecting to a CICS version 4 system and you want update capability, the CICS system must be set up to use the CICS management client interface (CMCI). See the topic Setting up the CICS management client interface in the CICS Transaction Server for z/OS version 4 information center for instructions on how to do this.

If your system administrator has preconfigured CICS Explorer, you can view the details in the Connections Preferences view.

If CICS Explorer has not been configured, or you want to add an additional connection, perform these steps:

  1. Click Window > Preferences from the workbench menu bar, and click Connections. The Connections Preferences view is displayed. If it has been pre configured, you see the connection details displayed as in the example below. If not, the fields are blank.
    Connections Preferences view.
  2. Click New.
  3. Fill in the fields with the details provided by your system administrator. The following table provides a description of the fields.
    Option Description
    Type The type of the connection. The values you can select are as follows:
    • CICSPlex SM Data Interface for read-only connection to a CICS version 3 or version 4 CICSPlex SM WUI server.
    • CICS management interface for connection to a CICS version 4 CICSPlex SM WUI server or a single CICS region with update capability.
    Name The local name used to identify this connection. The name can be anything you choose and is used only to help you distinguish between different connections.
    Server Address The TCP/IP host name of your CICSPlex SM WUI server or your stand-alone CICS region. For a WUI server, this is the value specified in the initialization parameter TCPIPHOSTNAME.
    Port Number The port used to access the server. For a WUI server, this is the value specified in the TCPIPPORT attribute of the TCPIPSERVICE definition created when configuring the CICS management interface.
    Userid Your authorized user ID for the system.
    Password Your password for the system. If you leave this field blank, you are asked to enter your password when the connection is attempted.
    Save Password Clicking this box saves your password on your computer.
  4. Click Apply to save the configuration or Cancel to cancel the process and close the Preferences view without saving the new connection.
  5. Click Connect.
What to do next
When Connect is clicked CICS Explorer attempts to connect to the system you have configured. If you did not previously enter your password, you are asked to enter it now.

If the connection is successful, the connection name appears in the connection status bar in the lower right corner of the workbench window next to a green icon to indicate a non-SSL connection, or a padlock to indicate a SSL connection.

If the connection is not successful, a red icon is displayed in the connection status bar in the lower right corner of the workbench window next to the connection name. An error message is displayed at the top of the Connections Preferences view providing a reason for the failure. Check the values in the fields, correct any errors, and click Connect to test the corrections.

When the connection is successful, click OK or Cancel to close the Preferences view.

Related concepts
Connecting to a system that is already defined