Configuring CICS DA system connections

CICS® DA uses two different protocols when connecting to host systems: HTTP for accessing the system spool and FTP for everything else. By default, CICS DA attempts to connect using the secure forms of the protocols, HTTPS and FTP over TLS. If the secure connections are not successful, the connections are re-attempted without security. You must configure the FTP and HTTP connections separately.

Before you begin

You must have at least one connection "credential" before you can configure a system connection. A credential is a repository for a user ID and password combination. See the topic Defining connection credentials in the CICS Explorer™ user Guide for further information.

Configuring an FTP connection

  1. Click Window > Preferences from the workbench menu bar. In the Preferences dialog expand CICS Explorer 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 showing a pre-configured FTP connection.
  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:
    Table 1. Fields in the CICS DA connection dialog for FTP
    Option Description
    Type The type of the connection. For an FTP connection this is System z - FTP.
    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.
    Host name The TCP/IP host name of your FTP server.
    Port number The port used to access the server. For FTP this is always port 21
    Credentials Your credential for the system. If you do not yet have a credential defined for this connection you can click the Credentials hyperlink to open the Credentials page, and define a credential.
  4. Click Apply to save the configuration or Cancel to cancel the process and close the Preferences view without saving the new connection.
  5. Select one of the following choices:
    • Click Connect to connect to the FTP server. When Connect is clicked CICS DA attempts to connect to the FTP system you have configured. The Signon dialog is displayed and you must confirm or enter your password. If the connection fails an error message is displayed in the Connections Preferences dialog.
    • Click OK to close the Preferences dialog. With an active FTP connection you can now view data sets and logs.

Configuring an HTTP connection

  1. Click Window > Preferences from the workbench menu bar. In the Preferences dialog expand CICS Explorer and click Connections. The Connections Preferences view is displayed.
  2. Click the Type twisty and select CICS Deployment Assistant. If the connection is pre-configured, you see the connection details displayed as in the example below. If not, the fields are blank.
    Connections Preferences view showing a pre-configured HTTP connection.
  3. Click New.
  4. Fill in the fields with the details provided by your system administrator. The following table provides a description of the fields:
    Table 2. Fields in the CICS DA connection dialog for HTTP
    Option Description
    Type The type of the connection. For an HTTP connection this is CICS Deployment Assistant.
    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.
    Host name The TCP/IP host name of your HTTP server.
    Port number The FTP port used to access the server. This is always port 21
    Credentials Your credential for the system. If you do not yet have a credential defined for this connection you can click the Credentials hyperlink to open the Credentials page, and define a credential.
    Spool access port The port number to access your job output spool.
    z/OS® System ID The 4 character System ID
    Install base The set of qualifiers defining the location of the libraries containing the CICS DA host code.
    Job name prefix The prefix that is used by CICS DA to generate the DA jobs. The prefix must be 7 characters or less.
    Job card A template used to generate job cards. The template does not include the job name because this is generated, using the job name prefix, by CICS DA when the job is submitted. You can use any valid parameters in the template.
    Note: All CICS DA jobs are short-running jobs.
  5. Click Apply to save the configuration or Cancel to cancel the process and close the Preferences view without saving the new connection.
  6. Click Connect to connect to the HTTP server. When Connect is clicked CICS DA attempts to connect to the HTTP system you have configured. The Signon dialog is displayed and you must confirm or enter your password. If the connection fails an error message is displayed in the Connections Preferences dialog.
  7. Click OK to close the Preferences dialog. With an active HTTP connection you can now perform system discovery and view the system logs.