Downloading and installing CICS Explorer

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To have IBM® CICS Explorer® on your workstation, you can choose from two installations, CICS Explorer for Aqua or CICS Explorer on Eclipse Marketplace. You must upgrade CICS Explorer in accordance to how it was installed.

CICS Explorer for Aqua allows you to have full IBM support of CICS Explorer and other IBM-provided Eclipse tools. For CICS Explorer for Aqua, several installation methods are supported (see Table 3). You can also choose to install CICS Explorer from Eclipse Marketplace if you want to use a more recent Eclipse. Choose your CICS Explorer installation based on your needs.

Tip: To download CICS Explorer for Aqua, go to Install Eclipse Tools. The interactive site guides you to the installation file you need.

If you are unsure of which version to install or which installation method to use, read further.

Decide on a desired version of CICS Explorer

CICS Explorer is backwards compatible, so you can always install the latest fix pack available and connect it to any version of CICS® TS.

Eclipse, z/OS® Explorer, and CICS Explorer are packaged as part of the Aqua release train of compatible Eclipse plug-ins. Each version of the release train is based on a different version of Eclipse. Table 1 shows each version of CICS Explorer and its underlying platform. Ready-to-run packages are available as .zip files for quick installation; see the CICS Explorer for Aqua .zip files column in Table 1 to find out the .zip file that applies to the CICS Explorer Fix Pack you want to install.

Table 2 shows the highest version of CICS TS that different versions of CICS Explorer can support.

Table 1. Reference for CICS Explorer and the platform it's based on
Eclipse Platform CICS Explorer for Aqua .zip files  1  CICS Explorer Fix Pack
2022-03 Eclipse plug-in downloaded from Eclipse Marketplace Not applicable 5.5.x
2022-03 Aqua 3.3 release train 33.0.x 5.5.x
4.8 (Photon) Aqua 3.2 release train 32.0.x 5.5.x

 1  When you download a ready-to-run CICS Explorer for Aqua .zip file, it includes z/OS Explorer and other Aqua release train components. The .zip file name is specific to the version of the Aqua release train and has a version number as shown in the CICS Explorer for Aqua .zip files column.

Table 2. Compatibility reference table for CICS Explorer and CICS TS
CICS Explorer Fix Pack numbers Supported CICS TS releases
5.5.36 or later CICS TS 6.2 (full support) and earlier
5.5.35 CICS TS 6.2  2  and earlier

 2  CICS Explorer 5.5.35 can connect to CICS TS 6.2 regions, but does not support the new features introduced with CICS TS 6.2.
5.5.22—5.5.35 CICS TS 6.1 and earlier
5.5.0.9—5.5.21 CICS TS 5.6 and earlier
5.5.0.1—5.5.0.8 CICS TS 5.5 and earlier

For more information, see z/OS Explorer, CICS Explorer, and CICS tools plug-ins release compatibility reference tables.

Install or upgrade?

If you use CICS Explorer for Aqua, you cannot directly upgrade from one Aqua version to another because the Eclipse platform underneath is different. Instead, you need to install a new copy of CICS Explorer, for example, when upgrading from CICS Explorer for Aqua 3.1 to CICS Explorer for Aqua 3.3. Within an Aqua version, you can upgrade CICS Explorer to get more recent fix packs in the same way as it was installed.

Before you begin

  • Make sure that your operating system meets the system requirements as described on CICS Explorer Detailed System Requirements.

  • Before you install CICS Explorer, always read What's new for the latest information, including limitations and restrictions, about CICS Explorer.

  • If you are already using CICS Explorer, you might want to back up its workspace before you upgrade CICS Explorer to a new release.
  • To get the full benefit of CICS Explorer, an in-service release of CICS Transaction Server for z/OS is required. Some features are available only on higher releases of CICS TS, or they require server enablement. See What's new for details. See also the CICS Explorer 5.5 Detailed System Requirements report.

Choose an installation method

You can choose to install CICS Explorer through CICS Explorer for Aqua or from Eclipse Marketplace, depending on your needs.

CICS Explorer for Aqua: Why?
  • You want full IBM support for both CICS Explorer and the Eclipse platform.
  • You want to use the full suite of the Eclipse tools provided by IBM, including IDz, other CICS tools, and so on, in addition to CICS Explorer.
  • You use a stabilized version of Eclipse, that is, Eclipse 4.8 or earlier, or you use a macOS at Catalina or earlier.
CICS Explorer on Eclipse Marketplace: Why?

The Eclipse Marketplace portal is an online website that contain a variety of Eclipse-based solutions with simplified installation. You can install such solutions using the Eclipse Marketplace Client (MPC) either from Eclipse or from the website directly.

Here are a few reasons for you to use CICS Explorer on Eclipse Marketplace:
  • You want to use or already have an Eclipse later than Eclipse 4.8.
  • You need Java™ 11 or Java 17 support.
  • You need the Liberty Developer Tools (LDT) to work with OSGi applications, which is not provided with CICS Explorer for Aqua 3.3.
  • You need only CICS Explorer, not other Eclipse tools provided as a suite by IBM, such as IDz.

Install CICS Explorer for Aqua

You can obtain CICS Explorer for Aqua from Install Eclipse Tools. Several installation methods are supported, as summarized in Table 3. If you already know which method to choose, go to Install Eclipse Tools for a quick download. Whichever installation method you choose, Install Eclipse Tools guides you through the installation process.

Notes:
  • The IBM CICS SDK for Enterprise Java (Liberty) is a separate feature that supports Liberty application development. You can either install it with CICS Explorer or add it later, as described for each method in Table 3.
  • If you want to install an earlier release of CICS Explorer, go to Downloads for older releases of IBM Explorer for z/OS and IBM CICS Explorer and follow the instructions there.
  • To install CICS Explorer for Aqua 3.3 or CICS Explorer for Aqua 3.2 on any of the MacOS releases since Catalina, you must follow instructions in this technote to bypass the security restrictions.
Table 3. Comparison of different ways of installing CICS Explorer for Aqua
Installation method Scenarios How to install  3 
Installing a stand-alone CICS Explorer by using a CICS Explorer for Aqua .zip file The quickest way to install CICS Explorer if you're starting from scratch, that is, you don't have Eclipse or IBM Installation Manager installed.

It installs CICS Explorer as a stand-alone product. You must use the Eclipse p2 update site to install updates or additional features.

 In Install Eclipse Tools, choose Eclipse p2 as your installation client and Starting from fresh as your starting point.

The IBM CICS SDK for Enterprise Java (Liberty)  4  is not included in the compressed file. You must install it separately.
Installing CICS Explorer by using IBM Installation Manager  5  Install CICS Explorer either as a stand-alone product or into an existing Installation Manager-based Eclipse instance.

You must use IBM Installation Manager to install updates or additional features.

 In Install Eclipse Tools, choose IBM Installation Manager as your installation client.

If you want to install the IBM CICS SDK for Enterprise Java (Liberty)  4 , you can select the feature during installation or install it later.
Installing CICS Explorer into existing Eclipse by using Eclipse p2 Install CICS Explorer into an existing Eclipse product.

You must use the Eclipse p2 update site to install updates or additional features.

 In Install Eclipse Tools, choose Eclipse p2 as your installation client and Extending an existing Eclipse instance as your starting point.

If you want to install the IBM CICS SDK for Enterprise Java (Liberty)  4 , you can select the feature during installation or install it later.

 3  The instructions focus on scenarios where you use the public online repository for installation and updates. If you want to host an internal repository within your enterprise, choose Hosting an internal repository as your starting point in the wizard.

 4  In Aqua 3.2, the SDK includes a subset of the WebSphere® Developer Tools (WDT) to support Liberty application development and enable export of OSGi application projects in EBA format. As of Aqua 3.3, the SDK does not support WDT anymore, but you can find alternative solutions in Consideration for OSGi applications when installing CICS Explorer.

 5  To install CICS Explorer for Aqua 3.3, you must use IBM Installation Manager 1.9.2.3 or higher.

Install CICS Explorer from Eclipse Marketplace

To install CICS Explorer from Eclipse Marketplace:
  1. Install an Eclipse client that is supported by the Eclipse Marketplace: IBM CICS Explorer solution, for example, 2022-03.
  2. You can then install CICS Explorer in either way:
  3. If you need to work with Enterprise Java applications, you also need to install the IBM CICS SDK for Enterprise Java (Liberty). If you need to work with OSGi applications, you need to install LDT in addition to the SDK. For instructions on how to install the SDK and LDT from Eclipse Marketplace, see Installing the IBM CICS SDK for Enterprise Java (Liberty).

For instructions on how to install a solution from Eclipse Marketplace, see Eclipse Marketplace User Guide.

Verify your CICS Explorer installation

  1. Start CICS Explorer. For detailed instructions, see Starting CICS Explorer.
    • To start CICS Explorer for Aqua, double-click the zosexplorer.exe file (zosexplorer on Linux or macOS), in a subdirectory called zosexplorer.
    • To start CICS Explorer on Eclipse Marketplace, start the Eclipse client it is installed into.
    Tip: You can start CICS Explorer with a different workspace from the default by using a CICS Explorer shortcut. See Changing the CICS Explorer workspace location.
  2. Connect your CICS Explorer to a CICS system. For detailed instructions, see Connecting CICS Explorer to CICS systems.