Working with bundles

You can use bundles to deploy applications, events, and Atom feeds to your CICS® systems. CICS bundles are a unit of deployment for CICS resources that you want to manage together in a CICS region. Management bundles group related CICS bundles together for deployment and management in a CICSplex. Management bundles are installed in a CMAS, and the associated CICS bundles are installed in the CICS regions across the targeted CICSplex (or platform). You can create management bundles for an application or a platform.

About this task

To create and work with individual CICS bundles, use the task instructions in this section of the help. To create and work with management bundles for applications or platforms, or to create and work with policies, use the task instructions in the section Working with platforms, applications, and policies.

For some artifacts that you can deploy to a CICS bundle, you follow a dedicated process in CICS Explorer® or Rational® Developer for z System z®. For other artifacts, you create the resource definition directly in the CICS bundle.

You can dynamically create CICS resources using a CICS bundle for the following artifacts. For more details about each of these artifacts, see Artifacts that can be deployed in bundles in the CICS TS V5.3 product documentation. For details about defining a resource in a CICS bundle project, see Adding resources to a CICS bundle project.
Application event or system event
For CICS event processing, you can use CICS Explorer to define and deploy event bindings, capture specifications, and EP adapters in CICS bundles. See Working with events.
Atom feed
To serve an Atom feed from CICS, you can use CICS Explorer to create and deploy an Atom configuration file in a CICS bundle. See Working with Atom feeds.
Channel-based service
Channel-based services are CICS applications that are described as components and assembled together using the Service Component Architecture (SCA) tooling in Rational Developer for z Systems. See Creating a channel-based service in the CICS TS V5.3 product documentation.
File
A FILE resource represents a single file in a CICS system. The following file types are supported for definition in CICS bundles:
  • VSAM files (including files that refer to CICS-maintained, user-maintained, and coupling facility data tables, as well as files that refer to VSAM data sets)
  • Remote VSAM files
  • Remote BDAM files
JSON transform
A JSON transform is used by an application with the linkable interface for transforming JSON. The JSON assistant uses a language structure or a JSON schema to generate the JSON binding, and also creates a bundle. When you install the BUNDLE resource, CICS dynamically creates an JSONTRANSFRM bundle part that defines where the JSON binding and schema are located.
JVM server
A JVMSERVER resource defines the location of the JVM profile and other options that are used to create a JVM server to run Java™ applications in a CICS region. The JVM profile for the JVM server is packaged in the CICS bundle along with the resource definition.
Library
A LIBRARY resource defines a dynamic concatenation of data sets containing program artifacts that make up an application or group of applications.
OSGi bundle
Java applications that are packaged as OSGi bundles can be deployed in CICS bundles to run in a JVM server, using the CICS Explorer Software Development Kit (SDK). See the CICS Java Developer Guide in the SDK help and Administering Java applications in the CICS TS V5.3 product documentation.
Package set
You can create a definition for a PACKAGESET resource in any CICS bundle that is deployed with a platform, application, or application binding project. Use the PACKAGESET resource to define which DB2® collection to use to qualify any SQL requests made by application tasks running on a platform.

When you install a BUNDLE resource that contains a PACKAGESET resource with a CICS application or application binding, it is private to the application. CICS defines that DB2 collection to be used by all the application tasks.

When you install a BUNDLE resource that contains a PACKAGSET resource with a platform, CICS defines the DB2 collection that will be used by all application tasks that run on the platform where no specific DB2 collection is defined for the application.

See Private resources for application versions in the CICS TS V5.3 product documentation.

Pipeline
A PIPELINE resource is used when a CICS application is in the role of a Web service provider or requester. It identifies a pipeline configuration file that provides information about the message handler programs that act on a service request and on the response. The pipeline configuration file is packaged in the CICS bundle along with the resource definition. PIPELINE resources that are defined in CICS bundles can only be used with WEBSERVICE resources that are defined in CICS bundles or created dynamically by a pipeline scan.
Policy
A policy defines one or more rules to manage the behavior of user tasks in CICS regions.
Program
A PROGRAM resource represents a single program in a CICS system.
Transaction
A TRANSACTION resource specifies the functions provided by CICS for a particular invocation of an application.
TCP/IP service
A TCPIPSERVICE resource specifies the protocol, port, and other information for a TCP/IP connection for a CICS region.
Web application
Web applications that are packaged as WAR files, an EBA file, or EAR files can be deployed in a CICS bundle to run in a Liberty JVM server. See Deploying applications in a JVM server in the CICS TS V5.3 product documentation.
Web service
A WEBSERVICE resource defines aspects of the run time environment for a CICS application program deployed in a Web services setting. The web service binding file and the WSDL document or WSDL archive file can be packaged in the CICS bundle along with the resource definition. If the binding file is for a web service provider, you can also generate a PROGRAM definition for the web service and include it in the bundle.
URI map
A URIMAP resource matches the URI of an HTTP, Atom feed, or Web service request, and provides information to CICS on how to process the request.
XML-based service
XML-based services are typically web service provider or requester applications created using Rational Developer for z Systems, which use XML to interface with other applications and use a binding to transform the data. See Creating an XML-based service in the CICS TS V5.3 product documentation.
  • Creating a CICS bundle project
    A CICS bundle is a collection of resources, artifacts, references, and a manifest file that you can deploy into a CICS region to represent all or part of an application.
  • Adding resources to a CICS bundle project
    When you add resource definitions to a CICS bundle project, CICS dynamically creates resources for you when you deploy and install the bundle in the CICS region.
  • Editing resources defined in a CICS bundle project
    To edit the definitions for resources that are defined in CICS bundle projects, you use the CICS Explorer resource editors. You can edit a resource definition in a CICS bundle project immediately after you create it. You can also edit a resource that you defined in a CICS bundle project at an earlier time.
  • Creating variables
    When you edit a resource definition in CICS Explorer, you can use the Insert variable or Extract value to variable wizard to create variables.
  • Defining bundle dependencies
    Define the dependencies, or imports, for a CICS bundle in <import> elements in the bundle manifest file (cics.xml).
  • Defining application entry points
    If your CICS bundle project is part of a CICS application, declare suitable application entry points in the bundle manifest. An application entry point identifies a resource that is an access point to an application. Application entry points are used to control users' access to different versions of an application that is deployed on a platform.
  • Defining policy scopes
    If your CICS bundle project is part of a CICS application, you can define one or more policy scopes in the bundle manifest. A policy scope can be used to limit the scope of a policy to a specific operation of an application.
  • Deploying a CICS bundle
    You can deploy a CICS bundle by exporting it directly to a z/OS® UNIX System Services (z/OS UNIX) file system from CICS Explorer. Use a BUNDLE resource to locate the bundle in zFS and dynamically create the resources from the bundle in the CICS region.
  • Exporting a CICS bundle project to your local file system
    If you do not have authorization to deploy a bundle directly to a z/OS file system, or you want to back up your bundle source code, you can export the bundle project to your local file system.
  • Adding a CICS bundle to a platform
    You can add a CICS bundle to a platform by selecting a bundle to install and enable in a region type. For example, you might want to add a policy rule that you want to apply to a region type.
  • Removing a CICS bundle from a platform
    You can remove a CICS bundle from a platform by selecting a management part to disable and remove from a region type. For example, you might want to remove a policy rule that you no longer want to apply to the region type.
  • Updating CICS bundles
    Use the bundle manifest editor and the resource editors to edit the contents of a CICS bundle and to increase its version number. Then deploy the new version of the CICS bundle, or an application that includes it, to your CICS regions.
Parent topic: Tasks