Selecting which z/OSMF plug-ins to add
In z/OSMF, a plug-in is a collection of one or more system management tasks that add function to z/OSMF. When you configure a plug-in, you make its tasks available to users in the z/OSMF navigation area.
z/OSMF includes a number of base functions, which are always enabled when you configure the product. A base configuration of z/OSMF contains only these functions (referred to as core functions in this document).
- Welcome task
- Notifications and Notification Settings tasks
- Workflows task
- Workflow Editor task
- Application Linking Manager task
- Import Manager task
- Links task
- FTP Servers task
- Resource Management task
- Software Services task
- Systems task
- Usage Statistics task
- z/OS Operator Consoles task
- z/OSMF online help system.
For a ServerPac installation, if you select the full system replacement installation type, a base configuration of z/OSMF is set up for you. Here, the configuration is created through a ServerPac post-installation job that uses IBM-supplied defaults.
You can add significant function to z/OSMF through the addition of optional plug-ins. To help you decide, this chapter provides a functional overview of each plug-in.
- In your active IZUPRMxx member, ensure that the PLUGINS statement is uncommented and includes the plug-in ID for the required plug-in. See Statements and parameters for IZUPRMxx.
- Create security profiles for the tasks that are associated with the plug-in. IBM provides a set of IZUnnSEC jobs in SYS1.SAMPLIB with RACF commands to help with performing these changes. Each IZUnnSEC job is associated with a plug-in, as described in Setting up security for the z/OSMF plug-ins.
- Perform the various z/OS system customization updates that are associated with each plug-in, as described in Customizing your z/OS system for the z/OSMF plug-ins.
Plug-in name | Tasks provided by plug-in | Task description |
---|---|---|
Capacity Provisioning | Capacity Provisioning | Query the status of the Capacity Provisioning Manager. |
Incident Log | Incident Log | Diagnose system problems, and send diagnostic data to IBM® or other vendors for further diagnostics. |
ISPF | ISPF | Access traditional ISPF applications. |
Network Configuration Assistant | Network Configuration Assistant | Configure TCP/IP policy-based networking functions. |
Resource Monitoring | Resource Monitoring | Monitor the performance of the z/OS, AIX®, Linux, and Windows systems in your enterprise. |
System Status | Quickly assess the workload performance on the systems in your enterprise, and define the systems to be monitored. | |
Software Deployment | Software Management | Manage your z/OS software inventory, deploy SMP/E packaged and installed software, and generate reports about your software. |
Sysplex Management | Sysplex Management | Manage the sysplex resources in your enterprise. |
Workload Management | Workload Management | Administer and operate WLM, and manage WLM service definitions and policies. |
IBM zERT Network Analyzer | IBM zERT Network Analyzer | Analyze SMF records to identify the cryptographic protection attributes of TCP and Enterprise Extender (EE) traffic in your enterprise. |
Your decision on which plug-ins to configure will depend in part on your installation's readiness to perform the various z/OS system customization updates associated with each plug-in. When planning for the plug-ins, review the system setup requirements for each plug-in, as described in Customizing your z/OS system for the z/OSMF plug-ins.
External plug-ins
Besides the optional plug-ins that are supplied with z/OSMF, your installation can choose to add applications from other sources (IBM or other vendors) to your configuration. In such cases, a z/OSMF administrator can use the Import Manager task to import the applications into z/OSMF. For more information, see the online help for the Import Manager task.
As an example, z/OS System Display and Search Facility (SDSF) supplies a plug-in for use with z/OSMF. For the installation and customization requirements for a particular application, see the documentation that is provided with the application. For example, the set-up requirements for the SDSF plug-in are described in the topic about z/OSMF considerations in in z/OS SDSF Operation and Customization.
Further, your installation can create its own applications to use with z/OSMF. For more information, see IBM z/OS Management Facility Programming Guide.