Planning CICS Explorer installation
CICS Explorer® is a system management tool that is delivered as part of CICS® Transaction Server. It provides an easy-to-use way to manage one or more CICS systems. It is based on an Eclipse platform and provides a view of some CICSPlex® SM functions in a CICS Transaction Server, and a platform for the integration of CICS tools.
Before you install CICS Explorer, you must decide how you want to run it in your organization.
- CICS Explorer, for management of CICS resources and resource definitions.
- CICS SDK for Java™, which provides support to develop Java applications with the JCICS API to run in any supported release of CICS. It is included in CICS Explorer.
- CICS SDK for Java EE and Liberty, which provides support to develop web applications that can run in a Liberty profile server in CICS TS for z/OS, Version 5.1 or later. The SDK includes a subset of the WebSphere® Developer Tools to support Liberty application development and enable export of OSGi application projects in EBA format. The CICS SDK for Java EE and Liberty is provided as a separate feature that you can install with CICS Explorer, or add later.
Before you install CICS Explorer, always read the CICS Explorer release notes for the latest information, including limitations and restrictions, about CICS Explorer. The release notes are available from the CICS Explorer web page.
To install CICS Explorer, it is advisable, where possible, to use IBM Installation Manager. It is also possible to use a direct download or an Eclipse p2 update site. These installation scenarios and downloads are listed on the Download Eclipse Tools web page and on the product download site that is available from the CICS Explorer web page.
Upgrade considerations
- What version of CICS Explorer you need
- The version of CICS Explorer must be the same as or later than the version of CICS regions that it needs to manage.
- To use CICS Explorer Version 5.4, you must install a new copy of CICS Explorer instead of upgrading from earlier versions, because CICS Explorer V5.4 is based on a different version of Eclipse.
- Whether you need the old workspace
- To reuse the workspace of a previous version of CICS Explorer, back up your CICS Explorer workspace first, as described in
Taking a backup of the CICS Explorer workspace.
Alternatively, you can preserve the old workspace by creating a copy of the workspace and renaming it for your new version of CICS Explorer. To change to a new workspace location, see Changing the CICS Explorer workspace location.
CICS Explorer prerequisites
To install and use CICS Explorer, you must have the correct operating system on your workstation, the correct service applied to your CICS systems, and CICS or CICSPlex SM configured to use the CICS management client interface.
For the CICS Explorer prerequisites, see the system requirements on the CICS Explorer web page.
- CMAS resource table
- CICSplex configuration definition resource table
- CICS region data operations resource table
CICS Explorer also requires that a default CMAS context is set for the WUI. This context is set in the WUI parameter DEFAULTCMASCTXT. Failure to set the context results in the error IZE0106E error with INVALIDPARM CONTEXT while connecting CICS Explorer.
Configuring CICS or CICSPlex SM
You must configure CICSPlex SM or your CICS regions before you can connect to them with CICS Explorer.
- CICS management client interface (CMCI) connection
Provides the ability to read, update, create, and install definitions, as well as performing actions against installed resources.
You can connect CICS Explorer to a CICSPlex SM WUI server, which allows connections to a CICSplex, or to a single CICS region (SMSS). For more information on how to set up a CMCI connection, see Setting up access for CICS Explorer in the CICS TS V5.4.0 product documentation.
Note: If you are connecting to a CICS TS for VSE/ESA 1.1.1 system, the CMCI connection will provide read-only capability.- SM Data connection to a CICSPlex SM WUI server
- Provides read-only access to definitions and installed resources.
The CICS Explorer workspace
- Connection details for connecting to CICS systems or CICSPlex SM WUI servers
- User IDs for accessing CICS systems or CICSPlex SM
- User-customized view and perspective information
- User files, for example bundled projects and text files that are created in the CICS Explorer Resource perspective.
Therefore, because the workspace directory contains user files and most user preferences, it is important to back up the CICS Explorer workspace before an upgrade and for disaster recovery.
By default, the workspace is stored in a directory on the local workstation. You can use a startup option to specify that CICS Explorer uses a different workspace location, for example an alternative local directory, removable storage, or a remote network drive.
CICS Explorer can be used with more than one workspace. For example, a system administrator might administer systems for two different clients and need to keep the connections and sets of bundles separate. An application developer might develop applications for multiple releases of CICS and need to work with each release separately.
Location of CICS Explorer code
The following table outlines where you can install the CICS Explorer code and the advantages and disadvantages of each option.
Explorer code location | Workspace location | Update method | Advantages | Disadvantages |
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Local on user's workstation. |
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Users must update their own software. |
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Remote on a network drive. |
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Software is updated centrally. |
|
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For more details about using a network drive for installation, see IBM Redpapers: Managing Enterprise-wide Deployment of IBM Explorer for z/OS or CICS Explorer.
After you decide where to install CICS Explorer, how to manage the users' workspaces, and which installation method to use, you can begin the installation.