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Version: v3.0.x LTS

IBM® CICS® Plug-in for Zowe CLI

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IBM® CICS® Plug-in for Zowe CLI

The IBM® CICS® Plug-in for Zowe™ CLI lets you extend Zowe CLI to interact with CICS programs and transactions. The plug-in uses the IBM CICS® Management Client Interface (CMCI) API to achieve the interaction with CICS. For more information, see CICS management client interface on the IBM Knowledge Center.

Use cases​

As an application developer, you can use the plug-in to perform the following tasks:

  • Deploy code changes to CICS applications that were developed with COBOL.
  • Deploy changes to CICS regions for testing or delivery. See the define command for an example of how you can define programs to CICS to assist with testing and delivery.
  • Automate CICS interaction steps in your CI/CD pipeline with Jenkins Automation Server or TravisCI.
  • Deploy build artifacts to CICS regions.
  • Alter, copy, define, delete, discard, and install CICS resources and resource definitions.

Commands​

For detailed documentation on commands, actions, and options available in this plug-in, see our web help.

There are several methods to view Zowe CLI web help:

Software requirements​

Before you install the plug-in, meet the software requirements in Software requirements for Zowe CLI plug-ins.

Installing​

Use one of the following methods to install or update the plug-in:

Creating a user profile​

After you install the plug-in, create a CICS profile to avoid entering your connection details each time that you issue a command. You can create multiple profiles and switch between them as needed.

Specify your plug-in profile and connection details in the zowe.config.json configuration file.

Creating plug-in profiles using a configuration file​

If you have the CICS plug-in installed and issue the zowe config init, zowe config auto-init, or zowe config convert-profiles command, the command creates an entry for a CICS profile in your zowe.config.json file.

Alternatively, you can create a CICS profile manually by adding a section that contains the configuration details to your zowe.config.json configuration file.

Creating a CICS profile with a command​

  1. Install the CICS Plug-in for Zowe CLI.

  2. Create a CICS profile:

    zowe config init

  3. Set the port number to the port configured for a CICS connection on your mainframe.

    zowe config set profiles.cics.properties.port <port number>

    • <port number>

      Specifies the port number for the instance.

    You can now use your profile when you issue commands in the cics command group.

Creating a CICS profile manually​

  1. Install the CICS Plug-in for Zowe CLI.

  2. Browse to the directory C:\Users\<username>\.zowe.

  3. Open the zowe.config.json configuration file using a text editor or IDE, such as Visual Studio Code or IntelliJ IDEA.

    note

    If the file does not exist, issue the following command to create the configuration file:

    zowe config init --gc

  4. Add code to the "profiles" section as shown in the following example:

    "Your_cics_profile": {
      "type": "cics",
      "properties": {
          "host": "Your_host_name",
          "port": Your_port_number,
          "regionName": “Your_CICS_region”
      },
      "secure": [
        "user",
        "password"
      ]
    }

  5. Save the file.

    You can now use your profile when you issue commands in the zftp command group.

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