IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS, 6.1 delivers significant improvements in the areas of developer productivity, security, and management

IBM Japan Software Announcement JP22-0105
April 5, 2022

Table of contents

	Overview		Program number
	Key requirements		Technical information
	Planned availability date		Ordering information
	Description		Terms and conditions
	Product positioning		Prices

Overview

IBM® CICS® Transaction Server for z/OS® 6.1

CICS Transaction server for z/OS (CICS TS) is a world-class, secure, and scalable platform for hosting transactional enterprise applications in a hybrid architecture. CICS applications can efficiently update data and messages in IBM Db2®, IBM IMS, IBM VSAM, and IBM MQ with transaction integrity, while meeting demanding service level agreements. CICS TS provides an excellent foundation for a stepwise, low-risk, high-return approach to application modernization.

CICS TS 6.1 delivers the following new capabilities:

Enhanced developer productivity
- Support for Java™ 11, Jakarta Enterprise Edition 9.1, and Eclipse MicroProfile 5
- Improvements to Java getting started documentation
- Java annotation now available to define methods to link to OSGi Java applications
- Bundle deployment, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and advanced IBM CICS Explorer® functions supported in single CICS regions
- Maintain CICS resource configuration with application source using the CICS TS resource builder
Improved security and compliance management
- New support for Transportation Layer Security (TLS) 1.3
- Additional TLS monitoring and statistics
- Support for Application Transparent Transport Layer Security (AT-TLS) monitoring and statistics
- New messages to simplify diagnosis of TLS security problems
- New messages associated with authorization errors to assist in identifying the user
- Simplified diagnosis of sysplex-wide CICS security problems
- New SMF 1154 type 80 record to simplify collection of compliance data for auditors
- New CICS health checks for IBM Health Checker for z/OS
- Customization of CICS health checks
- Improved security documentation based on scenarios
- Removal of the need for category 1 security definitions
- New protection to guard against executing code in data-only memory
- Addition of MFA authentication sign-on from CICS Explorer to a single CICS region
- Enhanced information for the ASSIGN command
Reduced cost of management
- Tagging of CICS regions to identify usage
- Resource definition overrides
- New compound condition system policy rule
- New ALL option for selected policy task rules
- Enhanced support for policy statistics
- New system rule type for transaction dump threshold
- Improved temporary storage expiry processing
- Extended short on storage notification
- Limit on concurrent TLS handshakes
- Enhancements in support of Db2
- Increased capacity of shared data tables
- Enhanced CICS event processing support
- Advanced CICS Explorer functions in single CICS regions
- Enhanced performance monitoring
- Enhanced API, SPI, and diagnostics
- Improved recovery for Logger failures
- CICS installation using z/OSMF Software Management
- Ability to use an alternate IBM WebSphere® Application Server Liberty installation location

IBM Explorer for z/OS and CICS Explorer

The latest capabilities delivered in Explorer for z/OS (z/OS Explorer) are supported by CICS Explorer.

CICS Tools support for CICS TS 6.1

The following products, referred to collectively as CICS Tools, can be used in support of CICS TS 6.1:

CICS Configuration Manager for z/OS (CICS CM) 5.4
CICS Deployment Assistant for z/OS (CICS DA) 5.3
CICS Interdependency Analyzer for z/OS (CICS IA) 5.5
CICS Performance Analyzer for z/OS (CICS PA) 5.4
CICS VSAM Recovery for z/OS (CICS VR) 5.2

CICS TS Value Unit Edition 6.1

CICS TS Value Unit Edition (VUE) 6.1 delivers all of the speed, reliability, and value of CICS TS with a one-time-charge (OTC) price model. Eligible workloads include Java applications that are deployed in qualifying IBM Z® New Application License Charges (zNALC) logical partitions (LPARs). These workloads can be integrated and managed alongside existing CICS TS workloads using IBM CICSPlex® System Manger (SM).

CICS TS Developer Trial 6.1

CICS TS Developer Trial 6.1 is available as a try-before-you-buy edition of CICS TS 6.1 and is available at no charge. With CICS TS Developer Trial 6.1, organizations can assess the value to be gained from a CICS TS upgrade before making an upgrade decision. CICS TS Developer Trial 6.1 can be upgraded to either CICS TS 6.1 or CICS TS VUE 6.1, without the need for a full reinstallation. It is fully supported by IBM and is updated periodically during the trial period.

Key requirements

The minimum required hardware prerequisite is IBM zEnterprise® EC12 (zEC12) or subsequent 64-bit IBM z/Architecture® processors.

The minimum required level of operating system is IBM z/OS 2.3.

The minimum required level of Java is IBM 64-bit SDK for z/OS, Java Technology Edition 8.0.

To install CICS TS using z/OSMF Software Management, both z/OSMF Software Management and Workflows must be installed and enabled on the driving system.

Planned availability date

June 17, 2022:

CICS Transaction Server for z/OS 6.1
CICS Transaction Server for z/OS VUE 6.1
CICS Transaction Server for z/OS Developer Trial 6.1

See the Availability of national languages section for national language availability.

Availability within a country is subject to local legal requirements.

Description

CICS TS 6.1 enhances the experience and productivity of developers by adding support for familiar languages and APIs, such as Java 11, Jakarta 9.1, MicroProfile 5, and build tools such as Gradle and Maven. In addition, the new CICS TS resource builder tool empowers developers to define CICS application resources themselves in YAML alongside the code. Use of the CICS TS resource builder enables fully automated application build and deployment pipelines, which can typically save time and reduce errors.

In addition, CICS TS 6.1 provides improved security and now gathers evidence for compliance. This includes support for TLS 1.3 and new documentation and diagrams based on scenarios to help secure systems and applications. CICS TS now collects configuration evidence required by compliance authorities and writes it to SMF. This evidence is collected by IBM Z Security and Compliance Center to provide detailed reports to enable executives, administrators, and auditors to understand compliance metrics with ease, and to track compliance drift over time using dashboard visualizations.

CICS TS 6.1 also provides a broad range of enhancements to reduce costs and make it easier to manage. For example, CICS regions can be classified using tags to identify the applications it hosts, enabling system programmers to understand the purpose of the region and for automation to dynamically target actions. In total, CICS TS 6.1 addresses over 95 ideas that have been raised by clients.

Enhanced developer productivity

Support for Java 11, Jakarta Enterprise Edition 9.1, and Eclipse MicroProfile 5
Developers can now make use of the latest language features and enterprise APIs available in Java 11, Jakarta Enterprise Edition 9.1, and Eclipse MicroProfile 5 to write CICS applications. The build and deployment of these applications can be automated using CICS plug-ins for Gradle and Maven. Java 11 support in CICS requires IBM Semeru Runtime Certified Edition for z/OS 11. Jakarta 9.1 and MicroProfile 5 are included with CICS TS and use the CICS Liberty JVM server.
Improvements to Java getting started documentation
To help Java developers to get started with applications in CICS, updated information is available in IBM Documentation. It provides a simple overview of what is involved as well as key CICS concepts and access to resources, such as samples, videos, and tutorials.
Java annotation now available to define methods to link to OSGi Java applications
Java applications deployed into an OSGi JVM server can now exploit the @CICSProgram Java annotation to identify the methods that can be called as targets of LINK, START, or RUN commands. CICS automatically creates PROGRAM resources for the annotated methods when the Java application is enabled, making this approach easier to deploy and more flexible than the existing CICS-MainClass approach. This Java annotation is already available for Java applications running in a WebSphere Application Server Liberty JVM server. Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.
Bundle deployment, multi-factor authentication, and advanced CICS Explorer functions supported in single CICS regions
Support is introduced for a CICS Management Client Interface (CMCI) JVM server to be installed and configured in a single CICS region. This makes it possible to use the following capabilities in a single CICS region that were previously only available in a CICSPlex System Manager environment:
- The CICS bundle deployment API, which lets developers use a CICS provided plug-in for Gradle or Maven to deploy CICS bundles into a single CICS region
- The CMCI GraphQL API, which enables advanced functions of CICS Explorer to be used, such as aggregation and grouping of result data, in a single CICS region
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to securely sign-on from CICS Explorer to a single CICS region.
Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.
Maintain CICS resource configuration with application source using the CICS TS resource builder
CICS applications consist of source code that is compiled and CICS resources, such as TRANSACTIONs, PROGRAMs and FILEs. These elements are typically managed by separate teams in separate places, using manual steps and causing delays to coordinate changes.

The CICS TS resource builder is a tool to facilitate configuration as code for application resources. It enables developers to manage resource definitions in a readable source format using a modern source control management (SCM) and modern pipeline. It is designed to run alongside the application build and provides output to be used in later steps in the pipeline to deploy resources alongside the application. Developers are now able to change application code and resources together in a single pull request, giving a consistent and efficient approval and audit process, enabling applications to be deployed with confidence in minutes rather than hours.

With the CICS TS resource builder, CICS resource definitions are defined in a YAML file that is easy to read and update. Enterprise standards for resources, such as naming conventions and required or optional attributes, can be included in a YAML schema. Editors can use the schema to provide help and content assist while developers edit the file. Within the build pipeline, the CICS TS resource builder reads and validates the YAML file then generates output that can be used with CICS system definition utility program (DFHCSDUP). The output is then used by a deployment pipeline to update the CICS system definitions dataset ready for use in CICS.

Improved security and compliance management

New support for TLS 1.3
CICS supports the TLS 1.3 protocol so that TLS applications can be protected with the most current TLS protocol and continue to inter-operate with other TLS 1.3 applications. This TLS support requires z/OS 2.4, or later.

The use of numeric ciphers in the CIPHERS fields of resources and the WEB OPEN command is deprecated. Default ciphers for resources are now obtained from the file defaultciphers.xml in the directory specified by USSCONFIG.

Numeric ciphers are not compatible with TLS 1.3. These ciphers will be ignored for WEB OPEN commands when TLS 1.3 is used.

Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.
Additional TLS monitoring and statistics
New monitoring and statistics are introduced that report on the TLS protocol levels and ciphers used by CICS on inbound and outbound connections. Use of these new features simplifies the upgrading of MINTLSLEVEL and removing ciphers.

The new statistics help to identify if unwanted protocols or ciphers are being used by the CICS region. If they are being used, then the new monitoring can help to identify the client or server that is using them.

Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.
Support for AT-TLS monitoring and statistics
New monitoring fields are introduced that indicate whether a network connection is configured using AT-TLS or CICS configured TLS.

New monitoring and statistics are introduced that report on the TLS protocol levels and ciphers used by CICS on inbound and outbound connections when using AT-TLS.

The INQUIRE TCPIPSERVICE command is updated to indicate if connections use AT-TLS.
New messages to simplify diagnosis of TLS security problems
A series of new messages are issued for common errors with TLS connections when CICS is a client (DFHSO03xx messages) or a server (DFHSO04xx messages). The new messages are primarily configuration errors and are accompanied by additional information to the DFHSO0123 message. They also include specific advice on diagnosing and fixing the error.
New messages associated with authorization errors to assist in identifying the user
Authorization errors are accompanied by an ICH4081 message or DFHXS1111 message. These messages identify the failing request and user ID. However, in many cases it is difficult to locate the user from this information. A new message DFHXS1117 is issued with origin data, including the distributed identity, if available. This extra information will simplify diagnosis of authorization errors.

Additional information on ICH4081 can be found in IBM Documentation. Additional information on DFHXS1111 can be found in IBM Documentation.
Simplified diagnosis of sysplex-wide CICS security problems
A new capability called Security Request Recording (SRR) enables sysplex-wide logging of CICS security requests to simplify the diagnosis of complex security problems. The log can be activated for a specific origin request, such as a request to a TCPIPSERVICE, and then record all CICS security requests associated with origin data of this request, including those which do not result in a call to the external security manager (ESM).

The information can then be output to a summary report and a CSV file on IBM z/OS File System ( zFS), for diagnosis using the DFHSRR utility.

Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.
New SMF 1154 type 80 record to simplify collection of compliance data for auditors
CICS TS 6.1 provides SMF 1154-80 records to assist with the data collection of compliance information for auditors.

Data collection on all CICS regions on selected LPARs can be requested by a new z/OS RESTful service.

A sample program is provided to output a summary of this information and a CSV file on zFS for more detailed analysis.

This capability requires z/OS 2.5 or z/OS 2.4 with APARs OA61443 and OA61444. Additional information about APAR OA61443 can be found on the IBM Support website. Additional information about APAR OA61444 can be found on the IBM Support website.

Additional information about compliance data collection can be found in the IBM Z Security and Compliance Center software announcement. Details of this announcement are in the Reference information section.
New CICS health checks for Health Checker for z/OS
CICS supports five new checks in Health Checker for z/OS. These new checks cover best practice advice for security configuration of regions, resources, and CICS TS use of zFS.

Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.
Customization of CICS health checks
The region tagging mechanism can be used to exclude regions, such as development regions, from reporting configuration errors to Heath Checker for z/OS. In addition, specific health checks, which are not applicable for a client, can be excluded for all regions.
Improved security documentation based on scenarios
The CICS Security documentation is restructured in order to provide education on CICS security principles and topologies.

To assist application architects, developers, and system administrators, the documentation is restructured to give advice on designing and configuring current security topologies, such as WebSphere Application Server Liberty, web services, IP interconnectivity (IPIC), Multiregion operation (MRO), and 3270 terminals.

For each topology, there is a new security reference section based on common scenarios. The scenarios show examples of how to design security with accompanying task-based configuration information.

The new security reference section includes recommendations and best practice advice. Best practice advice is accompanied by checks in Health Checker for z/OS.
Removal of the need for category 1 security definitions
In CICS TS 6.1, it is no longer necessary to define security profiles for CICS category 1 transactions, using the DFH$CAT1 CLIST. In addition to simplifying CICS region setup, this improves security because CICS ensures that only the CICS region user ID is permitted to run these category 1 transactions.
New protection to guard against executing code in data-only memory
CICS can make use of the z/OS 2.4 Instruction Execution Protection (IEP) facility to protect storage areas that are intended only to contain data, such as USER and CICS dynamic storage areas, from being able to execute code. This new feature requires IBM z14® or IBM z15™ hardware, and also z/OS 2.5, or alternatively, z/OS 2.4 or z/OS 2.3 with both APAR OA51030 and APAR OA51643.

Additional information about APAR OA51030 can be found on the IBM Support website. Additional information about APAR OA51643 can be found on the IBM Support website.
Addition of MFA authentication sign-on from CICS Explorer to a single CICS region
With support for the CMCI JVM server in a single, non-CICSplex, CICS region, it is now possible to use MFA to sign on from CICS Explorer to a single CICS region.
Enhanced information for the ASSIGN command
The new option GMEXITOPT is provided on the ASSIGN command, where it will return the EXIT or DISCONNECT value specified on the GMTRAN SIT parameter. This new option enables user-written sign-on or sign-off transactions to choose whether to disconnect a user based on the GMTRAN SIT setting. Previously, this behavior was only applicable to CICS supplied sign-on and sign-off transactions.

Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.

Reduced cost of management

Tagging of CICS regions to identify usage
CICS regions can be classified using tags to assist in identifying the purpose of the region. A YAML file is used to specify the naming convention of the regions and to define their tags. For example, a region can be tagged to identify usage, such as development, test, or production, and also to identify the applications it hosts. This can be useful to show operators and auditors what a region is used for and also for configuring CICS health check exclusions. Additional information on classifying using tags can be found in IBM Documentation. The region tags can be displayed in CICS Explorer and the new INQUIRE TAG command. Additional information on INQUIRE TAG can be found in IBM Documentation.
Resource definition overrides
CICS application resources often need to be installed in many CICS regions, sometimes with different resource attributes. For example, a CICS region used by a developer may require the execution diagnostics facility (EDF) to be set on for programs, and the data set name for files to point to test data. A system programmer is now able to use the same resource definitions in these environments and apply a new resource definition overrides file that contains rules that tailor resources as required. This feature provides the following advantages:
- Saves time and effort by using the same CICS definitions in development, test, and production environments without change
- Easily describe and document the resource attributes to override in a separate file for that environment, using generic rules and system-specific symbols, such as the LPAR name, APPLID, CICS job name, USS locations for the CICS home and configuration locations, and sysplex name
- Apply enterprise standards by ensuring certain attribute values are always on or off, set to a specific value, or follow a naming convention
New compound condition system policy rule
The compound condition rule can be used when users want to define a system rule that specifies two or more conditions. CICS takes the defined action when all of the specified conditions are met. For example, a compound condition system rule can be defined that instructs CICS to set the z/OS WLM health status to OPEN only if both the Db2 connection status and the IBM MQ connection status are CONNECTED. Another example is when setting the z/OS WLM health status to OPEN only when a selected set of bundle resources have been enabled. The set of supported conditions that can be used relate to the status of system resources. The conditions are as follows:
- Bundle available status
- Bundle enable status
- Db2 connection status
- DBCTL connection status
- File enable status
- File open status
- MQ connection status
- IPIC connection status
- MRO connection status
- Pipeline enable status
- Program enable status
Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.
New ALL option added to selected policy task rules
The following policy task rules support the ALL option:
- File requests
- Storage allocation
- Storage requests
- Transient Data (TD) queue requests
- Temporary Storage (TS) queue requests
This enhancement lets organizations apply a threshold to the total cumulative count of requests issued, such as, for example, all file requests issued by the task rather than selecting individual types of file request. Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.
Enhanced support for policy statistics
The sample statistics program DFH0STAT can now produce reports for CICS policies. The Policy report shows information and statistics about installed policy rules in the region. In support for this enhancement, the EXTRACT STATISTICS command supports a new RESTYPE option POLICY and a new SUBRESTYPE option POLICYRULE that can be used to obtain statistics about a policy rule that is contained in a POLICY resource. In addition, two new commands INQUIRE POLICY and INQUIRE POLICYRULE are introduced to support inquiries on information about installed POLICY resources and the policy rules contained within. Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.
New system rule type for transaction dump threshold
This new rule type is used to set a maximum threshold for the total number of transaction dumps in a CICS region and take an automatic action when the threshold is exceeded. With this system rule, users can monitor transaction dumps and prevent an excessive number of dumps being taken in a CICS region.

This capability is also available for CICS TS 5.6 with APAR PH34348. Information can be found on the IBM Support website.
Improved temporary storage expiry processing
The processing of expired temporary storage (TS) queues has been improved. First, organizations can separate out the processing of main and auxiliary TS queues from shared TS queues so that they use separate calculated intervals. Second, for shared TS queues, an internal queue is used to hold details of when the last scan was performed. The internal queue is used to prevent CICS from scanning the shared TS queues if another CICS has performed such a scan within the previous minute. This means that even if there are multiple CICS regions using a shared TS pool and they each have TS models installed specifying short expiry intervals, then the shared queues will never be scanned more frequently than once per minute. Third, the CICS-MQ interface is improved to only employ a DFHCKBR TS model with a non-zero expiry interval when the MQ bridge has been started, otherwise, it has a zero expiry interval. This improvement avoids unwanted TS queue scans.
Extended short on storage notification
Building on the changes made in CICS TS 5.6 to monitor the use of user region (24-bit) and extended user region (31-bit) MVS storage not managed by CICS, CICS storage manager now notifies other domains of these 24-bit and 31-bit short on MVS storage conditions. The new notifications are as follows:
- The security domains are notified so that any eligible user ID and its associated attributes are freed, including RACF® control blocks. The freeing of these control blocks is normally subject to USRDELAY processing, but in the event of a short on storage condition in 31-bit MVS storage, these control blocks are now freed immediately to help recover from the shortage.
- The Region status domain is notified so that CICSPlex System Manager factors z/OS MVS short on storage conditions into its routing algorithm. This enables new requests to be directed to CICS regions that have capacity.
Limit on concurrent TLS handshakes
CICS now limits the number of concurrent TLS handshakes to 90% of the MAXSSLTCBS value specified at startup. If the maximum limit is reached, a task that is requesting a TLS handshake is suspended with a resource name of S8TLSHS of resource type DSWC. To help the monitoring of concurrent TLS handshakes in a CICS region, new statistics are introduced in TCP/IP Global statistics. These statistics provide information about the maximum, current, and peak numbers of TLS handshakes that are running in parallel or that are waiting. Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.

This enhancement helps avoid issues, such as high CPU, MAXTASK, or lack of S8 TCBs when many TLS handshakes are performed concurrently. It also lets in-flight web alias or pipeline tasks obtain an available S8 TCB in order to send a reply back to the client in the same situation.
Enhancements in support of Db2
Support is introduced into CICS TS for sharing locks across regions in a global unit of work (UOW). A new DB2ENTRY attribute SHARELOCKS is provided to enable CICS to pass an XID to Db2 and then instruct Db2 to share locks between threads that pass the same XID. Using the same XID, other threads that originate from other CICS regions or from other transaction managers, such as IBM IMS Transaction Manager, can access Db2 in the same global UOW. The XID token is not used for recovery between CICS and Db2. The passing of an XID involves a partial sign-on to Db2 for each UOW. This action closes cursors, so held cursors across syncpoints are not supported when the passing of an XID is enabled. Applications will have to reposition cursors after a syncpoint. Passing an XID avoids having to deal with UOW affinities. Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.

Enhanced adapter tracking is introduced for CICS Db2 applications. The CICS Db2 attachment facility is enhanced to pass CICS adapter data to Db2. If a CICS task that is accessing Db2 has adapter data in the CICS origin data, then the adapter ID is passed as appl-longname and the adapter data is passed as an accounting-string. Db2 writes the data in its SMF accounting records, and the data is also available online through the Db2 special registers CURRENT CLIENT_APPLNAME and CURRENT CLIENT_ACCTNG. This capability requires Db2 12 with APAR PH31447. Additional information can be found on the IBM Support website.
Increased capacity of shared data tables
The capacity of shared data tables is increased. Shared data tables no longer use the two control data spaces for table entry descriptors, backout elements, and index nodes and instead now use 64-bit storage to hold this control information. This increase removes the constraint on the number of records that can be stored. The records continue to be stored in 31-bit data spaces and now two more data spaces are available to hold the records. Organizations can use the new system initialization parameter SDTMEMLIMIT to set the maximum amount of storage above the bar that is available for shared data tables to use for control information. Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.
Enhanced CICS event processing support
CICS application events now support capturing the command PUT64 CONTAINER. . Users can capture and emit events when their application program issues an PUT64 CONTAINER command or when it invokes one of the methods put() or putString() in the JCICS class com.ibm.cics.server.Container. Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.
Advanced CICS Explorer functions in single CICS regions
Support for the CMCI JVM server in a single, non-CICSplex, CICS region makes it possible to use advanced functions of CICS Explorer, such as aggregation and grouping of result data, in a single CICS region.
Enhanced performance monitoring
Event processing is changed to generate a monitoring record every 2,000 events processed by long running CEPD tasks in a CICS region. Origin data in the CICS performance record now reports the EXCI jobname if the transaction was initiated by an EXCI request from outside the CICS region.
Enhanced API, SPI, and diagnostics
The START CHANNEL command now supports NOCHECK and PROTECT options to migrate from passing data by interval control (START FROM) to passing data by using a channel (START CHANNEL). When a channel is used to pass data for a START request, users can now use the NOCHECK option to indicate that the request must be shipped to a remote system and no response is expected by the starting task, therefore, improving CICS performance. With the PROTECT option, users can make the START request recoverable by instructing the starting task to take a syncpoint before committing the START request. Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.

User-written routing programs can now indicate daisy-chaining support when routing non-terminal-related START requests. The routing program has to opt in by setting new field DYRDCYN field to 'Y' in the communications area or container for the distributed routing program (mapped by the DFHDYPDS copybook). Previously daisy-chaining was only supported implicitly for APPC links, whereas now user-written routing programs have to opt in explicitly. This feature is supported for MRO, IPIC, and APPC links between CICS regions. Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.

The new INQUIRE STORAGE64 command and new DFHSMMCX XPI call, INQUIRE TASK STORAGE64, can be used to retrieve information about 64-bit task storage. Additional information about the INQUIRE STORAGE64 command can be found in IBM Documentation. Additional information about INQUIRE TASK STORAGE64 command can be found in IBM Documentation.

The INQUIRE FEATUREKEY command now reports the filepath of the zFS file from where the feature toggle was read. Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.

The command WRITE OPERATOR now supports a new option CONSNAME. This option can be used to define a specific console to receive messages as an alternative to using route codes. Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.

Organizations get improved messages that report errors following a z/OS IPL that are caused by CICS initializing ahead of the TCP/IP stack being fully available.
Improved recovery from Logger failures
CICS is now able to automatically recover following an MVS logstream failure and subsequent MVS logger recovery. A new system transaction CLGR is attached to reset the state of CICS user journals that use the affected MVS logstream.
CICS installation using z/OSMF Software Management
Users can now optionally install CICS using z/OSMF Software Management. This provides a guided deployment and configuration experience. Users are encouraged to become familiar with the z/OSMF packaging type, which is delivered only as part of CICS TS 6.1, or later. Further information and installation details are available on the ServerPac Installation using z/OSMF website.
Ability to use an alternate WebSphere Application Server Liberty installation location
The CICS TS installation includes WebSphere Application Server Liberty, which is used by default when running WebSphere Application Server Liberty in CICS. You are now able to configure the CICS JVM profile option WLP INSTALL DIR to specify the installation directory of the IBM z/OS Liberty Embedded base element. This feature enables the use of a consistent WebSphere Application Server Liberty fix pack and WebSphere Application Server Liberty angel process across an LPAR. Additional information can be found in IBM Documentation.

Other key enhancements

IBM Z Integrated Accelerator for AI
Applications that run in CICS TS can make more timely and better decisions, and achieve improved business outcomes, by capitalizing on AI within their transactions.

IBM z16 features the IBM Z Integrated Accelerator for AI, which is designed to bring state of the art deep learning acceleration to enterprise workloads. This centralized on-chip AI accelerator leverages AI at speed and scale, and is designed to provide extremely high performance and consistent low latency inferencing for processing transactional workloads, such as those run on CICS TS.

Enterprises using CICS TS can exploit the IBM Z Integrated Accelerator for AI when using deep learning AI models, by using the existing options for invoking AI models in their applications. IBM z16 supports popular AI frameworks and tooling, with optimizations that exploit the IBM Z architecture and especially the new AI accelerator.
z/OS Explorer and CICS Explorer
z/OS Explorer can help to improve the efficiency and productivity of the day-to-day activities of system programmers and application developers. It can also simplify the deployment and maintenance of Eclipse-based products. z/OS Explorer is built using a continuous integration and delivery pipeline, and is designed to deliver extensible workstation connectivity to key z/OS functions.

CICS Explorer is updated to take advantage of the capabilities of z/OS Explorer and its use of the latest Eclipse-based integration platform.

Both z/OS Explorer and CICS Explorer are available at no charge and can be downloaded directly from IBM. Additional information can be found on the IBM downloads website.
IBM Observability by Instana® Application Performance Monitoring on z/OS
Observability by Instana Application Performance Monitoring on z/OS is enhanced to include MQ inbound support. This enhancement allows application tracing of common patterns, such as MQ messages flowing into CICS or IMS, triggering subsequent updates in Db2.

CICS Tools support for CICS TS 6.1

The following CICS Tools can be used in support of CICS TS 6.1:

CICS CM 5.4 with PTF for APAR PH44111
CICS DA 5.3 with PTF for APAR PH44164
CICS IA 5.5 with PTF for APAR PH44069
CICS PA 5.4 with PTF for APAR PH44512

CICS VR 5.2 supports CICS TS 6.1 without requiring any update.

Stabilization of support and discontinued functions

Enterprise Bundle Archive

In CICS TS 6.1, Enterprise Bundle Archive (EBA) support is stabilized. Furthermore, the ability to build EBAs as part of CICS bundle export is stabilized for both CICS Explorer and CICS TS build toolkit. Organizations are advised to use Gradle or Maven to build EBAs or copy an EBA into a CICS bundle before export.

CICS debugging tools sockets interface

In CICS TS 6.1, the debugging tools sockets interface is no longer used and is stabilized. This stabilization is in response to IBM z/OS Debugger 14.2, or later, which supports only the TCP/IP Socket Interface for CICS.

Web Services Security infrastructure options

CICS web services support for pipeline configuration for Web Services Security (WS-Security) infrastructure is stabilized.

For additional information about the details presented in this section and CICS stabilization notices, see supporting information in IBM Documentation.

Value Unit-based pricing

Value Unit pricing for eligible IBM Z IBM International Program License Agreement (IPLA) programs enables a lower cost of incremental growth and enterprise aggregation. Each IBM Z IPLA product with Value Unit pricing has a single price per Value Unit and a conversion matrix, called Value Unit Exhibit, for converting from some designated measurement to Value Units. Most commonly, Millions of Service Units (MSUs) is the measurement designated by IBM to be converted to Value Units. Some other measurements are engines or messages. Since MSUs are the most common measurement, that measurement will be used for the remainder of this description.

Value Unit pricing offers price benefits for you. For each IBM Z IPLA program with Value Unit pricing, the quantity of that program needed to satisfy applicable IBM terms and conditions is referred to as the required license capacity. Each of the various Value Unit Exhibits stipulate that the larger your required license capacity, the fewer Value Units per MSU you will need. Value Unit Exhibits are uniquely identified by a three digit code and referred to using the nomenclature VUExxx, where xxx is the three digit code.

Subsequent acquisitions of Value Unit priced programs offer additional price benefits. The quantity of each IBM Z IPLA program that you have acquired is referred to as entitled license capacity. If you wish to grow your entitled license capacity for an IBM Z IPLA program, the calculation to determine additional needed Value Units is based upon the number of Value Units already acquired.

For each IBM Z IPLA program with Value Unit pricing, you should:

Determine the required license capacity, in MSUs.
Aggregate the MSUs across the enterprise.
Convert the total MSUs to Value Units, using the applicable Value Unit Exhibit.
Multiply the price per Value Unit by the total number of Value Units to determine the total cost.

To simplify conversion from the designated measurement to Value Units or vice-versa, use the Value Unit Converter Tool. For additional information or to obtain a copy of the Value Unit Converter Tool, see the IBM Z Software Pricing website.

Note that Value Units of a given program cannot be exchanged, interchanged, or aggregated with Value Units of another program.

To determine the required license capacity for the IBM Z IPLA program you selected, see the Terms and conditions section.

Product positioning

CICS TS is the premier, enterprise grade, mixed language, application server. For over 50 years, CICS has consistently delivered innovative solutions that companies have used to differentiate themselves by creating, extending, and evolving mission-critical applications.

CICS TS is designed to enable organizations to create and maintain a competitive advantage by building custom, differentiated CICS applications. For these organizations, this is the fastest and most effective way to maintain and extend the leadership position they have earned.

IBM creates innovative and essential CICS TS technologies that enable organizations to deliver on their business imperatives. CICS TS is continuously enhanced to help organizations add value to their core CICS assets, first by extending them to the internet, then by embracing Java workloads, and more recently by building comprehensive SOAs from existing systems.

CICS TS 6.1 has satisfied over 95 requirements made by organizations through the requirements process. Many of these satisfied requirements help to solve the two most pressing challenges companies face, which are driving operational efficiencies while increasing service agility.

New and enhanced capabilities in CICS TS 6.1 are delivered in a way that positions CICS users for the next transformational era in technology that moves them towards a service delivery platform for cloud computing. In particular, CICS TS 6.1 extends the cloud-style development, deployment, and operations capabilities that were introduced in earlier releases of CICS TS. It provides the opportunity to evaluate these capabilities, determine their relevance to the enterprise, and provide feedback to IBM on the concept and implementation.

Note that the end of support for CICS TS 5.3 was effective on December 31, 2021. For details, see Withdrawal Announcement JP20-0024, dated February 4, 2020.

Note that end of support for CICS TS 5.4 will become effective on December 31, 2023. For details, see Withdrawal Announcement JP22-0023, dated February 1, 2022.

CICS TS VUE

CICS TS VUE 6.1 offers an OTC price metric for eligible workloads that are deployed in qualified zNALC LPARs.

The term eligible workload is defined as net new Java workload that executes within the CICS TS VUE JVM server environment, on condition that the workload is qualified and approved through the zNALC qualification process.

The OTC price metric provides an alternative pricing model for new CICS Java applications and new CICS Java-based, service-enablement workloads.

Support for the zNALC metric offers a reduced price for the z/OS operating system on LPARs that run a qualified application.

CICS TS VUE 6.1 can connect to other supported versions of CICS TS (whether in zNALC or non-zNALC environments) for the purpose of workload federation and systems management.

CICS TS VUE is a separately licensed program and does not initiate any SVC period for monthly license charge (MLC) versions of CICS TS. This means that new CICS TS VUE applications can federate with existing CICS TS 4 and CICS TS 5 workloads without mandating an upgrade of those systems.

CICS TS Developer Trial

CICS TS Developer Trial 6.1 is available as a try-before-you-buy edition of CICS TS 6.1. CICS TS Developer Trial is available at no charge and does not initiate any SVC period. Organizations that want to assess the value that could be gained from a CICS TS upgrade, before making an upgrade decision, should order this product.

CICS TS Developer Trial contains the complete set of CICS TS features and functions. However, there are a number of imposed restrictions, in performance and capacity, licensing terms, and a fixed expiry date, that make CICS TS Developer Trial suitable only for use in nonproduction environments.

Organizations can now obtain support from IBM for CICS TS Developer Trial. Furthermore, if organizations order a full product version of CICS TS 6.1 or CICS TS VUE 6.1, they can upgrade from the CICS TS Developer Trial without the need to reinstall the product.

CICS TS Developer Trial 6.1 is available through IBM Shopz as a standard offering. In countries where Shopz is not yet available, contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner to handle their order by using the traditional IBM ordering process.

CICS TS Developer Trial is complemented by the continuing availability of IBM Z Development and Test Environment, which provides a low-cost, IBM Z environment for developing and testing mainframe applications on Intel™ and Intel-compatible platforms.

Reference information

For information about the January 2022 continuous delivery update of CICS TS 5.6, see the IBM Support website.

For information about the April 2021 continuous delivery update of CICS TS 5.6, see the IBM Support website.

For information about the January 2021 continuous delivery update of CICS TS 5.6, see the IBM Support website.

For information about CICS Transaction Server for z/OS, 5.6, see Software Announcement JP20-0032, dated April 7, 2020.

For information about CICS Explorer 5.5, see Software Announcement JP18-0514, dated October 2, 2018.

For information about CICS Interdependency Analyzer for z/OS 5.5, see Software Announcement JP18-0479, dated October 2, 2018.

For information about IBM SDK for Node.js - z/OS 14, see Software Announcement JP20-0531, dated November 17, 2020.

For information about IBM Z Security and Compliance Center, see Software Announcement JP22-0005, dated April 5, 2022.

For information about IBM z16, see Software Announcement JG22-0001, dated April 5, 2022.

Availability of national languages

Description	Availability date	Language
CICS TS 6.1	June 17, 2022	Multilingual
CICS TS VUE 6.1	June 17, 2022	Multilingual
CICS TS Developer Trial 6.1	June 17, 2022	Multilingual

For CICS TS 6.1 offerings, some product documentation is translated. See the Ordering information section for details.

Translation information, if available, can be found at the Translation Reports website.

Program number

Program number	VRM	Program name
5655-YA1	6.1.0	CICS Transaction Server for z/OS
5722-DV1	6.1.0	CICS Transaction Server for z/OS Value Unit Edition
5722-DFK	1.1.0	CICS Transaction Server for z/OS Value Unit Edition S&S
5655-YV1	6.1.0	CICS Transaction Server for z/OS Developer Trial
5655-Y15	4.2.0	CICS Transaction Server for z/OS Developer Trial S&S

Services

IBM Systems Lab Services

Systems Lab Services offers infrastructure services to help build hybrid cloud and enterprise IT solutions. From servers to storage systems and software, Systems Lab Services can help deploy the building blocks of a next-generation IT infrastructure to empower a client's business. Systems Lab Services consultants can perform infrastructure services for clients online or onsite, offering deep technical expertise, valuable tools, and successful methodologies. Systems Lab Services is designed to help clients solve business challenges, gain new skills, and apply best practices.

Systems Lab Services offers a wide range of infrastructure services for IBM Power® servers, IBM Storage systems, IBM Z, and IBM LinuxONE. Systems Lab Services has a global presence and can deploy experienced consultants online or onsite around the world.

For assistance, contact Systems Lab Services at ibmsls@us.ibm.com.

To learn more, see the IBM Systems Lab Services website.

IBM Consulting

As transformation continues across every industry, businesses need a single partner to map their enterprise-wide business strategy and technology infrastructure. IBM Consulting is the business partner to help accelerate change across an organization. IBM specialists can help businesses succeed through finding collaborative ways of working that forge connections across people, technologies, and partner ecosystems. IBM Consulting brings together the business expertise and an ecosystem of technologies that help solve some of the biggest problems faced by organizations. With methods that get results faster, an integrated approach that is grounded in an open and flexible hybrid cloud architecture, and incorporating technology from IBM Research® and IBM Watson® AI, IBM Consulting enables businesses to lead change with confidence and deliver continuous improvement across a business and its bottom line.

For additional information, see the IBM Consulting website.

IBM Technology Support Services (TSS)

Get preventive maintenance, onsite and remote support, and gain actionable insights into critical business applications and IT systems. Speed developer innovation with support for over 240 open-source packages. Leverage powerful IBM analytics and AI-enabled tools to enable client teams to manage IT problems before they become emergencies.

TSS offers extensive IT maintenance and support services that cover more than one niche of a clients environment. TSS covers products from IBM and OEMs, including servers, storage, network, appliances, and software, to help clients ensure high availability across their data center and hybrid cloud environment.

For details on available services, see the Technology support for hybrid cloud environments website.

IBM Expert Labs

Expert Labs can help clients accelerate their projects and optimize value by leveraging their deep technical skills and knowledge. With more than 20 years of industry experience, these specialists know how to overcome the biggest challenges to deliver business results that can have an immediate impact.

Expert Labs' deep alignment with IBM product development allows for a strategic advantage as they are often the first in line to get access to new products, features, and early visibility into roadmaps. This connection with the development enables them to deliver First of a Kind implementations to address unique needs or expand a client's business with a flexible approach that works best for their organization.

For additional information, see the IBM Expert Labs website.

IBM Security® Expert Labs

With extensive consultative expertise on IBM Security software solutions, Security Expert Labs helps clients and partners modernize the security of their applications, data, and workforce. With an extensive portfolio of consulting and learning services, Expert Labs provides project-based and premier support service subscriptions.

These services can help clients deploy and integrate IBM Security software, extend their team resources, and help guide and accelerate successful hybrid cloud solutions, including critical strategies such as zero trust. Remote and on-premises software deployment assistance is available for IBM Cloud Pak® for Security, IBM Security QRadar®/QRoC, IBM Security SOAR/Resilient®, IBM i2®, IBM Security Verify, IBM Security Guardium®, and IBM Security MaaS360®.

For more information, contact Security Expert Labs at sel@us.ibm.com.

For additional information, see the IBM Security Expert Labs website.

IBM Support

IBM Support is your gateway to technical support tools and resources that are designed to help you save time and simplify support. IBM Support can help you find answers to questions, download fixes, troubleshoot, submit and track problem cases, and build skills. Learn and stay informed about the transformation of IBM Support, including new tools, new processes, and new capabilities, by going to the IBM Support Insider.

Additional IBM support

IBM Client Engineering for Systems

https://ibm.com/garage Client Engineering for Systems is a framework for accelerating digital transformation. It helps you generate innovative ideas and equips you with the practices, technologies, and expertise to turn those ideas into business value in weeks. When you work with Client Engineering for Systems, you bring pain points into focus. You empower your team to take manageable risks, adopt leading technologies, speed up solution development, and measure the value of everything you do. Client Engineering for Systems has experts and services to address a broad array of use cases, including capabilities for business transformation, hybrid cloud, analytics and AI, infrastructure systems, security, and more. Contact Client Engineering at sysgarage@ibm.com.

Technical information

Specified operating environment

Hardware requirements

Processor

CICS TS 6.1 runs on any machine that supports the required z/OS operating system. For example, the minimum required hardware prerequisite for CICS TS 6.1 is zEC12 or subsequent 64-bit z/Architecture processors.

Parallel Sysplex® support

A Parallel Sysplex environment is not required for CICS TS 6.1 but can be exploited by each of the following data-sharing facilities that are supported by CICS, and by the usage of the MVS system logger's log stream merging facility:

IMS databases
Db2 databases
VSAM data sets
CICS temporary storage
Coupling facility data tables
Named counter server

IBM Z cryptographic hardware

Appropriate IBM Z cryptographic hardware is required if clients need to exploit signature verification functions with Web Services Security (WS Security). For IBM System z9® and IBM System z10®, it is the CP Assist for Cryptographic Functions and the Crypto Express 2 Coprocessor. For IBM zEnterprise 196, it is the CP Assist for Cryptographic Functions and the Crypto Express 3 Coprocessor. For IBM zEnterprise EC12, it is the CP Assist for Cryptographic Functions and the Crypto Express 4 Coprocessor. For IBM z13®, it is the CP Assist for Cryptographic Functions and the Crypto Express 5 Coprocessor.

Katakana terminal devices

CICS TS has to issue certain messages in mixed-case, and is, therefore, not supported with displays or terminal emulators that are restricted to the non-extended single-byte character set (SBCS) Katakana, part of code page 930.

Software requirements

Operating environment

The minimum required level of operating system for CICS TS 6.1 is z/OS 2.3 (5650-ZOS). Additional information is available in IBM Documentation.

Java Runtime Environment

The minimum level of Java is 64-bit SDK for z/OS, Java Technology Edition 8.0 (5655-DGH). Additional information is available on the IBM Support website.

z/OS Explorer and CICS Explorer

Clients are reminded that CICS Explorer versioning is updated to reflect its ability to connect to any version of CICS TS and identify the platform on which it is built. Therefore, for example, the latest update to CICS Explorer 5.5 is referred to as CICS Explorer for Aqua 3.2 ¹ .

CICS Explorer for Aqua 3.2 is updated to support the latest release of z/OS Explorer and deliver new capabilities in support of CICS TS 6.1.

¹ IBM Explorer for z/OS Aqua is referred to simply as Aqua.

Details relating to service and support for CICS Explorer for Aqua are available on the Ordering maintenance for IBM CICS Explorer and CICS Explorer plug-ins web page.

Details of system requirements for z/OS Explorer and CICS products are available on the Software Product Compatibility Reports website.

Performance considerations

On the planned availability date, performance information is available in IBM Documentation.

User group requirements

Requirements for CICS are migrated to the new IBM Z Software Ideas portal. All existing Request For Enhancement entries (RFEs) have been migrated.

The requirements that are satisfied or partially satisfied by CICS TS 6.1 are shown as follows:

Idea reference	RFE number	Description
CICSTS-I-2029	Not applicable	Improvements when handling WS-AT requests in a very constrained system
CICSTS-I-1104	17521	Global transaction - avoidance of timeout/deadlock in a WAS trans. accessing a DB2® resource both directly and through CICS
CICSTS-I-1048	18312	CICS Explorer Scope Selection Filters (SHARE requirement SSCICS11007)
CICSTS-I-1302	23769	CICS Dynamic RPL - Include Substitution qualifier option
CICSTS-I-1199	24364	Support Symbolics in CICS File Definition DSNAME
CICSTS-I-2013	24788	A lock conflict issue when DPL access a table through the different CICS path multi-times
CICSTS-I-1580	25782	Provide mask function on RASGNDEF override
CICSTS-I-1725	29467	Use dynamic substitution for group and list in the CSD
CICSTS-I-1622	36860	CICS tran dump threshold
CICSTS-I-1851	37535	Access to URIMAP ID in converter program
CICSTS-I-70	38799	DFHEISUP delivered with RMODE24 and is 7MB in size
CICSTS-I-597	38900	Variables in LIBRARY definitions
CICSTS-I-1637	40267	Allow update to origin data (User Correlation Data) via a call in addition to XAPADMGR
CICSTS-I-626	41447	Definition Views should contain CSDGroup as default column
CICSTS-I-123	41451	Allow setting a context with a central text field rather than selection
CICSTS-I-126	41454	Filter CICSPlex Explorer View
CICSTS-I-1644	41530	Dynamic Dataset Names using and USERID
CICSTS-I-21	41834	Unable to set Validate on XMLTRANSFORM
CICSTS-I-138	42393	Use policy to monitor specific transactions
CICSTS-I-1689	61251	CICS configuration elements that need USS paths should allow use of symbols
CICSTS-I-1692	62230	Support for system and JCL symbols in CSD/BAS resources
CICSTS-I-1792	70788	CEDA EX LI(*) GR(ABCD) with CICS Explorer
CICSTS-I-1815	73553	CIPHERs for OutBound Web Services
CICSTS-I-379	74867	Ability to choose multiple items for a certain policy rule
CICSTS-I-1832	74871	Allow multiple URIMaps pointing to same URI/URL
CICSTS-I-392	75551	Provide a means to limit the permitted ciphers within a CICS region
CICSTS-I-38	82829	Excluding transactions from a policy
CICSTS-I-44	83364	Allow Filtering on CICS system Policies
CICSTS-I-477	88855	Add TCPIPServer vs URIMap as Message Insert in DFHSO0123
CICSTS-I-820	90680	Can policy function be defined to tasks?
CICSTS-I-411	91861	Support wild-cards in the entry point of policy definitions
CICSTS-I-823	92536	Using variables in the DSNAME field of Library RDO
CICSTS-I-534	100241	Original Client Certificate Userid in CICS Monitoring Record
CICSTS-I-543	101185	CICS Explorer - Context/Scope Fastpath
CICSTS-I-205	104508	DFH$MOLS sample for printing monitoring data does not break out specific RMI times
CICSTS-I-546	107409	User set in CICS Liberty TAI should be accounted in SMF
CICSTS-I-850	107436	Provide more granularity in SSL/TLS Protocols
CICSTS-I-852	108073	Limit the storage a JVM can use in the CICS region
CICSTS-I-550	108941	Prevent CICS third stage initialization from completing until all JVMs either become enabled or produce an error
CICSTS-I-267	110516	Customize the interval for CHCK transaction
CICSTS-I-578	114166	Option to suppress DFHHC0102I msg if customer doesn't use Health Checker
CICSTS-I-613	116099	Link to Liberty CDI Bean Support
CICSTS-I-589	116718	DFHSN1100 - Add Client IP Address (TNADDR)
CICSTS-I-617	116768	New message ID for CF structure usage decreasing
CICSTS-I-879	117220	Make job output switchable
CICSTS-I-886	118413	Too much information revealed about logon failues
CICSTS-I-307	118963	Temporary storage cleanup in CF
CICSTS-I-891	120946	Error message when no UserID provided to web service
CICSTS-I-972	121464	Add cipher suite file option to WEB OPEN
CICSTS-I-316	123011	We want to use systemsymbols (variables) in Library RDO DSN fields
CICSTS-I-895	123599	Typing multiple characters in the "CICS Explorer " view
CICSTS-I-1877	123852	CICS Ability to see RACF®/ACF2 Security Violations
CICSTS-I-645	125141	Improve doc about security in CICS TS
CICSTS-I-900	125175	System Policy Rule for TSQueue Capacity
CICSTS-I-654	126012	Implement EXEC CICS EXTRACT STATISTICS POLICY SPI command
CICSTS-I-655	126013	Implement EXEC CICS INQUIRE POLICY SPI command
CICSTS-I-904	126014	Modify EXEC CICS INQUIRE FEATURETOGGLE to show the source of the toggle
CICSTS-I-1890	127882	Keep CICS cipher defaults up-to-date
CICSTS-I-1891	128810	Linkable Bridge : DFHL3270 in router region to DPL under unique Tranid other than CSMI
CICSTS-I-917	133361	@CICSProgram Annotation in OSGi Java Applications
CICSTS-I-679	134184	Possibility to use a VSAM PATH in a //EYUDREP DD card
CICSTS-I-717	134362	Add details of the number of times a transaction has been purged due to tranclass limits
CICSTS-I-440	134735	New Policy to cancel tasks that use very large containers
CICSTS-I-727	135168	Removing Index table limitation for CICS Data tables
CICSTS-I-450	135402	Define a default cipher list used for CICS outbound webservices
CICSTS-I-1906	138068	Add PROTECT option on START CHANNEL similar to START
CICSTS-I-743	139455	Include TLS Level information in CICS performance data record
CICSTS-I-1909	139623	SMSS regions to support the CMCI JVM server and therefore to support MFA and the aggregation function
CICSTS-I-1911	140298	Add support for 64-bit storage to EXEC CICS INQUIRE STORAGE
CICSTS-I-1913	141104	Allow use of System Symbols in CICS LIBRARY resource
CICSTS-I-758	141275	Monitor End-to-End Access in real time for Audit Purposes
CICSTS-I-937	141775	CICS should never loop endlessly when gathering statistics and writing them out to SMF
CICSTS-I-941	142128	CICS Task policy at transaction level
CICSTS-I-1918	142428	Save contents of CICS resource view in a folder
CICSTS-I-1919	142432	CICS Explorer - The ability to set the Contxt and Scope fields
CICSTS-I-768	143135	CICS Explorer: Present list of BATCHREP dataset members
CICSTS-I-1921	143145	Enhance INVOKINGPROG to provide program name even in a 3-region hop
CICSTS-I-1922	143228	Have CICS record in SMF what TLS level is used in TCPIP connections
CICSTS-I-508	143467	CICS Dump formatter should report equivalent to DFHAP1500
CICSTS-I-945	143600	Purge CDBT txn
CICSTS-I-946	143767	Lack of options in START CHANNEL
CICSTS-I-770	144066	CICS message for TCP/IP connection failure during startup
CICSTS-I-951	146442	CICS Explorer - Enhancements to the CSD Resource Groups View
CICSTS-I-775	146713	Make GMTRAN EXIT / DISCONNECT setting available to user transactions
CICSTS-I-1935	147050	Identify the jobnames of the batch requests via EXCI
CICSTS-I-780	148042	Support multiple conditions per Policy system rule
CICSTS-I-781	148269	There isn't any journal automatic recovery when ENF48 is received from logger
CICSTS-I-1958	149640	Add install onto the WLMDEF table
CICSTS-I-1959	149838	Improved channel usage with RUN TRANSID
CICSTS-I-959	151496	CJSA attached after CICS shutdown initiated
CICSTS-I-960	151619	Extend CICS Write Operator to include console name / id
CICSTS-I-1976	151802	Enhance EXPIRY processing TS-queues performance
CICSTS-I-1984	151995	WLMDEF Table - Wildcard Character Usage
CICSTS-I-1941	152446	Make CICS Transaction CSGM CAT 3
CICSTS-I-1978	152477	Change Default values for DFHAID Copybook
CICSTS-I-1956	153525	Pass abending program to CICS Policy system Transaction abend EP adapter
CICSTS-I-1962	154052	Add MQMONITOR name to CKTI messages

Planning information

Packaging

CICS TS 6.1 consists of CICS as its base element, together with several other elements that provide CICS-enabling functions. The elements of CICS TS 6.1 are as follows:

CICS release 740
CICSPlex System Manager release 610
CICS Service Flow Runtime for CICS TS
REXX Development System for CICS 1.1 (formerly known as REXX Development System for CICS/ESA)
REXX Runtime Facility for CICS 1.1 (formerly known as REXX Runtime Facility for CICS/ESA)

None of the elements listed above are available as separately orderable products.

Physical delivery

The following hardcopy documents and DVDs are shipped together with the basic machine-readable material for the product:

Description	Form number
CICS TS 6.1 Licensed Program Specifications DVD	GC34-7392
CICS TS VUE 6.1 License Information DVD	GC34-7393
CICS TS Developer Trial 6.1 License Information DVD	GC34-7394
Memo to Licensees	GI13-4463
CICS Technical Services Flyer	GI13-4464

Certain other items, such as specification sheets of related IBM products, might be included.

Security, auditability, and control

The announced programs use the security and auditability features of the host operating system software.

The client is responsible for evaluation, selection, and implementation of security features, administrative procedures, and appropriate controls in application systems and communication facilities.

Ordering information

New licensees

Orders for new licenses can be placed now. Registered clients can access IBMLink for ordering information and charges. Shipment will not occur before the availability date. Unless a later date is specified, orders entered before the planned availability date will be assigned a schedule date of one week following availability.

Orders entered after the planned availability date will be assigned a schedule date for the week following order entry.
or
Orders entered with a scheduled date before the planned availability date will be shipped CICS TS 5.6.
Orders entered with a scheduled ship date after planned availability will be shipped CICS TS 6.1. Unless a later date is specified, an order is scheduled for the week following order entry.

Shipment will begin on the planned availability date.

Orders that ship before the planned availability will receive CICS TS 5.6.
Orders that ship after the planned availability date will receive CICS TS 6.1.

New users of CICS TS should specify Type:5655 Model: YA1

New users of CICS TS VUE should specify Type:5722 Model: DV1

New users of CICS TS Developer Trial should specify Type:5655 Model: YV1

Graduated or processor-based charges are not applicable.

Parallel Sysplex License Charges (PSLC)

Parallel Sysplex license charge (PSLC) basic license

To order a basic license, specify the program number and quantity of Service Units in Millions (MSU).

If there is more than one program copy in a Parallel Sysplex, the charge for all copies is associated to one license by specifying the applicable PSLC license options and quantity represented by the sum of the Service Units in Millions (MSUs) in your Parallel Sysplex. For all other program copies, specify the System Usage Registration No-Charge (SYSUSGREG NC) Identifier on the licenses.

CICS TS 6.1 (5655-YA1)

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	Basic MLC, PSLC below 3 MSU Basic MLC, PSLC AD SYSUSGREG NC, PSLC AD

Orderable supply ID	Description	Language
S018LGP	CICS TS 6.1	Multilingual

Advanced Workload License Charges (AWLC)

Advanced Workload License Charges (AWLC) basic license

To order a basic license, specify the program number and quantity of MSUs. If there is more than one program copy in a Parallel Sysplex, the charge for all copies is associated to one license by specifying the applicable AWLC license options and quantity represented by the sum of the Service Units in Millions (MSUs) in your Parallel Sysplex. For all other program copies, specify the System Usage Registration No-Charge (SYSUSGREG NC) Identifier on the licenses.

CICS TS 6.1 (5655-YA1)

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	Basic MLC, AWLC

Orderable supply ID	Description	Language
S018LGP	CICS TS 6.1	Multilingual

Advanced Entry Workload License Charges (AEWLC)

Advanced Entry Workload License Charges (AEWLC) basic license

To order a basic license, specify the program number and quantity of MSUs.

CICS TS 6.1 (5655-YA1)

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	Basic MLC, AEWLC

Orderable supply ID	Description	Language
S018LGP	CICS TS 6.1	Multilingual

Country Multiplex License Charges (CMLC)

To order a license, specify the program number and quantity of MSUs.

If there is more than one program copy in a Country Multiplex, the charge for all copies is associated to one license if all the copies are licensed to one client number within the multiplex. If there is more than one client number, the charge for all copies is prorated to one license for each client within the multiplex.

For each license being charged, specify the applicable CMLC license options and the prorated quantity of the Service Units in Millions (MSUs) for each client number within the multiplex. For all other program copies, specify the Workload Registration No-Charge (WLREG NC) Identifier on the licenses.

CICS TS 6.1 (5655-YA1)

Entitlement identifier	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	Basic MLC, CMLC

Solution Consumption License Charges (SCLC)

SCLC delivers a true metered usage model, where the million service units (MSUs) that are consumed are charged at the same per-MSU rate, regardless of hourly peaks and spikes. This can deliver exceptional levels of pricing predictability.

For additional information about SCLC, see Software Announcement JP18-0392, dated October 2, 2018.

CICS TS 6.1 (5655-YA1)

Entitlement identifier	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	SCLC Monthly Charge Solution Consumption MSU 0
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	SCLC Registration No Charge Solution Consumption MSU 0
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	SCLC Monthly Charge Solution Consumption MSU 1
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	SCLC Registration No Charge Solution Consumption MSU 1

Variable Workload License Charge (VWLC)

Workload License Charge (WLC) Basic License

If there is more than one program copy in a Parallel Sysplex, the charge for all copies is associated to one license by specifying the applicable WLC license options and quantity represented by the sum of the Service Units in Millions (MSUs) in your Parallel Sysplex. For all other program copies, specify the Workload Registration Variable WLC Identifier on the licenses.

CICS TS 6.1 (5655-YA1)

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	Basic MLC, Variable WLC Workload Registration, Variable WLC

Orderable supply ID	Description	Language
S018LGP	CICS TS 6.1	Multilingual

Workload License Charge (WLC) Basic License

To order a basic license, specify the program number and the quantity of MSUs.

Entry Workload License Charges (EWLC)

Entry Workload License Charge (EWLC) Basic License

To order a basic license, specify the program number and the quantity of MSUs.

CICS TS 6.1 (5655-YA1)

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	Basic MLC, Entry WLC

IBM Z Usage License Charge (UCL)

ULC Basic License

Charges will be based upon the Peak MSUs. Usage reported between thresholds of features 1, 2, or 3, will be rounded up to the next MSU level. Above 1.0 MSU, usage will be rounded to the nearest whole MSU. For example, 2.4 MSUs would round to 2.0 MSUs for pricing, and 2.5 MSUs would round to 3.0 MSUs for pricing.

CICS TS 6.1 (5655-YA1)

Entitlement identifier	Description	License option/ Pricing metric
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	0 to 0.25 MSU Base
		0.26 to 0.5 MSU Base
		0.51 to 1.0 MSU Base
		Level A Chg/MSU (2 to 11 MSUs)
		Level B Chg/MSU (12 to 44 MSUs)
		Level C Chg/MSU (45 to 78 MSUs)
		Level D Chg/MSU (Above 78 MSUs)
		Level D Chg/MSU (Above 78 MSUs), per 50 MSUs

IBM Z Entry License Charge (zELC)

IBM Z zELC Basic License

To order a basic license, specify the program number and machine model.

CICS TS 6.1 (5655-YA1)

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	Basic MLC, zELC

Basic machine-readable material

Charge Metric and Value Unit Exhibit (for CICS TS VUE 6.1)

Program number	Program name	Charge Metric	Value Unit Exhibit
5722-DV1	CICS TS VUE 6.1	Value Unit	VUE007

For each IBM Z IPLA program with Value Unit pricing, the quantity of that program needed to satisfy applicable IBM terms and conditions is referred to as the required license capacity. Your required license capacity is based upon the following factors:

The IBM Z IPLA program you select
The applicable Value Unit Exhibit
The applicable terms
Whether your current mainframes are full capacity or sub-capacity

Value Unit exhibit VUE007

	MSUs minimum	MSUs maximum	Value Units/MSU
Base	1	3	1
Tier A	4	45	0.45
Tier B	46	175	0.36
Tier C	176	315	0.27
Tier D	316	+	0.2

Value Units for mainframes without MSU ratings:

Hardware	Value Units/Machine
MP3000 H30	6
MP3000 H50	8
MP3000 H70	12
ESL models 2	2

Ordering example

The total number of Value Units is calculated according to the following example.

If your required license capacity is 1,500 MSUs for your selected IBM Z IPLA product, the applicable Value Units would be:

Translation from MSUs to Value Units

	MSUs	*	Value Units/MSU	=	Value Units
Base	3	*	1.00	=	3.00
Tier A	42	*	.45	=	18.90
Tier B	130	*	.36	=	46.80
Tier C	140	*	.27	=	37.80
Tier D	1,185	*	.20	=	237.00
Total	1,500				343.50

When calculating the total number of Value Units, the sum is to be rounded up to the next integer.

Example: In the above ordering example, for the product running on a machine with 1,500 MSUs requiring 344 Value Units, order feature number G4FG, quantity 94, and feature number G4FH, quantity 1.

Basic license (for CICS TS VUE 6.1)

On/Off CoD

CICS TS VUE 6.1 is eligible for On/Off CoD with a temporary use charge calculated based on MSUs per-day usage.

CICS TS VUE 6.1 (5722-DV1)

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGS	CICS TS VUE 6.1	MultiVersion Measurement No Charge Value Units, On Off Capacity on demand Temporary Use Charge MSU-DAY(s), Use-Based License One-Time Charge Value Units

CICS TS VUE 6.1 (5722-DV1)

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGS	CICS TS VUE 6.1	MultiVersion Measurement No Charge Value Units, On Off Capacity on demand Temporary Use Charge MSU-DAY(s), Use-Based License One-Time Charge Value Units

Orderable supply ID	Description	Language
S018LGT	CICS TS VUE 6.1	Multilingual

CICS TS VUE Subscription and Support (5722-DFK)

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S01770Z	CICS TS VUE Subscription and Support	Decline S&S No Charge Value Units, MultiVersion Measurement S&S No Charge Value Units, SW S&S Annual Support Charge Value Units, SW S&S Monthly Support Charge Value Units, SW S&S Registration(minus Supply right) No Charge Per MSU

Orderable supply ID	Description	Language
S01770X	CICS TS VUE Subscription and Support	Multilingual

Subscription and Support (for CICS TS VUE 6.1)

To receive voice technical support via telephone and future releases and versions at no additional charge, Subscription and Support must be ordered. The capacity of Subscription and Support (Value Units) must be the same as the capacity ordered for the product licenses.

To order, specify the Subscription and Support program number (number) referenced above and the appropriate license or charge option.

IBM is also providing Subscription and Support for these products via a separately purchased offering under the terms of the IBM International Agreement for Acquisition of Software Maintenance. This offering:

Includes and extends the support services provided in the base support to include technical support via telephone.
Entitles you to future releases and versions, at no additional charge. Note that you are not entitled to new products.

When Subscription and Support is ordered, the charges will automatically renew annually unless cancelled by you.

The combined effect of the IPLA license and the Agreement for Acquisition of Software Maintenance gives you rights and support services comparable to those under the traditional CRA IBM Z license or its equivalent. To ensure that you continue to enjoy the level of support you are used to in the CRA business model, you must order both the license for the program and the support for the selected programs at the same Value Unit quantities.

Charge metric (for CICS TS Developer Trial 6.1)

Program number	Program name	Charge metric
5655-YV1	CICS TS Developer Trial 6.1	No charge, Unlimited Installs

Basic license (for CICS TS Developer Trial 6.1)

CICS TS Developer Trial 6.1

Basic license: No charge. Unlimited Installs

To order, specify the program product number and the appropriate license or charge option. Also, specify the desired distribution medium. To suppress shipment of media, select the license-only option in CFSW.

CICS TS Developer Trial 6.1 (5655-YV1)

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LJG	CICS TS Developer Trial 6.1	No charge, Unlimited Installs, Multi Version Measurement No Charge

Orderable supply ID	Description	Language
S018LJH	CICS TS Developer Trial 6.1	English US

CICS TS Developer Trial Subscription and Support (5655-Y15)

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S016Z0T	CICS TS Developer Trial Subscription and Support	No charge, Unlimited Installs, SW S&S Reg, No Charge, Multi Version Measurement No Charge

Orderable supply ID	Description	Language
S016Z28	CICS TS Developer Trial Subscription and Support	English US

You choose the delivery method when you order the software. IBM recommends internet delivery. However, if you still require physical media, then you can choose DVD.

Customization options

Expedite shipments will be processed to receive 72-hour delivery from the time IBM Software Delivery and Fulfillment (SDF) receives the order. SDF will then ship the order by overnight air transportation.

Publications

The following publications for CICS TS 6.1 will be available for download in IBM Documentation. You can also contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner.

Program Directories

Title	Form number	Availability date
CICS TS for z/OS 6.1 - base	GI13-4459	June 17, 2022
CICS TS for z/OS 6.1 - activation module	GI13-4460	June 17, 2022
CICS TS for z/OS Value Unit Edition 6.1 - activation module	GI13-4461	June 17, 2022
CICS TS for z/OS Developer Trial 6.1 - activation module	GI13-4462	June 17, 2022

Licensed Program Specifications

Title	Form number	Availability date
CICS Transaction Server for z/OS 6.1	GC34-7392	June 17, 2022

The CICS TS Program Directories and Licensed Program Specifications are also available in the IBM Publications Center.

National language versions

Some documentation is translated into languages other than English. For details of the content that is translated and the formats in which it is available, see the CICS TS 6.1 product documentation in IBM Documentation, under section Translated documentation.

Additional product documentation

Additional documentation for CICS TS 6.1, such as technical articles and papers, are available on the IBM Z and LinuxOne Community website. Other CICS publications are available on the IBM Redbooks® website.

Subsequent updates (technical newsletters or revisions between releases) to the publications shipped with the product will be distributed to the user of record for as long as a license for this software remains in effect. A separate publication order or subscription is not needed.

Terms and conditions

The information provided in this announcement letter is for reference and convenience purposes only. The terms and conditions that govern any transaction with IBM are contained in the applicable contract documents, such as the IBM Client Relationship Agreement (CRA), IBM Customer Agreement (ICA), IBM International Program License Agreement, IBM International Passport Advantage® Agreement, and IBM Agreement for Acquisition of Software Maintenance.

Agreement (for CICS TS 6.1)

IBM Client Relationship Agreement (CRA)

Licensing (for CICS TS VUE 6.1 and CICS TS Developer Trial 6.1)

IBM International Program License Agreement including the License Information document and Proof of Entitlement (PoE) govern your use of the program. PoEs are required for all authorized use.

Software Maintenance (for CICS TS VUE 6.1)

The following agreement applies for Software Subscription and Support Software Maintenance):

IBM Agreement for Acquisition of Software Maintenance (JNTC-6011)
IBM Agreement for Acquisition of Software Maintenance (IAAS305 or others)
Exhibit for IBM Agreement for Acquisition of Software Maintenance (IAAS400)

This program is licensed under the IBM International Program License Agreement (IPLA) and the associated Agreement for Acquisition of Software Maintenance, which provide for support with ongoing access to releases and versions of the program. This program has a one-time license charge for use of the program and an annual renewable charge for the enhanced support that includes telephone assistance (voice support for defects during normal business hours), as well as access to updates, releases, and versions of the program as long as support is in effect.

License Information number (for CICS TS VUE 6.1 and CICS TS Developer Trial 6.1)

The following License Information documents apply to the IPLA-licensed offerings in this announcement:

Program identifier	License Information document title	Licensed Information document number
5722-DV1	IBM CICS Transaction Server Value Unit Edition 6.1	L-ACRR-CBQN58
5655-YV1	IBM CICS Transaction Server Developer Trial 6.1	L-ACRR-CBQNGX

Follow-on releases, if any, may have updated terms. See the License Information documents website for more information.

Variable charges apply

Location license applies

Yes

Educational allowance available

Yes, 15% education allowance applies to qualified education institution Clients.

Academic use allowance: Yes

Volume orders

Not applicable

Multi-Version Measurement

Multi-Version Measurement (MVM) Sub-Capacity charges for the most recent program version are for the combined concurrent peak utilization of the LPARs where any version of the eligible program is used. MVM Full Capacity charges for the most recent program version are for the full capacity of the machine. Program charges are waived for any older eligible versions. MVM does not extend support dates for programs withdrawn from service.

For more information about MVM, including requirements for qualification, see the MVM web page. For a list of eligible programs, see the Sub-Cap MLC web page on the IBM Z software contracts website.

Warranty applies

Yes

Program services

Support Center applies: Yes. Access available through the IBM Support Center

Available until discontinued: 14 months written notice

Program technical support (for CICS TS VUE 6.1)

Technical support of a program product version or release will be available for a minimum of five years from the general availability date, as long as your Software Subscription and Support (also referred to as Software Maintenance) is in effect.

This technical support allows you to obtain assistance (by telephone or electronic means) from IBM for product-specific, task-oriented questions regarding the installation and operation of the program product. Software Subscription and Support (Software Maintenance) also provides you with access to updates (modifications or fixes), releases, and versions of the program. You will be notified, through an announcement letter, of discontinuance of support with 12 months' notice.

If you require additional technical support from IBM, including an extension of support beyond the discontinuance date, contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner. This extension may be available for a fee.

For additional information on the IBM Software Support Lifecycle Policy, see the IBM Software Support Lifecycle Policy website.

Money-back guarantee (for CICS TS VUE 6.1)

If for any reason you are dissatisfied with the program and you are the original licensee, you may obtain a refund of the amount you paid for it, if within 30 days of your invoice date you return the program and its PoE to the party from whom you obtained it. If you downloaded the program, you may contact the party from whom you acquired it for instructions on how to obtain the refund.

For clarification, note that for programs acquired under any of IBM's On/Off Capacity on Demand (On/Off CoD) software offerings, this term does not apply since these offerings apply to programs already acquired and in use by you.

Software Subscription and Support applies (for CICS TS VUE 6.1)

Yes. During the Software Subscription and Support period, for the unmodified portion of a program, and to the extent problems can be recreated in the specified operating environment, IBM will provide the following:

Defect correction information, a restriction, or a bypass.
Program updates: Periodic releases of collections of code corrections, fixes, functional enhancements and new versions and releases to the program and documentation.
Technical assistance: A reasonable amount of remote assistance by telephone or electronically to address suspected program defects. Technical assistance is available from the IBM support center in the organization's geography.

Additional details regarding Technical Assistance, which includes IBM contact information, are provided in the IBM Support Guide.

Software Subscription and Support does not include assistance for:

The design and development of applications.
Your use of programs in other than their specified operating environment.
Failures caused by products for which IBM is not responsible under the IBM Agreement for Acquisition of Software Maintenance.

Software Subscription and Support is provided only if the program is within its support timeframe as specified in the Software Support Lifecycle policy for the program.

Sub-capacity terms and conditions (for CICS TS VUE 6.1)

For each IBM Z IPLA program with Value Unit pricing, the quantity of that program needed to satisfy applicable IBM terms and conditions is referred to as the required license capacity. Your required license capacity is based upon the following factors:

The IBM Z IPLA program you select.
The applicable Value Unit Exhibit.
The applicable terms.
Whether your current mainframes are full capacity or sub-capacity.

For more information on the Value Unit Exhibit for the IBM Z IPLA program you selected, see the Ordering information section.

Statement of good security practices

IT system security involves protecting systems and information through prevention, detection, and response to improper access from within and outside your enterprise. Improper access can result in information being altered, destroyed, or misappropriated or can result in misuse of your systems to attack others. Without a comprehensive approach to security, no IT system or product should be considered completely secure and no single product or security measure can be completely effective in preventing improper access. IBM systems and products are designed to be part of a lawful, comprehensive security approach, which will necessarily involve additional operational procedures, and may require other systems, products, or services to be most effective.

Important: IBM does not warrant that any systems, products, or services are immune from, or will make your enterprise immune from, the malicious or illegal conduct of any party.

IBM Electronic Services

The IBM Electronic Service Agent, in combination with IBM Support, is dedicated to providing fast, exceptional support to organizations that have IBM Systems. The IBM Electronic Service Agent is a no-additional-charge tool that proactively monitors and reports hardware events, such as system errors, performance issues, and inventory. The Electronic Service Agent can help you stay focused on your company's strategic business initiatives, save time, and spend less effort managing day-to-day IT maintenance issues. Servers enabled with the Electronic Service Agent can automatically open a problem with IBM Support when covered under IBM warranty or maintenance agreements.

Integrated into the base operating system of IBM i, AIX®, Power Linux® Tools pack, and the Power hardware management console (HMC), the Electronic Service Agent is designed to automatically and electronically report system failures and utilization issues to IBM, which can result in faster problem resolution and increased availability. The Electronic Service Agent includes a powerful web user interface, giving the administrator easy access to configurations, status, tool settings, problem information, and filters. System configuration and inventory information collected by the Electronic Service Agent also can be viewed on the IBM Support website and used to improve problem determination and resolution by you and the IBM support team.

For more information and documentation on how to configure and use the Electronic Service Agent, go to the IBM Electronic Service Agent website.

IBM Support is a single internet entry point that replaces the multiple entry points traditionally used to access IBM internet services and support. IBM Support enables you to gain easy access to IBM resources for assistance in resolving technical problems. The Call Home web, which is available from the My support menu with links to My systems and My inventory, and premium search functions make it easy for organizations with Electronic Service Agent enabled products to track system inventory and find pertinent fixes.

Prices

CICS TS 6.1 (5655-YA1)

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	Basic MLC, zELC

Orderable supply ID	Description	Language
S018LGP	CICS TS 6.1	Multilingual

Parallel sysplex license charge (PSLC)

CICS TS 6.1 (5655-YA1)

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	Basic MLC, PSLC below 3 MSU, SYSUSGREG NC, PSLC AD

Orderable supply ID	Description	Language
S018LGP	CICS TS 6.1	Multilingual

CICS TS 6.1 (5655-YA1)

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	Basic MLC, AWLC

Orderable supply ID	Description	Language
S018LGP	CICS TS 6.1	Multilingual

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	Basic MLC, CMLC

Orderable supply ID	Description	Language
S018LGP	CICS TS 6.1	Multilingual

CICS TS 6.1 (5655-YA1)

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	Basic MLC, AEWLC

Orderable supply ID	Description	Language
S018LGP	CICS TS 6.1	Multilingual

Variable workload license charge (VWLC)

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	Basic MLC, Variable WLC Workload Registration

Orderable supply ID	Description	Language
S018LGP	CICS TS 6.1	Multilingual

Sub-capacity charges for AWLC, AEWLC, CMLC, zNALC, VWLC, EWLC, and MWLC products

Sub-capacity charges for eligible products are based on product LPAR utilization capacity. Product LPAR utilization capacity for a sub-capacity product is the highest number of MSUs utilized by the combined LPARs in which the product runs concurrently during a reporting period. The number of MSUs is based on the highest observed rolling 4-hour average utilization used by the combination of the relevant LPARs during the reporting period.

Sub-capacity charges terms and conditions

IBM Z software charges at less than full machine capacity for eligible sub-capacity products apply when z/OS, z/TPF, or z/VSE® is running in z/Architecture (64-bit) mode on an IBM Z, no other MVS-based, TPF-based, or VSE-based operating system respectively is licensed to that server, and the required information is provided by the client in accordance with the applicable terms.

Sub-capacity charges for a sub-capacity product are based on the utilization of the LPARs where/when the product executes. To obtain charges at less than full machine capacity for sub-capacity products, the client is required to:

Sign and abide by the terms of one of the following:
- Attachment for IBM System z® Advanced Workload License Charges (Z125-8538)
- Attachment for IBM System z Advanced Entry Workload License Charges (Z125-8755)
- Attachment for IBM Country Multiplex Pricing (Z126-6965)
- Attachment for zNALC License Charges on IBM System z (Z125-7454)
- Attachment for IBM System z Workload License Charges (Z125-6516
- Attachment for EWLC, TWLC, zELC, and z/OS.e License Charges (Z125-6587)
- Attachment for IBM System z Midrange Workload License Charges (Z125-7452)
Required service will be listed on the IBM Z software pricing website.
Collect SMF or SCRT89 data as required by the IBM Sub-Capacity Reporting Tool (SCRT) ² . Retain the collected data for a period of not less than six months.
Use SCRT to process the collected SMF or SCRT89 data. The Sub-Capacity Report produced by the tool is used to determine required license capacity for the sub-capacity products. Required license capacity is determined based on the largest MSU value of a sub-capacity product running concurrently in all LPARs during the reporting period. IBM reserves the right to request the system data that supports these product-defined capacity values for a period of up to six months after the data was collected.
Provide an initial Sub-Capacity Report to begin to receive the benefits of less than full machine capacity charges. Sub-capacity charging will follow submission of a Sub-Capacity Report. There will be no retroactive application of sub-capacity charges.
Submit Sub-Capacity Reports monthly between the second and ninth day of the month after the reporting period.
Submit Sub-Capacity Reports for all sub-capacity products with complete data for the entire reporting period through the method specified on the IBM Z software pricing website.
Sub-Capacity Reports that reflect a changed product defined capacity will be considered to be orders placed by the client without further action on the client's part, and IBM is authorized to make any resulting billing increase or decrease, including the ordering of any necessary new licenses. To discontinue licenses, move licenses between machines, report a hardware model upgrade, or enable or disable product features, the client must contact IBM or their IBM Business Partner.
Configure the machine to send weekly Transmit System Availability Data (TSAD) to IBM through the IBM Z Remote Support Facility (RSF). If the machine cannot connect through the RSF, provide this TSAD through an alternate means documented in the SCRT Users Guide (SG24-6522) publication on the IBM Z software pricing website.

² Use of SCRT for CICS TS 6.1 and CICS TS VUE 6.1 requires SCRT release 28.2.4 or later. For more information, refer to IBM Documentation.

Entry Workload License Charge (EWLC):

CICS TS 6.1 (5655-YA1)

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	Basic MLC, Entry WLC

Orderable supply ID	Description	Language
S018LGP	CICS TS 6.1	Multilingual

Entitlement ID	Description	License option/Pricing metric
S018LGN	CICS TS 6.1	0 to 0.25 MSU Base
		0.26 to 0.5 MSU Base
		0.51 to 1.0 MSU Base
		Level A Chg/MSU (2 to 11 MSUs)
		Level B Chg/MSU (12 to 44 MSUs)
		Level C Chg/MSU (45 to 78 MSUs)
		Level D Chg/MSU (Above 78 MSUs)
		Level D Chg/MSU (Above 78 MSUs), per 50 MSUs

For all local charges, contact your IBM representative.

Variable charges

The applicable processor based one-time charge will be based on the group of the designated machine on which the program is licensed for use. If the program is designated to a processor in a group for which no charge is listed, the charge of the next higher group listed applies. For movement to a machine in a higher group, an upgrade charge equal to the difference in the then-current charges between the two groups will apply. For movement to a machine in a lower group, there will be no adjustment or refund of charges paid.

Trademarks

z15 is a trademark of IBM Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

IBM, CICS, z/OS, Db2, CICS Explorer, WebSphere, IBM Z, CICSPlex, zEnterprise, z/Architecture, AIX, Power, z/VSE, Redbooks, IBM z14, RACF, Instana, IBM Research, IBM Watson, IBM Security, IBM Cloud Pak, QRadar, Resilient, i2, Guardium, MaaS360, Parallel Sysplex, System z9, System z10, IBM z13, DB2, Passport Advantage and System z are registered trademarks of IBM Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

Oracle and Java are trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates in the United States, other countries, or both.

Intel is a trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

The registered trademark Linux® is used pursuant to a sublicense from the Linux Foundation, the exclusive licensee of Linus Torvalds, owner of the mark on a worldwide basis.

Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

Terms of use

IBM products and services which are announced and available in your country can be ordered under the applicable standard agreements, terms, conditions, and prices in effect at the time. IBM reserves the right to modify or withdraw this announcement at any time without notice. This announcement is provided for your information only. Additional terms of use are located at

For the most current information regarding IBM products, consult your IBM representative or reseller, or go to the IBM worldwide contacts page

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