Starting and stopping HCM for z/OS

Before invoking HCM, make sure that your TCP/IP connection to the HCD server on the host is running (see Setting up TCP/IP definitions for z/OS. Then start HCM. This can be done either by starting the executable or by double-clicking with the left mouse button on an HCM configuration file in Windows Explorer. In the latter case, the configuration is loaded as soon as HCM is running. The Product Information window of the Hardware Configuration Manager (HCM) program is displayed.

Click on OK to display the Login dialog.

Figure 1. Login dialog
Login dialog. This dialog is accessible from the HCM product GUI and includes accessible help information.

To login to HCM you must enter your user name and either a password or a password phrase, depending on the security setup on your host. A password phrase is a sentence (including blanks) of at least 9 and up to 100 mixed-case characters. HCM handles an input string of eight characters or less as a password and handles a string of nine characters or longer as a password phrase.

Note: Passwords and password phrases may be case sensitive. This depends on the security setup.

If you start HCM for the first time after installing it, you must enter a host name and a port number. In the Host Name entry field, HCM accepts symbolic host names or numeric IP addresses, which you can specify in either IPv4 or IPv6 format, depending on your network environment. The default port number is 51107. If your HCM dispatcher uses another port number, contact your system administrator.

HCM saves the entered values in the EEQHCM.INI file. Therefore, for subsequent log-ins, you only need to enter your password. This INI file is created after the first HCM session. It is located in a user-specific application data directory (see also Purpose and location of the HCM INI file).

If the host machine accepts the given user name and password, the Login dialog disappears and you can begin your HCM session. Otherwise, a message appears, notifying you of login failure. Choosing Cancel terminates HCM.

If the login fails due to an expired password, you must logon to the host to change your password. You cannot change the password in your HCM session.

For secure connection to z/OS HCD, click in the Enable Encryption check box in the Login dialog to allow this HCM session to connect the HCD host using TLS. Make sure AT-TLS has been set up on the host in advance. See Encrypting the host communication for z/OS for details on how to configure the host and the workstation.

For login troubleshooting, click in the HCD Trace check box in the Login dialog to enable the HCD host to trace all activity during the HCM session. Alternatively, during the session you can activate (or deactivate) the trace by toggling the Activate HCD Trace command in the Options menu. The HCD Trace is normally used only for troubleshooting HCM system problems; see Using the HCD trace facility for details on how to configure the host to properly store the trace information.