Getting started with DBB zBuilder

1. Set up zBuilder for your development system

While zBuilder is highly configurable, DBB provides many default configuration files that you can use to start building your z/OS applications right away. However, some basic set up and configuration are required before any builds can be executed.

Follow the steps outlined in Setting up the integrated zBuilder framework in the Host Configuration Guide.

2. Customize the dbb-build.yaml file

As discussed in the build configuration key concept topic, the dbb-build.yaml file is the main configuration file that drives the build process. Here is where build lifecycles are defined as well as where basic tasks are declared and configured.

Initially all DBB provided basic tasks are declared with default configurations in the dbb-build.yaml file. Review the Task index reference pages to familiarize yourself what configuration options are available.

3. Create language task configuration files

To use the zBuilder, you need to provide a language task configuration file for each type of source file to be built (Cobol.yaml, PLI.yaml, Assembler.yaml). DBB provides some sample language task configuration files. These configuration files can be used as is or as a basis for providing custom configuration. They should have been copied to the zBuilder configuration directory in Step 1. Review the ready-to-use language configurations by following the steps in Configuring Language Complier Scripts.

Review the language task samples documentation to familiarize yourself with language task configuration files.

4. Create a dbb-app.yaml file for your application

While build configuration remains under the control of the z/OS build engineer team, zBuilder allows applications to override 'default' configuration values when necessary. You can provide the application configuration in several ways. However, the easiest way is to provide a dbb-app.yaml file in your application repository root directory.

For more information see Tutorial: Building the MortgageApplication sample.

5. Build your application

Now that zBuilder has been configured for your development system and your application configuration has been completed, it's time to build your application.

Start by cloning your application to your z/OS UNIX system. Note that this will require a Git client such as IBM Open Enterprise Foundation for z/OS Git already be installed and configured to run on your z/OS Unix system.

Once your application has been cloned onto z/OS UNIX, change location to the application root directory, where the dbb-app.yaml file is located. Note that zBuilder requires the build process to be launched in the application root directory.

DBB provides some sample build lifecycles already defined in the dbb-build.yaml file. The full build lifecycle is used to build the entire application. Executing a full build is as simple as running the DBB CLI command from the application root directory:

#> dbb build full --hlq USER1.BUILD

For more information see:

• Tutorial: Building the MortgageApplication sample
• Reference: Command line options and arguments