CEX8S / 4770 Library

This page provides product documentation information for the IBM CEX8S / 4770 HSM.

Product documentation for the IBM CEX8S / 4770 Cryptographic Coprocessor is available in PDF format. To view a PDF document, you need the Adobe® (Adobe Systems Incorporated) Reader®.

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Available on the Following Platforms

IBM Z mainframe.

IBM Z® mainframes (z16®) as feature code (FC) 0851 (Crypto Express8S, or CEX8S). IBM Z® mainframes (z17®) as FC 0908 (two CEX8S per feature) or FC 0909 (one CEX8S per feature). The CEX8S / 4770 is available on IBM Z mainframes, either on z/OS® or Linux® on IBM Z® operating systems.

On Linux on IBM Z, IBM offers a CCA API for the CEX8S and a PKCS #11 (EP11) API to the user.

IBM Power Systems.

On IBM POWER11® systems, the 4770 is available as EPG4, EPG5, or EPG6, Customer Card Identification Number (CCIN) C138, on IBM AIX®, IBM i®, or PowerLinux® (with certain Red Hat® Enterprise Linux (RHEL) operating systems).

HSM CEX7S / 4770 General Documentation

These manuals apply to the IBM CEX7S/4770 Cryptographic Coprocessor.

IBM 4770 Data Sheet (PDF, 801 KB)
IBM 4770 PCIe Cryptographic Coprocessor Installation Manual (PDF, 933 KB)
IBM CEX8S Operational Management Manual (PDF, 1 GB)
IBM Systems Environmental Notices and User Guide, Z125-5823 (PDF, 3.7 MB)
IBM Systems Safety Notices, G229-9054 (PDF, 54 MB)
IBM Warranty Information, SC23-6884 (PDF, 1.8 MB)
IBM Support - Machine warranties and license information
IBM License Agreement for Machine Code (Contains Form Z125-5468-06)
IBM License Agreement for Machine Code Addendum for Cryptography (Contains Form Z125-8449-01)

CCA Support Program

For Linux on IBM Z, the IBM Secure Key Solution with the Common Cryptographic Architecture Application Programmer's Guide describes the capabilities of the security application programming interface (API) provided with the CCA Support Program. There are additional documents for the Linux on IBM Z Host Code Installation including the license, readme, and release notes located at this IBM download site.
Note: To access this site, you must obtain and log in with an IBMid. This process is quick and easy. Instructions are on the download site.

Independent Review of IBM Custom Key Block Formats

IBM CCA introduced the first proprietary TDES key block (also known as a key token) to be independently reviewed and confirmed to be compliant with Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standard Council (SSC) PIN Security key block requirements from September 2020.

For additional information, please see the news item May 6, 2021 | All HSMs with CCA | PCI PIN Security - first independently reviewed TDES key block.

IBM 4770 Custom Programming

IBM provides documentation that helps developers design, write, and debug applications that take advantage of CCA's capabilities. The following manuals are available on the IBM CCA download site:
  • Custom Software Developer's Toolkit Guide describes the tools that enable developers to build applications for the IBM 4770, authenticate programs, and load programs into the IBM 4770.
  • Custom Software Interface Reference describes the function calls that applications running in the IBM 4770 use to obtain services from the coprocessor operating system and from the coprocessor device driver in the host system.
  • CCA User Defined Extensions Reference and Guide describes the user-defined extensions programming environment within the CCA application in the IBM 4770, the method for extending the CCA host API, and the application programming interface reference for these environments.
  • Interactive Code Analysis Tool (ICAT) describes the tool that developers use to debug applications running on the IBM 4770.
Note: To access this site, you must obtain and log in with an IBMid. This process is quick and easy. Instructions are on the download site.

Enterprise PKCS #11 (EP11)

The EP11 manuals, which describe the library structure and capabilities of the cryptographic API provided with the EP11 Library for Linux on Z, as well as other details, are available on the IBM EP11 download site.
Note: To access this site, you must obtain and log in with an IBMid. This process is quick and easy. Instructions are on the download site.

Standards and Technology

Standards and technology