What's new in IBM z/OS Debugger

17.0.3

New support

Support is added for z/OS 3.2.
Support is added for CICS Transaction Server for z/OS 6.3. This requires additional setup because of the security changes. For more information about setting the SECURETCPIP parameter, see Defining the CICS TCPIPSERVICE resource. For more information about additional setup for separate terminal mode, see Choosing a debugging mode.
z/OS® Debug for z/OS now supports installation through IBM Installation Manager. For installation instructions, see Installing the IBM Debug for z/OS Eclipse IDE with IBM Installation Manager.

Code Coverage

You can now start Headless Code Coverage Collector as a started task. For more information, see Running Headless Code Coverage Collector as a started task.
The new code coverage parameter root defines the root location of the source files included in the code coverage. For more information, see Starting and stopping the headless code coverage collector, Specifying code coverage options in the startup key, and Merging and exporting code coverage results from z/OS.
- You can also define the root location using the new Root field in the Coverage Result Export dialog and Code Coverage tab in the Compiled Code Coverage Configurations dialog. For more information, see Exporting code coverage results and Code Coverage Tab.
The code coverage parameter view now supports character abbreviation to minimize the length of its value. For more information, see Starting and stopping the headless code coverage collector.
The code coverage parameter zunit now supports a new format for defining a CSECT name. For more information, see Starting and stopping the headless code coverage collector.

Debug Profile Service

As a system programmer, you can use the new CICS APPLID option in the dtcn.ports configuration file to define the CICS EXCI connections. For more information, see dtcn.ports, the Debug Profile Service CICS DTCN configuration file.
As a system programmer, you can now use the PCKS#12 sample file to create new PKCS#12 keystores. For more information, see Enabling secure communication.

Debug Authorization

IBM® z/OS Debugger now supports authorization on compilation unit level. It checks SAF profiles to prevent debugging certain compilation units. For more information, see IBM z/OS Debugger Authorization.

Compiler Support

Support is added for IBM Open XL C/C++ 2.2 for z/OS. This includes split DWARF support.
Support is added for IBM Open Enterprise SDK for Go 1.25

17.0.2.2

Documentation updates

Updated content for sections that includes Data Collector, CRRDG messages and security definitions.

17.0.2.1

Debug Profile Service

As a system programmer, you can now override the server name used by Swagger UI. For more information, see Adding Support for Swagger UI.
Debug Profile Service no longer supports Java 8. The runtime environment requires 64-bit Java version 11 or higher.
As a system programmer, you can now encrypt keystore passwords. For more information, see Enabling secure communication.
As a system programmer, you can now configure which users are allowed to impersonate other users. For more information, see Allow users to impersonate other users.

Data Collector and Data Collector Service

You can now automatically collect data with the dynamic test engine feature of z/OS Debugger, used with Test Accelerator for Z, using Data Collector. For more information, see Adding support for Data Collector and Data Collector Service.

17.0.2

New support

Support is added for z17.
Support is added for IBM Open Enterprise SDK for Go 1.24.
Support is added for Automatic Binary Optimizer for z/OS 2.3.

Debug Profile Service

As a system programmer, you can now access API documentation in your browser to streamline API-level diagnostics through a user-friendly Swagger interface. This endpoint is enabled by default and is available for immediate use.

To find the complete URL, refer to the job output stream with the Liberty log message CWWKT0016I. The endpoint will end with /explorer.
As a user, you can now specify a certificate file for TCP/IP authentication, if required, by the debugger engine.

The new sesscert parameter is supported by both DTCN (CICS) and DSTP (non-CICS) profile endpoints.

z/OS Debugger Profiles view

You can now specify a certificate file in the Debug Profile Editor for TCP/IP authentication.

For CICS profiles, see Creating a debug profile for a CICS application with an Eclipse IDE.
For non-CICS profiles, see Creating a debug profile for a non-CICS application with an Eclipse IDE.
For IMS Isolation profiles, see Creating a debug profile for an IMS application using IMS Isolation with an Eclipse IDE.

IBM Z Open Debug 5.0

Z Open Debug now supports code completion to edit JCL programs. This makes it easier to add test runtime options or code coverage options to the startup key. For more details, see Syntax of the TEST runtime option or Specifying code coverage options in the startup key. For more information about code completion, see Making JCL code changes.

Compiler Support

Support is added for Enterprise COBOL for z/OS 6.5.
Note: LangX COBOL support for this requires the PTF for APAR PH66484 for ADFzCC.
Support is added for Enterprise PL/I for z/OS 6.2.

TCP/IP authentication

TCP/IP authentication is now supported for CICS, IMS and Delay Debug. For more information, see Enabling authentication for incoming TCP/IP connections.

17.0.1

Code Coverage

z/OS Debugger Keystore Password File Generator is now included with IBM Debug for z/OS. Use the z/OS Debugger Keystore Password File Generator to secure KeyStore passwords for running code coverage in secure mode. For more information, see Generating secure keystore passwords for code coverage.
Code coverage report now includes the option to hide or show items with zero executable lines in both the table and tree views. For more information, see View coverage information in the tree view or View coverage information in the table view.
Headless Code Coverage has additional security options. For more information on the new parameters and how to start headless code coverage with the new options, see Starting and stopping the headless code coverage collector. For more security information, see Security options for the Headless Code Coverage Collector.

Remote Debug Service

z/OS Debugger Keystore Password File Generator is now included with IBM Debug for z/OS. Use the z/OS Debugger Keystore Password File Generator to secure KeyStore passwords for Remote Debug Service. For more information, see Generating secure keystore passwords for Remote Debug Service.
z/OS Debugger now allows to send a debug session to any user with Remote Debug Service using RDS%user_id suboption. For more information see, Syntax of the TEST runtime option.

Eclipse Debugger

The monitors view now allows you to expand all monitored values to a specified level, configurable through preferences. For more information see Working with variables, expressions, or registers in the Monitors view.

Debug Profile Service

Debug Profile Service can now be used with Java 21.

17.0.0

Code Coverage

Headless code coverage has new authentication modes to support multi-factor authentication. For more information, see Starting and stopping the headless code coverage collector on how to start headless code coverage with the new authentication modes.

Remote Debug Service

Remote Debug Service now supports token-based authentication, including multi-factor authentication. For more information, see Customizing with the sample job EQARMTSU and Enabling secure communication.

IBM Z Open Debug 5.0

Z Open Debug now supports token-based authentication. It includes multi-factor authentication, when used in conjunction with Debug Profile Service and Remote Debug Service instances that have been configured to support token-based connections. For more information, see Setting up for IBM Z Open Debug.
The minimum prerequisite version of the Zowe Explorer extension is v3.

Debug Profile Service

On the IBM z/OS Debugger Preferences page, you can now choose whether to use token-based authentication when communicating with Debug Profile Service. For more information, see Setting debug preferences.
As a system programmer, you can now enable IBM Z Multi-Factor Authentication by setting up the API to generate and authenticate SAF IDT in the form of JWT (JSON Web Token). For more information, see Adding support for Authentication Service API

RSED integration

From 17.0 on, z/OS Debugger must register itself with RSED, the z/OS Explorer started task, for Eclipse clients to use the RSE-related features of z/OS Debugger. For more information, see RSED integration.

Eclipse Debugger

You can now run z/OS batch applications by using a local JCL. For more information, see Launching a debug session for z/OS batch applications using existing JCL.

Compiler Support

Support is added for IBM Open XL C/C++ for z/OS 2.1.

TCP/IP authentication

Remote connections that use TCPIP keyword now support authentication by using a keystore and certificate pair. For more information, see Enabling authentication for incoming TCP/IP connections.

Debug Authorization

IBM z/OS Debugger now supports authorization and it checks SAF profiles to prevent debugging certain load modules or debugging programs that run by certain surrogate IDs. For more information, see IBM z/OS Debugger Authorization.