Planning a push-to-client environment

The IBM® Explorer for z/OS® product offers the push-to-client feature for administering and sharing connections, preferences, properties, and configurations so that developers have a consistent and centralized development environment.

You can take either of two approaches to creating a development environment with the IBM Explorer for z/OS product:
  • You can allow a decentralized environment in which developers create their own connections to remote systems; set preferences for their workspaces; and manage other aspects of the environment.
  • You can centralize and automate the creation and distribution of connections, preferences, properties, and configurations so that developers’ workspaces are consistent across the site and settings are downloaded to workspaces automatically when developers connect to a remote system. The push-to-client feature provides the tools that you need to create a centralized and automated development environment.
By using the push-to-client feature, you can distribute the following configuration files:
  • Global configuration files1:
    • Eclipse preferences
    • Remote system connections
    • Installation configuration
  • System configuration files2
    • z/OS file system mappings

In a push-to-client environment, these configuration files are stored on a remote system. When a workspace connects to the remote system, the configuration files are downloaded to the workspace. In this way, you can define a set of Eclipse preferences, for example, that is automatically downloaded when a connection is made. If you update the configurations between connections, developers are prompted to update their workspaces when they connect.

In a decentralized environment, developers still have the opportunity to share configurations by exporting them from one workspace and importing them into another workspace.

For more information about the push-to-client feature and about migrating configurations from one workspace to another, see the related topics.

1 For IDz users, global configuration files also include the settings of Database connections, Software Analyzer Configurations, Menu Manager files, and Snippets. For more information about theses settings, search for Defining connections, configuration files, and preferences for push-to-client configuration in IDz KC.
2 For IDz users, system configuration files also include the settings of Property groups, Host-based projects, Remote index locations and Default values. For more information about these settings, search for Defining connections, configuration files, and preferences for push-to-client configuration in IDz KC.