Downloading and using IBM Documentation for IMS documentation

You can download and install IMS documentation to an IBM® Documentation that is hosted locally on a Windows or Linux® platform.

The IBM Documentation is a framework that you download to a local system. You can then load the framework with the documentation for IMS. Using IMS documentation in a locally hosted IBM Documentation (a local KC) provides you with the following benefits:
  • The ability to install documentation of multiple products into a single local KC on your workstation.
  • Access to the local KC that is hosted on your intranet server.
  • Access to documentation in KC without the need for an Internet connection.
  • Access from Eclipse applications to installed product documentation.

IMS documentation is provided in local KC to facilitate app development and database definition tasks using IMS Explorer, which is a component of IMS Enterprise Suite and is delivered through an Eclipse-based integration platform called IBM Explorer for z/OS® Aqua (or simply, Aqua). This means IMS documentation is provided alongside documentation for IBM products that are available through Aqua. It also means you’ll need to download and install IMS documentation as part of the documentation for IMS Enterprise Suite for Distributed Systems.

Use the following information to use IMS documentation in a locally hosted KC:

Prerequisites

To download and install IMS documentation in a local KC, you’ll need to use IBM Installation Manager. Download IBM Installation Manager V1.8.5.1 or later version from this support page.

For more information about IBM Installation Manager, see IBM Installation Manager documentation.

Installing

  1. Launch IBM Installation Manager, click File > Preferences > Add Repository.
  2. On the Repositories page, enter the following URL:
    http://public.dhe.ibm.com/ibmdl/export/pub/software/htp/zos/tools/aqua3.1/kc/
  3. Click OK to return to the main panel of IBM Installation Manager.
  4. On the main panel of IBM Installation Manager, click Install.
  5. On the Install Packages page, select both of the following options:
    • IBM Explorer for z/OS Documentation
    • IBM IMS Enterprise Suite for Distributed Systems Documentation
  6. Continue to follow the instructions in IBM Installation Manager, and then click Install.
  7. After the installation is completed, click Finish.

Configuring your Eclipse application to access your downloaded IMS documentation

You have the option of accessing your downloaded IMS documentation from an Eclipse application. To configure your Eclipse application so that you can use it to access your downloaded IMS documentation, take the following steps:
  1. In your Eclipse client, click Window > Preferences > Help > Remote Assistance.
  2. Click New.
  3. Enter a name for the help and specify the URL for your downloaded IMS product documentation. The URL must be in the following format:
    http://<serverAddress>:9090/kc/SSEPH2_<versionNumber>
    where <serverAddress> is the address of the server that is hosting your local KC and <versionNumber> is the version, such as 15.1.0 or 14.1.0, of IMS documentation that you require.
    Important: If you need to access more than one version of IMS documentation through your Eclipse application, repeat this step for each version.
  4. To ensure that the URL is valid, click Test Connection.
  5. Click OK.
  6. Click Help > Help Content to access your local IMS documentation.

Starting

To start the local KC, take one of the following actions:

  • To start the local KC immediately after installation, click the IBM Documentation icon on the desktop or from the Start menu.
  • To start the local KC after it has been stopped, either by a server shutdown or by running the stopKC.bat or stopKC.sh files, take the following steps:
    1. Click the startKC.bat file (for Windows users) or startKC.sh file (for Linux users) in the /bin folder under the directory where the local KC is installed.
    2. Click the IBM Documentation icon on the desktop or from the Start menu.

Stopping

To stop the local KC, click the stopKC.bat file (for Windows users) or the stopKC.sh file (for Linux users) in the /bin folder under the directory where the local KC is installed.

Updating

To update the local KC after the last installation, on the main panel of IBM Installation Manager click the Update. After IBM Installation Manager detects the available updates, follow the instructions in Installation Manager.

Uninstalling

You can uninstall both the local KC framework and the IMS documentation, or you can uninstall just the IMS documentation.

  • To uninstall both the local KC framework and the IMS documentation, on the main panel of IBM Installation Manager click the Uninstall. Then, on the Uninstall Packages page select IBM Documentation for uninstallation.
    Important: If you select IBM Documentation to uninstall the local KC framework, all of the documentation you installed in the local KC are also uninstalled.
  • To uninstall only the IMS documentation, on the main panel of IBM Installation Manager click the Uninstall. Then, select IBM IMS Enterprise Suite for Distributed Systems Documentation for uninstallation.