RACF PassTicket for IMS Connect client connections to IMS TM

An alternative to the RACF® password is a PassTicket, which you can use for IMS Connect client access to IMS TM. PassTicket allows you to communicate with a host without using a RACF password. When IMS Connect is configured to call RACF directly, you can use PassTicket to authenticate user IDs and log on to computer systems that contain RACF.

For IMS Connect clients that access IMS TM, you can select PassTicket support through the client and send a PassTicket in the IRM in place of a RACF password. IMS Connect issues a RACF call using PassTicket and blanks out the PassTicket field in the OTMA user data header before sending the message to IMS. Because PassTicket occupies the same field as the RACF password and PassTicket cannot be translated to uppercase, the RACF password is also not translated to uppercase. You can use a user message exit to provide uppercase translation.

The IMS Connect PassTicket support for IMS TM clients parallels IMS PassTicket support.

You can use existing APPLname definitions for newly connecting IMS Connect clients.
Each DATASTORE statement has a parameter APPL=APPLname, where:
- Each APPL= can be a unique RACF APPLname for each data store.
- Each APPL= can be the same name for each data store, as required for VGR support, or can be unique per data store.
The default APPL=APPLname value is blank.
The IMS Connect client can pass an APPLname in the IRM to the user message exit which sets the APPLname in the OTMA user data header or the user message exit can pass and set the appropriate APPLname in the OTMA user data header.

For PassTicket support, you are responsible for all definitions to RACF. You need to establish the RACF encoding and decoding routines and to supply the encoding routine to the distributed platform.

For IMS TM clients, The IMS TM Resource Adapter does not generate RACF PassTickets. PassTickets which have been generated can be passed through IMS TM Resource Adapter by setting the PassTicket value as the password.

This support might require changes to the customer-written user message exits and customer-written client application code. The following list describes options you can select for PassTicket support for IMS Connect clients that access IMS TM:

Support for passing an APPLname in the IRM to IMS Connect
This support has been added to the IRM definition. A new 8 byte field, IRM_APPL_NM, has been added to the end of the IRM structure. If you want to implement the PassTicket function for IMS Connect client access to IMS TM, then the client code must pass the APPLname to IMS Connect in this field.

Note: This will change the length of the IRM by 8 bytes and the total length of the message by 8 bytes.

The supplied user message exits (HWSSMPL1 and HWSSMPL0) have been modified so that a client can send an APPLname to IMS Connect in the IRM_APPL_NM field.

If you choose this option, you need only to pass the APPLname in the IRM. HWSIMSCB and IMS Connect have been modified to support this function.
No support for passing an APPLname in the IRM to IMS Connect
This support has been added to the IRM definition. A new 8 byte field IRM_APPL_NM has been added to the end of the IRM structure. If you do not want to implement the PassTicket function for IMS Connect client access to IMS TM, you have two options:
- Option 1: Blank APPLname
  You can choose to pass a blank APPLname to IMS Connect in the IRM_APPL_NM field to IMS Connect.
  
  Note: This will change the length of the IRM by 8 bytes and the total length of the message by 8 bytes.
  
  The supplied user message exits (HWSSMPL1 and HWSSMPL0) have been modified so that a client can send a blank APPLname in the IRM_APPL_NM field to IMS Connect.
  
  If you choose this option, you need only to pass a blank APPLname in the IRM. HWSIMSCB and IMS Connect have been modified to support this blank APPLname function.
- Option 2: No APPLname
  The customer can choose to pass no APPLname to IMS Connect in the IRM_APPL_NM field to IMS Connect.
  
  Note: This will not change the length of the IRM or the total length of the message.
  
  The supplied user message exits (HWSSMPL1 and HWSSMPL0) have been modified so that a client does not have to send an APPLname in the IRM_APPL_NM field to IMS Connect.
  
  If you choose this option, you do not need to perform any action. HWSIMSCB and IMS Connect have been modified to support this function of not passing an APPLname.

The APPLname is always passed to RACF. This is true even if PassTickets are not used. As a result, the APPL= keyword on the DATASTORE statement can be used to verify a user's authority to access an IMS Connect data store, even if PassTickets are not used.