Setting up the product extensions directory

The final step in the installation of the z/OS® Connect native server, is to run the zconsetup script to create the product extensions directory.

Before you begin

To use the zconsetup script, the file system where you installed the z/OS Connect native server (<installation_path>) must be mounted read/write; if the file system is not mounted read/write, you will receive error messages when you try to complete these steps. The user ID used to run the zconsetup script must have read/write access to the following directories:
  • The /var/zosconnect directory to create the /var/zosconnect/v3r0/extensions directory.
  • The <installation_path>/wlp/etc directory to create the symlink to the /var/zosconnect/v3r0/extensions directory.

About this task

A product extension is a structured directory on disk that stores Liberty features. Each product extension must be configured by a properties file and stored under the product extensions directory so that the extension can be detected by the server. For IBM® z/OS Connect, the product extensions directory is /var/zosconnect/extensions. For more information, see Liberty product extension in the WebSphere® Application Server Liberty base documentation.

The zconsetup utility must be used once per LPAR because /var is not a shared file system. You cannot configure the specific path for the IBM z/OS Connect product extensions. However, you can share your z/OS Connect native server configuration across LPARs by mounting a shared zFS as /var/zosconnect on each LPAR.

Note: Do not confuse the product extensions directory /var/zosconnect/extensions described here with the user extensions directory <WLP_USER_DIR>/extension. The user extensions directory contains the files for user-created features. For more information about creating your own Liberty features, see Developing a Liberty feature in the WebSphere Application Server Liberty base documentation.

Procedure

  1. Go to the <installation_path>/bin directory.
  2. Enter the following command to run the zconsetup script: 
    zconsetup install
  3. Optional: You can now make the file system onto which you installed z/OS Connect native server (<installation_path>) read-only. Make the file system read/write again only when applying maintenance.

Results

The script makes the following changes to the system:
  • Creates the release-specific product extensions directory in the /var/zosconnect directory, for example:
    /var/zosconnect/v3r0/extensions
  • Creates a symbolic link of the extensions directory in the product z/OS UNIX installation path. For example:
    /usr/lpp/IBM/zosconnect/v3r0/wlp/etc/extensions
  • Install the IBM z/OS Connect product extension properties file in the product extensions directory.
The following table shows the directory structure and contents of a typical installation:
Table 1. Directory paths and contents
Path Contents
/usr/lpp/IBM/zosconnect/v3r0/bin Product code
/usr/lpp/IBM/zosconnect/v3r0/runtime/lib/ zosconnect feature files
/usr/lpp/IBM/zosconnect/v3r0/wlp/etc/extensions Symlink to /var/zosconnect/v3r0/extensions
/var/zosconnect/v3r0/extensions Product extension properties files that contain the absolute path to the service providers.