Stabilization notices
Out-of-date technology inside CICS® Transaction Server for z/OS® is often stabilized and might be reduced in capability or discontinued in a future release.
Technologies that are discontinued are detailed in Changes between releases. The
following technologies are stabilized.
- APPC password expiration management (PEM)
- Support for APPC PEM is stabilized. The PEM server does not support password phrases. To support authentication with password phrases when using CICS Transaction Gateway with CICS TS, you must migrate from APPC to IP interconnectivity (IPIC) and change your application code to use a current External Security Interface (ESI) API such as CICS_VerifyPassword and CICS_ChangePassword as described in the CICS Transaction Gateway for Multiplatforms product documentation.
- CICS debugging tools sockets interface
- As of Version 14.2, IBM® z/OS Debugger supports only the TCP/IP Socket Interface for CICS; therefore, the debugging tools sockets interface provided by CICS TS is no longer used and thus stabilized.
- CICS Service Flow Runtime
- Service Flow Runtime and Service Flow Modeler capability in IBM Developer for z/OS 14.2.3 are stabilized. Consider exposing and orchestrating applications as API services by using z/OS Connect Enterprise Edition, CICS web services, or by writing web applications in Java or Node.js.
- CICS system events
- System events are stabilized. Consider moving to Policy system rules. Events that are emitted by policies and CICS application events share common infrastructure and remain strategic.
- CICS TS Application Handler Java interface
- The CICS Application handler Java interface, which can be used to write SOAP web services provider pipeline application handlers in an Axis2 JVM server, is stabilized. Consider writing a web application for API services that use the Java API for XML Web Services (JAX-WS) Liberty features, Node.js, or z/OS Connect Enterprise Edition.
- CICSPlex SM Real-Time Analysis
- CICSPlex SM Monitoring using real-time analysis (RTA) is stabilized. Consider moving to Policy system rules or a dedicated monitoring product, such as the IBM OMEGAMON for z/OS.
- CICSPlex SM Web User Interface
- The CICSPlex SM Web User Interface (WUI) is stabilized, although minor additions to views continue. The CICSPlex SM address space (CMAS) and WUI server components continue to support the CICS Explorer and form the basis of the modern CICS user experience. CICS Explorer provides an extensive set of task-oriented views, powerful context-sensitive editors, and supports the new features of CICS TS, enabling developers and systems programmers to be more productive.
- DFHWBCLI web client interface
- The DFHWBCLI Web Client Interface is stabilized. Consider moving to use the CICS WEB API with Session tokens.
- Enterprise Bundle Archive (EBA)
- Enterprise Bundle Archive (EBA) support is stabilized in CICS TS. Additionally, the ability to build EBAs as part of the CICS bundle export is stabilized in both CICS Explorer and CICS TS build toolkit. Consider either using Gradle or Maven to build EBAs or copying a built EBA into a CICS bundle before export.
- Extended Recovery Facility
- XRF system initialization parameter in CICS is stabilized. Consider alternative technologies that provide more flexible high-availability solutions for modern workloads. These solutions include the z/OS Automatic Restart Manager (ARM), CICS data sharing, VTAM persistent sessions, and use of the cross-system coupling facility.
- JVMSERVER-based configuration option for the web services data transformation service
- Support for the JVMSERVER-based configuration option for the web services data transformation
service is stabilized. Avoid use of the following pipeline configuration file options:
- The <cics_soap_1.1_handler_java> element
- The <cics_soap_1.2_handler_java> element
- The <cics_json_handler_java> element
- The <apphandler_class> pipeline configuration element
Also, avoid using the JVM server profile options JVMSERVER profile option.
- ONC RPC
- Open Network Computing Remote Procedure Call (ONC RPC) is stabilized. Consider exposing and orchestrating applications as API services by using z/OS Connect Enterprise Edition, CICS web services, or by writing web applications in Java or Node.js.
- PDF documentation
- PDF format versions of some parts of the CICS Transaction Server documentation are stabilized and no longer updated. The corresponding information in HTML in IBM Documentation remains available. For a list of these PDFs, see Changes to documentation.
- Release sensitive XPI call RELSENSCALL
- Support for the Release sensitive XPI call is stabilized.
- SAML using the CICS STS
- Support for SAML using the CICS Security Token Service is stabilized.
- Transport Layer Security (TLS)
- Support for TLS 1.1 is stabilized. Consider using TLS 1.2 or TLS 1.3 that provide increased security for TCP/IP connections using Customizing encryption negotiations.
- WS-Security infrastructure options
- CICS web services support for Pipeline configuration for WS-Security infrastructure is stabilized.
- WSDL 2.0
- Web Services Description Language Version 1.1 and 2.0 (WSDL) 2.0 in CICS is stabilized. Use WSDL 1.1 as the de facto standard for SOAP-based web services.
- XSNEX global user exit
- The
signonandsignoffglobal user exit XSNEX was introduced as a temporary migration aid in CICS TS 2.2 and is removed in CICS TS 6.1. - zosConnect-1.0 and zosConnect-1.2 Liberty features
- Liberty features
zosConnect-1.0andzosConnect-1.2are stabilized. You are recommended to migrate to the IBM z/OS Connect Enterprise Edition product. For more information about stabilized Liberty features and feature capabilities, see Stabilized Liberty features and feature capabilities in WebSphere Application Server for z/OS Liberty product documentation.