Defining the IP address and port to bind to for communications with the Advisor

Specify the local IP address and port that the Agent binds to for communications with the Advisor on the host_connection statement. This is used as part of the Advisor's access control enforcement.

Rules:

The IP address on the host_connection statement can be an IPv6 address, if the Agent's system is running an IPv6-enabled TCP/IP stack and the Advisor has an IPv6-enabled TCP/IP stack available.
If an IPv4 address is specified on the host_connection statement, an IPv4 address must be specified on the advisor_id statement. Similarly, if an IPv6 address is specified on the host_connection statement, an IPv6 address must be specified on the advisor_id statement.

Guidelines:

For simplicity and consistency, you might want to specify the same port on the host_connection statement for each Agent, and reserve the same port for the Agent on each TCP/IP stack that an Agent will run on. For more information about port reservation, see Step 5: Customize the TCP/IP profiles of the TCP/IP stacks on which the Advisor and Agents are to run (optional).
The address in the host_connection statement (and therefore, also in the Advisor's agent_id_list statement) should be a static VIPA. For CINET considerations regarding the host_connection statement, see Configuring one Agent per z/OS system in the sysplex in a CINET environment.

The Agent host_connection statement and the Advisor agent_id_list statement are optional if AT-TLS is used for all Agent-Advisor connections. If you specify these statements, the rules and guidelines previously stated still apply. AT-TLS is an alternative to using these statements, but you can still specify the statements. If you specify these statements and you are using AT-TLS, the statements are not required to match on the Advisor. For example, if an Agent connects using AT-TLS, the Advisor allows the connection to succeed even if the agent_id_list statement does not list that Agent.

Also see Configuring one Advisor per sysplex in a CINET environment for CINET considerations regarding unique application-instance DVIPAs and stack affinity.

Restriction: If the Advisor is using IPv6 for the load balancer connections, or if any Agents are using IPv6 to connect to the Advisor, movement of the Advisor is limited to IPv6–enabled TCP/IP stacks.