When you first open the Remote System Explorer, you are not connected to any system except your local workstation. To connect to a Remote Systems IBM® i server, you need to define a connection. A connection is a TCP/IP network connection to your i server, that enables you to access, edit, run, compile, and debug all items on the server. When you define a connection, you specify the name or IP address of the remote system and you also give the connection itself a unique name that acts as a label in your workspace so that you can easily connect and disconnect. When you connect to the i server, the workbench prompts you for your user ID and password on that server.
When you have a connection, you can organize your data using filters and filter pools, which list a set of objects, jobs, and integrated files system folders from your i server in the Remote Systems view.
When you make your first connection, you also define your first profile. All connections, filters, filter pools, and filter pool references belong to profiles. Profiles help you partition data when you have many connections. See topics in the help contents about team support for more information on profiles and shared data.
You can also use the Remote System Explorer to connect to other kinds of servers, such as Linux, UNIX, Windows, or your local workstation. See the links below for information on how to connect to these other kinds of servers.
Placing all connection and filter data in a profile shared by the team assists in team support, since all connections, filter pools, and team profiles can be shared among team members. You control which profiles display in your workspace by making the profiles active. Making a profile active or inactive does not affect your teammates. For example, you can choose not to display one of your own profiles in your workspace, but a teammate can make that profile active in his or her workspace.
To reduce collisions on synchronization, user IDs and the ordering of connections within a pool are stored locally on your workstation. To participate in team support, you need to synchronize with, and upload your profiles to, the central server. Everything except your user ID will then be stored on the server, and any developer can obtain profile resources from the central server by retyping the user ID from their workstation.