IBM Support

How to get maintenance for IBM CICS Explorer and its plug-ins

Question & Answer


Question

How do I obtain maintenance for IBM CICS Explorer and its plug-ins?

Answer

Supported platforms
CICS Explorer is supported for use with all supported releases of CICS Transaction Server, such as 5.5, 5.6, 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3.

CICS Tools plug-ins for CICS Explorer are available and supported for all supported releases of the following CICS Tools:

  • CICS Configuration Manager for z/OS (CICS CM)
  • CICS Interdependency Analyzer for z/OS (CICS IA)
  • CICS Performance Analyzer for z/OS (CICS PA)

Information on CICS Explorer 5.5 is available on the Mainframe Download page.


Delivery of maintenance
Maintenance for CICS Explorer is applied directly on your PC, not through SMP/E on z/OS.

When you installed CICS Explorer (from the Mainframe Download page), you will have used one of these methods:

  • IBM Installation Manager
  • Eclipse p2 update mechanism via Help → Install New Software menu.
  • Standalone .zip file (managed by Eclipse p2 update mechanism)

Both Installation Manager and Eclipse p2 handle dependencies and install updates from IBM-hosted repositories.

To update CICS Explorer, do the following:

  1. Use the same method as you used for the original installation.
  2. Select the correct repository or update site URL for your release.
  3. If you have installed using the Eclipse p2 mechanism, update from within CICS Explorer using the update site mechanism from a downloaded or IBM-hosted p2 update site.
  4. If you have installed using Installation Manager, use Installation Manager to apply updates from the downloaded or IBM-hosted repository.

Repository and Update Site URL

Find the URL that corresponds to the version of CICS Explorer that you would like to use:

Current releases

CICS Explorer for Aqua 3.4, z/OS Explorer 3.4, CICS Interdependency Analyzer for z/OS 6.1 and 6.3 plug-ins, CICS Configuration Manager for z/OS 5.4 plug-in and CICS Performance Manager for z/OS 5.4 plug-in
http://public.dhe.ibm.com/ibmdl/export/pub/software/htp/zos/tools/aqua3.4/

CICS Explorer for Aqua 3.3, z/OS Explorer 3.3, CICS Interdependency Analyzer for z/OS 6.1 and 6.3 plug-ins, CICS Performance Analyzer for z/OS 5.4 plug-in, CICS Configuration Manager for z/OS 5.4 plug-in and CICS Deployment Assistant for z/OS 5.3 plug-in
http://public.dhe.ibm.com/ibmdl/export/pub/software/htp/zos/tools/aqua3.3/

Note: In p2, the URL is referred to as an update site URL and in IM, the URL is referred to as a repository. The URLs are crafted to operate as both.

Maintenance from a downloaded or IBM-hosted p2 update site

Because the CICS Explorer is written on top of the Eclipse framework, you can use the Eclipse Update framework to update these products and their associated plug-ins with any available maintenance. This is provided by the built-in Eclipse Update Manager.

The Eclipse Update Manager is a robust Update Manager that manages updates to an Eclipse application to ensure that applications are updated consistently and in a fail-safe manner.

In particular, the Eclipse Update Manager provides dependency management so that Eclipse applications that have dependencies on other Eclipse plug-ins can explicitly state which prerequisites and co-requisites are necessary to install the fix. This allows, for example, a CICS Performance Analyzer fix to enforce a dependency on a particular level of the CICS Explorer so that the CICS Performance Analyzer fix would only install into the CICS Explorer if the dependency was satisfied. This ensures that maintenance is always applied correctly and leaves the CICS Explorer in a consistent state.

The Eclipse Update Manager also provides roll-back capability so that any maintenance applied can always be rolled-back after application. It also allows cumulative maintenance to be rolled back so that no matter how much maintenance is applied, the application can always be rolled back to the original configuration if necessary. This is a useful fail-safe method to ensure that applying maintenance is not a one-way activity.


To update from within CICS Explorer or z/OS Explorer:

  1. Run the base Eclipse package product (such as z/OS Explorer or CICS Explorer) as usual.
     
  2. Select Help > Install New Software... from the top menu.
     
  3. Click the Available Software Sites hyperlink. The update site URL for CICS Explorer and all CICS Tools plug-ins should already be present in the list of available update sites if you used p2 to do the original install, and you should select it by using the checkbox next to it. If for some reason it is not there, you can add it:
    1. Select the Add... button.
    2. Type in a name for this update site.
    3. Enter the URL into the Location text box.
    4. Click OK.
    5. Ensure the checkbox is selected against it once added.
       
  4. Click OK in the Preferences dialog to return.
     
  5. Select Help > Check For Updates.
     
  6. If any are available, follow instructions in the dialogs to install.


If you would like further guidance on how to use the Eclipse provided updating facilities, refer to Updating and installing software in the Eclipse Workbench User Guide.

Back to top


Maintenance from a downloaded or IBM-hosted Installation Manager repository

IBM Installation Manager provides wizards that guide you through the steps that you must take to install, modify, update, rollback, or uninstall your IBM products.

  1. Open the Installation Manager File -> Preferences -> Repositories page. Note that the Apply button will save the preferences that you enter. When you are done, you should press OK to get out of the preferences page.
    1. To update by using the IBM-hosted repository, make sure that your chosen repository URL is listed as available within the dialog, adding the URL if necessary.
  2. To perform an update using the list of update site(s) that you configured in the preferences, click the Update option from the Installation Manager Main screen and follow the prompts to update your chosen products.
    Front page of Installation Manager


For further guidance on how to use IBM Installation Manager to update your products, refer to Updating packages by using wizard mode in the IBM Installation Manager documentation.

Back to top

[{"Line of Business":{"code":"LOB70","label":"Z TPS"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU048","label":"IBM Software"},"Product":{"code":"SSPPUS","label":"CICS Interdependency Analyzer for z\/OS"},"ARM Category":[{"code":"a8m0z0000001f7GAAQ","label":"CICS Interdependency Analyzer-\u003EPlug-in"}],"Platform":[{"code":"PF016","label":"Linux"},{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"5.5.0;6.1.0;6.3.0","Type":"MASTER"},{"Line of Business":{"code":"LOB70","label":"Z TPS"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU048","label":"IBM Software"},"Product":{"code":"SSPPU4","label":"CICS Performance Analyzer for z\/OS"},"ARM Category":[{"code":"a8m0z00000007c3AAA","label":"CICS Performance Analyzer-\u003ECICS Explorer plugin"}],"Platform":[{"code":"PF016","label":"Linux"},{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"5.4.0","Type":"MASTER"},{"Line of Business":{"code":"LOB70","label":"Z TPS"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU048","label":"IBM Software"},"Product":{"code":"SS2L7A","label":"CICS Configuration Manager for z\/OS"},"ARM Category":[{"code":"a8m0z00000007ccAAA","label":"CICS Configuration Manager-\u003ECICS Explorer plugin"}],"Platform":[{"code":"PF016","label":"Linux"},{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"5.4.0","Type":"MASTER"},{"Line of Business":{"code":"LOB70","label":"Z TPS"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU048","label":"IBM Software"},"Product":{"code":"SSGMGV","label":"CICS Transaction Server"},"ARM Category":[{"code":"a8m0z00000007cmAAA","label":"CICS Explorer"}],"Platform":[{"code":"PF016","label":"Linux"},{"code":"PF017","label":"Mac OS"},{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"5.5.0;5.6.0;6.1.0;6.2.0;6.3.0","Type":"MASTER"}]

Product Synonym

CICS/TS CICS TS CICS Transaction Server

Document Information

Modified date:
08 April 2026

UID

swg21380083

Page Feedback