IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS open beta program

CICS Transaction Server for z/OS open beta (April 2025 update)

Introduction

IBM CICS Transaction Server for z/OS (CICS TS) open beta is available for clients who want to explore potential new CICS capability and assess its value to their business. This offering and education for it can be downloaded, at no charge, from the IBM CICS TS open beta website. Details on each item are available in the What's new? topic.

Planned availability

• April 4, 2025. Available for download >>> here <<<.

Description

The following capabilities are available as part of the CICS TS open beta:

• Developer productivity
  • Support for Java 21

    CICS TS open beta now supports IBM Semeru Runtime Certified Edition for z/OS, version 21. This enables developers to use the latest Java 21 language features and provides the opportunity to port Java applications, APIs, and frameworks to run in CICS with fast, local, and secure access to CICS programs and data.

    In addition, IBM SDK for z/OS, Java Technology Edition, Version 8 and IBM Semeru Runtime Certified Edition for z/OS, Version 11 are no longer supported by CICS TS open beta. The end of service dates for these Java SDK versions are announced at Java SDK lifecycle dates. To prepare CICS applications to run in new versions of Java JDK, refer to topic Migrating applications to new Java versions in IBM Documentation.

  • Support for Jakarta® EE 10 and Spring Boot® 3
    Developers are now able to use the latest features in Jakarta EE 10 and Spring Boot 3 programming models to build modern and lightweight applications with optimized access to CICS programs, services, and data in VSAM, IBM Db2®, IBM IMS and IBM MQ.

• Management
  • Support for OpenTelemetry

    OpenTelemetry (OTel) is a popular open source observability framework to create and manage telemetry data such as traces, metrics, and logs. OTel provides the standards for collecting, processing, and exporting this telemetry data. A major goal of OTel is to instrument applications and systems across different infrastructures and runtimes in a hybrid cloud architecture to provide a holistic and comprehensive view of how applications interact and to enable issues to be resolved in a faster time.

    CICS TS open beta can participate in OTel by tracing CICS transactions. CICS first processes the OTel context from clients. It then propagates that context to servers and exports a span at the end of each transaction. Configuration and system programming interfaces (SPI) are provided to control OTel processing at the CICS region level and for each transaction.

  • Sample tool for configuring CICS regions
    Configuring a CICS region can be complex, with many options and locations to specify values. To aid simplification, a new command-line tool is provided to configure and create CICS regions, including its required data sets, system initialization parameters and startup JCL. This relies on a new as-code paradigm to specify a CICS region in a single easy-to-understand YAML file. The YAML file can also be checked into source-code management systems, such as Git, for sharing, control, and automation.
    
    This new tool requires IBM Open Enterprise SDK for Python and runs on z/OS. The sample tool is provided as a ZIP file on the CICS TS open beta site, and includes a README file with installation and usage instructions.
     

  • Policies with an action to issue a message now includes the system log as a destination
    CICS policies that have an action to issue a message to the CSSL destination will also send the message to the system console. This enables system automation products that monitor the CICS system console to take further action when these messages are issued.

  • Support for new CICS policy rules for APPC (LU6.2) connection and JVM server status

    Using predefined policies, the behavior of CICS can be controlled. CICS performs the action that is defined for a policy rule when all of the conditions specified by the rule are met. New policy rules are available for APPC (LU6.2) connection status and JVM server enable status.

Preparing for the next release of CICS TS

To facilitate the evaluation and adoption of a new CICS TS release, IBM may deliver updates for currently supported CICS TS releases that contain the new CICS TS release Type 3 supervisor call (SVC) module and interregion communication program (IRP) module that are required for multiregion operation (MRO) communications. Clients can opt-in and schedule an upgrade of these link pack area (LPA) modules to fit in with their scheduled IPLs for z/OS, ahead of the general availability of a new CICS TS release.

The APARs listed below contain a new release level of DFHCSVC and DFHIRP, shipped as modules DFHNCSVC and DFHNIRP. To install these modules follow the instructions in IBM Documentation.

Available for CICS TS 5.4, CICS TS 5.5, and CICS TS 5.6 with APAR PH54814, and available for CICS TS 6.1 with APAR PH54840. The versions of these modules provided with CICS TS 6.2 are compatible with the CICS TS open beta.

IBM early programs

CICS TS open beta is part of IBM early programs that enable clients to acquire early releases of a product for the purposes of testing before it is made commercially available. Participants in early programs typically gain insight into IBM strategy and direction. Participants can also accrue earlier benefits and payback from new features, and can gain a competitive edge and the opportunity for public recognition as a technology leader. Early programs participants are encouraged to provide feedback and articulate their own requirements to IBM, with the potential to help influence and shape future IBM products.

Typically, product offerings that are provided by early programs:

• Have no charge.
• Have no support.
• May not be used for productive purposes.
• Contain a disabling device that will prevent it from being used after the test period ends.
• Are not warranted, such that IBM does not warrant that any version of the early program that is formally released or made commercially available (if any) will be similar to, or compatible with, early release versions.

To find out more about IBM early programs contact the CICS Early Programs coordinator at cicsep@uk.ibm.com.

Planned availability

• April 4, 2025. Available for download >>> here <<<.

Key prerequisites

• The minimum required hardware prerequisite is the IBM z14® or subsequent 64-bit IBM z/Architecture® processors.
• The minimum required level of operating system is IBM z/OS, 2.5 (5650-ZOS).
• The minimum required level of Java are IBM Semeru Runtime Certified Edition for z/OS 17.0.7.0 or IBM Semeru Runtime Certified Edition for z/OS 21.
• To install CICS TS using z/OSMF Software Management, both z/OSMF Software Management and Workflows must be installed and enabled on the driving system.

Publications

Online documentation for CICS TS open beta and is available from IBM Documentation. The documentation is refreshed regularly to reflect feedback from users, and includes changes that result from continuous delivery and IBM Service. Note that not all content that is marked Beta may describe function that is available in this open beta release. For details of the documentation provided by CICS, including offline and PDF options, see What documentation is available.