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Using iShell to install and configure CICS TS 4.1 Dynamic Scripting Feature Pack

Question & Answer


Question

How can you install and configure the CICS Transaction Server for z/OS (CICS TS) V4.1 Feature Pack for Dynamic Scripting with iShell instead of using the UNIX command line? iShell is the ISPF interface to UNIX Systems Services and is designed to be a good starting point for you if you are familiar with TSO and ISPF and need to use z/OS UNIX.

Answer

Use iShell to help you install and configure the CICS TS Dynamic Scripting Feature Pack.





Using iShell to install the feature pack

The CICS Dynamic Scripting feature pack provides an agile web application platform for developing and running modern web applications. You install the feature pack and create applications in z/OS UNIX. The feature pack uses EXCI to connect to the CICS region.


About this task


This task explains how to install the Dynamic Scripting feature pack by using iShell. The ISPF interface to UNIX Systems Services is designed to be a good starting point for users familiar with TSO and ISPF who must use z/OS UNIX. The following instructions explain how to install the feature pack without using a UNIX-like environment.


Procedure
  1. Transfer your compressed file onto z/OS UNIX System Services and extract the contents. Use FTP to copy the Dynamic Scripting feature pack .zip file to a suitable directory in z/OS UNIX. You must have write access to this directory. FTP can be used in different ways. One way is described here:
    1. Save the file to a suitable location on your workstation. The compressed file is available from the IBM CICS Dynamic Scripting website. Look for "Previous versions of the Feature Pack for CICS Transaction Server V4.1 and V4.2 can be found here." at the bottom of the page.

    2. Start a command Prompt in Windows.

    3. Navigate to the folder where you saved the feature pack .zip file.

    4. Enter the command ftp example.com. This command starts an FTP session to the server at example.com.

    5. Enter a username and password if required.

    6. After logging on, use the cd command to navigate to a folder where you want to place the FTP file. To change between MVS FTP and UNIX Systems Services FTP, enter the command cd ''.

    7. Enter the command bin. This command specifies that a binary file transfer is to occur, and the data you send is not converted to EBCDIC.

    8. Enter the command put cics_dynamic_scripting_v1000.zip. This command stores the .zip file in z/OS UNIX System Services.

  2. Log in to z/OS UNIX by using iShell, the ISPF Shell. See Using the ISPF shell in the z/OS UNIX System Services Guide for more information.

  3. To enter UNIX commands in iShell, you must prefix each UNIX command with sh.
    • sh always runs in your home directory. The home directory is the directory defined in the HOME parameter of your OMVS Segment in RACF.

    • If you want to extract the file in your home directory, enter the command:
      sh jar -xvf /full/path/to/cics_dynamic_scripting_v1000.zip

    • If you want to extract the file in a different directory, enter the command:
      sh cd /install_directory && jar -xvf /full/path/to/cics_dynamic_scripting_v1000.zip

      The sh command uses && to group two commands together. The command creates two directories called cics and zero.
      • The zero directory is referred to throughout the documentation as ZERO_HOME.

      • If you get a message saying jar: FSUM7351 not found then you do not have Java set up correctly for that user ID. Contact your system administrator to get the location where Java is installed so that it can be added to your PATH environment variable.

  4. Set values for your environment variables so that the command-line interface works correctly. To set the environment variables, create a file called .profile in your home directory and insert the environment variables shown here.

    export ZERO_HOME=/install_directory/zero
    export PATH=$ZERO_HOME:$PATH
    export STEPLIB=CICS.TS.SDFHEXCI:CICS.TS.SDFHLOAD
    export JAVA_HOME=/java/java60_bit31_sr8/J6.0

    Make sure that you use the correct symbols for your code page. The symbol $ is suitable for code page 037 or 1047.

    Tip: You might want to add these values to a shell login script to set them automatically each time you log in to z/OS UNIX. If you create a file called .profile in your home directory, this script will be run every time you log in to iShell.

    To do this, create a file in your home directory called .profile (or modify one that is there currently). Put the above four lines into it, noting that CICS.TS should be changed to reflect your site's correct HLQ for the CICS installation. Also, ensure that the path to JAVA_HOME points to a correctly installed version of Java 6.

    For more information about customizing $HOME/.profiles, see Customizing files for the z/OS shell in the z/OS UNIX System Services Planning Guide.

  5. Use iShell to navigate to the /install_directory/cics directory, which contains a file called XDFHRPL. This file contains the required CICS modules in XMIT format.

  6. To load the CICS modules into the DFHRPL load library, allocate and populate a data set. Allocate a sequential data set for the XDFHRPL file. For example, you can use the TSO ALLOC command:
    ALLOC DA('DYNAMIC.SCRIPT.LOADLIB.XMIT') DSORG(PS) LRECL(80) RECFM(f,b) BLKSIZE(3120)

    Using iShell, enter the command ex to open the "Execute a command" panel. Set the run method to "TSO" and press Enter. No confirmation that the command has run is displayed. Pressing Enter a second time results in a catalog error indicating that the data set exists.

    Using iShell, copy the XDFHRPL file by selecting it with the Action Copy to, or C. The destination for copy is a data set and this is a Binary Copy. Specify the data set name.

  7. Update the modules to the DFHRPL library by using the TSO RECEIVE command:
    RECEIVE INDATASET('DYNAMIC.SCRIPT.LOADLIB.XMIT')

    When prompted, enter the data set name:
    DATASET('DFHRPL.LOAD.LIBRARY')

    The DFHRPL.LOAD.LIBRARY value must be a new data set and must be added to the DFHRPL concatenation of your CICS region. The CICS region user ID must have read access to this data set.

  8. Create a z/OS UNIX group for the feature pack. As the installer of the feature pack, you own the feature pack files in z/OS UNIX. The z/OS UNIX group to which your user ID belongs is the default group for the feature pack. The CICS region user IDs and other command-line users of the feature pack must also be part of that group. If they are not, create a group that includes all the correct IDs.

    Tip: Use the id command to find the ID and group information. For more information, see id - Return the user identity in the z/OS UNIX System Services Command Reference.

  9. Set the permissions for the zero directory to enable CICS and command-line interface users to read and write to them. Use the provided script, install.
    1. Use iShell to grant yourself execute authority to the install file. The following steps describe how to do this.

    2. Navigate to the /install_directory/zero directory, and use the attributes command A to select the install file. The attributes command displays a Display File Attributes panel. One of the fields displayed is Permissions. If the first digit is not 7 or 5, then you do not have sufficient authority to run the installation file.

    3. To change the Permissions attribute, select Edit > Mode Fields. UNIX File permissions are based on numbers that are added together to indicate permissions. Write permission equates to 4, Read to 2, and Execute to 1. The three numbers relate to the Owner of the file, the Group that the file belongs to, and Other. Other is similar to the UACC or Universal Access in RACF.

    4. Change the first number to 7, giving yourself read, write, and execute access to the install command.

    5. Enter the following command:
      sh cd /install_directory/zero && ./install newgroup

      Where newgroup is the name of the z/OS UNIX group that contains the IDs for the required CICS regions and command-line interface users.

  10. Create a z/OS UNIX directory for your dynamic scripting applications by using iShell. See Creating a directory in the z/OS UNIX System Services User's Guide for more information.

  11. Set the permissions and group for the apps directory:
    1. Use the Attributes command to select the directory. Ensure that Permissions is set to 775. Ensure that Set GID bit is set to 1. These settings ensure that both the owner of the directory, and everyone in the shared group, have read, write, and execute permission for the directory. The GID bit ensures that the "owning group" of any files created within the directory is always the same as the directory itself. This is important if the CICS region user ID and the command-line interface users have different default Groups.

    2. Use EditOwning Group to change the owning group of the directory to the shared group.
    You must perform this step for every application directory that you create. Otherwise your application might not start or run correctly.

    Tip: You can add the setting umask 6 to your shell login script. This setting ensures that all files and directories that you create have group read and write permission by default. For more information, see Setting the file mode creation mask in the z/OS UNIX System Services User's Guide.


Results

The feature pack is installed in z/OS UNIX with the correct permissions for all the directories.


What to do next

You must configure CICS to use the feature pack, as described in Using iShell to configure CICS for dynamic scripting.

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Using iShell to configure CICS for dynamic scripting

You must configure your CICS regions to run dynamic scripting applications.


About this task

Language Environment is a prerequisite for Java programs that run JVMs in CICS. To run dynamic scripting applications in your CICS regions, you must ensure that the Language Environment libraries are available. You must also check that specific system initialization parameters are set correctly.


Procedure

Follow these steps for each CICS region that you want to support dynamic scripting applications:

  1. Add these Language Environment libraries to the STEPLIB concatenation.
    • SCEERUN
    • SCEERUN2

  2. Ensure that SDFJAUTH is present in the STEPLIB concatenation. This is required in order to run Java inside CICS.

  3. Add these libraries to the DFHRPL concatenation.
    • SCEECICS
    • SCEERUN
    • SCEERUN2

  4. Define all the CSD resources in these members of the SCEESAMP library. You must ensure that these members are up to date.
    • SCEESAMP(CEECCSD)
    • SCEESAMP(CEECCSDX)

  5. Specify these system initialization parameters and values:
    • Specify ISC=YES and IRCSTRT=YES to enable the feature to connect to the CICS region by using the EXCI interface.

    • Specify TCPIP=YES to enable Web support in the CICS region.

    • Specify JVMPROFILEDIR=directory, where directory is the name of a directory to which your CICS region has write access.

      The dynamic scripting application dynamically creates a JVM profile for the JVM server in this directory. Each CICS region must specify a unique location for the JVMPROFILEDIR system initialization parameter. Sharing a JVM profile directory between CICS regions is not supported for dynamic scripting applications.

  6. Copy the CICS supplied JVM profiles from the CICS installation directory to the directory that you specified for the JVMPROFILEDIR system initialization parameter.

  7. Create a group that contains all the required CICS resources to support the feature, including programs, transactions, and connection.
    1. Copy the /install_directory/cics/zerocics.csd file from z/OS UNIX to a new data set. The following steps describe how to do this.
      1. Use the TSO ALLOC command to allocate the data set:
        ALLOC DA('DYNAMIC.SCRIPT.CSDINPUT’) DSORG(PS) LRECL(80) RECFM(f,b) BLKSIZE(3120)

      2. Select the zerocics.csd file with the Copy action and copy it to the DYNAMIC.SCRIPT.CSDINPUT data set.

      3. After this task, you might need to log off or use the TSO ISRDDN command to free the newly created data set.

    2. Use the DYNAMIC.SCRIPT.CSDINPUT data set as input to DFHCSDUP to create the DFH$ZERO group in the CSD.

    3. Add the DFH$ZERO group to a list that is included in the GRPLIST system initialization parameter.

  8. Optional: If you want to edit the resource definitions, copy the definitions in DFH$ZERO to a new group and edit the values. Do not change the attributes on the PROGRAM definitions.

  9. Install the DFH$ZERO group, or your own copy, in the CICS region.


Results

You have set up your CICS region and z/OS UNIX to run dynamic scripting applications.


What to do next

Customize the default configuration file for the CICS region, as described in Customizing the global configuration file for a CICS region in the CICS TS 4.1 informtion center. This configuration file, zerocics.config, provides a set of default values to control the behavior of all dynamic scripting applications that run in the CICS region.

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[{"Product":{"code":"SSGMGV","label":"CICS Transaction Server"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU048","label":"IBM Software"},"Component":"Dynamic Scripting","Platform":[{"code":"PF035","label":"z\/OS"}],"Version":"4.1","Edition":"Not Applicable","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB70","label":"Z TPS"}}]

Product Synonym

CICS/TS CICS TS CICS Transaction Server

Document Information

Modified date:
05 January 2026

UID

swg21508824

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