Zowe CLI Plug-in for IBM CICS

The Zowe CLI Plug-in for IBM® CICS® lets you extend Zowe CLI to interact with CICS programs and transactions. The plug-in uses the IBM CICS® Management Client Interface (CMCI) API to achieve the interaction with CICS. For more information, see CICS management client interface on the IBM Knowledge Center.

• Use Cases
• Prerequisites
• Installing
• Creating a user profile
• Commands

Use cases

As an application developer, you can use Zowe CLI Plug-in for IBM CICS to perform the following tasks:

• Deploy code changes to CICS applications that were developed with COBOL. 
• Deploy changes to CICS regions for testing or delivery. See the define command for an example of how you can define programs to CICS to assist with testing and delivery. 
• Automate CICS interaction steps in your CI/CD pipeline with Jenkins Automation Server or TravisCI.
• Deploy build artifacts to CICS regions.
• Alter, copy, define, delete, discard, and install CICS resources and resource definitions. 

Prerequisites

Before you install the plug-in, meet the following prerequisites:

• Install Zowe CLI on your computer.
• Ensure that IBM CICS Transaction Server v5.2 or later is installed and running in your mainframe environment.
• Ensure that IBM CICS Management Client Interface (CMCI) is configured and running in your CICS region.

Installing

Use one of the two following methods that you can use to install the Zowe CLI Plug-in for IBM CICS:

• Installing from an online registry

• Installing from local package

Note: For more information about how to install multiple plug-ins, update to a specific version of a plug-ins, and install from specific registries, see Install Plug-ins.

Installing from an online registry

To install Zowe CLI from an online registry, complete the following steps:

1. Set your npm registry if you did not already do so when you installed Zowe CLI. Issue the following command:

   npm config set @brightside:registry https://api.bintray.com/npm/ca/brightside

2. Open a command line window and issue the following command:

   zowe plugins install @brightside/cics@lts-incremental

3. (Optional) After the command execution completes, issue the following command to validate that the installation completed successfully.

   zowe plugins validate cics

   Successful validation of the IBM CICS plug-in returns the response: Successfully validated.

Installing from a local package

If you downloaded the Zowe PAX file and extracted the zowe-cli-bundle.zip package, complete the following steps to install the Zowe CLI Plug-in for CICS:

1. Open a command line window and change the local directory where you extracted the zowe-cli-bundle.zip file. If you do not have the zowe-cli-bundle.zip file, see the topic Install Zowe CLI from local package for information about how to obtain and extract it.

2. Issue the following command to install the plug-in:

   zowe plugins install zowe-cli-cics.tgz

3. (Optional) After the command execution completes, issue the following command to validate that the installation completed successfully.

   zowe plugins validate @brightside/cics

   Successful validation of the CICS plug-in returns the response: Successfully validated. You can safely ignore *** Warning: messages related to Imperative CLI Framework.

Creating a user profile

You can create a CICS user profile to avoid typing your connection details on every command. The cics profile contains your host, port, username, and password for the IBM CMCI server of your choice. You can create multiple profiles and switch between them as needed.

Issue the following command to create a cics profile: 

zowe profiles create cics <profile name> -H <host> -P <port> -u <user> -p <password>

Note: For more information about the syntax, actions, and options, for a profiles create command, open Zowe CLI and issue the following command:

zowe profiles create cics -h

The result of the command displays as a success or failure message. You can use your profile when you issue commands in the cics command group.

Commands

The Zowe CLI Plug-in for IBM CICS adds the following commands to Zowe CLI:

• Defining resources to CICS
• Deleting CICS resources
• Discarding CICS resources
• Getting CICS resources
• Installing resources to CICS
• Refreshing CICS programs

Defining resources to CICS

The define command lets you define programs and transactions to CICS so that you can deploy and test the changes to your CICS application. To display a list of possible objects and options, issue the following command:

zowe cics define -h

Example:

Define a program named myProgram to the region named myRegion in the CICS system definition (CSD) group myGroup:

zowe cics define program myProgram myGroup --region-name myRegion

Deleting CICS resources

The delete command lets you delete previously defined CICS programs or transactions to help you deploy and test the changes to your CICS application. To display a list of possible objects and options, issue the following command:

zowe cics delete -h

Example:

Delete a program named PGM123 from the CICS region named MYREGION:

zowe cics delete program PGM123 --region-name MYREGION

Discarding CICS resources

The discard command lets you remove existing CICS program or transaction definitions to help you deploy and test the changes to your CICS application. To display a list of possible objects and options, issue the following command:

zowe cics discard -h

Example:

Discard a program named PGM123 from the CICS region named MYREGION:

zowe cics discard program PGM123 --region-name MYREGION

Getting CICS resources

The get command lets you get a list of programs and transactions that are installed in your CICS region so that you can determine if they were installed successfully and defined properly. To display a list of objects and options, issue the following command:

zowe cics get -h

Example:

Return a list of program resources from a CICS region named MYREGION:

zowe cics get resource CICSProgram --region-name MYREGION

Installing resources to CICS

The install command lets you install resources, such as programs and transactions, to a CICS region so that you can deploy and test the changes to your CICS application. To display a list of possible objects and options, issue the following command:

zowe cics install -h

Example:

Install a transaction named TRN1 to the region named MYREGION in the CSD group named MYGRP:

zowe cics install transaction TRN1 MYGRP --region-name MYREGION

Refreshing CICS programs

The refresh command lets you refresh changes to a CICS program so that you can deploy and test the changes to your CICS application. To display a list of objects and options, issue the following command:

zowe cics refresh -h

Example:

Refresh a program named PGM123 from the region named MYREGION:

zowe cics refresh PGM123 --region-name MYREGION