IBM Support

Ordering maintenance for IBM CICS Explorer and CICS Explorer plug-ins

Question & Answer


Question

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

Answer

Supported platforms
CICS Explorer is supported for use with all supported releases of CICS Transaction Server, such as 5.4, 5.5, 5.6 and 6.1.

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 Deployment Assistant for z/OS (CICS DA)
  • CICS Interdependency Analyzer for z/OS (CICS IA)
  • CICS Performance Analyzer for z/OS (CICS PA)

Information on CICS Explorer 5.4 or later is available on the Aqua Download page.


Delivery of maintenance
Similar to other IBM products running on a personal computer (PC), maintenance for CICS Explorer is delivered on the PC directly, rather than through SMP/E on z/OS.

When you installed CICS Explorer (from the Aqua Download page), you will have used one of three mechanisms:

  • Used IBM Installation Manager to install (see here for information about Installation Manager and Aqua 3.3)
  • Installed z/OS Explorer or CICS Explorer into an existing Eclipse instance by using the Help -> Install new software menu. This is using the Eclipse p2 update mechanism.
  • Extracted the CICS Explorer stand-alone .zip file (this kind of installation is managed by Eclipse's p2 update mechanism)

 
Both Installation Manager and Eclipse p2 take care of dependency management and will install updates from a repository or update site hosted on an IBM website. You must use the correct update mechanism (Installation Manager or Eclipse p2) based on your original installation method. To install CICS Explorer:

  1. Select the repository or update site URL for your release of CICS Explorer or download the file from IBM Fix Central (for CICS Explorer 5.2, z/OS Explorer 2.1 or lower only), for use in the following steps.
  2. If your original installation used the Eclipse p2 mechanism, update to the new version from within CICS Explorer by applying the maintenance from downloaded or IBM-hosted update site.
  3. If your original installation used the Installation Manager mechanism, use the Installation Manager tool to apply the maintenance 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 release - CICS Explorer for Aqua 3.3 and z/OS Explorer 3.3
http://public.dhe.ibm.com/ibmdl/export/pub/software/htp/zos/tools/aqua3.3/

Previous release - CICS Explorer for Aqua 3.2, z/OS Explorer 3.2, CICS Interdependency Analyzer for z/OS plug-in 5.5, CICS Performance Analyzer for z/OS plug-in 5.4, CICS Configuration Manager for z/OS plug-in 5.4 and CICS Deployment Assistant for z/OS plug-in 5.3 versions
http://public.dhe.ibm.com/ibmdl/export/pub/software/htp/zos/tools/aqua3.2/

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

Previous releases

CICS Explorer for Aqua 3.1, z/OS Explorer 3.1, CICS Performance Analyzer for z/OS plug-in 5.4, CICS Configuration Manager for z/OS plug-in 5.4, CICS Interdependency Analyzer for z/OS plug-in 5.3 and CICS Deployment Assistant for z/OS plug-in 5.3
http://public.dhe.ibm.com/ibmdl/export/pub/software/htp/zos/tools/aqua3.1/

CICS Explorer 5.3, z/OS Explorer 3.0, and CICS Tools plug-in 5.3 versions
http://public.dhe.ibm.com/ibmdl/export/pub/software/htp/zos/tools/aqua/

CICS Explorer 5.2.0, z/OS Explorer 2.1 and associated CICS Tools
http://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/htp/zos/tools/1/

CICS Explorer 5.1.1 and associated CICS Tools
https://public.dhe.ibm.com/ibmdl/export/pub/software/htp/zos/2/1/0/ Note: In p2 the URL is referred to as an update site URL and IM the URL is referred to as a repository. The URLs are crafted to operate as both.

CICS Explorer 5.1.0 and associated CICS Tools
https://public.dhe.ibm.com/ibmdl/export/pub/software/htp/cics/updates/portfolio/5.1/5.1.0/


Update sites for previous CICS Explorer plug-ins:
CICS Configuration Manager for z/OS plug-in
CICS Deployment Assistant for z/OS plug-in
CICS Interdependency Analyzer for z/OS plug-in
CICS Performance Analyzer for z/OS plug-in

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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 or add the .zip file downloaded from IBM Fix Central (only applicable for CICS Explorer 5.2, z/OS Explorer 2.1 or lower).
    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.

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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.
    • 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.
    • To update by using the Installation Manager Repository downloaded from IBM Fix Central (only applicable for CICS Explorer 5.2, z/OS Explorer 2.1 or lower), you must ensure that the .zip file is added as a repository.
  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.


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.

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IBM Fix Central

Note: this is not applicable for z/OS Explorer 3.0, CICS Explorer 5.3 and its associated plug-ins onwards.


IBM Fix Central allows you to search, select, order, and download fixes to your system with a choice of delivery options. Fixes provide changes to your software, Licensed Internal Code, or machine code that fix known problems, add new function, and keep your system, software, or Hardware Management Console operating efficiently.

IBM Fix Central has been designed to make it easy to find and obtain fixes by providing multiple search and ordering options.


These include the following:

  • Search by APAR or SPR identifier
  • Search by Fix ID
  • Search by arbitrary text
  • Search for recommended groups
  • Limit search results by category, product, release, and platform
  • Include prerequisite and corequisite fixes
  • Download by using Download Director, HTTP, or FTP


IBM Fix Central is located at: http://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/

In order to find available updates, select the following options from the "Select product" tab:

Product Group: Other software
Product: <the product you are updating>
Version: <the version of the product you are updating>
Operating System: <the operating system the product is installed on>

You will then be able to view the available fixes, and download the appropriate one.

The products will have the following names:

  • CICS Configuration Manager for z/OS
  • CICS Deployment Assistant for z/OS
  • CICS Explorer
  • CICS Interdependency Analyzer for z/OS
  • CICS Performance Analyzer for z/OS
  • IBM Explorer for z/OS

The version of the product you are updating can be found by running the base Eclipse package product such as IBM Explorer for z/OS or CICS Explorer and selecting Help > About <base product name> from the top menu and viewing the version in the about text. For plug-ins within that product, click the "Installation Details" button and navigate through the Installed Software table.

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Product Synonym

CICS/TS CICS TS CICS Transaction Server

Document Information

Modified date:
14 February 2023

UID

swg21380083

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