The Policy Agent runs in the z/OS® environment
and can act in any of several roles, depending on configuration options:
- The Policy Agent can act as a self-contained Policy Decision Point
(PDP) on a single system, installing policies in one or more z/OS Communications Server stacks
on that z/OS image, as shown
by system SYSA in Figure 1.
- The Policy Agent can act as a policy client, retrieving remote
policies from the policy server, as shown by system SYSB in Figure 1. Each stack in a Common INET (CINET)
environment that is configured to the Policy Agent acts as a separate
policy client.
- The Policy Agent can act as a centralized policy server, providing
PDP services for one or more remote policy clients, as shown by system
SYSC in Figure 1.
- A single Policy Agent can act as a policy client or a policy server,
but not both.
Figure 1. Policy Agent roles