Release Notes for iPlanet^(TM) Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS, Version 6.5

These release notes contain important information concerning the Version 6.5 release of the iPlanet^(TM) Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS. New features and enhancements, installation notes, known problems, and other late-breaking issues are addressed here. Read this and associated documents before you begin using iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS.

This document contains the following sections:

• What's New in the iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5

• Product Certification of Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5 on iPlanet Application Server EPE 6.5 and 6.5 SP1

• Platform Summary

• Documentation

• Software and Hardware Requirements

• Installation Notes

• Upgrade from iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.0 SPx to Version 6.5

• Resolved Issues

• Known Problems and Limitations

• How to Report Problems

• Documentation Revision

• For More Information

What's New in the iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5

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iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5 has the following new features:

• The mainframe listener comes with a security exit. This exit can be used to perform any kind of security checks. You can, for example call RACROUT and verify that the user has access to a particular resource. You can check the IP address of the incoming request against a list.

• The mainframe modules and data areas were moved above the 16MB line. This provides Virtual Storage Constraint Relief (VSCR) and facilitates higher transaction rates and improved scalability.
  
  

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  Note	Be sure and read the important information concerning Post-Installation Issues.

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Product Certification of Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5 on iPlanet Application Server EPE 6.5 and 6.5 SP1

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The following iPlanet Application Server EPE 6.5 products have been certified to run on Versions 6.5 and 6.5 SP1.

• Unified Integration Framework 6.5

• iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5

Platform Summary

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The iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS supports the following platforms:

• Microsoft Windows NT version 4.0 SP6 and Windows 2000 server SP2

• Sun SPARC^(TM) running Solaris 2.6 or Solaris 8

Documentation

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All Sun Microsystems product documentation can be found at the following site:

http://docs.sun.com/

This section contains the following:

• iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5 Documentation

• Referenced Documentation

iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5 Documentation

In addition to these release notes, the Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5 product includes an entire set of documentation. This section contains a brief synopsis of each document.

• Administrator's Guide—(PN 806-5503-02) The Administrator's Guide explains how to get started with, install, manage, and configure the Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5.

• Developer's Guide—(PN 806-5504-02) The Developer's Guide gives a brief overview of the Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5 and explains how to develop applications that access the connector.

Referenced Documentation

The following documents are referenced:

• iPlanet Web Server Developer's Guide

• iPlanet Application Server Administrator's Guide

• iPlanet Application Server Release Notes

Software and Hardware Requirements

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This section deals with the requirements for both the Application Server platforms, either Solaris or Windows, and the Host (mainframe).

Software and hardware requirements are grouped to whether they apply to both Windows and Solaris systems or are specific to one of the systems. Both systems have the same mainframe requirements.

Application Server Platform

Patches

All patches are located on the iPlanet Application Server EPE 6.5 CD or in the download. For more information see the section "Required Patches" in the iPlanet Process Manager, 6.5 Release Notes:

http://docs.sun.com/source/816-6356-10/index.html.

Solaris and Windows Systems

The following software must be installed before you can install the Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5:

• iPlanet Application Server EPE Version 6.5 or 6.5 SP1

• iPlanet Unified Integration Framework Version 6.5

• iPlanet Application Server EPE 6.5 requires the Maintenance Update 2 (MU2) patch. The patch is not required when you install the 6.5 SP1 version.

Solaris

• Memory: 256 MB minimum; 512 MB recommended

• Disk Space: 400 MB

• iPlanet Application Server EPE 6.5 requires the JDK 1.3.1_04 patch. The patch is not required when you install the 6.5 SP1 version.

Windows NT/Windows 2000 server SP2

• Memory: 256 MB minimum; 512 MB recommended

• Disk Space: 200 MB

Mainframe Software

The Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5 operates with MVS Operating System version 5.2.2 or later, OS/390 version 2.6 or later, and z/OS. CICS/ESA 4.1 and later is supported.

Communication Protocols

The Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5 can be used in the following three environments:

• Windows NT/2000 connecting over APPC to CICS. This has no Listener.

• Windows NT/2000, or Solaris 2.6/Solaris 8 connecting over IBM-TCP/IP to a Listener and then to CICS.

• Solaris 8 connecting over CA-TCPaccess to a Listener and then to CICS.
  
  

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  Note	The Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5 works only with IBM supported versions of TCP/IP protocol and CA supported versions of CA-TCPaccess protocol.

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Installation Notes

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Installation of the product is as follows:

For Windows NT and Windows2000 Server SP2:

1. Load the iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS Version 6.5 CD.

2. Unzip the file NT\inscics.zip from the CD into a temporary directory, then run the file setup.exe in the inscics directory.

3. Load the ICU (International Components for Unicode) Open Source Code for Windows and Solaris Version 1.6 CD.

4. Unzip the file: icu-NT.zip to the directory <iPlanet inst directory>\ias\APPS\bin
   
   

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   Note	ICU has been checked to validate that it also works with Windows2000 server SP2, even though this platform is not noted on the label.

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For Solaris:

1. Load the iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS Version 6.5 CD.

2. Untar the file Solaris/inscics.tar from the CD-ROM into a temporary directory and then run the file setup in the inscics directory.

3. Load the ICU (International components for Unicode) Open Source Code for Windows and Solaris Version 1.6 CD.

4. Untar the file: icu-SOLARIS.tar to the directory <iPlanet inst directory>/ias/APPS/bin

The ICU (International Components for Unicode) Open Source Code for Windows and Solaris Version 1.6 CD contains the open source ICU libraries used for character set translation.

Post-Installation Issues

The following post-installation issues must be addressed:

• Memory Consumption

Memory Consumption

Problem—The change in the JVM default arguments on iPlanet Application Server EPE versions 6.5 and 6.5 SP1, causes the Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5 to have high memory consumption on Solaris\NT\Windows2000 platforms.

The default JVM arguments on iPlanet Application Server EPE versions 6.5 and 6.5 SP1, are as follows:

-server -Xss512k -Xms128m -Xmx1024m -XX:NewSize=42m -XX:MaxNewSize=342m

-XX:+DisableExplicitGC -Xconcurrentio

Refer to http://java.sun.com/docs/hotspot/VMOptions.html for details on VM parameters.

Solution—The workaround to resolve the high memory consumption is to set flags to force the garbage collector to clean up the memory as described in the following section:

Solaris:

On Solaris modify the iasenv script to change the flags.

The file, iasenv.ksh, is in the following directory: <ias_inst_dir>/ias/env

Set the following flags:

GX_ARGS : JAVA_GX_ARGS="-DGX.cleaner.enabled=yes

(By default Disabled)

JAVA_ARGS : Enable Explicit GC

Remove -XX:+DisableExplicitGC flag from JAVA_ARGS to enable Explicit GC

(By default Disabled)

JAVA_ARGS : Reset the Max Heap Size from 1024 MB to 512 MB

Windows:

On Windows use kregedit to modify iPlanet Application Server EPE registry to change the flags.

Modify JavaArgs by appending -XX:+DisableExplicitGC=no to existing JavaArgs

Figure 1 shows the tree structure.

Figure 1    iPlanet Application Server EPE 6.5 Tree Structure

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Upgrade from iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.0 SPx to Version 6.5

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In order to upgrade the iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS for version 6.0 SPx, you must also upgrade the iPlanet Application Server 6.0 SPx to version 6.5 or 6.5 SP1 and the Unified Integration Framework from SPx to Version 6.5.

To Upgrade the iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS from Version 6.0 SPx to Version 6.5.

1. Export the Unified Integration Framework Repository "bsp" node using Repository Browser.
   1. Go to ".../APPS/bin and run "bspbrowser.sh"

   2. Export the Repository "bsp" node by selecting "Export Root".

      You must perform this step when upgrading from iPlanet Application Server EPE version 6.0 to versions 6.5 or 6.5 SP1.

2. Uninstall the Unified Integration Framework 6.0 SPx and Connector for CICS 6.0 SPx

3. Upgrade iPlanet Application Server 6.0 SPx to iPlanet Application Server EPE 6.5 or 6.5 SP1. See Release Notes for iPlanet Application Server EPE 6.5 SP1.

4. Install Unified Integration Framework 6.5.

5. Install Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5 on the same machine.

6. Import the Unified Integration Framework Repository "bsp" node using the Repository Browser.
   1. Go to ".../APPS/bin and run "bspbrowser.sh"

   2. Import the Repository "bsp" node from the exported XML file.

Migrating the Applications

You need to deploy all the applications to the Application Server. Refer to the iPlanet Application Server EPE documentation for instructions on how to migrate the applications.

Resolved Issues

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Table 1 lists the issues resolved in Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5.

Table 1    Resolved Issues

ID	Summary
4542297	The problem with high CPU utilization by Listener and Catalog during stress test has been resolved.

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Known Problems and Limitations

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Table 2 describes known problems and associated solutions for the Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5.

Table 2    Known Problems and Limitations.

ID	Summary
None	Sample does not accept non-English characters. Solution—In order to try the bundled samples, e.g. PhoneBookDemo with non-English data and encoding such as Japanese and Shift_JIS respectively: Make sure the application server is running in international mode. To make the server run in international mode: Start kregedit from $IAS_INSTALL/ias/bin directory. Expand Application Server --> 6.5 --> NLS and make sure that the key "INTERNATIONAL" is set to 1. If it shows "0", then change it to "1" and restart the server. Edit PhoneBookForm.jsp file under $IAS_INSTALL/ias/APPS/PhoneBookDemo/jsp directory and add the following line at the top of the file: <%@ page contentType="text/html; charset=Shift_JIS" %> When you run the sample, make sure that you select Shift_JIS from the backend character set drop-down list. The charset selected and the charset specified in the jsp file should be the same.
546538	"$" character is not acceptable in the CICS connector. Solution—The "$" character cannot be used as a character in any of the datasource fields in the Management Console.
4540987	Uninstaller removes common files in multi-connector installation. Solution—When uninstalling one of several connectors, such as R/3, PeopleSoft, Tuxedo or CICS, the common directories <iAS InstallDir>/ias/APPS/console, <iASInstallDir>/ias/APPS/ecu and files from the bin directory may be deleted. It is necessary to copy these directories back to APPS directory, while maintaining the same sub-directories structure, from <iASInstallDir>/ias/APPS/UIFbackup for the connectors to function correctly. All files that are present in the UIFBackup directory need to be copied to the <iASInstallDir>/ias/APPS.
None	Error during initialization of the SNA/APPC protocol stack on Windows NT/2000 platforms. The following error message may appear when you initialize CNOS. Solution—In the SNA node configuration under the LINK_STATION section: change the following to: ADJACENT_NODE_TYPE=SUBAREA_LEN add: FQ_ADJACENT_CP_NAME=Network_ID.SSCP_name Set Network_ID and SSCP_name to site specific values.

How to Report Problems

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If you have problems with iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS Version 6.5, contact Sun customer support using one of the following mechanisms:

• Sun ONE online support web site at: http://www.sun.com/service/sunone/software/index.html

• The telephone dispatch number associated with your maintenance contract

So that we can best assist you in resolving problems, please have the following information available when you contact support:

• Description of the problem, including the situation where the problem occurs and its impact on your operation

• Machine type, operating system version, and product version, including any patches and other software that might be affecting the problem

• Detailed steps on the methods you have used to reproduce the problem

• Any error logs or core dumps

Documentation Revision

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This document has changed since the initial Enterprise Connector for CICS 6.5 release.

Table 3 shows the revision history for this document, and lists the affected sections.

Table 3    Connector for CICS Release Notes Revision History

Release Note Issue Date	Affected Sections
August 2002	Original release of this document
November 2002	Corrected URL references to Sun ONE doc sites in the For More Information Section. Added the following sections: Documentation Revision Product Certification of iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS on iPlanet Application Server EPE Version 6.5 on Version 6.5 SP1. Added an item in Known Problems and Limitations: Error during initialization of the SNA/APPC protocol stack on Windows NT/2000 platforms.

For More Information

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Useful Sun ONE information can be found at the following Internet locations:

• Other iPlanet Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS documentation — http://docs.sun.com/db/prod/3682#hic

• Support Services & Knowledge Base — http://www.sun.com/service/sunone/software/index.html

• Consulting and Professional Services Information — http://www.sun.com/service/sunps/sunone/index.html

• Developer Information — http://developer.iplanet.com/

• Software Product Information — http://wwws.sun.com/software/

• Software Training — http://www.sun.com/software/training/

Use of iPlanet^(TM) Application Server Enterprise Connector for CICS is subject to the terms described in the license agreement accompanying it.
Copyright © 2002 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Last Updated December 04, 2002