Host Connection Settings

Host Connection settings are used to configure connections to the mainframe using Compuware's Host Communications Interface (HCI). Multiple connections can be defined since multiple HCI instances can be deployed on your mainframe systems. The connections can be associated with security groups to restrict user access to specific connections. The communications through this connection can also be secured using an encryption protocol to ensure the data being sent back and forth is secure and private.

If Compuware Enterprise Services has security enabled—refer to the Security Settings Help topic for more information—then the connection can be associated with security groups. This will restrict access to the connection to only those users belonging to that security group.

A table displays all the configured connections. The page displays 25 connections per page in the table by default. More, or fewer, connections can be displayed per page by changing the value of “Show N entries”. The list of connections can also be filtered by clicking on the filter icon and providing filter criteria in the filter field. The order of the connections can be altered by clicking on a column header to change the sorting. Multiple columns can be sorted by holding the shift key when clicking on the column headers.

The status of the connection is displayed allowing a quick overview as to which connections are currently up and running. A green arrow pointing up indicates that the connection is currently running. A red arrow pointing down indicates that the connection is currently not running. A question mark indicates that the status of the connection is unknown. If the status is unknown, click the information icon to update the status. You can also update the status by clicking Test in the Edit dialog box, and then clicking OK.

Further details about a connection can be obtained by clicking on the information icon when hovering the mouse over a connection. The details will describe which Topaz products are currently licensed and information about the Compuware Shared Services that are associated with that HCI.

To access the Host Connection Settings page, click Administration from the Compuware Enterprise Services menu, then click the Host Connections icon. If security has been enabled for Compuware Enterprise Services, access to the Host Connection Settings page is restricted to users with administrative privileges.

Topaz Workbench can synchronize with this list of connections. When synchronizing the list of connections, only ungrouped connections, as well as those connections associated with a group to which that Topaz Workbench user belongs, will be displayed. Refer to the Topaz Workbench User Guide for complete details on synchronizing host connections. Refer to the Strobe/HCI configuration documentation for more information on details to support multiple Strobe instances. If you wish to use this web service, contact Compuware Customer Support for full documentation.

When updating from a release prior to 18.02.02, all existing groups will be migrated to match any defined security groups. If a matching security group cannot be found, the connection will be ungrouped.

The buttons above the columns include:

Set Filters: To filter the contents of the Host Connection Settings table, click , then enter the value you want to filter by. Everything not containing that value will be hidden. To clear the filter, click.

Show Event History: To show the history of HCI events, click .

To create a new connection

From the Host Connection Settings page, click Add. A form appears with several fields:
Description – A text description of the connection. This field is required and must be unique. When accessing a configured connection, this description will be presented to the user.
Host – The z/OS host system name or IP address on which the HCI is running. This field is required.
Port – The port number which the HCI uses for listening for client requests. This field is required.
Encryption Protocol – The encryption protocol to use for securing the communications with the HCI. For this to work properly, the HCI must be configured with that protocol on the port specified above. The default for this field is “None”.
Groups – The security groups that are to be associated with this connection. The default for the connection is to be “Ungrouped” by having no security groups associated.

Only users belonging to this group have access to this connection. Any ungrouped connections are available to all users.

Optionally, click Test to test the values entered. A status message displays indicating whether a successful connection could be made using the values entered.
After entering values in the required fields, click OK. The new connection appears in the list of connections.

To edit a connection

From the Host Connection Settings page, select the Host Connection to be edited and click Edit. The same form that is presented for creating a new connection will be displayed, however, the fields will be populated with the values assigned to the connection being edited.
Modify the values in the fields and click OK.

The Test button can be optionally clicked before clicking the OK button, and will perform the same test as in creating a new connection, but with the modified values.

To remove a connection

From the Host Connection Settings page, select one or more connections in the table.
Click Remove. The selected connections are removed from the list of connections.