Installation and Configuration

Mainframe Navigation allows you to access and manipulate objects stored on a mainframe from Eclipse. These objects include datasets and members, as well as system objects such as active jobs or the console under the z/OS operating system. With Mainframe Navigation, the objects are displayed in a tree structure and can be browsed and edited in Eclipse. On the mainframe server, Mainframe Navigation is supported by Natural ISPF.

This document covers the following topics:

Server Prerequisites

The following products must be installed on the server:

  • Natural Development Server (NDV)*.

  • Natural ISPF (ISP) 8.2 or above.

  • System Automation Tools (SAT)*.

  • Entire System Server (NPR)*.

  • Natural for Mainframes (NAT)**, including the Entire System Server Interface (ESX). See Installing the Entire System Server Interface in the Installation documentation which is provided with Natural for Mainframes.

* The required version of Natural Development Server, System Automation Tools and Entire System Server depends on the installed Natural version. See the Release Notes which are provided with Natural for Mainframes.

** The required Natural version depends on the Natural ISPF version running on your system.

If using Natural Roll Server, the minimum roll slot size for Roll Server must be 300KB.

Installing Mainframe Navigation

You install Mainframe Navigation together with NaturalONE, using the Installer. Mainframe Navigation is part of NaturalONE's optional Mainframe Tools component.

Installation on Mainframe Servers

There is no special installation required. Make sure that the products listed under Prerequisites are installed on the mainframe server.

If you want to access multiple Entire System Servers with the same SYSESM2 parameter file, you can use the dynamic parameter DFS to overwrite the settings in the parameter file, for example, DFS=(ESM62SRV,BKR062,L). For further information on the DFS parameter, see the Parameter Reference in the Natural for Mainframes documentation.

Defining the Entire System Server Nodes

When all required products are installed on the mainframe server, you must define all Entire System Server nodes you wish to access with Mainframe Navigation. This is done with Natural ISPF. For detailed information, refer to the section System Configuration > Entire System Server Node Table in the Natural ISPF Administration Guide.

Ensure that the Entire System Server node table has been edited (at least a minor modification) and saved (command END). Example: 

---------------------------- UPDATE NODES TABLE -----------------
COMMAND ===>                                                     
                                                                 
    Node   Description           Type  Name/Status               
    -----  --------------------  ----  -----------------------   
    ___69  E-machine(Prod) z/OS   NM   DAEE  
    __148  F-machine(Dev.) z/OS   NM   DAEF                      
    50013  Test Mainframe______   NM   ESY5999 Enti NOT ACTIVE  
    __248  A-machine(Demo) z/OS   NM   DAEA                      
    __194  OSD5 SI15___________                     NO SUPPORT
    __193  VSE X-machine_______                     NO SUPPORT   
    55521  Test VSE____________                     NO SUPPORT   
    _____  ____________________                                  
    _____  ____________________                                  
    _____  ____________________                                  
    _____  ____________________                                  
    _____  ____________________                                  
    _____  ____________________                                  
    _____  ____________________                                  
    _____  ____________________                                  
    _____  ____________________

Ensure that the access to all nodes is active and works without any warnings (for example, ESY5…) when saving the nodes table.

Configuring Natural ISPF on the Mainframe Server

Make sure that Natural ISPF is configured correctly on your mainframe server:

  • Ensure that the installed subsystems are defined in the configuration member CONFIG: your site's operating systems, Natural and System Automation Tools (SAT).

    For detailed information, refer to the section System Configuration > Editing the Configuration Member CONFIG > Defining Installed Subsystems in the Natural ISPF Administration Guide.

  • Ensure that the authorization table of the user who should use Mainframe Navigation has a defined status (compare the Auth attribute in the Defined Characteristics column). This can be done by defining the authorization table for the user explicitly, or it can be inherited from a prefix definition, from a (Natural Security-based) user group definition or from the default user definition (which is indicated by an asterisk (*)).

    For detailed information, refer to the section User Definitions in the Natural ISPF Administration Guide.

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