Overview

This course teaches CICS system programmers how to install, tailor, and administer CICS Transaction Server (TS) for z/OS. You learn to construct, run, and administer a CICS system. You tailor the system by configuring CICS to run applications, defining transactions, programs, files, web services, and other resources that CICS applications need. You administer CICS by using CICS transactions and the CICS Explorer.

The course also provides a thorough introduction to security and recovery concepts that are needed to administer new or existing installations of CICS TS. Topics include resource management, storage management, system control, task management, measurement and problem determination tools, intercommunication services, CICSPlex SM, Cloud, Liberty, DevOps, IBM UrbanCode Deploy, DB2, IBM MQ, DBCTL, and more. You practice your new skills on a z/OS system that is configured specifically for this lab-intensive course.

Audience

This course is designed for administrators of CICS Transaction Server for z/OS.

Prerequisites

• Be familiar with CICS architecture and facilities, either through experience or by successfully completing course CICS V5.3 Fundamentals (WM806G)
• Have a working knowledge of z/OS, JCL, and TSO/ISPF
• Have a basic knowledge of z/OS Communications Server concepts
• Have a basic knowledge of VSAM concepts and Access Method services

Objective

After completing this course, you should be able to:

• Define and set up CICS regions
• Analyze application descriptions, define resources, and customize
• Define the major functions and parameters that are used to control CICS
• Identify CICS procedures
• Identify system control functions
• Administer CICS resources with CICS transactions and the CICS Explorer
• Define the functions of intercommunication services
• Identify sources of information that is necessary to aid problem determination
• Measure and evaluate information that is used to measure and tune the environment
• Describe how the other MVS resource managers that IBM offers interface with CICS Transaction Server
• Describe the choices for starting CICS programs and accessing CICS data from outside CICS
• Describe how CICS uses z/OS Sysplex

Course Outline

Course introduction
CICS Transaction Server for z/OS overview
Installation and verification
Exercise: Getting acquainted with CICS TS for z/OS
Resource definition
Exercise: Preparing and starting a CICS region
Supporting terminal access
Exercise: Administering terminals
Defining transactions, programs, and map sets
Exercise: Defining transactions, programs, and map sets
File control functions and file definition
Exercise: Defining files and LSR pools
CICS queuing facilities
Exercise: Defining transient data queues
CICS intercommunication services
Exercise: Connecting systems
Administering application resources
Storage management and storage protection
System control
Exercise: Administering with CICS Explorer
Startup, recovery, and restart
Exercise: Defining recoverable resources and journal models
Accessing external resource manager data
Basic problem determination
Exercise: JSON web services, DB2 resources, and OTE
Measurement and evaluation
Security and the external security manager
Exercise: Statistics, dumps, and security
Sysplex support functions
Course summary