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Version: v2.0.x LTS

Version 2.0.0 (April 2022)

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Version 2.0.0 (April 2022)

Welcome to the Version 2.0.0 release of Zowe!

Version 2.0 introduced breaking changes and a number of new features.

Download v2.0.0 build: Want to try new features as soon as possible? You can download the V2.0.0 build from Zowe.org.

v2 office hours videos: Zowe held a series of v2 LTS office hours for extenders and consumers to introduce all the V2 changes. Watch the videos to learn more about the new features.

Release blog: Read this blog Welcome Zowe version 2 LTS written by Joe Winchester for a deeper dive of the major enhancements and changes for this release.

Breaking changes#

Zowe installation#

  • You must pass -ppx when you unpax the Zowe convenience build to preserve extended file attributes.
  • All utility scripts, like zowe-install.sh, zowe-install-xmem.sh, zowe-install-proc.sh, validate-directory-is-accessible.sh, are removed and migrated to the new zwe server command format.
  • If you rely on some of the scripts, find the alternative new zwe command or shell library functions.
  • ZWESVSTC is removed and ZWESLSTC will replace it to start Zowe.
  • instance.env is deprecated and replaced by zowe.yml.
  • In V2, you use the P command to terminate Zowe instead of the C cancel command.
  • Zowe now allows fine-grained customization of log, workspace, and configuration directories. By default, these directories remain grouped under an instance directory (same as Zowe v1).
  • Environment variables are reorganized to better describe itself. All zowe.yaml configuration entries will be automatically converted to environment variables for easy consumption. Check with the community what the new alternative variable names are.
  • During Zowe configuration, redundant ip fields will be removed or consolidated in favor of hostname or domains.
  • Component or extension manifest is mandatory. You must use the zwe components install command to install the extension.

API Mediation Layer#

  • Removed the support for the old path pattern (#1770). This includes the changes to the endpoints used in ZAAS client. If your application uses ZAAS client, please verify whether the configuration properties use the new path pattern (/gateway/api/v1 instead of /api/v1/gateway).
  • Removed the support for different authentication schemas for different instances of service (#1051).

Zowe Application Framework#

Some configuration, such as port and IP values, are different by default in V2 but can be reconfigured to old values. However, some application framework extensions may not work in V2 without enhancements.

  • zLUX App Manager

    Due to new library versions, native apps such as Angular and React apps written for Zowe v1 may not work in Zowe v2. Rebuilding the apps with the same versions and the latest webpack build scripts is recommended.

  • zLUX Server Framework

    • The list of properties sent back from the /server/environment has changed to reflect the different environment values present in Zowe v2
    • Adjusted the server to respect ZSS's new cookie format in which the port or HA instance ID is a suffix of the ZSS cookie. This means that the server may not work properly when paired with a v1 ZSS and works best with v2 ZSS.

  • zLUX Editor

    The app now uses angular 12, making it compatible with Zowe v2 desktop and incompatible with v1 desktop.

  • Basic VT Terminal Emulator

    Upgrade to Angular 12, Typescript 4, and Corejs 3 to match Desktop libraries in Zowe v2. This app may no longer work in the Zowe v1 Desktop, and v2 should be used instead.

  • Basic TN3270 Display Emulator

    Upgrade to Angular 12, Typescript 4, and Corejs 3 to match Desktop libraries in Zowe v2. This app may no longer work in the Zowe v1 Desktop, and v2 should be used instead.

  • Sample angular app

    The app now uses angular 12, making it compatible with Zowe v2 desktop and incompatible with v1 desktop.

Zowe CLI#

  • Breaking changes for Zowe CLI end users:

    • zowe config no longer manages app settings (Imperative and CLI)
    • fail-on-error default changed to true for zowe plugins validate (Imperative and CLI)
    • Default Imperative and CLI log level changed from DEBUG to WARN (Imperative and CLI), which potentially changes troubleshooting steps for providing information to support.

  • Breaking changes that could prevent a V1 plug-in or SDK from working in V2

    • CLI package should be removed as a plug-in peer dep (Imperative)
    • AbstractRestClient.mDecode defaults to true so any plug-in with custom RestClient implementation that adds gzip decompression may break
    • The return value for PluginManagementFacility.requirePluginModuleCallback changed. Application and plug-in developers requiring a module from a plug-in's relative path using the requirePluginModuleCallback function no longer need to provide the plug-in name in a separate variable this.pluginNmForUseInCallback = pluginName before binding the class this.requirePluginModuleCallback.bind(this). Instead they can call this.requirePluginModuleCallback(pluginName).
      • Previously in V1:
        this.pluginNmForUseInCallback = pluginNameConfigurationLoader.load(null,pkgJsonData,this.requirePluginModuleCallback.bind(this))
      • In V2:
        pluginConfig = ConfigurationLoader.load(null,pkgJsonData,this.requirePluginModuleCallback(pluginName))

  • Breaking changes for Zowe CLI and Imperative plug-in developers

    These changes only impact early adopters of @next as these are breaking changes made during the technical preview validation phase. Thanks to the community for the feedback.

    • tokenType and tokenValue were combined into authToken, which later was reverted (Imperative and CLI)
    • Options in zowe config group are renamed: --user is renamed to --user-config, and --global to --global-config.
    • Zowe.schema.json format changed a few times (version 2, version 3): ConfigSchemas.loadProfileSchemas is changed to ConfigSchemas.loadSchema
    • Config.set no longer coerces string values to other types unless parseString = true which might impact the SDK instead of CLI plug-ins.

New features and enhancements#

Zowe installation#

  • Introduced a new server command zwe to balance between simplification and flexibility on installation and configuration.
    • Almost all Zowe utility scripts in V1 are consolidated into new zwe server command. This new command defines consistent help messages, logging options, and so on. See the ZWE Command Reference for more information.
    • Provides shell function library to help extensions to achieve common tasks. For example, execute TSO command, operator command, submit job and check job completion, and so on.
    • Keep away from commands/functions marked as experimental and internal.
  • Installation / Configuration changes
    • During installation, no new runtime directory will be created.
    • A zowe.yaml file can be used to centralize all configuration options. This configuration is compatible with all Zowe use cases (including high availability and containerization).
    • For almost all Zowe configuration steps, an automation option zwe init command is provided. You can still choose to run all steps one by one.
    • Provides the --security-dry-run mode that allows you to generate security commands and pass along to your system admin.
    • You can run all steps from USS now.
  • A Zowe component or extension can use manifest.yaml to define how it interacts with Zowe and other components.
    • The component or extension must define a manifest.yaml or manifest.json file to describe itself. The manifest allows you to define how to register on Zowe API ML Discovery, how to register under Zowe Desktop, and whether it’s Java extension library for API ML, and so on.
    • Components can define their own configs in manifest.yaml which shows you how to customize this component and provides default values if they are not defined. This option is compatible with Zowe running in high availability mode.
  • Introduced new data sets to better organize the contents.
    • Added SZWEEXEC to contain few utility tools.
    • You can customize your own PARMLIB, APF Authorized LOADLIB and APF-authorized ZIS plug-ins library. CUST.JCLIB is a data set where Zowe will store temporary JCLs.

Zowe API Mediation Layer#

  • There is now the option to change your password via the Catalog UI (#2035) (139a231), closes #2035
  • Discovery service can be configured to modify the service ID at registration time (#2229) (63f6fde), closes #2229
  • There is now the option to specify base packages for the extensions loader(#2081) (9a4be5a), closes #2081
  • There is a new design of the logout panel in the Catalog dashboard (#2102) (1382f24), closes #2102
  • Add missing tooltips to all onboarding options (#2194) (5446fd5), closes #2194
  • Migrate API Catalog to the Material UI library (2c595d5, 0da7f15, 95da488, c60371d, 537fa34, 81ab2ed), closes #1169
  • Made various improvements to the onboarding wizard (#1772) (20dd70b), closes #1772

Zowe Application Framework#

  • zLUX App Manager

    • New desktop library versions are Angular 6->12, Corejs 2->3, Typescript 2->4, and so on. For more information, visit https://www.zowe.org/vnext.
    • The web-browser and admin-desktop-notification apps now contains a manifest file so that it can be installed with zwe components install.

  • zLUX App Server

    • Renamed ZLUX_ environment variables to ZWED_ for consistency. Backwards compatible with old environment variables.
    • Added support for new logDirectory variable specification in zowe.yaml
    • Added support for reading from zowe.yaml instead of server.json

  • zLUX Server Framework

    • Added support for reading zowe.yaml directly, as opposed to server.json.
    • The server can now support checks on the existence and version of APIML if a plug-in states a dependency on APIML in the "requirements.components" section of its plug-in definition.
    • The list of parameters for server configuration is now documented in json-schema for validation, you can find this in the zlux repository

  • ZSS Package

    New configuration option that allows to run 64-bit ZSS

  • zLUX Editor

    Cookie name now has a suffix which includes the port or if in an HA instance, the HA ID.

  • Basic VT Terminal Emulator

    The app now contains a manifest file so that it can be installed with zwe components install

  • Sample angular app

    The app now contains a manifest file so that it can be installed with zwe components install

  • USS Explorer

    USS-explorer no longer uses explorer-ui-server, but now depends on app-server. In a standard Zowe environment, this will result in less processes but does break links about getting to the explorer via APIML routes. The explorer is now available via the app-server's APIML route.

  • JES Explorer

    JES-explorer no longer uses explorer-ui-server, but now depends on app-server. In a standard Zowe environment, this will result in less processes but does break links about getting to the explorer via APIML routes. The explorer is now available via the app-server's APIML route.

  • MVS Explorer

    MVS-explorer no longer uses explorer-ui-server, but now depends on app-server. In a standard Zowe environment, this will result in less processes but does break links about getting to the explorer via APIML routes. The explorer is now available via the app-server's APIML route.

Zowe CLI#

Zowe CLI contains the following enhancements and changes:

  • Team Configuration:

    Team configuration significantly improves the configuration/onboarding experience and provides the ability to easily share configuration information with others in an organization.

  • Automatic Team Configuration:

    Automatic team configuration leverages the Zowe API Mediation Layer to automatically configure connections for conformant API ML services that also have a CLI plug-in.

  • Daemon Mode:

    Daemon Mode significantly improves the performance of Zowe CLI by not requiring separate node processes to be spawned for every command.

  • Secure by Default:

    Secure by default provides a secure out-of-the-box experience by including the secure credential store feature, previously offered as a plug-in in V1, as part of the core Zowe CLI package.

  • Migrating to Zowe V2 Team Configuration:

    After installing @zowe/cli@zowe-v2-lts and all desired plug-ins @zowe-v2-lts, you can easily migrate to Zowe V2 team configuration by issuing the following command:

    zowe config convert-profiles

    Note: For more information, see Using Profiles.

Zowe CLI Plug-ins#

Zowe maintained CLI plug-ins are Zowe V2 LTS conformant. As such, they integrate with Team configuration, daemon mode, and the team configuration migration utility. For information about enhancements and bug fixes, see the changelogs for the following plug-ins:

Imperative CLI Framework#

Imperative is the infrastructure on which various Zowe technologies are built. For information about enhancements and bug fixes, see the Imperative CLI Framework changelog.

Nodejs SDK#

The Nodejs SDK packages were updated to make use of key Zowe V2 features, including Team Configuration. For information about enhancements and bug fixes, see the changelogs for the following packages:

Zowe Explorer#

Zowe Explorer makes use of Team Configuration and is secure by default. For information about enhancements and bug fixes, see the following changelogs:

Bug fixes#

Zowe API Mediation Layer#

  • Caching service logging (#2222) (5ff64d9), closes #2222
  • Add x509 Authentication information to the API Documentation of the API Gateway (#2142) (072ad23), closes #2142
  • Authorization provider set empty as default (#2107) (aa77926), closes #2107
  • Update URL of the API Catalog to work with the V2 version of the Zowe Desktop (6f4257a), closes #2022

Zowe Application Framework#

  • zLUX Server Framework

    When paired with the Zowe server infrastructure, the app-server will now automatically register and de-register plug-ins at startup depending on each plug-in's component enabled status.

  • ZSS Package

    • Do not use "tee" when log destination is /dev/null
    • Cookie name now has a suffix which includes the port or if in an HA instance, the HA ID.

Conformance and release compatibility#

Backward compatibility#

Zowe v1 conformant extensions/plug-ins are not guaranteed to be compatible with Zowe v2 and therefore may not be operable. In general, plug-ins/extensions which leverage v2 APIs that have known breaking changes are at high risk of incompatibility and unpredictable results.

Recommendation: All v1 extenders test with Zowe v2, identify any issues, and disclose results to consumers to clearly indicate backward compatibility status in the extension documentation. If unable to test, clearly document as such.

Forward compatibility#

Zowe v2 conformant (planning to earn conformance) extensions/plug-ins are not guaranteed to be compatible with Zowe v1 LTS. In general, plug-ins/extensions with no known dependency on any newly introduced Zowe v2 functions are at minimum risk.

Recommendation: All v2 extenders test with Zowe v1 LTS, identify any issues, and disclose results to consumers to clearly indicate forward compatibility status in the extension documentation. If unable to test, clearly document as such.

Conformance compatibility#

Zowe v1 conformant extensions/plug-ins are likely to require changes to meet Zowe v2 conformance criteria. All extensions (regardless of v1 conformance status) must apply for v2 conformance and satisfy all required v2 testing criteria. You can find the V2 Conformance Criteria here.

Recommendation: All extenders interested in earning v2 conformance review the v2 conformance criteria, determine if technical changes are necessary, make appropriate modifications and prepare to apply for v2 conformance.

Need help? For assistance with reviewing or completing the Zowe Conformance Zowe v2 application, reach out to members of the Zowe Onboarding Squad on Slack at https://slack.openmainframeproject.org in the #zowe-onboarding channel.

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