Team Configuration: The new sheriff in town!
{Core} Profile creation and management is the usual starting point for users of The Open Mainframe Project’s Zowe Explorer. Individual YAML files needed for the details of each connection have been the norm for a while, but there’s a new sheriff in town and changes are coming. ✔️
New Configuration
As stated by Michael Bauer in his article “Zowe CLI — Getting Started, Made Easy!”, the new configuration file (a.k.a team configuration file) is
“ a new experience that focuses on simplifying configuration to a single easily shareable file, separating user preference information, and enabling configuration to be tied to a specific project.”
It is a simplified configuration that can be created by one person and shared with the whole organization. This feature is now available in Zowe CLI next version.
But what about Zowe Explorer???
Zowe Explorer Technical Preview
The Explorers Squad also decided to implement this feature in Zowe Explorer. We were careful not to introduce breaking changes so we created a next version (a.k.a ZE vNext) that is available as a Technical Preview and downloadable via Zowe Website.
The user experience in managing the team configuration is quite different from the Zowe CLI but we managed to make the UX more closely related to Zowe Explorer’s current profile management experience.
So what’s in store for you?
Creating the team configuration file
Today, Zowe Explorer has the ability to create profiles that are needed to connect to the mainframe, without having the need to install Zowe CLI. With the introduction of the new team configuration file, we wanted the same experience.
So how are you going to create the team configuration file?
Here are the steps:
- Go to Zowe Explorer and Click the ➕ button
- Click
Create a New Team Configuration File - Select between:
Global: in the Zowe home directory — This option will write the team configuration file in your Zowe home directory. Usually, this is the top-level .zowe folder.
Project: in the current working directory — This option will write the team configuration file the current working directory opened in your VS Code workspace
- You’re ready to go! 🚗
Managing your team configuration file
Now that you have your own team configuration file, You need to update it with the correct connection information.
To manage your connection details, Zowe Explorer opens the team configuration JSON file to allow you to make changes. All you have to do is click on the appropriate command — update profile
The update of the JSON file is made easy using VS Code’s IntelliSense and the zowe.schema.json file which is also initialized automatically. Contest assist and default value suggestions will be available as you edit the configuration file in the editor.
At the moment, the initial config and schema files contain defaults for z/OSMF, TSO, SSH, and base connection details. We plan to automate the initialization process for extenders, such as zFTP and CICS, in a future release.
⚠️ Please note that you need to reload your VS Code in order for Zowe Explorer to capture the details inside your team configuration file
Prompting of credentials
If storing your credentials in the team configuration file is something that you do not want to do, Zowe Explorer gives you that option. The extension will prompt you for your credentials and save it in the session. Once you close VS Code then you need to enter your credentials once again.
If you specified the username and password in the secure fields in the configuration file, they will be stored securely in the OS’ credential vault.
Share and Start
Now that you have your team configuration file, you can now share it with your team! How cool is that? This can be done via URL, shared network, git repository, or direct file sharing.
Any team member can quickly start using this same file. They just need to input their username and password and that’s it!
Future Plans
This is just the tip of the iceberg… there’s still a lot more features that we want to add.
In the future we would like to:
- Extend the initialization capability to extenders, such as zFTP and CICS VS Code extensions.
- Enable auto-initialization of the configuration file using Zowe API Mediation Layer
- Address feedback from the Zowe Community based on the pre-release version.
So what do you think? I hope that you will give this a try and give us your feedback! 😎
Finding out more
If you enjoyed this blog check out more Zowe blogs here. Or, ask a question and join the conversation on the Open Mainframe Project Slack Channel #Zowe-dev, #Zowe-user or #Zowe-explorer. If this is your first time using the OMP slack channel register here.
