z/OS Make Zowe CLI Plugin

Note: This technology is a technical preview. It is not currently in active development. As a result, it is not currently supported by any team. Interested consumers can contact the Zowe Technical Steering Committee to either take ownership or to make a business case that this technology should be advanced into a generally available supported product.

Use case: I have mainframe source code (C/C++, HLASM, COBOL, etc.) off platform in GitHub, BitBucket, my PC, or some other version control. I would like to use my preferred editor to code and quickly build my source on z/OS as I make changes.

Overview

The z/OS make plugin manages the details of creating a USS workspace (ZFS and directories) and allows you to build your project source (HLASM, C/C++, COBOL, PLI, etc.) on USS with make using your custom makefile. The plugin strives to emulate a local build experience by automating and hiding mainframe details allowing you to focus on writing code.

The plugin is "project centric". Meaning, you create and customize (via the zowe zm init command) a zos-make.json properties file that describes some simple details for each project (e.g. the remote USS directory to use for the project).

To get started, read through the README and checkout a detailed walkthrough in the tutorial.

You can install the plugin from npm using:

zowe plugins install @zowe/zos-make-for-zowe-cli@latest

Building and Installing the zos-make Plugin from Source

After you've cloned this project, navigate to the project directory and perform the following:

1. npm install
2. npm run build
3. zowe plugins install .

The plugin should now be installed into Zowe CLI.

Prerequisites

Local (Your PC)

• A Zowe-CLI z/OSMF profile
• A Zowe-CLI SSH profile (hostname must match the z/OSMF hostname)

Remote (Mainframe)

• You must have a USS segment for your TSO ID
• You must have SSH connectivity to the mainframe LPAR
• The make binary must be available and in your SSH users PATH
• The included sample makefile uses the xlc, as, and ld command line compilers/linkers on USS

Getting Started

Once you have the plugin installed, you can start a blank project OR start using the plugin for an existing project. Customize the zos-make.json file to suit your needs. Either way, the process is the same:

Step	Command/Action	Description
1	zowe zm init	Prompts you to answer some simple questions to configure the project. Once completed, a zos-make.json properties file will be created in the directory where the command was issued (your project directory).
2	Review/Customize zos-make.json	Make sure that the properties file looks correct for your project before continuing.
3	zowe zm setup	This step will create the project workspace on USS (creates a ZFS and mount point, mounts the ZFS, creates project directories, etc.)
4	zowe zm upload	Uploads your source from your local project (localSrcDr) to <remoteProjectRoot>/src
5	zowe zm make	Executes make on the makefile on USS (<remoteProjectRoot>/src) to build the project

If requested, zowe zm init will copy an example makefile and example HLASM/C source files to get you started.

Making Code Changes

Use zowe zm watch to upload and make as files are changed in your localSrcDir. This is the fastest and most seamless way to build your source as you code.

Use the --copy option on zowe zm watch to have executables (load modules) copied to your LOADLIB after make completes with a exit code of 0.

Viewing Listings

If you have configured the remoteListingsDir in your zos-make.json to point to the directory where the makefile commands place listings, the plugin will automatically download them after a build (zowe zm make or zowe zm watch). Listings are downloaded to a time/date stamped directory in the <localOutDir>/listings directory.

For example, if you choose to copy the sample makefile during zowe zm init, the commands in the makefile place the listings in <remoteProjectDir>/out/listings:

OUTPUTDIR=../out
LISTINGSDIR=$(OUTPUTDIR)/listings

# Assemble the sample program
$(OUTPUTDIR)/sample.o: $(ASMSOURCE)/sample.asm
	$(ASM) $(ASMFLAGS) -a=$(LISTINGSDIR)/sample.asm.lst $(ASMINCLUDE) -o $@ $^

The remoteListingsDir property is set to the relative directory out/listings. When a build completes, the plugin will automatically download listings in <remoteProjectDir>/out/listings to <localOutDir>/listings (in a date/time stamped folder). The plugin keeps a default of 5 local listing directories (this is configurable).

Copying modules to a LOADLIB

You can instruct the plugin to create data sets during zowe zm setup by specifying an array of their attributes on the dataSets property in your zos-make.json. During zowe zm init, you'll be asked if you would like to create a LOADLIB (defaults to Y - yes). If you choose to create a LOADLIB, an additional property will be added to your zos-make.json config:

  "copy": [
    {
      "dataSet": "JASON.PUBLIC.ZOSMAKE.LOADLIB",
      "remoteDir": "out/loadlib/"
    }
  ]

The copy property instructs the plugin to copy any artifacts/files found at <remoteProjectRoot>/out/loadlib after a successful build (zowe zm make or zowe zm watch --copy) to the data set specified. In this case, the makefile is configured to place executables at <remoteProjectRoot>/out/loadlib and the copy property causes those executables (load modules) to be placed in the specified LOADLIB (JASON.PUBLIC.ZOSMAKE.LOADLIB).

Additionally, you can specify any remote project directory and any compatible data set in the copy array. For example, maybe you'd like to keep object code or listings in another data-set.

The copy property is convenient, but you can also direct the commands in your makefile to output directly to data-sets.

Cleaning up

Use zowe zm cleanup to cleanup z/OS environment when you're finished coding. This is a destructive command that will delete the ZFS and other data-sets specified in your zos-make.json config. Be aware of what you have specified.

zos-make.json Properties File Example

The properties file configures the behavior of the zos-make plugin. See IZosMakeProperties.ts for a full explanation of all properties.

Example properties created from defaults during "zowe zm init":

{
  "sshProfile": "mainframe1",
  "zosmfProfile": "mainframe1",
  "localSrcDir": "zos-make-src",
  "localOutDir": "zos-make-out",
  "remoteProjectRoot": "/z/jason/zosmake",
  "remoteListingsDir": "out/listings",
  "zfs": {
    "name": "JASON.PUBLIC.ZOSMAKE.ZFS",
    "cylsPri": 10,
    "volumes": [
      "TSU006"
    ]
  },
  "dataSets": [
    {
      "name": "JASON.PUBLIC.ZOSMAKE.LOADLIB",
      "dsorg": "PO",
      "alcunit": "CYL",
      "primary": 10,
      "secondary": 10,
      "recfm": "U",
      "blksize": 27998,
      "lrecl": 27998,
      "dirblk": 100
    }
  ],
  "copy": [
    {
      "dataSet": "JASON.PUBLIC.ZOSMAKE.LOADLIB",
      "remoteDir": "out/loadlib/"
    }
  ]
}

The above example properties will cause zowe zm setup to create a workspace on USS with ZFS JASON.PUBLIC.ZOSMAKE.ZFS (zfs.name) that is mounted to /z/jason/zosmake (remoteProjectRoot) during zowe zm setup.

Source files and directories contained in the local projects zos-make-src/ (localSrcDir) directory are uploaded to USS during zowe zm upload or zowe zm watch (as you save changes).

In the zos-make-src/makefile (copied during zowe zm init by request), the compilers are configured to place listings at /z/jason/zosmake/out/listings. The plugin will download any listings produced after zowe zm make or zowe zm watch to the local zos-make-out/listings project directory.

The dataSets property instructs the plugin to create the LOADLIB data set JASON.PUBLIC.ZOSMAKE.LOADLIB during zowe zm init.

The copy property instructs the plugin to copy any artifacts placed in /z/jason/zosmake/out/loadlib after a successful zowe zm make or zowe zm watch --copy to JASON.PUBLIC.ZOSMAKE.LOADLIB.

For a detailed walkthrough, checkout the tutorial.