Version 2.9.0 (June 2023)

Welcome to the Zowe Version 2.9.0 release!

See New features and enhancements for a full list of changes to the functionality. See Bug fixes for a list of issues addressed in this release.

Download v2.9.0 build: Want to try new features as soon as possible? You can download the v2.9.0 build from Zowe.org.

New features and enhancements

Zowe Version 2.9.0 contains the enhancements that are described in the following topics.

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To watch a demo of new enhancements and updated features included in a Zowe V2 minor release, look for the release demo recording in the Zowe V2 System Demo playlist on YouTube.

System demos are typically held the week after a minor release becomes available. Check the Open Mainframe Project Calendar for the latest schedule.

Zowe installation and packaging

• Users who have not set the value of zowe.useConfigmgr will now have the behavior set to true. If you still wish to use false, set zowe.useConfigmgr=false explicitly. (#3423)

Zowe Application Framework

Zlux Server Framework

• zowe.certificates.pem is no longer needed when using keyrings. (#448)

Zowe Common C

• configmgr's z/OS module now has a resolveSymbol function which takes a string starting with & which can be used to resolve static and dynamic z/OS symbols. (#378)

Zowe API Mediation Layer

• Personal access tokens are now accepted as Bearer authentication and in the apimlAuthenticationToken cookie. (7c393a6, closes #2908)
• A OAuth2 access token is now accepted as an authentication source. (3809622, closes #2835)
• The maximum idle timeout for websocket connections (between the gateway and the registered service) is now configurable. (020da87, closes #2914)

Imperative CLI Framework

• Added the function IO.giveAccessOnlyToOwner to restrict access to only the currently running user ID for security. (#987)
• Enabled command arguments to change {$Prefix}_EDITOR. Updated IDiffOptions to include names for the files that are to be compared. Updated IO.getDefaultTextEditor() for different OS versions. Updated return value types for CliUtils.readPrompt. This prepares development of future commands in Zowe CLI. (#967)
• Altered TextUtils behavior slightly to enable daemon color support without TTY. (#977)

Zowe CLI

• Updated daemon to use tokio library instead of the unmaintained named_pipe library for technical currency. (#1710)
• Added the zowe files copy dsclp command to copy a data set from one LPAR to another, making data transfer between LPARs easier. (#1098)
• Re-enabled color in the daemon client to differentiate text displayed in the terminal. (#1379)

Zowe Explorer

• Added option to save unique data set attributes as a template after allocation for future use. (#1425)
• Added "Cancel Job" feature for job nodes in Jobs panel view. (#2251)
• Enhanced ID generation for parent tree nodes to ensure uniqueness. (#2325)
• Added support for custom credential manager extensions. (#2212)

Bug fixes

Zowe Version 2.9.0 contains the bug fixes that are described in the following topics.

Zowe Application Framework

ZLux App Server

• Recognizers from multiple plug-ins could not be merged due to an error in the merge code execution at startup. (#256)

Zowe API Mediation Layer

• Client certificates in a request are ignored when x509 authentication is not enabled. (406f588, closes #2930)
• The correct list of public keys are returned when z/OSMF is not available. (030a34f, closes #2936)

Imperative CLI Framework

• Added logic to display a warning in cases where a null command handler is provided. (#990)
• Fixed a logic error in the config list command that caused unwanted behavior when a positional argument and the --locations option were both passed in the command. (#989)
• Reduced file loading time by searching for command definitions with the fast-glob NPM module instead of the glob module. (#986)
• Removed validation of the deprecated pluginHealthCheck property because it was an unused feature. (#980)

Zowe CLI

• Enabled ANSI in Windows-based terminals to better display progress bars when using daemon mode. (#1701)
• Changed daemon to spawn as its own process to avoid unintentional termination of the daemon mode. (#1241, #1277, #1309)
• Fixed --secondary data set allocation option being specified as 1 unit on BLANK type data sets with the zowe files create data-set command. (#1595)
• Fixed --range option so it is not ignored on the zowe files view uss-file command. (#1717)
• Fixed --binary option ignored by commands that upload and download USS directories when the .zosattributes file is used. (#1717)
• Fixed --include-hidden option ignored by the zowe files upload dir-to-uss command when it was used without the --recursive option. (#1717)
• Implemented several updates for technical currency. Updated Imperative to allow for special handling of chalk and coloring in daemon client (#1721). Updated imperative to fix undesired behavior in the zowe config list command in certain situations (#1721). Updated tar dependency (#1719).

IBM Db2 Database Plug-in for Zowe CLI

• Updated ibm_db dependency for better support with Node.js 18. (#125)

Zowe Explorer

• Fixed issue where the Disable Validation for Profile context menu option did not update to Enable Validation for Profile after use. (#1897)
• Removed "/" characters in path.join() calls. (#2172)
• Fixed issue where user was not able to view job spool file with the same DD name in different steps because of duplicated local file name. (#2279)
• Fixed issue where user was not able to view job spool file from jobs with duplicated step names because of duplicated local file name. (#2315)
• Fixed issue with Windows path when uploading file to data set. (#2323)
• Fixed an issue with mismatch etag error returned not triggering the diff editor and possible loss of data due to the issue. (#2277)
• Fixed issue where refreshing views collapsed the tree views in their respective panels. (#2215)

Vulnerabilities fixed

Zowe discloses fixed vulnerabilities in a timely manner giving you sufficient time to plan your upgrades. Zowe does not disclose the vulnerabilities fixed in the latest release as we respect the need for at least 45 days to decide when and how you upgrade Zowe. When a new release is published, Zowe publishes the vulnerabilities fixed in the previous release. For more information about the Zowe security policy, see the Security page on the Zowe website.