Version 2.5.0 (December 2022)

Welcome to the Zowe Version 2.5.0 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 v2.5.0 build: Want to try new features as soon as possible? You can download the v2.5.0 build from Zowe.org.

New features and enhancements

Zowe Version 2.5.0 contains the enhancements that are described in the following topics.

find out more

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

• zwe now has a zwe config get and zwe config validate command. The get command can be used to get a part of the zowe yaml configuration without needing to read the yaml yourself. zwe config get only returns values upon proving the configuration is valid first. zwe config validate can be used to perform validation of the zowe configuration files without running any additional actions. This is useful for verifying that a change is valid before starting zowe, for example.
• A new component management command zwe components upgrade allows you to install an already-installed component.
• A new component management command zwe components uninstall allows you to remove an installed extension.
• A new component management command zwe components search allows you to query for extensions.
• zwe components subcommands can now search for, install, and upgrade extensions retrieved via an on-prem or remote package registry. At this time, npm is supported as the registry and package manager technology that zwe can use to download content. This is an optional feature and is not enabled by default: it must be configured. View the schema for zowe.yaml to learn more about the "package registry" and "registry handler" technologies to configure for this feature. More information and a recorded demo is available at https://github.com/zowe/zowe-install-packaging/pull/2980

Zowe Application Framework

ZSS

• Support ZIS runtime version check
• Update the dynamic linkage stub vector to include new functions
• Add ZIS plugin development documentation and samples

zLUX Editor

• Added the feature to copy the line content and copy URL link to open a file at a specific line

Zowe Common C

• Added embeddedjs command xplatform.appendFileUTF8 for appending to files rather than writing whole files.

Zowe API Mediation Layer

Zowe CLI

Zowe CLI (Core)

• Added new functions to support the changing of a job class and the hold status of a job. Can now call zowe jobs modify job [jobid] with options --jobclass, --hold, and --release. (#1156)
• Updated Imperative to incorporate new zowe config report-env command from version 5.7.0.
• To view a subset of data set content instead of the entire file, added new command zowe files view ds ... --range SSS-EEE | SSS,NNN. (#1539)
• To define the unit of space allocation when creating a data set, added ZosFilesCreateOptions.alcunit option to PDS definition. (#1203)

Zowe CLI Imperative Framework

• Exported AppSettings for CLI and other applications to use (#840)
• To view a diagnostic report of the CLI working environment, added the zowe config report-env command.
• To show information for a plug-in's first steps, added the show-first-steps command. (#1325)

Zowe Explorer

• Added ability to filter jobs by status. (#1925)
• Added option to view PDS member attributes, and updated formatting for attributes webview. (#1577)
• Streamlined attribute viewing options into one feature - "Show Attributes".

Bug fixes

Zowe Version 2.5.0 contains the bug fixes that are described in the following topics.

Zowe installation and packaging

• Use of DVIPA may cause Zowe to believe a port is not free when it is. Starting in this release, Zowe can narrow its port validation to a specific IP via zowe.network.vipaIp=some.ip or bypass the verification via zowe.network.validatePortFree=false. Setting this to false will still cause the servers to be unable to connect if the port is not free, but this can be a more accurate and portable setting.
• component configure stages will now have their STDOUT printed when running at the INFO level of zwe verbosity.
• zwe was not guaranteeing that the workspace folder had 770 permission when zowe.useConfigmgr=true was set

Zowe Application Framework

ZSS

• In 2.3 and 2.4, safkeyring:// syntax stopped working, only allowing safkeyring:////. Now, support for both is restored.

zLUX Editor

• Added a few rules for JCL syntax highlighter
• Set USS path to correct directory, when opening the directory or file in new browser tab respectively

Zowe Common C

• Fixed a bug that the configmgr binary would always return rc=0. Now, it has various return codes for the various internal errors or config invalid responses.

Zowe API Mediation Layer

Zowe CLI

Zowe CLI (Core)

• Documented in the CLI web help that the --token-type and --token-value options do not apply to SSH commands.
• Updated Imperative to include bug fixes in version 5.7.2.
• Updated the zowe zos-files create data-set command to work without the --like flag. (#1252)

Zowe CLI Imperative Framework

• Added validation for null/undefined command definitions. (#868)
• Updated plugins --login command option to behave as expected when running in an NPM 9 environment.
• Cleaned up uses of execSync in Imperative where it makes sense to do so.

Zowe Explorer

• Fixed missing localization for certain VS Code error/info/warning messages. (#1722)
• Fixed "Allocate Like" error that prevented proper execution. (#1973)
• Fixed de-sync issue between Data Set and Favorites panels when adding or deleting datasets/members that were favorited. (#1488)
• Added logging in places where errors were being caught and ignored.
• Fixed issue where parent in Jobs list closes after single/multiple job deletion. (#1676)

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.

The following security issues were fixed by the Zowe security group in version 2.4.

• CVE-2022-31159
• BDSA-2022-2590
• BDSA-2022-2580
• BDSA-2022-2582