z/OS Deployment Overview
This guide explains the process of deploying files to z/OS systems using the new SSH-SFTP connection. Previously, deployments required manual ASCII to EBCDIC (CP1047) transcoding when using SCP or SFTP, making the process more complex and time-consuming. With the new SFTP-only approach, text files are automatically converted to EBCDIC (CP1047) during transfer, simplifying deployments.
When deploying to z/OS, select the z/OS host option in the deployment configuration, and the system will handle encoding conversions automatically.
File Transcode
In z/OS deployments, it’s important to convert text files to EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code), the standard encoding used in z/OS environments. When deploying, text files like configuration files are automatically converted from UTF-8 or ASCII to CP1047, ensuring compatibility. Binary files, such as executables and JAR files, remain unchanged.
If the system cannot detect the encoding of a text file, it will use the default character set of the JVM, which is UTF-8. For more information, see Specifying encoding for files in artifacts and Specify file encoding on the server.
EBCDIC File Transcode
When deploying to z/OS, you can control which files are converted to EBCDIC by configuring two properties:
udm.BaseDeployableArtifact.textFileNamesRegexToTranscode- Specifies which files to convert to EBCDIC.udm.BaseDeployableArtifact.excludeFileNamesRegexToTranscode- Specifies which files to exclude from EBCDIC conversion.
Including Files for EBCDIC Conversion
Configure the textFileNamesRegexToTranscode property in type-defaults.properties to specify which file types should be converted to EBCDIC. The property accepts a regular expression pattern.
By default, this includes common text file types such as cfg, conf, config, ini, properties, props, txt, asp, aspx, html, jsf, jsp, xht, xhtml, sql, xml, xsd, xsl, and xslt.
Excluding Files from EBCDIC Conversion
Use the excludeFileNamesRegexToTranscode property to prevent specific files from being converted to EBCDIC, even if they match the inclusion pattern. For example:
# Exclude UTF-8 text files from EBCDIC conversion
excludeFileNamesRegexToTranscode=.*[Uu][Tt][Ff]8\.txt
By default, no files are excluded and the property is null.
Placeholder Handling
When deploying, text files like configuration files need to be converted from UTF-8 or ASCII to EBCDIC for compatibility with z/OS and can contain placeholders, for example, ${APP_NAME} or ${VERSION} that need to be replaced with actual values.
The udm.BaseDeployableArtifact.textFileNamesRegex property is used for identifying files that require placeholder scanning and replacement during deployment. For more information, see Enabling placeholder scanning.
Configuration Properties
The following properties in type-defaults.properties control this behavior:
# File encoding settings
udm.BaseDeployableFolderArtifact.fileEncodings=.+\.properties:ISO-8859-1
# Text file pattern for placeholder scanning
udm.BaseDeployableFolderArtifact.textFileNamesRegex=.+\.(cfg|conf|config|ini|properties|props|txt|asp|aspx|htm|html|jsf|jsp|xht|xhtml|sql|xml|xsd|xsl|xslt)
# Pattern for EBCDIC conversion
udm.BaseDeployableFolderArtifact.textFileNamesRegexToTranscode=.+\.(cfg|conf|config|ini|properties|props|txt|asp|aspx|htm|html|jsf|jsp|xht|xhtml|sql|xml|xsd|xsl|xslt)
# Exclusion patterns
udm.BaseDeployableFolderArtifact.excludeFileNamesRegex=null
udm.BaseDeployableFolderArtifact.excludeFileNamesRegexToTranscode=null
These properties are inherited by all deployment artifact types such as files, folders, and archives. You can modify the scope from the base level (BaseDeployableFolderArtifact) to file.file, file.folder, or file.archive, making them applicable specifically to those types and their subtypes.