This Readme provides information about the ALM Solutions Connector 6.3.1 release.

ALM Solutions Connector (ALM SC) is a flexible set of services and programs for Windows or UNIX/Linux platforms that enables you to deploy to z/OS through Open Text ChangeMan ZMF.

Note: This product was named ZMF Connector for versions 6.0 to 6.1.2. For versions earlier than 6.0, it was named Mainframe Connector.

About ALM SC 6.3.1

What's New? For a list of enhancements, see What's new in ALM SC 6.3.1.
Download Download the ALM Solutions Connector 6.3.1 files from the Software Licenses and Downloads (SLD) portal.

Note: Ensure that OpenText Common Tools are up to date. If necessary, download and install the latest version of Common Tools.
Install / upgrade ALM Solutions Connector To install ALM SC or upgrade it from version 6.0 or later, follow the instructions in Install or upgrade ALM Solutions Connector.

To upgrade from versions earlier than 6.0, contact Support for assistance.
Integrate ChangeMan ZMF with Release Control To integrate ChangeMan ZMF with Release Control 6.0.1 and later, use the ChangeMan ZMF plugin and ALM Solutions Connector.

Note: There are additional ways to integrate products with ChangeMan ZMF using ALM Solutions Connector. For help with custom integrations, contact Support.
Install / upgrade the ChangeMan ZMF plugin for Release Control To install the ChangeMan ZMF plugin for Release Control, see the Release Control Plugin Help.

To upgrade the ChangeMan ZMF plugin, see the Release Control Plugins Readme.
Supported platforms For details about supported platforms, see the ALM Solutions Connector 6.3.1 Support Matrix available as part of the ALM Solutions Connector download.
Known issues For a list of known issues, see the Known issues.
Documentation For configuration details, see the ALM Solutions Connector Configuration Guide. The guide covers the integration with Release Control.
Helpful links To learn more about the ALM Solutions Connector, see the Knowledge Base.

What's new in ALM SC 6.3.1

This release includes the following enhancements:

Install or upgrade ALM Solutions Connector

Follow these steps to install ALM Solutions Connector or upgrade it from version 6.0 or later to the latest version.

To install or upgrade ALM Solutions Connector:

  1. If you are upgrading, back up your earlier version. Navigate to the Common Tomcat <tomcat-install-dir>\webapps directory, for example:

    C:\Program Files\Micro Focus\common\tomcat\<version>\webapps

    Copy the following directories from the webapps directory to a backup location:

    • almsernet

    • almzmf
    • almzmfalf
    • almzmfws

  2. Download and install the latest Common Tools package (Common Tomcat 9.0 and JRE 11.0) from the Software Licenses and Downloads (SLD) portal. Common Tools are installed in the following default locations:

    Common Tomcat C:\Program Files\OpenText\common\tomcat\9.0
    Common JRE C:\Program Files\OpenText\common\jre\11.0
  3. Download the ALM Solutions Connector installation files from the Software Licenses and Downloads (SLD) portal.

  4. Install the new version of the ALM Solutions Connector services:

    1. Extract the following war files from the installation bundle:

      • almsernet.war
      • almzmf.war
      • almzmfalf.war
      • zmfws.war

    2. Stop Common Tomcat.

    3. Ensure that the Common Tomcat directory is writeable and none of the existing services files are in use.

    4. Copy all the war files to the Common Tomcat <tomcat-install-dir>\webapps directory.

    5. Start Common Tomcat. When running, the server automatically unpacks and deploys the war files.

    After installing the ALM Solutions Connector services, manually configure resource properties for the following services:

    • almzmfalf

    • almsernet

    • almzmf 

If they are not encrypted, you can use your backed-up versions of the properties files to get the values you need for setup.

Note: In ALM Solutions Connector 6.2.2 and earlier, the zmfws services were named the almzmfws services. Although the zmfws services need no additional configuration, they are used when deployment tasks run.

The host and port information for ChangeMan ZMF as well as the URL for ALM Solutions Connector are specified in the ChangeMan ZMF plugin configuration. You can define multiple plugin configurations that point to different ChangeMan ZMF systems and ALM Solutions Connector configurations.

For details about installing and configuring the ALM Solutions Connector services, see the ALM Solutions Connector Configuration Guide.

Known issues

There are no known issues for this ALM Solutions Connector release.