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z/OS Connect 3.0.98 now available

By Shruthi Krishnan posted 5 hours ago

  

z/OS Connect 3.0.98 brings several powerful enhancements to help modernize mainframe integration. This release introduces support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP), making it easier for AI agents to understand and interact with external systems like tools, databases, and APIs. In addition, z/OS Connect also introduces a new transport option—the IMS Transaction Manager Resource Adapter (TMRA)—which enables IMS applications to connect with z/OS Connect even when POSIX(OFF) is required.

In addition, z/OS Connect 3.0.98 now supports the latest version of CICS, 6.3 and z/OS 3.2, along with an upgraded embedded Liberty runtime to 25.0.0.9, ensuring better performance, security, and compatibility across your environment.

For more information on these updates, refer to PH68103. If you’re new to IBM z/OS Connect, you can find more information about its features and benefits by visiting this page.

New

Standardizing AI Integration with External Services Using Model Context Protocol

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) acts as a bridge between AI applications and the external services they rely on—like tools, databases, and predefined templates. By introducing a standardized communication layer, MCP makes it easier for AI agents to understand and interact with the broader ecosystem, unlocking smarter and more context-aware capabilities.

With the support in z/OS Connect, you can now expose API operations as Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools—giving AI agents structured access to programs and data on z/OS.

For more information about MCP, see What is MCP? and to configure MCP with z/OS Connect, see Configuring MCP for IBM z/OS Connect.

New Transport Option: IMS TM Resource Adapter Now Connects to z/OS Connect

Connecting IMS to z/OS Connect just got more flexible. Typically, IMS systems use the IBM z/OS Client Web Enablement Toolkit (Web toolkit) to communicate with z/OS Connect in API requester scenarios. However, this method requires POSIX(ON) to be enabled for the Language Environment (LE) enclave.

To address this, z/OS Connect now offers a new transport option: the IMS TM Resource Adapter (TMRA). This alternative allows IMS applications that require POSIX(OFF) to still establish a reliable connection with z/OS Connect, expanding integration possibilities without compromising application requirements.

For more information, see Configuring IMS to access IBM z/OS Connect to call APIs.

Enhancements

  • The Creating and Deploying the API Requester tutorial just got an upgrade—it now includes support for the PATCH HTTP method. This enhancement gives developers more flexibility when designing APIs that need to update resources partially, making your integration workflows even more powerful.

  • The version of Liberty that is embedded in IBM z/OS Connect is upgraded to 25.0.0.9.

Fixes

  • PH67465 - API requester response data is printed incorrectly in the Host API trace.
  • PH67628 - Updating the size of an array, which uses an array counter, in a service results in the array being incorrectly processed. Fix available in z/OS Connect API Toolkit 3.4.0.3.

Stay Connected and Share Your Feedback!

We value your thoughts and opinions on this blog article, the latest enhancements in IBM z/OS Connect, and any other related topics. To help us improve, please share your feedback:

  • For general feedback and discussions, visit the z/OS Connect Community and post on our discussion forum.

  • For feedback specific to IBM z/OS Connect documentation, use the feedback feature on each documentation page.

The more detailed and specific your feedback is, the better we can address your concerns and improve our content. Thank you for taking the time to help us make IBM z/OS Connect better!

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