# Creating a new connection to a remote system

About this task

Before you can connect to a remote system from Rational® Developer for System z®, you must define a new connection for it and specify connection properties. To define a connection to a remote system, follow these steps:

1. Define connection information.
   1. Switch to the Remote System Explorer perspective or the z/OS® Projects perspective and select the Remote Systems view.
   2. Click New Connection and select z/OS.
   3. Right-click and choose New Connection. The New Remote z/OS System Connection window opens.
   4. Select a profile name from the drop-down list. If this is your first time defining a remote connection, a window opens prompting you to create a new profile. On the New Remote z/OS System Connection window, the profile name you enter is displayed.
   5. Enter the following values in the fields on this window.
      Host name
        Enter the TCP/IP address of the system you are connecting to.
      Connection name
        Enter the short name you want to call your system. For example, `MYSYSTEM.`
      Description
        Enter a description of your choice.
      Verify host name
        Select this check box to verify that the host name you entered is valid before attempting to connect.
   6. To define the connection using default values for the MVS™ Files, z/OS UNIX® Files, z/OS UNIX Shells, and JES subsystems, click Finish. To set properties for these subsystems, click Next. The wizard opens a properties window for each subsystem. These pages display the properties of the underlying services used by each subsystem.
2. On each properties page, select the configuration to be used for the subsystem and then edit the properties for each available service in that configuration.
   - On the MVS Files, z/OS UNIX Files, and z/OS UNIX Shells pages, you can select from the following server launchers. If you are not sure which option to choose, contact your system administrator.
     - Daemon: Establishes a connection using the remote daemon to start the server. To use this option, the remote daemon must be running on the remote system. If you choose this option, specify a valid port number.

       If you choose this option for z/OS UNIX Files, you must start the server daemon using the root user ID. Otherwise the server cannot authenticate users.

     - Authentication method: Choose a method for authenticating with the remote system. Select userid/password if you log on to the remote system using a user ID and password. Select certificate is you use client certificate authentication. Client certificate authentication is for users who need to connect to a remote system using a device such as an integrated circuit card (like Smart Card). See Creating a connection using client certificate authentication for more information.
     - Rexec: Establishes a connection using the REXEC service to start the server. To use this option, the REXEC service must be running on the remote system. If you choose this option, specify a valid path command to where the server is installed on the remote system. You can specify a path that is relative to the directory where you run the REXEC command or the full path to the location where the server is installed. For example, dstore or /usr/bin/dstore. You must also specify a server launch command. For zSeries®, the command is server.zseries.
     - Running: Establishes a connection with a server that is already running on some known port. To use this option, the server needs to be started before you attempt to define a connection in the Remote System Explorer. The port must be specified on the Subsystem properties page before you can connect to the server.
     - SSH: Establishes a connection using secure shell support. To use this option, the SSH service must be running on the remote system. If you choose this option, specify a valid path command to where the server is installed on the remote system. You must also specify a server launch command. For zSeries®, the command is server.zseries. In the Authentication field, select password authentication if you log on to the server using a password or key authentication if you log on using a privte/public key pair to authenticate with the server. If you choose key authentication and the key pair does not exist, the required key pair is automatically generated and exchanged with the remote SSH server for future requests. You are prompted for a password to the remote system to enable this exchange. Any subsequent requests to the remote system through SSH using key authentication do not require a password.
   - On the JES window, enter the following values in the fields.
     - JES Job Monitor Port: Obtain this port number from your system administrator. The default value is 6715.
     - Max Number of Lines to Download: This is the default used for the number of lines from the job output to download. You can modify this at a later time.
3. Click Finish. The Remote Systems view displays the short name of your new connection with five nodes under the connection name:
   - MVS Files is the MVS file subsystem. This node contains two folders: My Data Sets displays your MVS files. You can create additional MVS file folders by adding new filters to this node. My Search Queries displays search queries you have run and saved in the Remote z/OS Search view.
   - TSO Commands is a command subsystem. When you open a TSO command shell, its name appears under this node.
   - z/OS UNIX Files is the z/OS UNIX file subsystem. This node contains three folders: My home, Home, and Root. You can create additional z/OS UNIX file folders by adding new filters to this node.
   - z/OS UNIX Shells is a command subsystem. When you open a z/OS UNIX command shell, its name appears under this node.
   - JES is the JES subsystem. Under this node you can create job filters for displaying jobs you have run on the z/OS system.

What to do next
After you have established a connection to the remote system, you can control the contents that appear under JES, MVS Files, and z/OS UNIX Files by defining filters for these subsystems. You can add search queries to the MVS Files folder by running and saving remote z/OS searches. See the Related Tasks for instructions.
Parent topic: Creating a connection using client certificate authentication
Related concepts
Systems, projects, and properties
Working with JCL procedures
Remote System Explorer Connections
Related tasks
Mapping data sets
Creating a filter for a JES subsystem
Creating a filter for MVS Files
Saving search queries
Creating a filter for z/OS UNIX Files
Creating a connection using client certificate authentication
Related reference
Remote System Explorer
z/OS Projects perspective