Environment variables for MFT on z/OS

If we are running commands direct from the USS environment, or your own JCL scripts, after customization and configuration we must set a number of environment variables before running the configuration and administration scripts provided by Managed File Transfer. We must set these variables for each user and in each environment that the scripts will be invoked from.

To avoid conflicts with other products, we can choose to create a .wmqfterc script in your home directory. The .wmqfterc script is then invoked by each of the Managed File Transfer scripts and we can use this script to provide custom environment settings for Managed File Transfer.

There is also one optional environment variable, BFG_WTO, that we can set to send messages to the operator log when running agents from JCL.

Environment variable Value
BFG_JAVA_HOME The location of our Java installation. For more information about the levels of Java supported, see System Requirements for IBM MQ .
BFG_DATA The location of the data directory for Managed File Transfer for z/OS . This is the path to DATA_DIR.
STEPLIB Must include the following IBM MQ data sets:

  • SCSQAUTH
  • SCSQANLE
  • SCSQLOAD

To run the database logger component on a z/OS system, STEPLIB must also include the following Db2 data sets in the order shown:

  • SDSNEXIT
  • SDSNLOD2
  • SDSNLOAD

The following is an example .profile that correctly configures the environment variables for Managed File Transfer: 
STEPLIB=MQM.V920.SCSQAUTH:MQM.V920.SCSQANLE:MQM.V920.SCSQLOAD
PATH=/u/fteuser/bin:/u/fteuser/J7.0/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/u/fteuser/extras/bin:/bin:$PATH
BFG_JAVA_HOME=/u/fteuser/J7.0
BFG_DATA=/u/fteuser/DATA_DIR
export PATH STEPLIB BFG_JAVA_HOME BFG_DATA
Attention: The LIBPATH environment variable is no longer needed when calling fte* commands from a USS environment, and should be removed from any existing .wmqfterc script

Optionally, we can also set the following environment variables:

Environment variable Value
BFG_WTO One of the following values will enable BFG_WTO :

  • YES
  • ON
  • TRUE

One of the following values will disable BFG_WTO. These values are not case sensitive.

  • NULL
  • NO
  • OFF
  • FALSE

Enables z/OS logging. By default, this environment variable is disabled.

Messages that are written to the agent event log are also written to the z/OS operator log facility, which allows easier access for automation products when you run an agent from JCL. The routing code is Programmer Information (11) and the descriptor code is Informational (12).
BFG_GROUP_NAME

The mqm file group is typically associated with Managed File Transfer configuration data files and commands. Consequently, all users who are members of the mqm group can access, and make changes to the Managed File Transfer configuration. For more information, see File system permissions for MFT in IBM MQ.

For a z/OS system, a file group is a USS filesystem entity, and the mqm file group is not necessarily defined. We can define an alternative, existing z/OS USS filesystem group for Managed File Transfer configuration data files by using the BFG_GROUP_NAME environment variable. For example, at the USS shell prompt: 
export BFG_GROUP_NAME=FTEGB
which defines group FTEGB to be associated with any subsequently created configuration files for the current USS session.

We can set BFG_GROUP_NAME to a blank value, or remove it.

If you run the fteMigrateAgent command on a z/OS system with the BFG_GROUP_NAME environment variable set to a non-blank value, the command checks to see whether the user is a member of the group named by the BFG_GROUP_NAME variable. If the user is not in the named group, the command might report the error message BFGCL0502E: You are not authorized to perform the requested operation. and fail to run. For details on the criteria the user must meet to successfully run that command, see fteMigrateAgent .
Parent topic: Configure Managed File Transfer for z/OS