Important Updates in Zowe v3

The upcoming release of Zowe v3 will bring a range of major changes in Zowe functionality. Review this article for details about changes to various Zowe components to be introduced in Zowe v3.

API Mediation Layer (API ML)

The following table presents changes to the API Mediation Layer in v3 and if there are any required actions for the API ML user.

Breaking Changes to API ML

Change in Zowe v3	Required action
Authentication endpoints will not support the route /api/v1/gateway, and instead will support only /gateway/api/v1	If you use the endpoints directly, change the URLs to start with /gateway/api/v1. If you use ZAAS client to integrate with API Mediation Layer, no action is required as the change is handled in the ZAAS client code.
Spring Enabler will be updated to Spring Boot 3 and Spring 6. Spring Boot 2 and Spring 5 versions will no longer be supported	Upgrade the extending service based on the Spring Enabler to Spring Boot 3 and Spring 6.
Datasets API will be archived	This service was disabled by default in Version 2. If you enable the service via components.data-sets.enabled: true and use the APIs documented in Data sets Swagger you need to move to the usage of the similar z/OSMF endpoints.
Jobs API will be archived	The service was disabled by default in Version 2. If you enable the service via components.jobs.enabled: true and use the APIs documented in Jobs Swagger you need to move to the usage of the similar z/OSMF endpoints.
Metrics service will be archived	The service was in Technical Preview. Currently there is no replacement. In V3, the Open Telemetry standard will be implemented that serves as a replacement.
IMS API will be archived	The service was not fully supported. If you were using the API, please reach out to the IBM team for follow-up steps.
Java 17 will be required for the API Mediation Layer to run	For V3, it is necessary to update z/OS to version 2.5 or later as this brings support of Java 17. It is necessary to install Java 17 and provide the path to Java 17 to Zowe J ava configuration.
z/OSMF in version V2R5 with APAR PH12143 applied	If you are running a version of z/OS before 3.1, validate that PH12143 APAR was applied to the z/OSMF installation used by Zowe
Configuration of keyrings will require transformation from safkeyring://// to safkeyring://	If your Zowe configuration contains safkeyring:////, change this part to safkeyring://
Support access to z/OSMF only via /ibmzosmf route. Supporting both created issues for CLI setup	If you use z/OSMF via {apimlUrl}/zosmf/{zosmfEndpoint} you need to move to {apimlUrl}/ibmzosmf/{zosmfEndpoint}

Important API ML updates

The current API Gateway contains Authentication and Authorization Services. This service will be separated as a standalone service. This is the only API Mediation Layer service that needs z/OS directly.

Application Framework

Breaking changes

Change in Zowe v3	Required action
Updating Angular to Version 16 from Version 12	???
Removing the core-js dependency	???
Updating Webpack to version 5	???
Updating Typescript to 4.9	???

CLI

Breaking changes

Change in Zowe v3	Required action
Introducing a new format for error messages to improve clarity	Adjust Zowe CLI scripts that parse error messages to handle the new error format
Removing V1 profile support	Implement a team configuration or use Zowe CLI's built-in V1 profile conversion command: zowe config convert
Removing deprecated items - CLI and Imperative	Zowe CLI extenders or users of the Zowe Client Node.js SDK will need to review the breaking changes and adjust their code to account for removed/changed classes, functions, and constants

Pre-release availability

• V3 pre-release versions are available via npm under the 'next' tag

Explorer for Intellij

Important updates

• Explorer for Intellij will be part of the Zowe Core
• Working with USS Files
• Working with Data Sets
• Working with JES Working Sets
• Interactive TSO Console

Explorer for Visual Studio Code

Breaking changes

Change in Zowe v3	Required action
Removing V1 profile support	Implement a team configuration or use Zowe Explorer's built-in V1 profile conversion functionality
Removing deprecated items - Explorer for VSCode	Zowe Explorer extenders or users of the Zowe Explorer APIs will need to review the breaking changes and adjust their code to account for removed/changed classes, functions, and constants
Storing extension settings in local storage	Settings and history previously stored in the .vscode settings folder will no longer be available. Users will have to adjust their Zowe Explorer settings after updating to V3

Important updates

• Storing persistent settings in local storage
• Comparing files in MVS view, the USS view, and across the two views

Pre-release availability

• V3 pre-release versions are available via GitHub releases or via the Open VSX Registry.

Installation and Packaging

Breaking changes

• Dropping the original V2 configuration management, zowe.useConfigmgr=false. (The Configuration Manager remains as the only supported method for configuring Zowe)

Important updates

• Removing the dependency on Node.js for configuration
• Introducing ZEN, a wizard to simplify configuration via the UI

ZSS

Breaking changes

• Run by default in 64 bit mode, components.zss.agent.64bit=true. 31-bit plugins cannot run in 64-bit ZSS, so you need to compile your plugins for the version of ZSS to be used. Note that only one version of ZSS can run at a time.