IMS security

This topic provides information to help you establish resource security for an IMS™ online system and identifies the resources that can be protected and the facilities available to protect them, provides design considerations, and describes the steps that you need to take to activate security.

Although there are many similarities and overlaps, the security for the DB/DC and DCCTL environments is discussed separately from the security for the DBCTL environment.

Data set encryption support for IMS
z/OS data set encryption support, which includes reading and writing to encrypted data sets, but not creating them, is available on z/OS 2.1 with APAR OA50569 and dependent APARs installed.
Overview of DB/DC and DCCTL security
When you initiate security safeguards, you must balance requirements between those responsible for the security of resources and those users who legitimately need access to those resources.
Designing security for IMS DB/DC and DCCTL
This topic explains how the various types of IMS security can be used. When you are considering each part of your security design, consider the physical actions that a user must take to obtain access to the system. You probably will use more than one type of security checking.
Activating IMS security for DB/DC and DCCTL environments
This topic provides guidance on activating your IMS security design and on using RACF® and program exit routines.
Controlling security during system startup for DB/DC and DCCTL
The EXEC parameters in the IMS and DCC startup procedures provide a way to control the kind of security checking that is done during the current execution. The parameters act as switches for the different types of security that are specified in the system definition macros.
Implementing security changes online in DB/DC and DCCTL environments
You can perform changes to your security definitions online when you use RACF for security enforcement.
Controlling security violations in DB/DC and DCCTL environments
Security violations are handled according to the installation's security administration guidelines.
Considering other access control methods
Use other access methods to augment your security software.
Encryption: an alternative to access control
When preventing access to the data is difficult or impractical, encryption can protect data that is in files or data that is being communicated in a network. IMS offers some file encryption capability (through IMS Segment Edit/Compression exit routines, for example) but no communication encryption capability.
Security considerations for a DBCTL environment
This topic contains information about establishing security for an IMS DBCTL environment.

Parent topic: IMS system administration considerations and tasks

Related concepts:

ODBM and security