Using Zowe Explorer

Familiarize yourself with Zowe Explorer and make the best use of its available options and features.

Using Zowe Explorer in remote environments

As of Zowe Version 2.11, Zowe Explorer and the Zowe Explorer API no longer use node-keytar, which was used to manage mainframe credentials. This change might cause issues for some users when trying to interact with remote environments.

See Usage in Remote Environments to learn more about how to resolve credential errors.

Credentials in Zowe Explorer

When working in remote or virtualized environments — such as Eclipse Che, GitHub Codespaces, CodeReady Workspaces — administrators may find the configuration process for storing credentials securely too cumbersome. Instead, they might prefer to rely on the security tools integrated with these environments, such as file access permissions. To do so, administrators need to disable Zowe Explorer's credential management functionality.

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Consider other options. Use the Kubernetes Secrets plug-in for Zowe CLI and Zowe Explorer as an option for storing credentials in a Kubernetes containerized environment, or create your own Custom Credential Managers in Zowe Explorer and Zowe CLI.

Preventing Zowe Explorer from storing credentials

1. Open the zowe.config.json file in Visual Studio Code.

2. Find the autoStore property.

3. Set the autoStore property to false.

   Credentials are stored on a per profile/per panel basis until one of the following takes place:

   • Data Sets/USS/Jobs tree refresh caused by an update to the zowe.config.json file
   • Zowe Explorer refresh in the Command Palette
   • Reload of the Visual Studio Code window
   • Closing and reopening the VS Code window

Disabling Secure Credential Storage of credentials

Zowe Explorer V2 and V3

1. Navigate to Settings in VS Code.

2. In Zowe Explorer Settings, uncheck the Zowe Security: Secure Credentials Enabled checkbox.

   When disabled and autoStore is set to True in zowe.config.json, z/OS credentials are stored as plain text in the configuration file.