Launching ACS Emulator and running macro hands-free

[kcbaltz]

For testing purposes, I'd like to be able to launch the ACS Emulator and have it run a macro without any user input. The problem I'm running into is the grey box that pops up when I launch the emulator. Is there a way to bypass this or otherwise provide credentials on the command line?

Here's my work so far. I've got a macro recorded that fills in credentials on the initial green screen and then executes the test steps I want to run. I created a .hod file that opens this session and runs this macro. I can do all this from the command line with a script like (this is on Mac):

/usr/bin/java -Xmx1024m -Djava.class.path=/Applications/IBM\ i\ Access\ Client\ Solutions.app/acsbundle.jar com/ibm/iaccess/launch/AcsLaunchPad IBM/iAccessClient/Emulator/TestSystem.hod

The remaining problem is that it wants to open a GUI popup asking for my credentials. I've never understood why the IBM Emulator requires me to login twice (once on grey screen, once on green) when RUMBA and other emulators do not.

[tomliotta]

It pops up twice because either the green-screen logon panel should be turned off (i.e., 'bypass signon') and hasn't been or a form of SSO should be used with practically no user logon to the server. The green-screen logon is old, practically obsolete and pretty insecure.

[EmmanuelW1]

Tom wrote: "The green-screen logon is old, practically obsolete and pretty insecure."

The green screen can be configured to use SSL, in which case I think it's pretty secure.

Cheers,

Emmanuel

[tomliotta]

The green screen can be configured to use SSL, in which case I think it's pretty secure.

I agree. Under TLS/SSL, much changes. Even so, there's little to be gained by using green-screen logons in many cases with iAccess clients.

Since iAccess 5250 itself requires license validation for the user/workstation/PC, a logon is needed just to get an iAccess terminal session started. Once that initial logon is done, an additional green-screen logon is usually redundant whether under TLS/SSL or not. (Exceptions can make sense.) When it's not needed, why do it?

[tomliotta]

Here are a couple commands that I can run from a Linux terminal to get an emulator session:

Logon:

toml@T500-64 ~ $ sudo /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java -Xmx1024m -jar /opt/ibm/iAccessClientSolutions/acsbundle.jar /PLUGIN=logon    /SYSTEM=TISI /USERID=TOML /PASSWORD=mypwd

5250:

toml@T500-64 ~ $ sudo /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java -Xmx1024m -jar /opt/ibm/iAccessClientSolutions/acsbundle.jar /PLUGIN=5250    /SYSTEM=TISI /sso=1

The first command performs a logon to one of my systems, TISI. Then the second command opens a 5250 emulator session to the same system with the green-screen logon panel bypassed. (The "/sso=1" parameter requests the bypass.)

I haven't experimented with variations such as leaving off the logon "/PASSWORD" parameter only because I don't need to here. I'd first expect that a pop-up logon box would request a password to be typed in. As those commands are shown, there is no grey logon pop-up box and no green-screen logon panel.

[gcraill]

Here are a couple commands that I can run from a Linux terminal to get an emulator session:

The first command performs a logon to one of my systems, TISI. Then the second command opens a 5250 emulator session to the same system with the green-screen logon panel bypassed. (The "/sso=1" parameter requests the bypass.)

I haven't experimented with variations such as leaving off the logon "/PASSWORD" parameter only because I don't need to here. I'd first expect that a pop-up logon box would request a password to be typed in. As those commands are shown, there is no grey logon pop-up box and no green-screen logon panel.

Heya Tom,

Is there any way to point the connection to a particular HOD file?

I am having a go at this and have it opening sessions etc easily, but it wants to save them each time when it exits. I am guessing that as I am invoking the emulator with "system=xxxxxx" and not directing it to a path/path/path/xxxx.HOD that it does not have it saved, so it pops up a prompt to save it.

Any way to get past that?

Cheers
Greg