I, too, was once very confused. Now, I am only a little confused ;-) There is a trick: There are two very different facets. One is ICF proper. But it is only an API. It does nothing it and of itself except supply a secure place for you to store your keys and optionally certificates. It uses (are you ready?) a Master Key. But that's all the Master Key is used for.
So, the endpoint of your labor is the message that crypto services are available. That's it. You now have one (or two) VSAM clusters that you would treat much like your RACF databases, and you will have to fret about setting the Master Key on any processor you plan to use, be it another LPAR or your DR site. Keeping in mind that if the keys are lost, so is the data. Actually using the facility is approached from a completely different direction. If, for example, you want SSL, then you go to the TCP/IP manuals. If you want to encrypt data, then you would go to that application's manuals. For certificates, key rings, and such, off you go to RACF. HTH and good luck. -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Roger Lowe Sent: Sunday, February 05, 2006 9:29 PM To: [email protected] Subject: ICSF for Dummies? Hi Listers, Trying to wrap my head around configuring ICSF with CEX2C (Crytpo Express 2) on z890. Have rtfm'ed the "ICSF Admin Guide", "ICSF Systems Programmers Guide" and am still slightly be-fuddled. Crypto is a whole new ball-game for me! Has anyone got an ICSF/Crypto for Dummies to point me in the right direction? Cheers, Roger ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
