IBM IMS® Explorer for VS Code

Installing IMS Explorer for VS Code

The following instructions describe how to install the IMS Explorer for VS Code.

Before you begin

Complete the Prerequisites before you install the extension. In particular:

This page does not describe how to install Visual Studio Code or Java.

Install the IMS Explorer for VS Code Extension

There are several ways to download and install IBM IMS Explorer for VS Code. You can install it directly from the VS Code Marketplaceopen in new window website. Alternatively, you can download a ZIP of the extension with provided code signing signature files that you can use to verify the integrity of the downloaded files.

Use any of the following options to download IBM IMS Explorer for VS Code:

Installing IBM IMS Explorer for VS Code from the VS Code marketplace

  1. Open Visual Studio Code.
  2. Go to the Extensions panel. You can do this by clicking View>Extensions.
  3. Search for IMS Explorer for VS Code.
  4. Select the page that features the IBM IMS Explorer for VS Codeopen in new window and click Install.

Installing IBM IMS Explorer for VS Code from a VSIX file

You can also download the IBM IMS Explorer for VS Code extension from the IBM Mainframe downloadsopen in new window website. Here, you can download the extension file directly. Use the following steps in VS Code to install the VSIX file manually.

Installing the extension does not install Java. If Java 21 or later (64-bit) is missing or cannot be found, the extension installs but then fails to start. Before you begin, run code --version and java -version in a terminal and confirm that VS Code is 1.102.3 or later and Java is 21 or later (64-bit). For instructions, see Prerequisites.

  1. Unzip the downloaded zip file.
  2. Open the README.txt file in a text editor and follow the steps described there to verify the individual files with the provided code signing signatures.
  3. To install the ims-explorer-for-vscode-<version>.vsix file in VS Code, click the Extensions icon in VS Code's activity bar to open the Extensions view.
  4. Click the ... icon in the Extensions view's upper-right corner to reveal a drop-down menu of more actions.
  5. In the drop-down menu that appears, click Install from VSIX.
  6. Use the file picker that pops up to navigate to and select the VSIX file you downloaded, and then click Install.
  7. The extension should be installed from the VSIX file.
  8. Restart VS Code so that it picks up any recent Java installation or JAVA_HOME changes.

First‑Run Checklist

  • Open the IMS Explorer for VS Code view by clicking View>Open View>IMS Explorer for VS Code. Alternatively select the IMS Explorer VS Code extension in the sidebar
  • If you receive an IMS Explorer failed to start error reporting Java cannot be found, ensure that Java can be found by Visual Studio Code. See Known issues and limitations for more information.
  • Set your IMS Workspace location (optional but recommended for team sharing)