Does CA Test Data Manager (TDM) or Fast Data Masker (FDM) support native masking of COBOL files in AWS S3 buckets?
Article ID: 452300
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
There is a requirement to mask COBOL files stored in AWS S3 buckets, where input, decryption, and output files reside in separate S3 buckets. While Fast Data Masker (FDM) supports masking COBOL files as fixed-width data using a copybook, the current TDM Portal and FDM configurations appear to require access to local filesystems. Does the TDM Portal or FDM support the native masking of COBOL files directly from an AWS S3 bucket?
Environment
- AWS S3 (COBOL source files)
- CA Test Data Manager (TDM) Portal
- Fast Data Masker (FDM)
Cause
CA Test Data Manager (TDM) 5.0 does not natively support the direct masking of COBOL files stored in AWS S3 via the TDM Portal’s File Masking interface.
While TDM 5.0 supports AWS S3 via connection profiles, this capability is currently limited to specific cloud-native file formats. Per current documentation for Portal File Masking, only the following file types are supported for direct cloud storage masking:
- CSV (Comma-Separated Values)
- JSON
- Parquet
Resolution
TDM continues to support COBOL (VSAM/ISAM) and other mainframe data formats through Fast Data Masker (FDM) and CA TDM Datamaker. However, these components require files to be accessible on a local filesystem or through a mainframe-specific connection.
To mask COBOL files currently stored in an AWS S3 bucket, it is recommended to implement an automation workflow (typically utilizing Javelin) to manage the file lifecycle:
- Use a Javelin workflow or a CLI utility to fetch the COBOL files from the source AWS S3 bucket to a local or staging server.
For more information on Javelin - Mask: Execute a Fast Data Masker (FDM) job to perform the masking on the local filesystem.
- Upload: Use the automation workflow to upload the masked COBOL files to the target AWS S3 bucket.
Note: This workflow is a custom implementation. Broadcom Support cannot develop or maintain custom automation workflows. Support is available to assist with questions regarding the configuration of TDM and FDM components during this process.
Additional Information
If you require native support for masking COBOL files in AWS S3, you may submit a formal enhancement request to the TDM Product Management team. Please provide a detailed use case description, including:
- A clear explanation of the business requirement.
- Examples of the specific data or file structures involved.
- The expected workflow within the TDM environment.
Upon submission, Broadcom Support will open an internal ticket with Product Management/Engineering. If the request is accepted, a tracking number will be provided for your reference. Support cases will be closed once the tracking number is provided, as enhancement requests are managed outside of the standard support ticketing lifecycle.
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