An easy way to generate OMEGAMON DB2 report JCL

OMEGAMON DB2 (the original Candle product) and IBM DB2 PM/PE were merged together into a single set of solutions a few releases ago. The current solution is now called OMEGAMON XE for DB2 PM/PE, to reflect that the tools have been merged.

When the merger occurred, the historical reporting mechanisms of DB2 PM/PE became the core historical functions of OMEGAMON DB2. If you were a new user to the solution, that meant you had to learn a new reporting language, and create new reporting JCL. But, there is an easy way to create OMEGAMON DB2 reporting JCL. If you invoke the ISPF interface that comes with OMEGAMON DB2, you have an option to generate reporting JCL using the ISPF interface.

The example shown here shows how you can invoke this function. You then specify what reports you want, and hit F5 to generate the JCL. You can then edit and submit the resultant JCL.

This is a convenient and easy way to get started with the history functions of OMEGAMON DB2, and quickly create reports using the tool.

Recommended maintenance levels for OMEGAMON

The following link is to a page which pulls together a lot of useful information on recommended maintenance levels for the various OMEGAMON monitoring tools (both V4.10 and V4.20). There are also links on this page to interim fixes, and other interesting stuff.

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21290883&myns=swgtiv&mynp=OCSSQH9J&mynp=OCSSZJZF&mynp=OCSSRLD6&mynp=OCSSZ8F3&mynp=OCSSSQ3B&mynp=OCSSUSPS&mynp=OCSSUSPA&mynp=OCSSXS8U&mynp=OCSS2JNN&mynp=OCSS2JFP&mynp=OCSS2JL7&mynp=OCSSLSDR&mync=R

Documentation on event forwarding in the TEP

In some prior posts I have talked about forwarding events from the Tivoli Portal (TEP) to OMNIbus. Here is a link to a nice document that covers the configuration of the event forwarding mechanisms:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21330541&myns=swgtiv&mynp=OCSSQH9J&mynp=OCSSRLD6&mynp=OCSSSQ3B&mynp=OCSSUSPS&mynp=OCSSUSPA&mynp=OCSSXS8U&mynp=OCSS2JNN&mynp=OCSS2JMJ&mynp=OCSS2JFP&mynp=OCSS2JL7&mynp=OCSSLSDR&mync=R

Historical baselines in the TEP

ITM6.2.2 introduced several visual baseline functions to the Tivoli Enterprise Portal. The list of baseline functions includes the following:

Model Situation - create a situation using historical data and statistical functions to “model” and select optimal threshold values

Statistical Baseline - enables the results of statistical functions to be drawn as lines in the chart to visually determine what is normal in an environment

Monitored Baseline - Situation thresholds can be visualized in a bar, area, or plot chart. Allows a user to track in real-time how a metric is performing relative to its threshold.

Historical Baseline - Work with detailed (not summarized) historical data from the data warehouse.

The example shown here shows a statistical baseline as applied to an OMEGAMON IMS repsonse time chart. Here we see, in the lower left corner of the workspace, an area chart of IMS response time, and then I added a statistical baseline of average reposnse time in the form of a line across the area chart. The line makes it easier to see when response time exceeds the average.

Upcoming System z Storage Directions and Best Practices

IBM will be doing a series of seminars on "System z Storage Directions and Best Practices". The seminar will cover a briefing on the latest announcements in mainframe storage and then will discuss the financial benefits of using IBM Tivoli software to manage stored data. The seminars are free and will take place at the following dates/locations (plus I've provided a link for each location to sign up):

April 6th -- Minneapolis, IBM Offices, 650 3rd Avenue South
https://www-950.ibm.com/events/wwe/grp/grp004.nsf/v16_agenda?openform&seminar=ZZZA3YES&locale=en_US

April 7th -- Chicago, Hyatt Building, IBM Offices – Sixth Floor, 71 S Wacker Dr
https://www-950.ibm.com/events/wwe/grp/grp004.nsf/v16_agenda?openform&seminar=4Q2ABUES&locale=en_US

April 8th -- Hazelwood (St Louis), IBM Offices, 325 James S McDonnell Blvd, Building 300
https://www-950.ibm.com/events/wwe/grp/grp004.nsf/v16_agenda?openform&seminar=CEBG3VES&locale=en_US

Upcoming webcast on OMEGAMON CICS V4.20

There will be a webcast in April on "What's New in OMEGAMON XE for CICS on z/OS V4.2.0". The presentation will cover key new features and functions in the tool including: customer enhancements, performance enhancements, exploitation of the new features of CICS Transaction Server v4.1, and repackaging to include full monitoring capabilities of CICS Transaction Gateway z/OS as part of the core OMEGAMON CICS monitor.

The presenter is Richard Burford, and he really knows his stuff in the area of CICS. The webcast will happen at 11 ET on April 15th. Here is a link to sign up for the event:

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/os/systemz/telecon/15apr/

Introduction To System z Class

IBM will be offering an "Introduction To System z Overview" class in Chicago in May. I've looked over the class agenda, and it looks like a very good overview of the technical capabilities of z. The class is a 3 day event, May 25th through the 27th, at the Hyatt Center in downtown Chicago. It's intended primarily for "newbies" to z/OS. And the price is right. It's free!!!

Here's the topics to be covered:

Introducing the Mainframe Environment
o System z Architecture and Hardware
o z/OS Overview
o Systems Management
o Security Server
o TSO/E and ISPF
o UNIX System Services
o Working with Datasets
o Using JCL and SDSF
o Web-based Workloads
o Bulk and batch workloads
o ESB workloads
o Consolidated workloads (z/Linux and z/VM)
o Application Programming
o Transaction Management Systems
o Database Management Systems
o WebSphere Brand

For more information & where to register, please contact:
Ahsan Saiyed at 312-529-1602 or aksaiyed@us.ibm.com
Patrick Knott at 314-252-4069 or gpknott@us.ibm.com

First Come, First Serve enrollment.

Changes to OMEGAMON DB2 Thread Cancel

There have been some changes recently to OMEGAMON DB2 in terms of how it handles authorization to execute a CANCEL THREAD command. Here's the story.

PK90400 enhanced OMEGAMON DB2 so that when the product is configured for external security, the userid of the logged on user is passed to DB2 to determine the DB2 authority to issue a CANCEL THREAD command. But, when instead OMEGAMON DB2 is configured for internal security the OMEGAMON task id is passed to DB2 for the authority to cancel a thread. Prior to PK90400 the CANCEL THREAD command was always issued under the authority of the OMEGAMON task.

There is now an APAR to provide a user configurable option to allow OMEGAMON to always issue the CANCEL THREAD under the authority of the OMEGAMON task, even if configured for external security.

Crystal clear, huh? It is an important thing to be aware of, becuse the authority to cancel DB2 threads is probably something you want to have properly secured.

Here is a link for more info:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1PM07797&myns=swgtiv&mynp=OCSSUSPS&mynp=OCSSUSPA&mync=R

New article in IBM System z Advisor

I just published an article in the IBM System z Advisor on "Leveraging OMEGAMON XE and the Tivoli Enterprise Portal to create Management By Exception Views". This is a more detailed discussion of some of the posts I've made earlier in this blog on how to use the TEP to create what I call Management By Exception workspaces.

Here is a link to the article:

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/tivoli/systemz-advisor/2010-03/leveraging-omegamon-xe.html

Upcoming OMEGAMON webcast

I will be doing a webcast on "What’s new and exciting In OMEGAMON XE for IMS V4.2.0" this coming March 25th at 11 AM ET. I will be spending time on the new enhancements to the tool, and also looking at some of the new capabilities you get with ITM 6.22, and how to exploit them in OMEGAMON.

It's a freebie, and here is the URL to sign up for the event:

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/os/systemz/telecon/25mar/

Virtual Pulse

If you missed out on going to the Pulse conference in Vegas, you can still take advantage of the Pulse Virtual Online event. This event will give you a chance to check out some of the same material that was covered at Pulse.

Here is a link for the Pulse Virtual event:

http://vshow.on24.com/clients/ibm/pulse2010

RLIM enhancements to OMEGAMON XE For CICS V4.20

I've posted earlier on the new features of OMEGAMON XE for CICS V4.20 (now GA by the way). One nice enhancement I didn't mention is you now have the ability to use RLIM (the resource limting facility) to automatically start an application trace. This means that if you have an outlier transaction running in a CICS region, RLIM can invoke the trace and hopefully capture at least a portion of the problem tran. To take advantage of this option you need to set your RLIM options carefully, but it has potential for certain customers. I will do a nother post on RLIM in more detail later this month.