A useful PARMGEN reference

PARMGEN is the new OMEGAMON install process.  PARMGEN is a bit different from the older OMEGAMON ICAT install process.  There are some very useful information and reference sources for PARMGEN.  If you are doing a PARMGEN install you will want to check this page out:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21417935

Debugging Persistent Data Store (PDS) history issues on z/OS

For the z/OS based agents history is collected to a set of files called the Persistent Data Store (or the PDS).  When you look at SYSOUT output in the agent task (the TEMA) or the TEMS, assuming that the PDS is config'ed you will see lots of messages related to PDS initialization and usage.  If there are issues with the PDS then you will likely experience issues if you try to use the history functions in the Tivoli Portal (the TEP). 

Here is a link to a short tech note that menttions some common debugging steps and recommended maintenance level for PDS and history support. 
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21623100&myns=swgtiv&mynp=OCSSQH9J&mynp=OCSSRLD6&mynp=OCSSZ8F3&mynp=OCSSXS8U&mynp=OCSS2JNN&mynp=OCSS2JFP&mynp=OCSS2JL7&mynp=OCSSLSDR&mync=R

One of the suggestion is to just try re-allocating the PDS files using the jobs you get in the ICAT installer.  To be honest, on more than once occasion,  I've seen glitchy behavior in the PDS and in history collection that has been addressed by re-creating these files.

Setting thresholds in the enhanced 3270 interface

So you've installed the enhanced 3270 user interface and now you've logged on and started looking around.  You may have noticed that some fields that display on the various screens may be highlighted with colors like yellow or red.  What controls these color settings?  Why are some fields showing up highlighted in yellow or red (or sometimes blue)?

In the library hilev.RKANPAR there are members that control the threshold settings for these various fields.  For each of the various monitors there is a xxxTHRSH member that correlates to the threshold settings for that monitor.  For OMEGAMON CICS the member is KCPTHRSH, for OMEGAMON z/OS the member is KM5THRSH, for OMEGAMON DB2 the member is KDPTHRSH.

Here we show an example of the contents of the KCPTHRSH member.  In the example you see that for transaction rate if the value is greater than 1000 per minute or less than 100 per minute it constitutes a critical (i.e. red) level.  Same idea for a yellow warning level.  Want to change the setting?  Just overtype the value in the member and save the member to hilev.RKANPARU (important remember to save it to RKANPARU not RKANPAR).   The same process applies to the CPU utilization field,

An upcoming webcast you will not want to miss

In February there will be a webcast that, if you install OMEGAMON, you will not want to miss.  
"Enhanced OMEGAMON V5.1 Installation and configuration saves time and money"  is a webcast session that will go into detail on the new OMEGAMON Parmgen install process.

If you don't know about the Parmgen installation process, now is the time to start getting up to speed.  It's important to be aware that at some point the legacy ICAT install process will go away and Parmgen will be the means you have to install OMEGAMON.

The speaker will be Cecile Day.  Cecile is the expert on the topic. This session will be packed with detailed information.

The event will happen February 21st at 11 AM ET.  To attend here's a link:
http://ibm.co/UyeOAU

A very informative zEnterprise newsletter

If you are interested in getting some more "under the covers" knowledge of z/OS and zEnterprise, the zEnterprise Newsletter is worth checking out.  The zEnterprise Newsletter is published on a quarterly basis and contains various technical articles about zEnterprise and System z.  It's a nice newsletter and well worth checking out if you are interested in getting a little more into System z.

Here's a link for the newsletter:
http://www.millennialmainframer.com/2013/01/ibm-east-zenterprise-newsletter-1st.html

Upcoming System z Technical Summits

This srping there will be a series of System z Technical Summit events coming to a city near you.  The Technical Summit has sessions in a series of parallel technical tracks.  The tracks are the following:

Track 1: The New zEnterprise – A Cost-Busting Platform

Track 2: DB2 10 for z/OS: Performance and Optimization Best Practicest
Track 3: IMS: The Revolution/Evolution Continues
Track 4: Smarter Computing to Accelerate Agile, Mobile and Cloud Application Delivery
Track 5: Cost-Efficiencies of a Modern Application Infrastructure
Track 6: Data Center Operations and Systems Management Update

Track 6 will include a session on OMEGAMON V5. 

There's a lot of content and quite a bit of good information at these events.  These are all day events.  If you are interested in attending, here's a list of dates and locations:

Costa Mesa, CA   February 14, 2013

Atlanta, GA           February 26, 2013
New York, NY     March 13, 2013
Dallas, TX             March 27, 2013
Toronto, ON         April 16, 2013
Washington, DC    April 18, 2013

To attend here's a URL to sign up:
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/os/systemz/summit/venues_register.html

Enhanced 3270 - customizing KOBSTART

I was doing an OMEGAMON V5.1 proof of technology event for a customer recently and an interesting question came up.  What dictates the sequence of what OMEGAMON agents show up on the KOBSTART panel?  KOBSTART is the panel you will often see by default, so how can you control what shows up, and in what sequence?

Here's what a typical KOBSTART panel looks like.  From this one panel you can navigate to any one of several different monitors.  So what controls the sequence of what shows up on this panel?  You may want to change that sequence based upon things such as what you use the most.

The answer is fairly straight forward.  Look at library  hilev.RKANWENU and look for member KOBSTART (same name as the panel name).  Here you see an IMBED entry for each of the OMEGAMONs, and the sequence of thes IMBED statements controls the sequence of what shows up on KOBSTART.  If yu want to make a change, change KOBSTART.  But, remember to put user modified panels in the corresponding hilev.UKANWENU library.  I don't suggest modifying and saving into RKANWENU.

Something to be aware of with OMEGAMON IMS and ATF

OMEGAMON IMS has offered a very nice newly re-designed Application Trace Facility (ATF) for some time now.  There is some maintenance that has come out in the past couple months that you may want to be aware of if you use OMEGAMON IMS.

I've stumbled onto this a couple times recently.  If you've applied  UA65930 you may or may not have noticed that if you were automatically starting up ATF at OMEGAMON startup, it may not be starting anymore.  If you see an error message like this,  OIJ251: CSO SIZE: xxxxxxxx GREATER THAN 64 BIT STORAGE: xxxxxxxx  you may have stumbled onto this issue. 

What this means is there are knobs in OMEGAMON IMS you need to be aware of that control things like how many transactions ATF may keep in memory, and how much storage the facility may use. 


Here's a link that explains it in a little more detail: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21610308   Here's a link to the related APAR: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg1OA39741

Some upcoming webcasts of interest

Well, it's a new year, and thank you all very much for frequenting this blog.

There are some interesting webcasts events coming up.  One of them is "DB2 10 and Beyond - Celebrating 30 years of Superior Technology".  The amazing thing to me is it's been 30 years now for DB2.  I started working on DB2 in the mid-80's (the V2.1 days).  So I guess I've dated myself with that admission.  Time certainly does fly when you are having so much fun.

The speaker is Jeff Josten, IBM DB2 Chief Architect, and he will cover the latest on DB2 10 customer experiences around new features functions, including IDAA (IBM DB2 Analytics Accelerator) and the latest news on DB2 synergy with zEC12.

The event is January 29, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. ET.  Here's a link if you are interested in attending:
http://ibm.co/RuJmq6

Another topic of interest is "Save money from enhanced analytics with Tivoli support for zEnterprise zAware".  The whole topic of analytics is an interesting one.  I suspect you will be seeing a lot of activity in this area in the industry in 2013. 

With the announcement of zEnterprise EC12, IBM also announced a new analytics capability called zAware, which allows data center specialists to gain visibility into system behavior to improve availability through faster problem determination.  This webcasts will discuss how to take advantage of zAware with the current Tivoli NetView product and how Tivoli monitoring of zAware will improve zEnterprise availability with decreased costs and risks.

Sounds like an interesting topic.  The presenter will be Paul Smith (aka Smitty), Tivoli System z Architect.
If you are interested in attending, here's a link:
http://ibm.co/UDXkDV