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Overview of Redpaper:
The May 2006 IBM Redpaper titled
"z/OS Planned Outage Avoidance Checklist" includes a recommendation by the authors that readers consider Image FOCUS for its ability to provide additional functionality to avoid z/OS outages.
Image FOCUS detects, evaluates, documents and reports changes made to critical system components. Additional Image FOCUS Applications extend the scope of the Core Image FOCUS product to provide enhanced security, policy enforcement and functionality.
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11.1.3 Recommendation:
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| The Symbolic Parmlib Parser has limited functionality. Other products exist in the marketplace e.g., Image FOCUS from NewEra Software, that expand on the Symbolic Parmlib Parser syntax checking capabilities and provide enriched functionality. |
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11.1.4 Image FOCUS:
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Image FOCUS is a software product from NewEra Software, Inc. It uses proprietary technology to track changes to operating system parameters, and provides the ability to
do a 'Virtual IPL' of a z/OS image to ensure that a real IPL will not encounter invalid parameters.
Image FOCUS runs as a started task under z/OS. It works by providing a series
of "inspectors". These inspectors - OS-Inspector, Sysplex-Inspector, JES-Inspector and
VTAM-Inspector - perform the actual checking of each component.
Image FOCUS is composed of three components, each of which may be optionally installed and operated independently of the others. These components are: |
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Recovery:
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| The Image FOCUS recovery started task is designed to maintain its own independent communications subsystem and provides ISPF application support to a single locally-attached
non-SNA 3270 console. This provides the ability to logon, check, and fix problems when VTAM, JES or TSO are unavailable at IPL time. This potentially avoids the need to perform unnecessary IPLs following the discovery of a problem; that is, an installation
may "forward" fix problems found early in the IPL process.
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Multi-user:
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| When installed as a VTAM application to support multiple simultaneous users, Image FOCUS maintains a multi-user started task. This provides the ability for users to logon using their external security product controlled userids and perform checking, browsing, and editing of system parameters.
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Background:
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| The Image FOCUS background started task reports IPL changes that would result in future IPL failures to a designated user or group through the TSO Broadcast Facility or via E-mail. These notices are sent at intervals controlled by Image FOCUS, or optionally by the
installation's job scheduling package.
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Checking:
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The checking process starts with the LOADxx member whose value is entered by the user, or as a variable if run in batch. It checks that IPL text exists on the IPL volume and that the SYS1.NUCLEUS data set can be opened. It processes each PARMLIB and PROCLIB member for syntactical correctness and related data sets for referential integrity and attribute characteristics. This process may be run in the foreground by a user, in batch, or on a continuous basis. During the continuous inspection, the inspector will determine if there are any problems with system definitions, warn of potential failures, and compile reports on suspect components. These reports identify errors in critical data sets, document their locations, and catalog the data sets that may prevent a successful future IPL.
This checking extends to JES, VTAM and TCP/IP and the product provides the ability to create installation-specific checking routines over and above those supplied.
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What If:
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The product provides a "what if" option that includes support for new releases of the operating system. This allows the user to plug existing IPL parameters into the next version of z/OS and check that they are still viable.
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| Source: z/OS
Planned Outage Avoidance Checklist, An IBM
Redbook Redpaper, Paola
Bari, Frank Kyne, Brad Habbershaw, Vivian Roberts,
Simon Truby, Yvonne Zemotel - May 2006 |
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