Preparing to start an MVS™ MAS

Note:
Because a CICS® system is unknown to CICSPlex® SM until the CMAS with which the CICS system is associated is started, you should start the CMAS before any of the MASs (that is, the CICS systems the CMAS is to manage).

Start of changeCMAS links can fail if you have high priority jobs running alongside your CICS regions. For example, if a MAS holding a lock cannot be dispatched because of a priority conflict, the CMAS links can fail.End of change

In order for a CICS system to be managed by CICSPlex SM, you must:

Figure 57. MVS MAS-specific JCL requirements
  ...
//STEPLIB  DD DSN=CICSTS31.CPSM.SEYUAUTH,DISP=SHR
//DFHRPL   DD DSN=CICSTS31.CPSM.SEYULOAD,DISP=SHR
//EYUPARM  DD DSN=(Any PO or PS data set with LRECL=80)
//EYUHISTA  DD DSN=(Optional 1st history dataset)
//EYUHISTB  DD DSN=(Optional 2nd history dataset)
//EYUHISTn  DD DSN=(Optional nth history dataset)
  ...

When changing these DD statements in the startup JCL for a CICS system make sure that the:

STEPLIB DD statement
Includes the CICSTS31.CPSM.SEYUAUTH authorized load library.
DFHRPL DD statement
Includes the CICSTS31.CPSM.SEYULOAD load library.
EYUPARM DD statement
Identifies the library containing the CICSPlex SM parameters.
Notes:
  1. Start of changeMember EYULMS0P in the CICSTS31.CPSM.SEYUPARM data set, contains sample system parameters for a local MAS; this member End of change must be edited. See CICSPlex SM system parameters for a detailed description of each parameter.
  2. If you want to use Business Application Services to install CICS resources in a MAS, you must specify the CICSPlex SM system parameter MASPLTWAIT(YES) for that system. This parameter suspends CICS PLT processing until all CICS resources are installed and the CICSPlex SM MAS is fully initialized.
EYUHISTx DD statement
Identifies the history data sets for the MAS. Each MAS must have its own set of CICSPlex SM history data sets. The data sets must be allocated to the MAS region by means of DD cards in the JCL with DD names of the form EYUHISTx, where x is a character suffix taking values A through Z. Dynamic allocation is not supported. The data sets must be allocated with a disposition of OLD. The suffix letters must be used in ascending sequence and no letter should be omitted. For example, if four history data sets are required, use DD names EYUHISTA, EYUHISTB, EYUHISTC, and EYUHISTD. See Preparing the MAS for history recording.

Activating DB2 connections during CICS startup

This section applies to CICS Transaction Server for z/OS®, Version 3 Release 1 CICS systems with the CICS-DB2 attachment facility.

Special considerations apply when BAS is used to install a DB2® connection defined to CICSPlex SM via a DB2CDEF resource definition.

When BAS is used to define and then install a DB2 connection (via a DB2CDEF) the connection starts out in NOTCONNECTED status. You can then issue a CONNect command on the DB2CONN view against an installed connection, to cause the connection to the DB2 subsystem to be activated.

In a test environment, it might be acceptable to wait for the MAS to start and then install the BAS definition, and issue a CONNECT command against the resulting DB2CONN.

However, in a production system, you might want the connection to be automatically activated when the MAS starts up, as part of the PLT processing sequence, so that the DB2 subsystem can be accessed immediately by programs and users.

Specifying the CICS SIT parameter DB2CONN=YES does not by itself achieve this, because at the time this and other SIT parameters are processed, CICSPlex SM has not yet installed any DB2CDEF objects.

The way to activate a DB2 connection during CICS startup is as follows:

  1. Ensure there is an appropriate DB2CDEF resource definition for CICSPlex SM to install, and that the definition is set up for automatic installation.
  2. Specify CICSPlex SM parameter MASPLTWAIT(YES). This causes the DB2CDEF resource definition (as well as all other BAS resource definitions) to be installed during PLT processing.
  3. Start of changeArrange for the appropriate DB2 connect program to be started after the MAS startup program (EYU9NXLM for a local MAS).End of change

MQSeries connections

You cannot use BAS to define and install an MQSeries® connection before the CICSPlex SM environment has been initialized.

MVS MAS-related CICS SIT parameters

You should verify that the sequential data set or partitioned data set member identified by the CICS SYSIN statement includes the appropriate CICS system initialization table (SIT) parameters, as described in Table 23.

Table 23. CICS SIT parameters for an MVS MAS
Parameter Explanation
APPLID= VTAM® application ID for this CICS system. Used as MAS name when NAME(value) is not specified as a CICSPlex SM system parameter.
Start of changeAUTORSETTIME={YES|NO}End of change Start of changeThis parameter allows for the synchronization of the MVS and the CICS TOD clocks when the local time offset is changed. The default is NO.End of change
CPSMCONN=LMAS Initialize the region as a local MAS.
DFLTUSER=userid Specify the user identifier that is to be used for security checking when a user is not defined to the ESM.
DSALIM= Limit of DSA storage below 16MB. Should be set to at least 4MB.
Start of changeEDSALIM=End of change Start of changeLimit of EDSA storage below 16MB. Should be set to at least 50MB.End of change
GRPLIST= Identify the name of the group list containing the CICSPlex SM group added to the CSD file for the MAS. (See Updating CSD files using DFHCSDUP (MVS MAS) for additional information.)
ISC=YES Code YES to include the CICS programs required for interregion and intersystem communications.
MCT= Monitoring control table. If you have CICS performance class monitoring active, then you must specify a value for this parameter. You can use 2$ (the default) or an existing table. (See Note below.)
MN=ON Activates CICS Monitor. (See Note below.)
MNFREQ=001500 Writes performance class data every 15 minutes.
Note:
Set only for local MAS.
MNPER=ON Tells CICS to monitor performance classes. (See Note below.)
Note for MCT, MONITOR, MN, and MNPER parameters:
To get all data available for the TASK and MLOCTRAN views, MCT must have a value specified, CICS monitoring for performance classes must be activated, and you must be collecting performance class data.

If you do not want this data written to an SMF data set, you can suppress the monitor records. See the description of the SUPPRESSCMF parameter in CICSPlex SM system parameters.

Start of changeMXT=End of change Start of changeMaximum tasks. Increase by 25 to accommodate the CICSPlex SM MAS tasks.
Note:
CICSPlex SM rarely uses all 25 of these additional tasks. If you are using the MXT value alone to control application transactions, increasing this value can allow more application transactions to run concurrently. To prevent this from occurring, you can define a transaction class for the application and set the MAXACTIV task value to limit the number of concurrent transactions.
End of change
SEC=
{YES|NO}
Indicate whether external security checking is to be performed for this CICS system. Specify:
YES
When READ access is granted:
  • READ is permitted
  • UPDATE is refused.
When UPDATE access is granted:
  • READ is permitted
  • UPDATE is permitted.
NO
Security checking is not performed.
Notes:
  1. For CICS security, the value specified with SEC= for a CMAS overrides the value specified with SEC= for a MAS. (For more information about this parameter, see the CICS RACF® Security Guide.)
  2. For CICSPlex SM security to be active, you must set SEC=YES for a MAS, and the CMAS to which it connects must have the CICSPlex SM system parameter SEC(YES). When CICSPlex SM security is not activated in the CMAS, the connection between the CMAS and the MAS cannot be established. If this is attempted, message EYUCR0007E is issued to the console, the CMAS joblog, and the EYULOG.
(For more information about the SEC parameter for the CMAS, see CICSPlex SM system parameters.)
SECPRFX={YES | NO Start of change |prefixEnd of change} Specify whether the user ID is used as the prefix that is added to the beginning of all resource names to distinguish this CICS system from other CICS systems.
Start of changeSYSIDNT=End of change Start of changeIndicate the id of the CICS system. This name should be unique within a CICSplex.End of change
XCMD= {YES|name|NO} Indicate whether EXEC CICS system commands are to be included in security checking. Specify YES or NO. For more information about CICSPlex SM transaction security requirements, see the CICS RACF Security Guide.
XDB2= {No|name} Indicate whether DB2 resources are to be included in security checking. Specify NO or name.
XFCT= {YES|name|NO} Indicate whether file control entries are to be included in security checking. Specify YES or NO. For more information about CICSPlex SM transaction security requirements, see the CICS RACF Security Guide.
XPCT= {YES|name|NO} Indicate whether EXEC-started transactions are to be included in security checking. Specify YES or NO. For more information about CICSPlex SM transaction security requirements, see the CICS RACF Security Guide.
XPPT= {YES|name|NO} Indicate whether program entries are to be included in security checking. Specify YES or NO. For more information about CICSPlex SM transaction security requirements, see the CICS RACF Security Guide.
XUSER={YES|NO} Indicates whether CICS is to perform surrogate user checks. If you specify YES, the CICS region userid must be defined as a surrogate of the userid that starts a MAS using the COLM or CORM transaction.

Preparing the MAS for history recording

CICSPlex SM provides the ability to save and view data for completed tasks, that is historical task data. When an active task completes, its data is stored in a historical data store. The data store is made up of a number of VSAM KSDS data sets. There must be a minimum of two data sets and a maximum of twenty six data sets.

Each MAS must have its own set of CICSPlex SM history data sets. The data sets must be allocated to the MAS region by means of DD cards in the JCL with DD names of the form EYUHISTx, where x is a character suffix taking values A through Z. Dynamic allocation is not supported. The datasets must be allocated with a disposition of OLD. The suffix letters must be used in ascending sequence and no letters should be omitted. For example, if four history data sets are required use DD names EYUHISTA, EYUHISTB, EYUHISTC, and EYUHISTD.

The CICSPlex SM history data sets must be defined with the REUSE keyword. Task history recording uses the least recently used data set, or when starting for the first time EYUHISTA. When EYUHISTA becomes full, it switches to use EYUHISTB and so on in sequence. Each full data set remains open with its data available until the history recorder has filled all data sets and needs to start reusing the data sets. At this time EYUHISTA is set closed, emptied, re-opened, and reused first, followed by EYUHISTB and so on in sequence. If a data set is reused its previous contents are destroyed.

Until the history recorder requires to empty a data set in order to reuse it, the historical task data is available for use. The data is maintained across CMAS and MAS restarts. The history data sets need not be defined as recoverable, as unit of work recoverability is not required. However, the CICSPlex SM history recorder facility does require files to be defined as non-recoverable to avoid unnecessary logging in the MAS region.

Start of changeIn addition, the history data sets must not be defined to use VSAM compression. The CPSM history function initializes the data sets in order to calculate how many records fit in the data set, so that it can safely use sequential writes to the data set, thereby reducing the I/O overhead. Use of VSAM compression invalidates that calculation and cause data to be lost when the data set becomes full and a data set switch is required.End of change

CICSPlex SM provides a tuning aid in the form of a EYUPARM called HISTRECSMSG to determine the optimum size for history data sets. HISTRECSMSG can activate the periodic output of messages detailing how many thousand records have been written to the data set. There is one record for each completed task. Since CICS file control supports extended format KSDS data sets, large history data sets over 4GB in size can be defined. However when considering using very large data sets, take into account that when the CICSPlex SM history recorder reuses a data set by emptying it, a large amount of data is lost and not available for subsequent queries. An alternative approach to having a small number of very large data sets, is to spread the data over more data sets. For example, by having twenty five data sets each one capable of holding one hours worth of completed task data, at least one days worth of data can always be maintained. When the oldest data set is reused, only one hours worth of data is lost.

CICSPlex SM provides a sample job called EYUJHIST in SEYUINST for defining Start of changeand initializingEnd of change two history data sets.

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