IMS/DB and IMS/TM for technical support

• IMS and the System Administrator

The System Administrator; Useful skills; Tasks; keep it running; Configuration updates; Resources; Machine readable; Other players; IMS System Programmer; MVS Systems Programmer; VTAM System Programmer; DBAs; Security System Programmers; Security Administrators; Storage Management Administrator; Applications Programmer.

• Overview and Definitions

IMS configurations - batch and online; The Control Region (CTL); The DLI Separate Address Space (DLISAS); The Database Recovery Control Region (DBRC); The IMS Resource Lock Manager (IRLM); The Message Processing Region; The Batch Message Processing Region (BMP); The IMS Fast Path region (IFP); IMS configurations - DB/TM, DBCTL or DCCTL; Extended Recovery Facility (XRF); Remote Site Recovery; IMS and the MVS environment; IMS and the network; Extended Terminal Option.

• The Life Cycle of a Message

Message arrival and queuing summary; Operational datasets, Program Scheduling; Database access; Output queuing.

• Message Scheduling

IMS message scheduling & processing; Driving factor for MPR environment; Transaction-related scheduling attributes; Transaction-related advanced scheduling attributes; Transaction-related scheduling attribute limits (continued); Region scheduling attributes; Quick reschedule; Pseudo wait-for-input; Ruling factors; Other MPR scheduling factors; BMP scheduling and processing; Fast path regions; Scheduling & processing summary.

• Control Blocks

Database macro function; Application definition macro function; PSB handling; Dynamic PSB option; DBD handling; VTAM control blocks.

• PROCLIB Definition

How IMS uses PROCLIB; DBRC and DLISAS; MSDB specification; Use of Disabled Reference; Page fixing areas of storage; Activating XRF; Pre-initialization routines; Module pre-load list; Control region execution parameters; Buffer definitions; Virtual fetch; OSAM specifications; VSAM specifications; Sequential buffering; Logging datasets; Trace and serviceability options; LU 6.2 device descriptors.

• Commands

IMS command entry methods; IMS command format; Altering IMS parameters;

• Setup and Execution

Control region START command; DLISAS and DBRC startup; True batch; On-call functions; Starting IMS; The workers; Shutting down IMS components; Shutting down IMS.

• IMS Logging

Concepts; Logging entities; OLDS - Online Log Data Set; OLDS recording characteristics; WADS - Write Ahead Data Set; SLDS & RLDS; Restart Data Set; Record layout; Logical/physical logging; Functions; Reading the log records.

• DBRC Considerations

DBRC overview; RECON initialization and structure; RECON records; Maintaining the RECONs; Migrating RECONs to new release; Skeletal JCL; Log maintenance JCL; Entering commands online; Batch command support; Database registration; RECON maintenance.

• Storage Manager

Storage pools; Fixed storage pools; Storage manager pools; Pool structure; Buffer pool definitions; DFSSPMxx PROCLIB member; Execute parameter changes; Pool allocation; Storage usage; Storage manager trace facility; /DISPLAY POOL command; System checkpoint statistics; Log record contents; Tuning.

• Installation

Planning for IMS; System Modification Program Extended (SMP/E); IMS distribution libraries; IMS target libraries; Installation SYSGEN; The system generation process; INSTALL/IVP dialog.

• MVS Considerations

System integration; IMS libraries; Updating MVS for IMS; MVS modules & tables.

• VTAM Considerations

VTAM considerations; Multiple System Coupling (MSC); Intersystem Communication (ISC).

• System Definition

Base system definition; Macro coding requirements; The system definition file; System Configuration; Application and Database; Data Communications; The IMS parameter pyramids; Application parameters; SYSTEM parameters.

• Extended Terminal Option

Overview; Benefits; Static terminal definition; Dynamic (ETO) definition; Implementation; Exits in support of ETO; Dead letter queue; Session establishment; Sign-on processing; Sign-on information sources; AUTOLOGON; AUTOLOGON processing; ETO compatibility options.

• Exits

Why use exits?; Basic coding requirements; How exits are invoked; Commonly used exits.

• External Subsystem

External Subsystem Attach Facility (ESAF); External Subsystem Attachment Package (ESAP); ESAP resources; External Subsystem Module Table (ESMT); Resource Translation Table (RTT); Basic ESAP processing; Subsystem connections; External subsystem considerations; The IMS attachment; Installing the IMS attachment; Make the Db2 libraries available to IMS; IMS subsystem member; Resource Translation Table (RTT); IMS/Db2 batch; IMS dependent region; associated subsystems & functions: WebSphere MQ, CICS, ODBA, IMS Connect.

• Security

Overview of IMS security; Security-related SYSGEN macros; Security Maintenance Utility (SMU); SMU job stream; SMU statements; Security examples; Requiring sign-on; Application control; Security for ETO terminals; Security for APPC.

• Problem Determination

Overview; DB/TC; ESTAE; Corollary address spaces; MVS failures; Control region failures; System DS failures; Log errors; Dependent region failures; Application program failures; Region controller failure; Data base failures; Write errors; Read errors; IRLM failures; IRLM restart; Database problems; Scheduling failures; Operational dataset problems; Db2; DBCTL/CCTL.

• Establishing a Performance Baseline

Define service levels; Establish performance objectives; Establish transaction profiles; Develop a monitoring strategy; Establish monitoring techniques; Continuous monitoring; Monitoring for performance tuning; Establish base profiles; Guideline numbers.

• IMS Monitor Reports

Using the IMS monitor; Starting the IMS monitor; Run profile report; Reports report; Region summary report; Region occupancy report; Region IWAIT report; Program elapsed time; Program I/O report; Program summary report; Message format buffer pool report; Message queue pool report; Data base buffer pool report; VSAM buffer pool report.

• IMS General Tuning Considerations

Address space dispatching priorities; Library and DASD allocations; Fixing buffer pools; MFS general tuning considerations; MPR loading programs; Overview of VLF/LLA; External trace facility; Trace data sets; External trace activation.

• IMS Time Controlled Operations

TCO overview; TCO capability; TCO command source; TCO exit routine; TCO verification utility; TCO operator control.

• Parallel Sysplex Overview

Parallel sysplex; Sysplex timer; Coupling facility; Cross-System Extended Services (XES); Hardware components; Cross-System Coupling Facility (XCF); CF structures; Parallel sysplex services.

• Shared Databases

Data sharing: then and now; Block Level Data Sharing (BLDS); Required for data sharing; BLDS setup (IMS); BLDS setup (IRLM); BLDS setup (CFRM policy); Benefits of BLDS.

• Shared Message Queues

Shared databases; Shared queues; Common Queue Server (CQS); Shared queue setup (IMS); Shared queue setup (CQS); Shared queues setup (sample CQS job); Shared queues setup (CQS CHKPT DS); Shared queues setup (SRDS); Shared queues setup (CFRM policy); Shared queues setup (logger policy).

• Common Service Layer

IStructured Call Interface; Operations Manager; Single Poiint of Control (SPOC); Resource Manager.

• Some Base Enhancements

IMS and APPC; APPC VTAM definitions; APPC parm member APPCPMxx; LU descriptor definition (DFS62DTx); APPC uses; APPC commands; IMS and OTMA; OTMA definitions; OTMA commands.