1. System Monitoring Practices and Procedures
Monitoring the z/OS System
55 minutes
Using System Commands and Consoles
45 minutes
Displaying Active Jobs, Tasks and Users
45 minutes
Displaying Device Status
45 minutes
Using Advanced Monitoring Facilities
PowerPoint
System Monitoring Practices and Procedures
40 minutes
Working with SMF
70 minutes
MPF and Message Suppression
Graphic: Insert your organization’s name in the above slide.
Audio: will need to cover the following:
Welcome to the “System Monitoring Practices and Procedures” presentation. My name is _____, I work in the ___ department and have worked in our organization’s data center for ___ years (This should be expanded so the learner is confident that you have the right credentials to create this presentation).
This presentation follows on from several Datatrain “Monitoring the z/OS System” modules and expands on this content to explain how this relates to our mainframe monitoring practices. Any questions about the content of this presentation or the Datatrain modules mentioned above should be forwarded to _______ so they can be included in the Webinar, which appears at the end of this learning pathway.
PowerPoint
Handling SMF and System Messages
System Monitoring Practices and Procedures
z/OS System Operation
60 minutes
Company Name
Webinar
Understanding System Monitoring Tasks and Roles
Copyright © Interskill Learning Pty Ltd 2011 – Commercial in Confidence

2. Presentation Topics System monitoring basics
Tools used for system monitoring
Audio: will need to cover the following:
The Datatrain courses you have completed in this pathway have described some of the MVS commands you can use to display the status of the system and its individual devices. In this section you will see who is responsible for monitoring our system’s health and some of the situations where this action is required.
You will also discover the various tools that our organization uses to capture and display system data and, when they should be used.
Copyright © Interskill Learning Pty Ltd 2011 – Commercial in Confidence

3. Who is responsible for monitoring the system?
Understanding system monitoring tasks.
Who performs a system monitoring role?
Audio: will need to cover the following:
Mention that the term “system monitoring” (when discussing the mainframe) has changed considerably over the years. Explain that in the past, operators would sit in front of a console scanning and identifying messages that might indicate a problem. Mention that in your environment today, there are so many messages occurring that this is now not a common occurrence. Describe how system automation may now take care of some of these traditional system monitoring tasks.
You may also need to describe any checklists that exist where the user needs to record system monitoring information.
Describe how system monitoring is really about gathering information about the health of the system and its devices, when there is some type of alert (i.e. highlighted error message on the console, telephone call from a user who says the system is running slow).
Identify to the learner, the people in your organization that might perform this type of system monitoring role (i.e. operators – when there is an immediate problem or system degradation, system programmer/administrator – if more technical analysis of a problem is required).
Copyright © Interskill Learning Pty Ltd 2011 – Commercial in Confidence

4. In what situations is system monitoring required?
What procedures or processes should I follow?
General and problem-related real-life scenarios.
What type of information was gathered.?
Pre-presentation : You may want to create several pages following this one that expand on the scenarios you will be discussing.
Audio: will need to cover the following:
Describe your organization’s procedures or processes that explain the types of commands and actions to be taken to gather information, when there is a system issue/problem.
You will need to look back through your problem logs for scenarios. A broad range of scenarios could be presented including: - general/low-level ones where the user may need to reformat the display of a console screen, display the time or IPL information - intermediate ones where there is a need to display outstanding system requests - more high priority scenarios where the status of devices needs to be determined, configuration data needs to be displayed, or system contention needs to be identified
You will need to explain what type of information was gathered and why, who it was forwarded to and the action that was taken.
Copyright © Interskill Learning Pty Ltd 2011 – Commercial in Confidence

5. What products are commonly used to display system activity?
Which methods and products are used, and why?
Who has the authority to use these tools?
Audio: will need to cover the following:
You will need to explain the most commonly used methods (i.e. MVS commands, JES commands, browsing the SDSF log) and products (i.e. Tivoli Omegamon, BMC Mainview, ASG TMON, CA-SYSVIEW) that are used for your system monitoring practices. Whichever products you mention, you will need to discuss the benefits they bring to the organization.
You will need to describe the groups/personnel that have authority to use these products.
Copyright © Interskill Learning Pty Ltd 2011 – Commercial in Confidence

6. What type of information should you be looking for, and why?
Resource status and attributes.
General system data.
Audio: will need to cover the following:
You may want to delve deeper into the scenarios discussed earlier to describe the type of information that needed to be displayed. Resource attributes could include: - the status and attributes of devices such as DASD, tape, network, initiators and printers - displaying the elapsed and CPU time for an event/job in the system
Explain how general system data such as IPL details, time and date, system activity (i.e. D A,L), system requests (i.e. D R,L) can provide the information required.
You may also want to provide logical thought patterns to information gathering (i.e. what they should be looking at first and why).
Copyright © Interskill Learning Pty Ltd 2011 – Commercial in Confidence

7. Which MVS commands are most useful, and why?
Must-know MVS commands.
Examples.
Audio: will need to cover the following:
You need to explain which MVS commands are most widely used and in what situations they are invoked. Mention whether a list of these commands are stored anywhere, or are in procedural documentation.
Copyright © Interskill Learning Pty Ltd 2011 – Commercial in Confidence

8. Monitoring the z/OS System
55 minutes
Using System Commands and Consoles
Summary
45 minutes
Displaying Active Jobs, Tasks and Users
System monitoring basics
Tools used for system monitoring
45 minutes
Displaying Device Status
45 minutes
Using Advanced Monitoring Facilities
PowerPoint
System Monitoring Practices and Procedures
40 minutes
Working with SMF
70 minutes
MPF and Message Suppression
Audio: will need to cover the following:
This presentation provided you with a number of real-life scenarios describing the type of system information that needed to be obtained, the people who performed these tasks, and the tools that were used in the process.
Your next training step involves you undertaking two Datatrain modules, which is followed by another PowerPoint presentation and an assessment. The final event in this learning pathway is a Webinar, which will provide hands-on exercises and discussions on z/OS monitoring practices.
Thank you for attending.
PowerPoint
Handling SMF and System Messages
z/OS System Operation
60 minutes
Webinar
Understanding System Monitoring Tasks and Roles
Copyright © Interskill Learning Pty Ltd 2011 – Commercial in Confidence