Version 1.

00
IS Mainframe Automation
CICS Automation CICS Automation
CICS Automation

Introduction

Copyright Owner
© Copyright 2009 Perot Systems Corporation. All Rights
Reserved.

Distribution
Copies of this document are restricted to the following:

Perot Systems, and its wholly owned companies and/or

subsidiaries including but not limited to:
PSC- Europe
PSC – Asia
TSI Corporation
TSI America
PSGS
CSRG
ARS
Delphi Group
Solutions Consulting
Vision

Document Control
This document is available in two forms: controlled and
uncontrolled.
The controlled master copy is maintained electronically and
accessed by authorized users of the Perot Systems Corporation
network.
Uncontrolled versions are all other electronic and printed copies
of this document.

Terms and Condition

This document is strictly “Commercial in Confidence” and is
subject to the prevailing terms and conditions under which it is
both written and distributed.
CICS Automation

Continuous Improvement
The process defined in this document is subject to regular review
based on input from PSC associates. Suggestions for
improvement to the content of this document should be
submitted to the IS Mainframe Automation team.
CICS Automation

Version History
Versio Date Revision Description (Author)
n
1.00 04/10/20 Initial Draft (Laurie Ostrander)
09
1.01 07/10/20 Updated for upgraded automation
09 (Laurie Ostrander)

Document Peer Review

Version Name Signature/Date
1.00

Final Document Approval

Version Name Signature/Date
1.00
CICS Automation

Purpose
Document the standardized, best-practices CICS monitoring
automation (developed and installed under BMC Control-O in the CVS
LPARs), designed to be ported to any other leveraged LPAR with
Control-O in use or to be used as a model for OPS/MVS LPARs.

Notes
Related documents:
o IPL
o Task Abend
o Task Monitoring

Standardized Automation
CICS Automation

CICS Monitoring Automation

Overview
CICS monitoring is in place to detect region initialization failures and
shutdown delays, short-on-storage events, and to provide a scheduled
and controlled recycle event.

Components

Non-managed tasks database:

• Name: NONMANGD
• Each CICS task occupies a row of the database
• Each row contains six columns of data
• Columns defined:
o TASKNAME (name of region)
o IDENT (region identification (short name))
o GROUPA (abbreviated group name; region’s owner)
o VENDOR (vendor of the product)
o DESCR (description of the region)
o CLASS (region classification. Values are: PROD, UAT,
DEV, TEST)
• Example of entries:
CICS Automation

Temporary global variable pool:

• Name: GLVTEMPA
• Contains frequently used/updated task information
• Built at system IPL from hard-coded values and values obtained
from the MANAGED and NONMANGD databases and refreshed
at regular intervals and by events trapped by the various
message rules. (See Task Monitoring process doc)
• Variables for CICS tasks:
o THROTTLE_throttleID (used to throttle notifications and
recovery actions)
o regionname_SOS-type_INVOKED (used to throttle
notifications and recovery actions)
o regionname_SOS-typeR (switch to track SOS and SOS
Relieved conditions)
o CURRENT (region’s current state)
• Example of temporary task global variables for a CICS task:
CICS Automation

%%GLVTEMPA\THROTTLE_TSTCCICS_DFHSM0133 =
921923040 03/19/2009 09:44:00
%%GLVTEMPA\TSTCCICS_SOSA_INVOKED = 090319
%%GLVTEMPA\TSTCCICS_SOSAR = 0
%%GLVTEMPA\CKP1CICS_CURRENT = ACTIVE

BMESSAGE.DFHSM0131– message rule:

• Purpose: Sets short-on-storage relieved flag and invokes
BRULES.SOSR
• Message examples:
DFHSM0131 PRD2CICS CICS IS UNDER STRESS (SHORT ON
STORAGE BELOW
16MB).
DFHSM0132 PRD2CICS CICS IS NO LONGER SHORT ON
STORAGE BELOW
16MB
DFHSM0133 TSTCCICS CICS IS UNDER STRESS (SHORT ON
STORAGE ABOVE
16MB).
DFHSM0134 TSTCCICS CICS IS NO LONGER SHORT ON
STORAGE ABOVE
16MB
• Triggered by the appearance of any of the above message IDs
issued by jobname matching mask ????CICS and jobtype “S”
(started task)
• Global variables used:
o %%GLVTEMPA\regionname_SOS-typeR
• Sets regionname to the jobname (issuer of message)
• Sets short-on-storage type (SOS-type) to “0” (short on storage)
or “1” (relieved) based on messageID (“SOSA” vs. “SOSB”)
• Invokes BRULES.SOSR if a short-on-storage message
(DFHSM0131 or DFHSM0133).
• Example global variable:
%%GLVTEMPA\PRD2CICS_SOSBR = 1

BMESSAGE.DFHTM1715– message rule:

• Purpose: Notify Interactives team if region is not down within ten
minutes
• Message examples:
DFHTM1715 TSTCCICS CICS IS BEING QUIESCED BY
USERID PRDSCHD IN TRANSACTION CEMT AT TERMINAL
CJCL.
• Triggered by the appearance of the message IDs issued by
jobname matching mask ????CICS and jobtype “S” (started
task)
CICS Automation

• Global variables used:

o %%GLVTEMPA\regionname_CURRENT
o %%$GLOBAL\SYS_ID
• Database columns used:
o TASKNAME
o IDENT
o CLASS
• Sets regionname to the jobname (issuer of message)
• Sets CURRENT to the value of “STOPPING”
• Waits for ten minutes
• Checks if the value of CURRENT is still “STOPPING”. If so,
o Sets up default ticketing values as if the CLASS were equal
to a value of PROD/UAT:
 SEV 3
 Immediate notification
o Invokes MONITOR.GETNMNGD passing the regionname to
obtain the database column values
o Checks if CLASS is undefined
 If so, no further action (the rule terminates) as this
indicates that the region was not found in the database,
therefore no automation is expected to be performed.
o Checks if CLASS is equal to the value of “DEV”
 If so, changes the ticketing values to:
• SEV 4
• Delayed notification
 Otherwise, checks if CLASS is equal to the value of
“TEST”
• If so, issues a highlighted informational
message to the console, clears it after two seconds, and
exits out with no further action.
o Builds and issues the OPAS and Alert Manager messages
• Example global variables:
%%GLVTEMPA\TSTCCICS_CURRENT = STOPPPING
%%$GLOBAL\SYS_ID = 3E01
• Example informational message
DFHTM1715: TST3CICS is in test mode - no ticketing for
shutdown delay.
• Example OPAS and Alert Manager messages
QAUT000I
TSTCCICSSD,4,3E01,QOL_NOPAGE,03/19/09,09:44:00,TSTCCICS
shutdown issued, but region has not ended
QAU0CW12 TSTCCICS shutdown issued, but region has not ended -
Interactives notified (Delayed)
CICS Automation

BMESSAGE.IEF695I– message rule:

• Purpose: Notify Interactives team if region has not initialized
within the determined wait period (15 minutes for PROD and
UAT regions; 60 minutes for DEV and TEST regions)
• Message examples:
IEF695I START TSTCCICS WITH JOBNAME TSTCCICS IS
ASSIGNED TO USER TSTCCICS, GROUP CICSRGNS
• Jobname must not be XPEDCICS
• Triggered by the appearance of the message IDs issued by
jobname matching mask ????CICS and jobtype “S” (started
task) and matching the criteria above
• Global variables used:
o %%GLVTEMPA\regionname_CURRENT
o %%$GLOBAL\SYS_ID
• Database columns used:
o TASKNAME
o IDENT
o CLASS
• Sets regionname to the jobname (issuer of message)
• Sets CURRENT to the value of “STARTING”
• Sets up default ticketing values as if the CLASS were equal to a
value of PROD/UAT:
o SEV 3
o Immediate notification
• Sets max-loop local variable to a value of “30”
• Invokes MONITOR.GETNMNGD passing the regionname to obtain
the database column values
• Checks if CLASS is undefined
o If so, no further action (the rule terminates) as this
indicates that the region was not found in the database,
therefore no automation is expected to be performed.
• Checks if CLASS is equal to the value of “DEV” or “TEST”
o If so, changes the ticketing values to:
 SEV 4
 Delayed notification
 Sets max-loop local variable to a value of “120”
• Loops a maximum of max-loop times, checking CURRENT for a
value of “STARTING” every thirty seconds, and exiting the loop
when no longer true
• Checks if the value of CURRENT is still “STARTING”. If so,
o Checks if CLASS is equal to the value of “TEST”. If so,
 Issues a highlighted warning message to the console,
clears it after two seconds, and exits out with no further
action.
CICS Automation

o Builds and issues the OPAS and Alert Manager messages

• Example global variables:
%%GLVTEMPA\TSTCCICS_CURRENT = STARTING
%%$GLOBAL\SYS_ID = 3E01
• Example informational message
DFHSI1517: TST3CICS is in test mode - no ticketing for
initialization delay.
• Example OPAS and Alert Manager messages
QAUT000I
TSTCCICSID,4,3E01,QOL_NOPAGE,03/19/09,09:44:00,TSTCCICS
startup issued, but region has not initialized
QAU0CW12 TSTCCICS startup issued, but region has not initialized -
Interactives notified (Delayed)

BRULES.SOSR – invoked rule:

• Purpose: Notify Interactives team not more than once per hour
per region of a short on storage condition and obtain diagnostic
information. Not more than once per day, set new EDSALIMIT (if
SOS above the line), dump, recycle (if a test region), and create
a second ticket to Interactives if SOS is not relieved within five
minutes.
• Invoked by BMESSAGE.DFHSM0131
• Global variables used:
o %%$GLOBAL\SYS_ID
o %%GLVTEMPA\THROTTLE_regioname_messageID
o %%GLVTEMPA\regionname_SOS-type_INVOKED
o %%GLVTEMPA\regionname_SOS-typeR
o %%GLVTEMPA\regionname_CURRENT
• Database columns used:
o TASKNAME
o IDENT
o CLASS
• Sets regionname to the jobname (issuer of message)
• Invokes REXX.THROTTLE passing regionname_messageID as
the throttle ID and 3600 (seconds) as the time parameter
o If REXX.THROTTLE returns with a return code of 8, no
further action (the rule terminates) as this indicates that less
than one hour has elapsed since the last event.
• Invokes MONITOR.GETNMNGD passing the regionname to obtain
the database column values
• Checks if CLASS is undefined
o If so, no further action (the rule terminates) as this
indicates that the region was not found in the database,
therefore no automation is expected to be performed.
 CICS Automation

• Issues commands F ident,CEMT P SNAP and F ident,CEKL I

TASK
• Sets notification text and event ID suffix based on messageID
(“above the line” vs. “below the line”)
• Sets up ticketing values:
o SEV 4
o Delayed notification
• Builds and issues the OPAS and Alert Manager messages
• Checks if INVOKED exists
o If so, checks if the value is equal to the system date
 If so, exits out with no further action, as this
indicates that this logic has already been performed once
today
• Sets INVOKED to a value of today’s system date
• If SOS-type is SOSA,
o Waits for three minutes
o Otherwise, waits for five minutes
• If SOS-type is SOSA and the value of SOS-typeR is “0” (not
relieved),
o Issues command F ident,CEMT I SYS
o Waits ten seconds for a response
o Loops through the message response lines to obtain the
value of EDSALIMIT
 If found, sets a new EDSALIMIT value to the
retrieved value plus ten million into a local variable
o Checks if the new EDSALIMIT local variable exists (this
indicates that the EDSALIMIT value was successfully retrieved.
That is, the region responded to the CEMT I SYS command.)
 If so, issues command F ident,CEMT S SYS
EDSALIMIT(new EDSALIMIT)
o Waits for two minutes
• Checks if the value of SOS-typeR is still “0” (not relieved). If so,
o Issues command DUMP COMM=(regionname SOS NOT
RELIEVED)
o Waits for response message IEE094D
o Replies R nn,JOBNAME=(regionname)
o Waits for response message IEA911E
o Checks if CLASS is equal to the value of “PROD” or “UAT”
 If so, changes the ticketing values to:
• SEV 3
• Immediate notification
o Builds and issues the OPAS and Alert Manager messages
• Checks if CLASS is equal to the value of “TEST”. If so,
o Issues command CANCEL ident
CICS Automation

o If after one minute, the region is not INACT, builds and

issues OPAS and Alert Manger messages
o Otherwise, issues command OPCICSUP regionname
• Example global variables:
%%GLVTEMPA\THROTTLE_TSTCCICS_DFHSM0133 =
921923040 03/19/2009 09:44:00
%%GLVTEMPA\TSTCCICS_SOSA_INVOKED = 090319
%%GLVTEMPA\TSTCCICS_SOSAR = 0
%%GLVTEMPA\TSTCCICS_CURRENT = ACTIVE
%%$GLOBAL\SYS_ID = 3E01
• Example OPAS and Alert Manager messages
QAUT000I
TSTCCICSSOSA,4,3E01,QOL_NOPAGE,03/19/09,09:44:00,SOS (above
the line) detected for TSTC
QAU0CW10 SOS (above the line) detected for TSTC - Interactives
notified (Delayed)
QAUT000I
TSTCCICSSOSANR,4,3E01,QOL_NOPAGE,03/19/09,09:44:00,SOS
(above the line) not relieved for TSTC
QAU0CW12 SOS (above the line) not relieved for TSTC - Interactives
notified (Delayed)
QAUT000I TSTCRYCL,4,3E01,QOL_NOPAGE,03/19/09,09:44:00,TSTC
not responding to cancel command
QAU0CW12 TSTC not responding to cancel command - Interactives
notified (Delayed)

MONITOR.GETNMNGD– invoked rule:

• Purpose: Obtains the NONMANGD database column values of
the passed regionname
• Invoked by various rules
• All NONMANGD database columns are made available to the
calling rule
• Valid parm:
regionname (A specific region)
• Sets $GLOBAL system variable to NONMANGD
• Sequentially reads each row of the NONMANGD database
o When the retrieved TASKNAME matches the passed
regionname, exits the sequential read loop
• If the sequential read counter is greater than the value obtained
from the DBCOUNT system variable, sets $GLOBAL system
variable to $GLOBAL which in effect sets all database columns
to the value of UNDEF to the calling rule (i.e., the task was not
found in the database)
• Returns to the calling rule

REXX.THROTTLE – invoked rexx exec:

CICS Automation

• Purpose: Determines if the specified event has exceeded the

specified interval wait time
• Invoked by various rules
• Valid arguments:
eventID
interval
• Global variables access:
%%GLVTEMPA\THROTTLE_eventID
• Parses the arguments
• Sets local variables u_date (current date in the format:
mm/dd/yyyy), c_time (current time in the format: hh:mm:ss) and
c_secs (conversion of current date and time to number of
elapsed seconds since 1980)
• Sets the return code to a value of “0”
• Obtains the first word of THROTTLE_eventID into local variable
eventid_value
o If a not found error is returned, then sets
THROTTLE_eventID to a value of the values of c_secs
u_date c_time
o Otherwise, checks if the value of c_secs is larger than the
value of eventid_value plus interval.
 If so, updates THROTTLE_eventID to a value of the
values of c_secs u_date c_time
 If not, sets the return code to a value of “8” (i.e. this
event has recurred before the specified interval)
• Exits with the value of the return code (“0” or “8”)
• Example Throttle global variable:
%%GLVTEMPA\THROTTLE_TSTCCICS_DFHSM0133 =
921923040 03/19/2009 09:44:00

Process Improvement Suggestions