z/OS System Operations - Boot Camp

What you will learn

On successful completion of this course you will be able to:

• list the principal components of IBM mainframe systems
• describe how data is stored, the different data codes and types, and the devices used
• explain the concepts of operating systems
• describe the operating systems and their associated software, as available for IBM mainframe systems
• describe the functions carried out in mainframe based IS departments
• understand the different number systems and representations used in the mainframe
• use basic TSO commands
• use and customise ISPF panel structures
• browse and edit datasets
• customise ISPF edit profiles
• use advanced edit functions
• submit and manage batch jobs
• use the ISPF utilities such as copy and list
• use search facilities
• state the purpose of each z/OS job control statement
• code JCL statements to access disk and cartridge files
• describe and use the commonly used parameters
• correct syntax errors in JCL statements
• code in-stream procedures and override, nullify and add parameters
• appreciate the implications of SMS when using z/OS JCL
• describe how z/OS & JES2 relate to each other
• use the console to issue commands
• interpret z/OS & JES2 messages
• use console control (K) commands
• describe the uses of the master console
• list the uses of the HMC
• invoke the IPL process
• explain the difference between 'cold' and 'warm' starts in z/OS
• start and stop JES2, and explain the process
• bring down (stop) the z/OS system
• list the different device types
• manage z/OS and JES2 devices
• describe the differences between batch, started tasks and TSO
• start and stop batch started tasks
• display & control job queues in JES2
• display and control active jobs in z/OS
• control Initiators
• control Started Tasks
• display and manage JES2 output queues
• display and manage JES2 controlled printers
• describe the concept of system dumps
• manage Dump datasets
• manage system problem situations
• understand the concept of an ABEND
• analyze ABEND situations
• resolve ABEND situations.

Who Should Attend

Trainee or new operators who will be working in a z/OS environment.

Prerequisites

None.

Duration

9 days

Fee (per attendee)

P.O.A.

This includes free online 24/7 access to course notes.

Hard copy course notes are available on request from rsmshop@rsm.co.uk

at £50.00 plus carriage per set.

Course Code

ZOBC

Contents

The Mainframe Computer

Origins; Types of computers; General purpose; Scientific; Scientific AND general purpose?; The PC; The Graphical User Interface (GUI); The application development backlog; The Local Area Network (LAN); Who runs the distributed data centre?; Total Cost of Ownership (TCO); Today's real world; What is a mainframe?; What can it do?; Hardware and software; Types of computing; Batch; Batch processing today; Interactive; On-line; Real time.

Enterprise Computing Hardware

Enterprise computing hardware; An IBM mainframe computer room and its contents; The processor complex; Parallel sysplex; Channels; Controllers; I/O units; Addressing; Local and remote; Disk storage; Old technology; Storing data on a traditional disk; The cylinder concept; Sectors; Cache storage; RAID - a newer technology; Disk Mirroring (RAID-1); Data Striping (RAID 5/6); Remote Disk copy; Virtual disks; Optical disks; Why magnetic tape?; Reel to reel tape; Cartridges; High performance tapes; Automated Tape Libraries; Virtual Tape Server; Other Input/output peripherals.

z Systems Programs

What is software?; Types of software; System software; Exits; Application software; What does a program comprise?; Main module; Subroutines and procedures; Functions; Data; EBCDIC; ASCII; Building a program; Programming languages; Executing a program.

Numbering Systems

Numbering systems; Decimal arithmetic; Binary arithmetic; Binary subtraction; Negative binary numbers; 2's complement; Hexadecimal arithmetic; Hexadecimal / binary relationship; Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code; Packed decimal numbers; Memory addressing.

z Enterprize Organisation

Who runs the IT environment ?: Operators, Help Desk Operatives, Security Administrators, Systems Programmers, Storage Administrators, Network Analysts, Application Developers/Support' Database Administrators.

The z Systems' Operating Systems

Mainframe operating systems; z/OS operating systems; zVM operating systems; z/VSE operating systems; Linux operating systems; z/TPF operating systems.

z/OS Operating System

The z/OS operating system; Some important definitions; Address spaces; Common area; Private area; Main components of MVS; MVS processing environments; On-line; TSO; z/OS communications server; VTAM; TCP/IP; JES: JES2, JES3; Transaction Servers: CICS, IMS; Databases: Db2, IMS; UNIX System Services; WebSphere Application Server.

z/OS, JES2 & Other Products - How They Relate

What is an operating system; z/OS overview; JES2 overview; z/OS & JES2 Job Management; Operator roles; Operator communications; z/OS products; DFSMS/MVS; Network software; Application development tools.

z/OS Workload and the Active System

Program execution environments; Batch processing; Started Tasks; Time Sharing Option (TSO); Executing program requirements; Program identification with JCL; All the JCL statements; The most used JCL statements; JES2 information in the job stream; Relationships between JCL statements; One or more jobs in a JCL stream; Getting work into the system; Getting a Started Task into the system; Getting a TSO user into the system; Getting a batch job into the system; Batch job queues; Job initiation; Step initiation; The job schedule' Reports and listings; Standard reports; Job log example; The active system; A job's phases; What is a System Task?; What is a TSO logon?

Operator Communication - the Console

Console types; Master Console authority; Operating modes; Operator command types; Route codes; Message Levels; z/OS command syntax; Commonly used z/OS commands; JES2 command syntax; Console message format; Console screen layout; Control (K) command; DISPLAY command; VARY CN command; Syslog & Hardcopy; SEND command.

Started Tasks

Started Tasks; The START command; Examples of the START command; The STOP command; Examples of the STOP command; The MODIFY command.

Starting & Stopping z/OS & JES2

IPLing z/OS; IPL messages; IPL flow; TOD clock; Starting JES2; Controlling JES2; JES2 cold & warm starts; Stopping JES2; JES2 errors; JES2 Error codes; Stopping z/OS.

Introduction to TSO

What is TSO; main uses of TSO; using TSO; when the TSO screen fills; logging on to TSO; logging off.

Basic TSO Commands

SEND, LISTBC, LISTALC, HELP and PROFILE commands; command prompting; aborting a TSO command.

Introduction to ISPF

What is ISPF; the ISPF panels; the pull-down menus; the Primary Option Menu; changing ISPF settings, function settings and log/list defaults; identifying error messages, entering TSO commands from ISPF, exiting from ISPF.

Browsing Data Sets in ISPF

Dataset naming rules and conventions; DASD data set organisation; Partitioned Data Sets; Partitioned Data Set Extended; specifying dataset names, PDS member list panel and shortcuts; browsing the data; scrolling; FIND command; finding picture strings; the LOCATE command; splitting the screen.

Basic Edit via ISPF

The editing process; the edit entry panel; member or dataset edit panel; scrolling during edit; edit line commands; manipulating lines; ending an edit session.

The ISPF Edit Profile

Function of the Edit profile; displaying the Edit profile; profile options; creating new members; the insert and delete keys; CHANGE command; UNDO command; when you get locked up.

Advanced Edit with ISPF

Excluding and re-displaying lines; RESET command; switching between upper and lower case; column boundaries; text entry facilities; tab settings; manipulating data; submitting a batch job; nested edit sessions; saving data; cancelling an edit session.

Basic ISPF Utilities (Option 3)

Utility selection menu; library utility; data set utility; move/copy utility; hardcopy utility; outlist utility.

ISPF Dataset List Utility (Option 3.4)

Dataset list; wildcard characters; data set list and member list line commands; using a TSO command; SHOWCMD command; VTOC list and information; freeing unused space; repeating commands.

SuperC and Search-For

SuperC utility; SuperCE utility; Search-For utility; Search-ForE utility.

Active Job Requirements

Executing in MVS - the address space; Batch Initiators; JES2 and Initiators; Controlling initiators; Example of initiator control; Jobs in z/OS; Active jobs; DISPLAY active jobs; Examples of $DA; Examples of DISPLAY activity in MVS; Cancelling job; Examples of CANCEL; The $C command; Examples of $C; Volume mounts; Examples of MOUNT messages; The REPLY command; Examples of REPLY; DISPLAY requests; Example of DISPLAY R.

Introduction to z/OS JCL

Basic job structure; Job stream processing; JCL output; JCL statement types; JCL statement format and coding rules; JES2 control statements; JES3 control statements; JCL error points.

Reading Jobs and Queue Management

Reading job streams; Stopping and starting a reader; Cancel ($C) and halt ($Z) of readers; Examples of reader commands; Reading to the job queue; Readers and job attributes; Job name and Job number; $T for a READER; Job queues; Display of queues - $DQ and $DN; Examples of $DQ and $DN; Information on specific jobs - $DQ; Examples of $D for individual jobs; To change queue attributes; Examples of changing job status; HOLD and RELEASE jobs on the job queue; Examples of $H and $A; Job Control: CANCEL, RESTART, PURGE; Example of job control.

The JOB Statement

The JOB statement overview; Accounting information - positional; Programmer's name - positional; Keyword parameters; Other keyword parameters; Example JOB statements.

The EXEC Statement

The EXEC statement; EXEC format - program; EXEC format - procedure; EXEC keyword parameters; Other EXEC keyword parameters; COND parameter; EVEN or ONLY; Example EXEC statements; EXEC statement summary.

Input/Output Devices

I/O overview; Device types; Channel subsystems; Channels; FICON; Control units; Device numbers; Shared DASD; Offline/online; DISPLAY U command; VARY device command; VARY PATH command; JES2 devices; $D U JES2 command.

Output Queue Management & Printing

Output listings; List attributes; Commands for list queue administration; Display forms - $DF; Examples of $DF commands; List job - $L; Examples of the $L command; Display details of job output - $DO; Example of the $DO command; To remove list output - $PO and $CO; Examples of using $L, $DF, $PO, $O and $CO commands; Held output; Release output - $O; Examples of the $O command; Actual printing of output; Printers in JES2; Printer commands; Printer command parameters; Examples of 'single parameter' commands; Skipping backwards/forwards in the list; Example of backspacing the list; Printer and output attributes; Displaying printer attributes; Examples of the $DU command; Change printer attributes; Change printer selection criteria; Example of $TPRTn,WS=; Examples of $TPRTn commands.

Printing and In-stream Data

Print files & In-stream data; Printing: Examples, DEST, COPIES, DCB; Output statement; OUTPUT statement: Implicit, Explicit, Multiple output; Output statement parameters; Examples; OUTDISP parameter; In-stream data.

The DD Statement

The DD statement; DD parameters: DSN, DISP, UNIT and VOL; SMS considerations; DD statement summary: Existing catalogued dataset, Existing non-catalogued dataset.

The DD Statement - Working with Datasets

Dataset types; Sequential datasets; Partitioned Data Sets; VSAM datasets; BUFNO; Accessing existing datasets; Creating new non-VSAM datasets; Data Control Block parameters; SPACE parameter; Space allocation DSCBs; System Managed Storage: Disk datasets with SMS, Space allocation with SMS. DCB parameters with SMS; Creating VSAM datasets in JCL; Generation datasets; SMS GDG considerations; Stages in creating a generation dataset; Tape datasets; . LABEL parameter; DD statement summary; Creating a new dataset on disk - non-SMS; Creating a new tape dataset.

MVS Error Reporting & Dumps

System error reporting; MVS dumps; Stand-Alone Dump (SADUMP); SVC dumps; user ABEND dumps; SYSUDUMP; SYSABEND; SYSMDUMP; CEEDUMP; generating a user ABEND dump; system generated ABEND dump; snap dumps; symptom dumps; review questions.

Further DD Considerations

Special ddnames; JOBLIB; STEPLIB; Dump datasets; Concatenated datasets; Temporary dataset names; Dummy datasets.

Procedures

JCL procedures; In-stream procedures; What a catalogued procedure cannot contain; Cataloguing a procedure; INCLUDE statement; Calling a procedure; Symbolic parameters; Examples of symbolic translation; Default parameters; Resolving symbolic parameters; SET statement; Modifying EXEC statement parameters; Modifying DD parameters; Concatenated data sets; Adding DD statements; Substitution prefixes; Using a standard COBOL compile/link/go procedure.

Conditional JCL Statements

The general construct; Name field; Relational-expression field; Relational-expression keywords; Comparison operators; Logical operators; NOT operator; Order of priority of operators; Parentheses; THEN and ELSE clauses; Contents of THEN and ELSE clauses; IF/THEN/ELSE/ENDIF and COND.

ABEND Analysis

What is ABEND?; the MVS ABEND service; why ABEND?; allows for recovery routines ; task termination; tasks in an Address Space; how RTM is invoked; program checks; ABEND; how to trigger an ABEND; ABEND macro and SVC 13; CALLRTM macro; why not normal end?; application detected software errors; system detected software errors; all the system ABEND codes; where do you see the ABEND codes?; the NOTIFY message; the SYSLOG; the job log; the symptom dump; ABEND dumps; SVC dumps; Stand-Alone dumps; the symptom dump in the SYSLOG; the symptom dump in the job log; explanations of ABEND and reason codes; IBM z/OS manuals on the web; Quickref and similar tools; analysis approach; examples of ABEND code explanation; system messages - a good information source; system message prefix; message level; standard message types; alternative message types; message identifier and MVS components; examples of system messages; explanation of system messages; common system ABEND codes; system ABEND code numbers; common SVCs and their macros; the x22 codes - caused by outside events; the x13 codes - OPEN problems; other x13 codes; example of S013-18; 806 - Program not found; sequence of events; example of S806-04; 804, 80A, 878, 878 and DC2 - virtual storage problems; the Virtual Address Space; "above the bar"; traditional address space areas; the need for managing virtual storage; storage for the program code; storage obtained outside the program; Virtual Storage requests; limitations on Virtual Storage; ABEND and reason codes; requests for storage below 2 GB (GETMAIN and STORAGE OBTAIN); requests for storage above 2 GB (IAR64 GETSTOR); the REGION limit; the effects of different REGION values; example of ABEND S822; the MEMLIMIT parameter; example of ABEND SDC2; the 0Cx codes; the Program Check Interrupt; running RTM1; PC FLIH and ABENDs; the meaning of Program Checks; common ABENDs from Program Checks; ABEND S0C4; Storage Protect Keys; virtual address protection; reasons for translation exceptions; address truly invalid; address valid - new area; address valid - old area; other S0Cx ABENDs; PIC 0001 Operation Exception (ABEND S0C1); PIC 0002 Privileged Operation Exception (ABEND S0C2); PIC 0007 Data Exception (ABEND S0C7); the S0E0 and 0Dx codes; miscellaneous problems; problems with translations; Linkage Stack problems; the Sx37 and SB14 codes; Sx37; EOV processing; how disk data sets are allocated; Physical Sequential (PS) data sets; problems when allocating a PS data set; initial allocation; primary allocation failure; data set full; no secondary allocation (SD37-04); secondary allocations (SB37-04); example of unavailable primary allocation; example of SD37-04; message IEC031I; example of ABEND SB37-04; message IEC030I; Partitioned Data Sets (PDS); problems when allocating a PDS; initial allocation; data set full; no secondary allocation (SD37-04); secondary allocations (SE37-04); directory full (SB14-0C); example of ABEND SE37-04; message IEC032I; example of ABEND SB14; message IEC217I; Partitioned Data Sets Extended (PDSE); problems when allocating a PDSE; summary of common system ABEND codes; other ABEND codes; MVS system codes (Sxxx); user ABEND codes (Uxxxx).