Tracking virtual storage allocation (CPOOL BUILD, GETMAIN, and STORAGE OBTAIN macros)

Common storage tracking is an optional function that collects information about requests to obtain and free storage in CSA, ECSA, SQA, and ESQA. You can use Resource Measurement Facility (RMF™) as of release 4.3 or any compatible monitor program to display the information that the storage tracking function collects. You can also use the interactive problem control system (IPCS) to format the information from a dump.

You can use the RMF or IPCS reports to identify jobs or address spaces that use an excessive amount of storage or have ended without freeing storage. If those jobs or address spaces have code to free that storage when they are canceled, you might relieve the shortage and avoid an IPL if you cancel the jobs or address spaces using an operator command.

The OWNER parameter on the CPOOL BUILD, GETMAIN, and STORAGE OBTAIN macros specifies the entity to which the system will assign ownership of requested CSA, ECSA, SQA, and ESQA storage, which is one of the following:

An address space that, upon termination, is responsible for freeing the storage.
The system (the storage is not associated with an address space); specify this value if you expect the requested storage to remain allocated after termination of the job that obtained the storage.

For the storage tracking function to produce accurate results, authorized programs must include the OWNER parameter when issuing CPOOL BUILD, GETMAIN, and STORAGE OBTAIN macros that:

Request storage in CSA, ECSA, SQA, or ECSA, and
Have an owning address space that is not the home address space.

You do not have to code the OWNER parameter when the home address space is to own the requested storage (the default value is HOME).

For information about how to use IPCS to format data collected by the storage tracking function from a dump, see the description of the VERBEXIT VSMDATA subcommand in z/OS MVS IPCS Commands.