Sharing saves you time, makes system administration easier, and reduces the number of redundant tasks you need to do. As of V5R4 and later releases, you can share system monitors and system events.
Sharing allows you to use (or share) the same items: monitors, monitor events, system groups, definitions, and system administration tasks. You can even set your user preferences to share all of the new tasks that you create. For example you might give a user special authority (administered under Host Applications in Application Administration) to view all tasks, definitions, job monitors, message monitors, file monitors, activity monitors, system monitors, system events, and system groups under Management Central in the System i® Navigator window.
Only the owner of an item can change the level of sharing. The owner can specify any of the following levels of sharing:
| None | Other users cannot view this item. Only the owner of the item or a user with special authority administered under Host Applications in Application Administration can view this item. Users with this special authority, called Management Central Administration Access, can view all tasks, definitions, job monitors, message monitors, system monitors, system events, and system groups under Management Central in the System i Navigator window. |
|---|---|
| Read-Only | Other users can view this item and use it. Other users can create a new item based on this one and make changes to the new one as needed. However, other users cannot delete or change this item in any way. If you are the owner of a monitor and have specified actions (such as opening the event log window or sounding an alarm on the PC), these actions occur for all users of the monitor whenever a threshold is triggered or reset. The other users cannot change these actions. If the item (a task or a monitor) is running, other users cannot stop it. |
| Controlled | Other users can start and stop this task or monitor. Only the owner can delete the item or change any properties of this item, including the level of sharing. Other users can also view this item and use it to create a new item based on this one. If you are the owner of a monitor and have specified actions (such as opening the event log window or sounding an alarm on the PC), these actions occur for all users of the monitor whenever a threshold is triggered or reset. The other users cannot change these actions. Any actions that are associated with running a monitor that was created by another user (the owner) runs under the authority of the owner. Therefore, as the owner, you might be sharing a monitor with someone who does not have the same level of authority as you. |
| Full | Other users can change and delete this definition or system group. Other users can also view this item and use it to create a new definition or system group. |
What you can do with sharing depends on the needs of your work environment. Consider these examples:
When you share monitors, others can use the monitors that you set up to measure the monitored activity on the systems in your network. If you choose Read-Only sharing, others can open the monitor and its event log, and they can view the properties of the monitor. If you choose Controlled sharing, others can also start or stop the monitor. The level of sharing that you specify when you create a monitor also applies to any events that are logged when a threshold is triggered or reset. You can change the level of sharing for events after they have been logged.
When you share system groups, other users can view the system groups and use them to perform authorized actions. Unless you specify Full sharing, you control the endpoint systems in the system group for all authorized users. This ensures that the system group is always up to date. Suppose you created a system group called "West Coast Systems." If you chose to share that group, all system operators can use that system group to work with the West Coast systems. If you specify Full sharing, other users may update the contents of that group.
Part of your job might include maintaining a "run book" of commonly used commands. You can share the command definitions in that run book to ensure that the commands your system operators run are accurate. If you need to make a change to one of those commands, you only need to do it once. Your users can share that one set of accurate commands.
You can also share package definitions, product definitions, and user definitions. By sharing definitions, you save other users the time it takes to create their own definitions.
Tasks are long-running actions in System i Navigator. You can share any actions that have been created and allow users to see the status of tasks. For example, suppose you needed to install 50 fixes on a system group containing 50 systems. If you shared that task, you can start the task and then go home while letting the second shift operators see the status on their PC.
Use global sharing to specify the level of sharing for all your system administration tasks -- None, Read-Only, or Controlled sharing. You access global sharing through the User Preferences window by right-clicking Management Central. When you specify a value other than None, the sharing value applies to all future tasks that are created with System i Navigator on this PC. Existing tasks are not affected. For example, suppose you are in an environment where you are part of a five-person team that works around the clock. If you chose to globally share your tasks at the Controlled level, your team can see what you did and work with the tasks you started -- even when you are not there.