Introduction

The objective of IBM Health Checker for z/OS is to identify potential problems before they impact your availability or, in worst cases, cause outages. It checks the current active z/OS® and sysplex settings and definitions for a system and compares the values to those suggested by IBM® or defined by you. It is not meant to be a diagnostic or monitoring tool, but rather a continuously running preventative that finds potential problems. IBM Health Checker for z/OS produces output in the form of detailed messages to let you know of both potential problems and suggested actions to take. Note that these messages do not mean that IBM Health Checker for z/OS has found problems that you need to report to IBM! IBM Health Checker for z/OS output messages simply inform you of potential problems so that you can take action on your installation.

There are several parts to IBM Health Checker for z/OS:
  • The framework of the IBM Health Checker for z/OS is the interface that allows you to run and manage checks. The framework is a common and open architecture, supporting check development by IBM, independent software vendors (ISVs), and users.
  • Individual checks look for component, element, or product specific z/OS settings and definitions, checking for potential problems. The specific component or element owns, delivers, and supports the checks.

    Checks can be either local, and run in the IBM Health Checker for z/OS address space, or remote, and run in the caller's address space. So far, most IBM checks are local.

Figure 1 shows the various parts of IBM Health Checker for z/OS:
  • The IBM Health Checker for z/OS address space, where the framework, currently running local check routines, and other elements reside.
  • The HZSPQE data area which contains all the information a check routine needs, including the defaults defined for the check and any installation overrides to those defaults.
  • Installation overrides, which are changes the installation can make to check default values, such as interval, parameters, or other values.
  • The message table, which contains message data for the check output messages that convey check results.
Figure 1. IBM Health Checker for z/OS with a local check
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