Function levels

To ease migration from one release to another and to reduce the need for compatibility APARs, a function level is introduced that allows administrators to explicitly opt in for using new capabilities.

The functional level is an integer number that represents the capabilities that an automation manager or agent can support. Without any activity on the administrator's side, the capabilities that can be used by System Automation are limited to those that are represented by the current function level.

For the automation manager, its function level is set through the FUNCTIONLEVEL parameter in the PARMLIB member HSAPRMxx (see Syntax for HSAPRM00). For the automation agent, its function level is set through the FUNCTIONLEVEL parameter in the DSIPARM member INGXINIT (see Step 6A: Configure NetView DSIPARM Data Set).

The following table provides a description of the associated capabilities and deliverables of each function level value.

Table 1. Function level and capabilities
Function level	Capabilities	Deliverable
0	Default content of IBM Z System Automation 4.2.0.	IBM Z System Automation 4.2.0
1	New manager work item that allows more efficient creation of dynamic resources.	IBM Z System Automation 4.2.0 OA59461
3	New INGPLEX SYS and INGPLEX CDS columns. See description of OA63831 for more details.	IBM Z System Automation 4.2.0 OA63831

Note: The function level is a staged initiative and will be rolled out in multiple phases. In this initial phase, the communication between agents and the manager is supported. Before agents attempt to request a function from the manager, they can now first check, whether the manager supports this function and gracefully handle the response.

It is still recommended to use new functions only when all the System Automation releases are on the same level. However, the controlled usage of new functions in such a mixed environment is now facilitated.

Example

Assume that an environment has two systems, S1 and S2. System S1 is on the current release level, while System S2 is on the previous release level. In this example, the capabilities supported by S1 are at function level n, whereas the capabilities supported by S2 are on function level n-1.

If you want to protect your System Automation from using the capabilities at function level n, ensure that both the manager and the agents have an assigned FUNCTIONLEVEL of n-1. Once you have upgraded S2 to the current release level, you can safely increment the FUNCTIONLEVEL to n.