Best Practice: SMP/E and runtime libraries maintenance strategy for Tools Customizer

Tools Customizer creates relationships between the values for the Product Parameters, LPAR Parameters, and Db2 Subsystem Parameters for each Tools Customizer enabled product. Determining the correct maintenance strategy for your Tools Customizer runtime libraries, after SMP/E processing, can reduce problems working with Tools Customizer and the enabled products through their life cycles.

Tools Customizer has very specific requirements for data set names:
  • Only one DATASTOR data set exists per LPAR
  • The product metadata library data set names do not change during the life of that release of the Tools Customizer enabled product.

The DATASTOR data set is the repository for all the information that Tools Customizer requires to generate customization JCL for enabled products.

When you update and save the Tools Customizer Settings panel (CCQPSET), as described in Modifying Tools Customizer user settings, the name of the DATASTOR data set is saved in the ISPF profile. This allows Tools Customizer to know the active DATASTOR data set when the TSO user id logs in and starts the Tools Customizer EXEC.

Maintenance scenarios

IBM expects maintenance to be applied to libraries which are then used by Tools Customizer. In practice, different customer shops distribute SMP/E APPLY maintenance in different ways.

The following scenarios explains some considerations and alternatives for determining your maintenance strategy. The one overriding objective is to preserve and maintain the same data set names for the Tools Customizer instance.

Apply SMP/E maintenance to the same data sets (using the SMP/E APPLY command):
If you apply SMP/E maintenance (using the SMP/E APPLY command) using the same data set names with each maintenance cycle, you can either use these target libraries as your Tools Customizer runtime libraries or you can copy the SMP/E target data sets to the runtime libraries that are used by Tools Customizer to customize enabled products.

Tools Customizer assumes that if the product metadata library (*DENU) has the same name, this metadata library is for the same release of the enabled product. For example, assume that you customize Db2 Log Analysis Tool v3.3 and name the metadata library SYS2.Db2TOOL.SALADENU, with no indication of the version or release. You then upgrade to Db2 Log Analysis Tool v3.4 and employ the same naming convention, SYS2.Db2TOOL.SALADENU. Tools Customizer will assume that you are continuing to work with Db2 Log Analysis Tool v3.3 and will report v3.3 on panels and continue to use the same v3.3 Customization Library data set.

A more sustainable approach to naming the data sets is to include a product version, release identifier, or other distinguishing qualifier in the name of the metadata library, so that Tools Customizer can determine the new product release when you upgrade. For example, using metadata library names that include a product version, release identifier, or other distinguishing qualifier, similar to the following, can make product maintenance and upgrades easier:
  • Db2TOOL.R330.SALADENU for Db2 Log Analysis Tool v3.3
  • Db2TOOL.R340.SALADENU for Db2 Log Analysis Tool v3.4
Apply SMP/E maintenance to new data sets (using the SMP/E APPLY command):
If you apply SMP/E maintenance (using the SMP/E APPLY command) to new data sets rather than to the same data sets, the next time you open the product metadata library, Tools Customizer will return a data set error that indicates that the library name is being used by another product or component.
For example, assume that you name the Db2 High Performance Unload for z/OS target metadata libraries to reflect the date of an upgrade or to reflect a specific RSU, as follows:
  • To reflect a specific upgrade date (August 2014):
    • Db2TOOL.PTF420.SINZDBRM.D201408
    • Db2TOOL.PTF420.SINZDENU.D201408
    • Db2TOOL.PTF420.SINZLOAD.D201408
  • To reflect a specific RSU (RSU 1406):
    • Db2TOOL.PTF420.SINZDBRM.RSU1406
    • Db2TOOL.PTF420.SINZDENU.RSU1406
    • Db2TOOL.PTF420.SINZLOAD.RSU1406

Using either of these naming conventions, the next time you start the Tools Customizer EXEC, it will return a data set error.

To handle this type of SMP/E maintenance processing, you can do either of the following:
  • Define aliases (using ALIAS control statements) to reference the appropriate libraries for Tools Customizer processing.
  • Copy the SMP/E libraries to a set of runtime libraries that are specifically for Tools Customizer processing.
Define aliases (using ALIAS control statements) to reference the appropriate libraries for Tools Customizer processing:
Defining aliases (using ALIAS control statements) for the SMP/E created new product data set names is likely the best strategy when planning for Tools Customizer.
If you are setting up Tools Customizer for the first time, consider specifying the product library data set names with an indicator that these data sets will be used for Tools Customizer processing. For example, use data set names similar to the following names:
  • TCZ.PTF420.SINZDBRM
  • TCZ.PTF420.SINZDENU
  • TCZ.PTF420.SINZLOAD
After applying maintenance using SMP/E, which creates new product library data sets, you should define aliases (using ALIAS control statements) for the new data set names to the data set names that Tools Customizer originally processed. For example, the following maintenance data sets have aliases defined to the original data sets:
  • Db2TOOL.PTF420.SINZDBRM.RSU1406 --> TCZ.PTF420.SINZDBRM
  • Db2TOOL.PTF420.SINZDENU.RSU1406 --> TCZ.PTF420.SINZDENU
  • Db2TOOL.PTF420.SINZLOAD.RSU1406 --> TCZ.PTF420.SINZLOAD
You will need to define an alias (using ALIAS control statements) to each of the following IBM-distributed Tools Customizer data sets:
  • SCCQDENU
  • SCCQEXEC
  • SCCQLOAD
  • SCCQMENU
  • SCCQPENU
  • SCCQSAMP
  • SCCQTENU

If you have already set up Tools Customizer and customized the product, you will have to define aliases (using ALIAS control statements) for the newly created data set names to the data sets that were specified when the product was originally customized using Tools Customizer.

After defining the aliases, you should be able to run Tools Customizer successfully.

Note: Only define aliases for IBM-distributed SMP/E libraries.
Restriction: Do not define an alias for any Tools Customizer created data sets, like the following three data sets on the Tools Customizer Settings panel (CCQPSET):
  • Customization library qualifier
  • Discover output data set
  • Data store data set
Do not define an alias for any data sets that you create on behalf of a product, for example the Db2 High Performance Unload for z/OS parameter library (INFPLIB).
Copy the SMP/E libraries to a set of runtime libraries that are specifically for Tools Customizer processing:
If you are setting up Tools Customizer for the first time, consider specifying the product library data set names with an indicator that these data sets will be used for Tools Customizer processing. For example, use data set names similar to the following names:
  • TCZ.R420.SINZDBRM
  • TCZ.R420.SINZDENU
  • TCZ.R420.SINZLOAD
After applying maintenance using SMP/E, which creates new product library data sets, you should copy the new data sets to the data sets that Tools Customizer originally processed. For example, copy the following maintenance data sets to the original data sets:
  • Db2TOOL.PTF420.SINZDBRM.RSU1406 --> TCZ.R420.SINZDBRM
  • Db2TOOL.PTF420.SINZDENU.RSU1406 --> TCZ.R420.SINZDENU
  • Db2TOOL.PTF420.SINZLOAD.RSU1406 --> TCZ.R420.SINZLOAD
You will need to copy each of the following IBM-distributed Tools Customizer data sets:
  • SCCQDENU
  • SCCQEXEC
  • SCCQLOAD
  • SCCQMENU
  • SCCQPENU
  • SCCQSAMP
  • SCCQTENU

If you have already set up Tools Customizer and customized the product, you will have to copy the newly created data sets to the data sets that were specified when the product was originally customized using Tools Customizer).

After copying the SMP/E data sets to the Tools Customizer instance libraries, you should be able to run Tools Customizer successfully.

Note: Only copy IBM-distributed SMP/E libraries.
Restriction: Do not copy any Tools Customizer created data sets, like the following three data sets on the Tools Customizer Settings panel (CCQPSET):
  • Customization library qualifier
  • Discover output data set
  • Data store data set
Do not copy any data sets that you create on behalf of a product, for example the Db2 High Performance Unload for z/OS parameter library (INFPLIB).