Troubleshooting flow for OMEGAMON Monitoring Agent on z/OS

Logging refers to the writing of text messages and trace data that the software generates to an output destination, such as a console screen or a file. OMEGAMON Monitoring Agent on z/OS does not display messages at the Tivoli® Enterprise Portal. Instead, messages are sent to more typical z/OS output locations, such as sysout datasets or spool files or, more rarely, to the z/OS system console. Logging is enabled on all monitoring agents by default.

Tracing, on the other hand, creates a record of the processing of a computer program or transaction. Trace logs capture information about the operating environment when component software fails to operate as intended to help you diagnose problems. The principal log type is the reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS1) trace log. When the Tivoli Management Services components are initialized, RAS1 service initialization is one of the first processes started. RAS logs are in the English language only. The RAS trace log mechanism is available on the Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server, the IBM® Enterprise Portal Server, and the monitoring agents. Most logs are located in a logs subdirectory on the host computer.

By default, OMEGAMON Monitoring Agent on z/OS has minimal tracing enabled. The setting RAS1=ERROR means that only error messages are captured. When you report a problem, IBM Software Support might ask you to enable a more in-depth and detailed form of tracing, such as one of those discussed under Syntax for RAS1 traces.

IBM Software Support uses the information captured by trace logging to trace a problem to its source or to determine why an error occurred. The default configuration for trace logging, such as the level of trace logging, depends on the source of the trace logging. Trace logging is always enabled.

The specific process for troubleshooting the OMEGAMON Monitoring Agent on z/OS monitoring agent is described in How to troubleshoot problems in OMEGAMON® for Storage.