Using SMF records to monitor requests

z/OS® Connect can be configured to write SMF 123 records, which capture information about individual API provider requests. This data can be used for auditing, workload monitoring, capacity planning, and problem determination.

Monitoring API provider requests

SMF type 123 subtype 1 records
  • Version 1 contains some basic information about API provider requests. Version 1 records are not supported by z/OS Connect OpenAPI 3 servers.
  • Version 2 supersedes version 1 and contains more detailed information about each API provider request, including information about which system of record (SOR) the request was sent to. By default, version 2 records contain data for multiple requests in one record, making it more efficient as the server information is captured once per record rather than for each request.
Important: SMF 123 subtype 1 version 2 records contain data for multiple requests in a single SMF record. Therefore, the record is only written when one of the following conditions is met:
  • The server processes the required number of requests to fill a record. Currently, this is 20.
  • The apiProviderMaxDelay attribute is set and the maximum delay has expired before 20 requests have been processed.
  • The server is shut down.

z/OS Connect provides the audit interceptor to capture SMF 123 records, see Configuring the audit interceptor. To enable version 2 records, you must specify the required attribute for API provider.