Using the Monitor Save While Active for BRM (MONSWABRM) Command

The Monitor Save While Active for BRM command (MONSWABRM) monitors BRMS for system messages CPI3710 and CPI3712, which indicate that the synchronization checkpoint has been reached. You can process the MONSWABRM command through an *EXIT operation in your backup control group or by entering the MONSWABRM command from a command line. Use the MONSWABRM command inside an *EXIT for better control over the monitoring function. *EXIT entries that contain the MONSWABRM command must precede the control group entry for the item you want to monitor; otherwise, the command fails.

To use the MONSWABRM command in an *EXIT, take the following steps:

1. Follow the steps listed in the Processing User Exits in a Control Group section of this chapter to create an *EXIT that contains the MONSWABRM command.
2. In the following example, we use the MONSWABRM command to monitor the SWA status of LIBB and LNKLIST. If the control group entry types differ, which in this case they do, then a MONSWABRM *EXIT must proceed each entry. Therefore, you need to create two separate exits containing the MONSWABRM command. Place each *EXIT before each control group entry you want the MONSWABRM command to monitor for synchronization.

                        Edit Backup Control Group Entries               RCHAS400
   
   Group . . . . . . . . . . : SAMPLE
   Default activity  . . . . . *BKUPCY
   Text  . . . . . . . . . . . Create sample control group.
   
   Type information, press Enter.
   
   Weekly   Retain Save     SWA
   Backup     List ASP         Activity Object While    Message    Sync
   Seq  Items      Type Device      SMTWTFS  Detail Active   Queue      ID
   
   10 *EXIT                       *DFTACT
   20 LIBA            *SYSBAS     *DFTACT  *ERR   *NO
   30 *EXIT                       *DFTACT
   40 LIBB            *SYSBAS     *DFTACT  *YES   *YES     *LIB       *NONE
   50 *EXIT                       *DFTACT
   60 LNKLIST    *LNK *SYSBAS     *DFTACT  *NO    *YES     *LIB       *NONE
   70 *EXIT                       *DFTACT
   
   Bottom
   F3=Exit    F5=Refresh    F10=Change item    F11=Display exits
   F12=Cancel    F14=Display client omit status    F24=More keys 

3. Press Enter to return to the Work with Backup Control Groups display.
4. Press F3 to exit and save the control group.

If the control group entries are of the same type, you can use one *EXIT special value to monitor messages for all entries. If all of the entries are the same type (all libraries, for example, or lists of the same type), place the exit before the first entry.

To synchronize libraries by set rather than by entry, list the libraries in sequence without interruption by special operations such as *EXIT. In this example, LIBA monitors synchronization point messages for the first set, while LIBC monitors them for the second set.

                     Edit Backup Control Group Entries               REESES

Group . . . . . . . . . . : SAMPLE
Default activity  . . . . . *BKUPCY
Text  . . . . . . . . . . . Create sample control group.

Type information, press Enter.

Weekly   Retain Save     SWA
Backup     List ASP         Activity Object While    Message    Sync
Seq  Items      Type Device      SMTWTFS  Detail Active   Queue      ID

10 *EXIT                       *DFTACT
20 LIBA            *SYSBAS     *DFTACT  *NO    *SYNCLIB *LIB       *NONE
30 LIBB            *SYSBAS     *DFTACT  *NO    *SYNCLIB *LIB       *NONE
40 *EXIT                       *DFTACT
50 LIBC            *SYSBAS     *DFTACT  *YES   *SYNCLIB *LIB       *NONE
60 LIBD            *SYSBAS     *DFTACT  *YES   *SYNCLIB *LIB       *NONE
70 *EXIT                       *DFTACT
80 LNKLIST    *LNK *SYSBAS     *DFTACT  *NO    *YES     *LIB
Bottom
F3=Exit    F5=Refresh    F10=Change item    F11=Display exits
F12=Cancel    F14=Display client omit status    F24=More keys

You must ensure that the values for Retain object detail, Weekly activity, the Save-while-active fields Save while active, SWA message queue and Sync ID, Private authorities, Parallel type and Encryption fields are the same for each library in each set. However, you can specify different weekly activity and object detail information for each set. If you use generic names for the libraries such as A*, B*, C*, and specify *SYNCLIB, BRMS groups all of the libraries together. Then BRMS performs a single save operation and you receive a single synchronization message. A single save command supports up to 300 libraries in a list. This is an i5/OS™ restriction. If you have more than 300 libraries, BRMS issues another save command to process the remaining libraries.

In this example, the SWA message queue value in the control group defaults to *LIB. The SWA message queue name specified in the control group entry must match the message queue name in the LIB parameter of the MONSWABRM command. The MONSWABRM automatically creates and deletes the message queue in library QUSRBRM. You cannot place it in a different queue. If you use a name other than the first library name, the MONSWABRM command cannot monitor for the SWA synchronization message. Instead, it continues to run for a default of one hour before it ends. In the meantime, your control group finishes processing without any benefit from the SWA message queue function.

To use the Monitor Save While Active (MONSWABRM) display to set up a SWA monitoring job, take the following steps:

1. Type MONSWABRM at a command line and press Enter. Press F9 to get the complete parameter listing.

                         Monitor Save While Active (MONSWABRM)
   
   Type choices, press Enter.
   
   Saved library  . . . . . . . . .   MULTSWA       Name, *MSGQ
   Command to run . . . . . . . . .   STRSBSBRM
   
   
   
   Job description  . . . . . . . .   *USRPRF       Name, *USRPRF
   Library  . . . . . . . . . . .                 Name, *LIBL, *CURLIB
   Job queue  . . . . . . . . . . .   *JOBD         Name, *JOBD
   Library  . . . . . . . . . . .                 Name, *LIBL, *CURLIB
   Time limit in seconds  . . . . .   3600          1-999999, *NOMAX
   Message queue  . . . . . . . . .                 Name
   Multiple save synchronization:
   Synchronization ID . . . . . .   MULTSWAID     Name, *NONE
   Number of operations . . . . .   2             2-32
   Start save wait time . . . . .   600           1-99999, *NOMAX
   
   Bottom
   F3=Exit   F4=Prompt   F5=Refresh   F12=Cancel   F13=How to use this display
   F24=More keys 

2. At the Monitor Save While Active display, change the following fields as required:
   • Use the Saved library parameter to specify the library or message queue that you want to review for synchronization during the SWA process.
   • Use the Command to run parameter to issue a command after the synchronization message arrives. In this example, we ran the Start Subsystem using BRM command (STRSBSBRM) after the objects reached synchronization. BRMS can quiesce an application only prior to synchronization.
3. If you plan on using the new Multiple save synchronization, the following fields are needed:
   • The Synchronization ID field specifies the name of the ID to be used. This is the same Sync ID that will be used in the backup control group. Default is *NONE, and if that is specified, no id is created.
   • The Number of operations parameter specifies how many save operations are going to be synced to this id. So if you plan on having 2 save operations all synced to MULTSWAID, then a 2 needs to be put in that field.
   • The Start save wait time parameter specifies how long the sync should wait for all the save operations to start. If the number of save operations was set to 3, and only 2 were ever started, the sync would fail.
4. Review and change the other parameters as needed.
5. Press F3 to save and exit.