z/OS System Operations - Boot Camp


This comprehensive 'Boot Camp' course provides attendees with an accelerated learning approach to the operations role in a z/OS environment. The course is an ideal 'fast-track' for trainee and new operators who will be working in a z/OS environment.
The regular, hands-on lab exercises give students the opportunity to try out their newly-gained skills immediately. On successfully completing this boot camp, attendees will have reached the skill level needed to enable them to efficiently and effectively carry out the tasks required of an operator in a z/OS environment.

This course is available 'on demand' (minimum 2 students) for public presentations or for exclusive one-company presentations.

What you will learn

On successful completion of this course you will be able to:

  • list the principal components of IBM mainframe systems
  • describe how data is stored, the different data codes and types, and the devices used
  • explain the concepts of operating systems
  • describe the operating systems and their associated software, as available for IBM mainframe systems
  • describe the functions carried out in mainframe based IS departments
  • understand the different number systems and representations used in the mainframe
  • use basic TSO commands
  • use and customise ISPF panel structures
  • browse and edit datasets
  • customise ISPF edit profiles
  • use advanced edit functions
  • submit and manage batch jobs
  • use the ISPF utilities such as copy and list
  • use search facilities
  • state the purpose of each z/OS job control statement
  • code JCL statements to access disk and cartridge files
  • describe and use the commonly used parameters
  • correct syntax errors in JCL statements
  • code in-stream procedures and override, nullify and add parameters
  • appreciate the implications of SMS when using z/OS JCL
  • describe how z/OS & JES2 relate to each other
  • use the console to issue commands
  • interpret z/OS & JES2 messages
  • use console control (K) commands
  • describe the uses of the master console
  • list the uses of the HMC
  • invoke the IPL process
  • explain the difference between 'cold' and 'warm' starts in z/OS
  • start and stop JES2, and explain the process
  • bring down (stop) the z/OS system
  • list the different device types
  • manage z/OS and JES2 devices
  • describe the differences between batch, started tasks and TSO
  • start and stop batch started tasks
  • display & control job queues in JES2
  • display and control active jobs in z/OS
  • control Initiators
  • control Started Tasks
  • display and manage JES2 output queues
  • display and manage JES2 controlled printers
  • describe the concept of system dumps
  • manage Dump datasets
  • manage system problem situations
  • understand the concept of an ABEND
  • analyze ABEND situations
  • resolve ABEND situations.

Who Should Attend

Trainee or new operators who will be working in a z/OS environment.

Prerequisites

None.

Duration

9 days

Fee (per attendee)

£4345 (ex VAT)

 

This includes free online 24/7 access to course notes.

 

Hard copy course notes are available on request from rsmshop@rsm.co.uk

at £50.00 plus carriage per set.

Course Code

ZOBC

Contents

The Mainframe Computer

Origins; Types of computers; General purpose; Scientific; Scientific AND general purpose?; The PC; The Graphical User Interface (GUI); The application development backlog; The Local Area Network (LAN); Who runs the distributed data centre?; Total Cost of Ownership (TCO); Today's real world; What is a mainframe?; What can it do?; Hardware and software; Types of computing; Batch; Batch processing today; Interactive; On-line; Real time.

Enterprise Computing Hardware

Enterprise computing hardware; An IBM mainframe computer room and its contents; The processor complex; Parallel sysplex; Channels; Controllers; I/O units; Addressing; Local and remote; Disk storage; Old technology; Storing data on a traditional disk; The cylinder concept; Sectors; Cache storage; RAID - a newer technology; Disk Mirroring (RAID-1); Data Striping (RAID 5/6); Remote Disk copy; Virtual disks; Optical disks; Why magnetic tape?; Reel to reel tape; Cartridges; High performance tapes; Automated Tape Libraries; Virtual Tape Server; Other Input/output peripherals.

z Systems Programs

What is software?; Types of software; System software; Exits; Application software; What does a program comprise?; Main module; Subroutines and procedures; Functions; Data; EBCDIC; ASCII; Building a program; Programming languages; Executing a program.

Numbering Systems

Numbering systems; Decimal arithmetic; Binary arithmetic; Binary subtraction; Negative binary numbers; 2's complement; Hexadecimal arithmetic; Hexadecimal / binary relationship; Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code; Packed decimal numbers; Memory addressing.

z Enterprize Organisation

Who runs the IT environment ?: Operators, Help Desk Operatives, Security Administrators, Systems Programmers, Storage Administrators, Network Analysts, Application Developers/Support' Database Administrators.

The z Systems' Operating Systems

Mainframe operating systems; z/OS operating systems; zVM operating systems; z/VSE operating systems; Linux operating systems; z/TPF operating systems.

z/OS Operating System

The z/OS operating system; Some important definitions; Address spaces; Common area; Private area; Main components of MVS; MVS processing environments; On-line; TSO; z/OS communications server; VTAM; TCP/IP; JES: JES2, JES3; Transaction Servers: CICS, IMS; Databases: Db2, IMS; UNIX System Services; WebSphere Application Server.

z/OS, JES2 & Other Products - How They Relate

What is an operating system; z/OS overview; JES2 overview; z/OS & JES2 Job Management; Operator roles; Operator communications; z/OS products; DFSMS/MVS; Network software; Application development tools.

z/OS Workload and the Active System

Program execution environments; Batch processing; Started Tasks; Time Sharing Option (TSO); Executing program requirements; Program identification with JCL; All the JCL statements; The most used JCL statements; JES2 information in the job stream; Relationships between JCL statements; One or more jobs in a JCL stream; Getting work into the system; Getting a Started Task into the system; Getting a TSO user into the system; Getting a batch job into the system; Batch job queues; Job initiation; Step initiation; The job schedule' Reports and listings; Standard reports; Job log example; The active system; A job's phases; What is a System Task?; What is a TSO logon?

Operator Communication - the Console

Console types; Master Console authority; Operating modes; Operator command types; Route codes; Message Levels; z/OS command syntax; Commonly used z/OS commands; JES2 command syntax; Console message format; Console screen layout; Control (K) command; DISPLAY command; VARY CN command; Syslog & Hardcopy; SEND command.

Started Tasks

Started Tasks; The START command; Examples of the START command; The STOP command; Examples of the STOP command; The MODIFY command.

Starting & Stopping z/OS & JES2

IPLing z/OS; IPL messages; IPL flow; TOD clock; Starting JES2; Controlling JES2; JES2 cold & warm starts; Stopping JES2; JES2 errors; JES2 Error codes; Stopping z/OS.

Introduction to TSO

What is TSO; main uses of TSO; using TSO; when the TSO screen fills; logging on to TSO; logging off.

Basic TSO Commands

SEND, LISTBC, LISTALC, HELP and PROFILE commands; command prompting; aborting a TSO command.

Introduction to ISPF

What is ISPF; the ISPF panels; the pull-down menus; the Primary Option Menu; changing ISPF settings, function settings and log/list defaults; identifying error messages, entering TSO commands from ISPF, exiting from ISPF.

Browsing Data Sets in ISPF

Dataset naming rules and conventions; DASD data set organisation; Partitioned Data Sets; Partitioned Data Set Extended; specifying dataset names, PDS member list panel and shortcuts; browsing the data; scrolling; FIND command; finding picture strings; the LOCATE command; splitting the screen.

Basic Edit via ISPF

The editing process; the edit entry panel; member or dataset edit panel; scrolling during edit; edit line commands; manipulating lines; ending an edit session.

The ISPF Edit Profile

Function of the Edit profile; displaying the Edit profile; profile options; creating new members; the insert and delete keys; CHANGE command; UNDO command; when you get locked up.

Advanced Edit with ISPF

Excluding and re-displaying lines; RESET command; switching between upper and lower case; column boundaries; text entry facilities; tab settings; manipulating data; submitting a batch job; nested edit sessions; saving data; cancelling an edit session.

Basic ISPF Utilities (Option 3)

Utility selection menu; library utility; data set utility; move/copy utility; hardcopy utility; outlist utility.

ISPF Dataset List Utility (Option 3.4)

Dataset list; wildcard characters; data set list and member list line commands; using a TSO command; SHOWCMD command; VTOC list and information; freeing unused space; repeating commands.

SuperC and Search-For

SuperC utility; SuperCE utility; Search-For utility; Search-ForE utility.

Active Job Requirements

Executing in MVS - the address space; Batch Initiators; JES2 and Initiators; Controlling initiators; Example of initiator control; Jobs in z/OS; Active jobs; DISPLAY active jobs; Examples of $DA; Examples of DISPLAY activity in MVS; Cancelling job; Examples of CANCEL; The $C command; Examples of $C; Volume mounts; Examples of MOUNT messages; The REPLY command; Examples of REPLY; DISPLAY requests; Example of DISPLAY R.

Introduction to z/OS JCL

Basic job structure; Job stream processing; JCL output; JCL statement types; JCL statement format and coding rules; JES2 control statements; JES3 control statements; JCL error points.

Reading Jobs and Queue Management

Reading job streams; Stopping and starting a reader; Cancel ($C) and halt ($Z) of readers; Examples of reader commands; Reading to the job queue; Readers and job attributes; Job name and Job number; $T for a READER; Job queues; Display of queues - $DQ and $DN; Examples of $DQ and $DN; Information on specific jobs - $DQ; Examples of $D for individual jobs; To change queue attributes; Examples of changing job status; HOLD and RELEASE jobs on the job queue; Examples of $H and $A; Job Control: CANCEL, RESTART, PURGE; Example of job control.

The JOB Statement

The JOB statement overview; Accounting information - positional; Programmer's name - positional; Keyword parameters; Other keyword parameters; Example JOB statements.

The EXEC Statement

The EXEC statement; EXEC format - program; EXEC format - procedure; EXEC keyword parameters; Other EXEC keyword parameters; COND parameter; EVEN or ONLY; Example EXEC statements; EXEC statement summary.

Input/Output Devices

I/O overview; Device types; Channel subsystems; Channels; FICON; Control units; Device numbers; Shared DASD; Offline/online; DISPLAY U command; VARY device command; VARY PATH command; JES2 devices; $D U JES2 command.

Output Queue Management & Printing

Output listings; List attributes; Commands for list queue administration; Display forms - $DF; Examples of $DF commands; List job - $L; Examples of the $L command; Display details of job output - $DO; Example of the $DO command; To remove list output - $PO and $CO; Examples of using $L, $DF, $PO, $O and $CO commands; Held output; Release output - $O; Examples of the $O command; Actual printing of output; Printers in JES2; Printer commands; Printer command parameters; Examples of 'single parameter' commands; Skipping backwards/forwards in the list; Example of backspacing the list; Printer and output attributes; Displaying printer attributes; Examples of the $DU command; Change printer attributes; Change printer selection criteria; Example of $TPRTn,WS=; Examples of $TPRTn commands.

Printing and In-stream Data

Print files & In-stream data; Printing: Examples, DEST, COPIES, DCB; Output statement; OUTPUT statement: Implicit, Explicit, Multiple output; Output statement parameters; Examples; OUTDISP parameter; In-stream data.

The DD Statement

The DD statement; DD parameters: DSN, DISP, UNIT and VOL; SMS considerations; DD statement summary: Existing catalogued dataset, Existing non-catalogued dataset.

The DD Statement - Working with Datasets

Dataset types; Sequential datasets; Partitioned Data Sets; VSAM datasets; BUFNO; Accessing existing datasets; Creating new non-VSAM datasets; Data Control Block parameters; SPACE parameter; Space allocation DSCBs; System Managed Storage: Disk datasets with SMS, Space allocation with SMS. DCB parameters with SMS; Creating VSAM datasets in JCL; Generation datasets; SMS GDG considerations; Stages in creating a generation dataset; Tape datasets; . LABEL parameter; DD statement summary; Creating a new dataset on disk - non-SMS; Creating a new tape dataset.

MVS Error Reporting & Dumps

System error reporting; MVS dumps; Stand-Alone Dump (SADUMP); SVC dumps; user ABEND dumps; SYSUDUMP; SYSABEND; SYSMDUMP; CEEDUMP; generating a user ABEND dump; system generated ABEND dump; snap dumps; symptom dumps; review questions.

Further DD Considerations

Special ddnames; JOBLIB; STEPLIB; Dump datasets; Concatenated datasets; Temporary dataset names; Dummy datasets.

Procedures

JCL procedures; In-stream procedures; What a catalogued procedure cannot contain; Cataloguing a procedure; INCLUDE statement; Calling a procedure; Symbolic parameters; Examples of symbolic translation; Default parameters; Resolving symbolic parameters; SET statement; Modifying EXEC statement parameters; Modifying DD parameters; Concatenated data sets; Adding DD statements; Substitution prefixes; Using a standard COBOL compile/link/go procedure.

Conditional JCL Statements

The general construct; Name field; Relational-expression field; Relational-expression keywords; Comparison operators; Logical operators; NOT operator; Order of priority of operators; Parentheses; THEN and ELSE clauses; Contents of THEN and ELSE clauses; IF/THEN/ELSE/ENDIF and COND.

ABEND Analysis

What is ABEND?; the MVS ABEND service; why ABEND?; allows for recovery routines ; task termination; tasks in an Address Space; how RTM is invoked; program checks; ABEND; how to trigger an ABEND; ABEND macro and SVC 13; CALLRTM macro; why not normal end?; application detected software errors; system detected software errors; all the system ABEND codes; where do you see the ABEND codes?; the NOTIFY message; the SYSLOG; the job log; the symptom dump; ABEND dumps; SVC dumps; Stand-Alone dumps; the symptom dump in the SYSLOG; the symptom dump in the job log; explanations of ABEND and reason codes; IBM z/OS manuals on the web; Quickref and similar tools; analysis approach; examples of ABEND code explanation; system messages - a good information source; system message prefix; message level; standard message types; alternative message types; message identifier and MVS components; examples of system messages; explanation of system messages; common system ABEND codes; system ABEND code numbers; common SVCs and their macros; the x22 codes - caused by outside events; the x13 codes - OPEN problems; other x13 codes; example of S013-18; 806 - Program not found; sequence of events; example of S806-04; 804, 80A, 878, 878 and DC2 - virtual storage problems; the Virtual Address Space; "above the bar"; traditional address space areas; the need for managing virtual storage; storage for the program code; storage obtained outside the program; Virtual Storage requests; limitations on Virtual Storage; ABEND and reason codes; requests for storage below 2 GB (GETMAIN and STORAGE OBTAIN); requests for storage above 2 GB (IAR64 GETSTOR); the REGION limit; the effects of different REGION values; example of ABEND S822; the MEMLIMIT parameter; example of ABEND SDC2; the 0Cx codes; the Program Check Interrupt; running RTM1; PC FLIH and ABENDs; the meaning of Program Checks; common ABENDs from Program Checks; ABEND S0C4; Storage Protect Keys; virtual address protection; reasons for translation exceptions; address truly invalid; address valid - new area; address valid - old area; other S0Cx ABENDs; PIC 0001 Operation Exception (ABEND S0C1); PIC 0002 Privileged Operation Exception (ABEND S0C2); PIC 0007 Data Exception (ABEND S0C7); the S0E0 and 0Dx codes; miscellaneous problems; problems with translations; Linkage Stack problems; the Sx37 and SB14 codes; Sx37; EOV processing; how disk data sets are allocated; Physical Sequential (PS) data sets; problems when allocating a PS data set; initial allocation; primary allocation failure; data set full; no secondary allocation (SD37-04); secondary allocations (SB37-04); example of unavailable primary allocation; example of SD37-04; message IEC031I; example of ABEND SB37-04; message IEC030I; Partitioned Data Sets (PDS); problems when allocating a PDS; initial allocation; data set full; no secondary allocation (SD37-04); secondary allocations (SE37-04); directory full (SB14-0C); example of ABEND SE37-04; message IEC032I; example of ABEND SB14; message IEC217I; Partitioned Data Sets Extended (PDSE); problems when allocating a PDSE; summary of common system ABEND codes; other ABEND codes; MVS system codes (Sxxx); user ABEND codes (Uxxxx).


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