z/OS-Specific Troubleshooting for the Unified Server

In this section:

If you are working in the z/OS environment, you should be aware of several diagnostic techniques that are described in this topic.


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Server Traces and Saved Diagnostics on the Unified Server

To generate a server trace:

  1. Turn tracing on from the Web Console or by issuing the MODIFY operator command:
    F <iway_server_jobname/started task>, -traceon
  2. Alternatively, on HFS you can run the ITRCON JCL member.
  3. Reproduce the problem.
  4. Submit the ISAVEDIA member to produce the diagnostic information.

For PDS deployment, diagnostic information is generated at the JES log output of the server.

For HFS deployment, a directory called sdnnnnnn is created under your configuration directory (for example, /ibi/server53/ffs/sd123456). Diagnostic information is placed in this directory. Verify that you have access to this directory.

Do not change anything in the EDAENV DD statement, as changes could prevent the correct information from being copied to your directory.


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U4039 Abends on the Unified Server

In some instances, the server may abend with a U4039 code. This is a generic abend.

Solution: Determine what caused the abend by checking the

file, SYSOUT DDname and the MVS system log. If you suspect this is a bug, follow the instructions in z/OS-Specific Troubleshooting for the Unified Server and System Dumps on the Unified Server in order to collect information to send to Information Builders support.


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System Dumps on the Unified Server

To generate a system dump:

  1. Allocate DDNAME SYSMDUMP pointing to the data set with the following DCB parameters:
    RECFM=FB,LRECL=4160,BLKSIZE=4160
  2. To get the first dump, add the parameter FREE=CLOSE to your DD statement. The DD statement should appear as follows:
    //SYSMDUMP DD DISP=SHR,DSN=MYID.EDAPTH.SYSMDUMP,FREE=CLOSE
  3. To get the last dump, the statement should appear as follows:
    //SYSMDUMP DD DISP=SHR,DSN=MYID.EDAPTH.SYSMDUMP

    Only two IDs must have privileges to write into this data set: ISERVER and IADMIN. General server users DO NOT need read or write access to the SYSMDUMP data set.

  4. To prevent abendaid from intercepting the dump, add:
    //ABNLIGNR DD DUMMY
  5. To prevent Language Environment from intercepting the dump, specify:
    EDADUMPOPT=UAIMM in EDAENV DD

    This enables you to get more accurate information reflecting the moment the abend actually occurs.

  6. Save the entire job output for the server (including JES logs).

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Freeing Data Sets Allocated to the Server on the Unified Server

How to:

A z/OS operator can issue modify commands to free DDNAMES (or dsnames) allocated to the Server. Both global allocations (made at the server ISTART JCL) and local ones (DYNAM ALLOC commands issued by user tasks) can be freed. This procedure is useful if you need to free an allocation to run a batch utility overnight, without restarting the server.



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Syntax: How to Free a Data Set From the MVS System Console

To free a single DDNAME:

F <iway_server_jobname/started task>,DYNAM FREE FI <ddname>

To free a single dsname (all occurrences in the server):

F <iway_server_jobname/started task>,DYNAM FREE DA <dsname>

To free multiple DDNAMEs, passing a pattern (free all ddnames staring with AB):

F <iway_server_jobname/started task>,DYNAM FREE FI AB*

To free a multiple dsname (all occurrences in the server), passing a pattern (free all allocations of data sets starting with IWAY.VSAM*):

F <iway_server_jobname/started task>,DYNAM FREE DA IWAY.VSAM*

A message will be issued in the iway_server JESMSGLG indicating if the command was processed successfully or not.

success:

@DYNAM COMMAND SUCCESSFULLY PROCESSED Rc=0

failure:

@DYNAM ERROR: IKJ56225I DATA SET IWAY.TEST ALREADY IN USE, TRY LATER

Once the data set is freed and the batch utility runs, the operator can reallocate the data set to the server, using the same modify command, but this time issuing DYNAM ALLOC, instead of DYNAM FREE.



Example: Freeing the Allocated Data Set

Suppose ISTART JCL (jobname IWAYP) has the following allocation:

//VSAMFILE DD DISP=SHR,DSN=VSAM.FILEA.CLUSTER

The operator can free this file using the command (from MVS console):

F IWAYP,DYNAM FREE VSAMFILE

Later, after the batch utility runs, the operator can re-allocate the file to the server by issuing the command:

F IWAYP,DYNAM ALLOC F VSAMFILE DA VSAM.FILEA.CLUSTER SHR REU

All valid DYNAM ALLOC and DYNAM FREE syntaxes are supported. For more information on DYNAM command, please refer to the appropriate WebFOCUS manual.


iWay Software