Tips on maintaining Endevor for Administrators
Article ID: 136717
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
If you are an Endevor Administrator there is much more to maintaining Endevor than just applying PTFS. This document will help you get started.
Environment
Release : 18.0 18.1
Component : CA Endevor Software Change Manager
Resolution
One of the many functions as the Endevor administrator, is to ensure that the installation of Endevor is current with maintenance. For more information on maintaining the product see the documentation section on how to apply preventive maintenance. It is suggested that a check for maintenance be done monthly and at a minimum of quarterly.
As an Endevor Administrator, one of the responsibilities is to monitor the Endevor files on a regular basis to ensure that there is adequate space. The information below should help to monitor & maintain those files.
Monitor Space Utilization -
The Master Control Files and Package data set are VSAM files, and should be maintained using the standard IBM VSAM maintenance utility IDCAMS. To obtain file utilization statistics, run the utility with the LISTCAT command.
Monitor the Endevor libraries regularly, as explained in the following:
PDS or PDS/E libraries
Use ISPF/PDF, Option 3 (Utilities) and/or Option 2 (Data sets) to display space utilization statistics.
PDS or PDS/E libraries include the Endevor listing libraries and processor load library, and may include the base and delta libraries and the source output library.
ELIB data sets
Run the BC1PNLST utility program. ELIB data sets can be used for the base, delta, and/or listing libraries. For more information about the BC1PNLST utility, see Setting Up ELIB Data Sets.
How to Expand or Compress a File
If a file becomes full, compress or expand the file, as appropriate. This section explains how to do this for the Master Control File, Package data sets, PDS or PDS/E libraries, and ELIB data sets.
Expand or Compress the Master Control File
For the Master Control File (MCF), run the job supplied as member BC1JRMCF in your installation JCL library - CSIQJCL. Use this job to expand the files, to periodically clean up control interval splits, or both. This job processes the Stage 1 and Stage 2 files. When expanding an MCF, you can modify the procedure as necessary.
Expand or Compress Package Data Sets
For package data sets, run the job supplied as member BC1JRPKG in your installation JCL library - CSIQJCL. Use this job to expand the data set, to periodically clean up control interval splits, or both. When expanding the data set, you can modify the job as necessary.
Reorganize Element Catalog and Eindex Files
For Element Catalog and Eindex files, run the job supplied as member BC1JRCAT in your installation JCL library - CSIQJCL. Use this job to reorganize the Element Catalog and Eindex files.
Expand or Compress PDS or PDS/E Libraries
For partitioned data set libraries, run a batch job using the IBM IEBCOPY utility, such as that shown next, to perform the compression. The first step of the job should back up the data set in the event of a subsequent problem.
//BACKUP EXEC PGM=IEBCOPY
//SYSPRINT DDSYSOUT=*
//DFILE DDDSN=library-dsn,DISP=OLD
//TFILE DDDSN=seq-backup-dsn,DISP=(NEW,CATLG),UNIT=TAPE
//SYSIN DD*
COPY INDD=DFILE,OUTDD=TFILE
/*
//COMPRESS EXEC PGM=IEBCOPY,COND=(0,NE,BACKUP)
//SYSPRINT DDSYSOUT=*
//DFILE DDDSN=library-dsn,DISP=OLD
//SYSIN DD*
COPY INDD=DFILE,OUTDD=DFILE
/*
Expand or Compress ELIB Data Sets
ELIB data sets are automatically maintained each time a member is stored or updated and therefore, compression is unnecessary. In addition, ELIB data sets can automatically expand into secondary extents. For more information about changing the secondary expansion quantity or the directory size, see Setting up ELIB Data Sets.
How to backup Endevor
Everybody understands the need to take backups of critical data, and likewise, everybody agrees that Endevor data is critical data. Taking backups however is not enough. Backups of Endevor data should also allow restoring to a specific point in time in the shortest time possible and with minimal loss of data.
FULL and INCREMENTAL UNLOAD
Endevor recommends using the Endevor UNLOAD utility to take full and incremental backups of its datasets. The UNLOAD utility “knows” the internal structures of the Endevor datasets and use an enqueue at the (Endevor-) system level to guarantee that the data that gets backed up is not only restorable but also useable. It may be a good idea to do a full UNLOAD once per week or every two weeks and doing incremental backups every night. This way, the full backup can be used to recover from a disk crash; while the incremental backups can be used to recover the latest changes since the full unload.
The enqueue on the system that is being unloaded can be penalizing if you need to make modifications in this system while you are doing the UNLOAD, but it is the only way to guarantee useable backup data.
UNLOAD also allows to back-up the package file, but you should note that it does not backup the ACMQ files. These files need to be backed-up manually using a simple IDCAMS job that runs in a few seconds. Make sure you specify DISP=OLD on the ROOT and XREF datasets, otherwise you may get the ROOT and XREF content out of sync. See below for a sample ACMQ backup step.
Other utilities combined with INCREMENTAL UNLOAD
The full UNLOAD can be replaced by any other backup utility (HSM for example), followed by an UNLOAD CHECKPOINT. The unload checkpoint merely sets a flag in Endevor indicating that a full backup exists and at what date/time it was taken. Its purpose is to set a starting date/timestamp for the incremental backups.
When using other utilities, you are no longer depending on ENDEVOR to guarantee the integrity of the backed-up data, so you will have to do this yourself. This means the other utility programs should use some sort of enqueue mechanism to ensure the data to remain in sync while the backup process is executing.
What we usually see is that people rely on HSM’s capability to take secure backups, but you should realize that what HSM calls secure is actually not secure for Endevor at all. HSM’s definition of secure does not go beyond the data set itself, which leaves the possibility to back-up a base file (securely) and its corresponding delta file (or MCF/CATALOG..) securely too, but it allows Endevor changes to be made between these separate file backups. As you can understand this is restorable data, but does not guarantee useable data.
The only safe way to obtain restorable and useable data when using other utilities for full backups is to lock everybody out of ENDEVOR while these backups are taking place. Compare this disadvantage with the locking of only the SYSTEM like Endevor’s UNLOAD utility does.
Endevor Recommended Backups
It is recommended that you do weekly and daily backups of your Endevor files/data. Below are the steps that are recommended by the Endevor Support Team.
Perform a weekly DFDSS Backup of everything (Package file, MCF's, Element Catalog, ACMROOT, ACMXREF, base and delta files etc...). Have this done in a single job on either Saturday or Sunday night. We recommend doing the weekly backup with a DISP=OLD on the entry MCFs in order to guarantee that nobody can update ENDEVOR while the weekly DFDSS backups are running. This should secure DFDSS backup quality and guarantee restorability.
After the DFDSS backups have been successfully completed, run an Endevor UNLOAD CHECKPOINT ONLY.
UNLOAD FULL
FROM ENV ENV1
SYS *
CHECKPOINT ONLY.
For more information on the Unload Utility please reference the Endevor Utilities Manual Chapter on UNLOAD/RELOAD/VALIDATE.
NOTE: UNLOAD jobs (incremental or full) use an ENQ on the SYSTEM level and will thus exclude updates of the ENDEVOR SYSTEM and its contents during these backups. This will guarantee absolute coherence of the backed-up entities.
After the UNLOAD FULL CHECKPOINT is completed you should run daily incremental unloads. It is recommended that you run 1 job for each environment. Optionally a DFDSS incremental backup can be performed on the Endevor output libraries, Package file, ACMROOT and ACMXREF files. Below is a sample of the SCL that can be used for the Endevor Incremental Unload:
UNLOAD INCREMENTAL
TO DDNAME dddddddd
FROM ENV ENV1
SYS * .
This procedure will allow you to have good backups to restore from if anything ever happens to your Endevor data. Another advantage, is that if an element was deleted by accident a transfer from the unload file can be completed to recover.
It is strongly recommend that the Unload/Reload Utilities be used for backups for ease of recovery. However, many sites currently do full DFDSS backups which if an UNLOAD/CHECKPOINT is done in conjunction with these, your recovery will be fine.
ACMQ backups
As stated previously, ACMQ backups need to be restorable and useable as well and since UNLOAD does not backup ACMQ data you must do it yourself. This is very easy and it is extremely fast. The following sample IDCAMS step should run in a few seconds, and when combined in a run immediately following a full UNLOAD it should give you a useable ACMQ backup (Don’t overlook the DISP=OLD on your ROOT/XREF specifications):
For more information on other activities that Endevor Administrators should perform take a look at the Roadmap for Administrators Tasks or contact the Broadcom Endevor Support Team.
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