Reporting on user activity while they were logged on to CA Dispatch
Article ID: 17480
Updated On: 05-15-2023
Products
Issue/Introduction
Does CA Dispatch provide a Culprit or any other reporting utility that will show an audit trail of who was doing what while they were logged on to CA Dispatch? Things like what online viewing reports were accessed? Who modified a database definition? Etc...
Environment
CA Dispatch, 11.6, 11.7, z/OS, audit, trail, log, smf, record, utility, track, changes
Resolution
CA Dispatch does not store user activity information in its database, so there are no canned CA Dispatch reporting utilities that can provide this information after the fact. However, CA Dispatch DOES have the ability to cut SMF records that can be used for both chargeback purposes as well as tracking a user's activity and reflecting who did what while they were logged on.
Among the SMF records that CA Dispatch can cut are the Online Viewing related SMF records known as "OLV Audit Records" and "OLV Resource Utilization" records. If you would like to have Dispatch cut these particular SMF records:
- Access the following screen via option 9.9 from the main menu and on the VSGMU190 screen you will see the SMF record fields that are used for online viewing functions. To have CA Dispatch cut the record, simply specify a valid numerical value next to the field:
VSGMU190 -- Sysgen Online Viewing Control Screen
Define The Following For General Use Of Online Viewing:
SMF Record Number If Audit Records Are To Be Generated
OLV Audit Record (0=None or 129-255) ==> nnn
OLV Resource Utilization (0=None or 129-255) ==> nnn
A breakdown of the SMF records that will be cut can be found in the CA Dispatch 11.7 Reference Guide starting on or around page 264 where we document the fields on the VSGMU190 screen.
Also among the SMF records that CA Dispatch can cut are the SMF6 records which are created for each and every report spooled out to JES for PRINT. If you would like to have Dispatch cut these particular records:
- Access the following screen via option 9.1 from the main menu and on the VSGMU110 screen you will see the SMF record field that is used to cut these PRINT related SMF records:
VSGMU110--Sysgen Control Information Screen
Generate SMF Writer Records with Record # (Blank=0) for Chargebacks ==> nnn
A breakdown of the type 6 record that will be cut can be found in the Dispatch 11.7 Reference Guide, Chapter 15: Reporting on Report Production and specifically in the section entitled "Charging Users for the Reports They Receive" starting on or about page 457.
Note that while CA Dispatch has the ability to CUT the SMF records, it does not provide a utility or means of REPORTING on them so you would need to feed the CA Dispatch cut SMF records into some type of 3rd party SMF record reporting or chargeback application.
Regarding what CA Dispatch as a stand alone product is capable of producing in terms of a formatted audit trail report or log:
The CA Dispatch started task also creates a DSLOG via the //DSLOG DD statement which can serve as an audit trail report showing who did what while they were logged on to CA Dispatch.
Take a look at this DSLOG and see if contains the type of information that you are looking for. If it does, consider saving this DSLOG in CA Dispatch, where you can refer to it later.
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