Enhancements to IBM i job monitoring and control

Monitoring and control facilities for IBM i jobs have been enhanced to simplify the management of IBM i inquiry messages.

Automated reply to inquiry messages

For the most frequent IBM i inquiry messages, you can define standard rules to automate the reply to the waiting messages. When defining an IBM i job, by using the Workload Designer of the Dynamic Workload Console or the composer command line, you can specify the list of messages for which you want to set up an automated reply. When specifying the automated replies, a new parameter has been added to the job definition: the Message Max Replies parameter. It represents the maximum number of automated replies accepted for a specific message. This new parameter optimizes the management of IBM i inquiry messages.

For example, when you set a wrong reply to a message in the job definition, IBM i system keeps on sending out the same inquiry message repeatedly, while waiting for the correct reply. To avoid this issue, HCL Workload Automation has now the capability to intercept and disable the wrong reply and require, with a prompt, a direct reply from the Dynamic Workload Console. The job remains in SUSP (suspended) status until the correct reply is provided.

Reliable monitoring of IBM i job status changes

As an inquiry message receives an automated reply, the IBM i job status changes from SUSP (suspended) to EXEC (executing) and vice versa. All the job status changes are monitored and tracked. This is useful, for example, when you want to create an event rule definition to send an email every time a job status change occurs.

Improved trace facilities

Trace facilities for IBM i jobs have been improved. To specify the desired tracking level, customize your IBM i agent by setting the required parameters in the JobManager.ini file, in accordance with the settings on the IBM i system.

For more information, see Scheduling and monitoring jobs on IBM i systems.

See the video: Simplify workload management for your IBM i Systems on the Workload Automation YouTube channel. More videos are available for the features released with V9.4 Fix Pack 3 on this dedicated playlist: Workload Scheduler V9.4, Fix Pack 3.