Defining and managing dynamic workstations

When you add dynamic capabilities to your environment, you can schedule your workload dynamically.

You can add dynamic capabilities to your environment by connecting the Z controller to a dynamic domain manager. The dynamic domain manager is installed in the distributed environment and manages HCL Workload Automation Agents with dynamic capabilities, also installed in the distributed environment.

The type of dynamic capabilities you add to your HCL Workload Automation agents depends on the type of workload you plan to run:
  • If you plan to run existing HCL Workload Automation jobs dynamically, install the HCL Workload Automation Agents with dynamic capabilities and connect the agents to a dynamic domain manager connected to an HCL Workload Automation for Z controller.
  • If you plan to run both existing HCL Workload Automation jobs and job types with advanced options dynamically, install the HCL Workload Automation Agents with dynamic capabilities and Java™ run time and connect the agents to a dynamic domain manager connected to an HCL Workload Automation for Z controller.
In the z/OS® environment, you can have the following dynamic workstations:
Broker
Also known as dynamic domain manager in the distributed environment. An installed component in an HCL Workload Automation distributed or z/OS® network that is the management hub in a domain where you run both static and dynamic workload. All communications to and from the dynamic agents in the domain are routed through the dynamic domain manager. You can use this workstation to submit jobs by reference. You can define the broker workstation either from ISPF panels or from the Dynamic Workload Console. For more information, see HCL Workload Automation: Planning and Installation.
Pool
A workstation that groups a set of HCL Workload Automation Agents with dynamic capabilities that have similar hardware or software characteristics to submit jobs to. HCL Workload Automation balances the jobs among the HCL Workload Automation Agents with dynamic capabilities within the pool and automatically reassigns jobs to available agents if an agent is no longer available. To create a pool of HCL Workload Automation Agents with dynamic capabilities, define a workstation of type pool hosted by the workload broker workstation, then select the HCL Workload Automation Agents with dynamic capabilities you want to add to the pool. You can define the pool only using the Dynamic Workload Console.
Dynamic pool
A workstation that groups a set of HCL Workload Automation Agents with dynamic capabilities, which is dynamically defined based on the resource requirements you specify. For example, if you require a workstation with low CPU usage and Windows™ installed to run your job, you specify these requirements using the Dynamic Workload Console. This workstation maps all the HCL Workload Automation Agents with dynamic capabilities in your environment that meet the requirements you specified. The resulting pool is dynamically updated whenever a new suitable HCL Workload Automation Agent with dynamic capabilities becomes available. You can define the dynamic pool only using the Dynamic Workload Console.
Note: For these types of workstations, the WSOFFLINE keyword of the JTOPTS initialization statement of the controller is forced to the LEAVE value.
To enable dynamic end-to-end communication, perform the following steps:
  1. Install the dynamic domain manager in the distributed environment. For more information, see HCL Workload Automation: Planning and Installation.
  2. Establish a connection between the Z controller and the dynamic domain manager: in the ROUTOPTS statement, set the DESTINATION keyword to the host name of the dynamic domain manager previously installed, in the following format: 
    DESTINATION NAME=DDM_hostname/DDM:port_number/B
  3. Define the dynamic domain manager workstation. Depending on how you plan to use the dynamic domain manager, the procedure varies:
    Submission of jobs by reference
    Define the dynamic domain manager using the following ISPF panels:
    1. CREATING GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT A WORKSTATION
    2. WORKSTATION END-TO-END OPTIONS
    For more information, see Creating broker workstations.
    Dynamic submission of jobs to pools and dynamic pools
    Define the dynamic domain manager in the Dynamic Workload Console using the Create Workstations panel. For more information, see Creating pools and dynamic pools.
  4. Install the HCL Workload Automation Agents with dynamic capabilities.
  5. Optionally, define the pools and dynamic pools in the distributed environment using the Dynamic Workload Console.
To schedule jobs from HCL Workload Automation for Z to a distributed environment, you have the following options: