March 16, 2004 -- FDRPAS Announcements

This FDRPAS newsletter contains 2 sections:

• The announcement of FDRPAS V5.4 level 40
• An updated list of IBM and other vendor maintenance

General Availability of FDRPAS V5.4 level 40
FDRPAS V5.4/40 is now available. If you wish to receive level 40, please contact Innovation.

Levels of FDRPAS prior to V5.4 level 24 are no longer supported by Innovation. The only supported levels are:

V5.4 level 24 – it will go off support on September 30, 2004
V5.4 levels 30 to 32
V5.4 level 40 and above

If you are running an earlier release of FDRPAS, you should upgrade to a supported level.

Here are the enhancements included in FDRPAS V5.4 level 40:

CONSOLE MESSAGES

A new operand, WTOR=YES|NO, controls whether FDRPAS messages requiring a response, such as FDRW68, will be issued as WTORs, allowing the system operator to reply. If WTOR=NO is specified, such messages are issued only as WTOs and the FDRPAS ISPF panels must be used to display and reply to these messages.

It may be possible to change the WTO routing and descriptor codes for FDR console messages so that the console operator cannot see them at all. These codes can be changed in the FDRPAS option table, as described in Section 380.

MONITOR TYPE=CONFIRMSWAP|CONFIRMSPLIT now supports the operand CONFMESS=YES. If specified, the task will issue a new console WTOR message FDRW07 to indicate that all the indicated disk volumes are synchronized and ready to be confirmed; the volume will not be confirmed until you reply YES. This can be used by the system operator or system automation products to tell when the volumes are synchronized, so that other actions can be taken before the volumes are confirmed.

TSO MESSAGES

A new operand, NOTIFYERR=userid, will send FDRPAS error messages to the specified TSO user using the SEND command. This allows that TSO user to quickly discover problems with specific volumes in FDRPAS operations.

FLASHCOPY

During a SWAP or SWAPDUMP, FlashCopy will be disabled in the hardware for the source volume. Since FDRPAS cannot detect a FlashCopy to the source disk, it cannot copy tracks updated by that FlashCopy, so it will be disabled for the duration of the swap. It will be re-enabled again after the operation is complete. New message FDR264 will be issued to show that this was done.
FDRPAS V5.4 level 40 or above must be used by customers who have installed FlashCopy V2 (data set flash) to avoid data integrity problems if FlashCopy is used to copy to an active FDRPAS source volume.

STOPPING FDRPAS

FDRPAS tasks can now be terminated using the console STOP command (abbreviated P) specifying the FDRPAS job or started task name, e.g., P MONITOR1.
When you STOP a monitor task, any active swaps in that monitor task will be allowed to complete but no new swaps can start. It will terminate when all active swaps have ended. If the task is inactive, it terminates immediately.
When you STOP a swap task, all active swaps will be allowed to complete, but any pending swaps requested in that same task will not start (a message will be issued to identify the volumes were bypassed).

CANCEL PROTECTION

Protection against accidental cancellation of a FDRPAS task, such as a console CANCEL (C) command, is provided. CANCELPROT=YES is the default for monitor tasks, CANCELPROT=NO is the default for swap tasks.
When you CANCEL a FDRPAS task with cancel protection in effect, the CANCEL acts like a STOP command (see above) and it will wait for any active swaps to complete before terminating. If you need to immediately cancel the task despite active tasks, you can issue a second CANCEL command.

ISPF ENHANCEMENTS

The FDRPAS ISPF panels have the ability to sort and filter the volumes displayed (the SORT function is not new but was not previously described). Entering the SORT command displays a panel which allows you to specify SORT criteria for various fields on the display. Sorting on STATUS and VOLSER is especially useful. This panel also allows you to limit the display to volumes with various values in the STATUS field, such as ACTIVE or SWAPPED.

RELOCATING A DATA CENTER

FDRPAS can be used to relocate a data center by duplicating all of the online volumes in new disk subsystems at the new site. Contact Innovation for additional documentation with details on the procedures and considerations.

SUPERTARGET OPTION

For environments where it is not possible to add all of the target devices to the I/O configuration, FDRPAS now offers an option, called Supertarget, which allows the swap to be done from one system where the target devices are defined. On the other systems, the monitor tasks use a single Supertarget device in place of the actual targets to co-ordinate with the swap task. A SWAPDUMP is used to copy the data to the actual targets. At some point, all systems are shut down and the new target devices are cabled in place of the original devices. A separate document is available which describes Supertarget operation. There may be an additional fee for the use of Supertarget.

SWAPPING VM-OWNED VOLUMES

FDRPAS can be used to swap volumes owned by VM systems (VM system volumes and those containing mini-disks) as long as the VM systems are shutdown. Section 320.03 (VM Considerations) has been updated with instructions for swapping VM-owned volumes.

ERASING DISKS

Section 320.05 has been added with a procedure to quickly erase the old source disks after you have swapped them to new device, to insure that no corporate data is left on them before you disconnect them.

IBM and Third Party Maintenance for FDRPAS

Innovation maintains a list of IBM APARs and maintenance from other vendors, including hardware microcode fixes, which may affect the operation of FDRPAS. All customers receive a copy with their order but it is updated regularly. The latest version is included below; the changes are documented at the top. You can also get the latest version anytime from the Innovation FTP site (see instructions above).

Recommended IBM and other maintenance to be applied before running FDRPAS:

Last updated: 03/08/04

CHANGES SINCE LAST UPDATE (05/2003):

APAR OW55980 removed.
APARs OA05403, OA05722 and OA06158 added.
StorageTek V2Xf microcode requirement added.
Supported FDRPAS releases updated.
APARs for OS/390 2.4 through 2.9 removed.

SUPPORTED FDRPAS RELEASES:

Versions 5.4 level 24 of FDRPAS, and higher, are supported. You should not run earlier releases of FDRPAS.
Customers who have installed IBM FlashCopy V2 (data set flash) should use FDRPAS V5.4/40 or above.

REQUIRED STORAGETEK V2Xf MAINTENANCE

If you are swappping to or from a volume in a StorageTek V2Xf (FICON-attached) subsystem, you must be at microcode level G01.01.14.00 or above.

REQUIRED IBM 2105 ESS MAINTENANCE

If a source volume is in an IBM 2105 ESS (Shark) with FICON channels, you should be at microcode level 1.5.2.114 or above so that FDRPAS can properly identify the attached systems. This does not affect target volumes but this microcode level is recommended even for target systems.

REQUIRED AND RECOMMENDED IBM MAINTENANCE FOR ALL SYSTEMS:

You may need to apply IBM maintenance in order to successfully swap disks with FDRPAS. Please check this matrix against your operating system level to see which IBM APARs may need to be applied to all of your systems before you attempt to use FDRPAS. APARs for JES3 only are listed later in this document.
Critical APARs MUST be applied before using FDRPAS (if they apply to your system). Recommended APARs may be optional, but read the details of each to be sure.
Brief descriptions of the APARs follow the matrix. Please review the descriptions of the applicable APARs to see if they must be applied to your system. IBM can provide detailed APAR descriptions and assist you in determining if a given APAR must be applied. Please note that failure to apply some of these APARs may result in system failures, application failures, or data corruption.
Note: APARs that apply to OS/390 2.4-2.9 can be found in the May 2003 FDRPAS newsletter. Go to the Innovation web page at
www.innovationdp.fdr.com
and click on "News Via Email" to access the newsletter.


C = Critical - will apply to most installations and may result in system outages or data loss if not applied. All FDRPAS users should apply.

R = Recommended - does not result in outage or data loss OR applies only to a limited number of installations with special circumstances.

All FDRPAS users should review the descriptions and apply if they are critical for your enviroment.

Brief IBM APAR descriptions follow:

OA06158: this recommended APAR should be applied if you are using ECS (Enhanced Catalog Sharing) in a parallel sysplex, and you plan to swap volumes containing catalogs. See the notes below under APAR OW48166.

OA05722: this recommended APAR fixes an error in module IECDINIT which may cause a swap to terminate if a Flashcopy from a FDRPAS source device is initiated during a swap. It only affects customers who have the FlashCopy V2 (data set flash) support installed on their 2105 ESS (Shark) and on their operating system. FlashCopy V1 customers do not need to install this fix. FDRPAS V5.4/40 inihibits FlashCopy during a swap so this problem is unlikely to occur if you are running level 40 or above. An IPL is required to implement this fix.

OA05403: this recommended APAR suppresses a SVC dump which may occur when volumes with PAV aliases are swapped. The dump title will refer to IOS-DEVICE STATE TRANSITION FLUSHING and the symptoms in the dump will include abend COD reason 00000001. According to the APAR, this condition is automatically recovered and the dump is meaningless. Apply the PTF to suppress the dump, or just discard the dumps. The swap will be successful. An IPL is required to implement this fix.

OW57711: this recommended APAR fixes a S0C4 in module IECDINIT during a swap. The abend causes no harm and the swap will complete successfully, but a SVC dump will be created. The problem seems to occur when the target device has never been online to the system since the last IPL. An IPL is required to implement this fix.

OW56156: this recommended APAR fixes a problem in XCF where the device address of a couple dataset is incorrectly displayed after a swap of the disk. An IPL is required to implement this fix.

OW55469: this critical APAR fixes Media Manager to avoid hangs and ABENDs in programs which use Media Manager. Without this fix, you may experience DB2 failures during a swap. It has also been implicated in a hang in CA-OPSMVS (from Computer Associates) during a swap. An IPL is required to implement this fix.

OW54976: this critical APAR should be applied to avoid SQA overlays due to a problem in the IBM service IEEVARYD. You can avoid the problem without applying the fix by adding the undocumented operand "VARYON=NOAFTER" to all SWAP and MONITOR statements on every system; however, this leads to a rare case where concurrent copy and flashcopy do not work after the swap; if this occurs, issue the console command

V uuuu,ONLINE,UNCOND

An IPL is required to implement this fix.

OW54200: this critical APAR has been implicated in data corruption during FDRPAS swaps. The APAR mentions IEBCOPY but we have seen data corruption in DB2 databases. Other data set types may be exposed as well. An IPL is required to implement this fix.

OW5376: this recommended APAR addresses problems when swapping from a device with new features (such as Flashcopy on a 2105 Shark) to another subsystem without those features. FDRPAS disables those features at the beginning of the swap, but without this fix they may be dynamically re-enabled before the swap ends.
An IPL is required to implement this fix.

OW53222/OW52127: these APARs are recommended to prevent accidentally IPLing from the old SYSRES and IODF volumes which have been swapped. No IPL is required to implement these fixes.

OW52631: this critical APAR must be applied if you swap to or from devices with PAV (Parallel Access Volumes), to avoid a S0C4 abend in IOS. The error may occur when trying to use the non-PAV device after the swap.
An IPL is required to implement this fix.

OW52422: If you have applied the PTF for APAR OW51163 or are running z/OS 1.3, you must apply this critical APAR to avoid a S09A ABEND with reason code CB01 in GRS after a swap (even if you use CA-MIM). This abend will only occur if there is a RESERVE on the volume at the moment of the actual swap; FDRPAS will not complete the swap until there are no outstanding RESERVEs but it is possible for a RESERVE request to be issued after FDRPAS checks. z/OS systems should also apply the PTF for APAR OW54570 to avoid a S0C4 abend in GRS after the S09A abend. This problem is most likely on volumes with high RESERVE activity, such as JES checkpoint volumes and other volumes with shared system-type datasets such as catalogs, but it can affect any volume. In many cases, the abend will affect the task issuing the RESERVE but will not harm other tasks. If JES abends, you should be able to restart JES without affecting running jobs. An IPL is required to implement this fix.

OW51840: if you have applied the PTF for IBM APAR OW48166 or one of the catalog level set PTFs UW81063/64/65, you MUST apply this critical APAR. This problem causes a loop in the catalog address space at the end of a swap if you are NOT using ECS (Enhanced Catalog Sharing) for any catalog. No IPL is required to implement this fix, simply issue F CATALOG,RESTART

OW51461: see OW54200 above.

OW49783: apply this recommended APAR if you plan to do dynamic I/O configuration of swapped devices before the next IPL. An IPL is required to implement this fix.

OW49672: this critical APAR MUST be applied to avoid a hang when swapping a volume containing a shared catalog. The APAR describes a catalog performance problem, but it has resolved several hangs during swaps.
No IPL is required to implement this fix, simply issue F CATALOG,RESTART

OW48166: this critical APAR MUST be applied if you are using ECS (Enhanced Catalog Sharing) in a parallel sysplex, and you plan to swap volumes containing catalogs. The fix will automatically remove a catalog from ECS if it is on a volume that is swapped. You must also apply the PTF for APAR OW51840. To determine if you are using ECS, issue this console command on any system:

F CATALOG,ECSHR(STATUS)

If all catalogs displayed have a status of "inactive", ECS is not in use. No IPL is required to implement this fix, simply issue F CATALOG,RESTART
Circumvention: If you have not applied the PTF, or you wish to avoid the catalog messages, IBM's recommendation is to remove catalogs from ECS before you swap the volumes on which those catalogs reside. Read the IBM APAR text for details.

OW46936: you may want to apply this recommended APAR to avoid an occasional ABEND0C4 during a swap. The ABEND0C4 is not harmful and the swap will complete successfully but it causes an unnecessary SVC DUMP.
An IPL is required to activate this fix.

OW46459: this critical APAR MUST be applied if you are using WLM-managed dynamic PAV and you swap from one device with PAV to another with PAV.
An IPL is required to activate this fix.

OW46101: this recommended APAR resolves performance problems on LLA-managed datasets after a swap.
An IPL is required to activate this fix.

OW45683: this recommended APAR resolves performance problems after swapping to a device with PAV (Parallel Access Volumes).
An IPL is required to activate this fix.

OW44548: If you have ever used FDR to convert DB2 or other linear VSAM clusters from 3380 disks to 3390 disks, and you are now swapping those clusters to IBM 2105 Sharks, you should apply this recommended APAR to avoid I/O errors when re-loading or extending those clusters after the swap.
An IPL is required to activate this fix.
Circumvention: delete/define and reload the clusters before or after the swap.

REQUIRED AND RECOMMENDED IBM MAINTENANCE FOR JES3 SYSTEMS:

You may need to apply IBM maintenance in order to successfully swap disks with FDRPAS under JES3. Please check this matrix against your JES3 level to see which IBM APARs may need to be applied to all of your systems before you attempt to use FDRPAS. APARs for all systems listed earlier in this document may also apply to your system.
Critical APARs must be applied before using FDRPAS (if they apply to your system). Recommended APARs may be optional, but read the details of each to be sure.
Brief descriptions of the APARs follow the matrix. Please review the descriptions of the applicable APARs to see if they must be applied to your system. IBM can provided detailed APAR descriptions and assist you in determining if a given APAR must be applied. Please note that failure to apply some of these APARs may result in system failures, application failures, or data corruption.


Brief JES3 APAR descriptions follow:

OW51565: This critical JES3 APAR prevents a S0C1 abend in JES3 after a swap. This APAR can be installed without an IPL using dynamic LPA and JES3 hotstart.

OW47245: This recommended JES3 APAR addresses a hang after a swap of the IPL volume (containing the JES3LIB dataset). You do not need to IPL after applying this fix. You may also need to apply JES3 APAR OW37639.

REQUIRED HDS (Hitachi Data Systems) MICROCODE UPDATE:

Customers swapping to a HDS 9xxx Lightning disk subsystem must insure that the microcode level is 01-13-19/00 or higher. Without this microcode, FDRPAS monitor tasks may not recognize that a swap is starting.