Table of Contents. Authors Wendy Wong, Senior Software Architect, and the SOLVE:Operations/Linux Connector team. Print Edition: WW180311

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2 Table of Contents The Essentials 1 SECTION 1: ARCHITECTURE 2 CA Mainframe Connector for Linux on System z 2 What is it? 2 What does CA Mainframe Connector do? 2 How does CA Mainframe Connector work? 3 What does CA Mainframe Connector add to CA SOLVE:Operations Automation? 3 SECTION 2: IMPLEMENTATION 4 Typical Implementation Tasks 4 SECTION 3: RESULTS 5 z/linux Management and Automation 5 Monitors 5 Commands and Messages 7 SECTION 4: BEST PRACTICES 8 Five Things to Do 8 Authors Wendy Wong, Senior Software Architect, and the SOLVE:Operations/Linux Connector team. Print Edition: WW Copyright 2011 CA. All rights reserved. IBM, z/os, z/vm, z/linux, Linux for System z, IMS, DB2, WebSphere Application Server, WebSphere MQ and CICS are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. All trademarks, trade names, service marks and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies. This document is for your informational purposes only. CA assumes no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information. To the extent permitted by applicable law, CA provides this document "as is" without warranty of any kind, including, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or noninfringement. In no event will CA be liable for any loss or damage, direct or indirect, from the use of this document, including, without limitation, lost profits, business interruption, goodwill or lost data, even if CA is expressly advised in advance of the possibility of such damages.

3 Page 1 The Essentials CA SOLVE:Operations Automation CA SOLVE:Operations Automation is the trusted foundation of mainframe systems automation in many of the world s largest IBM System z enterprises. Now, you can use CA SOLVE:Operations Automation Release 11.9 to control z/linux resources in the same way as you already look after z/os resources. z/linux management from CA SOLVE:Operations Automation is a new and optional capability. It requires an additional product - CA Mainframe Connector for Linux on System z (CA Mainframe Connector). CA Mainframe Connector for Linux on System z CA Mainframe Connector is an add on product that provides z/linux connectivity, visibility, and control to multiple CA mainframe management products. CA Mainframe Connector enables mainframe products running on z/os to extend the reach of their management specialty to the z/linux environment. CA SOLVE:Operations Automation is the first user of CA Mainframe Connector. CA Mainframe Connector is chargeable, separately packaged and separately installable. It consists of a z/os started task, and lightweight agents resident on z/vm and z/linux. z/linux Management from z/os Using CA Mainframe Connector, the CA SOLVE:Operations Automation region gains access to unsolicited z/linux and z/vm message flows, and can issue commands on z/linux and z/vm systems and receive the responses. z/linux and z/vm resources are displayed alongside z/os resources in the standard CA SOLVE:Operations Automation monitors and displays, and are managed in a consistent way. The remainder of this document briefly covers the architecture of the CA Mainframe Connector, the implementation process, and what the resulting z/linux management looks like in real life.

4 Page 2 SECTION 1: ARCHITECTURE CA Mainframe Connector for Linux on System z What is it? CA Mainframe Connector is a separately packaged and installed CA mainframe software product. Licensing the CA Mainframe Connector enables you to use the new z/linux management capabilities of CA SOLVE:Operations Automation. What does CA Mainframe Connector do? Conceptually, it is a black box providing a pipe between z/os and z/linux, via z/vm. CA Mainframe Connector includes the following major functions: Normalization of incoming unsolicited message to z/os standards Normalization of incoming solicited message to z/os standards The ability to issue commands on z/vm and z/linux systems Heartbeat handling to help maintain communication between components

5 Page 3 How does CA Mainframe Connector work? TASKS OR AGENTS RUN ON Z/LINUX, Z/VM, AND Z/OS CA Mainframe Connector consists of 3 parts, which communicate with each other. An agent that runs on z/vm There is one z/vm agent running on every z/vm system that hosts Linux guests you want to manage. That agent supports all the z/linux guests on that z/vm system. An agent that runs on z/linux There is one z/linux agent running per z/linux guest. There are as many z/linux agents deployed as there are monitored z/linux guests. A started task (address space) that runs on z/os This Linux Connector started task can support TCP/IP connections with a large number of z/linux guests, on dispersed LPARs, sysplexes, and geographies. UNSOLICITED MESSAGE FLOW FROM Z/LINUX AND Z/VM What does CA Mainframe Connector add to CA SOLVE:Operations Automation? z/vm and Linux Resources New resource classes: VM System Linux Guest Linux Application Association of Linux and z/vm messages to a specific resource Resource relationships State management Tree commands EventView Rules Available as standard messages z/vm SYSCMD (VMCMD) Linux SYSCMD (LXCMD)

6 Page 4 SECTION 2: IMPLEMENTATION Typical Implementation Tasks This is a summary for overview purposes only. For detailed implementation instructions, use these publications: CA Mainframe Connector for Linux on System z Installation Guide CA SOLVE:Operations Automation Linux Management Guide CA SOLVE:Operations Automation Administration Guide CA SOLVE:OPERATIONS AUTOMATION 1. Use CA Mainframe Software Manager (MSM) to Install CA SOLVE:Operations Automation Release Complete all migration tasks to CA SOLVE:Operations Automation Release CA MAINFRAME CONNECTOR 1. Use CA MSM to install the z/os and z/vm parts. These parts use standard SMP/E installation. 2. Deploy the z/os started task to the same LPAR where CA SOLVE:Operations Automation runs. 3. Deploy the z/vm agent to each z/vm system that hosts z/linux guests of interest. 4. On each such z/vm system, do the required installation and implementation. 5. Download the z/linux agent file. The file is a standard Linux RPM package. 6. Deploy and install the z/linux agent to every z/linux image to be monitored. Co-ordinate this step with your z/linux administrator. 7. For each such z/linux agent, do the required syslog daemon setup. TOGETHER NOW In the CA SOLVE:Operations Automation region: 1. Update and action Customizer parameter group. 2. Verify the link between the region and the CA Mainframe Connector z/os task. 3. Verify the data flow between CA SOLVE:Operations Automation and z/vm. 4. Verify the data flow between CA SOLVE:Operations Automation and z/linux. 5. Enable resource discovery, and tailor discovered resources. PREPARATION The key to effective, efficient z/linux management is ensuring that the z/linux and z/vm resources defined to CA SOLVE:Operations Automation accurately reflect your real z/vm and z/linux topology. Before you start, take the time to review and fully understand your z/vm and z/linux environment. z/vm and z/linux images may have more complex relationships than z/os resources. CA Mainframe Connector for Linux on System z does not support z/linux images that are natively hosted without z/vm; or that do not have the agent installed on their owning z/vm. Monitor only what you need, to avoid unnecessary traffic, processing, and confusion. Identify your most critical z/linux images and applications.

7 Page 5 SECTION 3: RESULTS z/linux Management and Automation z/linux management is integrated into the existing z/os management functions of CA SOLVE:Operations Automation; there are no new Linux-only functions to learn. So, what do you see after you implement z/linux Management from CA SOLVE:Operations Automation? Here are some examples. Monitors RESOURCE MONITOR New VM Guest System, Linux Guest, and Linux Application resources appear on the Resource Monitor, alongside your current z/os resources. You can automate z/linux operations such as the following: Bounce (shut down and immediately restart) a z/linux guest. Perform an orderly takedown of a z/linux guest (that is, shutting down all its applications in an orderly way first). Schedule the restart of a z/linux guest. Recover a z/linux guest after an abend or unexpected shutdown (that is, check and bring up applications in the right order, and so on). Check and report the status of a z/linux application. Stop a z/linux application. Start a z/linux application. Use Linux commands to perform operational processes against a z/linux application.

8 Page 6 ALERT MONITOR State-based alerts for z/linux and z/vm resources appear on the CA SOLVE Alert Monitor, just like they do for z/os resources. Like all SOLVE and NetMaster alerts, z/linux and z/vm alerts can be forwarded to other destinations, drive customized actions, or both. GRAPHICAL MONITOR You can build dynamically-updating graphical icons for your z/linux and z/vm systems and applications, and zoom into them just like you do for your z/os resources. SERVICE MONITOR You can construct services based on z/linux and z/vm resources.

9 Page 7 Commands and Messages COMMAND ENTRY z/linux commands can be entered just as easily as z/os commands. MESSAGES Linux syslog messages are delivered to CA SOLVE:Operations Automation along with the regular z/os message traffic. Linux messages are accessible to any procedure or process.

10 Page 8 SECTION 4: BEST PRACTICES Five Things to Do MAKE YOUR KEY LINUX APPLICATIONS VERBOSE AND VISIBLE SOLVE:Operations uses message flows for information about resource health. A Linux application that runs silently is difficult to monitor. Applications should communicate their state to the outside world with messages. Make sure that the Linux applications you intend to monitor are running in a verbose manner; at a minimum, they should log messages upon startup, shutdown, and failure. ACCURATELY DEFINE YOUR Z/VM, Z/LINUX AND APPLICATION RELATIONSHIPS Multiple applications run on one z/linux guest; and in turn, multiple z/linux guests run on one z/vm system. Make sure that the corresponding parent/child relationships are accurately defined for all of your resources. Operations on a z/vm System Image can then act on resources in its hierarchical tree. For example, when you issue the SHUTSYS command against the z/vm System Image SYS123, SOLVE:Operations will: i. perform an orderly shutdown of every monitored Linux application on every monitored z/linux guest that runs on z/vm System SYS123; and then, ii. perform an orderly shutdown of every monitored z/linux guest that runs on z/vm System SYS123; When you issue STARTSYS against z/vm System Image SYS123, the reverse happens. SOLVE:Operations will start all associated VM Guests and all associated z/linux guests; and then start the applications on each of these z/linux guests. SECURE THE AUTHORITY TO ISSUE Z/VM AND Z/LINUX COMMANDS z/vm and z/linux commands can be issued from many convenient places in SOLVE:Operations, including from within a SOLVE process, within an NCL procedure, from OCS or command entry, and via the CMD line command in the resource monitors. Make sure you check and if necessary restrict who can issue z/vm and z/linux commands. Product-level restrictions can be imposed using the NPF security table facility. System-level restrictions can be imposed with SAF. MONITOR WORLDWIDE Z/LINUX RESOURCES FROM ONE CENTRAL CONSOLIDATED SCREEN SOLVE:Operations powerful multi-system capabilities - free of sysplex or geographical restrictions - extend equally to z/linux monitoring. For example, you may have z/os-z/vmz/linux Data Centers in New York and London, with all resources controlled by a focal New York SOLVE:Operations region. By running a Linux Connector started task on both the New York and London LPARs, the New York region can see and control the z/linux resources located in the London Data Center in the same way and from the same screens that the New York operators use already to control London s z/os resources. BUILD AND MONITOR SERVICES THAT INCLUDE Z/LINUX COMPONENTS z/vm and z/linux resources can be added to normal SOLVE:Operations services. For example, you might define a Place Order service that includes a Linux end-user application and the z/os database started task that provides its back-end data. To learn more about z/linux management from z/os, talk to CA Technologies about CA SOLVE:Operations Automation Release Thank you for your interest in our products.