Best practices for maintaining the run-time environment
Use these guidelines to make sure that WebSphere Application Server
for z/OS is customized and maintained correctly, to support your installation's
application workload.
Checking these basic software and hardware requirements can help you avoid
problems with the run-time environment.
- Check that you have the necessary prerequisite software up and running.
Check that they have the proper authorizations and that the definitions are
correct.
- Check for messages that signal potential problems. Look for warning
and error messages in the following sources:
- SYSLOG from other z/OS subsystems and products, such as TCP/IP (especially
the DNS, if in use), RACF, and so on
- WebSphere Application Server for z/OS error log
- SYSPRINT of the WebSphere Application Server for z/OS
- Component trace (CTRACE) output for the server
- Check the ports used by WebSphere Application Server. The ports
that are used by WebSphere Application Server must not be reserved by any
other z/OS component.
- Ensure that z/OS has enough DASD space for SVC dumps. You might
have to adjust the amount of space, because it depends on the size of your
applications, on the configured Java virtual machine (JVM) heap size, and
on the number of servant regions that might be included in one dump, and so
on. For an SVC dump of one controller and one servant, you can start with
a minimum of 512, but might have to increase the MAXSPACE to 1024 or higher,
given the factors listed above.
- Check your general environment. Does your system have enough memory?
Insufficient memory problems can show up as AUX shortages, abends, or exceptions
from the WebSphere Application Server for z/OS run-time. Sometimes the heap
size for Language Environment (LE) and for the Java virtual machine (JVM)
needs to be increased. If you are using RRS and DB2, make sure your system
has enough space for archive data sets.
- Make sure all prerequisite fixes have been installed; a quick
check for a fix can save hours of debugging.
For the most current information
on fixes and service updates, see:
- The Preventive Service Planning (PSP) buckets for both WebSphere Application
Server for z/OS and JAVA subsets of the WebSphere Application Server for z/OS
Upgrade. To obtain a copy of the most current versions of these PSP buckets,
you can either contact the IBM Support Center, use S/390 SoftwareXcel or link
to IBMLink.
- The Support Web page of the WebSphere Application Server for z/OS Web
site, which contains a table of the latest authorized program analysis reports
(APARs).
With the latest service information, check the following:
- Ensure that all prerequisite PTFs (fixes) have been applied to the system.
- Verify that all PTFs were actually present in the executables that were
used at the time of error. Often, SMP can indicate that a fix is present and
installed on the system when, in reality, the executables that were used at
the time of error did not contain the fix.
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