Introduction › How Does CA Auditor Fit In?

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How Does CA Auditor Fit In?

CA Auditor is a comprehensive software package that can perform an automated technical review of the system hardware and software environment and identify integrity exposures. Unlike previous software packages, CA Auditor reviews the complex z/OS operating system itself. CA Auditor can perform a variety of analysis functions in a matter of seconds or minutes. Before CA Auditor, it could take days to determine the current system status and review the controls, if any, that were in place on a z/OS system.

CA Auditor provides a realtime view of the computer system without affecting system performance. It is solely an inspection tool and does not permit users to change the system in any way. CA Auditor does not circumvent the computer system’s access control mechanisms. It relies on the access authorities that you have. If you have a powerful user ID, you probably can use all CA Auditor functions. Otherwise, you have to obtain the necessary authorizations before you can view certain displays.

We designed CA Auditor so that the user can install it. It has no system option or logical Parmlib requirements. The only basic installation choices are how much library space to give to the system, whether to add CA Librarian or CA Panvalet library support, whether to make CA Auditor an ISPF/PDF menu option, and what command list (CLIST) format to use.

CA Auditor does not require APF authorization, logical Parmlib updates, or an initial program load (IPL). It requires only read access to the system files and libraries it analyzes.

Data centers that use CA Auditor often prefer to install software using the IBM system modification program (SMP/E), a tool that provides tracking and change control. For these sites, CA Auditor can be installed with SMP/E. The SMP/E installation augments, but does not replace, the installation method described above.

The CA Auditor central parameter file allows you to specify common options for the users. This file is dynamically allocated when CA Auditor is started and makes it possible to specify site-wide options such as: