New Features

New Features

This section contains the following topics:

CA Chorus

CA Chorus for DB2 Database Management

CA Chorus for Security and Compliance Management

CA Chorus for Storage Management

CA Chorus Infrastructure Management for Networks and Systems

CA Chorus

This release includes the following enhancements:

Knowledge Sharing

• When you create a dashboard (previously known as a workspace), you can now share it with your colleagues. Conversely, you can import a shared dashboard. This feature promotes knowledge transfer and minimizes the time personnel spend building dashboards.
• You can create and share views within the Investigator Details pane. Additionally, you can create new tabs in the Details pane. Doing so lets you highlight the fields that matter the most to your site.
• You can now index your notes and public notes to the Knowledge Center so others can learn from your experiences.

New Tools

• Added CA Chorus Software Manager as an option for your Quick Links module. Including this product lets you manage all product and maintenance work from within CA Chorus. CA Mainframe Software Manager™ (CA MSM) is renamed to CA Chorus™ Software Manager (CA Chorus™ Software Manager) and adopts the CA Chorus look-and-feel.
• Added the TextBox module, which lets you add customizable labels to the modules in your dashboard. Doing so lets you differentiate modules so you can quickly find data.
• Added the Policy Status Light module, which lets you create a customized view of objects and policies that you want to monitor. This module provides clear visual cues when a policy is met. Additionally, based on the system performance against your policies, you can generate alerts to the Alerts module.
• Added the Web Application module, which lets you quickly add a web application to your dashboard. Doing so lets you further customize your dashboard to view and manage your data in the most efficient manner.

Usability Enhancements

• Added support for a faster and less resource-intensive initialization.
• Added support for a full screen view for all modules.
• Added a toolbar in the Alerts module. This toolbar helps you create search queries and filter alerts, view and analyze alerts as charts, refresh alerts, manage notes, and export alert data to various file formats.  
• Added a time slider to the TSF graph and dashboard graph.
• Renamed the Visualizer to Topology Viewer. The new color-codes help you assess the health state of your system data. You can now save the customized topology view as a perspective or map to reuse the view.
• The Metric Panel configuration window has two new options for all disciplines except DBA:

  Group Metrics by Resource

  Helps you select metrics that are based on the resource that you have selected.

  Group Metrics by Metric Type

  Helps you select systems that are based on the metric type that you have selected.

• Added continuous scrolling in all modules. The pagination bar is no longer necessary.
• Added support to let you customize the tabs in the Details pane of the Investigator. You can now add site-specific tabs and insert fields according to your responsibilities.
• Improved the status bar below the Data pane in the Investigator. The bar now displays the count of selected rows, count of total rows, and the time stamp when the data was retrieved. The Clear button on the status bar helps you cancel the selection of rows.
• For authorized users, the auto refresh option is available in various modules. Unauthorized users must manually refresh the data.
• Added What's New and Product Demonstration links in the Getting Started dashboard.

Installation and Configuration Enhancements

Automated Configuration and CA CSM Software Configuration Services

Automated Configuration

This method lets you edit one batch job (ETJICUST) and one configuration file. A Java program then propagates your changes to the applicable members. You then manually submit each job. For this option, we recommend that you configure the platform and disciplines at the same time.

CA Chorus™ Software Manager

This method lets you use the wizard-based CA Chorus™ Software Manager to configure the product.

New Security Job

We now offer three separate security jobs that are based on your external security manager. The ETJI095x security job simplifies how you meet many security requirements. x can be A for CA ACF2, T for CA Top Secret, and R for IBM RACF. These jobs reside under the CA Chorus product page under Content Type, Recommended Reading.

Reorganized Documentation

• Separated the preinstallation and day of installation tasks into two guides—Site Preparation Guide and Installation Guide.
• All installation tasks (platform and discipline) reside in one Installation Guide. This statement applies when you use our previously recommended configuration processes.
• The Software Development Kit User Guide is a restricted deliverable. To access this guide, sign on with an email address associated with a CA product site ID. To confirm your access, contact your system administrator.
• The Release Notes now has links to the third-party license acknowledgment (TPSA) text files in the TPSA subfolder of the CA Chorus bookshelf.
• Added warnings to the installation topics to alert users that they should first read Site Preparation Guides.
• Streamlined the pre-installation tables to provide room to record site-specific values.

Time Zone Specification

Added the TZ_OFFSET variable to set the time zone for your system. This variable lets you customize the data coming from your back-end products such that the time stamp is accurate.

Prerequisite Validator

Added this tool that you run after you complete the tasks in the CA Chorus Site Preparation Guide. This tool automatically confirms if your system meets all prerequisites to start the installation.

Streamlined Manual Deployment (requires RO63417)

Added two new jobs (PACKAGE and DEPLOY), which minimize the manual deployment effort. This content resides in the Installation Guide.

Test to Production Environment Procedure

Added a procedure to move your test instance of CA Chorus to a production environment. This scenario resides in the Administration Guide.

LFAREA Support (requires RO65280)

Improved support for this z/OS parameter, which specifies the amount of real storage to be made available for 1 MB pages. The value specified for this parameter indicates the amount of online real storage at IPL that is to be used to back large pages. As you configure the product, configuration jobs or the CA CSM configuration wizard include details about how to let CA Chorus leverage this feature.

LFAREA CA CSM SCS Support (requires RO67899)

Simplifies how the LFAREA value is derived when using CA CSM SCS. For more details, see Real Storage Recommendations in the Site Preparation Guide.

Automation of Heap Memory Configuration (requires RO65636)

Automated a previously manual process to configure the heap memory size based on the disciplines that you install at JBoss startup.

Improved SMS and non-SMS multiple volume details

Multiple volume considerations and best practices now reside in the configuration chapter of the Installation Guide.

Editable Checklists in the Site Preparation Guide PDF

We have added the ability to edit the Value column in the following checklists in the PDF version of the Site Preparation Guide:

• Security Considerations
• Data Set and Path Considerations
• Started Task Considerations

Java Support

This release supports IBM 64-bit SDK for z/OS, Java Technology Edition, Version 7 Release 0 Modification 0 Service Release 2,5 or 7 or IBM 64-bit SDK for z/OS, Java Technology Edition, Version 7 Release 1 (5655-W44). Support for Version 7 service release 1 is new.

H2 Database Backup and Restore Procedures

Added procedures to back up and restore the H2 database to the Administration Guide.