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CA Health Check Operational Overview

The CAMASTER address space starts the CAHCHECK address space automatically at IPL time and is intended to remain active during IPL. However, it can be shut down or recycled using operator commands.

You do not need to shut down the CAHCHECK address space before a scheduled IPL. The CAHCHECK address space does not prevent any other system component address space from shutting down.

No action is required to activate the CAHCHECK address space. That is, no JCL PROC, no security access rules, and most often, no WLM policy requirements are required to run the CAHCHECK address space. The CAHCHECK address space only requires a security system user ID, if the default started task user ID for your installation is defined to be suspended. In this case, a started task user ID of CAHCHECK minimally must be defined to permit the CAHCHECK address space to start. The CAHCHECK address space executes like any other system component as a "Trusted User" authority. This authority means that CAHCHECK is permitted to access the libraries that contain the CA product health checks. As a Trusted User, the CAHCHECK address space can access data sets in a Read Only mode. The data sets being accessed will be CA product load module libraries and health check message libraries. This action eliminates the need to require the installation to define access profiles anytime new health checks are defined. Any access to such libraries is logged.

The CAHCHECK address space executes in the WLM default STC service class. The CAHCHECK address space typically uses minimal CPU. If the installation WLM default STC service class does not provide adequate CPU resources for the CAHCHECK address space, the installation could need to classify the CAHCHECK started task into a higher priority WLM service class.

As an alternative to updating WLM policy to classify the CAHCHECK started task into a different service class, it is possible to assign the WLM SYSSTC service class to the CAHCHECK by updating the z/OS Program Properties Table (PPT). Updating the Program Properties Table (PPT) in the logical PARMLIB SCHEDxx member to define the CAHCHECK program name as “Privileged” causes the CAHCHECK started task address space to execute in the SYSSTC service class by default. To enable the new PPT definitions immediately without an IPL, see the z/OS system operator command “SET SCH=(xx[,xx]…,L). The SCHEDxx PARMLIB PPT entry for the CAHCHECK program looks like:

PPT PGMNAME(CAHCHECK)     /* CAHCHECK ADDRESS SPACE PROGRAM    */
     NOSWAP               /* NON-SWAPPABLE                     */
     PRIV                 /* PRIVILEGED                        */
     LPREF                /* LONG TERM PGFIX IN NON-RECONFIG   */
     NOPREF               /* SHORT TERM PGFIX IN RECONFIG      */
     SYST                 /* System Task                       */

After the CAHCHECK address space is active, its services are available to CA products. When CA Technologies products register their health check routines in the CAHCHECK address space, those checks remain active until the owning product or an operator command terminates them. If the CAHCHECK address space is recycled, any CA Health Checks that were hosted before the shutdown are re-registered automatically when the CAHCHECK address space is restarted.