Advanced Topics › Command Processing › Target Console Pool › Direct Allocation

Direct Allocation

To use the direct allocation method, choose what consoles are used by CA MIC to issue commands imported from external systems.

We do not recommend using the direct allocation method for several reasons:

• There is more work required of you, the installer, to build and maintain the target console pool.
• If you assign a specific subsystem console using the direct allocation method, then there is no guarantee that the console will be available when CA MIC attempts to allocate it. Another subsystem could have the specified consoles previously allocated, causing the CA MIC allocation efforts to fail.
• If you need to change the target consoles in the pool (that is, change the CONSLIST parameters), then you must shutdown and restart CA MIC for the change to take effect.

However, if you choose to use the direct allocation method, the following sections will help you implement it.

Consoles Eligible for Direct Allocation

Only the following types of consoles are eligible for direct allocation:

• Inactive MCS Consoles are MCS consoles that are not online when the system is initialized or that are varied offline currently.
• Subsystem-Allocatable Consoles are consoles that are defined to z/OS, but do not represent a real I/O device. Products or subsystems can use this type of console to enter commands to the z/OS operating system.

Note: Active MCS consoles may not be specified on a GCMINIT CONSLIST statement.

How You Implement the Direct Allocation Method

Before you can choose what consoles are to be used, you must first identify what consoles are available for direct allocation. Once you have chosen what consoles can be used, you tell CA MIC to allocate these consoles at startup by specifying them on the GCMINIT CONSLIST statement.

To implement the direct allocation method

1. Find the console names of inactive or subsystem consoles on each system by issuing the either of the following z/OS commands:

   D C,N
   D C,SS
   

   The consoles must be defined to z/OS and cannot be allocated to any other product or subsystem.

2. Use the GCMINIT CONSLIST statement to inform CA MIC which consoles to use for the pool on each system.

   For example, assume that SYSA has subsystem consoles named SYAASS05 , SYAASS07, and SYAASS12 available, and that SYSB has consoles SYAASS02, SYAASS03, and SYAASS07 available. You would include the following statements in the MIMINIT member of the MIMPARMS data set:

   IFSYS SYSA
      GCMINIT CONSLIST=(SYAASS05,SYAASS07,SYAASS12)
   ENDIF
   

   IFSYS SYSB
      GCMINIT CONSLIST=(SYAASS02,SYBBSS03,SYAASS07)
   ENDIF
   

3. Issue the following statement:

   SETOPTION MAXCONS=0
   

   This restricts the target console pool to consist only of those consoles identified in the GCMINIT CONSLIST statement. If MAXCONS is not set to 0, CA MIC allocates the consoles in the CONSLIST list first, and proceeds to dynamically allocate target consoles until the MAXCONS limit is reached.