Installation and Configuration Best Practices › Configuration › Apply High Priority PTFs

Apply High Priority PTFs

Apply all high priority PTFs. Check regularly for recent maintenance.

Business Value:

Being current on maintenance avoids system failures, makes problem resolution go smoothly, and maximizes your investment by providing access to the latest features and functionality of CA TPX.

Install Latest Version of IBM APARs

Install all of the latest IBM APARs appropriate for your environment.

Business Value:

If pertinent APARS are missing, it may impact the operation or performance of your CA products.

Additional Considerations:

We recommend that you review our current list of IBM APARs and apply only those that are appropriate to your environment.

More Information:

The list of IBM APARs is documented in TPX APAR QI05737 and can be accessed from Support Online.

Separate User Code from CA Delivered Software

Create a separate library for user-created code. It should be concatenated ahead of the CA delivered library. For example, custom exits should be assembled and kept in a separate library concatenated ahead of the CA TPX Load library (CB0VLOAD). Similarly, any customized panels or libraries can be saved in separate library.

Business Value:

By saving your customizations in a separate library, you can easily:

• Identify customizations that need to be ported to a new release
• Fallback to the CA version of a module or member

Additional Considerations:

• Always reassemble the exits with new release libraries.
• Always compare customized items to see if the original delivered version has been changed in the new release.

  For example, if you have customized a specific panel, compare the earlier version of that panel from CA with the same panel from the new release. 

  Note: If CA has made changes to the panel then you will need to implement those in your custom version too.

Reassemble User Exits During Release Upgrade

Always re-assemble user exits when migrating to a new release of CA TPX.

Business Value:

Reassembling the user exits when upgrading the product, will help to avoid potential failures and loss of productivity.

Additional Considerations:

New releases of CA TPX are packaged with the required macro libraries that are needed for reassembling the customized user exits.

A sample JCL is also included to assist in the assembling of the user exits and is available in the SAMPLIB (CB0VSRC) member ASMUXIT.

Re-evaluate SMRT Defaults After An Upgrade

Take advantage of new parameters and improved default settings by evaluating the differences in the new release with the previous release.

Business Value:

With a new release of TPX, there may be new fields added to the SMRT or there could be changes to the recommended values of existing SMRT fields such as slot pool sizes.

Additional Considerations:

If you apply no changes to your SMRT in the new release, the defaults for any new fields introduced since your prior release will be retained.

To compare your existing SMRT with the new release defaults

1. Take screen prints of each SMRT panel in your existing release.
2. Create a new SMRT in the new release.
3. Take screen prints of the SMRTs. These screen prints have the recommended default values.
4. Compare the SMRTs to identify the new fields and their defaults, or identify where your SMRT differs form the recommended values.

Set Up CA TPX to Create SVC Dumps

Set up CA TPX so that SVC dumps are created when abends occur. SYSUDUMPs usually do not provide adequate information for problem investigation. You may need to remove the SYSUDUMP DD from the delivered TPXPROC.

Note: Verify the requirements within your own environment.

Business Value:

You do not need to wait for the reoccurrence of the problem to capture the required dump for diagnosis.

Additional Considerations:

Whenever sending a dump to CA for TPX, the corresponding TPX started task log is also required.