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Operator Guide › Using Operator Screens › Managing System Activity

Managing System Activity

Option 1, Manage system activity, on the Operator Main Menu lets you do the following:

Enter 1 on the command line of the Operator Main Menu to select the Manage system activity option. CA VM:Backup displays the Manage System Activity screen. This screen displays the following information about active and pending jobs:

Job Name

This column lists the name of each job that is executing or waiting to be processed. End-user and administrative SFS restore requests are identified by RESTORE. Job template file-defined backup and restore jobs, including those submitted by an authorized client such as CA VM:Archiver, are identified by the job template file name.

Status

This column indicates the status of the job, as shown in this table:

Status

Description

Compile

CA VM:Backup is compiling the job template file for the job.

Ended

CA VM:Backup has finished processing the job.

On hold

CA VM:Backup is not currently processing the job. You must release the job so that CA VM:Backup can process it.

Ordered

CA VM:Backup has moved the job to the front of the job queue in response to the ORDER command.

Released

The job has been released from on hold status and CA VM:Backup will process it as soon as possible.

Restarted

CA VM:Backup has restarted the job.

Running

CA VM:Backup is currently processing the job.

Waiting

The job is ready to run and is queued for processing. When a job is waiting, no further operator action is needed. However, resource availability might delay processing.
Job Type

This column indicates whether a job is a system backup, restore, MPC, REINIT, or AUTOCAT job.

Time Started

This column displays the time CA VM:Backup began processing the job.

Domains

This column indicates the following for each type of job:

Job

Column indicates:

Backup

Total number of domains included in the backup job and number or domains backed up so far.

Restore

Detailed information about the backup instances used in this job. In a chain of incremental backup jobs, a domain might be represented once or as many times as there are backup jobs in the chain, depending on whether the domain changed before the incremental backup.

When CA VM:Backup builds a restore job, it creates a restore selection list entry for each backup instance from which there is data to be restored from that domain. The list of all of these restore selection entries represents the actual number of times CA VM:Backup must obtain access to a domain to restore the data contained in one backup job within the incremental backup chain.

The Manage System Activity screen displays the cumulative total of all restore selection list entries for all domains involved in the job and how many have been processed up to this time. This provides an accurate representation of the job's progress.

MPC

Total number of input domains CA VM:Backup is to copy and number of input domains processed so far.

REINIT

Total number of tapes CA VM:Backup is to reinitialize and number of tapes reinitialized so far.
Job Origin or Job Options.

This column indicates either the user ID that submitted the job or certain processing options with which the job was submitted. Option e means the job is an exclusive job, p means it is a priority job, and b means it is a job that backs up CA VM:Backup. Toggle between these two columns by pressing PF5 ( [Options] when the Job Origin column is displayed, [Origin] when the Job Options column is displayed). For information on job processing options, see SUBMIT Command.

Jobid.

This column indicates the job identification number assigned to this job by CA VM:Backup.

CA VM:Backup displays the message VM:Backup is Suspended in the upper right corner of the Manage System Activity screen when CA VM:Backup job processing is temporarily halted, either through the SUSPEND command or operator screens.

CA VM:Backup automatically updates the information on this screen every 10 seconds. To remove outdated information, press PF2 (Refresh).

You can display additional information on some jobs by pressing PF6 (Contents). For backup jobs, CA VM:Backup lists up to 10 file spaces or minidisks contained in the job. For restore jobs, CA VM:Backup lists up to 10 paired sources and targets. This option allows you to distinguish between multiple end-user restore jobs listed on the screen.

Viewing Outstanding Messages from CA VM:Backup

CA VM:Backup may be waiting for a tape to be mounted or for a minidisk to be detached before continuing a job. You can use the REVIEW command on the Manage System Activity screen to see whether there are any outstanding messages from CA VM:Backup for a job. Enter review in the Command column next to the backup or restore job whose messages you want to check.

When you enter the REVIEW command for a particular job, CA VM:Backup displays the View Outstanding Requests screen. This screen lists any messages relating to the job you selected along with the time the message was issued and the user ID to which it was sent.

CA VM:Backup automatically updates the information on the View Outstanding Requests screen every 10 seconds. To remove outdated information, press PF2 (Refresh).

The REVIEW command allows you to view outstanding messages only. If a response is required, contact the user to whom CA VM:Backup originally sent the message. If your user ID is authorized to receive and respond to CA VM:Backup messages, you can respond to CA VM:Backup yourself through Option 2, Respond to VM:Backup requests, on the Operator Main Menu. For more information about reviewing and responding to CA VM:Backup requests, see Responding to CA VM:Backup Requests.

Monitoring the Status of Active and Pending Jobs

Detailed status information is available for all jobs as they run. You can use the DETAIL command on the Manage System Activity screen to see this information for a currently running job. Enter detail in the Command column next to the job for which you want to see additional information. CA VM:Backup displays one of the following screens depending on the type of job you selected:

Backup Job Status Information Screen

The Backup Job Status Information screen displays detailed information about the job that you selected on the Manage System Activity screen. The top part of the screen displays the following information:

The lower part of this screen shows in detail the status of up to four streams in the job. Each stream is displayed using two lines that start with the stream number. Use PF8 Forward and PF7 Backward to see the state of all 15 possible streams.

The first line displays the domain that the stream is backing up followed by the elapsed time for that domain and the total number of tape blocks that are written to that stream. Domains are identified using a type code:

The second line indicates the stream tape mount elapsed time, if any, and the state of the linker process that is associated with the stream. Both can indicate problems that hold up the processing of the stream.

The linker state is typically "n/a" but problems may occur if the linker is trying to quiesce (Q) or link (L) a minidisk that will be backed up after the current domain backup is complete. This linker state may prevent the current domain from being completed too. In this case, the normal linker status of "n/a" changes to Q or L. These statuses indicate that the linker is quiescing or linking to a minidisk that the stream will back up shortly. The minidisk user ID, the vdev, and the elapsed time that the linker has been waiting follow this status.

CA VM:Backup automatically updates the information on this screen every 10 seconds. To remove outdated information, press PF2 (Refresh). Use PF8 (Forward) and PF7 (Backward) to scroll through the list of current domains.

Restore Job Status Information Screen

The top part of the Restore Job Status Information screen displays the job name you selected and the status information from the Manage System Activity screen. The lower part of the screen provides the following detailed status:

CA VM:Backup automatically updates the information on this screen every 10 seconds. To remove outdated information, press PF2 (Refresh).

Shortened Version of the Directory Name

To shorten the fully-qualified directory name of an SFS directory, CA VM:Backup displays the name of the file space, followed by a period for each directory level, followed by the last directory name.

 

To shorten the full directory pathname of a BFS directory, CA VM:Backup displays the name of the file space, followed by a slash for each directory level, followed by the last directory name.

 

If the shortened version of a BFS full directory pathname is too long, CA VM:Backup precedes the last directory name with ... and truncates characters from the front of the last directory name as needed.

 

Merge/Purge/Copy Job Status Information Screen

The top part of the Merge/Purge/Copy Job Status Information screen displays the job you selected and the status information from the Manage System Activity screen. The lower part of this screen provides the following detailed status:

CA VM:Backup automatically updates the information on this screen every 10 seconds. To remove outdated information, press PF2 (Refresh).

Tape REINIT Status Information Screen

The top part of the REINIT Status Information screen displays the job you selected and the status information from the Manage System Activity screen. The lower part of this screen provides the following detailed status:

CA VM:Backup automatically updates the information on this screen every 10 seconds. To remove outdated information, press PF2 (Refresh).

Listing Tapes Required to Fulfill Mount Requests

For CATSEARCH, VOLSER, MPC, and REINIT jobs, you can use the VOLIST command on the Manage Systems Activity screen to see a list of the tapes required for the job so that you can have them on hand before the job starts. You cannot use this command for backup jobs or VOLSEARCH restore jobs.

Enter volist in the Command column next to the job whose tape list you want to see. CA VM:Backup displays the Tapes Required for a Restore Job screen, which lists the tapes.

The top part of this screen displays the job name, the number of tape mounts required, the request date and time, and the job origin. The bottom part of this screen displays the volsers of the primary tapes that may need to be mounted along with the volsers of any tape copies that can be mounted instead. CA VM:Backup adds a tape descriptor to each volser to help you determine whether it needs to be pulled. The tape descriptors for each job type are described in the following section.

Tape Descriptors for Restore Jobs
Tape Descriptors for MPC Jobs
Tape Descriptors for REINIT Jobs

Canceling Jobs

You can cancel jobs at any time using the CANCEL command on the Manage System Activity screen. Enter cancel in the Command column next to the job you want to cancel. CA VM:Backup ends this job and it is not processed.

Putting Jobs on Hold

You can temporarily interrupt a job at any time, either before it begins or during processing, using the HOLD command on the Manage System Activity screen. You can interrupt jobs whose status is anything other than compile. Enter hold in the Command column next to the job you want to put on hold.

Releasing Held Jobs

You can start or restart jobs that are on hold using the RELEASE command on the Manage System Activity screen. Jobs that are on hold are listed on this screen with the status on hold. Enter release in the Command column next to the held job you want CA VM:Backup to start or restart.

When you release a job that was placed on hold before it began processing, CA VM:Backup starts it from the beginning. When you release a job that was placed on hold during processing, the point at which CA VM:Backup restarts the job depends on whether restart recovery is enabled and whether the job is a backup, restore, MPC, or REINIT job.

If restart recovery is not enabled, CA VM:Backup restarts the job from the beginning. If restart recovery is enabled, CA VM:Backup restarts interrupted jobs as follows:

Reordering Jobs in the Job Queue

Jobs that are not on hold automatically run in the order in which they appear on the Manage System Activity screen. You can use the ORDER command to move a job to the front of the waiting job queue. Enter order in the Command column next to the job you want to move. CA VM:Backup moves the job to the beginning of the queue and changes its status to ordered. To see the jobs listed in the new order, press PF2 (Refresh). When you refresh the screen, the jobs display their original statuses.

You can reorder more than one job at a time using the line-mode ORDER command. See ORDER Command.