Reference Guide › Command Reference › CPFMTXA Command › Authorizations

Authorizations

You must have authorization granted to you through the AUTHORIZ CONFIG statement, GRANT CPFMTXA. For example, to authorize MAINT to use this command, add the following AUTHORIZ CONFIG statement.

GRANT CPFMTXA TO MAINT 

Description

CA VM:Director maintains an in-storage copy of the CP allocation map for the disk which contains the CP Object Directory. As the Object Directory is updated by changes, the CP allocation map is updated in memory and on disk to mark Object Directory cylinders or blocks as either free or in-use. If a system administrator attempts to update the allocation map on the volume containing the Object Directory, using the IBM CPFMTXA program, then CA VM:Director will cause those changes to be lost whenever it re-writes the allocation map from the in-storage copy.

The CA VM:Director CPFMTXA command allows a system administrator to update the allocation map on the volume containing the Object Directory, without taking CA VM:Director down.

Use extreme caution when using this command. The user must be completely familiar with the use of the IBM CPFMTXA command for changing volume allocation before attempting to use it. This CA VM:Director command runs the IBM CPFMTXA command in the issuer virtual machine. CPFMTXA calls the ICKDSF MODULE. Make sure that the MODULE file is present in virtual machine using this command. For more information, see the IBM Device Support Facilities User’s Guide and Reference. In an SSI environment, the issuer must be logged on to the SSI member system whose Object Directory volume allocation map is being updated.

The CA VM:Director CPFMTXA performs these actions in the specified order:

1. Any in-flight updates of the Object Directory are completed, and the in-memory copy of the CP allocation map is written to disk.
2. A lock is established to prevent any subsequent modifications to the Object Directory and the associated allocation map by any CA VM:Director command or process.
3. The IBM CPFMTXA command is executed with the specified parameters. The execution occurs in the virtual machine which issued the CA VM:Director CPFMTXA command, not in the CA VM:Director server machine. The command issuer is responsible for establishing the necessary write access to a minidisk which covers the area from the beginning of the real volume (cylinder zero or block 0) to at least the end of the allocation map. CA VM:Director does not validate any of the parameters to the CPFMTXA command, and just passes them to the IBM CPFMTXA command as specified.
4. At the end of execution of the IBM CPFMTXA command, CA VM:Director reads in and analyzes the allocation map. A CA VM:Director REBUILD operation is then executed to consolidate free space within the object directory and verify any changes. After validating all changes to the allocation map, the in-storage copy of the allocation map is refreshed, and the lock established in step 2 is released so that subsequent modifications of the allocation map by CA VM:Director may proceed.

All formatting of the volume should be done outside of CA VM:Director so that its performance is not impacted. Only re-allocations to the object directory volume should take place through the CPFMTXA command. At times, the execution of the IBM CPFMTXA command may complete successfully with a return code zero, but the REBUILD phase may have errors. For instance, if you change directory cylinders (DRCT) to non-directory cylinders, the CPFMTXA allocation will end successfully but CA VM:Director will abend during the REBUILD phase.

The following describes types of changes that can be made with CPFMTXA ALLOCATE processing and their impact on CA VM:Director processing:

1. Allocation is changed for the volume but no changes were made to Object Directory cylinders or blocks (type DRCT). Normal operation of CA VM:Director is resumed. Keep in mind that CP will not recognize any non-directory allocation changes on the volume until the volume is attached to the system. This usually happens only at IPL time. Care should be taken with the timing of these changes so that they are performed just prior to system IPL.
2. Non-directory areas have been changed to type directory (DRCT). CA VM:Director will start using the new cylinders or blocks to contain pages of the Object Directory. Normal operation of CA VM:Director is resumed.
3. Directory cylinders or blocks have been changed to non-directory type. CA VM:Director operation cannot continue, since the Object Directory will have been wiped out by this change. CA VM:Director will ABEND with code RXB101 after issuing message 699W. In the event of this error, it may be possible to restart CA VM:Director quickly with the SOURCE start option, so that the directory are is re-written. If this is not possible, then the Object Directory and allocation map must be restored from backups.