How to monitor your EntireX Mainframe Broker using Command Central

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webMethods EntireX

Imagine you are running EntireX Broker on a mainframe platform like z/OS®, Z/VSE® or BS2000. How can you check whether it is running? What servers are available? How many clients, servers and conversations are active? Use Software AG Command Central to monitor all this for you!

Authored by Juergen Lind, Director Product Management, Adabas & Natural, Bernhard Fricke, Sr. Software Specialist, EntireX Development and Peter Hofer, Sr. Lead Software Engineer, Software AG

Getting to know Command Central

Let’s step back and explain Software AG Command Central. You use it to perform administrative tasks remotely from a single location. Command Central assists with configuration, management and monitoring tasks. As an operator, you can monitor server status and health. You can start and stop servers, and you can configure alerts to be sent in case of unplanned outages.

How does EntireX fit into Command Central? You can:

  • Administer your EntireX Broker: start, stop and configure it, monitor status, KPIs and alerts; create or delete instances (since EntireX 9.9 / October 2015)
  • Administer relevant RPC Servers: start, stop, configure and monitor them; create or delete instances (since EntireX 10.1 / October 2017)
  • Use template-based provisioning: install EntireX and, at the same time, add instances such as EntireX Broker and multiple RPC servers on local and even remote hosts (since EntireX 10.1 / October 2017)

All of these features cover EntireX components running on Linux®, UNIX® and Windows® installed via Software AG’s installer or via Command Central.

So, what about the mainframe components? With EntireX 10.3 (released in October 2018) you can now also monitor EntireX mainframe brokers running on z/OS, z/VSE or BS2000.

EntireX Mainframe Broker Monitoring

Create an instance for EntireX Mainframe Broker Monitoring

Let’s take a scenario with EntireX Broker running on a mainframe. To monitor it with Command Central, you define an instance for it within Command Central. This instance holds connection information to the remote broker.

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Figure 1: Create an Instance for EntireX Mainframe Broker Monitoring

It is very easy to create this instance: Log on to Command Central and navigate to Home > Instances > ALL > EntireX Mainframe Administration. Click the Configuration Tab: add a name - myBroker is used in Figure 1 - and connection information. That’s all. Now you will find the new proxy instance of your mainframe Broker in the list of instances.

Monitor your EntireX Mainframe Broker

In Command Central, navigate to Home > Instances > ALL: the instance mybroker, created in the previous step, is displayed as EntireX Mainframe Broker myBroker.  Click on this instance, select the Overview Tab to watch its status (online or stopped), alerts and KPIs:  active clients, registered servers and ongoing conversations between them (Figure 2).

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Figure 2: EntireX Mainframe Broker Monitoring: Status and KPIs

Select Monitoring KPIs in the drop-down box on the Configuration Tab to adjust scaling and boundary values (maximal/marginal/critical) for the KPIs, clients, servers and conversations. If a defined boundary value is crossed, the color changes to direct your attention to the KPI: orange if a marginal line is crossed, red for a critical boundary value (Figure 2).

Also, if required, alter the connection parameters to your EntireX mainframe broker:  Select Broker Connection in the drop-down box on the Configuration Tab.

View registered Services and Server

Navigate to your instance EntireX Mainframe Broker myBroker. Use the Administration Tab for an overview of services currently running (Figure 3).

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Figure 3: View Services and Server registered to an EntireX Mainframe Broker

Watch the number of active Server Instances (replicates), Requests, Wait for Servers and Conversations for a service. Of particular interest is the column Wait for Servers. This tells you the number and percentage of requests where clients had to wait because all running server instances were busy.  Consider starting more server instances if those values are high.

How to get it

You can use the Software AG Installer to install the package for EntireX Mainframe Broker Monitoring. Alternatively, use Command Central; refer to section Installing, Configuring and Upgrading Command Central within Command Central documentation.

Mainframe Broker Monitoring Package

In Software AG Installer: Choose EntireX -> Administration and Monitoring and explicitly mark Mainframe Broker Monitoring (Figure 4).


Figure 4: Installation with Software AG Installer

Mainframe Broker on z/VSE and BS2000

In addition to z/OS, you can also monitor all EntireX Mainframe Brokers running on z/VSE and BS2000 with Command Central.

More monitoring options

In addition to the Command Central GUI, there are further options governing how you can monitor your EntireX Mainframe Brokers.

All possibilities are documented within the EntireX documentation (Figure 5):

  • Using Command Central Command Line: Refer to Administration and Monitoring; choose Administration using Command Central -> Monitoring EntireX Mainframe Broker using the Command Central Command Line
  • EntireX with Command line scripts: Refer to Administration and Monitoring; select Monitoring EntireX with Command line scripts
  • EntireX utility ETBINFO: Refer to Administration and Monitoring; choose your platform (z/OS | BS2000 | z/VSE); Follow the hyperlinks Broker Add-ons -> Broker Command line Utilities -> ETBINFO
  • Operator Commands: Refer to Administration and Monitoring; select your platform (z/OS | BS2000 | z/VSE); follow the hyperlinks Broker Add-ons -> Operator Commands


Figure 5: EntireX Documentation

So in summary …

With the EntireX Mainframe Broker Monitoring, you can easily monitor your Brokers running on a mainframe platform like z/OS, z/VSE or BS2000. Directly recognize whether the Broker is online and the KPIs are in a range expected by your organization. Switch to the Administration page to list the registered services and server and check directly whether more server instances are needed.

EntireX Mainframe Broker Monitoring is available with EntireX version 10.3 (GA: 2018Oct). To learn more, read Administration using Command Central from the webMethods EntireX documentation.

Glossary of terms

Command Central – Tool to manage your Software AG proucts remotely

EntireX Broker – Central EntireX communication hub

ETBINFO – EntireX Command-line utility for querying status information from EntireX Broker 

GUI – Graphical User Interface

KPI – Key Performance Indicator

SPM – Software AG Platform Manager; used by Command Central

Template-based provisioning – Command Central feature for remote instance deployiment

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