IBM OS/390 User Manual
26.5.1 OS/390 Maintenance Environment
Early in the project a test SMP/E environment needs to be designed and built.
This process involves
This process involves
″
cloning
″
the OS/390 system libraries to provide a new
target to apply OS/390 maintenance without compromising the OS/390 production
environment. Since OS/390 was installed at the beginning of the project, the
maintenance level could be well over a year old by switch-over time. It is highly
recommended that a maintenance cycle be performed before switch-over.
(Testing timeliness, and so on will dictate the best time for this.) The
maintenance environment can be designed simply to provide for alternate
resident volumes and be IPLed and tested in the production environment or
preferably built in a test logical partition (LP) or virtual machine. (This will most
likely be the implementation after switch-over.)
environment. Since OS/390 was installed at the beginning of the project, the
maintenance level could be well over a year old by switch-over time. It is highly
recommended that a maintenance cycle be performed before switch-over.
(Testing timeliness, and so on will dictate the best time for this.) The
maintenance environment can be designed simply to provide for alternate
resident volumes and be IPLed and tested in the production environment or
preferably built in a test logical partition (LP) or virtual machine. (This will most
likely be the implementation after switch-over.)
Once application testing starts on the OS/390 system, it becomes a “production”
system to many. Any disruption to their testing environment will impact their
conversion efforts.
system to many. Any disruption to their testing environment will impact their
conversion efforts.
There are many variations and considerations of maintenance environments and
most are okay as long as the availability requirements are understood and met.
The important criteria is that the test system provides for a simple process to
apply maintenance in an emergency situation and during regular preventative
maintenance cycles without causing a system outage. The Redbook
most are okay as long as the availability requirements are understood and met.
The important criteria is that the test system provides for a simple process to
apply maintenance in an emergency situation and during regular preventative
maintenance cycles without causing a system outage. The Redbook
OS/390
Software Management Cookbook SG24-4775, although somewhat out-dated,
provides some excellent discussion on this topic.
provides some excellent discussion on this topic.
26.5.2 OS/390 Test Logical Partition
There are many things to consider when building a test logical partition (LP) for
the maintenance environment. For example, will you be sharing DASD, catalogs,
system parameters, subsystems and so on, or will this be completely isolated
and serve as a rescue system? Many things such as communications between
the two environments will have already been addressed by the work done
connecting VSE to OS/390. The more subsystems available to test in the test LP,
the less likely of a system outage when IPLing the new maintenance into
production. Or, put another way, the closer your test system is to your
production environment and workload, the less likely you will be surprised by
problems in production.
the maintenance environment. For example, will you be sharing DASD, catalogs,
system parameters, subsystems and so on, or will this be completely isolated
and serve as a rescue system? Many things such as communications between
the two environments will have already been addressed by the work done
connecting VSE to OS/390. The more subsystems available to test in the test LP,
the less likely of a system outage when IPLing the new maintenance into
production. Or, put another way, the closer your test system is to your
production environment and workload, the less likely you will be surprised by
problems in production.
26.5.3 Maintaining Your OS/390 Libraries and SMP/E Zones
You must keep your OS/390 target libraries and SMP/E target zones
synchronized to preserve the integrity of your system. When the target libraries
are backed up, the associated target zones must be backed up as well. You
should create a procedure where the first step backs up the volumes, and the
second step backs up the SMP/E target zone.
synchronized to preserve the integrity of your system. When the target libraries
are backed up, the associated target zones must be backed up as well. You
should create a procedure where the first step backs up the volumes, and the
second step backs up the SMP/E target zone.
The reverse is true for restore. Whenever you restore your target libraries, you
should simultaneously restore your SMP/E target zone.
should simultaneously restore your SMP/E target zone.
Chapter 26. Test Environments
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