Mainframe Job

 

Submit Job to IBM z/OS Mainframe

 

This job step will transfer an ASCII file to an IBM z/OS machine and then submit the file to JES for job execution. The step will wait for completion and ensure that the output log from the mainframe is integrated into the job’s log file.

 

The ActiveBatch Mainframe Job Step submits the specified JCL job stream to the z/OS mainframe via the FTP JES interface.  This interface provides no direct means of determining if the submitted job (a) completed and (b) whether it completed successfully or not.  To detect this information, the job step must inspect the job's output messages.  Therefore, you must ensure that these messages are saved and available to the job step.

 

The JCL  MSGCLASS parameter of the JOB statement determines the output  class to which system and JCL messages are routed.  The parameter's value can be one character long, in the alphabetic range A-Z or numeric range 0-9.  For an ActiveBatch mainframe job, the MSGCLASS parameter must be set to a class representing a JES held output queue.  These values are installation-specific and should be obtained from your system administrator.  If this parameter is not set correctly, then the ActiveBatch job will remain in the "Executing" state, even though it may have ended on the mainframe system.

 

If the MSGCLASS parameter is correctly specified, then ActiveBatch can detect when the mainframe job has completed.  It does this by looking at the job's output messages.  The format of the output is determined by a z/OS system parameter named JESINTERFACELEVEL.  This parameter contains a numeric value of 1 or 2.  If JESINTERFACELEVEL is set to 1, then an abbreviated form of the output messages are generated.  In that case, ActiveBatch can only determine that the job has completed.  It cannot know whether the job was successful or not.  If JESINTERFACELEVEL is 1, ActiveBatch will always report a completed job as successful.  However, if JESINTERFACELEVEL is 2, a fuller version of the output is generated and ActiveBatch can determine the completion status of the job.  JESINTERFACELEVEL is a system value that must be set by an authorized system administrator.

 

The first seven (7) characters of the jobname on the JCL JOB statement must be the user name under which this job will run. For example, if our username is IBMUSER the job card would be:

 

//IBMUSER JOB…

 

This allows the submission interface to look up the jobs you’ve submitted.

 

 

Platforms Supported

Windows.

 

Software Prerequisites

None.

 

Job Step Properties

 

HostAddress – This property represents the hostname or fully qualified domain name of the z/OS mainframe that you want this job to execute on.

 

Credentials – The object path of a User Account object. Clicking on the “Helper” will cause a tree display of all ActiveBatch containers. You may then select a User Account object. The User Account credentials must have proper access for submitting the job to the z/OS system.

 

Note: FTP Error 530 means the credentials were not accepted by the mainframe.

 

Job File – This property represents the JCL file that you want to execute on the z/OS mainframe. Please note that “JobFile” and “Script” are mutually exclusive.

 

Script – This property represents the actual JCL command contents. Please note that “JobFile” and “Script” are mutually exclusive.

 

Job Owner Credentials – The object path of a User Account object that if specified is to become the owner of the job rather than the submitting user. Clicking on the “Helper” will cause a tree display of all ActiveBatch containers. You may then select a User Account object. The UserAccount credentials must have proper access to the z/OS job.

 

Wait for Mainframe Job Completion – This Boolean property indicates whether the job step is to wait for the mainframe job to complete. The default value is “True”. Specifying “False” will cause the job to be submitted and will not wait for its completion. You could later invoke the “SynchronizeWithMainframeJob” job step to synchronize and wait for the job if it had not already completed.

 

Return Step Value

 

JESJobName – This return value contains the name of the newly submitted JES Job Name. This value can later be used with a “Synchronize with Mainframe Job” step if you elect not to wait for the job’s completion.

 

This job step allows you to synchronize with an already executing mainframe job.

 

 

Platforms Supported

Windows.

 

Software Prerequisites

None.

 

Job Step Properties

 

HostAddress – This property represents the hostname or fully qualified domain name of the z/OS mainframe that you want this job to execute on.

 

Credentials – The object path of a User Account object. Clicking on the “Helper” will cause a tree display of all ActiveBatch containers. You may then select a User Account object. The User Account credentials must have proper access for submitting the job to the z/OS system.

 

JES Job Name – This property represents the name of the JES job you want to synchronize with. If this property is left blank, an environment variable named ABAT_JESJOBNAME must contain the job name.