Unicenter Autosys: job scheduling tool

I was sad and excited, may be li'l bit happy, when I started with my new work. Sad for am going to miss colleagues, the Neptune project in whole, except the SAP team - no love lost, among others. Excited for a new challenge looms; I thought.

I was useless/worthless in my team for the whole month - FICC IT PTF, whatever that means; while the team comprises: Indian, Chinese, locals [Singaporean], and us - Pinoy. Lucky for us, one of the shift leads or station managers is a Pinoy; I call him The Director - I find the job bit boring. It may be because I still don't have the access on other applications but, it could be the job is - as my shift lead puts it - for kindergarten. Sorry, just quoting. It makes me miss my SYSSUPPORT access. But, of course, this doesn't mean that I'm gonna stop writing about UNIX. Nada! It's a continuous learning. Next target: Solaris and RHEL. We got books here, as well as, CBTs.

On the side note, I came to learn a new application. It's the Unicenter Autosys - a job scheduling tool. Just like the Control-M, the one that we use before. It's just like a cron job, with conditions that can be set in order for that job to run. As for my job, in our team, tickets are assigned via "tasks". You are assigned tasks to be done on certain time [with or without SLA]. So, everyone has got something to do. You can't run, you can't hide!

As for the Autosys, we use it to check on jobs if they run successfully or otherwise. As mentioned, jobs should meet certain conditions before it will be executed. Such conditions ranges from time to dependencies to other jobs. I'll post here next time some results from my tasks. As for the meantime, please read on Unicenter Autosys.

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The "as for now" is over. I "stole" some results from the tasks assigned to me today. You may have read about it but here is the example:

user101@server202> aj IRS_server203_EOD-EUR

Job Name Last Start Last End ST Run Pri/Xit
__________________ _____________ _____________ __ _______ ___

IRS_server203_EOD-EUR 09/30/2008 21:00 09/30/2008 21:11 SU 24773663/1
user101@server202> aj IRS_server203_EOD-EUR -q

/* ----------------- IRS_server203_EOD-EUR ----------------- */

insert_job: IRS_server203_EOD-EUR job_type: c
command: $$XXX/Scripts/Autosys/IRS_server203_EOD-EUR.sh
machine: server203
#owner: XXX
permission: gx,mx
date_conditions: 1
days_of_week: mo,tu,we,th,fr
start_times: "21:00"
description: "Rerun=0;663;Chat : XXX ; DL-xxx-yyy , DL-zzz-aaa"
std_err_file: $$XXX/Scripts/Autosys/Logs/IRS_server203_EOD-EUR.err
min_run_alarm: 1
max_run_alarm: 10
alarm_if_fail: 1
timezone: US/Eastern
user101@server202> aj IRS_server203_EOD-EUR -r -1

Job Name Last Start Last End ST Run Pri/Xit
__________________ _____________ _____________ __ _______ ___

IRS_server203_EOD-EUR 09/29/2008 21:00 09/29/2008 21:13 SU 24728737/1
user101@server202>

You might wonder about the "aj" command, and you may not find it anywhere. Before chaos reigns in our midst, it's just an alias for "autorep -J".

Here, another example - a running job:

user101@server202> aj FI_FCTxx_DownStream_BOX
Job Name Last Start Last End ST Run Pri/Xit
_______________ _____________ ____________ __ _______ ___

FI_FCTxx_DownStream_BOX 09/30/2008 21:29 ----- RU 24767669/1
FI_FCTxx_Settlement 09/30/2008 21:29 ----- RU 24767669/1
FI_FCTxx_JetBase 09/30/2008 21:30 09/30/2008 21:31 SU 24767669/1
FI_FCTxx_JetBase_SFtp 09/11/2008 21:38 09/11/2008 21:38 OI 24115468/1
FI_FCTxx_Socrates 09/30/2008 21:29 09/30/2008 21:30 SU 24767669/1
FI_FCTxx_Socrates_SFtp 09/30/2008 21:30 09/30/2008 21:31 SU 24767669/1
FI_FCTxx_MRC 09/30/2008 21:29 09/30/2008 21:30 SU 24767669/1
FI_FCTxx_MRC_SFtp 09/30/2008 21:30 09/30/2008 21:31 SU 24767669/1
FI_FCTxx_CPVar_SFtp 09/30/2008 21:30 09/30/2008 21:31 SU 24767669/1

user101@server202> job_depends -c -J FI_FCTxx_Settlement
______________________________________________________
Start Dependent
Job Name Status Date Cond? Cond? Jobs?
-------- ------ --------------- ----- ---------
FI_FCTxx_Settlement RUNNING No No No
______________________________________________________

user101@server202> job_depends -d -J FI_FCTxx_Settlement
Job Dependency Report

Job Name Date Cond? Atomic Start Conditions
______________________ _______________ ________________

FI_FCTxx_Settlement ------- -------
user101@server202>

Microsoft’s take on virtualization: re-print edition

By Anna Valmero
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 18:51:00 09/26/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- “The IT industry is in the middle of the next paradigm shift toward virtualization,” said Bill Hilf, general manager of Windows Server and Platform Strategy for Microsoft Corp. Hilf visited the Philippines Friday to promote the release of Microsoft’s virtualization software in the country.

Virtualization, as defined by Microsoft, means having the power to run multiple systems, such as server, storage device, network or even an operating system and applications in just one machine, making a business run its system more efficiently. This virtualization trend comes at the right time to harness the processing power of multi-core processors being deployed in the industry.

As the next trend to shape the IT industry, virtualization can revolutionize the use of computing machines, said Hilf.

A virtualized box can run multiple operating systems compared to a traditional server without virtualization that can handle only one operating system. By deploying virtual machines, one box can serve the function achieved previously by two or more boxes without virtualization. This is also true for desktops.

“Virtualization leads to a lot of savings,” said Hilf.

First, the savings can come from lesser space to be occupied by boxes with virtualization. By having lesser boxes, this also reduces the costs required to cool the server systems. Cooling is required to remove the heat from the server environment, which when reduced translates to lower power utilities. A company can also cut the number of servers it needs to acquire for its business since one box running virtualization can serve the function of two or more servers. Virtualization software packs also offer bulk licensing, as in the case of Microsoft’s premium software products, thus bringing down licensing costs.

Another advantage of virtualization is the ability of a single machine to handle previous-generation applications while running modern applications. This is specifically beneficial to businesses that maintain servers to run old legacy applications.

“By being able to run these old legacy applications on a new, better-performance server, it will help save a lot of money,” Hilf said. Organizations thus achieve better management efficiencies in its resources.

Aside from being able to run multiple operating systems on one desktop, how can the common business person benefit from virtualization?

Explains Hilf: “Imagine this: You have a small device, maybe a laptop or just a small box. Through virtualization, you are able to access via streaming your required applications from a remote server. Technology such as Microsoft's Remote Display Protocol streams keystrokes and mouse clicks to the server and a view of the screen back to the user, who can be located hundreds of miles away from the server or desktop.”

Simply, it can allow users to access a remote PC when he is offsite.


Link: Microsoft’s take on virtualization.

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I was surprised when I saw and read this article. What the *&%$?!? This is already an "old" [relatively] thing. You should check and get VMWare instead. Well, what's the connection with HP-UX in particular? This can be done on the hardware level: node partitioning [npar]; 'though there is such as virtual partitioning [vpar].