Defining Model Builder Tasks


Use the following procedure to create, add, and manage Model Builder Tasks.

The Model Builder Task Manager provides you with the ability to build cost models based on current data from the Capacity Database Web Services server. Once defined and scheduled, Model Builder Tasks generate the models required for the MLC Software Contract Reporting, MLC Monthly Reporting, MLC Planning, and TFP Monthly Reporting tools.

You can build a variety of models to affect the scope of your analysis. In general, if you have multiple Capacity Database Web Services servers, you must define multiple Model Builder Tasks to run. If you have more than one workload type you want to process, you can define one Model Builder Task for all of the workloads. It is not necessary to create a separate task for each workload type.

However, if you want to run a Model Builder Task for multiple workload types, you can specify only one filter. If you need to specify different filters for different workloads, you need to create a separate Model Builder Task for each workload that you want to filter.

Note

If you are using multiple Capacity Database Web Services Servers or multiple data sources on the same Capacity Database Web Services Server, they cannot contain LPARs from the same CPCs. This type of LPAR arrangement invalidates all cost models.

The Manage Model Builder Tasks tool provides advanced options where you can:

  • Exclude particular LPARs from the cost calculations
  • Designate the LPARs that use zNALC licensing for z/OS products
  • Enable trace messages to the log file to assist in diagnostics


Before you begin

You need to define at least one CDB Server profile before you can create a Model Builder Task. Defining the CDB Server profile enables Cost Management to connect to the Capacity Database Web Services database and retrieve the necessary data for the model. For more information, see Defining-connections-to-Capacity-Database-Web-Services-servers.

Cost models are built referencing the active Cost Table. If you have multiple cost tables, you need to ensure that the cost table you want to reference for cost calculations is set as the active cost table. For more information, see Managing-multiple-cost-tables.

To define Model Builder Tasks

  1. From the Cost Management console, click Administration Tools.
  2. From the Administration Tools, click Manage Model Builder Tasks.The Model Builder Task Manager dialog box is displayed listing all the defined tasks. From the dialog box you can add, modify, or remove Model Builder Tasks.

    image2020-8-4_17-12-9.png

  3. Perform one of the following actions:

    • To add a new Model Builder Task, click Add.
    • To modify an existing Model Builder Task, select the icon of the task you want to modify from the list, and then click Modify.

    The Add/Modify dialog box is displayed.

    add model builder task.PNG

Complete the fields as follows:

Note

It is possible to create models from data in separate databases by creating multiple Model Builder Tasks. In this situation, you must select the same workload types for each Model Builder Task.

Field

Description

Task name

Name to be assigned to the task

Tip

Make a record of the task name because you need it to schedule the Cost Management Model Builder Proxy application.

Task description

(Optional) Description of the task

Workload type

Click one or more of the following types:

  • Suites*
  • Service Class*
  • Report Class*
  • Subsystem Address Space
  • Importance
  • Workload Manager

Note

The * indicates that you can specify a filter for the workload.

For more information, see Cost-Management-workloads.

Workload Filter

Filter for the workload

Workload filters can be specified for Suites, Service Class, and Report Class workloads. For these workloads, you can enter a list of comma delimited workload names or wildcard character patterns to be used as a filter to reduce the size of the cost model.

Note

A very large number of workloads may significantly degrade performance of Cost Management. The workload filter provides the ability to specify which workloads to process.

To filter workloads, specify the type of filter:

  • Inclusive - Add ~ before the workload type
  • Exclusive - Add ! before the workload type

A filter can contain the following types of wild cards:

  • % - To replace any number of characters
  • _ - To replace one character.

The OR operation will cause multiple exclusive filters to neutralize each other.

Source CDB Server

Desired CDB Server Profile

Source CDB Database

Desired database accessible from the specified Capacity Database Web Services Server

The database needs to be compatible with Cost Management.

Time Zone Offset

Desired time zone offset

You can specify an offset from the time zone of the data in the database.

Note

When using the MLC Planning tool, all CPCs included in the plan must be built with the same time zone offset.

  1. (Optional) If you want to exclude particular LPARs from the cost calculation, designate zNALC LPARs, specify NO89 commands, specify SCRT commands, or enable Trace messages, click Advanced Options.The Advanced Options dialog box is displayed.

    advanced options.PNG

    1. To designate zNALC LPARs, enter the name of the zNALC LPAR that you want to include, and then click Accept.

      Note

      You can enter LPARs either individually or you can list multiple LPARs separated by commas.

      Entries are case-sensitive, so be sure to enter the LPAR name exactly as it appears in z/OS, which primarily uses capital letters for all LPAR names.

    2. To exclude LPARs from cost calculation, click Exclude and enter the name of the LPAR you want to exclude. Then click Accept.

      Note

      Exclude LPARs should be used only if all activity for a particular LPAR needs to be completely excluded from the cost calculation. If you need to exclude just data for a specific time period or for the activity of a specific MLC Product, you must use the EXCLUDE command. For more information, see EXCLUDE89-command.

    3. To specify the NO89 command for an MLC product or a priced feature that does not create SMF Type 89 records, click the NO89 commands tab, then enter the command as follows:NO89 productID[:featureCode]=[CPCSN:]lparName,... | *All

      The following table defines the value of the variables:

      Variable

      Description

      productID

      IBM product number

      featureCode

      IBM priced feature number

      CPCSN

      The CPC serial number

      lparName

      List of LPAR names separated by commas

      Note

      You must enter the LPAR name and not the SID

      Note

      The following guidelines apply with regard to N089 commands:

      • You must enter a separate command for each MLC product or priced feature that does not create SMF type 89 records.
      • If the NO89 command was already specified in the JCL that runs the Universal Information Exchange batch job, you do not need to enter a command for that particular MLC product or priced feature.

        For more information, see NO89-command.

    4. To specify an EXCLUDE command for an interval that must be excluded from the peak R4HA calculation, click the SCRT commands tab, then enter the command as follows:

       EXCLUDE89 CPC=<xxxx> IMAGE_ID=<lparname>,... | *ALL
                        PRODUCT_ID=<productid>,...|*ALL
                        START=<yyyy m d h>
                        RESUME=<yyyy m d h>
                        ACTIVE=Y|N
      Warning

      When you specify an EXCLUDE89 command in a Model Builder Task, all previous EXCLUDE89 commands added to the UIE JCL for any other intervals are ignored. In order to maintain the correct cost data in the cost models, all of these EXCLUDE89 commands need to be added to the Model Builder Task. For more information, see EXCLUDE89-command.

    5. To specify a CONTAINER, UPDATE CONTAINER, or IGNORE CONTAINER command, click the SCRT commands tab, then enter the commands as follows:

      Command

      Example

      CONTAINER

      CONTAINER CPC=<tttt>-<sssss>,IMAGE_ID=(<image1>,<image2>,...,<imageN>),ID=<solutionID>

      The variables are defined as follows:

      • tttt – CPU Type
      • sssss – Last five characters of CPU serial number
      • image1,image2,...ImageN – Names of the LPARs that are container LPARS
      • SolutionID – Solution identification number

      Note: At least one image_ID required. Image_ID is LPAR name

      UPDATE CONTAINER

      UPDATE CONTAINER,ID=<solutionID>,SET_NAME="<solutionName>"

      Note: This command is required.

      IGNORE CONTAINER

      IGNORE CONTAINER,ID=<solutionID>,START=<yyyy>/<mm>/<dd>/<hh>,RESUME=<yyyy>/<mm>/<dd>/<hh>

      Note: The IGNORE CONTAINER control statement is only intended for use under rare circumstances and as directed by IBM.

    6. To specify an Integrated Workload Pricing (IWP) command, click SCRT commands. Then enter the commands as follows:

      IWP | Integrated_Workload_Pricing
    7. To enable Trace messages, click Trace. Then click toggle switch.PNG to output trace messages to the log for the Model Builder Task.

      Note

      Enabling Trace messages can dramatically increase the size of the log file and should only be enabled for troubleshooting.

    8. After completing the fields in Advanced Options, click Accept.
  2. Complete the selections, click Add Task.
    The task appears as a listing in the Model Builder Tasks dialog box.
  3. Click Save Changes to save the Model Builder Task to the server.


Where to go from here

After defining your Model Builder Tasks, schedule them to run on a nightly basis for use with the MLC Software Contract Reporting, MLC Monthly Reporting, MLC Planning, and TFP Monthly Reporting tools. For more information, see Scheduling-Model-Builder-Tasks.

Note

If necessary, Model Builder Tasks also provides you with the option to run the task immediately by utilizing Run Now. You can use this option if your scheduled tasks will not process the data you need for a specific cost model as described in the following examples:

  • If you are running the UIE to process older data, you can run the task to generate a cost model.
  • If for some reason the regularly scheduled task did not run, you can run the task to generate the missing data.
  • If you excluded LPARs or specified zNALC LPARs, you can run the task to rebuild the cost models to reflect the new values.

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