Running playback mode

Before you begin

To run playback mode you must meet the following requirements:

• You must have administrator privileges.
• BMC AMI Ops Insightcannot be running projections on real-time data. If you are running real-time projections, playback is disabled.

To run playback, you must have a playback file. Use the following procedure to create a playback file from your SMF data.

To create a playback file

1. On the title bar, click Administration. 
2. Click Playback Scoring > New File.
3. On the New Playback File page, in step 1 of 4, select one of the following options:
   • Db2 Subsystem Playback: Create one or more Db2 Subsystem playback files.
   • LPAR Playback: Create one or more LPAR playback files.
4. Click Next.

5. In step 2 of 4, enter the following details:​​​​​

   Field	Description
   Wildcard Search	Uses wildcards to search a data set name Select Wildcard Search check box and enter the wildcard input to search for a data set. The allowed wildcard characters are %, *, and * *.   For example:  HLQ.MLQ.DATA% HLQ.MLQ.*.DATA HLQ.MLQ.**
   Data Set Name	Names of the historical SMF data sets that contains the source data for the playback file You can enter up to 500 data set names. The data sets must follow TSO data set naming conventions.
   Date Range of Playback Data	Start date/time and end date/time for the historical SMF data set name. Dates and times are according to the time zone of the data within the provided data set.
   Select an option	Select an option to filter Db2 subsystems or LPARs from the data sets You can use one of the following options: Add Manually: Add known Db2 subsystems or LPARs manually. Scan & Extract: Click to scan and extract all data sets for Db2 subsystems or LPARs.
   Sort SMF	Dynamically sorts SMF records Select this to use BMC's sorting algorithm (recommended) to sort the data by date and time, to minimize resource consumption. Unless you have a specific issue that prevents you from using BMC's sorting algorithm, leave this selected. Warning Important If you select Sort SMF, the Pacing Record Count option is disabled. Before turning off Sort SMF, make sure the data is sorted based on date and time. We recommended that you use Sort SMF.
   Pacing Record Count	Number of records processed before there is a pause in building the playback file Use Pacing Record Count to control the resource usage of your request. When the number of records is processed, operations are suspended for an interval equivalent to the amount of time it took to process the previous batch of records and to write them to the output file. Warning Important The Pacing Record Count is visible only when you disable the Sort SMF option.

6. Click Next.
7. In step 3 of 4, enter the following details:

   Field	Description
   Label/Short Description	Enter a label or short description for the playback file.
   Output Folder	Enter a USS subdirectory path to store the playback file. The product searches for this folder within the <installedDirectory>/aoidata/aoiinst/dat folder in your product installation. If the folder doesn't exist, the product creates it. Create a path that is compliant with USS naming conventions. You must have write access for the folder and sufficient space to store the data.
   Add Manually	Create Db2 Subsystem Playback file (using SMF100 data)	Create a playback file for Db2 subsystems. Enter one of the following options: Filter by Db2 Data Sharing Group: Creates playback files for all Db2 subsystems in the Db2 data sharing group. Enter a Db2 Data Sharing Group name. A Db2 data sharing group name can be up to 8 characters long and must match the QWHADSGN field in the SMF data. Filter by Db2 Subsystem: Creates a playback file only for individual Db2 subsystems or stand-alone Db2 subsystems. Enter a Db2 Subsystem name. A Db2 subsystem name can be up to 4 characters long and must match the QWHAMEMN field in the SMF data. You can filter multiple Db2 Subsystems or Db2 Data Sharing Groups by using a comma separator.
   	Create LPAR Playback files (using SMF 70-79 data)	Create a playback file for an LPAR. Enter one of the following options: Filter by Sysplex: Creates playback files for all LPARs in the sysplex. ​​​Enter a sysplex name. A sysplex name can be up to 8 characters long and must match the SMF70XNM field in the SMF data. Filter by LPAR: Creates a playback file only for a single LPAR. Enter an LPAR name. An LPAR name can be up to 8 characters long and must match the SMF70SNM field in the SMF data. You can filter multiple LPARs or Sysplexes by using a comma separator.
   (Default) Scan & Extract (BMC.AMIOPS.SPE2510)	Create a playback file for Db2 Subsystems	Select one or more Db2 subsystems.
   	Create playback files for LPARs	Select one or more LPARs.

8. Click Next.
9. In step 4 of 4, review the entries and click Submit.
   The process to create a playback file starts, and a progress bar is displayed.​​​​​ The created playback files are listed on the Playback Scoring page. 
10. Click on the filename to see the details of the playback file.

To use the Expert Mode

1. On the title bar, click Administration .
2. Click Playback Scoring > New File.
3. On the Create Playback File window, click Expert Mode.
   

4. Enter the details in the Create Playback File window and click Submit.

   Warning

   Important

   You can create playback files of both Db2 Subsystems and LPARs in the same request.

To copy and clone a playback file

1. On the title bar, click Administration .
2. Click Playback Mode > Playback Scoring on the left panel.
3. Click  > Copy & Create playback.
4. Click Submit to create the cloned playback file.

To delete a playback request that is in error status

If a playback request finishes in error, it is marked with . To delete it, click Cancel.

To delete a playback file

1. On the title bar, click Administration   .
2. Click Playback Mode > Playback Scoring on the left panel.
3. Click   > Delete playback.

To run playback

1. On the title bar, click Administration .
2. Click Playback Mode > Playback Scoring on the left panel.
3. Select the option you want to use for playback file selection:

   • Option 1 - Select Files: Use this option for running playback with files created on this instance of the product.

     • Select folders and files that you want to use for playback. If you select a folder, all files in the folder are selected.
     • To select a folder, click Select.
     • To download a folder, click > Download playback. To delete a folder,  click > Delete playback.
     • To select individual files, click the > expander next to the folder name, and then select the individual files you want to use. Another option is to select the entire folder, and then click Deselect for files you don't want to include in the playback.

   • Option 2 - Provide Path: Use this option for running playback files that were created on another instance of the product.
     Enter the path of the file or folder that you want to use for playback. The file or folder must be within the <installed directory>/aoidata/aoiinst/dat folder. The path you enter here must exist in the path within the <installed directory>/aoidata/aoiinst/dat folder.

4. Click Next.

5. Enter an Ingestion Rate for your playback. The Ingestion Rate is the rate at which the application processes data and refreshes the display.

   Warning

   Important

   Each ingestion cycle processes 1 minute of data regardless of the selected speed.

   Default: 20 seconds

   Warning

   Important

   The value you use here depends on the amount of data you are processing and the resource availability on the machine you are using.

6. BMC.AMIOPS.SPE2501Disable or enable Force restart all Db2 subsystems and activate the Restart Detection feature.
   Enabling restart detection removes possible false positive caused by recent restarts of the Db2) subsystems. If this option is disabled, a playback might contain a long event. For example, it might show that the storage is less than normal.
7. Click .

On the Playback Scoring page, you can see the details of the current playback.

While playback is running:

• All of the displays in the application reflect the results based on the historical data.
• Playback Active is displayed on the Playback Scoring page.
  
• Playback Active is displayed in the footer of all pages throughout the application.
  

To pause playback

You can pause playback while it's running to temporarily stop its progress and analyze the results.

You can use the Pause and Play buttons in the footer of the application, or you can use the following procedure:

1. On the title bar, click Administration .
2. Click Playback Mode > Playback Scoring on the left panel.
3. Click the pause button ().
   • Playback Active changes to Playback Paused on the Playback Scoring page and in the footer.
   • The pause button  () changes to a play button(). Click the play button to continue playback.

To stop playback