Overview of CMFMON

The following topics describe the data provided by CMFMON and provides an overview of the CMFMON online, write, and batch report facilities.

Data that CMFMON provides

CMFMON collects real-time data that helps you pinpoint where problems exist in your system and detect locations of potential trouble. CMFMON also provides the information you need to optimize your use of system resources. Specifically, CMFMON collects long-term resource utilization data related to:

• I/O and device activity 
• Address space activity
• System workload
• Resource serialization
• System/hardware activity

This data is presented as SMF type 79 records with various subtypes. The data may be viewed online in real time, written to an SMF or sequential data set for later analysis, or formatted into batch reports.

The first two columns in the following table briefly explain the SMF type 79 records and subtypes collected by CMFMON. The third column associates the subtype with the name of the CMFMON online screen (and the name of the control statement) that are used to request the data.

The data available with CMFMON is supplied by the CX10GVID (for local system data) and the CX10XDGS (for remote system data) application program interfaces (APIs). For more information about the BMC AMI Ops Monitor for CMF APIs, see Developing.

CMFMON online facility

The CMFMON online facility presents data on demand for use in solving immediate problems related to the job and system. A CMFMON online session generates a snapshot report from a single data sample. These snapshots are presented as a series of formatted online screens.
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After you have displayed a screen, you can use the CMFMON ISPF interface to complete the following tasks:

• export the data into data sets for later use or for downloading to a PC for use in a spreadsheet by using the EXPORT command
• access data from a remote system in your sysplex

• customize the screen by

  • reordering fields
  • including and excluding fields
  • sorting the data in a field
  • placing a filter on a field to display only certain values

  These changes might or might not be saved across CMFMON sessions, depending on your preference.

• display online Help on any screen or field on a screen
• specify whether you want certain fields to reflect changes between collection intervals or total values accumulated across intervals
• display detailed data about specific jobs using fast paths
• refresh the display continuously in auto-update mode
• write CMFMON screen information directly to SYSOUT

Because the CMFMON interface is an ISPF application, you have full use of all the powerful commands of ISPF. For example, you might want to use the ISPF PRINT command to capture screens or the SPLIT and SWAP commands to run CMFMON in a secondary ISPF session, retaining your primary session for other purposes.

CMFMON and BMC AMI Ops Monitor for CMF Online

If you are familiar with BMC AMI Ops Monitor for CMF Online, think of CMFMON as an alternative way to access the same kind of data.

However, while you would probably choose CMF Online if you required certain features provided by BMC AMI Ops architecture, such as multisystem support, access to historical data, and so on, you might choose the CMFMON online facility if you needed quick or temporary access to real-time system data. And, while CMF Online data is averaged over an interval or over the life of a job, CMFMON data is updated every time you press Enter, to keep you informed of exactly what is changing and where.

CMFMON and RMFMON

If you are familiar with the IBM RMF MONITOR II (RMFMON), you have probably noticed that CMFMON provides all the data that RMFMON provides.

In addition, CMFMON offers a special unique screen: the ASL screen. By combining key data elements from the ARD and ASD screens, ASL provides a comprehensive overview of the jobs currently active on your system, enabling you to gauge application performance in a single glance. CMFMON also provides the XDSA (XDS buffer activity) screen, which summarizes the XDS buffer contents by SMF record type and subtype.

To find out how to use the CMFMON online facility, see Using-the-CMFMON-online-facility. For an overview of the commands available in the CMFMON online facility, see Quick-reference-of-features.

CMFMON write facility

You can think of the CMFMON write facility as an extension to the BMC AMI Ops Monitor for CMF Extractor.

A CMFMON recording session running independently of the BMC AMI Ops Monitor for CMF Extractor can collect information about several areas of system activity, including address spaces, channels, system paging, and enqueue contention. A CMFMON recording session running simultaneously with an Extractor session can produce records that overlap some areas of Extractor session measurements, including transactions, I/O devices, I/O queuing, and page/swap data sets.

Whereas the Extractor writes SMF record types 70 through 78, the CMFMON write facility writes SMF type 79 records—and all its subtypes—to either an SMF or a sequential data set. CMFMON also provides the means to more specifically identify the individual resources for which you want to collect performance measurements. Using CMFMON control statements, you specify the type of data you want to collect for given resources, at what interval, and for how long.

Using-the-CMFMON-write-facility, explains how to code the control statements.

CMFMON type 79 batch reports

All data formatted by the CMFMON online facility is available in batch reports.

These reports are nearly identical to the corresponding CMFMON screen, providing a snapshot of your system’s performance at a particular time. Batch reports enable you to save data about your system’s performance in a format that is available for later analysis. For more information about generating these batch reports, see Generating-CMFMON-batch-reports.

CMFMON Historical Data reports

The CMFMON Historical Data facility give you the interactive features of the CMFMON online facility and the historical feature of batch reports.

These reports are similar in format to batch reports, but the facility allows you to make immediate modifications to the reports. In addition, you can get specifics about a particular job easily with a zoomed report. For more information about generating historical data reports, see Generating-CMFMON-Historical-Data-reports.