Taking a VTAM trace
This newsletters provides details on how to take a z/OS VTAM buffer trace and print the details. In this scenario we are taking a trace between VIRTEL and TSO via the IBM network session monitor Netview Access (NVAS). In my example the VIRTEL prefix for the relay is REH. Yours will be different. Note, for z/VSE users, see the section “Tracing z/VSE” which discusses the differences in obtaining the trace.
Types of traces.
There are two types of traces that are of interest, The VTAM buffer trace and the VTAM internal trace. Both will write GTF USR records to a GTF trace data set. Trace records can be identified as:-
Type FE1 VTAM INTERNAL TRACE
Type FEF VTAM BUFFER TRACE
Security
To see the user data in the buffer contents of a trace record, set CONFTXT=YES in the TSOKEY00 member of SYS1.PARMLIB before starting TSO/VTAM.
Start GTF
First we need to start GTF. Use the following z/OS start command.
S GTF.GTF
By default all USR records will be traced. This is specified in the GTFPARM member of USER.PARMLIB. This member has the following statement:-
TRACE=USR
GTF will issue a WTO. Further trace options can be specified. Reply “U” to message AHL125A to activate the GTF trace. Here is an example from the console log of starting up GTF:-
$HASP100 GTF ON STCINRDR
IEF695I START GTF WITH JOBNAME GTF IS ASSIGNED TO USER START2
, GROUP SYS1
$HASP373 GTF STARTED
IEF403I GTF - STARTED - TIME=11.05.36
AHL121I TRACE OPTION INPUT INDICATED FROM MEMBER GTFPARM OF PDS
USER.PARMLIB
TRACE=USR
AHL103I TRACE OPTIONS SELECTED --USR
81 AHL125A RESPECIFY TRACE OPTIONS OR REPLY U
R 81,U
IEE600I REPLY TO 81 IS;U
U
AHL906I THE OUTPUT BLOCK SIZE OF 4096 WILL BE USED FOR OUTPUT 541
DATA SETS:
SYS1.TRACE
AHL080I GTF STORAGE USED FOR GTF DATA: 542
GTFBLOCK STORAGE 40K BYTES (BLOK= 40K)
PRIVATE STORAGE 1024K BYTES (SIZE= 1024K)
SADMP HISTORY 40K BYTES (SADMP= 40K)
SDUMP HISTORY 40K BYTES (SDUMP= 40K)
ABEND DUMP DATA 0K BYTES (ABDUMP= 0K)
AHL031I GTF INITIALIZATION COMPLETE
Starting the traces
Now that GTF is running the VTAM LU tracing can be established. In this instance we are only interested in the VTAM Buffer trace against particular LUs. The following VTAM commands should be issued to start tracing against those relevant VTAM logical units. In our case a session manager and TSO.
F VTAM,TRACE,TYPE=BUF,AMOUNT=FULL,ID=TSO
F VTAM,TRACE,TYPE=BUF,AMOUNT=FULL,ID=EMSYAS01
Next, we need to enable VTAM to write all trace records to GTF. Issue the following command:-
F VTAM,TRACE,MODE=EXT,TYPE=VTAM,OPTION=ALL
Note: We haven’t issues a buffer trace against the Virtel Relay node because we haven’t yet established a session between VIRTEL and NVAS. Virtel wouldn’t have issued a OPNDST macro against the model VTAM definition REHVIT??? so no real LU exists. Once we connect to NVAS using Virtel the Virtel Relay LU REHVIT000 will be establish a session and then the trace command can be issued.
Connect Virtel to NVAS and then issue the following command to buffer trace the Virtel Relay Session.
F VTAM,TRACE,TYPE=BUF,AMOUNT=FULL,ID=REHVT000
Stopping GTF and VTAM traces
Once the diagnostic work has been completed GTF and the traces need to be terminated. Issue the following commands:-
P GTF <=== Stop GTF
F VTAM,NOTRACE,TYPE=BUF,ID=x <=== Stop VTAM buffer trace
F VTAM,NOTRACE,TYPE=VTAM <=== Stop VTAM tracing
Printing the trace records with IPCS
The are two possibilities that can be considered when printing VTAM trace records. The first is to use IPCS to print the records. This assumes that you are set up with the necessary IPCS directory file. The following JCL will print the VTAM trace records that have been collected in the SYS1.TRACE GTF file.
//SPTHOLTD JOB ACCT#, JOB05832
// SPTHOLT, **JOB STATEMENT GENERATED BY SUBMIT**
// NOTIFY=SPTHOLT,CLASS=A,
// MSGLEVEL=(1,1)
//* TRACE TYPES
//* FE1 VTAM INTERNAL
//* FEF VTAM BUFFER
//IPCSBAT EXEC PGM=IKJEFT01,DYNAMNBR=20,REGION=0M
//IPCSDDIR DD DSN=SPTHOLT.DDIR,DISP=SHR
//IPCSPRNT DD SYSOUT=*
//TRACE DD DSN=SYS1.TRACE,DISP=SHR
//SYSTSPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSTSIN DD *
IPCS NOPARM
DROPDUMP DDNAME(TRACE)
SETDEF DDNAME(TRACE) NOCONFIRM
GTFTRACE DDNAME(TRACE),USR(FEF),TERMINAL,NOPRINT
END
An example of the IPCS Output
USRFD FEF ASCB 00FB2480 JOBN VTAM
BUFF SPNET.EMSYAS01 /SPNET.VTAM LRC(000,000) OUTBOUND COMPLETE SEGMENT
VTAM TH=40000000 00000000 0000000B 0000000B 1C0000AD 0001061C 0152 RH=0B8000
81060100 4E000000 0000002F 010303B1 90308000 *a...+...............*
0787F887 00028000 00000018 5000007E 000900C4 *.g8g........&..=...D*
E4D4D4E8 E2D3E404 D5E5C1E2 0005001E B81C90F3 *UMMYSLU.NVAS.......3*
08D9C5C8 E5E3F0F0 F0000000 000E01C0 6D000000 *.REHVT000......._...*
80000018 5000007E 40FF0000 00000000 00000000 *....&..= ...........*
00000000 00C4E4D4 D4E8D7D3 E4000000 00000000 *.....DUMMYPLU.......*
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 *....................*
00000000 00000000 00000000 000D26E2 D5E7F3F2 *...............SNX32*
F7F0F240 40404040 40404015 00010900 01010102 *702 ................*
01030104 01050106 01070100 00151400 00000B00 *....................*
AD000000 0B0966E2 D7D5C5E3 4040400E 0FF3E2D7 *.......SPNET ....3SP*
D5C5E34B C5D4E2E8 C1E2F0F1 0E0FF3E2 D7D5C5E3 *NET.EMSYAS01..3SPNET*
4BD9C5C8 E5E3F0F0 F0160E04 D5E5C1E2 08D9C5C8 *.REHVT000...NVAS.REH*
E5E3F0F0 F02C0A01 08404040 40404040 402D0908 *VT000.... ..........*
E2D5E7F3 F2F7F0F2 6017CA7B 8B529B42 118B0EE2 *SNX32702-..#.......S*
D7D5C5E3 4BE9C1D4 F1E2E2C3 D7640C81 060402C0 *PNET.ZAM1SSCP..a....*
A85C2F82 02C1892F 03038040 3F0180 *y*.b.Ai........ ... *
GMT-04/08/2014 07:02:10.919391 LOC-04/08/2014 09:02:10.919391
USRFD FEF ASCB 00FB2480 JOBN VTAM
BUFF SPNET.VTAM /SPNET.EMSYAS01 LRC(000,000) INBOUND COMPLETE SEGMENT
VTAM TH=40000000 00000000 0000000B 0000000B 1C000001 00AD061C 0006 RH=8B8000
810601 *a.. *
GMT-04/08/2014 07:02:10.923040 LOC-04/08/2014 09:02:10.923040
USRFD FEF ASCB 00FB8D00 JOBN NVAS
BUFF SPNET.REHVT000 /SPNET.NVAS LRC(000,000) OUTBOUND COMPLETE SEGMENT
VTAM TH=40000000 00000000 0000000B 0000000B 1D000966 00ADDC9B 0074 RH=6B8000
31010303 B1903082 008787F8 80000280 00000000 *.......b.gg8........*
18500000 7E000004 D5E5C1E2 0005001E B81C9008 *.&..=...NVAS........*
D9C5C8E5 E3F0F0F0 6017CA7B 8B529B42 118B0EE2 *REHVT000-..#.......S*
D7D5C5E3 4BE9C1D4 F1E2E2C3 D70E0FF3 E2D7D5C5 *PNET.ZAM1SSCP..3SPNE*
E34BC5D4 E2E8C1E2 F0F12C0A 01084040 40404040 *T.EMSYAS01......... *
40402D09 08E2D5E7 F3F2F7F0 F2 * ..........SNX32702 *
GMT-04/08/2014 07:02:10.923780 LOC-04/08/2014 09:02:10.923780
USRFD FEF ASCB 00FB8D00 JOBN NVAS
BUFF SPNET.NVAS /SPNET.REHVT000 LRC(000,000) INBOUND COMPLETE SEGMENT
VTAM TH=40000000 00000000 0000000B 0000000B 1D0000AD 0966DC9B 003B RH=EB8000
31010000 00000002 008087F8 80000000 00000000 *..........g8........*
00000000 00000000 00000060 17CA7B8B 529B4211 *...........-..#.....*
8B0EE2D7 D5C5E34B E9C1D4F1 E2E2C3D7 *..SPNET.ZAM1SSCP... *
Using ACFTAP
ACFTAP is a program distributed by IBM and can be found in SYS1.MIGLIB. It is used to process VTAM USR records in a GTF file. The following is an example of the JCL used to run the ACFTAP program. This can be found in SYS1.SAMPLIB.
ACFTAP JCL Example
//SPTHOLTA JOB 1,ASMSCEN,MSGCLASS=X,CLASS=A,NOTIFY=&SYSUID
//ACFTAP PROC
//ACFTAP EXEC PGM=ACFTAP,REGION=1M
//STEPLIB DD DSN=SYS1.MIGLIB,DISP=SHR
//SORTLIB DD DSN=SYS1.SORTLIB,DISP=SHR
//SORTIN DD DSN=&&SORTI,UNIT=3390,
// SPACE=(CYL,(10,5)),DISP=(NEW,DELETE),
// DCB=(RECFM=F,LRECL=364,BLKSIZE=364)
//SORTOUT DD DSN=&&SORTO,UNIT=3390,
// SPACE=(CYL,(10,5)),DISP=(NEW,DELETE),
// DCB=(RECFM=F,LRECL=364,BLKSIZE=364)
//SORTWK01 DD DSN=&&TEMPD5,UNIT=3390,
// SPACE=(CYL,(10,5),,CONTIG),
// DISP=(NEW,DELETE)
//SYSTEMP1 DD DSN=&&SORT1,UNIT=3390,
// SPACE=(CYL,(10,5)),DISP=(NEW,DELETE),
// DCB=(RECFM=F,LRECL=284,BLKSIZE=284)
//SYSTEMP2 DD DSN=&&SORT2,UNIT=3390,
// SPACE=(CYL,(10,5)),DISP=(NEW,DELETE),
// DCB=(RECFM=F,LRECL=284,BLKSIZE=284)
//SYSLDPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSLSPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSGSPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSSDPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSSSPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSNEPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSDTPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSVTPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSLUPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSIXPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSNTPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSNPPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSCSPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSCAPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSFRPRT DD SYSOUT=*
//SYSTRACE DD DSN=SYS1.TRACE,DISP=SHR
//SYSOUT DD SYSOUT=*
// PEND
//STEP1 EXEC ACFTAP
//SYSIN DD DSN=USER.PARMLIB(ACFTAP),DISP=SHR
ACFTAP Reports
ACFTAP has several different reports. It is best to set up a PARMLIB member and read the ACFTAP control statements from there. This way you have control over what reports to print.
Member ACFTAP in USER.PARMLIB
SSPRT=YES
NEPRT=NO
SUMMARY=NO
LSPRT=NO
RRSUP=NO
GSPRT=NO
CSPRT=NO
CAPRT=NO
PRINT=NO
DTPRT=NO
SDPRT=NO
VTPRT=NO
LONGPIU=YES
GO
QUIT
Some examples of reports that can be produced by ACFTAP follow:-
Fig.1 - Example of SDPRT detail report.
Fig.2 - Example of SSPRT summary report.
Tracing with z/VSE
The approach to obtaining a buffer trace with z/VSE is slightly different. The following command sequence should provide enough information to capture a trace in z/VSE.
F NET,TRACE,TYPE=BUF,ID=luname <- Start the Buffer trace
AR 0015 1C39I COMMAND PASSED TO ACF/VTAM
F3 0003 IST097I MODIFY ACCEPTED
F3 0003 IST513I TRACE INITIATED FOR NODE luname
F3 0003 IST504I VTAM TRACE SUBTASK STARTED
Perform the necessary tests
F NET,NOTRACE,TYPE=BUF,ID=luname <- Stop the Buffer trace
AR 0015 1C39I COMMAND PASSED TO ACF/VTAM
F3 0003 IST097I MODIFY ACCEPTED
F3 0003 IST512I TRACE TERMINATED FOR NODE = luname
F NET,SUBTASK,ID=TPRINT,FUNCTION=ATTACH <- Start trace print task.
AR 0015 1C39I COMMAND PASSED TO ACF/VTAM
F3 0186 IST900I TRACE PRINT UTILITY STARTED
F3-0186 IST907A SNAPSHOT MODE TPRINT? ENTER Y OR N
F3 0003 IST266I TPRINT STARTED
186 y
F3-0186 IST905A ENTER TRACE PRINT OPTIONS OR 'CANCEL'
186 PRINT BUF=luname
F3 0186 IST910I TRACE PRINT UTILITY ENDED
Eventually there are some messages :
F3 0120 4933D EQUAL FILE ID IN VTOC TRFILE SYS001=261 VSEWK1
VTAM.TRACE.FILE
186 delete
The VTAM sysout can be viewed from, short command 3.2.6:
(Operations - Manage Batch Queues - In-Creation Queue)
To obtain the sysout in the Power Listing Queue,type a.9
(SEGMENT IMMEDIATE) in the IN-CREATION QUEUE in front of VTAM job name...
FTP from VSE, and CD POWER.LST.ALL, then get VTAM sysout.