Do you have an iSeries not performing well? Are you trying to get your arms around iSeries Navigator so you can fix whatever is ailing it? Sue Townsend, a senior software engineer at IBM, answers some of your questions here.
To hear more about upgrading to using iSeries Navigator to manage system performance, listen to Sue's webcast. You may also download the slides from her presentation. And if you have a question of your own, send it to us. Be sure to include the title of the webcast.
Q: When I opened My OpsNav I didn't see the Monitor option. What am I missing?
A:A 'typical' install will not install the user interface components for monitors. Go into selective set up and expand iSeries Navigator. You should see additional components that are not selected such as 'Monitors'. You must install the Monitors component to see the container. See pages 13-14 of my handout for additional information.
Q: How do you change Horizontal & Vertical values to be deployed on graphs?
A: The horizontal and vertical values are set in the monitor properties. The 'metric page' shows a general tab on the bottom that includes 'Maximum graphing value' (vertical axis) and 'Display time' (horizontal axis). See page 20 of my handout for a diagram.
Q: Are there any planned enhancements for the threshold triggers, specifically for interactive response times allowing for fractions of a second?
A: At this point, no, but we are aware of the requirement. I would suggest if you have requirements such as these that you contact IBM Service (level 2) to obtain a requirements document. That way we will have the exact requirement and associated company information.
Q: The monitor tasks seem to cause "error messages" during backups. Is there a way to automate the shutdown of the monitor prior to the backup job and then restart it when the backup finishes?
A: See APAR SA92963 for information about problems with the Management Central Server related to backups.
Q: If I create a monitor, can another user see it?
A: The systems monitors can not be shared. Newer monitors introduced in V5 can be shared, such as job, message, file and B2B activity monitors. See the presentation "Monitoring the Health of Your System" for additional information.
Q: You mentioned something about application administration to determine who could see or do what with Navigator. From where is that function performed? Is it a menu option within Navigator?
A: The function is performed by using iSeries Navigator. Right click on "Management Central (systemx)" in iSeries Navigator. Select Application Administration from the context menu. This will allow you to remove/add access to the distributed components listed in the Management Central container. Other single system functions can be configured system by system by selecting the same option on a single system. See the presentation "Managing users and what they can access" for additional information about application administration.
Q: How do you determine who the administrator is?
A: The administrator I referenced is the person in your company who set up or has been granted sufficient authority to manage the iSeries resources.
How do you define a central system?
A: The central system is set by default once you have at least one system configured under "My Connections". This default can be changed anytime by right-clicking the Management Central container and selecting "Change Central System". The Central System will store persistent definitions and control activities such as Monitors and Task Activity.
