Version 8.1.3
 —  Release Notes  —

Adabas Parallel Services Release Notes

This document describes the enhancements and changes provided in Adabas Parallel Services version 8.1. Adabas Parallel Services is the multi-update-nuclei implementation of an earlier product, Adabas Support for Multiprocessing (ADASMP).

Error messages, ADARUN parameters associated with the Adabas nucleus, and utility functions used with Adabas Parallel Services are documented in the base Adabas version 8 documentation. Parameters associated with the ADACOM program are documented in section ADACOM Initialization Parameters.

See the section Utility Processing for pointers to relevant information in the Adabas Utilities documentation.

This document is organized as follows:


Enhancements

This section provides information on enhancements made to Adabas Parallel Services for this release.

The document covers the following topics:

Support for Adabas 8.1

Adabas Parallel Services 8.1.3 has been enhanced to support Adabas 8.1.3. This release of Adabas Parallel Services requires Adabas 8.1, SM3 or later. Adabas 8 includes enhancements that lift many of the limits imposed by prior releases of Adabas. This includes support for increased limits for the number of database and file extents and the number of MU and PE field occurrences, as well as support for spanned records and large objects (LOBs).

The Adabas router (SVC) provided with Adabas 8.1.3 supports clusters running Adabas Parallel Services 8.1.3 as well as clusters running Adabas Parallel Services 7.5.1. In addition, please note that there are no intermediate releases of Adabas Parallel Services between Version 7.5.1 and 8.1.3.

All Adabas nuclei in the same cluster must run with the same version, release, and modification levels of Adabas and of Adabas Parallel Services. For example, if one nucleus in a cluster runs with Adabas Parallel Services 8.1.3 and Adabas 8.1.3, the other nuclei in the cluster must also run with Adabas Parallel Services 8.1.3 and Adabas 8.1.3; they cannot run with different versions.

The following table identifies the Software AG cluster products and the Adabas product combinations with which they are compatible:

Software AG Cluster Product Compatible Adabas
Name Library Version Library Version SVC Version
Adabas Parallel Services 8.1.3 8.1.3 8.1.3
7.5.1 8.1.2 8.1.x
7.4.x 8.1x
7.4.x-LX01

Alert Enhancements

This version of Adabas Parallel Services includes alert and timeout enhancements designed to help you prevent or handle critical situations where system problems might cause the prolonged unavailability of one cluster member, thus endangering the ability of the cluster member (or in severe cases, the entire cluster) to provide service. These enhancements include:

For more information about these alerts, read Using Alert and Timeout Settings.

New ADARUN Parameters

The following new ADARUN parameters were introduced for this release of Adabas Parallel Services:

With the exception of the CLUCACHEUNCHANGED parameter, all of these parameters are local and modifiable. That is, they can be set differently for each nucleus in the cluster (local) and they can be modified in one cluster nucleus while it is running using corresponding operator commands. The CLUCACHEUNCHANGED parameter is local, but fixed; in other words, its setting cannot be dynamically changed using operator commands.

For complete information about these ADARUN parameters, read Useful ADARUN Parameters.

New and Changed Operator Commands

The output produced by the following operator commands was enhanced for this release of Adabas Parallel Services:

The following new operator commands were introduced for this release of Adabas Parallel Services:

Note:
At this time, these new commands can be issued only from the operator console. Support using the ADADBS OPERCOM function or the Adabas Online System (AOS) is not yet provided.

For complete information about these operator commands, read Adabas Cluster Nucleus Operator Commands.

New Structure Size Calculators

A new set of Adabas Online System (AOS) functions is provided in this release to help you calculate appropriate sizes for cache and lock structures in the coupling facility:

Serialization Scope Reduction

Wherever possible in this release, the scope of the system- or sysplex-wide serialization (ENQ operations with SCOPE= SYSTEM or SYSTEMS) has been reduced to the smallest possible level that accurately reflects the sources to be protected. This is done to ensure that only the databases and servers that work on the same resources at the same time are impacted by serialization operations.

Cache Space Usage Improvements

Two enhancements to improve how Adabas Parallel Services uses large cache spaces are introduced with this release.

z/OS Common Storage (CSA) Key Handling

With z/OS version 1.9, the default setting of the ALLOWUSERKEYCSA parameter has been changed to NO, prohibiting the allocation of CSA storage in a non-privileged storage key. In past releases of Adabas Parallel Services, its data structures in common storage (PLXCB and subordinate control blocks) were stored in user key storage. Due to the change of the ALLOWUSERKEYCSA default, you must either:

Support for Distributed Transactions

Adabas Parallel Services 8.1.3 now fully supports distributed transactions (in other words, ADARUN parameter setting DTP=RM), when run in conjunction with Adabas Transaction Manager 8.1 (or Adabas Transaction Manager 7.5 plus appropriate fixes for Adabas 8.1 support).

z/OS Version 1.9 Large Page Support

Once you have applied zap AN813070, this release of Adabas Parallel Services will support the use of large pages (1 MB pages versus 4K pages) on IBM z10 mainframes running z/OS Version 1.9 or above, if large page support has been enabled there. To use large pages in Adabas Parallel Services, specify the value of "L64" in the CLUCACHETYPE ADARUN parameter. For more information, read CLUCACHETYPE: Global Cache Area Storage Type Option

Note:
Virtual 64-bit storage backed by large pages can only be used on IBM z10 mainframes running z/OS Version 1.9 or above and for which IBM large page support has been enabled via IBM APAR OA20902. You must also allocate the size of the large page pool (use the LFAREA parameter in the IEASYSxx member of SYS1.PARMLIB). The LFAREA parameter allows you to specify the amount of real storage to be used for large pages; this parameter cannot be changed dynamically and, if it is not set, page frames will remain allocated at a size of 4K.

Top of page

Required Environment

This part of the documentation describes the environment settings required for running Adabas Parallel Services 8.1.3. The required environment is essentially the same as the one for Adabas Parallel Services 7.5.1.

The section covers the following topics:

Operating System Environment

Adabas Parallel Services can be installed on z/OS and z/VSE operating systems.

Before attempting to install Adabas Parallel Services, ensure that the host operating system is at the minimum required level. For information on the platform versions supported by Software AG products, access the Software AG web site at http://www.softwareag.com/corporate/products/bis/platforms/default.asp.

Software AG provides support for the operating system versions supported by their respective manufacturers. Generally, when an operating system provider stops supporting a version of an operating system, Software AG will stop supporting that operating system version.

Although it may be technically possible to run a new version of Adabas or Adabas Parallel Services on an old operating system, Software AG cannot continue to support operating system versions that are no longer supported by the system’s provider.

If you have questions about support, or if you plan to install Adabas or Adabas Parallel Services on a release, version, or type of operating system other than those included at the link above, consult Software AG technical support to determine whether support is possible, and under what circumstances.

To determine the particular platforms supported by this release of Adabas Parallel Services, review the product version availability information, available on Software AG's Empower web site: https://empower.softwareag.com. Log into Empower. Once you have logged in, you can expand Products in the left menu of the web page and select Product Version Availability to access the Product Version Availability application. This application allows you to review support information for specific products and releases.

Software AG Product Environment

Adabas Parallel Services version 8.1.3 requires Adabas version 8.1, SM3 or later. This delivery includes required Adabas zaps that existed when Adabas Parallel Services 8.1.3 was released. Please be sure to check the Knowledge Center in Software AG's Empower (https://empower.softwareag.com) web site for any cluster-related Adabas zaps when you install Adabas Cluster Services. The complete Adabas zaps may not be supplied with your Adabas Parallel Services product.

If you install Adabas Online System (AOS), either the demo version delivered with Adabas 8.1.3 or the version 8.1.3 selectable unit is required. AOS is compiled under Natural version 3.1 and runs on that and all subsequent versions of Natural.

Top of page

Adabas Add-on Product Support

Adabas Parallel Services version 8.1.3 supports add-on products as follows:

Adabas Product Compatible Version Level
Adabas Caching Facility (ACF) 8.1
Adabas Delta Save (ADE) 8.1
Adabas Fastpath (AFP) 8.1 (or version 7.4 with appropriate fixes applied)
Adabas Manager (AMA) Support is planned in a future version
Adabas Online System (AOS) 8.1
Adabas Review (REV) 4.4
Adabas SAF Security (AAF) 8.1 (or version 7.4 with appropriate fixes applied)
Adabas Statistics Facility (ASF) No support is provided at this time.
Adabas Transaction Manager (ATM) 8.1 (or version 7.5 with appropriate fixes applied)
Adabas Vista (AVI) 8.1 (or version 7.4 with appropriate fixes applied)
Event Replicator for Adabas (ARK) 3.1

Top of page

Restricted Support for Adabas Features

This section describes facilities internal to Adabas that are not supported for cluster nuclei running under this Adabas Parallel Services version. The facilities are supported normally for noncluster nuclei; however, no Adabas Parallel Services functionality is available to them.

For an Adabas cluster nucleus, the following features are not available and cannot be specified:

The following features are not currently supported for a cluster nucleus under this Adabas Parallel Services version, but may be supported in subsequent versions of the product:

Enhanced error recovery is supported; however, option changes are effective only for the local nucleus.

TCP/IP direct links are supported; however, the IP address/port is tied to an individual nucleus.

Top of page

Migrating from Adabas Parallel Services 7.5.1

Start of instruction setTo migrate from Adabas Parallel Services 7.5.1 to Adabas Parallel Services 8.1.3, complete the following steps:

  1. Shut down the whole cluster. Run the Adabas ADARES PLCOPY or ADASAV SAVE utility operations as necessary for your installation. For more information on these utility functions, refer to your Adabas documentation.

  2. Replace the load library in your existing installation with the library supplied by Software AG containing Adabas 8.1.3 (ADA813) and Adabas Parallel Services 8.1.3 (ASM813) data sets. Then apply the zaps delivered with Adabas Parallel Services 8.1.3 and any Adabas Parallel Services zaps and pertinent Adabas zaps downloaded from Software AG's Empower (https://empower.softwareag.com) web site.

  3. Install the Adabas 8.1.3 SVC if you have not already done so.

  4. If your database was running with Adabas 7.4 (ADA74x), run the ADACNV utility to convert it to Adabas 8.1 format. For more information about using the ADACNV utility, refer to your Adabas 8 documentation (available on Software AG's Empower web site).

  5. Restart the cluster.

Top of page

End of Maintenance

For information on how long a product is supported by Software AG, access Software AG's Empower web site at https://empower.softwareag.com.

Log into Empower. Once you have logged in, you can expand Products in the left menu of the web page and select Product Version Availability to access the Product Version Availability application. This application allows you to review support information for specific products and releases.

Top of page

Zap Information

This section covers the following topics related to zaps and your use of Adabas Parallel Services:

Adabas Zaps on Empower

Please be sure to check the Knowledge Center in Software AG's Empower (https://empower.softwareag.com) web site for any cluster-related Adabas zaps when you install Adabas Parallel Services. The complete Adabas zaps may not be supplied with your Adabas Parallel Services product.

Applying Zaps to Adabas Parallel Services Components

Usually, zaps for Adabas Parallel Services nuclei can be applied and made active one nucleus at a time. That is, individual nuclei can be shut down, have the zap applied, and be brought up again without ever shutting down the entire cluster. This is the default method of applying zaps, which is in effect if the zap description does not explicitly state otherwise.

In some cases, it may be possible that applying and activating a zap one component at a time would introduce erroneous behavior in the components that have not yet been zapped. If this is the case for a zap, it will be clearly indicated in the zap description, and instructions will be given for how to apply and activate the zap properly.

Zaps to the SVCCLU component of the Adabas router (Adabas SVC), as well as the ADACOM task/job, always require the shutdown of the entire cluster before they cay be activated, since every Parallel Services cluster works with only one router (SVC) and one ADACOM, and since both must stay active as long as the cluster is active.

Applying Zaps in VSE Environments

When applying Adabas Parallel Services zaps in VSE environments, the user PROC must include the Adabas library as well as the Adabas Parallel Services library in the OBJ search chain.

Top of page

Documentation

The documentation for this product is new with this release. If you have an Empower account, current, updated, and past versions of the documentation can be reviewed and downloaded by linking to the Software AG documentation, found on Software AG's Empower web site. If you do not have an Empower user ID and password yet, you will find instructions for registering on this site (free for customers with maintenance contracts).

The Adabas Parallel Services documentation includes:

No hard-copy documentation is provided, but you can print the PDF and HTML files on your local printer.

Viewing Software AG Product Documentation under Windows XP SP2

With Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP and Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Server 2003, Microsoft introduced a range of powerful new security features that restrict active content that runs locally on your computer. Active content includes ActiveX controls, Java applets, and JavaScript. Software AG's documentation web pages contain some JavaScript, and the SEARCH, INDEX and CONTENTS capabilities are implemented as Java applets. As a result, when viewing documentation web pages that reside on your PC using Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox under Windows XP SP2, note that active content is blocked. You must explicitly and repeatedly allow active content if you want to make use of the documentation's full navigation features. Note that this behavior is only observed when reading web pages installed locally on your PC, including those on CD in the PCs CD-ROM drive.

The active content for which Software AG is responsible, that is, the JavaScript code in our HTML documentation pages, will not harm your computers. The risk in using the navigation applets is negligible: Software AG has received no reports from users concerning any harm caused to a computer by the applets. We therefore suggest that when reading Software AG documentation in a local context, you should allow active content via the Security settings in the browser (with Internet Explorer, usually found under Tools > Internet Options > Advanced).

Full details of alternatives can be found on the home page of the suppliers of the navigation applets: http://www.phdcc.com/xpsp2.htm.

Top of page