Q:
ABSTRACT: AFP Upload from PSF/AIX to PSF/MVS: Need assistance with
accounting issues
SEARCH ARG: psf/aix
TOPIC THREAD: PRINT
PSF/AIX
..
My customer has installed AFP Upload for AIX and is quite happy with the
function provided. However, there is one big showstopper for cutover
into production: Accounting Information.
There are no accounting records written on the RS/6000. We understand
that this might not be possible as PSF is not really invoked and you
therefore don't know how many pages were produced etc.
On the host side we only get the started task as userid. There is a
comment in the documentation that we should start several Host servers.
This is not an acceptable solution if you have some hundred users.
We really need a realistic solution to pass at least the AIX userid to
the host. I understand that this might also require changes in the host
PSF accounting exit as it's probably only the host PSF that knows what
exactly was printed. Please help - are we the only ones that want
accounting with upload?
A:
Thank you for your feedback about AFP Upload. I'll try to answer
your background questions and make suggestions about how you may
be able to satisfy the customer's requirements.
1) Are you the only ones who want accounting with AFP Upload?
No. We've spoken with an internal customer and several
external customers about how to satisfy accounting requirements.
2) How does development intend customers to perform accounting
with AFP Upload?
a. For a small number of accounts, with multiple TCP/IP AFP Upload
servers or multiple SNA AFP Upload clients. As you noted, this
approach isn't feasible for a large number of accounts.
b. As you know, AIX users can specify various parameters when
they enqueue an AIX file to AFP Upload. AFP Upload transfers
the file to the JES spool on MVS and associates with the JES
data set about a dozen of these parameters. The parameters
are mostly OUTPUT parameters that apply to AFPDS (MO:DCA-P)
data sets and include:
ADDRESS
BUILDING
CLASS
COPIES
DATACK
DEPARTMENT
DESTINATION
FORMDEF
FORMS
NAME
ROOM
TITLE
WRITER
PSF/MVS invokes an accounting user exit (APSUX05) to generate
SMF records after it prints a data set.
Normally USERID and ACCOUNT are among the data items that
APSUX05 places in the SMF record. Customers then process SMF
records to generate accounting reports. They often key their
account reporting on USERID and/or ACCOUNT.
However, all of the SYSOUT data sets placed on the JES spool
by an AFP Upload server have the same USERID and ACCOUNT.
So, AFP Upload customers who want accounting can modify the
APSUX05 user exit to place one of the other passed parameters,
like NAME, in the SMF records generated by PSF/MVS. They
could, for example, use the SWBTUREQ macro to obtain the NAME
parameter that was passed by AFP Upload and is associated with
the SYSOUT data set on the JES spool.
The customer would also need to modify their SMF reporting
procedures to key on this information for SMF records associated
with AFP Upload.
Your customer could use an AIX shell script to automate the
provision of AIX username in the passed NAME parameter. The
AFP Upload publications include a similar example to automate
class and destination.
3) Why doesn't AFP Upload generate accounting information for files
that are sent from the AIX system or received on the MVS system?
Most customers want accounting information to track what is
PRINTED. They do no not normally generate or want accounting
records for data that is TRANSMITTED.
With AFP Upload, files are not printed on the AIX system. They
are simply transferred to the JES spool on the MVS system. So,
having AFP Upload generate accounting records for data sent from
the AIX system would not satisfy the goal of accounting for data
that is PRINTED.
Likewise, having AFP Upload generate SMF accounting records for
data that is received and placed on the JES spool would not
satisfy this goal.
For most customers, the appropriate time to generate accounting
records is after a data set is printed by PSF/MVS. And PSF/MVS
does generate SMF records for data it prints that was transmitted
by AFP Upload. And PSF/MVS provides a user exit that can be
customized.
4) Why do all data sets placed in the JES spool by an AFP Upload
server have the same USERID and ACCOUNT? (And JOBNAME?)
The MVS operating system does not allow an application, like
AFP Upload, to specify the USERID and ACCOUNT that are associated
with SYSOUT data sets generated by the application. MVS
maintains the authenticity of accounting information by forcing
each user to provide a PASSWORD to log on and then automatically
attaching the user's USERID and an authorized ACCOUNT to all
SYSOUT data sets that the user generates.
AFP Upload users haven't provided an MVS user id and password.
Most probably don't even have an MVS user id and password.
From one perspective, it would be convenient if AFP Upload
could use information passed from AIX to assign a USERID and
ACCOUNT to SYSOUT data sets. However, if MVS permitted this,
all accounting information would be based on the honor system.
A user could generate SYSOUT data sets and assign another
user's USERID or ACCOUNT. And desirable or not, MVS does not
permit it.
So, AFP Upload, like CICS and other applications that support
multiple users, generates SYSOUT data sets that all have the
same USERID and ACCOUNT.
Having a secure operating system is sometimes inconvenient.
I hope this information helps. Please let me know if you have
follow-up questions. Thank you.
S e a r c h - k e y w o r d s:
Upload PSF/AIX PSF/MVS AFP accounting userid SMF PSF AIX MVS psf/6000
WWQA: ITEM: RTA000105846 ITEM: RTA000105846
Dated: 01/1999 Category: XPSF6000
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