Application Runtime Expert (ARE) is an easy-to-use tool that can play a critical role in solving complex problems easier and faster.
"It would have been nice to know the 'good' configuration status of the application and system-related parameters prior to the problem occurring." I'm sure this would be one of the many thoughts racing through your mind in the midst of troubleshooting an application problem. This information would not only save you a whole lot of time, but also contribute to bringing your application back online faster. And that's exactly the beauty of Application Runtime Expert (ARE).
ARE is an inexpensive automation tool (IBM i licensed program product) that verifies the status and runtime attributes of applications and systems environments. It has the potential to revolutionize how you provide application service and support to the various IT teams within your organization.
Multiple logical partitions and interconnected systems can make IT environments complex and difficult to understand. These interdependent environments require thousands of parameters to be set correctly for the application environments to function as desired. ARE can mask this complexity by building a knowledge base or master copy of the current state of the application and system environment parameters via an easy-to-use wizard-based browser interface. You can build your knowledge base to cover a myriad of parameters: user profile attributes, system values, TCP configuration, PTF levels, required licensed programs, Java environment, and file authorities are just few of them.
This knowledge base can help you in many service- and support-related situations.
Your "Smart Cookie" to Assist with Problem Diagnostics
ARE can be your first point of contact for problem diagnostics. Let me describe a very familiar scenario: Since the IT development team performed a change to one of the applications, some of the users cannot connect to the server. The operations support team is scrambling to resolve the issue. They're already talking to the system administrator, who is checking the communications and networking side. The application team is busy checking the user profile attributes and file authorities. A number of areas need to be investigated before you can get a grasp of what went wrong.
Most IT shops compare these parameters manually, working their way through using multiple screen shots and spreadsheets and trying to figure out what changed. Depending on the complexity of the environment, in some cases this can take hours. Every lost second translates to lost business.
Instead, you can activate ARE, which is capable of comparing the current "bad" state of the application environment with the "good" state that existed when the application was functioning as normal. The differences (if any) can be identified within a few seconds by launching the ARE console and comparing with the target environment. Since this process is automated, it's not prone to human errors. Using ARE provides additional time for exploring other areas that could have caused the problem.
Your In-House Subject Matter Expert
Using ARE to obtain status reports is like having a subject matter expert on site to spot the differences and identify changes that have taken place. Multiple LPARs or physical systems can be checked and validated quickly for required operational parameters. You can further go one more level and automatically fix some of the problems.
These are some of the situations that ARE can automatically fix for you:
-
Authorities related to ownership, primary group, authorization list, and private authority
-
User profile attributes
-
Automatically re-creating the missing symbolic links
Two out-of-the-box, ready-to-run plug-ins are worth mentioning:
-
The Software Requirements plug-in can be customized to verify the IBM i products (licensed program products) and PTF prerequisites required for different applications in your environment.
-
The Network Configuration plug-in can be customized to verify a variety of TCP/IP configuration settings and network characteristics related to TCP/IP and ports applications.
Your "Smart Capture" Tool for Further Troubleshooting
Let's say you couldn't solve the problem and need to quickly send the files and objects related to the problem to the support team from IBM or the application software vendor. The Resource Collector plug-in allows you to collect and package IFS and native IBM i files and objects from the target system into a single archive file (.ZIP file) for further troubleshooting. The single archived file can be easily sent to support teams for troubleshooting.
With IBM i Technology Refresh (TR) 7 recently announced, ARE can now be used for checking the environment periodically via the "scheduled verification" process. This means your application health status is checked more often and you are alerted to potential problems in advance.
ARE is a simple, easy-to-use tool that can play a critical role in solving complex problems easier and faster. This means your system- and application-related problems are solved much quicker and your system availability gets a boost.
For more details and comprehensive information, click here.
More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.
TRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now! Request Now.
Forms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.
Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:
Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.
IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn:
LATEST COMMENTS
MC Press Online