Capturing historical SMF data with the SMF Scanner utility

You can run the SMF Scanner utility to get historical usage information from existing SMF data. This SMF data enables you to view trending results from before HCL Z Asset Optimizer is installed.

To start the process you need to run two jobs to capture scanned data (Inquisitor) and historical usage data (SMF Scanner). The output from the SMF Scanner (usage data) can then be processed to produce historical trending. SMF records must be from the same LPAR where the z/OS® Inquisitor scan was run. SMF records not from the same LPAR are discarded.

A sample job HZASIBM can take a file from either the Inquisitor or the Usage Monitor and filter out non-IBM® programs. You might use this function when sending data to Support for diagnosis.

The output of the SMF Scanner may also be used as input to HZASIBM. The SMF Scanner only tracks usage of the Job Step EXEC PGM modules and does not include modules that have been invoked from within the task.

Note: The historical usage data that are captured in this utility is only an abridged version of the usage contents. Use this utility only if you need to quickly test processing of usage records; especially if you have not yet set up the Usage Monitors to capture usage data.

Running the SMF Scanner utility

To run the SMF scanner utility, use the job HZASSMF in the JCLLIB. This job is generated from the HZASCUST post-installation customization job.