Softpanorama
(slightly skeptical) Open Source Software Educational Society

May the source be with you, but remember the KISS principle ;-)

Softpanorama Search

Tivoli Workload Scheduler

News	Job schedulers	Recommended Links	Documentation	Tivoli Job Scheduling Console	Scheduling	Reference
Version 8.2	Version 8.3	Version 8.4	Version 8.5	Tivoli Technical Exchange Webcasts		Redbook Maintaining Your Tivoli Environment
TWS Logfile adapter	Troubleshooting	TWS agent	Useful framework commands	TEC		Etc

IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler (TWS ) is a legacy job scheduler that was the result of acquisition and only formally belongs to Tivoli family. Brooks used to says that the most important aspect of the design of a system is to ensure its conceptual integrity i.e. a consistent set of design ideas. This is clearly lacking in Tivoli in general and TWS in particular. Remember the old tale that some computer billionaire had a sign on his wall saying: "Price! Service!! Quality!!! Pick any 2." It looks like you can sell a lot of stuff with just "Service" ;-)

TWS is quite an old product -- approximately 25 years old, originating around 1985. It provides unattended background executions of scripts ( batch processing ) in multiple, preferably not very compatible, environments. TWS functionality generally corresponds to Unix cron with several important for enterprise environment enahncements, which are now pretty common in any enterprise job scheduler worth its name. Centralized job repository and push mechanism for jobs to reach client is not integrated into TWS and need separate Tivoli component for implementation (TCM or TPM).

You probably need to have at least three distinct environment for TWS make sense (Unix, Windows plus mainframes and/or AS400 line). For just two environments (Unix+Windows) it is an generally overkill unless you have a large number of machines, located on several continents and a plush IT budget. Which this time means you are either Fortune 1000 corporation or a financial institution or government ;-) For smaller environments a simpler, more modern solutions would be a better deal. For example Open Source Job Scheduler . See also Job schedulers. Tha point is that for smaller, single datacenter environments return on investment is probably negative. This particularly due to the fact that you cannot license this product alone for any large deployment. In Classic Tivoli you usually need to license TEC and TCM with TWS, while in "New Tivoli", you need, at minimum ITM 6.x and TPM 5.1 as well as, probably, Netcool for non-trivial correlation tasks, if any. That adds to the costs, especially maintenance costs.

It goes without saying that it does not make much sense to use TWS for pure Unix environment unless this is a very large (let's say over 10K machines) environment with several datacenters preferably distributed over multiple time zones. TWS was not created for this environment and does things in a way that are un-natural for Unix administrators.

TWS 8.5 provides pretty sophisticated way to schedule jobs including "on event" job invocation important for such situation as exceeding threshold of used disk space in a partition and like. But the real return on investment here is questionable as many of those things with much less effort can be accomplished by using "scripting envelopes" for jobs. In reality, too complex scheduling is a self-defeating exercise as excessive complexity always backfire. The top complexity that one probably can adopt is "critical path scheduling" when you distinguish jobs on so called critical path (and they are sequential) and peripheral jobs which can run in parallel to critical path jobs and which in case of failure can be rerun, replaced with other jobs or just ignored.

One of the key attractions of TWS in large enterprise environment is high level of tech support IBM provides ( but see some additional remarks below). Another attraction is high scalability: the maximum number of workstations in a single TWS network is 100K (IBM2009). At the same time this is not a big problem for schedulers in general as the amount of work performed per task is not large and is comparable with mail server processing per one email.

On the negative side, the product is pretty archaic, complex and counterintuitive to manage and really smells 1970th. While formally it belongs to Tivoli line it has nothing to do with classic Tivoli. It is a separately bought product and integration with TEC is very superficial and architecturally weak. TWS also uses a separate client-side agents (with the most common called fault tolerant agents -- FTA; essentially replicas of "mothership" TWS without graphical interface) which are not integrated with classic Tivoli framework agent.

Also key features of framework related to job scheduling are completely ignored (ability to distribute scripts to endpoints (central repository option), event based invocation of scripts (it was introduced only in 8.4 using independent and conceptually different implementation).

Documentation is horrible even by IBM standards. Those giants manages to make it considerably worse from version 8.2 to version 8.5 to the extent that some simple concepts are completely incomprehensible in version 8.5. This is real masterpiece of technical nonsense, perfect example of how not to write technical documentation. What is really amazing is that the quality is pretty even, so they manage to screw all (yes all) documentation to TWS 8.5 to the level of dirty joke. TWS 8.2 documentation is also bad but it is definitely better written then documentation to TWS 8.5. Just compare explanation of how to create the first production plan in TWS 8.2 and TWS 8.5 documentation and you will understand the difference.

Some Redbooks are OK and provide some reasonable insight into the system. They are actually better starting point then documentation. See Documentation/Redbooks

Versions 8.3-8.5 use IBM Embeddable Websphere Application Server (in case of TWS 8.5 this is embeddedEXPRESS 6.1.0.19) which is a pretty complex and rather fragile product. It is different enough from standard Websphere Base Server to course huge headache in case the installation fails (and it can if, for example, you do not patch AIX server -- Java crash) but you can run TWS using standard Websphere v.6 as well and that might be a better solution. Unless successful from the first try, installation quickly becomes a real mess in case of failure of one of the component:

Diagnostic of failure is a joke despite presence of multiple log files.
Recovery from failure on any step is even bigger joke. It is usually make sense completely delete failed installation an start anew.

For all practical purposes installation requires close communication with IBM support (or external consultant) and the problems aggravated by the fact that for some reason TWS support is not that helpful and is somewhat weaker then support for other Tivoli products such as Framework and TEC. In case of multiple failures installation of TWS on some platforms like AIX 5.3 becomes a very interesting exercise, kind of patience training in disguise ;-). You can and will spend days, possibly weeks, studying manuals and searching the web just to get the simplest initial setup work. For most large multinational organization that can benefit from TWS this is not a problem but I would warn small and medium size firms who for some reason believe in IBM marketing.

TWS executes batch file on remote servers that have FTA agents. Monitoring job completion status was first implemented via TEC but now also be done via Candle (ITM 6.x) without Tivoli framework. That can save large organizations some money as TWS + Candle maintenance is almost twice cheaper than TWS+TMF+TEC+ITM.

It is important to understand that IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler does not belong to the original Tivoli product line. It is rebranded and modified product called Unison Maestro . It was developed by Unison Inc, the company that has office in Austin close to Tivoli. Unison Software, Inc. was incorporated in California in 1980 and reincorporated in Delaware in July 1995. The Company's principal executive office were located in Santa Clara. Stock was traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UNSN."Founded in 1979, Unison was one of the leading players in systems management for the Hewlett-Packard marketplace and later, in 1993, has moved into the Unix market. At peak Unison has had approximately 350 customers of Maestro for Unix. Among them were The Prudential, Home Depot, Northern Telecom, Nike Securities, Signet Bank, and Weyerhaeuser. Unison was first bought by Tivoli and then passed to IBM with the acquisition of Tivoli line.

Unison Maestro was a tool for managing batch processing jobs in a distributed computing environment. Maestro was originally released for pretty obscure system, the HP3000, in 1985. So initially it did not have Unix pedigree and as such is a second rate product both conceptually and quality of implementation wise. Maestro was first released for UNIX in 1993 and for Windows NT in 1996. Even now conman (command line interface for TWS) uses very strange notation for primitive regular expressions:

@ Replaces one or more alphanumeric characters, for example @:@.

? Replaces one alphanumeric character.
% Replaces one numeric character.

When IBM acquired Tivoli in 1996, the product was renamed IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler. It was an expensive system: pricing for Unix started at $8K for the first system. It remains pretty expensive in IBM hands. I think it is the second most expensive enterprise solution after CA Unicenter. Your mileage may very.

There is no any exiting ideas in Maestro. Maestro's architecture is based on a classic scheme: central sever which monitors and control planned and ad hoc batch jobs on clients. Each client generally should have an agent installed (it is possible to run jobs via SSH to rsh but this is not a typical deployment mode).

There is a low quality, confusing Java-based GUI called Job Scheduling Console which (after some training to overcome idiosyncrasies) permits for the administrator to create jobs and specifies rules by which jobs are scheduled (e.g., every payday), specify job sequences (some jobs may have to follow certain other jobs) or other constrains (certain jobs cannot run at the same time or only so many jobs can run at one time). It was created an after though and that shows (original TWS used command line scheduling which still remain a preferable mode). The job constrains specification language is ad hoc but pretty capable.

Maestro provides some degree of fault tolerance by having the ability to fall over to the second, reserve instance. Also FTA agents on nodes are capable of running already scheduled jobs regardless of the availability of the "mothership".

The unit of planning in Maestro is a batch job, which is basically a script written in shell, Perl or other scripting language. Job can have dependencies. In this case it starts running as soon as all of its dependencies are satisfied. If a job ends in error, TWS can handle the recovery process.

TWS is composed of three major parts:

IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler engine. This is local client installed on every workstations which belong to the scheduling network (UNIX, Windows). When the engine is installed on a workstation, it can be configured to play a specific role in the scheduling network. For example, the engine can be configured to be a master domain manager, a domain manager, or a fault-tolerant agent. In an ordinary Tivoli Workload Scheduler network, there is a single master domain manager at the top of the network.
IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler connector. The connector "connects" the Job Scheduling Console to Tivoli Workload Scheduler, routing commands from JSC to the Tivoli Workload Scheduler engine. It is usually installed on the master domain manager (MDM).
Job Scheduling Console (JSC). JSC is a primitive, low quality Java-based graphical user interface. It is typically installed on Windows workstations. Installation usually causes no problems. It provides, through the Tivoli Workload Scheduler connector, the functions of the command-line programs conman and composer.

Components

A Tivoli Workload Scheduler network is made up of two main components:

Master Domain Manager (MDM) The master domain manager is centerpiece of TWS network. It contains the centralized database files used to document scheduling objects. It creates the production plan, distributes it to all the agents in the network at the start of each production day, and performs all logging and reporting for the network.
Fault-tolerant Agent (FTA) A client capable of resolving local dependencies and launching its jobs in the absence of a domain manager.
Standard Agent A client that launches jobs only under the direction of its domain manager.

The workstation types can assume the following roles:

Domain Manager A fault-tolerant agent that is the management hub in a domain. All communications to and from the agents in a domain are routed through the domain manager.
Backup Domain Manager A fault-tolerant agent capable of assuming the responsibilities of its domain manager.
Backup Master A fault-tolerant agent capable of assuming the responsibilities of the master domain manager.
Host The scheduling function required by extended agents. It can be performed by any Tivoli Workload Scheduler workstation, except another extended agent.
Extended Agent A logical workstation definition that enables you to launch and control jobs on other systems and applications.
Network Agent A logical workstation definition for creating dependencies between jobs and job streams in separate Tivoli Workload Scheduler networks.
Connector. The Job Scheduling Console connects to the engines through the Job Scheduling Services and the relevant connector. The Job Scheduling Console communicates with the system through so called Connector, a protocol converter that translates the instructions entered through the Job Scheduling Console into scheduler commands.

The Most Important TWS Scheduling Terms

The following four terms are frequently used in TWS documentation:

Workstations. Workstations represent the physical or logical nodes where jobs are to be scheduled.
Jobs A job is an atomic unit representing executable process (OS command, executable or script) that is controlled by the Tivoli Workload Scheduler. Jobs, their scheduling data, and their dependencies are grouped together in job streams.
Job streams. Job streams are a collection of jobs together with their scheduling and dependency information.
Resources. In the Job Scheduling Console, resources are the physical or logical elements that are used by jobs. You need to define resources in the database prior to defining the jobs that will use them.
Production day and production plan. Production day define the main repeatable cycle used by TWS with particular start time and length (the default is start at 6am and length 24h). The production plan is the master control for the current production day and physically consponds to so called Sinfonia file on the master domain manager. See TWS Scheduling Concepts

TWS Terminology

TWS uses pretty obsure terminology

Workstation Classes: A workstation class is a group of workstations. For example you can have Classes based on type of OS installed: Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, Linux and Windows. Any number of workstations can be placed in a class.

Job streams and jobs can be assigned to run on a workstation class, creating possibility to use different jobs for different types of opeperating systems and like.

Note: If a job stream is defined on a workstation class, each job added to the job stream must be defined either on a single workstation or on the exact same workstation class that the job stream was defined on.

Domains

A domain is a named group of Tivoli Workload Scheduler workstations, consisting of one or more workstations and a domain manager acting as the management hub. All domains have a parent domain, except for the master domain.

Calendars

A calendar is a list of scheduling dates defined in the scheduler database. Assigning a calendar run cycle to a job stream causes that job stream to be run on the days specified in the calendar. Since a calendar is defined to the scheduler database, it can be assigned to multiple job streams.

Prompts

Prompts are used as dependencies for jobs and job streams. A prompt must be answered affirmatively for the dependent job or job stream to launch. For example, you can issue a prompt to make sure that a printer is online before a job that prints a report runs.

Parameters

Parameters are used to substitute values in jobs and job streams. Since parameters are stored in the Tivoli Workload Scheduler database, all jobs and job streams that use the particular parameter are updated automatically when the value changes. For scheduling, a parameter can be used as a substitute for all or part of:

File dependency path names
Text for prompts
Logon, command, and script file names

Files

Files are dependencies whose existence a job or job stream must verify before they can start.

Lists

Lists are filters that allow objects in the database and in the plan to be filtered. There are standard default lists available in the Job Scheduling Console, or you can create lists that are specific to your needs.

Database

The scheduler database stores scheduling object definitions. Examples of common scheduling object definitions are:

Workstations

Resources

Job Streams

Starting the Job Scheduling Console

To start the Job Scheduling Console.

Depending on your platform, start the Job Scheduling Console in one of the following ways:

On this platform ...	In the `..\bin\java` subdirectory of the installation path ...
Microsoft Windows NT^(R), 2000, XP	Enter `NTconsole`, or double-click the Job Scheduling Console icon on the Windows Desktop, or from the Start menu, if created at installation time.
AIX^(R)	Enter `. /AIXconsole.sh` or use the shortcut icons, if created at installation time.
SUN Solaris	Enter `. /SUNconsole.sh` or use the shortcut icons, if created at installation time.
HP-UX	Enter `. /HPconsole.sh` or use the shortcut icons, if created at installation time.
Linux	Enter `. /LINUXconsole.sh` or use the shortcut icons, if created at installation time.

Useful framework commands

These commands can be used to check your Framework environment.

This command ...	Performs this function ...
`wlookup -ar ProductInfo`	Lists the products installed on the Tivoli server.
`wlookup -ar PatchInfo`	Lists the patches installed on the Tivoli server.
`wlookup -ar OPC Engine` `wlookup -ar Maestro Engine`	Lists the instances of this class type (same for the other classes). Examples: barb 1318267480.2.19#OPC::Engine# barb 1318267480.2.19#Maestro::Engine# The number before the first period (.) is the region number and the second number is the managed node ID (1 is the Tivoli server). The whole numeric string is the object ID. In a multi-Tivoli environment, you can determine where a particular instance is installed by looking at this number because all Tivoli regions have a unique ID.
`wuninst -list` *	Lists all the products that can be uninstalled.
`wuninst {ProductName} -list` *	Lists the managed nodes where a product is installed.
`wuninst -a` *	Lists all products and patches

Notes:

Before using the commands marked with an asterisk (*), you must first enter a bash.
For these commands to work, you must run /etc/tivoli/setup_env.sh to source the Framework environment.

Notes:

This is a Spartan WHYFF (We Help You For Free) site written by people for whom English is not a native language. Some amount of grammar and spelling errors should be expected.
The site contain some broken links as it develops like a living tree... Please try to use Google, Open directory, etc. to find a replacement link (see HOWTO search the WEB for details). We would appreciate if you can mail us a correct link.

Google Search
Open directory	Research Index

Old News ;-)

IBM - Installing required libraries on Linux to run TWS

The following error is received when you run conman on Linux:
/twsul631/maestro/bin/conman: error while loading shared libraries: libstdc++-libc6.1-2.so.3: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Answer

To run Tivoli Workload Scheduler on Linux, you need to ensure that certain Linux libraries are on your system. These libraries are not distributed with Tivoli Workload Scheduler (TWS) but must be obtained from your Linux provider. Depending upon your Linux vendor, the version of Linux you are using, and the architecture of your system, these libraries can be obtained in a variety of ways.

NOTE: libstdc++.so.6 is no longer used by Tivoli Workload Scheduler applying FP2, libstdc++.so.5 is used instead. This means that libstdc++.so.5 must be installed from official RPM for RHEL 3 or compatibility (official) RPM for RHEL 4 and SLES 9 if not already present.

A description of the methods to locate and install these libraries follows:

o Red Hat Enterprise Linux, versions 3 and 4, and SuSe Linux Enterprise Server, version 9

1. Search the media on which your copy of Linux was provided to you for the relevant library listed below. The libraries to locate are:

libstdc++-libc6.1-2.so.3
libstdc++.so.5
libgcc_s.so.1

or their most recent compatible version.

IBM - Replacing the Symphony file on an FTA

IBM - Automating TWS Fix Pack Installs

Relationship between TWS Symphony and Sinfonia files

Agentless scheduling with Tivoli Workload Scheduler

Starting from TWS 8.4 ssh based agent is available and can be used for agentless scheduling

IBM Fixes by version for Tivoli® Workload Scheduler - United States

TWS v8.5 : No Fix Packs are yet available for this version of TWS as of 30 September, 2009. This document will be updated when the first Fix Pack is released. (Date to be determined.)

TWS v8.4 : (The latest Fix Pack as of 30 September, 2009 is 8.4.0-TIV-TWS-FP0004)

TWS v8.3: (The latest Fix Pack as of 30 September, 2009 is 8.3.0-TIV-TWS-FP0007)

NOTE: It is highly recommended to apply the same level or higher of the Job Scheduling Console (JSC) version 8.3 or v8.4 Fix Pack as your Master's engine Fix Pack level. In some cases, the Fix Pack provided for the TWS engine will not have a corresponding Fix Pack for the JSC. Ensure that you have the highest level of the JSC Fix Pack that is available.

JSC v8.4 : (The latest Fix Pack as of 30 September, 2009 is 8.4.0-TIV-TWSJSC-FP0003)

JSC v8.3 : (The latest Fix Pack as of 30 September, 2009 is 8.3.0-TIV-TWSJSC-FP0006)

NOTE: This is compatible with TWS v8.3 engine with Fix Pack 07 installed.)

NOTE: It is highly recommended to apply the same level or higher of the Tivoli Dynamic Workload Console (TDWC) version 8.4 or 8.5 Fix Pack as your Master's engine Fix Pack level.

TDWC v8.4 (The latest Fix Pack as of 30 September, 2009 is 8.4.0-TIV-TDWC-FP0003)

TDWC v8.5 (The latest Fix Pack as of 27 March, 2009 is 8.5.0-TIV-TDWC-FP0001)

IBM - Tivoli Workload Scheduler Newsletter

IBM Tivoli Support Technical Exchange (STE) web seminars
Extend your technical skills and knowledge of your IBM Tivoli products by participating in free Tivoli Support Technical Exchange web seminars (STE). This highly technical web seminar series is brought to you by IBM Software Services for Tivoli. STE web seminars cover a wide variety of technical topics from advanced product usage to deployment, integration, trouble shooting and tips and tricks. Only the best subject matter experts from Tivoli Support, Services, Training and Development are asked to develop and host these sessions so you will have ample opportunity to ask questions or discuss technical issues with the most knowledgeable experts IBM has to offer. Many new seminars are offered every month so be sure to look for topics of interest on a regular basis. Most sessions are 1 to 2 hours in length.
For web conference and call in details click on STE
A library of over 2 years of recorded Support Technical Exchange web seminars is also available on the same page.

Forthcoming / Recent STEs
STE's are normally finalised (and full details are then available) 2 - 3 weeks before the session. Click on Support Technical Exchange for the latest STE details.

14-Sep-09 Monitor UNIX TWS Message Files and TWS Filesystem Available Space Utility
25-Sep-09 Introduction to the Tivoli Dynamic Workload Console
29-Sep-09 Integration of Tivoli System Automation MP and DB2 v9.5 HADR
29-Sep-09 TWS and Timezones
07-Oct-09 Installing TWS 8.5 on iSeries
16-Dec-09 TWS Production Plans
Below is a list of recentSTE's, click on Support Technical Exchange to hear a replay of the session
13-May-09 Installing TWS 8.5 on Redhat 5 Linux
13-May-09 Installing TWS 8.5 on Redhat 5 Linux
18-May-09 IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler Instance Data Gather Utility
20-May-09 Migrating a TWS Master Domain Manager
16-Jun-09 Avoid Software Problems and Solve the Tough Ones Fast! AM Session
24-Jun-09 Avoid Software Problems and Solve the Tough Ones Fast! AM Session
24-Jun-09 Configuring the TSM extended agent for TWS
07-Jul-09 TWS NETAGENT Setup and Usage
06-Aug-09 How to Install Tivoli Dynamic Workload Console 8.5
13-Aug-09 WebSphere Utilities for Tivoli Workload Scheduler
20-Aug-09 Password change operations in TWS v8.3, 8.4, or 8.5
25-Aug-09 System z Processor Operations with Tivoli System Automation for z/OS
27-Aug-09 Setting up ITWS Authorization (Security File)

TWS Enablement team is extending the successful "Ask the Expert" Initiative with weekly sessions open to TWSz Customers planning to move/adopt new releases. If you want to know more, send an email to y96223@it.ibm.com and book your session!

TWS Technical Support Information Update

Top Technotes for this month are:

News & Technical Flashes:
Title: Missing vcredist_x64.exe package caused TWS v8.5 installation failure
Troubleshooting & FAQs:
Title: Browser requirements for installing TWS v8.5 using the Launchpad
Recent and Important Downloads:
Title: Links to TWS product manuals and requirements
STE
Title: 27 August 09 - Setting up ITWS Authorization (Security File)

(

Click here for this month's complete FAQs

)

Orb Data - IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler 8.3 Administration

In the IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler Suite 8.3 Administration course students will study ... Determine which TWS workstations need Framework installed ...

IBM Redbooks Integrating IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler with Tivoli Products

Contains some info on how to ingrate TWS 8.5 with TEC.

This IBM Redbook explains the benefits and technical merits of integrating IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler Distributed and IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler for z/OS with other IBM products. Scheduling is a mission critical process for any company. However, when you talk about scheduling, you are really talking about an ecosystem. In this ecosystem, each solution is a building block that adds value to the overall solution. With IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler, you can collect and add data to and from each component. In addition, expanding the scheduling ecosystem to include monitoring, management, help desk, storage, and business systems management provides greater value.

This book discusses all these integration points and provides detailed scenarios on how to integrate IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler with these types of applications.

Because workload management is widely considered the nucleus of the data center, there are numerous opportunities for you to integrate IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler with other products. This book addresses just some of these many opportunities. In terms of integration with IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler, do not limit yourself to the products that this book discusses. Integration points discussed in this book should give you an idea of the potential value that IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler integration can provide for your company.

Etc

Copyright © 1996-2009 by Dr. Nikolai Bezroukov. www.softpanorama.org was created as a service to the UN Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP) in the author free time. Submit comments This document is an industrial compilation designed and created exclusively for educational use and is placed under the copyright of the Open Content License(OPL). Site uses AdSense so you need to be aware of Google privacy policy. Original materials copyright belong to respective owners. Quotes are made for educational purposes only in compliance with the fair use doctrine.

Disclaimer:

The statements, views and opinions presented on this web page are those of the author and are not endorsed by, nor do they necessarily reflect, the opinions of the author present and former employers, SDNP or any other organization the author may be associated with.
We do not warrant the correctness of the information provided or its fitness for any purpose
In no way this site is associated with or endorse cybersquatters using the term "softpanorama" with other main or country domains (e.g. softpanorama.com) with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill belonging to someone else.

Last modified: November 18, 2009