AAI Integration for ESP Workload Automation

Integrating AAI and ESP Workload Automation allows you to source event data and job definitions from ESP and make it available in AAI to optimize workload tracking and obtain improvement analytics.

The AAI / ESP integration is unique. It requires some work in USS and an AAI connector to be installed in a distributed system, similar to the Automic Automation and Control-M integrations. However, it also requires the deployment of a number of components on the mainframe, similar to the CA7 and IWSz integrations.

Important!

The ESP Workload Automation product teams maintain and support the ESP integration along with the documentation and learning. For detailed information about prerequisites and how to integrate these solutions, see Integrate with Automic Automation Intelligence in the ESP Workload Automation documentation.

The ESP Connector can be installed either on Windows and UNIX (Linux or zLinux) platforms.

This page includes the following:

Overview

As an AAI administrator, you set up the ESP Connector. You also add an ESP scheduler that connects to the relevant ESP environment. The scheduler is a representation of the ESP system that provides the data. AAI uses that data to build jobstreams, perform calculations, predict outcomes, populate charts, generate reports and so forth.

The ESP Connector resides in the distributed system and establishes the communication between ESP and AAI, it submits data request to ESP and handles deliveries in return. It is a stand-alone component and, as such, it runs in its own process space, has its own installer and writes its own log files.

This section gives you an overview of the AAI side of the integration and guides you through setting up the ESP connector on your AAI system.

Integration Requirements

Before installing the ESP Connector, make sure that all the necessary ESP Workload Automation components are installed and configured. For more information, please refer to the official ESP Workload Automation documentation.

As an AAI administrator, you need to understand the role of the ESP Connector in the integration; therefore, you need to be aware of the different components involved in the process:

  • Relevant PTFs, which contain the ESP Adapter and the changes to the ESP Master subsystem

  • LiveData Service in ESP, an internal component which feeds operational data to AAI in real-time

  • ESP Adapter, which gets data from the mainframe, creates definitional and operational data and passes it on to the Message Service Hub

  • Message Service Hub, which coordinates the movement of (high volume) data

  • ESP Connector, submits request for definition data to ESP in MQ format and handles deliveries

Notes:

  • The ESP Connector is based on the AAI Connector framework technology but the sequence in which data is handled differs from other integrations. AAI submits request for definition data to ESP in MQ format, which is then submitted to the Message Service Hub and passed on to the ESP Adapter on the ESP system where data processing continues.

  • Each ESP / AAI connection requires its own Adapter and Connector, as they only support single connections. For example, if you have one ESP and two AAI instances or vice versa, you require two Adapters and two Connectors. The same applies to two ESP and two AAI instances.

  • Regardless of the number of ESP and AAI instances, you only require one Message Service Hub.

ESP Connector Requirements

Before starting with the ESP Connector installation, make sure that your system meets the following requirements:

  • Minimum memory amount: 4GB

  • Minimum disk space: 1GB

  • Java is installed and PATH contains a path to Java binaries, otherwise configuring the ESP Connector is not possible because the configuration script fails.

Who Should Read These Topics?

Integrating ESP and AAI requires the collaboration between technical teams that support ESP and AAI administrators. To accomplish these tasks, a deep understanding of distributed systems, mainframe technology and AAI is required.

Types of Data Retrieved by the ESP Connector

AAI uses the ESP connector to request the following types of data from ESP:

  • Definition data

    Comprises jobs, schedules, and events that are defined in ESP.

    ESP produces two reports that, combined, contain the definition data that AAI requires:

    • Schedule Activity Report (SADGEN and JOBMAP commands) produce a data set based on job and application names, triggering events, external jobs and so on.

    • Job Activity Report (MAPGEN and JOBMAP commands) produce a data set of definitions of jobs mapped to events. The data used in this case also includes agents, predecessors, successors and so on.

  • Event data

    Operational data such as execution, times and status, which are fed to AAI in real-time from ESP using the LiveData Service, the ESP Adapter and the Message Service Hub, all running on the mainframe.

    Important!

    The LiveData Service is AAI specific and is disabled by default. Make sure you enable it on the ESPPARM data set.

See also: