IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler

IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler is a family of IBM Tivoli workload automation products that plan, execute and track jobs on several platforms and environments. It comprises two products:

• IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler for z/OS, previous known as OPC
• IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler, previously known as Maestro

Plus some ancillary applications

• IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler for Applications - for managing business applications like SAP, Oracle and PeopleSoft ()
• IBM Tivoli Dynamic Workload Broker - for automating grid application environments

Products can be integrated to schedule and monitor from a single point of control with the use of a java console called JSC (Job Scheduling Console) or in the latest versions with a web based user interface called TDWC (Tivoli Dynamic Workload Console).

IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler for z/OS (TWSz) was originally produced in the 1970's by IBM's Nordic Laboratory in Lidingo, Sweden where it was known as OPC, which stands for "Operations Planning and Control". In 1989 the name was changed to Operations Planning and Control/Advanced (OPC/A) when many advanced features were added and the product has remained very much the same ever since. The name changed again to Operations Planning and Control/ESA (Enterprise Systems Architecture) when later adapted to work in a Sysplex Environment. After IBM bought the Tivoli company and OPC came under Tivoli's umbrella it was briefly renamed TME/10 (Tivoli Management Environment/10), then to Tivoli Workload Scheduler, but as Tivoli had previously renamed Maestro to Tivoli Workload Scheduler OPC was renamed Tivoli Workload Scheduler for z/OS. However the name Operations Planning and Control continued to appear on the primary option panel and elsewhere until Version 8 Release 5. The TWSz version numbers jumped from Version 3 to Version 8 to align with TWSd (Maestro)

IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler (TWSd) was originally produced by Unison Software where is was known as Maestro. Maestro was bought by the Tivoli company when they realised the needed a Unix scheduler. It was renamed Tivoli Workload Scheduler (TWS). IBM bought the Tivoli company and gave it the responsibility for systems management, both distributed and mainframe. Tivoli at first decided to drop OPC and, because Maestro had an agent that ran on zOS, get OPC customers to migrate to Maestro. When it became obvious that Maestro couldn't replace OPC, Tivoli brought OPC under the Tivoli Workload Scheduler name. Many of the OPC concepts were ported to Maestro.

IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler for z/OS

Tivoli Workload Scheduler for z/OS (TWSz) runs on IBM's System z operating system. TWSz schedules and runs work on multiple platforms, both mainframe and distributed. TWSz comprises a zOS started task known as a Controller and programs known as Tracker-Agents running on every machine under its control.

The Controller's databases hold details of the work to run, the scheduling instructions and information about resources and restrictions. The databases provide input to the Long Term Plan which is a calculation of when work will run in the future. A second plan, the Current Plan, uses the Long Term Plan as input to determine which jobs will it should include and expands that with information from the databases. The Current Plan is a detailed production schedule. Current Plan will submit jobs when precessors are complete and resources are available.

The Tracker-Agent, which is a zOS started task or a program running on Unix, Windows, HP-UX, or any other operating system, communicates with the Controller to feedback information about jobs starting and ending. The Controller uses that information to update its Current Plan, changing statuses and submitting jobs as their predecessors finish.

The Controller can replace the TWS Distributed Master Domain Manager (Maestro) and control a distributed network of Maestro Agents by generating and propagating the Maestro Symphony file. This is known as End-To-End Scheduling.

Communication with TWSz is via a set of supplied and customisable ISPF panels. There has been limited function graphical user interfaces (GUI)available for more than a decade, the latest is the web browser based Tivoli Dynamic Console.

See also

• IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler LoadLeveler

External links

• Product Description
• Tivoli Workload Scheduler Patch Download
• Tivoli Workload Scheduler for Applications Patch Download
• IBM TWS Redbooks