System Initialization Parameters (SIPs)

Before initial execution of Substation ES, you must review, edit, and change the SIP to ensure that the parameters and definitions are suitable for your environment and that they adhere to the standards of your site.

During an initial installation, a sample set of SIP members is supplied with all the necessary parameters. See Changing Substation ES Parameters on how to ensure that you have addressed all the site-specific parameters.

SIP members are divided into two groups:
  • Main SIP member parameters, whose values are specified by the SIPMEM keyword or by the default value.
  • SIP for interfaces, to which parameters of each interface are directed by the INTF-MEMBER keyword in the main SIP member.

By default, the term member in the SIP context refers to a PDS member that contains keywords and keyword values used by Substation ES initialization routines.

The default main member is SXSSIP$1, which you can access by performing a standard TSO edit. If you want to make a copy of this member, you can point to it by specifying the SIPMEM keyword either in the SSP definitions or in the PARM parameter in the Substation ES startup procedure or JCL member.

The following table lists the system initialization parameters supported by Substation ES.

System Initialization Parameters
Parameter Description
CONSOLE-MSG = {L | Console, Log} The CONSOLE-MSG parameter specifies whether operator commands and optional system status messages are echoed to the console and to the log file or only to the log file.

If you do not specify a keyword and value, the default value applies.

DESCR = {description} See DESCR = {description}.
INTF-ID = {name} See INTF-ID = {name}.
INTF-MEMBER = {member name} The INTF-MEMBER parameter specifies that an interface member is to be included as part of Substation ES initialization. See the supported interface parameters for the keywords and values.
LOGLVL = {2 | number}

TRCLVL = {1 | number}

The LOGLVL and TRCLVL parameters specify the level of informational messages recorded to the appropriate file. The valid values are as follows:
  • 0: none. Record only the main system startup and shutdown messages.
  • 1: critical. Record only the startup, connection, and shutdown information messages.
  • 2: also record the major message level information.
  • 3: also record the minor message level information.
  • 4: also record the detailed-level messages.
  • 5: record all the messages within Substation ES.
MAXUOW = {200 | number} The MAXUOW parameter represents the maximum number of concurrent messages that can be processed by Substation ES. The valid values are in the range 200 through 3800.

Increasing this value does not necessarily mean faster throughput because memory usage and the list lengths for most Substation ES resources also increase correspondingly.

Note: Do not change this value except with guidance from an authorized TIBCO representative.
SNAPSHOT-NUM = {number} The SPAPSHOT-NUM parameter specifies the number of entries of a snapshot. The valid values range from 100 through 10000 for each snapshot, where the value is the duration of the measured event in minutes. This parameter has no default value.
You can measure the length of the following events:
  • UOW
  • The transaction call in CICS or IMS within a UOW
  • The EMS call for a UOW
  • The allocation of a UOW when a request was received

You can initiate a snapshot through a console command. The number of entries is configurable; the output is directed to SYSPRINT. You can run multiple snapshots during a single Substation ES execution.

SNAPSHOT-YN = {N | Yes, No} The SNAPSHOT-YN parameter specifies whether this Substation ES instance allows a snapshot to obtain statistics on key interactions. The default value is N.
STACK-NAME = {TCPIP | Name} The STACK-NAME parameter specifies the default TCP/IP stack name.

If the stack name setting on the configuration panel is different from the STACK-NAME value set in the ESB definition, then Substation supports communication through both configured stacks.

When this parameter is present and a different TCP/IP stack name is defined for the ESB through the configuration panel, then Substation supports communication through multiple different TCP/IP stacks.

This parameter must be specified for the ESB stack name to work. This stack name keyword is used by default if the ESB stack name is empty.

STGFREE = {N | Yes, No} The STGFREE parameter specifies whether internal Unit of Work (UOW) communication storage is released if the UOW Stress Restart Level value has been exceeded.

By default, Substation ES releases unused UOW communication storage if more UOWs are concurrently in use than the UOW Stress Restart Level value. Changing this value is only beneficial if the stress levels within Substation ES are consistently being exceeded.

STGPROT = {N | Yes, No} The STGPROT parameter specifies whether storage address validation occurs when various interfaces and agents within Substation ES communicate with each other.

It is good practice to keep this value set to Y until the application is in production.

Performance is faster with the value set to N.

STGSIZE-MAX = {50000 | number} The STGSIZE-MAX parameter specifies the maximum storage size that Substation ES maintains. Substation ES frees the storage when it either reaches 32K or the STGSIZE-MAX limit.

Even when the STGFREE keyword value is set to N, Substation releases the payload storage of a user when the storage size is greater than 32K. The value of the STGSIZE-MAX parameter controls the release of this storage when the system is heavily used.

When the concurrent UoWs in the system is greater than about 5%, the storage is not freed immediately but can be reused. When the system runs slowly again the user payload storage that is greater than the size indicated on the keyword is released.

This helps greatly reduce the CPU usage in peak traffic as these storage areas are reused until the system workload is minimal. The Substation region size might increase a little but at the benefit of reducing the CPU usage.

The valid range is 4000 to 200000. The default is 50000.

SUBSTATION-ID = {SUBSTATION-IVP | Name} The SUBSTATION-ID parameter specifies the name that is attached to this Substation ES instance.
Multiple Substation ES instances must have different names because the name is used for the following purposes:
  • Error notification reporting
  • CICS BES Substation ES connection and status indicator
  • Part of the EMS ESB connection client ID
TRACKER-SSID {name} The TRACKER-SSID parameter specifies the subsystem identifiers with which to connect to TIBCO Mainframe Service Tracker. You can specify up to five Tracker subsystem identifiers to ensure that Substation ES picks up a Tracker subsystem at startup.

This parameter has no default value.

UFLDS-PREFIX = {tibss- | Name} The UFLDS-PREFIX parameter specifies the prefix name for the Substation ES user fields that are sent to TIBCO messaging applications that require the issuance of status and error information during their conversations with Substation ES.

Do not change this value without an understanding of the user fields and the consequences of such a change. See the section "Communication of Application Messages" in the TIBCO Substation ES Configuration and Resources manual for details.

WORKERS = {10 | number} The WORKERS parameter specifies the number of concurrent worker threads that are started to service Substation ES requests. The valid values range from 10 through 40.

It is recommended that you do not simply allocate 40. Such an allocation might slow down your system if you do not have enough processors to satisfy all the requests; you might also increase the path length to search on workers.

You can specify the following minimum values for each type of Substation ES interface:
  • 2: CICS
  • 2: IMS and Administration
  • 10: Substation ES (SIT) and Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)
WORKERS-EOT = {10 | number} The WORKERS-EOT parameter specifies the number of End of Task (EOT) concurrent worker threads that are started to service Substation ES UoW termination requests. The valid values range from 5 through 40.

Contact your TIBCO knowledgeable product specialist before changing the default WORKERS-EOT setting; a large value might have an adverse effect on your performance, in particular if insufficient processors are available to satisfy all requests.

To review current thread usage, run the SHOW,SYS,DEBUG command.