Checking the update (APPLY CHECK)

The purpose of this step is to determine:

Whether any errors will occur when you apply a SYSMOD (except for those error conditions that occur as a direct result of an update, such as a target library running out of space)
Whether any requisite PTFs are missing
The target system libraries that will be updated during APPLY
The PTFs or APARs, if any, that will be regressed during APPLY

The GROUP and GROUPEXTEND operands allow SMP/E to include any PTF that may be required to install PTFs on the current service level (PUT0703 in the example that follows). Some of the PTFs on previous tapes may not have been installed, because they were in hold status (PE PTFs) at the time the ESO containing the service level was installed. The current service level may contain fixes for the APARs that caused the original PTFs to be held. These PTFs, because they have module intersections with the PE PTF, must either be prerequisite to the old PTFs or must supersede them so SMP/E can automatically include the old PTFs when the fixing PTF is installed.

The following sample job shows how to do an APPLY CHECK for preventive service:

//APPLY    JOB 'accounting info',MSGLEVEL=(1,1)
//APPLYCHK EXEC SMPPROC
//SMPCNTL  DD *
SET      BDY(TGT1)          /* Set to target zone.      */.
APPLY    SOURCEID(PUT0703)  /* Apply this service level */
         GROUPEXTEND        /*  and all requisite PTFs, */
         CHECK              /*  but do not update libs. */
         SELECT(sysmod-id,…) /* Select additional     */
                            /* service if required.     */
         BYPASS(HOLDCLASS(ERREL,UCLREL)
                HOLDSYSTEM) .
/*

You may be able to improve SMP/E performance by including the source IDs for previous service levels within the SOURCEID operand. The following job provides an example of an APPLY CHECK job for PTFs in service level 0703:

//APPLY    JOB 'accounting info',MSGLEVEL=(1,1)
//APPLYCHK EXEC SMPPROC
//SMPCNTL  DD *
SET      BDY(TGT1)          /* Set to target zone.      */.
APPLY    SOURCEID(PUT0703   /* Apply this service level */
                  PUT0702   /*  and back-level tapes    */
                  PUT0701)  /*  back to some reasonable */
                            /*  level.                  */
         GROUPEXTEND        /* And all requisite PTFs.  */
         CHECK              /* But do not update libs.  */
         SELECT(sysmod-id,…) /* Select additional     */
                            /* service if required.     */
         BYPASS(HOLDCLASS(ERREL,UCLREL)
                HOLDSYSTEM) .
/*

Note: This form of the SOURCEID operand can also be used to group service levels initially in one APPLY command.

If you want to install preventive service only on selected functional areas of the system, you can also specify the FORFMID operand on the APPLY command, specifying either specific function identifiers (FMIDs) or the name of one or more FMIDSETs.