Ensure that common event adapter (CEA) is configured and active

The Incident Log task and the ISPF task of z/OSMF require that the common event adapter (CEA) component be active on your z/OS® system. CEA provides the ability to deliver z/OS events to clients, such as the CIM server, and create or manage TSO user address spaces under the ISPF task. Usually, the CEA address space is started automatically during z/OS initialization. If your installation has stopped CEA, it is recommended that you restart it. Otherwise, the Incident Log task and the ISPF task are not operational.

Ensure that the common event adapter (CEA) component is configured on your system, including security authorizations. IBM provides the CEASEC job to help you create the security authorizations for CEA; see member CEASEC in SYS1.SAMPLIB.

The common event adapter (CEA) component of z/OS has security profiles for protecting different portions of its processing. For example, users of the Incident Log task require access to the CEA.CEAPDWB* profile in the SERVAUTH class. For the profiles related to CEA, see Resource authorizations for common event adapter (CEA).

z/OSMF requires that CEA runs in full function mode on your system. In this mode, both internal z/OS components and clients such as CIM providers can use CEA indication functions. For information about how to configure CEA, see z/OS Planning for Installation.

Also, if your installation plans to use the ISPF task, you must ensure that the TRUSTED attribute is assigned to the CEA started task, as described in Updating z/OS for the ISPF plug-in.

How to check if CEA is active

To determine whether the CEA address space is active, enter the following command:

D A,CEA

Figure 1 shows the expected results:

Figure 1. Expected results from the D A,CEA command

IEE115I 15.32.17 2010.132 ACTIVITY 109                                  
  JOBS     M/S    TS USERS    SYSAS    INITS   ACTIVE/MAX VTAM     OAS   
 00018    00040    00002      00043    00246    00002/03500       00043  
  CEA      CEA      IEFPROC  NSWPR*O  A=001A   PER=YES  SMC=000          
                                      PGN=N/A  DMN=N/A  AFF=NONE         
                                      CT=000.425S  ET=45.32.29           
                                      WKL=SYSTEM   SCL=SYSTEM   P=1      
                                      RGP=N/A      SRVR=NO  QSC=NO       
                                      ADDR SPACE ASTE=05A34680           
                                      DSPNAME=CEACTDSP ASTE=1002D600     
                                      DSPNAME=CEAPDWB  ASTE=1002D580     
                                      DSPNAME=CEACADS  ASTE=7EF42700     
                                      DSPNAME=CEACOMP  ASTE=1002D480

Starting the CEA address space

To start the CEA address space, enter the following command from the operator console: START CEA

It is recommended that you edit your active IEASYSxx parmlib member to identify the CEAPRMxx parmlib member to be used for the next IPL of the system. Specify the CEAPRMxx member suffix on the CEA=xx statement of IEASYSxx. The member specified in IEASYSxx will be in effect after the next system IPL.

To dynamically change the active CEA configuration, enter the MODIFY command, as follows: F CEA,CEA=xx, where xx is the suffix of the CEAPRMxx member to be used.

You can specify multiple CEAPRMxx members, for example:

F CEA,CEA=(01,02,03)

To check the resulting CEA configuration, enter the following command:

F CEA,D,PARMS

Identifying the CEAPRMxx member to use at IPL time

To ensure that common event adapter (CEA) is always active and using the correct settings, it is recommended that you edit your active IEASYSxx parmlib member to identify the CEAPRMxx parmlib member to use for the next IPL of the system. Specify the CEAPRMxx member suffix on the CEA=xx statement of IEASYSxx.

Modifying the common event adapter (CEA) settings

At any time during z/OSMF operations, you can modify CEA settings by selecting a new CEAPRMxx member. You can do so dynamically, that is, without having to restart CEA.

You might want to update the CEA settings to do the following:

Add an eighth volume to CEA. Earlier, during the configuration prompts, if you provided VOLSER values to be used in the target CEAPRMxx member, you specified up to seven volumes as input. If you want to add an eighth volume, for example, to allow more space for diagnostic snapshots, you can update the CEAPRMxx member manually.
Adjust the duration of OPERLOG or logrec that the system should capture for all future incidents.

If needed, you can restart CEA and specify a new CEAPRMxx member dynamically. To do so, enter the START command, as follows: START CEA. Then, enter the MODIFY command, as follows:

F CEA,CEA=xx

where xx represents the CEAPRMxx member suffix. You can specify multiple CEAPRMxx members, for example: F CEA,CEA=(01,02,03)

To check the results of these commands, enter the MODIFY command, as follows:

F CEA,D,PARMS

For information about how to configure CEA, see z/OS Planning for Installation.