Re: Auto-scheduling mapics backup

When you say you want to run a backup from the OS/400 job scheduler, do you
mean a "MAPICS" backup or just SAVLIB of the AM* libraries. The latter is
obviously easy, but beware of the lock on objects in AMFLIB held by the
unattached jobs and the IFM background jobs. Your SAVLIB may complete but
check the low level messages to make sure all objects were saved. I have
found that SYSCTL has been locked by a U-JOB and was not saved - creates a
big hole in your recovery if you do not have SYSCTL.

A "MAPICS" backup handles the closing down of the unattached jobs as well
as other housekeeping tasks depending on tailoring responses and modules
installed. For example; Tailoring determines whether your maintenance
batches are cleared down as part of the backup: The APPLOG file is cleared
down by the backup and will continue to grow in size if a MAPICS backup is
not done. My suggestion is to run the MAPICS backup routine and not just
use SAVLIBS from the job scheduler. Another subscriber suggests setting up
the backup for a week in advance which the system will allow you to do
(although strangely most people only schedule a backup for the next day).
This is by far the easiest (and cheapest) way of doing it - change your
procedures not the system.

If you have difficulty in making sure everyone has terminated their task
use a routine on the OS/400 job scheduler to start in advance of your
MAPICS backup which ends active sessions and include a routine to go
through JOBACT and delete the ABENDED records. Do not delete records for
jobs in the job queue or unattached jobs. Make sure your backup job is
queued with other MAPICS jobs and does not go active alogside your MRP run
for example. You could consider using the Pre and Post backup commands to
include other procedures to backup your bespoke libraries in synch with
MAPICS.

I have written the equivalent of a MAPICS API to allow the MAPICS backup to
be submitted by the job scheduler by cribbing code from the example API's
supplied by MAPICS lab - see chapter 3 of the Cross Application Support
Technical Reference Guide. This incorporates all of my thinking on the
subject and works well where I have used it, but I admit it took me a lot
longer to write than I expected it to. That's true of most of the things I
write, including this note.
Gavin.


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