Unicom’s TURNOVER works neatly with IBM i ASP (Auxiliary Storage Pools)

“Unicom TURNOVER” can refer to different things depending on the context. In this blog I am talking about the IBM i Software Lifecycle Manager (also called Change Management).

So, if that is not what you are looking for, leave now before you go blind 😉

TURNOVER® Lifecycle Manager:

• Description: TURNOVER® Lifecycle Manager is an Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) solution for the IBM i platform. It’s designed to manage complex development environments, providing granular control over software change processes.
• Features:
  • Application lifecycle management for IBM i, web, and multi-platform software solutions.
  • Problem and incident management.
  • Project management.
  • Secure change management.
  • Cross-reference analysis.
  • Source compare and merge.
  • Agile software deployments.
  • Multi-platform distribution.
  • Vendor software synchronization.
  • Recovery and rollback.
  • Release management.

What is an iASP?

An Independent Auxiliary Storage Pool (IASP) is a logical address space that maps to a set of disk storage within an IBM i system.

1. Definition:
   • An IASP is a separate storage pool that allows you to manage data and applications independently from the main system ASP (Auxiliary Storage Pool).
   • Unlike the system ASP, which is fixed and cannot be varied on or off without a system restart, an IASP can be dynamically made available (varied on) or unavailable (varied off) without disrupting the entire system.
2. Use Cases:
   • High Availability: IASPs play a crucial role in high availability (HA) configurations. You can store critical data and applications in IASPs, making them switchable between different partitions in a PowerHA cluster.
   • Isolation: IASPs allow you to isolate specific workloads, applications, or databases. For example, you might have a separate IASP for a specific application or department.
3. Benefits:
   • Flexibility: IASPs provide flexibility by allowing you to manage storage independently.
   • Granularity: You can allocate storage at a granular level within an IASP.
   • Dynamic Management: Varying an IASP on or off doesn’t require a system restart.

In summary, IASPs are a powerful feature that enhances system flexibility and availability.

How to do we control, define and use an iASP on the Remote TURNOVER Application?

If you want to promote to a library set within a specific iASP on your remote machine, you use the remote *JOBD to define the iASP that the promotion path will be using.

The JOBD for each promotion path qualifies the Independent Auxiliary Storage Pool (IASP) and because of this, the TURNOVER RECEIVER will spawn a job using that *JOBD and it can now SEE the iASP.

If you have multiple iASP you can only see the iASP you are connected to. This is important!!!! (At least at time of writing – it may change in future releases of IBM i)

1 – Launch the TURNOVER main menu

2 – Goto the Distribution Menu

3 – Select Remote Application Definitions

4 – Select the Application that you will be choosing a specific iASP for

5 – Select the Application that you will be choosing a specific iASP for

From with this you need to change the remote FORM defaults (this is where the JOB DESCRIPTION is defined)

6 – Now update the JOB DESCRIPTION to name the *JOBD that will be used on the remote system

IMPORTANT – You will need to define the JOBD on the remote system and specify the iASP that it will use.

Test it!!!

Remember you cannot currently MOVE objects into different iASP’s they must be DUPLICATED and the original source deleted afterwards.