EREP - Environmental Recording Editing and Printing
EREP (Environmental Recording Editing and Printing) is an IBM z/OS utility program designed to process and report on hardware error records collected by the system. Its primary purpose is to aid in the diagnosis, analysis, and tracking of hardware failures and environmental conditions within the mainframe ecosystem.
Key Characteristics
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- Input Sources: EREP primarily processes hardware error records stored in
SYS1.LOGREC, the z/OS system's error recording dataset, and can also utilize SMF Type 88 records for hardware-related events. - Comprehensive Reporting: It generates detailed reports that summarize, edit, and format hardware error data, including information about CPUs, channels, control units, I/O devices, and memory.
- Statistical Analysis: EREP provides statistical analysis of error occurrences, allowing identification of trends, recurring problems, and potential impending hardware failures.
- Filtering Capabilities: Users can specify parameters to filter reports by device type, error code, time range, or other criteria, enabling focused analysis on specific components or issues.
- Historical Data: By processing historical
LOGRECdata, EREP facilitates long-term trend analysis and helps in understanding the reliability characteristics of various hardware components. - Customizable Output: Reports can be directed to a printer, display terminal, or dataset, and their format can be tailored to meet specific diagnostic or auditing requirements.
- Input Sources: EREP primarily processes hardware error records stored in
Use Cases
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- Problem Determination: Identifying the root cause of system outages or performance degradation related to hardware malfunctions, such as channel errors, device failures, or memory issues.
- Preventive Maintenance: Proactively detecting patterns of transient or recurring errors that might indicate a deteriorating hardware component, allowing for scheduled maintenance before a critical failure occurs.
- Hardware Reliability Assessment: Evaluating the reliability of installed hardware, new hardware components, or specific device models over time to inform procurement and capacity planning decisions.
- Vendor Support: Providing detailed, formatted error logs to IBM or other hardware vendors to assist in their diagnosis and resolution of complex hardware problems.
- System Auditing and Compliance: Documenting hardware error history for auditing purposes, ensuring system integrity and adherence to operational standards.
Related Concepts
EREP is intrinsically linked to SYS1.LOGREC, which serves as its primary data source for hardware error records, and complements SMF (System Management Facilities) by providing specialized reporting on hardware events not typically covered in detail by standard SMF reports. It is a critical tool in the broader context of z/OS system reliability, problem management, and hardware maintenance, working alongside monitoring tools and diagnostic procedures to ensure continuous operation and high availability.
- Regular Scheduling: Schedule EREP runs regularly (e.g., daily or weekly) to process
LOGRECdata and generate reports, enabling timely detection of hardware issues. - Automated Alerting: Integrate EREP report analysis with automated alerting systems to notify operations staff immediately of critical or high-frequency hardware errors.
- Historical Archiving: Archive EREP reports and
LOGRECdata for extended periods to support long-term trend analysis, capacity planning, and post-mortem investigations. - Targeted Reporting: Utilize EREP's filtering options to generate specific reports for different teams (e.g., storage team for DASD errors, network team for communication errors) to streamline problem resolution.
- Training and Documentation: Ensure that operations and support staff are adequately trained in interpreting EREP reports and understand the actions to take based on the reported errors.