SLA Manager/Forecast Rules

SLA Manager/Forecast rules are user-defined exceptions and changes to the job execution schedule that cannot be predicted by SLA Management jobs and Control-M Forecast, which rely on Control-M Statistics. These rules define expected changes in Resource PoolClosed A type of quantifiable resource, which represents the total amount of resources from a physical or logical device that a job can access. availability, job execution time, new events, and manual user confirmations, and enable you to correct service prediction errors that would otherwise occur in SLA jobs and Control-M Forecast.

  • Job A is attached to an SLA Management job, is set to execute at noon, and requires two CPU Resource Pool units to execute. At 10:00 am, a Control-M Administrator intends to change the available CPU units from 10 to 0, to perform an ad hoc system backup. However, this causes the SLA Manager to immediately send an alert because it estimates that Job A will not meet its required Resource Pool prerequisite of two CPU Resource Pool units at its expected noon execution time, and will therefore end Not OK. To prevent the SLA Job from sending this alert in error, the Control-M Administrator adds an Increase CPU by 10 Resource Pool rule, which tells the SLA job that the required CPUs will return to their original availability at 10:30 am, before the job executes.

  • Job B takes longer to execute than usual because a hardware malfunction has caused the primary Control-M/EM to failover to the secondary Control-M/EM host, which has lower resources. A user who runs Control-M Forecast will fail to accurately predict the execution time for Job B because Forecast relies on statistics that do not include this case. To enable the user to run an accurate forecast on Job B, an authorized Control-M user creates an Increase job run time by 50% Job Execution Time rule, which tells Forecast that the job will take 50% longer than usual to execute.

Rule order can impact how the SLA Manager/Forecast rules operate and how the service is predicted to behave.

The following Job Execution Time rules appear in the following order in the SLA Manager/Forecast Rules page for Job_A:

  • Set Job Execution Time to 00:30:00.

  • Increase Job Execution Time by 200%.

The normal execution time for Job_A is 5 minutes. The first rule increases the predicted execution time to 30 minutes, and the second rule then increases it to 90 minutes. If the order of these rules is reversed, then the Increase Job Execution Time by 200% rule first increases the execution time to 15 minutes and then the Set Job Execution Time to 00:30:00 rule changes the execution time to 30 minutes. This rule order reversal creates a 60-minute difference in the predicted execution time.

Creating an SLA Manager/Forecast Rule

This procedure describes how to create an SLA Manager/Forecast Rule, which enables you to correct service prediction errors that would otherwise occur in SLA jobs and Control-M Forecast.

Begin

  1. From the Tools drop-down list, select SLA Manager/Forecast Rules.

    The SLA Manager/Forecast Rules tab appears.

  2. From the SLA Manager/Forecast Rules ribbon, click Add Rule, and then select and define one of the following rules:

    The rule appears in the left pane.

  3. Click Save.

    The new rule is saved.

  4. (Optional) To disable the rule, from the left pane, toggle off the rule and click Save.

  5. (Optional) To change the rule order, from the left pane, click and drag the rule to the required position.

Resource Pool Rule Attributes

The following table describes the Resource Pool rule attributes that enable you to update the expected availability of a Resource Pool. This prevents service prediction errors in SLA jobs and Control-M Forecast.

Attribute

Description

Server

Defines the Control-M/Server which contains the jobs that are included in this rule.

Resource Pool

Defines the Resource Pool that you expect to change.

Maximum

Determines the maximum quantity of this Resource Pool that you expect to be available, as follows:

  • Set to

  • Increase by

  • Decrease by

At

Determines when this rule takes effect, as follows:

  • Server Time: This rule takes effect at the local Control-M/Server or Control-M for z/OS time that you define.

  • New Day Time: This rule takes effect at New Day, as described in New Day Procedure and User Dailies.

Periodic Calendar

(Optional) Determines the periodic calendar and periods that apply to this rule. For more information, see Calendars.

Job Execution Time Attributes

The following table describes the job execution time rule attributes that enable you to update the expected execution time for one or more jobs. This prevents service prediction errors in SLA jobs and Control-M Forecast.

Attribute

Description

Update Job Execution Time

Defines the percentage or amount of currently predicted execution time that these jobs are expected to change by, as follows:

  • Set To: These jobs are now expected to execute for the exact amount of time that you define.

  • Increase By: These jobs are now expected to increase by the percentage or amount of time that you define.

  • Decrease By: These jobs are now expected to decrease by the percentage or amount of time that you define.

Include Attributes

Defines the general job attributes that match the required jobs for this rule, as described in Job General Attributes.

Periodic Calendar

(Optional) Determines the periodic calendar and periods that apply to this rule. For more information, see Calendars.

Event Rule Attributes

The following table describes the event rule attributes that enable you to describe a new event. This prevents service prediction errors in SLA jobs and Control-M Forecast.

Attribute

Description

Server

Defines the Control-M/Server which contains the jobs that are included in this rule.

Run Date

Determines the run date of the jobs that are included in this rule, as described in Event Attributes.

Event

Defines the new event name, as described in Event Attributes.

Action

Determines whether the new event is added or deleted from the job after it completes execution.

Periodic Calendar

(Optional) Determines the periodic calendar and periods that apply to this rule. For more information, see Calendars.

Confirmation Rule Attributes

The following table describes the user confirmation rule attributes that enable you to determine whether a user will manually confirm one or more jobs. This prevents service prediction errors in SLA jobs and Control-M Forecast. For more information, see Prerequisites.

Attribute

Description

Confirm At

Determines when the user is expected to grant a confirmation, as follows:

  • Average Job Start Time: The user confirms the jobs at the average time that they begin execution, based on statistics that are calculated from previous executions.

  • Run Time: The user confirms the jobs when they run.

  • Server Time: The user confirms the jobs at the local Control-M/Server time that you define.

  • Do Not Confirm: The user does not confirm the jobs. If an SLA job or service requires the jobs to be confirmed before they execute, the Estimated End Time for this service appears as follows:

    Will not complete.

Include Attributes

Defines the general job attributes that match the required jobs for this rule, as described in Job General Attributes.

Periodic Calendar

(Optional) Determines the periodic calendar and periods that apply to this rule. For more information, see Calendars.