MKS Implementer 2006 Administration Guide

Emergency Update Mode
Emergency Update Mode
If communications between Implementer and MKS Integrity become temporarily
unavailable and thereby cause MKS Integrity inaccessible to perform updates, Implementer
provides the Emergency Update Mode facility. When activated, emergency update mode
allows for the uninterrupted continuation of all iSeries development activities, including
check out and promotion.
For example, you have changes on an active request that require immediate promotion to
correct a level check problem in production, but a communication failure between
Implementer and MKS Integrity has caused the promotion to fail. By activating the
emergency update mode, you can continue with all required development activities while
storing the issue updates for subsequent posting once the communications are re-established.
Users must have authority to work in emergency update mode and perform emergency
updates. Typically, this authority is given to a few development managers and senior
developers. When authorized, you can activate and deactivate the emergency mode by
changing the value of the MKS Integrity emergency update active field, accessible from Work
with Users by using option 20=User Defaults, or from the Workbench by using F18=User
Defaults. For details on the setup requirements, see “MKS Integrity Emergency Mode
Authority” on page 235.
TIP To maintain a record of communication failures, you can journal the
Implementer file IMCICT and monitor any changes to the file.
Changing the Emergency Update Mode
When the status of communications between Implementer and MKS Integrity changes, the
user defined as the iSeries Notify User is notified of the change by a message in the user’s
OS/400 message queue. (The iSeries Notify User is defined in MKS Integrity setup, option 47
from the Implementer Menu.) The user is notified when communications become either
unavailable or available. At the same time, in the MKS Integrity Setup, the System Available
field reflects the current status.
When a communication failure occurs, a common practice is to perform problem
determination to assess the magnitude of the failure and its potential impact on
development. Based on these results, and perhaps additional variables such as your current
development activities and the time of day, you can decide whether to activate the
emergency update mode.
For example, if a communication failure occurs that you expect to last for only a brief time
and it does not hinder current development activities, you may decide not to activate the
emergency update mode. In this case, developers can continue with Workbench activities
such as editing and compiling, but they are not allowed to check out or promote. On the
other hand, if a failure occurs during the night that could interrupt the processing of
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