HCL Workload Automation, Version 9.4

Implementing job interception

The high-level steps required to implement job interception.

About this task

Job interception is a feature of both the BC-XBP 2.0 and BC-XBP 3.0 interfaces. It enables HCL Workload Automation to have a very sophisticated control over the jobs launched by SAP R/3 users from the SAP graphical interface.

The job interception mechanism becomes active when the SAP R/3 job scheduler is about to start an SAP R/3 job (that is, when the start conditions of an SAP R/3 job are fulfilled). It checks the job parameters (job name, creator, client) against the entries in the SAP R/3 table TBCICPT1, and when the job parameters match the criteria, the SAP R/3 job is set back to the scheduled status and is marked with a special flag, denoting that the job has been intercepted. The criteria defined in the criteria table establishes which job are intercepted.

If HCL Workload Automation has been set up to handle job interception, it periodically runs its own job to retrieve a list of intercepted jobs and reschedules them to be relaunched. This job can be referred to as the interception collector job.

Job interception with the BC-XBP 2.0 interface is based on the single extended agent workstation, whereas with the BC-XBP 3.0 interface, job interception is based on the currently active job interception criteria profile.

Note:
  • Jobs launched by HCL Workload Automation, or by any other external scheduler using the BC-XBP interface, can be intercepted provided the job_interceptable option in the common options file is set to ON, and the -flag enable_job_interceptable keyword is included in the job definition.
  • Ensure that the job interception and job throttling features are not running at the same time. The interception collector jobs fail if a job throttler instance is running. To stop the job throttler, refer to Step 5. Starting and stopping the job throttling feature.

The following are the high-level steps required to implement job interception for both the BC-XBP 2.0 and 3.0 interfaces.

Parent topic: Job interception and parent-child features

Job interception and the BC-XBP 2.0 interface

About this task

To set up HCL Workload Automation to handle job interception in an SAP R/3 environment with the BC-XBP 2.0 interface, implement the following steps:

Procedure

  1. Install the BC-XBP 2.0 interface. Refer to SAP Note 604496 to know if your SAP R/3 system already has the BC-XBP 2.0 interface, or which SAP R/3 support package you need to install to enable it.
  2. Define an HCL Workload Automation job to periodically collect the intercepted SAP R/3 jobs.
  3. Specify interception criteria in the SAP R/3 system.
  4. Specify interception criteria in HCL Workload Automation from the Monitor Workstations portlet on the Dynamic Workload Console. The criteria is set at workstation level.
  5. Activate the job interception feature of the BC-XBP 2.0 interface.

Job interception and the BC-XBP 3.0 interface

About this task

To set up HCL Workload Automation to handle job interception in an SAP R/3 environment with the BC-XBP 3.0 interface, implement the following steps:

Procedure

  1. Verify if the BC-XBP 3.0 interface is already installed on the SAP R/3 system.
  2. Define an HCL Workload Automation job to periodically collect the intercepted SAP R/3 jobs.
  3. Specify interception criteria in the SAP R/3 system.
  4. Specify interception criteria in HCL Workload Automation from the Manage SAP Criteria Profiles portlet on the Dynamic Workload Console.
  5. Activate the job interception feature of the BC-XBP 3.0 interface.