Activity recording

Activity recording is a technique for determining the routes that messages take through a queue manager network. To determine the route that a message has taken, the activities performed on behalf of the message are recorded.

When using activity recording, each activity performed on behalf of a message can be recorded in an activity report. An activity report is a type of report message. Each activity report contains information about the application that performed the activity on behalf of the message, when the activity took place, and information about the operations that were performed as part of the activity. Activity reports are typically delivered to a reply-to queue where they are collected together. By studying the activity reports related to a message, we can determine the route that the message took through the queue manager network.


Activity report usage

When messages are routed through a queue manager network, activity reports can be generated. We can use activity report information in the following ways:

    Determine the last known location of a message
    If a message that is enabled for activity recording does not reach its intended destination, activity reports generated for the message as it was routed through a queue manager network can be studied to determine the last known location of the message.

    Determine configuration issues with a queue manager network
    A number of messages enabled for activity recording can be sent into a queue manager network. By studying the activity reports related to each message it can become apparent that they have not taken the expected route. There are many reasons why this can occur, for example, a channel could have stopped, forcing the message to take an alternative route. In these situations, a system administrator can determine whether there are any problems in the queue manager network, and if there are, correct them.

Note: We can use activity recording in conjunction with trace-route messages by using the IBM MQ display route application.


Activity report format

Activity reports are PCF messages generated by applications that have performed an activity on behalf of a message. Activity reports are standard IBM MQ report messages containing a message descriptor and message data, as follows:

    The message descriptor

    • An MQMD structure

    Message data

    • An embedded PCF header (MQEPH)
    • Activity report message data

Activity report message data consists of the Activity PCF group, and if generated for a trace-route message, the TraceRoute PCF group.

  • Control activity recording
    Enable activity recording at the queue manager level. To enable an entire queue manager network, individually enable every queue manager in the network for activity recording. If you enable more queue managers, more activity reports are generated.
  • Set up a common queue for activity reports
    To determine the locations of the activity reports related to a specific message when the reports are delivered to the local system queue, it is more efficient to use a common queue on a single node
  • Determining message route information
    To determine a message route, obtain the information from the activity reports collected. Determine whether enough activity reports are on the reply-to queue to enable you to determine the required information and arrange the activity reports in order.
  • Retrieving further activity reports
    To determine a message route, sufficient information must be available from the activity reports collected. If you retrieve the activity reports related to a message from the reply-to queue that the message specified, but you not have the necessary information, look for further activity reports.
  • Circumstances where activity information is not acquired
    To determine the complete sequence of activities performed on behalf of a message, information related to every activity must be acquired. If the information relating to any activity has not been recorded, or has not been acquired, we can determine only a partial sequence of activities.

Parent topic: Message monitoring


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