Mainframe, MVS and zOS Discussion

Hi,

If someone has created some data-set on mainframes, is there a way to find out the owner of data-set, i.e. who created that.

The general answer is NO. There are some special circumstances, such as when the data set was created recently enough so that the SMF data for that date still exists at your site, then it is possible to use the SMF data to find the batch job / TSO user / started task that created the data set -- but if the SMF data is not available, then it is not possible to determine the creator of the data set.

Thanks. I did some study on this and came to know (or it's my inference) that zOS is not created the way that it should know what belongs to what! I mean, on mainframes program cares about data and not where it came from so getting what I've aksed is a tedious job... but is it so, if yes? Why?

There is a facility of z/OS called System Management Facilities (SMF) which records everything that happens on the system -- but it can be customized to site requirements. In general, SMF will record when a data set is created and which batch job / TSO user / started task / etc. created the data set. However, the data is complex and NOT easy to read and interpret (IBM uses bits for flags in SMF quite a lot). Most sites create a daily SMF file and retain it for some period of time, so if the SMF data still exists then the data set creator can be determined. However, a large site may create millions of SMF records per day, so the cost to process all that data and determine what created a data set is not typically worth it.

Also, the title of your post is inappropriate, anyway. z/OS systems do not have data set owners -- the system determines who has access to the data set based on the security package rules. An "owner" may not have any more access to the data set than any other user of the system -- the security package determines all.

Robert Sample wrote:There is a facility of z/OS called System Management Facilities (SMF) which records everything that happens on the system -- but it can be customized to site requirements.  In general, SMF will record when a data set is created and which batch job / TSO user / started task / etc. created the data set.  However, the data is complex and NOT easy to read and interpret (IBM uses bits for flags in SMF quite a lot).  Most sites create a daily SMF file and retain it for some period of time, so if the SMF data still exists then the data set creator can be determined.  However, a large site may create millions of SMF records per day, so the cost to process all that data and determine what created a data set is not typically worth it.

Also, the title of your post is inappropriate, anyway.  z/OS systems do not have data set owners -- the system determines who has access to the data  set based on the security package rules.  An "owner" may not have any more access to the data set than any other user of the system -- the security package determines all.

Thanks. If I have a good reason to know who has the access to data and who has created it, I can get to know it using SMF, right?

If I have a good reason to know who has the access to data and who has created it,

if You have a good reason to know "who can do what with a protected resource" the best source of info is the security support group,
they are involved in user/resource management and they usually know things before they happen, not after.

enrico-sorichetti wrote:

If I have a good reason to know who has the access to data and who has created it,

if You have a good reason to know "who can do what with a protected resource" the best source of info is the security support group,
they are involved in user/resource management and they usually know things before they happen, not after.

Thanks I have written them an email and opened a tickect with our support for it.

Thanks for all the guidance.