Enabling ILM for Supported Maintenance Objects

In order to enable ILM for one or more maintenance objects, several steps are needed in both the configuration and in the database. This section describes some configuration enabled by default and some steps that must be taken in order to fully implement ILM.

There is some configuration enabled by default, but it will not be used unless ILM is fully configured. Each maintenance object that the product has configured for ILM has the following provided out of the box:

  • Special Table Columns: Maintenance objects that support ILM include two specific columns: ILM Archive Switch (ILM_​ARCH_​SW) and ILM Date (ILM_​DT).

  • Crawler Batch Process: A "crawler" batch process is provided for each maintenance object that supports ILM and it is plugged into the MO as an option. Refer to Batch Processes for more information.

  • ILM Eligibility Algorithm: Each maintenance object that is configured for ILM defines an eligibility algorithm that executes the logic to set the ILM Archive switch appropriately. This is plugged in to the MO algorithm collection.

If an implementation decides to implement ILM, there are steps that need to be followed, which are highlighted below.

Create the Master Configuration Record

The first step when enabling ILM is to create the ILM Configuration master configuration record.

The master configuration for ILM Configuration defines global parameters for all ILM eligible maintenance objects. For example, the Default Retention Period. In addition, your product may implement additional configuration. Refer to the embedded help for specific details about the information supported for your product's ILM configuration.

In addition, the user interface for this master configuration record displays summary information about all the maintenance objects that are configured to use ILM.

Confirm the Maintenance Objects to Enable

In viewing the list of maintenance objects that support ILM in the ILM master configuration page, your implementation may choose to enable ILM for only a subset of the supported maintenance objects. For example, some of the maintenance objects may not be relevant for your implementation. Or perhaps, the functionality provided by the maintenance object is used, but your implementation does not expect a high volume of data.

For each maintenance object that your implementation has confirmed for ILM, the following steps should be taken:

  • Determine if the maintenance object should have a different number of default retention days than the system wide value defined on the master configuration. If so, use the MO option ILM Retention Period in Days to enter an override option for this maintenance object.

  • Review the functionality of the ILM Eligibility algorithm provided by the product for this maintenance object. Each algorithm may support additional configuration based on business needs. If your organization has special business rules that aren't satisfied by the algorithm provided by the product, a custom algorithm may be provided to override the base algorithm.

For each maintenance object that your implementation does not want to enable for ILM, inactivate the eligibility algorithm. This will ensure that the ILM Crawler Initiator background process does not submit the crawler batch job for the maintenance object in question.

  • Go to the Maintenance Object - Algorithm tab for each maintenance object and take note of the ILM Eligibility algorithm code.

  • Go to the Maintenance Object - Option tab for the same maintenance object and add an option with an option type of Inactivate Algorithm and the value set to the ILM eligibility algorithm noted in the previous step.

Database Administrator Tasks

In order to implement ILM for each of the maintenance objects determined above, your database administrator must perform several steps in the database for the tables related to each MO. The following points are a summary of those steps. More detail can be found in the Information Lifecycle Management section of your product's Database Administration Guide.

  • Initializing ILM Date: Your existing tables that are enabled for ILM may not have the ILM Date and ILM Archive switch initialized on all existing records. When choosing to enable ILM, a first step is to initialize this data based on recommendations provided in the Database Administration Guide.

  • Referential Integrity: The recommended partitioning strategy for child tables in a maintenance object is referential partitioning. In order to implement this, database referential integrity features must be enabled.

  • Partitioning: This provides a way in which the data can segregate into multiple table partitions and will help in better management of the lifecycle of the data.

Schedule the ILM Crawler Initiator

The final step of enabling the system for ILM is to schedule the ILM crawler initiator F1-ILMIN regularly based on your implementation’s need. It is recommended to only schedule this batch process once all the required database activities are complete.