Authorization needed to run debug command in AS400

Hi Readers,

Today, I got a call from our developer who went on a long vacation. She returned back today and was unable to debug certain programs that she had created long back. In the meanwhile, we had a major hardware and software upgrade of our system.

So, when I heard this, my first quest was may be the default Authorization list that was created before, has been changed. Might be she has been removed from one of the authorization list. When I explored I did not find any changes and she had same level of authorization as her other team mates. Then I checked for the command she was running, I found her user profile missing in authorization list created to use STRDBG command. Here, is a list of authority that a user needs to be able to run Start Debug command.

• *USE authority to the Start Debug (STRDBG) command.
• *USE authority to the End Debug (ENDDBG) command.
• *USE authority to the Start Service Job (STRSRVJOB) command.
• *USE authority to the End Service Job (ENDSRVJOB) command.
• Either *CHANGE authority to the program or Java class being debugged, or *USE authority to the program being debugged and *SERVICE special authority.

If the job that you are debugging is running under a different user profile than the user profile you use to sign on to the iSeries system from the debugger, the user profile that you use to sign on to the iSeries system from the debugger must have the following authorities:

• *USE authority to the user profile that the job you are debugging is running under.
• *JOBCTL special authority if you do not explicitly use fully qualified program names (library/program). In other words, if you use *CURLIB or *LIBL or you do not specify a library name, you need to have *JOBCTL special authority.

The group profile QPGMR gives you the correct authority to the STRDBG, ENDDBG, STRSRVJOB, and ENDSRVJOB commands and *JOBCTL special authority.

Easiest method to find the number of users logged into the system

Hi,

The easiest method to find the number of user logged into AS400 system, is by issuing command WRKSYSSTS ( Work with system status).

Take F21 ( shift +F9)

Take option 1 (basic) in Assistance level, 

Press Enter,

You will get in Users section, Number of signed on users. In below example, 12 users are signed on.

How to limit a user profile to one particular subsystem or limiting the user to submit his job to a particular subsystem?

Hi Readers,

You must be thinking why it is required to limit a user profile to access a particular subsystem or submit job to one particular subsystem. Why and how is it beneficial?

Well we can do this by creating a private subsystem or a separate subsystem or by assigning the user profile to access only that subsystem. Now, when is it required. In scenario's where you want a user to access the system resource during a particular time period. For example, in most of the IT scenario's the admin department accesses the system in OOH(Out of office hours). It is not required by other user's to access the system during this time. You might need only the admin team to carry on with their processes during backups or when system is in restricted state. For this, if you set up a separate subsystem and assign the team members of Admin team to it, then you can bring down QINTER subsystem ( default subsystem for all interactive users) thus restricting all users except Admin to access the system.

Lets now, see how you can create a private or separate interactive subsystem and segregate user profiles to access them.

1- Create new subsystem for interactive processing.
2- Create a job queue that feeds interactive jobs to that subsystem and assigns that job queue to the subsystem.
3- Change your subsystem attributes to allow specific workstation names or workstation type to enter this subsystem.
4- Change QINTER attributes to not allow the devices and jobs which are intended to run in private subsystem.

Note :- This process allocates the devices ( that is workstation by name or type) to the particular subsystem and does not restrict the user profile. When a user profile signs on the the particular device, it automatically redirects to this subsystem.

1 - Create Subsystem :- 

Let us now create a new interactive subsystem named QINTER1.

We can use CRTSBSD or CRTDUPOBJ to create this subsystem.

CRTDUPOBJ OBJ(QINTER) FROMLIB(QSYS) OBJTYPE(*SBSD) TOLIB(QGPL) NEWOBJ(QINTER1)

2- Create Job queue to feed new subsystem :- 

Use CRTJOBQ to create a new JOBQ.

CRTJOBQ JOBQ(QGPL/QINTER1) TEXT ( NEW JOB QUEUE FOR INTERACTIVE WORK)

3- Add Job Queue to new subsystem to accept the jobs from the Job queue.

Use command ADDJOBQE

ADDJOBQE SBSD(QGPL/QINTER1) JOBQ(QGPL/QINTER1) MAXACT(*NOMAX) SEQNBR(30)

4- Since, QINTER1 is a duplicate of QINTER, it inherits QINTER Job Queue. Need to remove this QINTER job queue from QINTER1 subsystem, so that jobs that should run under QINTER will go there and not be diverted to QINTER1.

Use RMVJOBQE
RMVJOBQE SBSD(QGPL/QINTER1) JOBQ(QSYS/QINTER)

Check, which all JOBQ was added to QINTER subsystem and remove them from QINTER1 as it is a copy of QINTER subsystem. To do this, DSPSBSD SBSD(QINTER)

TAKE OPTION 6 :- JOB QUEUE ENTRIES
Seq  Job                       Max   ---------Max by Priority----------
Nbr  Queue       Library     Active   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9
 10  QINTER      QGPL        *NOMAX   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
 20  QS36MRT     QGPL        *NOMAX   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

This means, QINTER subsystem, feeds QINTER and QS36MRT job queues to it. So, now remove QS36MRT from QINTER1 subsystem job queue enteries.

RMVJOBQE SBSD(QGPL/QINTER1) JOBQ(QS36MRT)

5- Limit the workstation types that can enter subsystem QINTER1.

To authorize workstation whose name start with letter AD* (exa -AD001, AD002)

ADDWSE SBSD(QINTER1) WRKSTN(AD*)


You can view which all workstation are added for this subsystem QINTER1 by DSPSBSD SBSD(QINTER1)

Take option:-

4. Work station name entries
5. Work station type entries

You could see AD* in option 4 and *CONS and *ALL in option 5. You can remove *CONS and *ALL and thus it will limit access only to AD* workstation.

To remove,

RMVWSE SBSD(QGPL/QINTER1) WRKSTNTYPE(*CONS)

RMCWSE SBSD(QGPL/QINTER1) WRKSTNTYPE(*ALL)

What is colocation?

A Colocation center is a type of data center, where space, bandwidth are available for rental. The organization basically provides, physical safety of your server with rental charges on space, bandwidth, network facility and safety of the server at a minimal cost. The organization, handles many customer servers under the same roof.

Sometimes, the organization might provide you the data center management as well. This is quiet common in IT sector, due to the connectivity over internet. Organizations, like to focus on IT work instead of managing and building its own data center. However, when your organization is considering Colocation facility , you need to focus on the Service Level agreement, and look if it has some hidden rules or charges.

In my experience, my organization has have a colocation facility for its DR system. We have the production system in our own data center. Since, DR system needs to be kept at another location, taking up Colocation was a best choice, as we need not require to build another data-center for DR system. But, yes Colocation facility could be a concern if you manually need to visit the site often. That would incur to additional expenses. In our case, we had a agreement with the Colocation provider to raise ticket with them to provide any authorized person to get access to it when needed. And when need arises, we let the Vendor IBM to provide Customer Engineer (CE) to visit that location and fix the issues. Though, this is little tedious compared to getting CE at our own premises, but its manageable. For, AS400 system colocation facility is apt according to me as this is quite robust and does not usually need a manual intervention. 

Changing IP address of the system

Hi Readers,

I had kept busy for a while so could not blog in meanwhile. Now, the latest challenge in my work place is to get one of our iSeries system moved to another data center. This machine will have to moved to its assigned data center via another place. So, we might have to change its IP address and work with data mirror IP address change twice before we settle this.

Since, I would connect to it remotely and won't have any physical connection, we have things to clarify before we go ahead and do it.

In IBM TCP-IP, we can add the new IP address before we shut down the system and after it is relocated to it destination, we can remove the old IP address and connect to the new one. So, how to get this done. Here is a set of procedure for it.

The following are steps to change a TCP/IP address on IBM OS/400 or IBM i5/OS:
    1.
    On an operating system command line, type the following:
   
    CFGTCP
   
    Press the Enter key, and select Option 1.
    2.
    Select Option 10 to end the Interface.
    3.
    Press F12 to get back to the Configure TCP menu.
    4.
    Select Option 2 to work with routes.
    5.
    If there is a route that is associated with the interface, it will need to be removed.  Otherwise, you will get an error later when trying to remove the old TCP/IP address.  (Press F6 to print this screen.  It will go to your spooled file so you can have a record of it.)
    6.
    Once the route is removed, press F12 to return to the configure TCP screen.
    7.
    Select Option 1 to work with TCP interfaces.
    8.
    Select Option 1 to add the new TCP/IP address.
    9.
    Select Option 9 to start the new TCP/IP address.
    10.
    Select Option 4 to remove the old TCP/IP address.
    11.
    Press F11 and the new TCP/IP address should be in an active status.
    12.
    Press F12 to get to the Configure TCP/IP menu.
    13
    Select Option 2 to work with TCP/IP routes.
    14.
    Select Option 1 to add a route if needed.
    15.
    Press F12 to get to the Configure TCP/IP menu.
    16.
    Select Option 10 to work with the Host Table.  If you have the old TCP/IP address associated with the Host Name of the iSeries family system, you must remove the old address, then add a Host Name with the new TCP/IP address.  If you do not have anything there, then you do not have to do anything.
    17.
    Press F12 to get to the Configure TCP/IP menu again.
    18.
    Select Option 12 to change TCP/IP Domain.  If the TCP/IP address of a Domain name server changes too, you will change it here.  If you do not have an external Domain name server, then you will not need to make any changes.
    19.
    Your PCs should now be able to connect to the new TCP/IP address on OS/400 or i5/OS.
   
Similarly, we can change the IP address in data mirror. Since, we are using icluster, we have option to add the new IP address. Just before, shuting the system, we can change the IP address and then shut the system down for shipping. 

Configuring HMC

HMC or Harware Management Console, is now an integral part of Iseries system. This has two standard models:-
1- The desktop model, it has only one Ethernet port.
2- Rack model , it has two standard Ethernet port.

Once, a new system is purchased, it comes with HMC, the HMC software is pre-loaded and also a CD is shipped for recovery purpose. Once, HMC is connected to the system. The procedure that you need to follow to configure HMC is as below,

1- Managed System Powered off.
2- Power on HMC
2- Login as hscroot or root with default password (hsroot = abc123, root = passw0rd)
3- Set date and time
4- Change default password for hscroot and root
5- Create additional user profile's to access HMC
6- Configure HMC network connection
7- Configure HMC to connect to network provider
8- Reboot HMC
9- Check HMC software version

If this is a new HMC , you will automatically be prompted to Guided setup, after you power on the HMC. Once, you switch on the power switch. You can see the initialization messages on your screen. After, this it will prompt you to login with a user name and password. Use hscroot or root user id. This will take you to the screen to set date and time.

On a new HMC change the default passwords. If you wish to create more user profiles, then the required screen will have new user id tab, new password and re-enter new password tab along with roles  tab , in which you have option to choose from below roles,
1- HMCSERVICEREP
2- HMCVIEWER
3- HMCOPERATOR
4- HMCPE
5- HMCSUPERADMIN

1- HMCSERVICEREP - hmcservicerep is a service representative id for IBM support personnel to access HMC.

2- HMCVIEWER - the user can only view HMC information, but has no authority to modify or change HMC options.

3- HMCOPERATOR - this user can perform daily tasks, but do not have authority to add new users or modify the roles.

4- HMCPE - Product engineer and service representative can perfom almost every task. However, PE can additionally shut down HMC and close virtual terminal windows which service representative cannot do.

5- HMCSUPERADMIN - Super admin has same authority as the hscroot or root. They have all the access to HMC and can manage and modify almost everything in HMC.
.
Once you have completed adding users, it will prompt you to configure the network Settings. I will discuss about this tomorrow in my next post. 

How to fix the drawer issue in AS400 Printer?

In our shop we did a hardware and OS upgrade from V5R4 to V6R1 15 days back. After, the production system was up, we got an unusual problem with the printer. The printer which worked perfectly after migrating to new system, was asking the user to press OK button before it starts printing. The AS400 system reported below error message,

Operator action required on device XXXXXX.(C R)

From message ID CPA403D.

In order to fix this issue, we first compared both the printer device description , work station customization object and it was same in both. Then, we tried testing both printers, and we found that when the printer was printing from paper tray/drawer 2 it was working fine, however, it was  it configured in such a way that it selected drawer 1. But, this is how normally it should work. In order to fix the issue, we just directed the spool files to print from same printer using drawer 2. 

Below, is the command to do so.

Option 2 to change next to the spool file

OUTQ(XXXXXX) SAVE(*YES) DRAWER(2)

Otherwise, another option would be to try different values for the Manufacturer type and model (MFRTYPMDL) parameter in your *LAN 3812 DEVD or RMTOUTQ to see if another value will send the PCL Paper Source command for the "correct" paper tray on this printer without having to specify DRAWER(2) in your spooled files. For example, if you are currently using MFRTYPMDL(*HP4000) and WSCST(*NONE) then you could try specifying MFRTYPMDL(*HP5) and MFRTYPMDL(*HP5SI) to see if one of the other choices prints with DRAWER(1).

By changing the Manufacturer type and model, the problem was resolved.

Useful System information that vendors need to know

When purchasing i5/OS third-party software, vendors may request system control information for the partition their products will be installed in. Vendors including IBM need to know some of these information to verify the caller. This information is used to create unique licensing keys that must be installed with the product for piracy prevention. Unfortunately, IBM doesn't have one screen to find vendor-required system information.

System serial number--The seven-digit number that uniquely identifies your machine. It's common to see the serial number printed in the format xx-yyyyy, where xx equals the first two digits of the serial number and yyyyy equals the last five digits of the serial number.  

Command

DSPSYSVAL QSRLNBR

GO SERVICE

Option 6

Machine type--A four-digit identifier that IBM traditionally uses to identify different types of machines in each of its product line. Common System i, iSeries, and AS/400 machine types include 9402, 9404, and 9406. The same machine type is commonly used across several different types of models.

Command

GO SERVICE

Option 6

Model number--The four-character value that defines the specific type of System i machine that you own. Common System i models include the models 550 and 570. Although IBM stores this value in a four-character field, many model numbers are only three characters long.

Command

DSPSYSVAL QMODEL

Processor feature--The processor feature code level of the system, which identifies the processor used on the system. 

Processor group--The processor category that IBM considers your processor feature to belong to (i.e., P10, P20). Because many vendors price software by processor group, this is one of the more important values when purchasing third-party software. The higher processor group that your partition belongs to, the more expensive it may become to purchase your software.

Command

WRKLICINF

Partition ID--In a partitioned system, the individual number (starting with 1) that identifies your partition to the system.

Command

GO SERVICE

Option 6

Number of processors that are allocated to this partition--This value displays how many processors out of the machine's total processor pool belong to the partition where you want to install the software.

Ops Navigator System Status Screen. Right click on the AS400 system and select system status.

How to limit user profile to access command line?

This is a very common interview question, if you have already read the post http://isliverlake.blogspot.com/2013/06/lets-get-started-with-user-profile-in.html
you know the answer. LMTCPB(Limit Capability) is the parameter that is responsible to provide access and restrict access to command line. 

Limit Capability :- LMTCPB parameter tells the OS400 two things. First, it tells the OS400, if the user can make changes to ITLPGM, ITLMNU and current library values. Secondly, it says the OS400 if the user has access to command line.

When it is set to *NO, the user can make changes to ITLPGM, ITLMNU , current library and ATTN key values and also it can use the command line to run AS400 commands.

When it is set to *PARTIAL, the USER cannot make any changes to ITLPGM, ITLMNU, current library and ATTN key value but it has access to command line and can run AS400 commands.

When it is set to *YES, the user has neither access to make any changes to ITLPGM, ITLMNU and current library nor it can access command line.

These three parameters ITLPGM, ITLMNU and LMTCPB have ability to restrict users. For example, for the server users who do not require to access the green screen 5250 emulator, can have ITLPGM as *NONE, ITLMNU as *SIGNOFF and LMTCPB as *YES. They can still access AS400 from other server which are connected to AS400. However, if the same user tries to access the AS400 from 5250 emulator, it will immediately bring the user to signoff screen thus restricting access to AS400 and command line.

How to find the IP address if a network printer in AS400?

The IP address of all the printers that are configured in AS400, can be found in the device description.

Use Command

WRKDEVD DEVD(*PRT)

Beside the printer name that you want to find the IP address, you can take option 5 to display and page down to find the IP address or you can take option 6 to print the report and it will have the IP address listed in it.

The other command that can be used is

WRKCFGSTS CFGTYPE(*DEV) CFGD(*PRT)

Then take option 8 (work with description) this will bring you to the same screen as
 WRKDEVD DEVD(*PRT), then use option 5 or 6 to retrieve the IP address.

AS400 IP Printing

Create IP Printer Device

Most printers can be set up on the AS/400 for printing.  The printer must be attached to the network with a static IP address and be a supported manufacturer.  Follow the steps listed below to set up an AS/400 IP printer session.  

·         Start a Client Access TCPIP session by double-clicking AS/400 TCPIP Connection.

·        

CRTDEVPRT Create Device Desc (Printer)

·         Device description:  The name of your printer (in this example ITHP5)

·         Enter *LAN for the Device Class, 3812 for the Device type and 1 for Device Model

·         LAN attachment should be *IP

·         Port Number: Specify 9100 for HP, Lexmark, and most IBM printers.  

·         Online at IPL:  *YES

·         Font Identifier:   11  Point Size:  *NONE

·         Form Feed:   *AUTOCUT

·         Leave the default values for the other parameters and press Enter to continue.

·         Leave the default value of *INQ for the Printer error message

·         Page down for other parameters

·         Message queue: QSYSOPR Library:*LIBL

·         Activation Timer:  170

·         Inactivity time:  *SEC15 

·         Host Print Transform:   *YES

·         Press Enter for more values

·         Manufacture type, model: Enter a value according to your printer type.   In this example (*HP5).

·         Paper Source 1 & 2:   *LETTER

·         Envelope source:  *NONE

·         Leave the default values for the other parameters and PAGE DOWN to continue

 

·         Remote location: The IP address of your printer. 

·         Skip to  System driver program:   *HPPJLDRV

·        

Text Description: A description for your printer configuration object.

·         Press Enter

·         Description for that device has been created.

·         Do a WRKCFGSTS for *DEV and find the device you created and vary on.

·         WRKWTR and Start the writer. 

·         This will automatically create an outq with the same name.   If needed change the outq and library to the correct writer.  

To Add a Workstation Customizing Object to the IP Printer.   Please follow the instructions below:

AS/400 Modifying a Workstation Customizing Object (WSCST)

Modify a Workstation Customizing Object (WSCST)

AS/400 IP printing allows users to print to their Windows 95 default printer over the LAN.   This is accomplished by setting up an AS/400 writer with the Static IP address of the printer.  There are tags that cause the font size to be reduced.    You need to Modify the WSCST to edit these tags.   

·         Start a Client Access TCPIP session by double-clicking AS/400 TCPIP Connection.

·         First step is to retrieve the WSCST by this command RTVWSCST and F4 

·         For device type Enter *transform

·         Enter the Manufacture type and model ex. *HP8000

·         The source member specifies the name of the source file member to receive the retrieved table attributes. 

·         The source file specifies the name of the source file in which a member is created to contain the retrieved table attributes.  If the source file does not exist, it is created.  The coded character set identifier for the source file is *HEX.   Use QTXTSRC

·         Library is QGPL.

·         Enter the text description for the WSCST you are modifying. 

·         Hit Enter when you are finished and you should get a message saying: Member HP8000 added to file QTXTSRC in QGPL.                                                                      

·         Next you need to modify the WSCST.  

·         On a command line type WRKMBRPDM FILE(QGPL/QTXTSRC) MBR(*ALL) MBRTYPE(*ALL) this will bring you to a list of WSCST.

·         Enter a 2 on the WSCST that you want to modify.   

·         Page down until you see the CPICOR Tags.    These settings are what causes the reduced font:

                CPICOR

                CPI=10

                ASCIIFNT=  255

                FNTWTH=   84

                FNTATR=    1

                DATA =''X.    

                :CPICOR     

                CPI=12        

                ASCIIFNT=  255

                FNTWTH=   84 

                FNTATR=    1

                DATA =''X.     

• Change these tags to these settings and add the CPI=15 tag.   As appears below:

                :CPICOR         

                CPI=10        

                ASCIIFNT=  204

                FNTWTH=   110 

                FNTATR=    1  

                DATA =''X.    

                :CPICOR         

                CPI=12        

                ASCIIFNT= 85  

                FNTWTH = 120

                FNTATR= 1   

                DATA =''X.  

                :CPICOR       

                CPI=15      

                ASCIIFNT= 281

                FNTWTH =  72

                FNTATR=   1 

                DATA=''X.   

• Press F3 to exit and then enter Y to change/create member.
• You should get a message saying:   Member HP8000 in file QGPL/QTXTSRC changed with 621 records.
• Once the WSCST has been edited and saved, you are ready to create a new WSCST Table.   Type the following:

• CRTWSCST and hit F4 to prompt the command.  Type the name of the source member you used for the name of the WSCST.   The Source member is *WSCST and the test is *SRCMBRTXT

               

• You should get a message:  Customization object HP8000 created successfully.
• When adding the WSCST to the device, the writer must be ended and the device must be varied off.  
• Type CHGDEVPRT and ENTER.
• Type the name of the device you want to change.
• Page down until the last page and hit F10 for additional parameters.


• Enter the name of the WSCST and the LIBRARY and hit enter.  
• You should get a message saying Description for device ITHP8100 changed.
• You have successfully created a WSCST.  
• Test using a job log and see if the font size is larger.  

Useful tips for FTP

In my last post where I had discussed about image catalog using FTP of the ISO image. However, I did not discuss FTP in detail. Now, lets see some useful facts about FTP.

FTP can be done in two way GET and PUT :-

We can achieve the same result using both PUT and GET command. It is a two way process between the i-Series and the PC. Lets discuss with a example,

We want to transfer file abc.doc to iSeries system name Kelly. The file is at
C:\Documents and Settings\Sharmistha\My Documents

I want to transfer the document abc.doc to iSeries library QGPL

When I do it from my PC the command would be,

Go to command prompt

C:\Documents and Settings\Sharmistha\My Documents

Start FTP from this location to your iSeries system,

C:\Documents and Settings\Sharmistha\My Documents\ ftp kelly(ip address)

this will ask for login id and password. After you enter the system, do the following.

ftp> quote site namefmt 1 ( this is done for objects are defined in OS400  IFS format)

ftp> bin ( object transferred in binary form)

ftp> PUT abc.doc  /qsys.lib/qgpl.lib/abc.doc

This will transfer from PC to iSeries. Now, we can do the same using GET command,


:\Documents and Settings\Sharmistha\My Documents

Start FTP from this location to your iSeries system,

C:\Documents and Settings\Sharmistha\My Documents\ ftp kelly(ip address)

this will ask for login id and password. After you enter the system, do the following.

ftp> quote site namefmt 1 ( this is done for objects are defined in OS400  IFS format)

ftp> bin ( object transferred in binary form)

ftp> GET /qsys.lib/qgpl.lib/abc.doc abc.doc


Save files (SAVF) are great for transferring iSeries and AS/400 objects between OS/400-based machines. Whether it's a group PTF, a file, a library or even a licensed program, save files can quickly zip large amounts of information between two AS/400s, especially if the save files are transmitted via FTP.

Few things to keep in mind when using FTP:-

1- BINARY :- Binary transfers mean that OS/400 FTP will create an exact mirror image of your save file on your target machine. The file is transferred bit-by-bit, and it is reassembled on the receiving machine exactly as it looks on the sending machine, with no EBCDIC translation performed. Incidentally, this also helps speed up your FTP transfer.

2- NAMEFMT :- This is used to specify how the objects in OS400 are defined. NAMEFMT 1 is for IFS format and NAMEFMT 0 is for library/object format. When you use NAMEFMT 0 , the save file must be previously created in target AS400, to enable the transfer of  save file between systems. If this save file is not created, mostly the system would create a new physical file and store the save file in it which is not what you want. So, it is advisable to create save file in target system before FTP'ing.

When using NAMEFMT 1, in which Integrated file system nomenclature is used, the system automatically creates the save file, when you have used IFS naming convention and also you have mentioned .savf file extension.

Example,

PUT /qsys.lib/ssahoo.lib/abc.savf  /qsys.lib/target.lib/abc.savf

3- Empty target save file for correct FTP :-  If you have created the target save file newly or if it is empty then the FTP completes successfully. You can use CRTSAVF command to create save file in target system or use CLRSAVF command to clear the existing save file in target system.

4- Using RCMD from command prompt :- You can also use RCMD command from PC command prompt to execute AS400 command in the iseries system.

Example,

QUOTE RCMD CRTSAVF FILE(SSAHOO/ABC) TEXT('SAVE FILE FOR TARGET MACHINE)

Finding information of last Full system save

For Auditing and for disaster recovery it is useful, to have information of the last Full system save. Usually, across the industry, it is a best practice to store the Backup information. Generally, the tape used for the backup and the backup type and whether it was a successful backup or not is recommended to be kept stored. Some, firms have soft copies of these information and some hard copy of the  information stored.

By keeping these information, it makes things easier at the time of disaster. Lets now look at the native SAVE operations that is available with OS400. IBM provides many useful data area that save the important information of the last Full system save.

* QSAVSYS :- This data area saves information of the last SAVSYS command run.

* QSAVCFG :- This data area saves information of the last save on Configuration objects and the system resource objects.

*QSAVUSRPRF :- This data area saves information of the last save of all user profile in the system

*QSAVIBM :- This data area saves information of the last save on  IBM libraries or system libraries that starts with Q.

*QSAVALLUSR :- The data area saves information of all the last SAVLIB with *ALLUSR was run. It saves information of User libraries and also the Q libraries that are not considered system libraries such as QGPL, QPFR etc.

*QSAVLIBALL :- This data area saves information of the last SAVLIB with *NONSYS was run, which saves all the user libraries, QGPL and QUSRSYS.

*QSAVSTG :- This data area saves information of the last SAVSTG was run, this stores information of License internal code and content of auxiliary storage.

However, if you try to read the information on these data areas by the normal DSPDTAARA it would appear blank.

You can get the list of QSAV data areas by the following command,

WRKOBJ OBJ(QSYS/QSAV*) OBJTYPE(*DTAARA)

To get information about the last save system,

DSPOBJD OBJ(QSYS/QSAVSYS) OBJTYPE(*DTAARA) DETAIL(*FULL)
 Page down to the bottom,

Here, you can get the date and time when the last full system save was taken. The Tape used and the command that was run. 

Option 21 Full system Save

The OS400 provides SAVE menu to take backup. As we have already seen in previous post, this menu helps in taking specific backups like libraries or objects. To take a Full system Save using this IBM native menu, the option is OPTION 21, for Full System Save. Therefore, it is often known as OPTION 21 Backup.

Now, lets explore this in detail,

From command line enter command GO SAVE.

Page Down to option 21 Entire System.

Take Option 21, now the below screen appears.

Enter to continue.

Specify the device name and other options as per the requirement. Page down .

Introduction to Backup

Overview

As with all computer systems, your work on the i5 should be backed up periodically so that you can recover lost data.

Losing data is disastrous if you don't have a backup of everything you could possibly lose.

Initializing

You need to prepare the tape or diskette before you back up anything to tape or diskette. This process is called initialization.

Initializing Tapes
INZTAP

F4

Backing Up

Backing up is a very important part of daily operations. The i5/OS has a different save command for each type of saving operation. 

Always remember to:

You have enough initialized tapes.

Give *SAVSYS special authority to those users who need to perform any kind of save or restore operation.

Saving Libraries 

SAVLIB LIB(XYZ) DEV(TAP01) 

Saving Objects

SAVOBJ OBJ(ABC) LIB(XYZ) DEV(TAP01) OBJTYPE(*FILE) OUTPUT(*PRINT)

Below, screen describes the various commands under GO SAVE menu, these can be individually used to save specific objects in OS400.

Using Save Files

To use a save file instead of tape, you must create the save file first.

CRTSAVF FILE(MYLIB/MYSAVF) TEXT('Save file for backups') 

To save to the save file, execute the usual save command, except specify DEV(*SAVF) and the name of the save file in the SAVF parameter.

SAVLIB LIB(ACCTG) DEV(*SAVF) SAVF(MYLIB/MYSAVF) 

This command saves the entire ACCTG library in save file MYSAVF in library MYLIB.

Entire System Backup

Step 1 : Hold All Job Schedule Programs

Step 2 : ENDSBS *ALL ( *IMMED)

Step 3 : WRKSBS ( Display Active Subsystem ) 

Check if all subsystem have ended .

Step 4 : WRKACTJOB ( Display Active Job )

Check if any job is active .

Step 5 : GO SAVE ( F4 ) ( For Backup )

Take Option 21 for Full system save.

Checking Cache Battery information using SST

Hi,

Just wanted to expand the same topic about finding the Cache battery using the Service tools application. For this you need to use an id that has authority to run service tool and also you need have the service tools id and password. In general, these passwords are protected and is provided on valid request. This passwords are kept in a database that cannot be accessed by the Admin team. It is provided to admin team on demand and is kept protected. This enables Industry to keep check on how these are used and when, so that there is no misuse.

To start the Service tools application use command :- STRSST

It will ask to provide the SST user id and password, once you are inside this the screen looks as below,

Take option 1 to start, after this the following screen appears and take option 4 there.

Then take option 1

Take Option 2 in below screen,

In the LIC screen take page down,

Check for advance analysis, take option 14,

Check for Battery info and select that in Advance analysis screen,

Now, this will provide you full information of all the cache battery.

Page down to check more information.

Here, you can clearly identify in above example the DC01 battery needs to be replaced immediately as the Est. time to warning and Est. time to error are zero.