What Happened to My QFileSvr.400 Connection?

Published: April 11, 2012

Hey, Joe:

I set up a QFileSvr.400 connection for accessing AS/400 Integrated File Systems (AS/400 IFS) objects on another IBM i machine. I use it several times a month to transfer files. All of a sudden, the connection stopped working and I have no clue why. Do you have any idea what could happened and how I can fix it?

--Bob

As I've written before, I love using QFileSvr.400 for accessing, modifying, and copying or moving files between two IBM i systems (Power i, System i, and iSeries). A QFileSvr.400 link is incredibly easy to set up. All you have to do is run the following Make Directory (MKDIR) command on your local system to set up an AS/400 IFS link to another IBM i system's AS/400 IFS.

MD DIR ('/QFileSvr.400/remote system')

Where remote system equals either the TCP/IP host name of a remote IBM i partition (don't use a TCP/IP address) or the SNA name for another partition (if you're still using SNA).

And this works great for accessing the other system's IFS objects as if they were on your system. There are a few other rules for accessing a remote system through QFileSvr.400 that I wrote about in another tip, but this is pretty much all there is to it.

However, your experience with losing your QFileSvr.400 link is very common. Here's my list of things to check when a QFileSvr.400 link stops working.

First, understand that whenever you IPL an IBM i system, all QFileSvr.400 links to remote systems will automatically disappear. This is because QFileSvr.400 remote system links are considered first-level directories. A first-level directory represents the root (/) of the target AS/400 IFS file system you're trying to access. In the i and i5/OS operating systems, a QFileSvr.400 system link is considered a first-level directory.

The problem with first-level directories is that they are not persistent across IPLs. It seems like they should be, but they aren't. So they disappear after an IPL, which can be a real hassle, particularly if you set up an automated job that connects to a remote system it can no longer reach.

Fortunately, QFileSvr.400 links are easy to recreate after an IPL. All you have to do is perform the following steps:

1. Run the Make Directory command to reinstall the QFileSvr.400 link to your remote system, so you can use the link again.
2. Put the Make Directory command you used to create the link into your system startup program, as defined in the Startup Program (QSTRUPPGM) system value. Once the command is in your startup program, the system will recreate your remote system's QFileSvr.400 link each time it IPLs.

So if you IPLed your system since the last time you used this link, performing these steps will probably solve your problem.

If recreating the link doesn't solve your problem, check to see whether the QSERVER subsystem is running. The operating system can only connect to a target QFileSvr.400 link if QSERVER is active. Within QSERVER, the QPWFSERVSO or QPWFSERVSD prestart jobs take control of the QFileSvr.400 connections, so also check to see if these jobs are running in QSERVER.

If QPWFSERVSO or QPWFSERVSD aren't running, they can be restarted by running the following Start Host Server (STRHOSTSVR) command, which starts the host server file server daemons on the system.

STRHOSTSVR SERVER(*FILE)

The last thing to check is whether the remote system name attached to your QFileSvr.400 link is reachable from your system. It could be that the DNS server entry for your remote system was removed or that the remote system's Host Table entry got deleted. Use the following Verify TCP/IP Connection (PING) command to see whether the remote system is reachable.

PING RMTSYS(remote system)

This will tell you whether the system is reachable. If it isn't reachable by ping, it may even be that the remote system isn't currently active.

Between all these checks, hopefully you'll be able to figure out what your connection problem is.

Note: Bob later wrote back to say the QFileSvr.400 link for his remote system disappeared after an IPL. He recreated the link and modified his system startup program to add the link back every time the system was IPLed.

---Joe

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Joe Hertvik is the owner of Hertvik Business Services, a service company that provides written marketing content and presentation services for the computer industry, including white papers, case studies, and other marketing material. Email Joe for a free quote for any upcoming projects. He also runs a data center for two companies outside Chicago. Joe is a contributing editor for IT Jungle and has written the Admin Alert column since 2002.

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Why Can't I Access My Remote System's AS/400 IFS?

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