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You Can Re-IPL an AS/400 into Restricted State
Hey, Joe:
Sometimes when I'm performing an upgrade or
installing PTFs, I need to re-IPL my AS/400 into restricted
state so that I can bring the system console up and check
the results without invoking the QSTRUP startup program.
What's the best way to do this so users can't get back on
the system before I make my final changes?
-- Jim
I know what you're looking for, and it's a lot simpler
to invoke than you think.
Before you power down your system, open the Change IPL
Attributes (CHGIPLA) command, press F4 for prompting, and
look at a field called Start to Restricted State (STRRSTD).
This field has two values: *YES and *NO. The default value
is *NO, and it is always reset to that initial value after
each IPL. However, if you change this field to *YES, OS/400
will bring up your system in restricted state the next time
you perform an IPL restart. Here's the drill:
Use the CHGIPLA command to change the STRRSTD parameter
to *YES. You can do this from a command line by issuing the
following command:
CHGIPLA STRRSTD(*YES)
Alternatively, you can also type in CHGIPLA from the
command line and press F4 to view and modify the
parameter.
From the command line, power down your AS/400 by using
the Power Down System (PWRDWNSYS) command with the Restart
after power down parameter (RESTART) equal to *YES. Here's
the simple command syntax to do this:
PWRDWNSYS RESTART(*YES)
As you probably already know, this will IPL your iSeries
or AS/400 and then automatically restart the system. The
trick here is that the CHGIPLA STRRSTD(*YES) parameter will
only bring your AS/400 up in restricted state if you
specify RESTART(*YES) on your PWRDWNSYS statement. If you
specify that you want the system to end and power off (by
using the RESTART(*NO) parameter), modifying the CHGIPLA
STRRSTD parameter to *YES will have no effect on your
OS/400 system the next time you power it up.
It should also go without saying--but I'll say it
anyway--that you must ensure that all active users have
been notified before you re-IPL the system, and that all
relevant batch, interactive, and server jobs are also ended
before you IPL. Failure to do this may abnormally end
critical processing, and cause problems in your
database.
When your OS/400 system restarts, it will automatically
put the system into restricted state with only the system
console active. What's more, it will then automatically
reset the CHGIPLA STRRSTD parameter to its initial *NO
value so you don't need to worry about resetting this
capability for the next IPL.
After you've checked your changes and you're ready to
take your iSeries or AS/400 out of restricted state, you
can then call your QSTRUP program from the command line
with a simple call statement, such as this:
CALL PGM(LIBRARY/QSTRUP program)
You can find the actual name and library for your QSTRUP
program by using the Display System Value command to view
the Startup Program (QSTRUPPGM) system value, as
follows:
DSPSYSVAL SYSVAL(QSTRUPPGM)
And that's how you can re-IPL an iSeries or AS/400 into
restricted state without invoking the QSTRUP program. I
tested this technique on a V5R1 machine and it worked
beautifully. It's a very simple procedure that you can use
to keep users off your AS/400 or iSeries box while you're
busy performing an upgrade.
Hope this helps,
-- Joe Hertvik
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