Setting TCP/IP Server Autostart Parameters as a Group

July 12, 2002 Timothy Prickett Morgan

Hey, Joe:

For a security review, I need to list and modify all the OS/400 TCP/IP servers that will automatically start whenever I call the Start TCP/IP (STRTCP) command with the Start application servers parameter equal to *YES. Is there an easy way to view and reset my TCP/IP servers’ Autostart parameters as a group?

— Ben

The answer here is ‘no’ for the green screen and ‘yes’ for iSeries Operations Navigator (OpsNav). Let’s look at the situation:

First, there is no way to view and reset the Autostart parameters for all TCP/IP servers from one 5250 display. These parameters are set through each individual server’s green-screen change attributes command, such as the Change FTP Attributes (CHGFTPA) command; Change SMTP Attributes (CHGSMTPA) command. However, as iSeries Operations Navigator became more sophisticated over the last few years, IBM stopped providing green-screen change attribute commands for many of its more popular TCP/IP servers, such as AS/400 NetServer and Management Central. So you can no longer change all of your TCP/IP servers’ Autostart parameters from the green screen; for full OS/400 TCP/IP server Autostart functionality, you now have to go to iSeries Operations Navigator.

Inside OpsNav, IBM has made the Autostart value, which can be set to *Yes (on) or *No (off), part of each TCP/IP server’s Properties dialogue. So you can easily view and modify the Autostart parameter for any particular TCP/IP server by opening the Network-Servers-TCP/IP node, right-clicking on the server you want to change, and selecting Properties from the pop-up menu that appears. On the server’s Properties dialogue, you enable or disable its Autostart setting by placing or removing a check mark in the Start Server when TCP/IP is started check box.

What you’re looking for, however, is a way to view and change all of your TCP/IP servers’ Autostart properties from a single screen, which OpsNav also provides. To get to this screen in the OpsNav program that comes with Client Access Express for Windows V5R1, right-click on the Network-TCP/IP Configuration node under your iSeries or AS/400 server. From the pop-up menu that appears, select Properties and on the TCP/IP Configuration Properties screen, and click on the Servers to Start tab. This brings up a list of your TCP/IP servers, displaying check boxes that indicate whether each server will Autostart whenever TCP/IP starts. To designate that a server should Autostart, place a check mark in the box next to that server on that screen. To prevent a server from Autostarting, remove the check mark from the designated server. When finished, click OK on the screen and your changes for all servers will immediately take effect.

Then, the next time STRTCP is started with the Start Applications Servers (STRSVR) parameter equal to *ALL, as follows:

STRTCP  STRSVR(*ALL)

All of your TCP/IP servers that are designated as Autostart will also begin running. Also note that if you’re running OS/400 V5R1, the Autostart servers can be activated when the Start TCP/IP Server (STRTCPSVR) is called with the SERVER parameter equal to *AUTOSTART, as the following example shows:

STRTCPSVR  SERVER(*AUTOSTART)

For more information on the V5R1 STRTCPSVR *AUTOSTART parameter, see “Admin Alert: V5R1 Adds Autostart to STRTCPSVR” in our sister publication, The Four Hundred.

There is one caveat, however, on relying on OpsNav to list and change Autostart server properties. In my testing on V5R1 and V4R5 iSeries boxes, I noticed two TCP/IP servers that aren’t listed under the Servers to Start screen: the SNMP server and the HTTP server. To change the Autostart parameters for these servers, you have to go to a 5250 display and prompt both the Change HTTP Attributes (CHGHTTPA) and the Change SNMP Attributes (CHGSNMPA) commands. Both of these commands are available on the Configure TCP/IP Applications (CFGTCPAPP) menu. But here’s an important point to remember: You still need to use the green-screen commands to check Autostart parameters for at least two servers.

Hope this helps.

— Joe

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