Three Ways To Fix NetServer Access Problems

I tried mapping a Windows drive letter to the root folder (/) of my Integrated File System (IFS) by using an IBM i NetServer file share. But I can’t get the drive to map. My cubicle buddy can map her drive. Why can’t I map my drive?

–Phil

Just as your IBM i user profile can be disabled from signing on to the system after a set number of incorrect sign-on attempts, the system can also automatically disable your user profile from IBM i NetServer access after you exceed the maximum number of sign-on attempts when trying to access a NetServer file share.

Here’s what probably happened and the three ways you can fix it.

Why You Lost NetServer File Share Access

First, when you tried to set up your NetServer mapped drive, you probably accidentally fed an invalid password to the NetServer server one or more times (the password for accessing a NetServer file share is the same password you use for your IBM i user profile). The system started counting the number of invalid sign-on attempts you performed and compared it against the Maximum Sign-On Attempts Allowed (QMAXSIGN) system value. When you exceeded the QMAXSIGN value, it disabled your user profile’s access for NetServer file share access only. You would have retained your ability to sign on to the system but you lost your ability to access a NetServer file share.

You can verify that your user profile NetServer access is disabled by checking for the following CPIB682 message in the QSYSOPR message queue.

CPIB682 - User profile &1 disabled for i5/OS Support
for Windows Network Neighborhood access.

You can also view all the CPIB682 messages on your system by running the following Display Log (DSPLOG) command.

DSPLOG MSGID(CPIB682)

So if you see a CPIB862 message for your user profile, the profile has been disabled for NetServer access.

Re-enabling NetServer Access

There are three methods you can use to re-enable a user profile’s NetServer access. Two of these methods can be found inside IBM i Navigator/System i Navigator/iSeries Access Navigator (collectively and lovingly referred to as OpsNav), and one is accessed through a 5250 green-screen command.

1. Stop and restart the NetServer server. Restarting NetServer will re-enable all the user IDs that are currently disabled for NetServer access. Do this by clicking on Network→Servers→TCP/IP from the root of your target IBM i box. In the right-hand pane of the TCP/IP servers screen, right-click on i5/OS NetServer, and select Stop from the pop-up menu that appears. Your OpsNav screen will look something like this.

(Click graphic to enlarge.)

Wait until the Status entry for the i5/OS NetServer changes to Stopped. Then right-click on the i5/OS NetServer entry again and select Start from the pop-up menu to restart your NetServer server. Your user profile will be re-enabled for NetServer access after the server restarts.

2. Re-enable the NetServer Disabled User ID through OpsNav. Inside the OpsNav i5/OS NetServer entry, there is a specific option for working with disabled NetServer User IDs. As before, click on the Network→Servers→TCP/IP node from the root of your target box in OpsNav. Right-click on the i5/OS NetServer entry in the right-hand pane of the screen and select Disabled User IDs from the pop-up menu that appears. This option will show a list of disabled NetServer user IDs, similar to this one.

Pick out the user ID that you want to re-enable for NetServer access and click on the Enable User ID button on this screen. This will allow that user profile to once again access your NetServer shares.

3. Re-enable the disabled NetServer User profile by using the Change User Profile (CHGUSRPRF) command. If you have access to a green-screen, this is the easiest way to re-enable your profile for NetServer access. Simply run the following CHGUSRPRF without any parameters and your profile will be re-enabled for NetServer usage.

CHGUSRPRF USRPRF(user_id)

Where user_id equals the user profile name, you are re-enabling for NetServer access. Entering the CHGUSRPRF command resets the user profile for NetServer without changing any other user profile parameters.

There is one drawback to using the CHGUSRPRF command to re-enable NetServer individual user access. After the user profile is re-enabled, it may still show up in the list of OpsNav disabled NetServer profiles shown in point #2, even though the profile has been re-enabled for NetServer. So beware of that limitation if you use this method.

HTH

–Joe

                     Post this story to del.icio.us
               Post this story to Digg
    Post this story to Slashdot