Stopping Your System i from Starting Up

June 25, 2008 Hey, Joe

I’m performing an i5/OS upgrade this weekend, but I first want to save my system by performing an Option 21 save (Entire system) off the GO SAVE menu. To save time, I don’t want to automatically restart the system after the backup completes. How do I stop my system from automatically restarting?

–Bruce

The bad news is that there isn’t a parameter that stops an Option 21 save from restarting an i5/OS system after your save completes. The good news is that you don’t need one. It’s simple to keep your system in a restricted state after a backup. All you need to do is change one system value, and you’re home free. Here’s how it works.

In an earlier article, I dissected all the steps that i5/OS (and its predecessor, the OS/400 operating system) performs when running an Option 21 save. Step 1 always puts the system into a restricted state, which ends all your subsystems, network cards, etc. Steps 2 through 6 save the data, and Step 7 restarts the system by running the following Start Subsystem (STRSBS) command.

STRSBS  SBSD(controlling_subsystem_name)

Inside the controlling subsystem is an Autostart Job Entry called QSTRUPJD, which starts the system startup job, also named QSTRUPJD. The QSTRUPJD job calls a system program named QWDAJPGM to check the program name in the Startup Program system value (QSTRUPPGM). If it finds a valid program name in QSTRUPPGM, it runs that program, which starts the system.

To prevent your system from starting after a backup, you merely have to change the QSTRUPPGM system value to indicate that you don’t want to run a startup program when the controlling subsystem is started. This is done by changing QSTRUPPGM to a value of *NONE by running the following Change System Value (CHGSYSVAL) command.

CHGSYSVAL SYSVAL(QSTRUPPGM) VALUE(*NONE)

Once the value is changed, the startup program won’t be invoked when you start the controlling subsystem, and you can run an Option 21 save or reIPL without worrying about starting and stopping all your subsystems. It’s that easy.

There’s one thing to watch out for, however. Before you change the QSTRUPPGM system value to *NONE, make sure to write down the name of the startup program that was listed in QSTRUPPGM before you made the change. Once you’re finished with your upgrade, you’ll want to restore the startup program to its original value so that your system will once again restart after an IPL or a system backup. And you’ll need to remember the name of your system startup program to do that.

And that’s all there is to preventing your system from running a startup program following a system save or an IPL.

–Joe

Where Art Thou, Rick?

In my April 30th column, I introduced everyone to Rick, who had a Client Access problem in that he couldn’t start more than 70 5250 sessions on his system at once. I started a contest where a beautiful, completely functional No-Prize (like those pioneered by Stan Lee and Marvel Comics in the 1960s) would be awarded to the first person who wrote in and gave Rick the correct answer that would solve his puzzle.

The response was incredible. Dozens of you responded in a heated race to get that No-Prize. I forwarded all of the entries to Rick for testing and judgment. And I waited, and waited, and waited, and… well, you get the idea. I emailed Rick three weeks ago and he promised to send me some results two weeks ago. In the meantime, a number of readers have written in asking me what happened to Rick and how he fixed his problem. I wish I could tell you, but I just don’t have the results.

Here’s what I’m going to do. If Rick answers in the next two weeks, I’ll publish his results. (Rick, are you listening?) If I don’t get an answer from Rick soon, I’ll go through the entries myself and declare a winner in mid-July. But if you’re concerned that I’ll be bribed and unfairly favor one entry over another, you can contact me through the IT Jungle Contact page, and I’d like lots of small, unmarked American bills and (you guessed it) comic books.

So be patient, you Rick watchers. Your time of waiting will soon end. In the meantime, keep those bribes, er, emails coming and I’ll answer as quickly as I can.