Restricted State

At times you may need to perform work on your iSeries^(TM) server without interference from other users. Performing that work while the system is in the restricted state allows you to do just that.

Restricted state is a condition where all the subsystems on the iSeries server have ended and only a single user job remains active in the controlling subsystem. The controlling subsystem is the subsystem that starts automatically when the system starts and is specified by the Controlling Subsystem (QCTLSBSD) system value. IBM^(R) ships two subsystem descriptions that can be used as the controlling subsystem: QBASE and QCTL. The iSeries Information Center contains additional information on the subsystems shipped with the system.

Some system commands require that the system is in the restricted state in order to run; for example, Save System (SAVSYS) and Reclaim Storage (RCLSTG) for the system and basic user auxiliary storage pools (ASPs). Restricted state ensures that other functions are not interfering with the system's access to objects and that the objects are not changing while the system commands are running.

In addition, you may want to take the system to the restricted state before powering down. This ensures that all user work has ended before the system loses power. If a problem occurs while the user jobs are ending, the system operator can provide assistance from the active job that remains. This cannot be done when the Power Down System (PWRDWNSYS) command is called first because the command issuer's job is ended along with all the other user jobs.

Since all the other jobs that run in subsystems are ended when the system goes into the restricted state, functions that run in these jobs are not available during this time. For example, the TCP/IP servers that run in the QSYSWRK subsystem are not available while the system is in the restricted state. System jobs remain active while the system is in the restricted state to handle critical system functions. However, not all functions provided by system jobs are available. For example, the QJOBSCD system job will not submit jobs for job schedule entries while the system is in the restricted state.

The following sections contain additional information about the restricted state:

Start restricted state
Describes how to put the system in the restricted state.

Restricted state status
Provides information on how to determine when the system has reached the restricted state.

End restricted state
Describes the proper method for bringing the system out of the restricted state.

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Author
Dave Novey

Published date
May 2004