Manage message queues

You can manage your message queues in several ways.

The operations you can use to manage your message queues include:

Create message queues
Change the attributes of message queues
Change the message queue for a printer
Print all messages in the message queue

The following details are how these examples can be implemented using the MSGQ function.

You are a small-sized customer who has one LAN line and very few users: There are no changes that need to be made; all messages will remain in QSYSOPR, or the configured message queue.
You are a medium-sized customer who has a couple of LAN lines: In this instance, you will need to change the QCFGMSGQ system value to the system-supplied message queue, QSYS/QCFGMSGQ. As a result, all communications messages for the object types that support the MSGQ configuration parameter will go to this one queue.
You are a large-sized customer who has many LAN lines and many WAN lines, with many users on each line. You want to set up the message queues so that messages are separated as the following ways:
- The messages for the Ethernet LAN will go to ETHMSGQ: On this line, the system configures all the controllers automatically.
- The messages for the token-ring LAN will go to TRNMSGQ: On this line, the system configures most controllers; however, some controllers must be configured manually.
- All messages for workstation users will go to the WSMSGQ: This includes local workstations, remote workstations, pass-through, and telnet.
- All other communications messages will go to QCFGMSGQ.

You are an experienced operator who has written a program that helps the operator know which message queues are the important ones. Here is how to configure this example:
- Change the system value QCFGMSGQ to QSYS/QCFGMSGQ.
- Create the Ethernet line description with MSGQ(ETHMSGQ): The system creates all controllers (and thus devices) on this line. This means the system will send their messages to the message queue defined in the line ETHMSGQ.
- Create the token-ring line description with MSGQ(TRNMSGQ): The automatically created controllers and devices on this line will have their messages sent to TRNMSGQ. Controllers that are manually created on this line are created with the MSGQ(TRNMSGQ) parameter.
- Create the X.25 line description with MSGQ(V25MSGQ): All controllers that are created for this X.25 line description must be created using the MSGQ(X25MSGQ) parameter on the CRTCTLxxx command.
- You can set up the workstation controller descriptions as the following ways:
  - The local workstation controller, which the system automatically created, was changed to MSGQ(WSMSGQ).
    Notes:
    1. Create all printer devices attached to the workstation controller with MSGQ(*CTLD). Messages for display devices always go to the message queue that is defined in the associated controller. Thus, changing the message queue of the controller results in the messages for the devices that go to the messages queue defined in the controller description.
    2. It is possible for the user to use a CHGCMDDFT command and have the message queue default to a different queue. This means that the automatic creation of the local workstation controller will use the different message queue.
  - Create the virtual controllers for pass-through and Telnet with MSGQ(WSMSGQ).
    Like the local workstation controllers above, the devices attached to the virtual workstation controllers will have their messages sent to the queue defined in the virtual controller. The same logic works for remote workstation controllers and their attached devices.
You are a large-sized customer that is now only using TCP/IP and want to have the line and workstation messages logged to the QTCP message queue: You can manage this configuration by changing the system value QCFGMSGQ to QSYS/QTCP.

Create message queues
You can create message queues to store messages within a particular library.
Create message queue QSYSMSG for severe messages
You can create an optional message queue, QSYSMSG, to hold specific severe system messages.
Change the attributes of message queues
Your server has several message queues that hold messages with helpful information for finding and reporting problems.
Change the message queue for a printer
You can change the location of the message queue that stores messages that are associated with each printer. Changing this location allows you to separate your printing messages from system, user, or error messages.
Print all messages in the message queue
Sometimes a problem has many messages associated with it.

Parent topic: Details: Message queues