Prepare to use remote journals

This topic outlines the basic steps for preparing to use remote journals.

1. Determine the extent of your remote journal network or environment.

   See Plan for remote journals.

2. Determine what library redirection, if any, you will be using for the remote journals and associated journal receivers. Library redirection is the ability to allow the remote journal and associated journal receivers to reside in different libraries on the target system from the corresponding source journal and its associated journal receivers.

   See Library redirection with remote journals.

3. Ensure that all selected libraries exist on the target systems. You will need to consider whether or not library redirection will be used when adding the remote journal.
4. Create the appropriate local journal if it does not already exist.

   See Set up journaling for more information about creating local journals.

5. Configure and activate the communications protocol you have chosen to use.

   See the Supported communications protocols for remote journals link below for more information.

   After you have configured the communications protocol, it must be active while you are using the remote journal function. For example, if you are using the OptiConnect for i5/OS^® bus transport method, then the OptiConnect for i5/OS subsystem, QSOC, must be active. QSOC must be active for both the source system and the target system, and the appropriate controllers and devices must be varied on. If you are using a SNA communications transport, vary on the appropriate line, controller, and devices and ensure subsystem QCMN is active on both systems. If you are using TCP/IP, you must start TCP/IP by using the Start TCP/IP (STRTCP) command, including the distributed data management (DDM) servers.

   See the Networking topic and OptiConnect for i5/OS for more detailed information.

6. If one does not already exist, create the appropriate relational database (RDB) directory entry that will be used to define the communications protocol for the remote journal environment. When TCP communications are being used to connect to an independant disk pool, the Relational Database (RDB) entry to the independant disk pool must have the Relational database value set to the target system's local RDB entry and the relational database alias value set to the independant disk pool's name.