Add remote journal process

Adding a remote journal creates a remote journal on a target system or independent disk pool and associates that remote journal with the journal on the source system. This occurs if this is the first time the remote journal is being established for a journal. The journal on the source system can be either a local or remote journal.

If a remote journal environment has previously been established, adding a remote journal re-associates the remote journal on the target system with the journal on the source system.

You can establish and associate a remote journal on a target system with a journal on the source system by one of the following methods:

iSeries™ Navigator.
Add Remote Journal (QjoAddRemoteJournal) API on the source system.
Add Remote Journal (ADDRMTJRN) command on the source system.

What happens during add remote journal processing

Some of the processing which takes place as part of adding a remote journal is as follows:

A check is performed on the target system to verify that the user profile adding the remote journal exists. A user profile with the same name as the user profile which is adding a remote journal must exist on the target system. If the profile does not exist on the target system, then an exception is signaled, and the processing ends.
A check is performed to verify that the target system has a library by the same name as the library for the journal on the source system. If the library does not exist on the target system, then an exception is signaled, and the processing ends.
A check is performed on the target system to determine if a journal by the same qualified name as the journal on the source system already exists. If a journal already exists, it can be used for the remainder of the add remote journal processing if it meets the following conditions:
1. It is a remote journal.
2. It was previously associated with this same source journal or part of the same remote journal network.
3. The type of the remote journal matches the specified remote journal type.
If a journal was found, but does not meet the above criteria, then an exception is signaled, and the processing ends. Otherwise, the remote journal is used for the rest of the add remote journal processing.
If no journal is found on the specified target system, then a remote journal is created on the target system. The new remote journal has the same configuration, authority, and audit characteristics of the source journal. The journal that is created has a journal type of *REMOTE.

The creation of the journal on the target system is performed as though the journal was being saved and restored to the target system. Therefore, the ownership of the journal on a target system will follow the same rules as with the existing save and restore functions. If the user profile which owns the journal on the source system is on the target system, then that profile will own the created journal on the target system. If the user profile does not exist on the target system, then the profile QDFTOWN will own the journal on the target system.

Additionally, if the remote journal is created, the values for the journal attributes of text, journal message queue, delete receivers value, and delete receiver delay time will be taken from what is specified on the API invocation. After the remote journal has been created, these values can be changed by using the Change Journal (CHGJRN) command for the remote journal on the remote system. After the remote journal is created, any changes to these attributes on the source journal will not cause equivalent changes to the remote journal. See Remote journal attributes for more information.

When adding the remote journal, you must specify the type of remote journal to add. The remote journal type influences the library redirection rules and other operational characteristics for the journal. See Types of remote journals for more information.

Guidelines for adding a remote journal

The following are guidelines for adding a remote journal:

You can only associate a remote journal with a single source journal.
Note: The same remote journal can then have additional remote journals that are associated with it that are located on other target systems. This is the cascade configuration that is shown in Network configurations for remote journals.
The remote journal will only have its attached receiver populated with journal entries that are replicated from the corresponding journal receiver on the source system. No journal entries can be directly deposited to a remote journal.
A maximum of 255 remote journals can be associated with a single journal on a source system. This can be any combination of asynchronously maintained or synchronously maintained remote journals.

Synchronous and asynchronous delivery mode has more information. Library redirection with remote journals and Remote journal attributes provide more concepts about the add remote journal process. Add remote journals provides the steps for adding a remote journal.