Set the time zone before upgrading

Use this method if you have a previous release of i5/OS™ installed and are upgrading to i5/OS V5R3 or later. This is the preferred method, if you have a previous release already installed, because your time zone will be set correctly as soon as you upgrade.

If you are upgrading from a previous release of i5/OS to i5/OS V5R3 or later, it is recommended that you set up your time zone before you upgrade to the new release. This ensures that your system time is set properly as soon as the upgrade is complete. To set the time zone before upgrading, you must have a supported release for the i5/OS software upgrade.

To define the time zone object for the system before an i5/OS software upgrade, create a data area named QWCTIMZON in the system (QSYS) library. When you perform an initial program load (IPL), the server uses this object when attempting to determine the default value for the time zone (QTIMZON) system value. For more information about how the system determines the time zone to use when upgrading to a new release of the i5/OS system, see Initial time zone setting.

To create the data area for the time zone, complete the following steps:

  1. Sign on to your i5/OS server using a 5250 emulator session.
  2. Type the following command and press F4: 
    CRTDTAARA
  3. Specify QWCTIMZON for the name of the Data Area (DTAARA).
  4. Specify QSYS for the library of the Data Area (DTAARA).
  5. Specify *CHAR for the Type parameter.
  6. Press Enter.
  7. Specify 16 for the Length parameter.
  8. For the Initial Value, use the following format:
    Byte 1: Sign for current Offset from UTC (either '+' or '-')
    Byte 2-3: Hours for current Offset from UTC (00 to 12)
    Byte 4: Time separator
    Byte 5-6: Minutes for current Offset from UTC (00 to 59)
    Byte 7-16: Time zone description name, left justified and padded on the right with blanks. (See Time zone for a list of names.)

    Example

    Byte 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
      - 0 6 : 0 0 Q N 0 6 0 0 C S T  
  9. Press Enter to create the data area.

During the upgrade of the i5/OS operating system, the server uses this data area to set the time zone (QTIMZON) system value.

Parent topic: Set the time zone (QTIMZON) system value
Related concepts
Time zone
Related tasks
Initial time zone setting
Related reference
Time zone (QTIMZON) system value