Getting Started with AS/400

Getting Started with AS/400

Foundations & Troubleshooting in 2 days

AS/400 (now IBM i) is still heavily used in mission‐critical systems around the world. Despite the rise of “modern” platforms, many businesses depend on its reliability, integrated database, and unique architecture. For CS grads entering such environments, understanding the fundamentals—how storage works (both physical and logical), how objects are organized, how jobs/spooling/printing is managed, and how basic command languages (CLP, POP) work—is essential. Equally important is being able to troubleshoot when things go wrong: stuck spool files, authorization issues, library or identity problems, storage limits, etc. Over two days you'll gain enough depth and hands-on experience to begin operating, maintaining, and diagnosing common issues in an AS/400/IBM i environment.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the 2 days participants will be able to:

• Describe the architecture of AS/400 / IBM i, including physical and logical storage, licensed internal code, and how jobs/jobs queues/subsystems work.
• Understand objects, libraries, library lists, and identity/authority (user profiles, object ownership, authorities).
• Use the common “work” commands (WRK*, DSP*, etc.), query data, work with spool files (view, hold/release, delete) and output queues.
• Understand and write simple CLP or POP scripts / jobs; know when to use them vs straight commands.
• Diagnose and troubleshoot typical AS/400 problems: spooling issues, job failures, storage full, authorities, library/object not found, etc.
• Apply best practices to avoid common pitfalls in spooling, job scheduling, and storage/objects setup.

Prerequisites

• Basic understanding of operating systems (processes, file systems).
• Basic command‐line experience (Linux/Windows CMD/PowerShell or similar).
• Basic database / file concepts: what is a table/file, indexes, logical vs physical.
• Basic programming logic (conditionals, scripts) – helpful for CLP or POP parts.

Detailed Training Outline (Topics & Sub-topics)

Below is a topic map / outline. The flow is intended to build from fundamentals, then show day-to-day operations, then focus on troubleshooting using what was learned.

1. Introduction to AS/400 / IBM i
   1. What AS/400 / IBM i is: history, evolution, current usage in industry
   2. The ecosystem: OS/400 / IBM i versions; Licensed Internal Code (LIC) and its role
   3. Hardware vs software components: CPU, memory, disk (DASD), controllers; logical view vs physical storage
2. Storage: Physical & Logical
   1. Physical storage: disks (DASD), controllers, I/O channels, redundancy / mirroring if applicable
   2. Logical storage: single level storage, storage pools, how the system manages logical vs physical storage
   3. File systems: traditional database files vs Integrated File System (IFS), stream files, directories
   4. Storage monitoring tools and commands (how to check disk usage, free space, disk health)
3. Objects, Libraries, Library List, Identity & Authority
   1. What is an object in IBM i: types of objects (*FILE, *PGM, *CMD, *USRPRF, *JOBD, etc.)
   2. What is a library; difference between system libraries (QSYS etc.), user libraries; naming conventions; library list vs current library vs QTEMP etc.
   3. User profiles, group profiles, object authority, ownership, identity; what permissions are required, how identity influences access.
4. Working with Commands & Queries
   1. Introduction to CLP / POP: what they are, when to use them; simple examples
   2. Common "work" commands: WRKOBJ, WRKJOB, WRKACTJOB, WRKSPLF, WRKOUTQ, DSP* commands etc.
   3. Querying data: using SQL, or native query tools if available; reading file definitions, logical vs physical files
5. Spooling / Output Management
   1. What is spooling, spool files; output queues; printer files; how print/output jobs are handled internally
   2. Common spool commands & operations: display spool, hold / release / delete spool files; adjusting spool priorities; output queue management
   3. Problems in spooling: jams, prints not coming out, permissions, spool file stuck, spool full etc.
6. CLP / POP for Automation / Jobs
   1. Introduction to CLP (Control Language Programming): syntax, routines, parameters, scripting batch jobs
   2. POP (I assume this is Portable Object Program or something else? Clarify) – using it to schedule, wrap commands, batch operations
   3. Simple hands-on examples: writing a CLP script to manage spool files, clean up libraries, backup tasks etc.
7. Troubleshooting Common Issues
   1. How to diagnose failing or stalled jobs: job logs, message queues, system logs
   2. Spooling print output failures: permissions, output queues, device descriptions, printer status
   3. Storage problems: running out of logical storage or physical; what to do when storage is near capacity; temporary storage problems
   4. Authority errors: object not found, access denied, wrong identity, library list issues
   5. Library list / library missing issues: current library vs library list; qualified vs unqualified names
8. Best Practices & Maintenance Tips
   1. Setting up libraries / library lists properly to avoid confusion
   2. Keeping spool / output queues clean; monitoring and alerting
   3. Backup / recovery basics relevant to objects, libraries, spooled output
   4. Logging, auditing; how to set up monitoring for storage and jobs
9. Hands-on Exercises & Scenarios (throughout)
   1. Exercise: log in, explore library list, find an object, find a file, use WRKOBJ / DSPOBJD etc.
   2. Exercise: generate a spool file (e.g. print something), find it via WRKSPLF, hold / release / delete, change priority, send to output queue.
   3. Exercise: write a simple CLP script to automate a small task (e.g. spooling cleanup or library cleanup)
   4. Scenario: user reports output didn’t print – walk through diagnosing spooling issue: output queue, device, spool file, permissions, identity etc.
   5. Scenario: storage nearly full – how to find which libraries / files are consuming, how to free up, what to check