RE: TCP/IP and IPL and DST

["Elvis Budimlic" <ebudimlic@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I am not a networking expert so take this with a grain of salt. 
I guess I'm with your systems manager on this one.
 
My experience and understanding is that nothing can be done with TCP until
QSTRUP program runs and executes STRTCP command.  Or alternatively you
configure CHGIPLA command's STRTCP parameter to *YES.
Even after that is done there are some specific protocols that need to be
started explicitly (i.e. via STRTCPSVR command) for networking over TCP/IP
to work properly.

Elvis

-----Original Message-----
Subject: TCP/IP and IPL and DST

Question--

How much of TCP/IP is awake and functioning when the iSeries is 
rebooted in manual mode and stopped at DST (Dedicated Service Tools)?

I made brief search thru the archives but didn't find anything that 
seemed to address this issue.

The problem--

We had our machine down over the weekend for repairs.  The CE had the 
machine up to DST and back down a few times over a 3 hour period. 
During that time it appears that some SMTP mail transactions and some 
FTP uploads disappeared.

The business partner that sent us the SMTP transactions (dedicated 
circuit) states that the transmission was normal, with no hangups 
reported.  The log file on the FTP system shows that 3 upload 
attempts were made.  Yet none of these made it to the mailbox or the 
target file.

One theory is that TCP/IP is awake enough to acknowledge the 
attempted transactions, but not enough to actually -do- anything with 
them; they end up in the bit bucket.

Our systems manager doesn't think so; the network group polls the 
SMTP servers to see if they're alive; the iSeries gave no response 
until the system was all the way up and the subsystems were started.

My (perhaps warped) understanding is that TCP/IP has to be awake 
enough to talk to the PC-attached console (thru the dedicated special 
port); it's also awake enough to listen on other ethernet connections 
(which is why, as I understand it, SST and DST now come equipped with 
profiles and passwords).

Can anyone shed any light on the behavior of TCP/IP and maybe explain 
where these transactions might have gone?

Thanks!

Paul E Musselman
PaulMmn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx