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TechTip: Delaying the PWRDWNSYS Command

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Even though we try to prevent the inadvertent use of the PWRDWNSYS command through security and education, occasionally some well-meaning soul will press ENTER rather than F12 and power down your system in the 6th hour of that 12-hour-long process.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could verify that you really did mean to press ENTER? And if you didn't mean to press ENTER, wouldn't it be nice to prevent the system from "powering down" until that 12-hour process completes? With a small CL program and the use of exit point programs, you can delay the execution of the PWRDWNSYS command.

The following CL program sends a message to a specified user and waits for a reply:

PGM                                                  
DCL        VAR(&REPLY) TYPE(*CHAR) LEN(1)            
SNDUSRMSG  MSGID(CPF9898) MSGF(QCPFMSG) +            
             MSGDTA('PWRDWNSYS will be processed as +
             soon as you respond to this message.  + 
             Enter G to continue.') VALUES('G') +    
             TOUSR(QSYSOPR) MSGRPY(&REPLY)             
ENDPGM                                               


By combining this CL program and the "Prepower down system exit point" (QIBM_QWC_PWRDWNSYS), you can delay the execution of the PWRDWNSYS command until you (or someone else) responds to the message from the CL program.

Simply compile the CL program (CRTCLPGM) and add it to the exit point with the ADDEXITPGM command:

ADDEXITPGM EXITPNT(QIBM_QWC_PWRDWNSYS) FORMAT(PWRD0100) PGMNBR(1) PGM(your-library-name/your-exit-program-name)


Once this is done, anytime the PWRDWNSYS command is executed, a message will be sent to the user specified in the SNDUSRMSG command (QSYSOPR in this example) and the power down process will not continue until a valid response to the message is received. So, even though you can't prevent the inevitable PWRDWNSYS process, you can delay it until a more convenient time.

--Steve McKay
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