Changing the IBM i NetServer server name

The IBM® i NetServer server name is the name that you use to install IBM i Access for Windows and to access your IBM i NetServer over the network and the Internet.

Under most circumstances, you do not need to change the server name that IBM i NetServer uses on the operating system. Even though you can connect to IBM i NetServer using any name you choose, you should not change the server name from its default. The name should be the same as your system name. However, if you must change the IBM i NetServer server name, review the naming guidelines beforehand. You can view the system name in the network attributes by using the Display Network Attributes (DSPNETA) CL command.

Note: You must have *IOSYSCFG authority to change the IBM i NetServer configuration. The change to the system name does not take effect until the next time IBM i NetServer is started.

To change the IBM i NetServer system name by using System i® Navigator, follow these steps:

  1. Open System i Navigator and connect to the system you want to work with.
  2. Expand Network > Servers.
  3. Click TCP/IP to retrieve a list of the TCP/IP servers available.
  4. Right-click IBM i NetServer and select Properties.
  5. On the General page, click Next Start. In the Server name field, specify the name that IBM i NetServer should use.

Server name guidelines

The default name configured for IBM i NetServer is typically not the same as the TCP/IP system name. This is done to avoid conflicts with older versions of Client Access (pre-V4R4) that look for the system name. However, you are encouraged to have the IBM i NetServer name configured to be the same as the system name when possible.

Therefore, if you are using IBM i NetServer for the first time or if you have changed the TCP/IP name of your system, you should also change the IBM i NetServer name to match the system name when the following conditions are true:
  • No Windows clients in the network are currently using Client Access for Windows 95/NT (pre-V4R4).
  • No users currently have network drives or printers mapped to IBM i NetServer shares.

If you have not completed the migration to IBM i Access for Windows for all Windows PCs on your network from a pre-V4R4 version of Client Access, you should keep the IBM i NetServer name different from the system name to avoid inconsistent results for the clients.

Note: If users in your network currently have network drives or printers mapped to IBM i NetServer shares, you should disconnect these mappings before changing the IBM i NetServer name. Otherwise, these mappings fail when automatically trying to reconnect using the older name. You should also update any DOS scripts on the clients that refer to the older IBM i NetServer name.

To avoid making all of these updates simultaneously, you can select the Allow IBM i NetServer access using IBM i name on the IBM i NetServer option in the General Next Start Properties dialog box before you change the IBM i NetServer name. The next time IBM i NetServer is stopped and restarted, both names will be recognized. The new system name can be used when you configure new Windows clients while the existing clients continue to use (map to) the previous name.