Activating the replication of journal entries to a remote journal

In order to activate the replication of journal entries to a given remote journal, the following must be true:

  • The remote journal that you wish to activate must not have a journal state of *ACTIVE. For instance, this might seem to be a reasonable request if you wanted to simply change the delivery mode from synchronous to asynchronous. However, the remote journal must be inactive before you can activate it.
  • The remote journal that you wish to activate must not be actively replicating journal entries to other remote journals, as in a cascade configuration. You must inactivate the remote journals that are immediately downstream before activating the remote journal.

You need to provide the following input in order to activate the replication of journal entries to a remote journal on a target system:

  • The journal name and library on the source system from which journal entries will be replicated.
  • The remote journal name and library on the target system to which journal entries will be replicated.
  • A relational database directory entry, which identifies the target system and other necessary communications information.
  • The delivery mode to be used. Specify either synchronous or asynchronous delivery mode.
  • The journal receiver from which to start journal entry replication which defines the starting point for journal entry replication.
  • If an asynchronous delivery mode was specified, then the sending task priority may also be specified. If a value is not specified, the system selects a default priority, which is higher than what the user can specify for this value. Setting this value too large may cause a greater journal entry latency or lag.
  • If synchronous delivery mode was specified, then a synchronous sending time-out value may be specified. If a value is not specified, then the system uses 60 seconds.
  • Optionally, if validity checking should be enabled.
  • Optionally, if the remote journal should try to automatically restart if the connection ends.
  • Optionally, remote journal filtering criteria to be used for the remote journal.

To activate the remote journal, proceed as follows:

  1. With IBM Navigator for i connect to the system you want to use.
  2. Expand Journal Management.
  3. Select Set Database/Library to use with Journal Tasks and specify the database and library that contains the journal.
  4. Select Journals.
  5. Select the journal, and select the Remote journals action.
  6. On the Remote journals list, select the remote journal from the list of remote journals, and then select the Activate action to activate the selected remote journal.

You can also activate the replication of journal entries from a journal on a source system to a remote journal on a target system by using one of the following methods:

  • The Change Journal State (QjoChangeJournalState) API
  • The Change Remote Journal (CHGRMTJRN) command

Both the QjoChangeJournalState API and the CHGRMTJRN command must be issued from the source system.

The activation of the remote journal can be a long running process. This may occur if there are a large number of journal receivers and entries that initially must be caught-up in the remote journal.

Catch-up phase for remote journals has more detailed information about the catch-up phase.

For additional insight into activating remote journals see IBM® Redbooks® technote Journaling - Common Remote Journal QuestionsLink to technote