PING CHANNEL

Use the MQSC command PING CHANNEL to test a channel by sending data as a special message to the remote queue manager, and checking that the data is returned. The data is generated by the local queue manager.

Using MQSC commands

For information on how you use MQSC commands, see Performing local administration tasks using MQSC commands.

[z/OS]You can issue this command from sources CR. For an explanation of the source symbols, see Sources from which you can issue MQSC commands on z/OS®.

Synonym: PING CHL

PING CHANNEL

Read syntax diagramSkip visual syntax diagram PING CHANNEL ( channel-name ) CMDSCOPE(' ')CMDSCOPE(qmgr-name)1CMDSCOPE(*)12CHLDISP(DEFAULT)CHLDISP(PRIVATE)CHLDISP(SHARED)1CHLDISP(FIXSHARED)12DATALEN(16)DATALEN(integer)
Notes:
  • 1 Valid only when the queue manager is a member of a queue sharing group.
  • 2 Valid only on z/OS.

Usage notes

  1. [z/OS]On z/OS, the command server and the channel initiator must be running.
  2. Where there is both a locally defined channel and an auto-defined cluster-sender channel of the same name, the command applies to the locally defined channel. If there is no locally defined channel but more than one auto-defined cluster-sender channel, the command applies to the channel that was last added to the local queue manager's repository.
  3. This command can be used only for sender (SDR), server (SVR), and cluster-sender (CLUSSDR) channels (including those that have been defined automatically). It is not valid if the channel is running; however, it is valid if the channel is stopped or in retry mode.

Parameter descriptions for PING CHANNEL

(channel-name)
The name of the channel to be tested. This is required.
[z/OS]CMDSCOPE
This parameter applies to z/OS only and specifies how the command runs when the queue manager is a member of a queue sharing group.
If CHLDISP is set to SHARED, CMDSCOPE must be blank or the local queue manager.
' '
The command runs on the queue manager on which it was entered. This is the default value.
qmgr-name
The command runs on the queue manager you specify, providing the queue manager is active within the queue sharing group.

You can specify a queue manager name only if you are using a queue sharing group environment and if the command server is enabled.

*
The command runs on the local queue manager and is also passed to every active queue manager in the queue sharing group. The effect of this is the same as entering the command on every queue manager in the queue sharing group.
Note: The '*' option is not permitted if CHLDISP is FIXSHARED.
[z/OS]CHLDISP
This parameter applies to z/OS only and can take the values of:
  • DEFAULT
  • PRIVATE
  • SHARED
  • FIXSHARED

If this parameter is omitted, then the DEFAULT value applies. This is the value of the default channel disposition attribute, DEFCDISP, of the channel object.

In conjunction with the various values of the CMDSCOPE parameter, this parameter controls two types of channel:
SHARED
A receiving channel is shared if it was started in response to an inbound transmission directed to the queue sharing group.

A sending channel is shared if its transmission queue has a disposition of SHARED.

PRIVATE
A receiving channel is private if it was started in response to an inbound transmission directed to the queue manager.

A sending channel is private if its transmission queue has a disposition other than SHARED.

Note: This disposition is not related to the disposition set by the disposition of the queue sharing group of the channel definition.
The combination of the CHLDISP and CMDSCOPE parameters also controls from which queue manager the channel is operated. The possible options are:
  • On the local queue manager where the command is issued.
  • On another specific named queue manager in the group.
  • On the most suitable queue manager in the group, determined automatically by the queue manager itself.

The various combinations of CHLDISP and CMDSCOPE are summarized in the following table.

Table 1. CHLDISP and CMDSCOPE for PING CHANNEL
CHLDISP CMDSCOPE( ) or CMDSCOPE (local-qmgr) CMDSCOPE (qmgr-name) CMDSCOPE(*)
PRIVATE Ping private channel on the local queue manager Ping private channel on the named queue manager Ping private channel on all active queue managers
SHARED Ping a shared channel on the most suitable queue manager in the group

This might automatically generate a command using CMDSCOPE and send it to the appropriate queue manager. If there is no definition for the channel on the queue manager to which the command is sent, or if the definition is unsuitable for the command, the command fails.

The definition of a channel on the queue manager where the command is entered might be used to determine the target queue manager where the command is actually run. Therefore, it is important that channel definitions are consistent. Inconsistent channel definitions might result in unexpected command behavior.

Not permitted Not permitted
FIXSHARED Ping a shared channel on the local queue manager Ping a shared channel on the named queue manager Not permitted
DATALEN( integer )
The length of the data, in the range 16 through 32 768. This is optional.