Recovering from device failures

TCP/IP automatically attempts reactivation of the non-VIPA device following some device-failure indications (regardless of the AUTORESTART setting). Specifying AUTORESTART causes TCP/IP to attempt reactivation following most device-failure indications.

The AUTORESTART option is meaningful only for errors that occur after the device is active. For errors that occur before the device reaches the active state, AUTORESTART has no effect, as such errors might likely be the result of a configuration error (for example, incorrect device number specification within the TCP/IP PROFILE). No automatic error correction would be possible for such an error, and for this reason, TCP/IP initiates device recovery only when evidence of a previously working configuration exists. For any error encountered before the device reaches the active state, the user should correct any configuration error and initiate a new START DEVICE.

If automatic reactivation is attempted, the number of allowable reactivation attempts is determined from the IPCONFIG DEVRETRYDURATION setting.

DEVRETRYDURATION specifies the duration of the Retry Period, during which TCP/IP attempts automatic recovery of a device. The first reactivation attempt is performed two seconds after the original error, and subsequent attempts are 30 seconds apart. If not successfully reactivated within the specified retry duration, the device is returned to the INACTIVE state, and a manual START of the device is required after the error has been corrected.