How to find the last IPL date on AS400, iSeries or IBM i System
The easiest visual way – WRKJOB SCPF
Using cmd WRKJOB SCPF from the command line shows you the SCPF job that starts at IPL time:
Take option 1 to look at job attributes:
This example shows the IPL date of 02/01/22
Yup – it’s as simple as a little WRKJOB SCPF command!
Now, if you want to get this information programmatically – you have a couple of options…
More detail from an API
IBM provides a neat little API program QWCCRTEC which prints a report showing how long the IBM i System spent in each of the IPL phases.
IPL (Initial Program Load) is IBM speak for BOOT UP.
An IPL on an IBM POWER SYSTEM can be faster than it takes you to turn your phone off and back 😉
Program QWCCRTEC: Prints Report on Time Spent in IPL Phases/Steps
There is a program that may be used that generates a spooled file which shows how long the system spent in each of the IPL phases. To find execute QWCCRTEC occasionally or at least after IPLs following abnormal system ending (which forces the 2C40 cleanup) to provide data regarding how long the IPL stays in each phase. There are major differences between doing an IPL on a fast, newer processor and doing an IPL on an older and much slower system
IBM Support
Call this from any command line:
CALL PGM(QWCCRTEC)
This runs in a second and prints a report.
Use WRKSPLF to check your report
and then Search for “PWRDWN”
Now you can see the exact date and timeline for the power down IPL phase and how long it took to power back up.
Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezey
From an SSH connection or QSH, you can run:
system “DSPJOB SCPF” | grep -E ‘Entered system:|Date .|Time .’
It is a bit of a hack, but it will give you the time the SCPF job entered the system (and when it started, which should be close to each other, if not the same).
Example:
Entered system:
Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 04/08/23
Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 23:55:20
Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 04/08/23
Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 23:55:20