The Integrated File System (IFS)

This article gives a short overview of the use of he system i Integrated File System. Refer to this FAQ answer on the IFS for additional information about CoolSpools and the IFS.

The system i Integrated File System (IFS) provides a coherent, coordinated set of file systems which can used for storing a variety of data physically on the system i or for communicating with file systems on other platforms.

These file systems include the following that may be of use to you for storing stream files created by CoolSpools or Slipstream locally on your system i or remotely on another computer (PC, UNIX server etc.)

• "root"

  The "root" (/) file system. This file system takes full advantage of the stream file support and hierarchical directory structure of the integrated file system. You should typically use the root file system if you want to store stream files created by CoolSpools locally on the same system where you run the CVTSPLxxx and CVTDBFxxx commands.

• QNTC

  Windows file system. This file system provides access to data and objects that are stored on a PC running Windows. It allows system i server applications to read from and write to shared directories on PCs running Windows. If you prefer not to store stream file locally on your system i, you can use QNTC to enable CoolSpools to write stream files directly to a Windows PC instead. This can be an effective way of sharing data created by CoolSpools amongst your users and customers.

  Note that you must have NetServer running on your System i to use QNTC. You can use our free NetServer Toolkit component of CoolSpools to configure and manage NetServer, or you can use system i Navigators (Ops Nav).

• NFS

  UNIX Network File System. This file system provides you with access to data and objects that are stored on a remote NFS server. An NFS server can export a network file system that NFS clients will then mount dynamically. This may be an option for sending stream files to a UNIX server.

  See http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/iseries/v5r2/ic2924/index.htm?info/ifs/rzaaxmstusenfs.htm for further details.

• QNetWare

  This file system provides access to local or remote data and objects that are stored on a server that runs Novell NetWare 4.10 or 4.11 or to standalone PC Servers running Novell Netware 3.12, 4.10 4.11 or 5.0. You can dynamically mount NetWare file systems over existing local file systems.

• QOpenSys

  The open systems file system. This file system is compatible with UNIX-based open system standards, such as POSIX and XPG. Like the root file system, this file system takes advantage of the stream file and directory support that is provided by the integrated file system. In addition, it supports case-sensitive object names.

• QDLS

  The document library services file system (previously known as “shared folders” and familiar to those who use shared folders on S/38 or AS/400). This file system provides access to documents and folders. Use this file system only if you have applications which require it. QDLS is significantly slower and has major limitations (e.g. in relation to naming) compared with the root file system.

• QFileSvr.400

  The QFileSvr.400 file system provides access to other file systems that reside on remote system i servers. You can use QFileSvr.400 to save output from CoolSpools directly to another system i.

See http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/iseries/v5r1/ic2924/info/ifs/rzaaxmst.pdf for a more complete introduction to the Integrated File System.

The QNTC File System

We will now focus a little more closely on the QNTC File System since this is little known area of system i functionality which could be of immense value to many system i users, if only they knew about it or understood how to use it!

The QNTC file system is a subdivision of the IFS (Integrated File System) that enables the system i to access file and device shares (e.g. printers and CDROM drives) on a remote system running Windows. Please note that contrary to a commonly held fallacy this is NOT restricted to the Integrated xSeries Server (IXS, aka IPCS or FSIOP).

Using the QNTC file system, your system i can read and write files that reside physically on a PC running Windows. This means that CoolSpools can output stream files such as PDFs created from your spooled files, or and Excel spreadsheets exported from your database, directly to a Windows server if you would prefer to store them there rather than in the root file system of your IFS.

To use QNTC, the only software you need other than the base operating system is TCP/IP Connectivity Utilities for system i 400 (5722-TCl), which is normally to be found on the IBM i install DVDs if you don't already have it. However, setting up QNTC can be tricky. For full setup information, refer to this article in the IBM Software Knowledgebase.

However, here is a quick overview of the steps you need to follow to set up QNTC.

1. First you must ensure that the domain name defined by your system i NetServer configuration matches your PC’s Windows network workgroup name. NetServer is the function on the system i that provides support for the Windows Network Neighborhood. You can use System i Navigator (OpsNav) to set up and manager NetServer, or you can use ariadne's free NetServer Toolkit.

   If using OpsNav window, click the name of your machine, select File Systems, and then right-click File Shares. Choose Open system i NetServer from the menu to display the NetServer window. Right-click system i NetServer and choose Properties to display the Properties window, where you can change the domain. Click the General tab and press the Next Start button. A window appears where you can set properties that will be used the next time NetServer is restarted. In the domain name field, enter a name that matches the workgroup of the NT PC that you wish to access. Then end and restart NetServer by clicking the Stop icon followed (once NetServer has fully ended) by the green triangle icon.

   If using NetServer Toolkit, use the CHGNETSVRA (Change NetServer Attributes) command.

2. One other thing which must match between the system i and Windows is the user id and password you’re going to use. It is vital that your system i user id be recognized by Windows as a valid network logon id, and that the user IDs and passwords are the same on both the system i and Windows. It may well be advisable to create a special user id on the two platforms specifically for the purpose of communicating between them using QNTC. You can then ensure that when the password needs to be changed, it is changed on both systems, if this needs to be done manually.

3. You access the QNTC file system by including /QNTC and the name of your PC and share name in the path name you specify.

   For example, let’s imagine you have a company server called MyServer and there is a directory on that server that is shared under he name MyFiles. In that directory, there is a subdirectory called CustData. You could refer to a spreadsheet file in that subdirectory from the system i like this:

   /QNTC/MyServer/MyFiles/CustData/my_spreadsheet.xls

   Note that the path name starts with /QNTC. This indicates to the system i that you are referring to the QNTC File System. Following /QNTC is the name of the Windows PC to which the data is to be sent: MyServer. Next comes the name of the file share: MyFiles. After that is the name of the directory below the share: CustData. Finally we have the name of the file itself: my_spreadsheet.xls.