Stop an MFT agent on z/OS

If you are running a Managed File Transfer Agent on z/OSĀ® as a started task from JCL, the agent accepts the z/OS operator commands MODIFY and STOP, in addition to the fteStopAgent command.

A started task is used because it runs under a specific user ID and is not affected by users logging off.

Note: Started tasks are typically run under an administrative user that might not have log-on privileges and so it is not possible to log on to the z/OS system as the user that the agent is running under. The fteStartAgent, fteStopAgent, fteSetAgentTraceLevel commands, and the fteShowAgentDetails command with the -d parameter specified, cannot be issued for that agent.From IBM MQ Version 9.0.2 and IBM MQ Version 9.0.0, Fix Pack 1, the agent property adminGroup is available for use with Managed File Transfer agents on z/OS. We can define a security manager group, for example MFTADMIN and then add the started task userid and administrator TSO ids to this group. Edit the agent properties file and set the adminGroup property to be the name of this security manager group.

adminGroup=MFTADMIN

Members of this group can then issue the fteStartAgent, fteStopAgent, and fteSetAgentTraceLevel commands, and the fteShowAgentDetails command with the -d parameter specified, for the agent that is running as a started task.

For more information, see the adminGroup property in The MFT agent.properties file.


Controlled agent shutdown by using the z/OS MODIFY command (F)

The MODIFY command allows you to stop an agent in a controlled way as an alternative to the fteStopAgent command. The agent completes any transfers currently in progress but the agent does not start any new transfers.

For example:
F job_name,APPL=STOP
where job_name is the job that the agent process is running under.


Immediate agent shutdown by using the z/OS STOP command (P)

The STOP command is equivalent to an immediate stop by using the fteStopAgent command with the -i parameter. The agent is stopped immediately even if the agent is currently transferring a file.

For example:
P job_name
where job_name is the job that the agent process is running under.