# IBM i (AS/400) System Values Reference > Source: https://netray.co/tools/ibm-i-system-values-reference > Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems. > Section: Free Tools ## Short answer A searchable table of the IBM i system values that matter for security, date handling, job limits and startup, with the reason each one is checked. ## Category oracle ## Erp Oracle JD Edwards World ## Audience - IBM i administrator - JDE World technical lead - Security auditor ## Tool **Kind:** worksheet **Mode:** reference **Columns:** #### System value **Key:** name **Type:** text #### Area **Key:** area **Type:** text #### What it controls **Key:** purpose **Type:** text #### Why it gets checked **Key:** note **Type:** text **Rows:** #### QSECURITY **Area:** Security **Purpose:** System security level (20, 30, 40, 50) **Note:** Level 40 or 50 is the normal target. Changing it needs an IPL. #### QPWDLVL **Area:** Security **Purpose:** Password level (0 to 3) **Note:** Levels 2 and 3 allow passphrases up to 128 characters. IPL required, and old clients may break. #### QPWDMINLEN **Area:** Security **Purpose:** Minimum password length **Note:** Audit finding if left at a very short value. #### QPWDMAXLEN **Area:** Security **Purpose:** Maximum password length **Note:** Must be consistent with QPWDLVL. #### QPWDEXPITV **Area:** Security **Purpose:** Days before a password expires **Note:** *NOMAX means passwords never expire, which auditors flag. #### QPWDRQDDIF **Area:** Security **Purpose:** Required difference from previous passwords **Note:** Stops users reusing recent passwords. #### QMAXSIGN **Area:** Security **Purpose:** Allowed consecutive failed sign-on attempts **Note:** Too high allows password guessing. #### QMAXSGNACN **Area:** Security **Purpose:** Action when QMAXSIGN is reached **Note:** Disable the device, the profile, or both. #### QLMTSECOFR **Area:** Security **Purpose:** Limit security officer and all-object users to authorized devices **Note:** Set to 1 so powerful profiles cannot sign on from any terminal. #### QINACTITV **Area:** Security **Purpose:** Minutes of inactivity before action is taken **Note:** Controls idle green-screen sessions. #### QINACTMSGQ **Area:** Security **Purpose:** Message queue or action for inactive jobs **Note:** Used with QINACTITV. #### QAUDCTL **Area:** Auditing **Purpose:** Turns auditing controls on (*AUDLVL, *OBJAUD, *NOTAVL) **Note:** Without it the audit journal gets no entries. #### QAUDLVL **Area:** Auditing **Purpose:** Which event types are written to the audit journal **Note:** Typical values include *AUTFAIL, *SECURITY, *CREATE, *DELETE, *SAVRST. #### QCRTAUT **Area:** Security **Purpose:** Default public authority for newly created objects **Note:** Public authority on new libraries inherits from this. #### QALWOBJRST **Area:** Security **Purpose:** Which object types may be restored **Note:** Restrict after migrations are finished. #### QVFYOBJRST **Area:** Security **Purpose:** Signature verification when restoring objects **Note:** Controls whether unsigned programs can be restored. #### QRMTSIGN **Area:** Security **Purpose:** Handling of remote sign-on requests **Note:** Relevant for pass-through and some 5250 emulation paths. #### QDSPSGNINF **Area:** Security **Purpose:** Display sign-on information after sign-on **Note:** Lets users see last sign-on and failed attempts. #### QCCSID **Area:** Globalization **Purpose:** Default coded character set identifier **Note:** 65535 means no conversion, a common cause of garbled text in ODBC and SQL. #### QCNTRYID **Area:** Globalization **Purpose:** Default country or region ID **Note:** Drives defaults for date, currency and decimal formats. #### QLANGID **Area:** Globalization **Purpose:** Default language ID **Note:** Affects message text and sort behavior. #### QSRTSEQ **Area:** Globalization **Purpose:** Default sort sequence **Note:** Changes query results order for character columns. #### QDATFMT **Area:** Date and time **Purpose:** Default date format (YMD, MDY, DMY, JUL) **Note:** Affects RPG and CL programs that rely on job date format. #### QDATSEP **Area:** Date and time **Purpose:** Date separator character **Note:** Mismatch causes date parsing errors in batch jobs. #### QTIMSEP **Area:** Date and time **Purpose:** Time separator character **Note:** Same concern as QDATSEP. #### QTIMZON **Area:** Date and time **Purpose:** System time zone **Note:** Check after moving a partition to another site. #### QCURSYM **Area:** Date and time **Purpose:** Currency symbol **Note:** Used in edited numeric output. #### QDECFMT **Area:** Date and time **Purpose:** Decimal format (period or comma) **Note:** Affects printed reports and numeric edit codes. #### QSTRUPPGM **Area:** Startup **Purpose:** Program run after IPL starts the controlling subsystem **Note:** Where site-specific subsystem and job startup normally lives. #### QCTLSBSD **Area:** Startup **Purpose:** Controlling subsystem description **Note:** Usually QCTL. Changing it alters what starts at IPL. #### QIPLTYPE **Area:** Startup **Purpose:** Type of IPL (attended, unattended) **Note:** Matters for scheduled power on/off. #### QACTJOB **Area:** Resources **Purpose:** Initial number of active job structures **Note:** Sizing hint at IPL. #### QTOTJOB **Area:** Resources **Purpose:** Initial total number of jobs **Note:** Sizing hint at IPL. #### QPFRADJ **Area:** Resources **Purpose:** Automatic performance adjustment of memory pools **Note:** Often left on 2 or 3, reviewed during performance tuning. #### QSYSLIBL **Area:** Library list **Purpose:** System portion of the library list **Note:** Order matters when JDE World objects share names. #### QUSRLIBL **Area:** Library list **Purpose:** User portion of the initial library list **Note:** Default for jobs without their own list. #### QPRTDEV **Area:** Printing **Purpose:** Default printer device **Note:** Spool files go here when no printer is given. #### QMODEL **Area:** System identity **Purpose:** System model number (read only) **Note:** Needed for vendor license keys. #### QSRLNBR **Area:** System identity **Purpose:** System serial number (read only) **Note:** Needed for vendor license keys. #### QSCANFS **Area:** Security **Purpose:** Scan file systems on open and close for integrated file system objects **Note:** Used with virus scanning exit programs. **Notes:** Run WRKSYSVAL on the system to see current values. Available values and defaults vary by IBM i release, so check the IBM documentation for your level. ## Content **Intro:** System values are the global settings of an IBM i partition, and most audits, migrations and weird behavior in a JD Edwards World shop trace back to one of them. This table lists the ones admins look at first and why. **Sections:** #### How to use the table **Body:** Type part of a name or an area such as Security into the search box to narrow the list. On the IBM i, run WRKSYSVAL or DSPSYSVAL to compare each value with your target. Export the table to Excel and add columns for Current value and Target value, then use it as an audit working paper. Do not change a system value during business hours without a rollback plan, since several of them, including QSECURITY and QPWDLVL, only take effect after an IPL. #### Values that most often cause trouble **Body:** A small group of values explains most surprises. QCCSID at 65535 leaves character data untagged, so ODBC and SQL tools show garbage for accented text. QDATFMT, QDATSEP and QDECFMT change how batch programs read dates and numbers. QSECURITY sets how objects are protected. Review these first when an interface that worked on the old partition fails on the new one. **Bullets:** - QCCSID: 65535 means no conversion - QDATFMT and QDATSEP: job date handling - QSECURITY and QPWDLVL: IPL needed to change - QAUDCTL and QAUDLVL: audit evidence - QSTRUPPGM: hidden startup logic #### Using it for audits and migrations **Body:** For a security audit, collect QSECURITY, the QPWD* group, QMAXSIGN, QMAXSGNACN, QLMTSECOFR, QAUDCTL and QAUDLVL. For a hardware or partition move, compare the full list between source and target with a side by side report, since drift in QTIMZON, QCCSID and QSYSLIBL is common. Keep a dated copy of the list in your change records so you can show what was set at each point in time. #### Common mistakes **Body:** Changing QPWDLVL without checking that every client, FTP script and emulator supports the new level locks people out. Setting QAUDLVL very broadly floods the journal receiver and fills disk. Editing QSYSLIBL to fix one job changes the list for every job. Treat the system library list as a shared structure and prefer library list changes in the job description or the JDE World user profile. **Cta:** If you want a read-only report of these values compared across partitions and linked to your ERP data, Netray can build one on your own hardware. **Faq:** #### How do I see the current value of a system value? **Answer:** Run DSPSYSVAL SYSVAL(QSECURITY) for one value or WRKSYSVAL to browse the full list. In SQL on newer releases you can also query the SYSTEM_VALUE_INFO view in QSYS2. Always check the IBM documentation for your release because available values differ. #### Which system values need an IPL to take effect? **Answer:** QSECURITY and QPWDLVL are the best known ones. Others apply immediately or to new jobs only. The help text in WRKSYSVAL tells you when a change takes effect, so read it before changing a production system. #### Why does QCCSID 65535 cause problems? **Answer:** It tells the system not to convert character data between code pages, so jobs and tools assume their own CCSID. ODBC and Java based tools then show unreadable characters for anything beyond basic ASCII. Many shops set a real CCSID such as 37 and tag files accordingly. #### Is this the full list of system values? **Answer:** No. IBM i has well over a hundred system values. This table covers the ones that most often appear in audits, migrations and troubleshooting for JD Edwards World shops. Use WRKSYSVAL for the complete list on your release. ## Search terms ibm i system values list, as400 system values, QSECURITY system value, QPWDLVL password level, QCCSID 65535, WRKSYSVAL, as400 audit system values, ibm i security settings checklist --- Talk to an engineer: https://netray.co/contact?intent=erp_ai | Machine catalog: https://netray.co/agent/catalog.json