Clearing Your Queueing System

Contents

About this document

Use this procedure if qdaemon repeatedly dies or if your queueing subsystem is completely down. If you find that this procedure must be constantly run to keep your queueing system in working order, you may have a more serious problem with your configuration. Work with your local support team to resolve this situation. This document applies to all AIX Versions on the RISC System/6000.

Summary of procedure

To clear the queueing system, you will need to stop the qdaemon process and check that the /usr (AIX 3.1) or /var (3.2 and above) file system is not full. Then, clear the queue directories and start the qdaemon process again.

Steps

1. Log in as root.

2. Let current print jobs finish printing or cancel them. To list current print job numbers, enter

     lpstat
   

   To cancel print jobs, enter:

     enq -x <job number>
   

3. Now, stop the qdaemon process by entering:

   *  stopsrc -cs qdaemon
   

4. Use the following commands to ensure that qdaemon has not forked other processes and left them running.

     ps -ef | grep qdaemon
     ps -ef | grep pio
   

   Only one line of output should be displayed for each of the above commands. If this is the case, skip to step 6.

   If there was more than one line of output, note the process ID (second column of output) for each process except grep qdaemon and grep pio. (Process names are in the last column.)

5. Kill the forked processes with the following command.

     kill -9 xxxx
   

   Run the command for each process ID you noted above, replacing xxxx with the process ID.

6. If it is important to save the current print jobs from being deleted, continue with this step. If not, go to step 7.

   If your print job exists in one of the following directories, make a copy of it and place it in /tmp; you can print it when the queueing system is running again. (In these directories, the files will have unfamiliar system names.)

   On AIX 3.1,

     /usr/spool/qdaemon
     /usr/spool/lpd
   

   On AIX 3.2, 4.1x, 4.2x and 4.3x

     /var/spool/qdaemon
     /var/spool/lpd
   

7. If the /usr (3.1) or /var (3.2 and above) file system gets too full, you may experience problems with qdaemon or the spooler. Large print jobs may fail, or 00root files with zero lengths may appear in your qdir directory. Rebooting the system may not help clear files out or restart qdaemon.

   Enter the df command and look in the "%used" column for /usr or /var to see if the file system is too full. Free or increase space in the file system as necessary.

8. Change directory:

   On AIX 3.1,

     cd /usr/lpd/qdir
   

   On AIX 3.2, 4.1x, 4.2x and 4.3x

     cd /var/spool/lpd/qdir
   

9. Issue the pwd command to verify that you are in the proper directory (qdir); then remove all files in this directory: rm *.

10. Change directory again:

    On AIX 3.1,

      cd /usr/lpd/stat
    

    On AIX 3.2, 4.1x, 4.2x and 4.3x

      cd /var/spool/lpd/stat
    

11. Issue the pwd command to verify that you are in the proper directory (stat); then remove all files in this directory: rm *.

12. Change directory:

    On AIX 3.1,

      cd /usr/spool/qdaemon
    

    On AIX 3.2, 4.1x, 4.2x and 4.3x

      cd /var/spool/qdaemon
    

13. Issue the pwd command to verify that you are in the proper directory; then remove all files in this directory: rm *. Continue with the following steps if you are having trouble with remote queues or with lpd. Otherwise, skip to Step 16.

14. Change directory:

    On AIX 3.1,

      cd /usr/spool/lpd
    

    On AIX 3.2, 4.1x, 4.2x and 4.3x

      cd /var/spool/lpd
    

15. Issue the pwd command to verify that you are in the proper directory (lpd); then remove all files in this directory: rm *. (This will not remove the subdirectories.)

16. Now, start qdaemon:

      startsrc -s qdaemon
    

    The queueing system should start normally. If some queues are still down, try to bring them up with enable <qname>.