Chapter 27: Qshell

Overview

Qshell is a UNIX-like command interpreter that ships as part of i5/OS. It is not a separate licensed program and there is no additional charge for Qshell. IBM is a heavy user of Qshell; you will find that Qshell must be installed for many IBM software products to run.

The following list contains reasons why you might want to use Qshell.

• Qshell is good for working with files in the directory-like systems of the Integrated File System (IFS). Qshell includes commands and utilities that allow you to perform common tasks such as manage directories, manage files, read and create files, change file authorities and attributes, and search for content within files. You will find a more complete list of commands and utilities later in this chapter.

• Qshell is helpful for the porting of software from UNIX systems to the i5. Because Qshell is based on POSIX and X/Open standards, it is similar to the Bourne and Korn shells and can run scripts written for those shells with little or no modification.

• Qshell is useful for the development of Java and web-centric applications. As more and more development moves away from the "green screen" interface to network-based applications, Qshell becomes more useful and therefore more valuable.

• Qshell utilities can perform tasks that CL commands cannot do.