VSCode connection to IBM i server

[Duncan-Chan-DC]

Describe the bug

After upgrading to Code for IBM i 3.x, all users connecting to our IBM i development system become stuck at "Starting Mapepire" and the connection never completes.

We confirmed that the issue affects multiple users and workstations, so it does not appear to be user-profile specific.

During troubleshooting, we found that Code for IBM i starts Mapepire with:

QIBM_JAVA_STDIO_CONVERT=N
QIBM_PASE_DESCRIPTOR_STDIO=B
QIBM_USE_DESCRIPTOR_STDIO=Y
QIBM_MULTI_THREADED=Y

/QOpenSys/QIBM/ProdData/JavaVM/jdk11/64bit/bin/java \
-Dos400.stdio.convert=N \
-jar /home/<user>/.vscode/mapepire-server-2.3.5.jar --single

When Mapepire is started this way, VS Code remains indefinitely at "Starting Mapepire".

We manually tested Mapepire outside VS Code and discovered that when:

QIBM_JAVA_STDIO_CONVERT=Y
-Dos400.stdio.convert=Y

are used instead, Mapepire starts normally and produces readable output.

When QIBM_JAVA_STDIO_CONVERT=N is used, the output appears garbled/corrupted and the startup process does not complete successfully.

This suggests a possible issue related to stdout conversion or single-mode communication between Code for IBM i and Mapepire.

To Reproduce

1. Install Code for IBM i 3.0.7.
2. Connect to an IBM i V7R4M0 system.
3. Connection reaches "Starting Mapepire".
4. Connection never completes.
5. Output log shows:

Starting Mapepire: QIBM_JAVA_STDIO_CONVERT=N QIBM_PASE_DESCRIPTOR_STDIO=B QIBM_USE_DESCRIPTOR_STDIO=Y QIBM_MULTI_THREADED=Y exec /QOpenSys/QIBM/ProdData/JavaVM/jdk11/64bit/bin/java -Dos400.stdio.convert=N -jar /home/CHAND/.vscode/mapepire-server-2.3.5.jar --single

6. No Mapepire connection is established.

Expected behavior

Mapepire should start successfully and the IBM i connection should complete normally without hanging at "Starting Mapepire".

Screenshots

Environment

• Extension version: 3.0.7
• IBM i OS version: V7R4M0
• Java: IBM Semeru Runtime Certified Edition 11.0.27
• Mapepire Server: 2.3.5

Additional context

Additional observations:

• Manual startup of Mapepire in daemon mode works correctly.
• Port 8076 is successfully opened when started manually.
• The issue affects multiple users on the same IBM i partition.
• We verified that Java 11 is installed and functioning correctly.
• Changing the Mapepire Java Runtime setting from Java 8 to Java 11 did not resolve the issue.
• Disabling Quick Connect and Secure SQL Connection did not resolve the issue.
• Downgrading the extension also did not resolve the issue.
• The problem appears related to the use of QIBM_JAVA_STDIO_CONVERT=N and -Dos400.stdio.convert=N.

[sebjulliand]

You're output and screenshots make me think that bash is not your default shell. The process seems to use bsh or worse, qsh, which may explain why character conversion would be required in your case.

Here is what I suggest: Code for i expects bash to be the default shell.

Try running this command for your profile first:

/QOpenSys/pkgs/bin/chsh -s /QOpenSys/pkgs/bin/bash

Then try connecting with VS Code.

If it does the trick, get your users to change their default shell to bash as well (or change it system wide; more information here: https://ibmi-oss-docs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/troubleshooting/SETTING_BASH.html

[Duncan-Chan-DC]

Hi, I did use CALL QSYS2.SET_PASE_SHELL_INFO('*CURRENT', '/QOpenSys/pkgs/bin/bash') to change bash to be the default shell for my ID. However, the result is still the same.

[buzzia2001]

Sorry guys, what happens when you run the startup command inside an SSH session?

[Duncan-Chan-DC]

Sorry guys, what happens when you run the startup command inside an SSH session?

I tested the exact startup command from a native SSH session.

When I run it with --single:

QIBM_JAVA_STDIO_CONVERT=N QIBM_PASE_DESCRIPTOR_STDIO=B QIBM_USE_DESCRIPTOR_STDIO=Y QIBM_MULTI_THREADED=Y exec /QOpenSys/QIBM/ProdData/JavaVM/jdk11/64bit/bin/java -Dos400.stdio.convert=N -jar /home/CHAND/.vscode/mapepire-server-2.3.5.jar --single

the SSH connection is immediately closed:

Connection to develop closed.

When I run the same command without --single, Mapepire starts normally and port 8076 is listening.

[sebjulliand]

Could be resolved by running a single Mapepire server and connecting to it once #3236 is merged.

[Duncan-Chan-DC]

Could be resolved by running a single Mapepire server and connecting to it once #3236 is merged.

Sorry, I am new to GitHub. I see that #3236 has been merged. However, I couldn't see any update to the Code for IBM i extension. Should I wait for the new release update, or should I do anything?

[sebjulliand]

"Merged" means it's been approved and the changes have been integrated in the main branch. So it's ready to be released and, indeed, you'll have to wait for the next release to try it.

Will you be able able to have Mapepire running as a server on your LPAR ?

[chrjorgensen]

@Duncan-Chan-DC

Should I wait for the new release update, or should I do anything?

If you like, you can test the change using the link and information here: #3236 (comment) and verify it fixes your issue.

[Duncan-Chan-DC]

@Duncan-Chan-DC

Should I wait for the new release update, or should I do anything?

If you like, you can test the change using the link and information here: #3236 (comment) and verify it fixes your issue.

Thank you for the link and the information.

I installed code-for-ibmi-3.0.8-dev.0.vsix and configured Mapepire to run as a remote server on the IBM i. After doing that, Code for IBM i is now able to connect successfully.

However, I am still unable to connect using the DB2 for i extension.

The DB2 for i logs show that it is still starting Mapepire with:

and then exits with:

Exited with code 12.

I noticed that DB2 for i is launching Mapepire using Java 8 (jdk80), while my Code for IBM i connection is configured to use Java 11 and works correctly with the remote Mapepire server.

Could the problem be related to DB2 for i still using Java 8, or is there a way to configure DB2 for i to use the existing remote Mapepire server instead of launching its own local --single instance?

I have attached screenshots of the settings and logs for reference.

Thank you.

[sebjulliand]

Db2 for i uses the same method as Code for i to start Mapepire in single mode (it's been doing so for years - we actually took the logic in to Code for i for v3).
But the Db2 extension doesn't take the Code for i settings into account for running Mapepire - so it will always try to start it in single mode, using Java 8.

However, the next step for us is to release the changes we've made in Code for i recently (especially #3236) and then update Db2 for i extension so it use the Mapepire connection opened by Code for i.

[buzzia2001]

@Duncan-Chan-DC can you post us output of env command, from an ssh connection

[sebjulliand]

@Duncan-Chan-DC version 3.0.9 has been released with the server settings fix in it 😉

[Duncan-Chan-DC]

@Duncan-Chan-DC can you post us output of env command, from an ssh connection

Hi, please find the output of the env command below. thanks.
The DB2 for i is unable to connect to our server since Code for IBM i version 3.0.X was released.