CPF1124: Job started

What it means

Every IBM i job has a three-part name in the form number/user/name, for example 123456/PAYUSER/PAYRUN01. When a job starts in a subsystem, the system logs CPF1124. It records the full job name, the date and time it started, the subsystem and its library, and the date and time the job entered the system. For a batch job, the gap between entering the system and starting is the time it spent waiting on the job queue.

The message goes to the job's own log, where it is always the first entry, and to the history log, QHST. Paired with CPF1164, the job ended message, it brackets the life of the job.

As IBM points out, CPF1124 only means the job got into the subsystem without routing errors. It doesn't mean the job did any work. A job that ends seconds later with an error still has a CPF1124 at the top of its log.

Common causes

• Any job starting in a subsystem logs it. This includes interactive sign-ons, submitted batch jobs, autostart jobs, prestart jobs and server jobs.
• An interactive sign-on produces one, which is why CPF1124 is used in sign-on reports.
• A batch job leaving the job queue and starting produces one. The time it entered the system shows when it was submitted.

How to find the problem

1. In a job log, from DSPJOBLOG or the QPJOBLOG spooled file, CPF1124 is the first message. Put the cursor on it and press F1 for the subsystem and the times.
2. Search the history log with DSPLOG LOG(QHST) MSGID(CPF1124), or add JOB(PAYRUN01) to narrow it to one job name.
3. In SQL, the QSYS2.HISTORY_LOG_INFO table function returns QHST entries. Filtering on MESSAGE_ID = 'CPF1124' together with CPF1164 gives a start and end time for each job.
4. To hide job start and end messages when reading QHST, use DSPLOG with MSGIDSLT(*OMIT) and MSGID(CPF1124 CPF1164).

How to fix it

• Nothing needs fixing. If you're troubleshooting a job, read past CPF1124 to the messages that follow it.
• If a job ends seconds after CPF1124, look at the next messages in the log and at the end code in CPF1164.
• If a batch job sat on the job queue for a long time before CPF1124, check whether the job queue was held or the subsystem's maximum active jobs was reached.
• If QHST is too busy to read, filter out CPF1124 and CPF1164 with DSPLOG or the SQL function.

DSPMSGD MSGID(CPF1124) MSGF(QSYS/QCPFMSG)

Technical reviewer: Albert Joseph, WND Software.

Last reviewed 2026-10-18 by the WND Software team. Written in our own words. For the full reference, check IBM’s documentation for your IBM i release.