How To Setup Open Source Package Manager if you don't have SSH access

If your IBM i doesn't have SSH access — or you haven't set it up yet — you can still bootstrap the Open Source Package Manager (yum) using nothing but ACS and a SQL script. Cut and paste the script below into ACS under Run SQL Scripts and run it.

You should have OSPM working when it finishes, or a log telling you why not.

create or replace table qtemp.ftpcmd(cmd char(240)) on replace delete rows;
create or replace table qtemp.ftplog(line char(240)) on replace delete rows;

insert into qtemp.ftpcmd(CMD) values
   ('anonymous anonymous@example.com')
  ,('namefmt 1')
  ,('lcd /tmp')
  ,('cd /software/ibmi/products/pase/rpms')
  ,('bin')
  ,('get README.md (replace')
  ,('get bootstrap.tar.Z (replace')
  ,('get bootstrap.sh (replace')
  with nc
;

CL:OVRDBF FILE(INPUT) TOFILE(QTEMP/FTPCMD) MBR(*FIRST) OVRSCOPE(*JOB);
CL:OVRDBF FILE(OUTPUT) TOFILE(QTEMP/FTPLOG) MBR(*FIRST) OVRSCOPE(*JOB);

CL:FTP RMTSYS('public.dhe.ibm.com');

CL:QSH CMD('touch -C 819 /tmp/bootstrap.log; /QOpenSys/usr/bin/ksh /tmp/bootstrap.sh > /tmp/bootstrap.log 2>&1');

select
case when (message_tokens = X'00000000')
 then 'Bootstrapping successful! Review /tmp/README.md for more info'
 else 'Bootstrapping failed. Consult /tmp/bootstrap.log for more info'
end as result
from table(qsys2.joblog_info('*')) x
where message_id = 'QSH0005'
order by message_timestamp desc
fetch first 1 rows only;

Why this works

ACS Run SQL Scripts can issue CL commands but can't directly run PASE binaries, and the OSPM bootstrap (bootstrap.sh) is a PASE script — yum and the RPM ecosystem live entirely in PASE under /QOpenSys/pkgs/. The script bridges that gap in four steps:

1. FTP pulls IBM's bootstrap files from public.dhe.ibm.com into /tmp.
2. QSH is used as a one-line bridge from CL into PASE. The touch -C 819 pre-creates the log file with CCSID 819 (ASCII / ISO-8859-1) so the PASE process's stdout writes back readable. Without that tag, QSH would create the stream file as EBCDIC by default and the log would render as garbage.
3. /QOpenSys/usr/bin/ksh is the PASE Korn shell — not QSH. The full path is the explicit handoff into PASE, where bootstrap.sh actually needs to run.
4. The final SELECT checks the joblog for QSH's completion message and reports the result back in the SQL output.

For a deeper explanation of QSH vs PASE and when to bridge between them, see QSH vs PASE on IBM i: A Practical Guide on our docs site.

About K3S (King III Solutions, Inc)

K3S is a software development company that specializes in inventory management and procurement solutions for the distribution industry. Their applications and solutions are developed to run on the IBM i OS (the best enterprise level OS!) and interface with any ERP application on any platform.

K3S open sources many of its Guides & Utilities in an effort to improve the IBM i community.