To have z/OS® shell users be timed out and logged off, you can use the PWT parmlib option, the _BPXK_TIMEOUT environment variable, or the TMOUT environment variable. When PWT is set to SMF, all z/OS UNIX processes waiting in the shell are timed out based on the JWT, TWT, and SWT values of SMFPRMxx.

The PWT and _BPXK_TIMEOUT options will affect shell users waiting in the shell and also processes (such as vi or oedit) executing in the shell. The TMOUT environment variable will only affect shell users waiting in the shell. When both PWT and TMOUT are specified, TMOUT is only honored when it is less than the JWT, TWT, and SWT values of SMFPRMxx. For example, if SMFPRMxx JWT=(0010) (10 minutes), PWT=SMF (honor the JWT value), and TMOUT=300 (5 minutes), the shell user will be timed out in 5 minutes.

The system administrator can set a TMOUT value in /etc/profile. The user can override that value by specifying a TMOUT value in their .profile. The TMOUT environment variable contains the number of seconds before user input times out while the z/OS shell is waiting for input at the prompt. If user input is not received, the z/OS shell ends.

To have z/OS shell users be timed out and logged off, you must specify the TMOUT environment variable in /etc/profile. The TMOUT environment variable contains the number of seconds before user input times out while the z/OS shell is waiting for input at the prompt. If user input is not received, the z/OS shell ends.

To have tcsh shell users be timed out and logged off, you must specify the autologout variable in /etc/csh.cshrc or /etc/csh.login. The autologout variable contains the number of minutes before user input times out while the tcsh shell is waiting for input at the prompt. If user input is not received, the tcsh shell ends.