Transporting the file system from the driving system to the target system

It is possible to install products and service on one system and then transport this system image to the rest of their enterprise. Using the DFSMSdss DUMP and RESTORE utilities, you can dump individual product libraries or full volumes, transport them to other systems, and restore them.

However, because the individual file systems that make up the active file hierarchy might be on SMS-managed volumes, there are some special considerations for making a transportable copy:

You can dump each file system to be transported into individual sequential data sets using the DFSMSdss dump utility. These sequential data sets contain all the necessary information about the files and can also exist with other product libraries that need to be transported.
After the system image has been transported to the target system, you can restore individual product libraries or full volumes using the DFSMSdss restore utility.
After the data sets have been unloaded on the target system, you can use the DFSMSdss restore utility to restore the sequential data sets into individual file systems. These file systems will make up the active file hierarchy on the target system.

Using the process just outlined, you can duplicate system images across the enterprise.

This process is also known as using a “one-pack system.” A one-pack system consists of one logical SYSRES volume.

See z/OS DFSMSdss Storage Administrationfor information about dumping HFS data sets.