What is the Customized Offerings Driver?
- You do not have an existing system to use as a driving system, or
- Your existing system does not meet driving system requirements and you do not want to upgrade it to meet those requirements.
The Customized Offerings Driver is a subset of a z/OS®
z/OS V2R1
system. It is in DFSMSdss dump/restore format and supports DASD
volumes formatted as 3390-9 or larger. The driver requires a locally attached
non-SNA terminal and a system console from the IBM® (or
equivalent) family of supported terminal types: 317x, 327x, 319x, or 348x.
The Customized Offerings Driver can be delivered on DVD (three DVDs per order). The DVD restore process takes approximately two hours per DVD. An IBM (or equivalent) supported tape drive can be used to restore the driver.
As of z/OS V2R2, the Customized Offerings Driver Installation Guide is no longer shipped in hardcopy format. Instead, this publication is shipped in PDF format on a separate DVD.
The Customized Offerings Driver is intended to run in single-system image and monoplex modes only. Its use in multisystem configurations is not supported. The Customized Offerings Driver is intended to be used only to install new levels of z/OS using ServerPac or CBPDO, and to install service on the new software until a copy (clone) of the new system can be made. The use of the Customized Offerings Driver for other purposes is not supported. For example, IBM does not support the use of the Customized Offerings Driver to run any production workload.
The Customized Offerings Driver includes a zFS file system and the necessary function to use Communications Server (IP Services), Security Server, and the system-managed storage (SMS) facility of DFSMSdfp, but these items are not customized. However, existing environments can be connected to, and used from, the Customized Offerings Driver system.
Depending on the level of your existing system, the Customized Offerings Driver might be at higher product and service levels. Therefore, as is true of the level of software you plan to install, fallback service might be necessary to let you IPL and use your existing level of software after the Customized Offerings Driver has been IPLed and used in any environment. You must either (1) use the Customized Offerings Driver in a completely isolated environment or (2) install the needed fallback service on your existing system before the Customized Offerings Driver is IPLed. A completely isolated environment shares no DASD with any other system and will not be used to IPL any earlier level of software.
Installing the service on your existing system, as described in Coexistence and fallback, will also satisfy the requirements for falling back from the Customized Offerings Driver. This will allow you to IPL and use your current level of software after using either the Customized Offerings Driver or the new system. IBM has installed the service on the Customized Offerings Driver to allow it to be IPLed and used, if necessary, after the new system has been IPLed and used.