The TAPECOPY command provides a way of copying migration level 2 and backup cartridge-type single-file tape volumes. It is an alternate method to tape duplexing, which creates two tapes during the migration, backup, or recycle processes. To distinguish between copies, the input tape is called the original, and the output tape is called its alternate.
You can issue the TAPECOPY command generically for a functional category of tape volumes. Generic processing selects only those tapes that are marked full and do not already have an alternate tape copy. When processing one or more specific volumes, tapes do not have to be already marked full, and they may already have a previous tape copy alternate.
DFSMShsm gives special consideration to migration level 2 tapes in a SETSYS PARTIALTAPE(MARKFULL) environment. When DFSMShsm migrates data sets versus volumes, it does not mark output tapes as full even when running in a PARTIALTAPE(MARKFULL) environment. To allow these tapes to be copied, generic processing will mark all partial tapes as full, so that they will be selected.
The source volume for TAPECOPY may reside inside or outside a system-managed tape library. The ACS routines can be used to control whether a system-managed tape volume is used for TAPECOPY output. See z/OS DFSMShsm Implementation and Customization Guide for more information.