PASSWORD Data Set Characteristics

The PASSWORD data set and your operating system must reside on the same volume. That volume is the IPL volume. It is called the system residence volume. The space allocated to the PASSWORD data set must be contiguous. The amount of space allocated depends on the number of data sets you want to protect. Each entry in the PASSWORD data set requires 132 bytes of space. The organization of the PASSWORD data set is physical-sequential; the record format is unblocked, fixed-length records (RECFM=F). Each record that forms the data area is 80 bytes long (LRECL=80,BLKSIZE=80) and is preceded by a 52-byte key (KEYLEN=52). The key area contains the fully-qualified data set name (up to 44 bytes long) and a password, one to eight alphanumeric characters in length, left justified with blanks added to fill the areas.

Restriction: The PASSWORD data set cannot be large format or extended format.

Attention: Data sets on magnetic tape complying with the specifications of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 1001-1979 or the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) X3.27-1978 do not include generation and version numbers as part of generation data set names. If included in the PASSWORD data set, generation and version numbers for these data sets are ignored.

You should protect the PASSWORD data set by creating a password record for it when your program initially builds the data set or you should use RACF® to control access. Thereafter, the PASSWORD data set cannot be opened (except by the operating system routines that scan the data set) without entering the password. If a problem occurs on a password-protected system data set, maintenance personnel require the password to access the data set and resolve the problem.