Operating in a coupling facility environment

The coupling facility is designed to be run with little operator intervention. There are times, however, such as system-level initialization, when the operator is required to make decisions about how coupling facilities or structures are to be handled in the sysplex. A point to remember is that the coupling facility might contain important MVS™ or application data or structures, so precautions must always be taken to preserve that data.

Some instances when operator intervention might be required for a coupling facility in a sysplex are:

When a coupling facility needs to be removed from a sysplex, for maintenance for example.
When a coupling facility needs to be transferred to another sysplex.
When a coupling facility needs to be repopulated with the most appropriate structures.

Coupling Facility Guidelines provides specific details and examples for operating in a coupling facility environment.