Backup work or production IODFs

You can use the Backup action bar choice on any action list panel to copy a work or production IODF to a backup data set. Thus you can keep track of different stages of the configuration as well as retrieve data lost by accident. When you do the first backup, you must also specify the volume serial number, if applicable, and the space allocation for the backup data set. HCD uses the normal catalog process to catalog copies of the IODFs.

If you backup a work IODF, you need to specify the name of the backup data set only once for each IODF (when you do the first backup). HCD saves the name of the backup IODF data set, so you can reuse this data set for each subsequent backup (or use a different one if you want).

If you backup a production IODF, HCD does not save the name of the backup data set, because a production IODF cannot be edited. It is suggested that you maintain a backup copy of your production IODF on a separate volume that is accessible from all systems that will be sharing the backup. When the primary IODF volume is inaccessible or the IODF itself is corrupted, the system can be IPLed through a backup IODF on the alternate volume.

It is also recommended that you choose an alternate high level qualifier for your backup IODF since a lost IODF volume may imply a lost IODF catalog. This high level qualifier can be cataloged in either the master catalog or in an alternate user catalog.

As an alternative method to create a backup IODF, you can use the following procedure:

1. Select Maintain I/O definition files from the Primary Task Selection panel (Figure 9).
2. Select Copy I/O definition file from the Maintain I/O definition Files panel (Figure 15).
3. Specify the name of the backup IODF.