If you have the system-OPERATIONS attribute, you have authority to the protected resources in resource classes such as DATASET, DASDVOL, and TAPEVOL. You are limited to the access specified in the access list if either:

• Your current connect group (or any connect group when list-of-groups checking is active) is in the access list of a resource profile.
• Your user ID is in the access list.

As a user with the system-OPERATIONS attribute, you have full control over data sets, and you can do the following:

• Copy, reorganize, catalog, and scratch (delete) data sets
• Perform input and output operations on protected tape volumes
• Define profiles for group data sets to which you are not connected
• Create user data sets and data sets in groups to which you are not connected. However, if your ID is in the access list, you need at least UPDATE access.

You need the system-OPERATIONS attribute to define or rename discrete profiles when you use DFSMSdss, even if you are acting as a DFSMSdss-authorized storage administrator (see DFSMSdss storage administrator). DFSMSdss can define or rename discrete profiles during copy or restore operations. However, the OPERATIONS attribute does not necessarily let you perform all DFSMSdss functions:

• If you have group-OPERATIONS, your authority is restricted to the resources within the scope of the group.
• The data set to be processed may be a data set over which you have no authority. For example, your user ID only has READ access to a data set that you want to copy and delete.
• A copy of a group data set may be disallowed because you are connected to the group and thus not authorized to define a discrete profile for the data set.
• Access can be denied due to security-level, security-category, or security-label checking.