Physical volume copy operation

If you do not specify DATASET or TRACKS on the COPY command, the COPY command defaults to FULL and moves the volume physically. You must also specify INDDNAME or INDYNAM to indicate the source volume and OUTDDNAME or OUTDYNAM to indicate the target volume. Full-volume copy can move data only between like devices of equal or greater capacity (for example, from a double capacity 3380 model to a double or triple capacity 3380 model).

With full-volume copy, you can physically move volumes only between like devices. However, you can move data:

From a smaller-capacity IBM® 3380 to a larger-capacity IBM 3380
From a smaller-capacity IBM 3390 to a larger-capacity IBM 3390
From a smaller-capacity IBM 9345 to a larger-capacity IBM 9345
From a minivolume or virtual volume to a real volume of like device type, and vice versa, device capacity permitting

With tracks copy, you can move data:

From a larger-capacity IBM 3380 to a smaller-capacity IBM 3380, if the range of data to be processed falls within the capacity of the output device
From a larger-capacity IBM 3390 to a smaller-capacity IBM 3390, if the range of data to be processed falls within the capacity of the output device
From a larger-capacity IBM 9345 to a smaller-capacity IBM 9345, if the range of data to be processed falls within the capacity of the output device

Note: If you perform a full-volume copy operation to a DASD that is shared between multiple systems, ensure that the DASD is offline to all systems except the one performing the copy.

When you use the physical volume COPY command, you can specify the COPYVOLID keyword. If you specify the COPYVOLID keyword, the volume serial number of the source volume is copied to the target volume. This ensures that RACF® profiles and catalog entries for the data sets on the volume have the correct volume serial number.

Note: Changing the volume serial number of a volume causes the operating system to demount the target volume at the end of the copy operation. To use the target volume, you must demount the source volume and mount the target volume.

If you are using record level sharing (RLS), be careful when copying volumes with the FULL or TRACKS keywords. If the target volume has data sets on it that have retained locks or data in the coupling facility associated with them, a full-volume or tracks copy can result in data integrity problems.

For information about automatic class selection (ACS) routines during DFSMSdss copy operations, see ACS routine information.