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z/OS

19 cheat sheets

z/OS#

Mainframe essentials — JCL, TSO/ISPF navigation, REXX scripting, and system utilities.

SDSF — Spool Display and Search Facility

Browse, filter, and act on JES2 spool from inside ISPF — find your job, read SYSOUT, cancel, purge, and issue operator commands.

May 26, 2026
zos mainframe sdsf jes2 operators web-researched

DFSORT — Sort, Merge, and ICETOOL

IBM DFSORT control statements and ICETOOL operators for sorting, merging, joining, and reshaping batch datasets on z/OS.

May 26, 2026
dfsort sort icetool zos mainframe batch web-researched

GDG — Generation data groups for rolling datasets

Define, reference, and clean up z/OS generation data groups via IDCAMS — relative generations, rollover behaviour, model DSCBs, and the modern GDGEXTENDED mode.

May 26, 2026
zos mainframe gdg datasets idcams web-researched

IDCAMS — Access Method Services for VSAM

Define, copy, list, alter, and delete VSAM clusters and general datasets — the everyday utility for catalog and dataset lifecycle on z/OS.

May 26, 2026
zos mainframe vsam idcams datasets web-researched

IEBCOPY — Partitioned dataset copy, compress, and unload

IBM utility for copying, merging, compressing, unloading, and reloading PDS and PDSE libraries on z/OS, including member selection, rename, and exclusion.

May 26, 2026
zos mainframe iebcopy datasets pds web-researched

JCL DD Statement — Deep Reference

Comprehensive reference for the JCL DD statement: DSN, DISP, DCB, SPACE, UNIT, VOL=SER, concatenation, DUMMY, SYSOUT, KEYLEN.

May 26, 2026
jcl dd-statements zos mainframe datasets batch web-researched

JES2 — Operator commands and subsystem control

z/OS Job Entry Subsystem 2 operator slash-commands for jobs, initiators, output, classes, NJE, and spool — from the console and from SDSF.

May 26, 2026
zos mainframe jes2 operators sdsf web-researched

RACF — z/OS Security Administration

TSO commands for RACF user, group, dataset, and general-resource profile administration on z/OS.

May 26, 2026
racf zos mainframe security tso web-researched

ISPF Edit — Primary commands, line commands, macros, and column-mode editing

Deep dive into the ISPF editor — primary commands, line commands, BNDS/CC/MM column edits, ISREDIT macro services, profile management, and recovery.

May 26, 2026
ispf editor zos mainframe tso web-researched

USS — z/OS UNIX System Services

The UNIX side of z/OS — OMVS, ISHELL, oedit, BPXBATCH, file tagging, zFS, and bridging shell scripts to MVS batch.

May 26, 2026
zos mainframe uss omvs unix web-researched

Zowe CLI — Modern z/OS DevOps from your laptop

Open-source command-line bridge into z/OS — manage datasets, jobs, USS files, consoles, TSO, and Db2 from Mac/Linux/Windows over z/OSMF or RSE-API.

May 26, 2026
zowe zos mainframe devops cli zosmf web-researched

Db2 SPUFI — Interactive SQL, DSN commands, BIND, and catalog queries on z/OS

Run SQL through SPUFI, drive Db2 with DSN subsystem commands, BIND packages and plans, schedule DSNTEP2 in JCL, query the SYSIBM catalog, and generate DCLGEN.

May 26, 2026
db2 sql spufi dsn zos mainframe web-researched

CICS CEMT — Master Terminal Operator Reference

Drive the CICS Master Terminal transaction — INQUIRE, SET, and PERFORM verbs for programs, tasks, files, connections, and region-level operations like NEWCOPY refresh and SNAP dumps.

May 26, 2026
zos mainframe cics cemt transactions operators web-researched

DFSMShsm — Hierarchical Storage Manager

Migrate, recall, back up, and recover datasets across ML0/ML1/ML2 tiers with TSO H-commands and ARC operator commands; bulk-recall recipes, recall timing, and audit messages.

May 26, 2026
zos mainframe hsm dfsmshsm storage datasets sms web-researched

JCL Quick Reference

Job Control Language syntax, common statements, EXEC, DD, and SYSOUT patterns.

May 26, 2026
jcl zos mainframe batch web-researched

REXX Snippets

Practical REXX patterns for z/OS automation, TSO commands, and ISPF services.

May 26, 2026
rexx zos mainframe scripting web-researched

TSO/ISPF Navigation

Complete ISPF menu options, primary commands, line commands, edit profile, utilities, DSLIST, SDSF, TSO commands, RACF, and keyboard shortcuts.

May 26, 2026
tso ispf zos mainframe sdsf racf web-researched

z/OS FTP Reference

FTP from TSO, batch FTP via JCL, SITE parameters, transfer modes, FTPS, FTP.DATA configuration, and JES spool transfers.

May 26, 2026
ftp zos mainframe networking file-transfer web-researched

z/OS TCP/IP — NETSTAT, PING, Profile, and Diagnostics

Drive the z/OS Communications Server TCP/IP stack — NETSTAT variants, PING, TRACERTE, RESOLVE, PROFILE.TCPIP configuration, OMPROUTE, and SSH from z/OS UNIX, with end-to-end troubleshooting recipes.

May 26, 2026
zos mainframe tcpip networking netstat communications-server web-researched