GO SAVE Options 21, 22, and 23 Overview

Learning Objective

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain, at an overview level, what GO SAVE options 21, 22, and 23 are for.

Simple Explanation

Every save covered so far in this batch has targeted a specific object or library. IBM i also provides GO SAVE, a menu of options for saving much larger, broader scopes of the system at once. Three of its most common options are:

• Option 21: saves the entire system, everything on it.
• Option 22: saves system data specifically, without user libraries.
• Option 23: saves all user libraries and associated authority information, without the base system data.

GO SAVE

Running this command displays the menu these options, and others, are selected from.

Why It Matters

Understanding that these broader, whole-system-scope save options exist, and roughly what each one covers, helps a developer recognize references to them, such as in a shop's documented backup schedule or during a conversation about recovery planning, even without personally running them. This is different in scale and purpose from the object-level and library-level saves already covered earlier in this batch, which are far more common for everyday development work.

Practical Example

Imagine a shop's overall backup schedule mentions that "option 21 runs monthly, and option 23 runs nightly." Recognizing that option 21 covers the entire system while option 23 covers just user libraries and authority information helps a developer understand roughly what each scheduled save actually protects, without needing to run either personally.

This is a simplified, illustrative example rather than a specific real backup schedule, but it reflects exactly the kind of context this lesson is meant to provide.

Common Confusions

"Do I need to know how to run GO SAVE options myself as a developer?" Not typically for everyday development work; these broader, system-wide saves are generally an administrator's responsibility. Recognizing what they cover, at this overview level, is the useful takeaway for a developer.

"Is option 21 just a bigger version of SAVLIB, covered earlier in this batch?" Conceptually related, since both ultimately save objects, but option 21 operates at the scope of the entire system, generally requiring a restricted state where most other activity is stopped, unlike the everyday object-level and library-level saves covered earlier in this batch.

"Is choosing between these options something this lesson teaches in depth?" No. This lesson stays at an overview level: recognizing that these options exist and roughly what each one covers. Designing a complete backup schedule using these options is a deeper topic beyond this introductory lesson.

Quick Recap

• GO SAVE provides options for saving much broader scopes of the system than the object-level and library-level saves covered earlier in this batch.
• Option 21 saves the entire system; option 22 saves system data; option 23 saves user libraries and authority information.
• These broader saves are generally an administrator's responsibility, though recognizing what they cover is useful context for a developer.
• This lesson stays at an overview level; designing a complete backup schedule is a deeper topic beyond this introduction.

Try Asking the AI Tutor

Use the AI Tutor to ask follow-up questions about this lesson. For example, try asking:

• "Why might a shop run option 23 more frequently than option 21?"
• "What is the practical difference between option 22 and option 23 in terms of what each one actually protects?"