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initial program load (IPL)

Definition

initial program load (IPL)

Part of the Operating systems glossary:

IPL (initial program load) is a mainframe term for the loading of the operating system into the computer's main memory . A mainframe operating system (such as OS/390) contains many megabytes of code that is customized by each installation, requiring some time to load the code into the memory. On a personal computer, booting or re-booting (re-starting) is the equivalent to IPLing (the term is also used as a verb) .

Next Steps

Booting iSeries from internal or external sources
A NORMAL IPL of iSeries uses the IPL Load Sourc...
(Search400.com)
reboot (warm boot, cold boot)
To reboot is to restart a computer and reload t...
(SearchCIO-Midmarket.com)

In earlier operating systems, when you added devices to the hardware system, you had to stop the system, change the configuration file, and then "re-IPL," an activity that meant the system would be unavailable for some period of time. Today's systems provide dynamic reconfiguration so that the system can keep running.

This was last updated in March 2011

Posted by: Margaret Rouse

Related Terms

Definitions

boot
- To boot (as a verb; also "to boot up") a computer is to load an operating system into the computer's main memory or random access memory (RAM). (SearchWinIT.com)

Glossaries

Operating systems
- Terms related to operating systems, including definitions about open source and proprietary operating systems and words and phrases about system programs, boot mechanisms, kernels, command interpre...
Internet applications
- This WhatIs.com glossary contains terms related to Internet applications, including definitions about Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery models and words and phrases about web sites, e-commerce ...

Dig Deeper

Booting iSeries from internal or external sources

A NORMAL IPL of iSeries uses the IPL Load Source disk. An alternative is to boot from a backup tape by initiating a D type IPL. (Search400.com)
SAVSYS -- Save System

SAVSYS -- Save System (Search400.com)
Automatic system tuning

(Search400.com)

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