Using a z/OS attributes file

Use a .zosattributes file to control how files are converted and tagged when you upload a local directory to a USS directory on the mainframe.

What is a .zosattributes file

A .zosattributes file saved in your source directory provides uploading and downloading instructions to the mainframe. A line in the file can specify a code comment or instructions.

An example .zosattributes file:

# pattern local-encoding remote-encoding
# Don't upload the node_modules directory
node_modules -
# Don't upload files that start with periods
.* -
# Upload jpg images in binary
*.jpg binary binary
# Convert CICS Node.js profiles to EBCDIC
*.profile ISO8859-1 EBCDIC

• #

  • Denotes a comment when used at the start of a line. In the preceding example, comments are highlighted.

• Each line can specify up to three positional attributes, or instructions:

  • A pattern to match a set of files.
    • Pattern-matching syntax follows the same rules as those that apply in .gitignore files. Negated patterns that begin with ! are not supported.
    • For syntax, see Pattern Format.
  • A local-encoding to identify a file’s encoding on the local workstation.
    • When - is specified for local-encoding, files that match the pattern are not transferred.
  • A remote-encoding to specify the file’s desired character set on USS.
    • This attribute must either match the local encoding or be set to EBCDIC. If set to EBCDIC, files are transferred in text mode and converted, otherwise they are transferred in binary mode.
    • Remote files are tagged either with the remote encoding or as binary.

Using a .zosattributes file with Zowe CLI

Use a .zosattributes file with Zowe CLI to issue commands to control how the mainframe uploads your local files.

.zosattributes file location

A .zosattributes file can be saved in the top-level directory you want to upload.

Or specify its location by using the --attributes option with the zowe zos-files upload dir-to-uss command:

zowe zos-files upload dir-to-uss "local_dir" "/a/ibmuser/my_dir" --attributes my_global_attributes

.zosattributes files that are placed in nested directories are ignored.

Using a .zosattributes file with Zowe Explorer for VS Code

In Zowe Explorer for Visual Studio Code, first upload a .zosattributes file to a USS directory on the mainframe and then upload files to that directory.

Creating a .zosattributes file

Use a text editor to create a .zosattributes file to instruct Zowe what local files to upload and how to convert and tag them.

For pattern-matching syntax, follow the Pattern Format. For how to write the local encoding and remote encoding instructions, see What is a .zosattributes file.