System generation

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In computing system generation or sysgen is the process of creating a particular unique instance of an operating system by combining user-specified options and parameters with manufacturer-supplied general-purpose program code to produce an operating system tailored for a particular hardware and software environment.^[1]

Some other programs have similar processes, although not usually called "sysgen." For example,

(CICS) was installed through a process called CICSGEN.

Rationale

A large general-purpose program such as an operating system has to provide support for all variations of

(I/O) equipment. No one installation requires all this support, so system generation provides a process for selecting the options and features actually required on any one system.

Sysgen produces a system that is most efficient in terms of CPU time, main memory requirements, I/O activity, and/or disk space. Often these parameters can be traded off, for example to generate a system that requires less memory at the expense of increased disk I/O operations.

See also

• System Generation (OS)

References