Automated Recovery Overview

CICS® VR automated recovery support provides several functions.

The automation is for CICS online processes only. The automation cannot be used for batch processes. Automated recovery jobs can be created for forward recovery or reorganization, but not for both in the same job.
Note: Batch backout for failed batch processes can be automated.

When CICS detects that a VSAM file has been corrupted in a way that would usually require recovery or file reorganization, it informs CICS VR. CICS VR detects the event and take appropriate action.

The error detection process is fully automatic, but the user can specify whether the subsequent recovery is fully automatic so that no intervention is required, or non-automatic, so that the recovery job is started from the panel interface. This feature is enabled using the CBAUTO parameter, as described in Preparing for Automated Recovery.

The skeletons used for restore or recovery are generally the same for both automatic and manual jobs. The exception is the DWWAJOB skeleton used in automatic recovery job construction. For manual recovery job construction, the DWWUJOB skeleton is used instead.

If the construction of an automatic recovery job fails, DWWMSG and DWWPRINT contains corresponding error messages. If failure occurs during manual job construction, the error is described by pop-up messages on panels. If the recovery job itself fails, a corresponding error message is issued to the system console, and also recorded in the CICS job log. For more information about the messages and appropriate actions to be taken, see CICS VR Messages and Problem Determination.