The CICS VR is a part of the CICS tools family. It is designed to recover CICS and Batch VSAM datasets from physical and logical corruption. It offers forward recovery and backout functionalities.
The forward recovery and batch backout utilities of CICS VR produce a series of reports upon completing their respective processes. These reports are written to the dataset associated with the DWWPRINT DDNAME. However, the reports generated for forward recovery differ from those created for the batch backout utilities.
Below is an example and a detailed description of a CICS VR Forward Recovery Report.
CICS VR Forward Recovery Report
The CICS VR forward recovery process generates the following three reports:
- Log Dataset Statistics
- Statistics on Recovered Datasets
- Exit Action Statistics
Log Dataset Statistics
The Log Dataset Statistics report provides information about the logs used during recovery. Changes made to VSAM datasets are stored as After images in a forward recovery log, while a Before image log, referred to as the CICS VR undo log, records a copy of the data before any changes occur.
Key terms in the report include:
- ADD-BEFORE: Additions captured in the before image.
- UPD-AFTER: Updates recorded in the after image.
- ADD-AFTER: Additions recorded in the after image.
- DEL-AFTER: Deletions captured in the after image.
Additionally, the BOFLGREC (Backout Failing Log Record) is issued by CICS whenever a backout failure is detected.
Statistics of Recovered Datasets
The Recovered Data Statistical Report presents detailed information about the datasets recovered during the forward recovery process. This report includes key details such as:
- The base name of the recovered datasets
- The total number of records in each dataset
- The number of records that were modified during the recovery process
This statistical information provides a comprehensive overview of the recovery operations performed on the datasets.
If a CICS VR run ends with an error message, the number of records displayed in the Recovered Data Statistics report may differ from the statistics shown in the Log Dataset Statistics. This discrepancy reflects the incomplete or failed recovery process.
Exit Action Statistics
The Exit Action Statistics report provides details about the exit points used during the recovery process. It includes the name of each exit and the number of actions performed at each exit.
Recovery Progress Report
The Recovery Progress Report provides a detailed overview of the recovery job's execution when using Forward Recovery. It includes the following key information:
- Number of Steps in the Recovery Job
- VSAM RLS Processing
- DFSMShsm Processing
- AIX Removal and Rebuilding
This report provides insights into the progress and complexity of the recovery operation.
Summary
CICS VR offers flexible options for generating reports, allowing you to monitor information for all resources or focus on an individual sphere. These reports provide critical details required to recover or maintain operations at primary or remote sites during a disaster.
The Disaster Recovery Report is particularly valuable for assessing and verifying the recovery requirements at remote sites, ensuring preparedness and continuity in case of an emergency.
Author,
Chitra Devi