A problem with error ECI_ERR_SYSTEM_ERROR can occur if the EXCI pipe limit is exceeded during communication between CICS servers. This is due to an MVS system pipe limit.
An ECI application has received the following return code:
-9 (ECI_ERR_SYSTEM_ERROR)
The EXCI pipe limit has been exceeded during communication between CICS servers.
A single z/OS® address space is limited by CICS® interregion communication (IRC) to allocating a maximum number of EXCI pipes for all attached CICS servers.
When the maximum limit has been reached, the next EXCI Allocate_Pipe call, made from a particular address space, fails with a SYSTEM_ERROR response code and a reason code 608. The ECI application receives a return code -9 (ECI_ERR_SYSTEM_ERROR), indicating that the maximum pipe limit has been exceeded.
Modify the CICS system initialization parameter LOGONLIM to change the limit when MVS is initially loaded. You can allocate up to 250 pipes in an EXCI address space. The default limit is 100 pipes.