Specifying system initialization parameters before startup

You would normally specify the system initialization parameters that CICS® is to use in the following ways, before starting CICS:

  1. In the system initialization table, loaded from a library in the STEPLIB concatenation of the CICS startup procedure
  2. In the PARM parameter of the EXEC PGM=DFHSIP statement of the CICS startup procedure
  3. In the SYSIN data set defined in the startup procedure (but only if SYSIN is coded in the PARM parameter)

The system initialization parameters are processed in the preceding order, with later system initialization parameter values overriding those specified earlier.

In particular, you can specify a new value for the START system initialization parameter, which can have any of the following values:

START=AUTO
If you specify the START=AUTO system initialization parameter, CICS determines whether to perform an initial, cold, warm, or emergency start by inspecting two records in the global catalog:

START=AUTO should be the normal mode of operation, with the choice of start being made by CICS automatically.

START=INITIAL
The new run of CICS has no reference to any previous run. The global catalog and system log are initialized, and all information in them is lost.
START=COLD
The new run of CICS has limited reference to the previous run, and uses the same global catalog and system log. In particular, resynchronization information needed by remote systems to resynchronize their units of work is preserved.
START=STANDBY
CICS starts up as an XRF alternate CICS region, by initializing only to the point at which it can monitor the active CICS region. Depending on how the active CICS region was shut down, the alternate CICS region completes either a warm or emergency restart, if it needs to take over, as follows:
Note:
You must also specify the XRF=YES system initialization parameter.

For example, if your CICS startup procedure specifies:

//INITCICS  EXEC PGM=DFHSIP,REGION=&REG,
//        PARM=('SYSIDNT=HTH1,SIT=6$,SYSIN,CN')
//*
//SYSIN    DD DISP=SHR,DSN=&libpfx..CICSH###.SYSIN(CICS&CLONE)

CICS uses system initialization parameters from the following sources, with later system initialization parameters overriding earlier ones:

  1. The system initialization table, DFHSIT6$, from the STEPLIB concatenation
  2. The member CICSH### of the CICSTS31.CICS.CICSH###.SYSIN data set
  3. The system console.

Related tasks
Starting CICS
Starting CICS as a batch job
Starting CICS as a started task
Overriding system initialization parameters during startup
System console messages for CICS startup

Related references
The START system initialization parameter
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