Systems administration

The systems administrator must decide which VSAM user data sets are eligible for BWO, and then set up the appropriate operating procedures for taking the BWO backup copies and for forward recovery. These procedures should include:

The procedures are simpler when using BWO than when not, because:

Batch jobs

During the batch window between CICS sessions, it is possible for batch jobs to update a data set. Because batch jobs do not create forward recovery logs, any update that is made while a BWO backup is in progress, or after it has completed, would not be forward recoverable. Therefore, non-BWO backups should be taken, at least:

All update activity against the data set must be quiesced while the backups are taken, so that DFSMShsm can have exclusive control of the data set.

After an uncontrolled or immediate shutdown, further BWO backups might be taken by DFSMShsm, because the BWO status in the ICF catalog is not reset. These backups should be discarded; only the non-BWO backups taken at the end of the batch window should be used during forward recovery, together with the CICS forward recovery logs.

Data set security: CICS must have RACF® ALTER authority for all data sets that are defined as BACKUPTYPE(DYNAMIC), because CICS needs to update the BWO attributes in the ICF catalog. The authority must apply either to the data set or to the ICF catalog in which the data set is cataloged. For information on defining RACF ALTER authority, see the CICS RACF Security Guide.

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