If you have a backup database specified in the data set name table (ICHRDSNT), you can enter the RVARY SWITCH command to switch from the failing primary database to the backup database.

Before entering an RVARY SWITCH, you must ensure that the backup database is active. The SWITCH option of the command deactivates the current primary database and causes RACF® to use the backup copy as the new primary. The current primary is also deallocated. You should repair the original primary and activate it at the earliest opportunity.

When an RVARY SWITCH command is issued, the database buffers are also switched. When RACF is not enabled for sysplex communication, it associates a set of buffers with the new primary database (the original backup database) and disassociates the buffers from the original primary database (the new backup database).

When RACF is enabled for sysplex communication and an RVARY SWITCH command is issued, RACF switches the buffers by associating the larger set of buffers with the new primary database (the original backup database) and the smaller set of buffers with the new backup database (the original primary database). After the RVARY SWITCH, the coupling facility structures associated with the original primary are associated with the new primary, and the ones associated with the original backup are associated with the new backup.