A master catalog can be backed up as any other BCS. You should use EXPORT, DFSMSdss, or DFSMShsm for the backup. Another way to provide a backup for the master catalog is to create an alternate master catalog. For information on defining and using an alternate master catalog, see Creating and Using an Alternate Master Catalog.

You should also make periodic volume dumps of the master catalog's volume. This dump can later be used by the stand-alone version of DFSMSdss to restore the master catalog, if you cannot access the volume from another system.