Recovering an Unavailable Catalog

If a catalog becomes unavailable, that is, it cannot be opened and accessed correctly, you should determine the cause of the problem before attempting a recovery.

The following sequence of system messages indicates that the system was unable to open the catalog:

message id	return code	reason code
IEC331I	return code 004	reason code 40
IEC161I	return code 004	reason code 80
IEC331I	return code 004	reason code 86

These messages are usually accompanied by an IDC3009I message.

Before recovering the catalog, determine if the problem is caused by a broken connection between the catalog and the master catalog. Use LISTCAT ALL to look at the entry for the catalog, comparing the volume serial number and device type listed to the actual ones. If the catalog connector record is inaccurate or missing, use IMPORT CONNECT ALIAS to connect the BCS to the appropriate master catalog.

These messages might also indicate that the VVDS is unavailable. If so, recover the VVDS.

If the catalog is properly connected to the master catalog and the VVDS is available, then recover the catalog. You might need to delete the catalog's record in the VVDS, and its DSCB in the VTOC, before importing a backup copy. The access method services DELETE USERCATALOG RECOVERY command removes the VVDS and VTOC entries for the catalog.