SETXCF FORCE command

Use the SETXCF FORCE command to clean up coupling facility structures without connections, persistent connections to coupling facility structures, coupling facility structure dumps, coupling facility structure dump serialization, Automatic Restart Management (ARM) elements, or structures pending-deallocation from a coupling facility that is no longer connected to any systems in the sysplex.

A structure is identified by its structure name, which can be up to 16 characters long. The name can contain numeric characters, uppercase alphabetic characters, national characters ($, @, #), or an underscore (_). The structure name must begin with an uppercase alphabetic character. Structure names provided by IBM® begin with SYS or the letters A through I.

Note that if you issue the SETXCF FORCE command for a coupling facility resource (that is not already pending deletion) from a system that does not have connectivity to the coupling facility that contains the resource, the system accepts the command; however, the command remains pending until either the system establishes connectivity with the coupling facility or another system processes the deletion.

When forcing deregistration of an ARM element, you must issue the command from the system on which the element registered. If the system on which the element registered is no longer active, issue the command from any system in the sysplex. The system will respond to a valid ARMDEREGISTER command with a message indicating whether the command was completed or rejected — IXC393I. If the element might be in use by the system, you must reply to the IXC394A message issued before getting the IXC393I.

Attention: To reduce the risk of losing data, do not force the deletion of structures, connections, or ARM elements unless you understand their use in the sysplex by applications or subsystems.

For additional information about the circumstances under which to issue the SETXCF FORCE command, see "Coupling Facility Replacement and Reconfiguration Guidelines" in z/OS MVS Setting Up a Sysplex.

For more information about the SETXCF FORCE parameters see both z/OS MVS Setting Up a Sysplex and z/OS MVS Initialization and Tuning Reference.

  
SETXCF FORCE,
    {STRUCTURE,STRNAME=(strname[,strname]...)                        }
 
    {CONNECTION,STRNAME=strname,CONNAME={(conname[,conname]...)|ALL} }
 
    {STRDUMP,STRNAME=strname[,STRDUMPID=strdumpid]                   }
 
    {STRDUMPSERIAL,STRNAME=strname[,STRDUMPID=strdumpid]             }
 
    {ARMDEREGISTER,ELEMENT=element                                   }
 
    {PNDSTR,CFNAME=cfname                                            }

STRUCTURE or STR

Directs the system to force the deletion of a named coupling facility structure. If a dump for the specified structure is in progress, deallocation of the structure remains pending until either the dump is complete or the dump is forced using the STRDUMP option. The system notifies the operator that the command is accepted but that the structure is pending deallocation.

STRNAME or STRNM=(strname[,strname]...): Identifies one or more persistent coupling facility structures to delete. In order to delete the structure with the SETXCF FORCE command, the structure must have no active connections. If only failed-persistent connections to the structure exist, the structure can be deleted with the SETXCF FORCE command.

CONNECTION or CON

Directs the system to force the deletion of a failed-persistent connection. The system will not force failed-persistent connections to a persistent lock or serialized list structure because of the possibility of an undetected loss of data. The system will reject such a FORCE,CONNECTION request with message IXC354I or IXC363I.

STRNAME or STRNM=strname: Specifies the name of an active structure that contains the connection to be deleted. strname can be up to 16 alphanumeric characters long and must begin with an uppercase alphabetic character.
CONNAME= or CONNM=(conname[,conname]...) or ALL: Directs the system to delete one or more connections to the named structure. You can use SETXCF FORCE only to delete a failed-persistent connection.
When you specify CONNAME=ALL, you request the system to delete all failed-persistent connections to the specified structure.

STRDUMP or STRD

Specifies the system is to force the deletion of a structure dump. The structure is either actively in use by the sysplex or pending deallocation. Under normal operating conditions when a structure dump is associated with a structure in the coupling facility, the structure dump identifier is recorded in the active CFRM policy. However, if a situation arises where the structure dump identifier does not get recorded in the active CFRM policy, the SETXCF FORCE,STRDUMP command can still be used to delete the structure dump. To force the structure dump in this case, omit the STRDUMPID= keyword and the system will determine the structure dump identifier.

STRNAME= or STRNM=strname

Specifies the name of the structure for which to delete the structure dump.

STRDUMPID= or STRDID=strdumpid

Identifies the structure dump to be deleted, where strdumpid is the structure dump identifier. Use the DISPLAY XCF,STRUCTURE command to determine the structure dump identifier. The structure dump identifier can be up to four hexadecimal digits.

The structure dump identifier uniquely differentiates between a structure dump associated with a structure actively in use in the sysplex and a structure dump associated with a structure pending deallocation.

If you omit this parameter, the structure dump associated with the named structure actively in use in the sysplex is the one that is deleted.
You must specify this parameter when deleting a structure dump associated with a structure that is pending deallocation.

STRDUMPSERIAL or STRDSER

Specifies that the system is to release its dumping serialization for a coupling facility structure. The structure must be actively in use in the sysplex. Under normal operating conditions when a structure dump is associated with a structure in the coupling facility, the structure dump identifier is recorded in the active CFRM policy. However, if a situation arises where the structure dump identifier does not get recorded in the active CFRM policy, the SETXCF FORCE,STRDUMPSERIAL command can still be used to release the structure dump serialization. To force the structure dump serialization in this case, omit the STRDUMPID= keyword and the system will determine the structure dump identifier.

STRNAME= or STRNM=strname: Identifies the structure for which to release dump serialization.
STRDUMPID= or STRDID=strdumpid: Identifies the structure dump associated with the structure for which to release dump serialization.

ARMDEREGISTER

Directs the system to force deregistration of an ARM element.

ELEMENT: Identifies the name of the ARM element to be deregistered.

PNDSTR

Specifies the system is to remove structures that are pending-deallocation from the CFRM active policy because of the loss of connectivity to the coupling facility. Structures pending-deallocation because of a structure dump will not be removed.

CFNAME: Identifies the name of the coupling facility. The coupling facility specified should be a coupling facility that is not connected to any systems in the sysplex and is going to remain inaccessible for an extended period of time (because of permanent removal for example) or a coupling facility that will be brought back online with all structures removed (because of a CF deactivate/reactivate or reboot for example).