CEKL - main terminal (emergency use)

Use CEKL to remove tasks from a system in a situation where you cannot issue the CEMT transaction.

There are two commands, CEKL INQUIRE TASK and CEKL SET TASK. The INQUIRE command displays information about selected tasks. The SET command allows you to remove an individual task using the PURGE, FORCEPURGE, or KILL option.

The CEKL transaction differs from other CICS® supplied transactions in that you do not have to install definitions for it. You can start this command at any operating system console that has the authority to issue MODIFY commands for the relevant CICS region. This does not require a CICS terminal definition for the relevant console. You would normally issue the command from an SDSF session (using the ULOG facility to view the extended console output).

The CEKL transaction forms part of the CICS console interface and runs on a dedicated CICS internal TCB that enables commands to be processed even when the rest of CICS is unresponsive.

Identifying tasks using CEKL
You can use CEKL INQUIRE TASK in a number of ways:
  • CEKL INQUIRE TASK returns a list of tasks on your system.
  • You can restrict the list of tasks by specifying the TRANCLASS or TRANSID option.
  • You can also restrict the list by specifying: DISPATCHABLE, or RUNNING, or SUSPENDED, for example, using DISPATCHABLE returns all the dispatchable tasks in your system.
Monitoring tasks using CEKL
CEKL INQUIRE TASK(value) returns the details of a single task. This is useful to monitor a task after you have requested it to be purged, forcepurged or killed.
Removing tasks using CEKL
CEKL SET TASK(value) has three options: PURGE, FORCEPURGE or KILL. The preferred sequence of issuing the commands is as follows:
  1. Try PURGE first if the task is purgeable.
  2. If the task is not purged in a reasonable time, try using the FORCEPURGE option.
  3. If the task is not purged in a reasonable time, try using the KILL option. Using CEKL you can request a task to be killed without having first tried PURGE or FORCEPURGE.
    DANGER
    This action can result in unpredictable effects, including overwriting of data within the CICS region or abnormal termination of the CICS region. It should only be used as a last resort.