OFFSITE

The OFFSITE system initialization parameter specifies whether CICS® is to restart in off-site recovery mode; that is, a restart is taking place at a remote site.

Defining OFFSITE

You can define the OFFSITE system initialization parameter in the following ways:
  • In the PARM parameter of the EXEC PGM=DFHSIP statement.
  • In the SYSIN data set of the CICS startup job stream.
  • Through the system console.
You cannot define the OFFSITE system initialization parameter in the DFHSIT macro.

Values for OFFSITE

Valid values for the OFFSITE system initialization parameter are as follows:

OFFSITE={NO|YES}
For a successful off-site restart, the log records of the failed CICS region must be available at the remote site. CICS does not provide a facility for shipping log records to a remote backup site, but you can use a suitable vendor product to perform this function. See the relevant product documentation for other procedures you need to follow for a remote site restart.

See Administering restart and recovery for more information about remote site recovery.

NO
NO is the default value for OFFSITE. CICS will not perform the special restart processing required for remote site recovery.
YES
CICS will perform an off-site restart at a remote site following a disaster at the primary site. CICS performs this special processing for an off-site restart, because some information (for example, a VSAM lock structure) is not available at the remote site.

CICS performs an emergency restart, even if the global catalog indicates that CICS can do a warm start. OFFSITE=YES is valid with START=AUTO only, and CICS initialization is terminated if you specify START=COLD or INITIAL.

Restriction: You can specify the OFFSITE system initialization parameter in PARM, SYSIN, or CONSOLE only.