What to do if the IMPORT DEFN SOURCE(CATALOG) command or DDL automatic import times out in a managed ACBs environment

If the IMPORT DEFN SOURCE(CATALOG) command or DDL automatic import fails before commit phase 2, the IMS import command master aborts the online change.

If the IMPORT DEFN SOURCE(CATALOG) command or DDL automatic import fails after a commit phase 2 begins and the directory updates are committed, the IMS import command master cannot abort the online change.

You should run an IMPORT DEFN SOURCE(CATALOG) command after the problem is resolved to finish the import and get all of the IMSs out of an online change state.

An import from the catalog that is initiated by the IMPORT DEFN SOURCE(CATALOG) command or DDL automatic import can take some time when there are many ACBs in the staging directory. IBM recommends that the IMPORT DEFN SOURCE(CATALOG) timeout value be made longer to avoid timing out without the results.

If the import times out, you can determine whether the import succeeded or failed by using one or more of the following methods:
  • Issue the QUERY MEMBER TYPE(IMS) SHOW(STATUS) command to see whether any IMSs remain in an online change state and if so, whether the online change is committed. The online change is committed if any IMS shows a status of import commit phase 2 or greater: IMPPHCn, where IMP means IMPORT, PH means PHASE, C means COMMIT, and n represents the phase of 2 or greater.
  • Issue the QRY IMSPLEX SHOW(STATUS) command to see whether any IMSs, SCIs, or RMs are down in the IMSplex. Timeouts can be caused by an IMS address space involved in the import failing.
  • Code the OM output exit to receive the IMPORT DEFN SOURCE(CATALOG) unsolicited output that was sent after the command timed out by viewing the x'70xx' log records. For example, if the x'7004' COMMIT MEMBER OLC and x'7005' COMMIT MEMBER COMPLETE OLC log records are included, the IMPORT was successful.
  • If the IMSplex includes Resource Manager (RM), look for the following RM global process messages:
    • CSL2200I CLIENT client INITIATED PROCESS DFSOLC FOR IMSPLEX imsplexname
    • CSL2201I CLIENT client TERMINATED PROCESS DFSOLC FOR IMSPLEX imsplexname
  • Look for the following import messages on the system console log that indicate when the import was started, if it completed, or if it failed:
    • DFS4896I IMPORT DEFN SOURCE(CATALOG) PROCESSED ONE OR MORE RESOURCES, COMMAND TOKEN=command_token.
    • DFS4897I IMPORT DEFN SOURCE(CATALOG) COMPLETED, COMMAND TOKEN=command_token.
    • DFS4898E IMPORT DEFN SOURCE(CATALOG) FAILED, COMMAND TOKEN=command_token.
    • DFS7433E IMPORT PHASE phase FAILED BECAUSE RM PROCESS STEP SENT TO IMS imsid TIMED OUT, COMMAND TOKEN=command_token. This message identifies what phase of online change failed. If the phase is CMT2, CMT3, or CMT4, the directory updates are committed and cannot be aborted.
    • DFS7445A IMPORT TIMED OUT AFTER DIRECTORY UPDATES COMMITTED, CHECK IF IMPORT NEEDS TO BE RETRIED. This message indicates that the import timed out after the directory updates were committed.
If the import failed after commit phase 2 began and the directory updates were committed, one or more IMSs are stuck in an online change state. You can resolve this by doing the following tasks:
  • Address the reason for the failure; for example, start SCI, RM, or other components that failed.
  • Issue the IMPORT DEFN SOURCE(CATALOG) command to finish the import and remove the IMSs out of an online change state. The IMPORT command should be routed to the IMS that was the import command master of the previous IMPORT DEFN SOURCE(CATALOG) command or DDL automatic import that timed out because it knows the state of the import. This is the IMS that issued the DFS7445A message.