Recovering Tape datasets

ravikumar15 · New User Joined: 27 Mar 2006 Posts: 68

Hi,

I have a production issue. By mistake some of the production files got deleted. We ran a job to delete some of the files, but accidentally some other files got deleted. Is it possible to recover the files. The datasets were deleted using IDCAMS with PURGE option. The files cannot be recreated as the job creating them will run very long time.

Will the MVS storage team will be able to help us.

Any advice would be greatly helpful.

Thanks,
Ravi

Robert Sample · Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2013 2:00 am

Only the people working at your site can answer your questions. They may -- or may not -- have backups of the deleted data sets; if they do not then you most likely will NOT be able to recover them without rerunning the job(s) that created them.

dick scherrer · Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2013 8:27 am

Hello,

Make sure the physical tapes are removed from the inventory (silo or manual). If they have not been reused, your storage management people may be able to put them back into production.

As Robert mentioned, only your people can answer this.

If the data IS lost, and the data IS Needed, there Will be a rerun even if it takes a while.

expat · Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 1:37 pm

If you are using VTS, the tapes may well be non recoverable immediately that they are uncataloged if they are held under catalog control in your TMS software.

If you are using cycles or specific retention you may be OK.

You need to speak with the people responsible for tape retention in the site.

Pete Wilson · Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 4:42 pm

You sometimes can recover VTS tapes, but you have to secure them before the CA1 and VTS cleanup jobs run, which usually happens daily. As you posted on the 28th and it's now the 1st, I wouldn't expect you can recover anything.