BA client cannot see some MSSQL db files

[Moebius]

Win2003 with TSM 5.5.1 client installed. The machine is also a MSSQL 2005 server and has TDP for MSSQL 5.5.1 installed.

Some of the MSSQL 2005 database files, both mdf and logs, are not visible from the TSM client GUI when the SQL Server service is started.
If the SQL Server service is stopped and the TSM client GUI reopened, the files reappear in the GUI window. If the SQL service is restarted the files disappear from the TSM client GUI. Even the scheduled dsmc cannot find the files.

Another odd thing is not all the files become "invisible". Some file pairs remain visible even when the SQL server is started:
distmdl.mdf and .ldf;
mssqlsystemresource.mdf and .ldf
tempdb.mdf and templog.ldf

The "invisible" databases are normally seen through the TDP GUI.

What I normally do on SQL servers is to exclude all databases from the flat-file backup except the master, model and msdbdata pairs. This is to possibly have a working database instance to run the TDP client on in case of a disaster; otherwise a master database rebuild would be necessary.
In this case, however, these files are among those invisible to the TSM client!

I don't notice this behavior on any other of the SQL servers of the farm. My knowledge of SQL is rather limited and I don't have a clue. I have been scratching my head for weeks on this... Can anybody point me in the right direction?

 

[moon-buddy]

I don't currently have a 5.5.1 installation on TDP for SQL to verify but I believe this is the right behavior.

.mdf and .ldf files should really not be backed (and thus should be invisible by the BA GUI when TDP for SQL is running) up by a plain BA client - it simply would fail trying backup these file types.

As for the flat (or dumped files) there should be no issue backing these up with the plain BA client. This will be your alternative DR scenario. This is also what I am doing for my TDP for Oracle and SQL installations.

 

[Moebius]

That's getting weirder. I tried and completely removed the TDP for SQL to see if it was its installation to hide the files from the BA client.

The files cannot be seen even without the TDP client. I even rebooted the server just in case, but to no avail. The files don't show in the BA client GUI.

So it's not a matter of TDP. From the TSM standpoint these should be just ordinary files now, still they don't show up unless I stop the MSSQL service.
Can anybody else out there with same setup verify if the problem shows up?

My setup:
WIndows 2003 Server Standard Edition w/ SP3
MS SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition v. 9.00.3042.00
TSM BA client 5.5.1.0

 

[Mikey D]

It's a feature of the client and VSS now, it won't let you back them up with the native client unless you actually shut down SQL. You'll

 

[Moebius]

So it's a BA client feature? It must be a behaviour specific to some SQL versions because it does not happen with older versions. Is it documented anywhere?

Thanks!