This Frequently Asked Question list for the ADSM-L mailing list is posted on
the first day of each month. It was created to cut down on the number of
questions that are repeated regularly in the ADSM-L mailing list from
vm.marist.edu. I would be grateful for any requests to include additional
material. (Please send them directly to me, rather than to the list.)
updated 04/01/2004
====================================================
* Questions marked with * are new or improved since the last posting.
QUESTIONS
01. About the list itself
01-01. How do I subscribe to ADSM-L?
01-02. How do I unsubscribe to ADSM-L?
01-03. Why don't I see the questions I post to ADSM-L?
01-04. How can I see the questions I post to ADSM-L?
01-05. Who decides what questions go on ADSM-L?
01-06. Is there a digest or archive of ADSM-L?
01-07. How do I get more information about ADSM-L?
01-08. Does IBM/Tivoli participate in ADSM-L?
01-09 How can I get just a digest of ADSM-L, instead of all the
postings?
02. Types of questions asked
02-01. What subjects are covered in this list?
02-02. What kinds of questions can be asked?
02-03. What kinds of questions can I expect answers to?
02-04. What levels of netiquette are expected?
02-05. What's the first thing to do when I have a question about TSM?
02-06. What's the second thing to do when I have a question about TSM?
02-07. What's the third thing to do when I still have a question about
TSM?
02-08. What's the fourth thing to do when I STILL have a question
about TSM?
02-09. What's the fifth thing to do when I *STILL* have a question
about TSM?
02-10. What's the last thing to do when I *STILL* have a question
about TSM?
02-11. What are those "out of office" messages I keep seeing in the
list?
02-12. What's the single best thing I can do to improve the list?
02-13. Why don't I get answers to my "I need comparisons between TSM and
<brandX> backup software" questions?
02-14. What kinds of things shouldn't I post on ADSM-L?
02-15. Is there some sort of acronym list?
02-16. Whatever happened to Richard Sims?
03. Available TSM resources
03-01. What FAQs are already out there?
03-02. What other sources of help can I find?
03-03. How do I get "official" TSM support?
04. Frequently-asked questions on ADSM-L
04-01. Is it called ADSM, or TSM, or ITSM? What's the deal here?
04-02. What are backupsets? How can I use them?
04-03. How does TSM do full/incremental/differential backups, just like
my old backup software <fillintheblank> used to?
04-04. How do I unsubscribe to ADSM-L?
04-05. How do I do mailbox-level restores of Exchange using the Tivoli Data
Protection Agent for Exchange?
04-06. How do I force TSM to do a full backup of a client?
04-07. Where can I download the latest version of TSM/TDP?
04-08. What's the very first thing I do after TSM is delivered to me?
04-09. I'm getting message ANRXXXXX from the TSM server. What does it
mean?
04-10. I'm getting message ANSXXXXX from the TSM client. What does it
mean?
04-11. My large-scale restores are slow. How can I speed them up?
04-12. How do I back up normally open files, like database files?
04-13. What's all this about TSM and SQL select statements?
04-14. My boss wants disaster recovery procedures. What's the best way
to do it?
04-15. How do I get TSM to report problems to me?
04-16. Why does version X of TSM have this bad bug in it?
04-17. How come my copy pool tape reclamation runs so slowly?
04-18. I keep getting these "server out of license compliance" messages.
Why?
04-19. My scheduled backups fail (or are incomplete), but my manual ones
work fine. Why?
04-20. While backleveling my TSM client from 4.2.1 to 4.1.3, I get a
"downlevel" message. Why?
04-21. *Why do I get an "ANR1440I All drives in use. Process being
preempted by higher priority operation" message when my
storage pool backup fails?
04-22. I've deleted all data from a tape volume, but it hasn't come back
as a scratch tape. Why?
04-23. What is this ANR9999D error message? I don't understand it.
04-24. *I'm upgrading my TSM server/client from version X.X to version Y.Y.
Any pitfalls?
04-25. How do I restore one client's data onto another client?
04-26. Will my new tape library work with TSM?
04-27. My Windows client backs up the same 3,000 files or so everyday.
Why?
04-28. I'm moving TSM to a new physical server. What's the best way
to do that?
04-29. How do I back up my NetWare NDS license files?
04-30. What's all this fuss about "cleanup backupgroups"?
04-31. I'm trying to include some files for backups, but it's not
working. Why?
04-32. Can I put TSM db and log volumes on raw devices?
04-33. Why is my client backup {taking so long|running so
slowly|sluggish}?
04-34. I have a tape volume that Q CONTENT says is empty,
but I can't delete the volume. Why?
04-35 I'm upgrading my TSM server from version x.x.x.x to
y.y.y.y. What's the best way to do it?
04-36 TSM is asking me to "convert" my archives? Why?
04-37 What kind/how many/what configuration should I set up for
database disks/volumes/RAIDs?
04-38 How do I move/resize my database/recoverylog volumes?
04-39 I'm moving my TSM server from operating system <BrandX>
to operating system <BrandY>. Can I just move my database
volumes from one machine to another? Why not?
04-40 *My library is out of space. What's wrong with TSM?
04-41 *What's the difference between a TSM database backup and a
TSM database snapshot?
04-42 *How can I change the retention time for an archive I've
already created?
and from IBM, questions about the new web site. (Thanks for posting these,
Andy!)
05-01. I have a Tivoli ID and an IBM.com registered ID. Which one do I
use for problem submission?
05-02. The top of every web page has a search bar in a blue field and
4 links in black. When these are used, I leave the Tivoli
content areas, why?
05-03 Does Tivoli have a Support home page and where is it?
05-04 How do I use the Search capabilities on IBM.com?
05-05 Where can I find Product Downloads?
05-06 Are FAQ's documented online?
ANSWERS
01-01. How do I subscribe to ADSM-L?
Send an email to LISTSERV AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU with a blank subject line and a
message consisting only of the line SUBSCRIBE ADSM-L.
01-02. How do I unsubscribe to ADSM-L?
Send an email to LISTSERV AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU with a blank subject line and a
message consisting only of the line UNSUBSCRIBE ADSM-L. Do NOT try to
unsubscribe by sending email to ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU. All that does
is annoy the list members, and it doesn't get you unsubscribed.
01-03. Why don't I see the questions I post to ADSM-L?
That's the normal behavior of ADSM-L.
01-04. How can I see the questions I post to ADSM-L?
If you want to see your own questions, send an email to LISTSERV AT VM.MARIST
DOT EDU with a blank subject line and a message that consists only of the line
SET ADSM-L REPRO.
01-05. Who decides what questions go on ADSM-L?
The list members. There appears to be no active moderation of the list. (That's
not a license to abuse the list. Complaints from the list members are heeded by
the list administrator.)
01-06. Is there a digest or archive of ADSM-L?
Indeed. There is an indexed version of the mailing list at http://adsm.org.
(Interestingly enough, the adsm.org page has been given a real facelift lately.
If you want to see the old adsm.org page format, go to http://search.adsm.org.)
01-07. How do I get more information about ADSM-L?
Send an email to LISTSERV AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU with a blank subject line and a
message consisting only of the line INFO. This will cause an email to be
returned to you with a list of documents available about the
listserver and instructions on how to get them.
01-08. Does IBM/Tivoli participate in or post to ADSM-L?
>From Andy Raibeck, of the TSM client development group: "This list server is
>owned and operated by Marist College, and is not in any way affiliated with
>IBM. While some IBMers do participate on ADSM-L, they do so on an unofficial,
>voluntary basis, and thus are not *required* to answer your questions. If you
>require an answer from IBM, or if your situation is of an urgent nature, then
>you should (also) go through IBM's official support channels for assistance."
01-09 How can I get just a digest of ADSM-L, instead of all the
postings?
(from Andy Raibeck) Send an email to: listserv AT vm.marist DOT edu
In the body of the email, put *only* the following:
info refcard
You do not need a subject line. You will get reference information back from
the list server that tells you, among other things, how to configure your
subscription to receive the daily digest.
02-01. What subjects are covered in this list?
Officially, only questions concerning the installation, configuration, care,
and feeding of ADSM/TSM/ITSM should appear. However, since backup and recovery
systems cover a wide range of IT and business issues, there have been
discussions about disaster recovery, tape and other storage systems, and other
Tivoli products (such as Storage Network Manager and Storage Resource Manager).
Keep it centered around TSM, and no one fusses much.
02-02. What kinds of questions can be asked?
You can ask pretty much any TSM-related question you care to. There's no
guarantee you'll get an answer, though. Reposting an already-asked question
(because of initial lack of response) will sometimes get you an answer, but
often it'll get you nothing.
02-03. What kinds of questions can I expect answers to?
As with any other mailing list, the questions that lend themselves to short,
concise answers are the ones most likely to get answered. As an example, you're
much more likely to get an answer to "Does my new tape library, model ZYX-666
made by Spelvin Corporation, work with TSM version 4.2?" than "I just got TSM.
How do I use it?" Keep your questions focused and narrow in scope. See answers
to questions 02-05, 02-06, and 02-07.
02-04. What levels of netiquette are expected?
The standard civility is expected. If you're unsure of netiquette rules, go to
http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html and
http://www.fau.edu/netiquette/net/index.html.
02-05. What's the first thing to do when I have a question about TSM?
Read this FAQ, particular section 4.
02-06. What's the second thing to do when I have a question about TSM?
The second thing to do is to go to Richard Sims' exhaustive TSM FAQ at
http://people.bu.edu/rbs/ADSM.QuickFacts. More about online FAQs in answer
03-01.
02-07. What's the third thing to do when I still have a question about TSM?
The third thing to do is to look for similar questions in the ADSM-L archives
found at http://search.adsm.org. Chances are that your question has been asked
before by someone else. Using the proper keywords to find relevant responses is
a bit of an art, but it is a rich source of information.
02-08 What's the fourth thing to do when I STILL have a question about
TSM?
[Thanks to Taz for this one.]
Check the Knowledge Base. If you haven't registered before, go to:
http://www-120.ibm.com/software/support/ecare/login?action=register
You can then log into the knowledge base at:
http://www-3.ibm.com/software/sysmgmt/products/support/IBMTivoliStorageManager.html
02-09. What's the fifth thing to do when I STILL have a question about
TSM?
Research the Administrator's Guide, the Administrator's Reference, the client
guides, or the relevant IBM Redbooks. Yeah, I know, it's not easy reading.
Search the .PDF version of the relevant manual (see answer 03-02 for the
download locations); the answer's probably in there somewhere.
(last one, I promise)
02-10. What's the last thing to do when I *STILL* have a question about
TSM?
Post it to the list, and always include all key information.
Such information should always include server level (found in the top banner of
the login administrative web page), client level (from the Help-->About TSM
splash screen in the client GUI), TSM server OS and OS
level (include service pack/maintenance level data), an *exact* description of
the problem, an extract of the server activity log, and the error messages
verbatim. Please cut and paste text from messages; this makes typos much less
likely. Confusion reigns when you commit a typo in your question; you'll get a
flood of "you've misspelled your command" answers, which is probably not what
you're looking for.
02-11. What are those "out of office" messages I keep seeing in the list?
Some email clients have a clever little feature that can be set to tell those
who send email to a recipient that the recipient will be out (and will thus not
be immediately responsive). Unfortunately, some people don't know how to
configure these clients not to send such messages to mailing lists. What is
most annoying about these messages is that they can appear in multiple
languages, which makes filtering them out a frustrating task.
02-12. What's the single best thing everyone can do to improve the list?
Trim your replies! Trim back what you quote from the previous poster to the
essential information only. Get rid of the greetings, the .sigs, and the chatty
stuff. (This measure alone could cut half the length of a download.)
02-13. Why don't I get answers to my "I need comparisons between TSM and
<brandX> backup software" questions?
While there are occasional responses to these questions, they are ignored for
the most part. The ADSM-L list concerns itself with TSM only. Most of the list
members don't know <brandX> well enough to do good comparisons; a lot of us
don't care. There is one clue, however, to what backup application to use: we
see *lots* of sites/customers moving from <brandX> to TSM; we see very few of
them moving in the other direction.
02-14. What kinds of things shouldn't I post on ADSM-L?
a. Questions about subjects other than TSM or TSM-related issues. There are
lots of mailing lists out there; start looking for the one you need at
http://www.lsoft.com/catalist.html.
b. Advertisements. (Testimonials are okay as long as they're disinterested
testimonials. IOW, if you are the chief architect for spammo.com, don't sing
the praises of Spammo.) Let your product speak for itself.
c. "Send it to me, too!" responses. (There should be a special level of Hell
for people who do this.) For pity's sake, if you want something from someone,
email them directly. Please review the answer 02-04 above.
02-15. Is there some sort of acronym list?
ADSM = Adstar Distributed Storage Manager
DR = disaster recovery
ITSM = IBM/Tivoli Storage Manager
TDP = Tivoli Data Protection
TSM = Tivoli Storage Manager
ITSMOR = IBM/Tivoli Storage Manager Operational Reporter
02-16. Whatever happened to Richard Sims?
Richard is back! The gods of ADSM-L have smiled upon him again.
03-01. What FAQs are already out there?
There are a few (including this one), but the brightest star in the firmament
is Richard Sims' page at http://people.bu.edu/rbs/ADSM.QuickFacts. It is
organized by keyword, it is *exhaustive*, and it is updated frequently.
03-02. What other sources of help can I find?
There are several sources of valuable help for TSM problems.
1) The ADSM-L mailing list is a good resource; however, like most mailing
lists, you must separate the answers from those who know from the answers of
those who don't. The best way to do that is to read it frequently; you'll soon
learn who hits the nail with the hammer most often.
2) The same caution extends the ADSM-L online archive at
http://search.adsm.org. This archive is indexed and searchable, although
personal experience shows that the search function could use some work.
3) Tivoli maintains extensive official documentation on all TSM products. You
can find Tivoli documents, in PDF and HTML format, at
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/tividd/td/tdprodlist.html.
4) If it's a server command you're having problems with, run the command with
the word "help" (without the quotes) in front of it (such as HELP UPDATE
STGPOOL) at the administrative command-line. TSM will echo back a help file
with syntax, flag definitions, examples, and similar command lists. Neat!
5) Tivoli technical support, although not as fast to respond as in past times,
is still one of the best technical support lines in the market today. The
telephone number is 800.848.6548. You will need your Tivoli customer number,
which you should have gotten when you purchased TSM, and the name of the
'official' contact person designated when the order for TSM was placed; without
both, they will not be able to help you.
6) Check the Knowledge Base. If you haven't registered before, go to:
http://www-120.ibm.com/software/support/ecare/login?action=register
You can then log into the knowledge base at:
http://www-3.ibm.com/software/sysmgmt/products/support/IBMTivoliStorageManager.html
7) IBM maintains a documentation system called Redbooks. Redbooks are rather
like O'Reilly Publishing's "missing manuals"; they contain information that
doesn't make it into the standard software manuals. There
is a lot of good TSM information in some of them. You can find redbooks in .PDF
format at http://www.redbooks.ibm.com. WARNING: Redbook information is not
"official" IBM documentation, and official support is not predicated upon them.
8) You can access a lot of information about TSM problems by going to
www.ibm.com, typing relevant text strings in the "Search" text box at the top
of the page, and pressing the "GO" button. This is a particularly easy way to
find relevant APAR information about fixes to TSM code. (Tip o' the hat to Mr.
Sims for this one.)
03-03. How do I get "official" TSM support?
As I understand it, those who buy TSM receive support and maintenance from
Tivoli for one year from date of purchase. After that, support must be
purchased. Contact your Tivoli reseller for details.
04-01. Is it called ADSM, or TSM, or ITSM? What's the deal here?
The backup and restore software package we refer to today as Tivoli Storage
Manager was owned by IBM and known as Adstar Distributed Storage Manager
(ADSM). Later, Tivoli took ownership and changed the name to Tivoli Storage
Manager. The current official name of the software is IBM/Tivoli Storage
Manager (ITSM).
04-02. What are backupsets? How can I use them?
Backupsets are created from the latest (active) version of each file on a
client's system. These files are copied from data already stored in TSM storage
(disk, tape, or other media) to a single "file". Thus it is not necessary to do
an extra backup across your network to create a backupset. Backupsets cannot be
browsed like backups and archives; you can, however, use wildcards to restore
files. You can look at the contents of a backupset, provided you know the
backupset's name, from Q BACKUPSETCONTENTS.
04-03. How does TSM do full/incremental/differential backups, just like
my old backup software <brandX> used to?
You're not using your old backup software anymore.
TSM uses a backup/restore philosophy unlike any other backup software. Once the
initial full backup of a client is finished, TSM then only backs up files that
are new or have been modified. This sort of backup used to be called
"incrementals forever", but is more accurately described as "progressive
backups". There is not a way to perform differentials; you don't need them
anymore, anyway.
04-04. How do I unsubscribe to ADSM-L?
(This question is answered twice in this FAQ because it needs to be.) Send an
email to LISTSERV AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU with a blank subject line and a message
consisting only of the line UNSUBSCRIBE ADSM-L. Do NOT try to unsubscribe by
sending email to ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU. All that does is annoy the list
members, and it doesn't get you off the list.
04-05. How can I do mailbox-level restores of Exchange using the Tivoli
Data Protection Agent for Exchange?
You can't, directly. Here's the scoop. You run an application called exmerge
(which comes with Exchange). Exmerge allows the Exchange administrator to
create individual mailboxes from the Exchange information
store. These individual .pst files can then be backed up (and restored) with a
regular TSM backup client.
This system of backing up individual mailboxes requires two separate
backups--one with the regular TSM client (for the .pst mailboxes) and one with
TDP for Exchange (for the Exchange directory and information store). This could
require twice as much data being moved to the TSM server.
Notice: there is new information about the TDP for Mail (Exchange) version
5.2.1 concerning Exchange 2003. More to come...
04-06. How do I force TSM to do a full backup of a client?
>From the command line, run
dsmc selective <drive_letter>:\* -subdir=yes
(Windows, for each drive)
dsmc selective <volume_name>:\* -subdir=yes
(NetWare, for each volume)
dsmc selective /<filespace>/* -subdir=yes
(UNIX, for each filespace)
to backup the entire drive/volume/filespace. From the GUI, press the BACKUP
button, select the desired data to backup, use the pulldown menu to change
"Incremental (complete)" to "Always backup", and press the "Backup" button.
04-07. Where can I download the latest version of TSM/TDP?
The latest full versions of TSM backup/archive clients are available from the
ftp site
ftp://service.boulder.ibm.com/storage/tivoli-storage-management/maintenance.
You cannot download the (required) base level of TSM server code, but you *can*
download the latest versions of the server patches at the above ftp address.
Similarly, you cannot download the (required) base code for Tivoli Data
Protection software, but you can download patches for the base code at the
above ftp address. Latest base code for the TSM server and TDP agent are
available from your Tivoli reseller. There is a mirror of the above address at
ftp://ftp.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de/pub/mirror/ftp.software.ibm.com/storage/tivoli-storage-management
(for European users).
04-08. What's the very first thing I should do when I start using TSM?
Read the Administrator's Guide and the QuickStart manual, cover to cover, and
take notes. It's not exactly scintillating prose, but stay with it. You'll be
much happier later; I'd bet a good beer there is not an
application for which not reading the documentation can cause more problems.
04-09. I'm getting message ANRXXXXX from the TSM server. What does it
mean?
>From the administrative command line, type
help anrxxxxx
and read the message. You can also look up the message in the TSM Messages
manual.
04-10. I'm getting message ANSXXXXX from the TSM client. What does it
mean?
>From the client command line, type
help
Navigate through the menus to find information about the message. You can also
look up the message in the TSM Messages manual.
04-11. My large-scale restores are slow. How can I speed them up?
1) Use collocated tape pools. (Just the primary pools, not the copy pools.)
2) Use a disk-based directory management class.
3) Upgrade to TSM server 5.1 to take advantage of multithreaded restores and
MOVE NODEDATA.
4) Check your network settings to make sure that you're getting maximum
bandwidth.
5) Run a restore session for each filespace, rather than one session for the
entire node.
Number 4 above is more often than not a major culprit for this problem. Make
sure that all NICs and switch ports use optimum settings. (For Cisco networks,
hard-setting the speed (100 full duplex, 10 half duplex, etc.) will usually get
you better throughput than "auto-negotiate". YMMV.)
Please note that numbers 1-3 are of no use once the need for a large-scale
restore comes up. They are preventative measures that must have been in place
for some time prior to the need to restore. See Rule #1 in answer 04-14.
6) (for Windows clients) Exclude the system objects from being backed up, run
an NTBACKUP (for the system state only) as a PRESCHEDCMD, and backup the
resultant file. A restore of a Windows client in this manner will mean that
your Windows system files will restore as one large file, rather than several
thousand little ones.
7) Perform a "no query restore". The most visible benefit of no query restore
is that data starts coming back from the server sooner than it does with
"classic" restore. With classic restore, the client queries the server for all
objects that match the restore file specification. The server sends this
information to the client, then the client sorts it so that tape mounts will be
optimized. However, the time involved in getting the information from the
server, then sorting it (before any data is actually restored), can be quite
lengthy. No query restore lets the TSM server do the work: the client sends the
restore file specification to the server, the server figures out the optimal
tape mount order, and then starts sending the restored data to the client. The
server can do this faster, and thus the time it takes to start actually
restoring data is reduced. In either case, for a given restore, TSM will
restore the files and directories in a manner that optimizes tape mounts. If it
so happens that a file is restored before its parent directory is restored,
then the client will create the parent directory, restore the file, then
restore the parent directory when it encounters it in the restore sequence.
(Thanks to Andy R. for this one!)
04-12. How can I back up files that are normally open, like database
files?
You can use the Tivoli Data Protection agents; TDP supports most major database
formats. You can also use a third-party open file agent. You can use other
applications, like BMC's SQL-BACKTRACK, that allows TSM to multithread most
database file formats. You can temporary close the application (or instance)
that uses the file, back up the resultant cold flat file, and then restart the
application (or instance). Some database engines allow a "dump" of data to a
flat file, which can then be backed up as a normal file. Each option has its
advantages and disadvantages.
04-13. What's all this about TSM and SQL select statements?
You can write SQL select statements to query and read data from the TSM
database. (You cannot write to it with SQL.) There are some limitations (joins
are only partially supported, for example). You can get started by running HELP
SELECT from the administrative command line. You can do some pretty neat things
with SQL statements; browse the mailing list for a plethora of examples, or
look at the scripts.smp file in your server subdirectory.
04-14. My boss wants disaster recovery procedures. What's the best way
to do it?
Answering this would take pages and pages, and much of it depends on your
resources and your business needs. TSM is a fine tool to include in your
disaster recovery planning, but setting it up properly for DR is a non-trivial
task. If you don't have the time to do the proper research (or don't want to),
contract or hire a professional who knows how.
Rule #1 of disaster recovery: Practice it before you have to.
Rule #2 of disaster recovery (the 6P rule): Prior planning prevents pretty poor
performance.
Rule #3 of disaster recovery: Document everthing! If a (literate) stranger
can't pick up your DR doc binder, turn to page 1, follow directions, and
perform the entire DR procedure accurately, you're not documented well enough.
04-15. *How do I get TSM to generate daily reports for me?
There is a TSM reporting tool from Tivoli. It's pretty spiffy. It has both a
daily report and an hourly monitor, it is highly configurable, it can publish
its reports in several formats (including popups!), and IT'S FREE! The file is
called TSMCON5220_WIN.exe (which should be installed on your monitoring
console, not the TSM server). You have to be running TSM server version 5.2.2.0
(or higher), and it can be found at
ftp://service.boulder.ibm.com/storage/tivoli-storage-management/maintenance/server/v5r2/WIN/LATEST
04-16. Why does version X of TSM have this bad bug in it?
Yes, there are bugs in TSM. It is a large, complex, evolving piece of software
that has to work and play well with literally millions of different
combinations of client hardware and software; the big surprise is that there
are not *more* bugs in it. If you run across a bug (or a perceived bug), post
it to the list, or scan the APAR list on www.ibm.com to see if it's already
been reported. To get rid of the bug, upgrade TSM to a level where the bug has
been fixed.
04-17. Why does my copy pool tape reclamation runs so slowly?
If tape space reclamation tries to move files for which copies exist in a
cached diskpool, the algorithm that TSM uses for file access will pull the file
from the diskpool rather than the tapepool. This situation causes reclamation
to run *very* *slowly*. One workaround is to turn off caching for the diskpool.
Another is to perform a periodic MOVE DATA from disk pool volumes to primary
tape pool, to flush the cache. Note: supposedly, the most up-to-date server
patches alleviate this problem greatly. YMMV.
04-18. I keep getting these "server out of license compliance" messages.
Why?
You are using more of a particular type of client than your TSM server is
licensed to handle. Run a QUERY LICENSE to get a list of what you're licensed
for and what you're actually using. TSM runs on an honor system; it will
continue to run even if you're out of compliance. Be a good doo-bee; purchase
those extra licenses from Tivoli and look at the HELP REG LIC response from the
administrative command line (or the Administrator's Reference).
04-19. My scheduled backups fail (or are incomplete), but my manual ones
work fine. Why?
This almost always occurs in Windows clients, and it's always a Windows
permissions problem. By default, the TSM scheduler runs as a service with
System account privileges. Also, by default, all Windows files are
read/writeable by System; however, there are a few Windows admins (and
applications) out there that remove System privileges from files. When a
scheduled backup tries to backup such files, it fails. When a manual backup is
run, the permissions of the account that is logged on are used, rather than the
System account. The real solution is reset all files to have System read/write
privileges. If that's not possible, you need to alter the scheduler service so
as to use a logon ID with sufficient privileges to
access to all files that you want backed up. Remember that if that logon ID
changes passwords, you're going to have to update the service properties to
reflect the new password.
04-20. While backleveling my TSM client from 4.2.1 to 4.1.3, I get a
"downlevel" message and no backup. Why?
When a node backs up data to a TSM server, the level of TSM client being used
is recorded as part of the node definition. When you backlevel the client (say,
from 4.2.1 to 4.1.3), TSM won't allow it to happen because it thinks you should
be using a more recent version of the client, which may have features not
available in the older version. The fix is to call TSM support and have them
step you through the process to fix the node definition. This fix is
potentially dangerous to the database, which is why it's not distributed on the
mailing list (or described here).
04-21. *Why do I get an "ANR1440I All drives in use. Process being
preempted by higher priority operation" message when my
tape operation stops running?
TSM has an internal list of priorities it keeps for various administrative
events and client operations. Restores are at the top of the priority list
(obviously), client backups are at the bottom, and all the other fall in
between. When a process needs a tape drive, and they're all busy, TSM will
preempt lower-priority processes until enough drives are freed up to fulfill
the higher-priority process. For details, look in the Administrator's Guide
under "Preemption of Client or Server Operations".
04-22. I've deleted all data from a tape volume, but it hasn't come back
as a scratch tape. Why?
Check the DELAY PERIOD FOR VOLUME REUSE parameter for the storage pool the tape
belonged to.
04-23. What is this ANR9999D error message. I don't understand it.
ANR9999D is the catchall error that (usually) indicates a problem with
low-level issues. See Richard Sim's entry on ANR9999D at
http://people.bu.edu/rbs/ADSM.QuickFacts for more details.
04-24. *I'm upgrading my TSM server/client from version X.X to version Y.Y.
Any known problems?
Read the Quickstart manual for the version you're upgrading to. (See subsection
3 under answer 03-02 for the location.) Also, there should be readme files,
either in the new base media or in the subdirectory where you downloaded the
maintenance level or patch. (There's a reason why the file is called "readme".)
Also, check the TSM manual for the version and release you're working within
for upgrade instructions. The procedures, basically, is:
1) Do a fresh full db backup of the TSM server (in case you have to fall back).
2) Follow the procedures in the Quickstart manual and/or readme files.
Also, see the answer to 04-35 below.
04-25. How do I restore one server's data onto another server?
On the target server, run
dsmc -virtualnodename=<nodename_of_source_server>
You'll have to authenticate the source server's nodename and password. Now you
can restore data onto the new server, provided that the OSs involved are the
same. In other words, you can't restore data from a NetWare machine to a
Windows machine.
04-26. Will my new tape library <brandX> work with TSM?
http://www-3.ibm.com/software/sysmgmt/products/support/IBM_TSM_Supported_Devices_for_AIXHPSUNWIN.html
shows all supported devices. You can look for yours here. If it's not listed,
it *could* work just fine; however, Tivoli will not support it.
04-27. My Windows client backs up the same 3,000 files or so every day.
Why?
Your client is backing up its Windows system objects, most of which are the
.exe and .dll files from the \winnt\system32 folder. Unless you exclude system
objects, they're going to get backed up every time you back up the Windows box.
Warning: if you exclude system objects, the Windows registry will not be saved.
See item #6 in answer 04-11 for an alternative to backing up system objects.
04-28. I'm moving TSM to a new physical server. What's the best way
to do that?
There are several ways to do it. Here is one that many people get good results
with:
1) Install TSM on the new box/get the library set up/etc.
2) Point all the clients at the IP address for the new server by use of the
client option file.
3) Use the new server for backups, and the old server for restores only.
(You'll have to change the IP address of the TSM server in the option file for
any client that needs a restore done. Don't forget to change it back when
you're done.)
4) Let the data on the old server expire away for a period of time. When the
old data expires down to a point to where you can stand it, use EXPORT NODE on
a server-to-server connection to move the data across to the new box. Believe
me, this is a lot easier than trying to export all of your old server's data to
the new box all at once. A lot.
04-29. How do I back up my NetWare NDS license files?
You can't, and you wouldn't want to anyway, because in the case of a restore
you'd have to reinstall the app that placed the license file in NDS in the
first place. You can exclude the license files by using
EXCLUDE "NDS:*License ID*"
in your NetWare client's exclusion list; this allows you to avoid the annoying
"can't back this file up" messages you'll get otherwise.
04-30. What's all this fuss about "cleanup backupgroups"?
If you used TSM server versions 4.1.x or 4.2.1.x, you most likely encountered a
bug in the server code that caused the system objects in your Windows clients'
backups to not expire properly. An upgrade to
4.2.3.x or 5.1.5.x fixes the bug, but you have to run
cleanup backupgroups
to rid yourself of unwanted versions of the system objects. This subject has
been talked to death in the mailing list; go to http://search.adsm.org to
review the details.
04-31. I'm trying to include some files for backups, but it's not
working. Why?
If you have an EXCLUDE.DIR line in your include/excluse list, it will override
all INCLUDE lines, no matter what the line placement is.
04-32. Can I put TSM db and log volumes on raw devices?
Yes. On AIX, there may be some performance enhancement, due to the fact that
JFS won't log the changes.
04-33. Why is my client backup {taking so long|running so
slowly|sluggish}?
See "Backup taking too long" from http://people.bu.edu/rbs/ADSM.QuickFacts.
[Thanks to Richard Sims for this one.]
04-34. I have a tape volume that Q CONTENT says is empty,
but I can't delete the volume. Why?
You've got a discrepency between the TSM database and what is actually stored
on the tape; the volume is most likely empty, but the database doesn't realize
it. Run an AUDIT VOLUME <volume_name> fix=yes; that'll take care of it.
04-35 I'm upgrading my TSM server from version x.x.x.x to
y.y.y.y. What's the best way to do it?
After taking a substantial poll of postings from the last six months, it
doesn't appear that there *is* any best way to do it. When you go from one
major version to the next (i.e., from 4.2.2 to 5.1.0), you'd best have base
media with you, since license file formats generally change from one set of
base media to the next higher version. We have reports of success (and failure)
for upgrades from one patchlevel to the next patchlevel, and from as far back
as version 3.1.x to version 5.1.6.x. As always, read the documentation
accompanying the upgrade code *first*. (See the answer to 04-24 above.)
04-36 TSM is asking me to "convert" my archives? Why?
>From the HELP CONVERT ARCHIVE message:
"Use this command to improve the efficiency of a command line or API client
query of archive files and directories using the description option.
Previously, an API client could not perform an efficient query at all and a
Version 3.1 or later command line client could perform such a query only if the
node had signed onto the server from a GUI at least once. Perform this
conversion only once for each node."
04-37 What kind/how many/what configuration should I set up for
database disks/volumes/RAIDs?
There is no conclusive "best" ways to set up the TSM db and its volumes, other
than the common-sense ones:
1) the more spindles, the better
2) the faster the disk rpm, the better
3) RAIDs are a wash in the long run, because they all have a penalty on either
reads or writes
04-38 How do I move/resize my database/recovery log?
There are several steps involved in this: 1) define dbvol/logvol for your new
volumes; 2) extend the db/log by the amount of volumes you've added; 3) run Q
LOGV/DBV F=D and document how large your old logv/dbv volumes are; 4) reduce
db/log by that amount; and 5) delete the unwanted dbv/logv.
Notice that the actual files still exist, even though TSM does not use them
anymore. You will need to delete the volumes at the OS level.
04-39 I'm moving my TSM server from operating system <BrandX>
to operating system <BrandY>. Can I just move my
database volumes from one machine to another? Why
not?
This will not work, and it is certainly not supported. The reasons lie
partially with the bigendian/littleendian issues that different operating
systems use to structure their filesystems. The only supported way to move your
TSM server between dissimilar operating systems is to run an export/import
process, and that could take a very long time dending upon the amount of data
being moved.
04-40 *My library is out of space. What's wrong with TSM?
(From Wanda Prather, with a tip 'o the hat) I'm not sure this is an issue of
TSM design. If your libraries are out of capacity in terms of SLOTS, rather
than throughput, you just have "too much" data. That either means you are
1) not compressing the data as much as you can
2) backing up things you don't need to
3) keeping data longer/more copies than you need to
4) really in need of additional library space
5) not running expiration
6) not reclaiming often enough
For #1, it's a matter of checking to make sure that your drives do have
compression turned on. If you can't compress at the drive level, turn it on at
the client level. For #2 through 4, I don't know any magic/automatic way of
figuring it out. Here's what I do:
dsmadmc -id=xxxxx -password=yyyyyyy -commadelimited "select CURRENT_DATE as
DATE,'SPACEAUDIT',node_name as node,
backup_mb,backup_copy_mb,archive_mb,archive_copy_mb from auditocc"
Suck that into a spreadsheet and look to see which clients are taking up the
most space on the server side. Then go look in detail at the management classes
and exclude lists associated with the "hoggish" clients, and see what you can
find out about the copies they are keeping. Are you keeping copies of
EVERYTHING on the client for a zillion versions, rather than just the important
data files?
(for Win2K) Are you keeping more copies of the SYSTEM OBJECT than would likely
be used?
Look at their dsmsched.log files and see what is actually being backed up.
Be suspicious of TDP clients not deleteing copies they are supposed to. (For
example, if they are supposedly keeping 10 versions of a 10 GB database, but
the SELECT shows 500 GB on the server, there's something wrong.) If it's
user/group space, are there lots of .mp3 files? (exclude 'em with a
clientoptionset). Make sure you aren't backing up TEMP directories etc..
I run the query monthly and save the data so that I can compare from one month
to the next. That tells me which clients are GROWING the fastest. Those are
the ones to attack. With luck, you will find some things that you can do that
will extend your library life a while. Maybe not. But at least you will be
able to tell your management WHY you are running out of space. Check your
dsmaccnt.log accounting log. Pull the backup/archive data from it, create a
daily summary of how much data was backed up/archived, and graph it using your
favorite spreadsheet. See if there is an upward trend...
04-41 *What's the difference between a TSM database backup and a
TSM database snapshot?
(from Mark Rodriguez) DBSNAPSHOT - should be used for your DR backups of the
DB. They should be to a tape and taken offsite with your DR tapes. DBSNAPSHOT
is effectively a full backup of the DB, but it does not involve the LOG in any
way. Therefore, it can only be used for a PIT (point in time) restore. Also,
please note that a DBSNAPSHOT does not reset the LOG like a DBB (full or
incremental) does if the LOG is set to ROLLFORWARD. This makes it perfect for a
DR type restore since in a disaster you would expect that the LOG would be
lost. Please note if you are using DRM then you should update your scheduled
Prepare command to include "Prepare Source=DBSnapshot" so that it manages the
correct tapes for you.
DBBACKUP (full and incremental) - should be kept onsite for rapid DB recovery
including restore to the most recent time using a ROLLFORWARD log. I prefer to
do these DBB to a device of type FILE. This allows for much faster backups and
restores. Also, if you use DEFine DBBackuptrigger you can set your triggered
backups to go to the same device of type FILE which means in a triggered event
your DBB will take place much faster and a rapidly growing DB would be less
likely to trigger the DB spacetrigger.
04-42 *How can I change the retention time for an archive I've
already created?
Just change the retention rule for the management class under which the archive
was originally created. All files are updated with the new rule.
05-01. I have a Tivoli ID and an IBM.com registered ID. Which one do I use
for problem submission?
If your company has NOT been migrated to a Passport Advantage agreement, you
can use your Tivoli ID to logon to ESR. To reach entitled data on IBM.com, you
would continue to use your IBM.com ID. Once you are migrated to a Passport
Advantage agreement and customer number, your IBM.com ID will work for both
areas.
05-02. The top of every web page has a search bar in a blue field and
4 links in black. When these are used, I leave the Tivoli
content areas, why?
The top blue field area, is used exclusively for searching the web page tags
across the entire IBM web site. The links in black are references for all IBM
segments, not just software products. When using only the software support
function, use only the links below the top 10% of the page or the black and
blue fields.
05-03 Does Tivoli have a Support home page and where is it?
Yes, We have created a Support Home page, on IBM.com. It can be found at
http://www-3.ibm.com/software/sysmgmt/products/support/. Many of the features
available from Tivoli.com/support, are selectable in the left and right
navigation areas. For example, the 'Library' link, replaces the Tivoli
Information Center.
05-04 How do I use the Search capabilities on IBM.com?
For an overview of the Search system, you can reference the Search site tour
at:
http://www-3.ibm.com/software/support/viewlet/swsearch/sw_search1_viewlet_swf.html
Once a search has been run, a count of the records is found listed in the dark
blue bar, just above the records found. To further isolate to the information
needed, additional keywords, using the categories, or types of support features
from the search results page, will reduce the list of records found.
05-05 Where can I find Product Downloads?
On each product page under the self help section, a link will be found if
downloads for that product exist. Once this is selected, further isolation
can be done using the search results page features. Downloads are also
searchable from the IBM Software Support page, using the center column
"Downloads" link under the Support Search bar. Once the results list for
downloads is displayed, you can use isolation features that will limit hits to
only a certain Operating System, or only to the application at a certain
version / release level.
05-06 Are FAQ's documented online?
A: We have received a number of questions about 'How to find' or 'How to use'
content or features on the new support location. To help provide a available
reference for these questions, Tivoli is maintaining a Support Site FAQ page .
This link is
http://www-3.ibm.com/software/sysmgmt/products/support/Support_Site_FAQ.html
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