Tivoli Storage Manager AFS/DFS Backup Clients


Using the DFS Fileset Backup Agent

The DFS fileset backup agent performs as an interface program between the DFS fileset backup system and a TSM server. The DFS fileset backup system consists of the following commands:

bak
bakserver
butc

The TSM agent program, BackUp To TSM (buta), is a replacement for the BackUp Tape Coordinator (butc), the tape interface program of the fileset backup system. The DFS buta program is an interface between the DFS backup commands and a TSM server, and backs up and restores DFS data by fileset. DFS buta accomplishes these tasks by using TSM application program interface (API) function calls. DFS buta sends send each full or incremental fileset dump to a TSM server through the API.

The fileset dump files are stored in TSM storage. The files are named with the dump ID string. A TSM administrator can delete a DFS backup dump from TSM storage by deleting the file space in which it is stored. Using the DFS bak command deletes a DFS backup dump from TSM storage and from the DFS backup database. TSM provides a utility program with buta, called delbuta. This utility program simultaneously deletes the unwanted old dumps from both the DFS backup database and the TSM server.

To improve the performance of backup operations, you can start multiple instances of buta at one time, running on the same machine and on different machines.

If your TSM server is on AIX, run only one buta instance if you have a small cell, or a busy network between file servers and the TSM server. You can also run one buta instance on each file server machine sequentially, permitting only one buta instance at a time to back up its local filesets to TSM.

Run one buta instance on every file server if you have a large cell and a dedicated network between file servers and TSM. Running only one buta instance permits you to finish the full dumps within the time window permitted. You can perform a large number of buta dumps simultaneously. The ideal number of concurrent dumps depends on the configurations of your network and machines.

Important:All instances of buta running on one or more machines must use the same TSM node name and password.

For information about DFS file backups, see The DFS File Backup Clients.

Note:System administrators should become familiar with the DFS fileset backup system. The buta program is used as a part of that system, and it performs like a special version of butc. For more information, refer to the chapters on "Backup Configuration" and "Backup and Restoring Data" in the IBM Distributed Computing Environment 2.1 for AIX: DFS Administration Guide and Reference.

Setting Up the DFS Fileset Backup Agent

Getting started with the DFS fileset backup agent requires the following setup procedures.

Installation

Install the TSM API and the buta program on selected machines. This becomes a buta machine.

For install procedures, see TSM Installing the Clients.

Note:The selected machines must have the DCE client installed.

The current version of the buta program, buta.dfs21, is installed in the /var/dce/dfs/buta directory. All references to buta in this book refer to this current version. If you prefer, you can rename this program to buta.

TSM Buta Client Configuration

Follow the steps below to define TSM environment variables and options.

  1. Specify the client system options file (dsm.sys), the client user options file (dsm.opt), and the API error log file (dsierror.log). Use the dsm_config, dsm_dir ,and dsm_log environment variables to perform these backups. See Table 10 for examples of how to specify these files.

    If you do not define these environment variables, ensure that the default paths are correct.

    Note:The default paths for dsm_config and dsm_dir are different for different versions of the TSM API. To determine the default locations, see the Readme file for the API version you are using.
  2. Optionally, specify the central logging file if you want all buta instances to log a summary information line to a centrally located file after each backup and restore command.

    Each buta instance creates a separate log file. If you want the summary of all dumps and restore operations from all buta instances in one file, you can use the centrallog option to point to that file. If all your buta instances are running on the same machine, you can specify a JFS file. Specify an NFS file with the centrallog option for a summary of all buta instances in one file. Use this option if you are running buta instances on different machines.

  3. Optionally, specify the delbuta options file (delbuta.opt) that you want to use to specify delbuta options. If you do not define this variable, delbuta will look for this file in the /var/dce/dfs/buta directory.

    Table 10. How to Specify the Options Files

    Variable What it does Example
    dsmi_config Points to the client user options file (dsm.opt).
    export dsmi_config=/var/dce
    /dfs/buta/dsm.opt
    

    dsmi_dir Points to the directory that contains the client system options file (dsm.sys).
    export dsmi_dir=/var/dce/dfs/buta
    

    dsmi_log Points to the directory that contains the API error log file (dsierror.log).
    export dsmi_log=/var/dce/dfs/buta
    

    centrallog Points to a UFS or NFS central log file where a summary line is logged for each dump or restore from all buta instances.
    centrallog=/var/dce/dfs/buta/butalogs
    

    delbuta_config Points to the delbuta options file (delbuta.opt).
    export delbuta_config=/var/dce
    /dfs/delbuta.opt
    

    Note:Do not place a slash (/) at the end of the directory path.
  4. Set the tapeprompt option to no, and the compressalways option to yes in the client user options (dsm.opt) file. For example:
       servername        seaside
       tapeprompt        no
       compressalways    yes
    
  5. Set the passwordaccess option to prompt in the client system options (dsm.sys) file.
  6. Set the compression option to yes in the client system options (dsm.sys) file if you want to compress data before sending it to a TSM server. For example, the contents of /usr/dfs/buta/dsm.sys:
       servername          seaside
       tcpport             1500
       tcpserveraddress    seaside.almaden.ibm.com
       passwordaccess      prompt
       compression         yes
    
  7. To ensure that language support works correctly, create a symbolic link to the message catalog directory in the dsmi_dir directory. For example, if your dsmi_dir environment variable equals /var/dce/dfs/buta, create the following symbolic link:
       /var/dce/dfs/buta/en_US -> /usr/lpp/adsm/bin/en_US
    

DCE Configurations

Follow the steps below to configure your machines either for a client-only machine, or for all machines.

Steps Required for a Client-Only Machine

If your buta machine is configured as a DCE client, you must perform the steps listed in the section entitled, "Steps Required for Client-Only Machines". This section is from the chapter on configuring a tape coordinator machine located in the IBM Distributed Computing Environment for AIX 2.1: DFS Administration Guide and Reference.

Verify that these directories were created as a part of the buta installation rather than /var/dce/dfs/backup (buta does not need this backup directory).

     /var/dce/dfs
     /var/dce/dfs/buta

Steps Required for All Machines

Perform the following steps to configure any machine as a buta machine.

Important:Follow the procedures listed in this section rather than the section in the IBM Distributed Computing Environment 2.1 for AIX: DFS Administration Guide and Reference.

If the machine you want to configure is a DCE client machine but not a DFS server machine, perform all of the steps discussed in Steps Required for a Client-Only Machine before you perform the steps here.

If the machine is configured as a DFS server machine, you do not need to perform the steps listed in Steps Required for a Client-Only Machine.

  1. Ensure that the DFS bak command is available on the local machine. The bak command should be in the /opt/dcelocal/bin directory.
  2. Enter the bos lsadmin command to verify that the individuals who are to use the backup system are included in the appropriate administrative lists and that you are included in the admin.bak list. This lets you enter the bak addhost command.
  3. To add someone to a list, enter the bos addadmin command.
  4. Enter the bos status command to verify that the bakserver process is running on the backup database machines of the cell.
  5. Enter the bak addhost command to create an entry in the backup database for each buta instance, defining its tcID:
       $ bak addhost -tapehost <machine> -tcid <tc_number>
    

    The machine name is the buta machine above, and the tc_number is the same as the tc_number used when you started buta.

    Note:You can add multiple buta instances on the same machine.

TSM Administration

Follow these steps to perform TSM administration tasks.

  1. Ensure the environment variables dsm_config, dsm_dir and dsm_log (or dsmg_config, dsmg_dir and dsm_log for the graphical administrative user interface) are set appropriately, or the defaults are acceptable.
  2. Register a buta node name (for example, dfsback) with a TSM server using this dsmadmc command:
       register node <node name> <passwd> backdelete=yes
    
    Note:Register only one buta node name for all buta instances. The same node name and password should be used for all instances of buta. The node name you select should be different from any of your machine names.
  3. Assign your buta node to a TSM policy domain containing a policy set and a management class with a backup copy group appropriate for your buta needs. This can be the default policy domain.

    A backup copy group contains an attribute specifying the destination for your DFS backup dumps. You can have your DFS backup dumps stored in a storage pool separate from other backups. Your TSM administrator must define a backup copy group specifying that storage pool in the active policy set of the policy domain to which your buta node is assigned.

Start the buta Program

To start the buta program on a buta machine, do the following:

  1. Perform a dce_login as a privileged administrator (for example, cell_admin).
  2. Enter this buta command:
    buta -tcid <tc_number> -node <node name> -password <node password> \
         -server <server name>
    

    Where the node name and password were registered with a TSM server in "TSM Administration". The server name is the server stanza name from the dsm.sys file rather than a network host name.

Backup Commands

You can now use DFS backup commands as usual, specifying a port offset number you defined for each buta command that you enter.

Backup Commands That Are Not SUpported

The following DFS backup commands are not supported by fileset backup:

backup labeltape
backup readlabel
backup restoredb
backup savedb
backup scantape
backup setexp
Note:For instructions on how to install TSM programs, update options files, and register a client node, see Tivoli Storage Manager Installing the Clients.

Using the Buta Command

The buta command starts a buta process on a buta machine.

Enter the buta command over a connection to a buta machine. You must open a separate connection for each buta instance.

If you run buta in the foreground, the connection on which you enter the command is not available for subsequent commands. The buta program uses the connection as a dedicated monitoring connection/window on which to display trace information or prompts. The monitoring connection/window must remain open as long as buta is running. To stop buta, enter an interrupt signal, such as Ctrl-C, in the monitoring window.

If you run buta in the background, use the -alwaysomit parameter to prevent prompting for options if a fileset fails to dump.

The buta command writes output to the following two files on the local disk of the buta machine:

/var/dce/dfs/buta/TL.tcID
A log file that contains information about the processing of operations. For example, when you enter the bak dump command, the log file the names of filesets that are dumped successfully. The log file also names filesets that are omitted from the dump.

/var/dce/dfs/buta/TE.tcID
An error log file that contains information about any problems encountered during the processing of operations.

For example, when you enter the bak dump command, the error log file lists only the names of the filesets omitted from the dump.

The tcID parameter is the tape coordinator number of the associated buta instance.

The buta command appends information to the log file each time you enter the command. It also appends information to the error log file whenever it encounters a problem. Check the log files periodically to ensure that dumps and restores are completing successfully.

Optionally, buta appends summary information to a centrally located file each time you enter a backup dump or restore command. The buta command appends the summary log to the file that is pointed by the centrallog option.

Syntax

>>-buta---+-----------------------+---+--------------------+---->
          '--tcid coordinator ID--'   '--debuglevel 0 | 1--'
 
>-----+------------------+----node TSM node name---------------->
      '--cell cell name--'
 
>-----+--password TSM password-------+-------------------------->
      '--pipe TSM password file name-'
 
>-----+--------------------------+------------------------------>
      '--server TSM server name--'
 
>-----+---------------------------------------+----------------->
      '--mgmtclass TSM management class name--'
 
>-----+------------------------------+---+----------+----------->
      '--buffersize TSM buffer size--'   '--nodots--'
 
>-----+-----------------------------+---+--------------+-------->
      '--maxpass number of retries--'   '--alwaysomit--'
 
>-----+-----------+---+------------+---+--------+--------------><
      '--lastlog--'   '--group id--'   '--help--'
 
Note:The -node option and either the -password or -pipe-option, are required.

Parameters

-tcid coordinator id
Specifies the tape coordinator id associated with the buta instance you want to start. The issuer of backup commands uses this number when indicating that this buta instance is to execute a command. Legal values are numbers 0 through 1023. A bak addhost command must be entered first to register the -tcid, hostid pair in the backup database. The hostid is the name of the machine where the buta command is entered.

-debuglevel 0 | 1
Determines the amount of information buta displays as the output. The values are 0 and 1, with an increasing amount of debugging information provided. The default value is 0.

-cell cell name
The cell against which you want the buta instance to run. You must authenticate to the specified cell before using this argument. The default is the local cell of the machine on which the buta instance is run.

The specified buta communicates with the backup server in the indicated cell. It manipulates data only in the specified cell. An entry must be defined for buta in the backup database of the specified cell. The entry must define a unique port offset number for the buta in that cell.

-node TSM node name
Specifies the TSM node name that is used by the buta program.

-password TSM password
Specifies the password of the TSM node. Use the -password or -pipe parameter to provide the password. If you use both, the -password parameter overrides the -pipe parameter.

-pipe TSM password file name
Reads the password for the TSM client node from the specified file.

-server TSM server name
The TSM server to which you want to send backup dumps. The TSM server name should be a stanza name from the dsm.sys file rather than a network host name. The default is the default server that is specified in the dsm.sys file.

This parameter is required for all buta command invocations if you use multiple TSM servers for buta backup. If you do not use this command parameter, you might not be able to restore the backups properly.

It is recommended that you always use this parameter even if you are not using multiple TSM servers. This prevents you from encountering any restore problems if you later decide to use multiple TSM servers.

-mgmtclass TSM management class name
The name of the TSM management class to bind with the dump files. A management class contains an attribute that specifies the destination storage pool to use for the dump.

-buffersize TSM buffer size
The size of the TSM buffer that is used to collect DFS fileset dump data from DFS fileset servers. Specify the size in kilobytes. The default buffer size is 128 Kbytes.

-nodots
Prevents the dump progress indicator dots from being printed. By default, the buta command prints one dot (.) each time a full buffer is dumped to the TSM server.

-maxpass number of retries
The number of automatic retries for dumping a fileset before prompting for one of these options:
Retry
Omit the fileset
End the dump

-alwaysomit
Prevents prompting for options after the last automatic retry for each fileset that failed to dump. Always omit failed filesets.

-lastlog
Specifies that buta uses separate error and log files for the last pass. Normal file names end with .lp. For example, TL.0.lp is the name of the last-pass log file for tape coordinator 0, and TE.1.lp is the name of the last-pass error file for tape coordinator 1.

-group id
Associates a number of dumps to a specific dump group. This lets you exclude specific groups or dumps from deletion.

-help
Prints the online help for this command. Do not use any other arguments or flags with this argument.

Examples

Table 11. Examples of Tasks and Commands

Task Command
Start an instance of buta with tape coordinator ID 99. buta -tcid 99 -node dfsback -password secret1
Start an instance of buta with tape coordinator id 0 and send the backup dump to a server named jaguar. buta -node dfsback -password secret1 -server jaguar

Using delbuta to Delete Backup Dumps

Delete a DFS backup dump by deleting the file space in which it is stored. A TSM administrator with the appropriate authority can delete a file space from within a TSM administrative client session.

A DFS backup dump is deleted from TSM storage and from the DFS backup database. Use a DFS bak command to delete a backup dump from the DFS backup database .

Use the delbuta command to delete a DFS backup dump from both TSM storage and the DFS backup database. To use that command, you must have the appropriate authority to delete file spaces from TSM storage, and you must hold DFS administrative credentials.

Before you use the delbuta command, update the delbuta.opt file. The buta program and the delbuta.opt file are in the same directory. Both the DFS bak commands and the administrative client must be available on the same machine.


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