Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) Frequently asked Questions - Part 1


1) WHAT IS YOUR DAILY ACTIVITES?

1.       Health Check of tsm servers which  includes DB, LOG, STGPOOL Utilization, Scratch count.

2.       Checking DB backup status, if it is not completed for the day then we will take Manual DB backup

3.       Troubleshooting Missed/Failed Backpus  based upon Priority.

4.       Decommionsed & Registering Node if any needed.

5.       Checking admin tasks process are running properly are not.

6.       If any new restore request, working on it.

7.       Sending Daily status report to senior Managers on Daily Basis.

8.       Co-coordinating with Onsite people related to Libarary Issue and for a change request.



2) TSM LICENCING?

·         Tsmbasic.lic ----for basic version

·         Tsmee.lic-----for extended edition

·         Dataret.lic---for data retention version



3)HOW MANY TIMES YOU WILL TAKE DB BACKUP IN YOUR ORGANIZATION?

We Have a Admin Schedule Where It will take Backup of DB Once in a day.

DEF SCHEDULE DBBACKUP CMD=”BACKUP DB DEVC=FILEDEV1 TYPE=FULL” PERIOD=1 DURATION=24 DURUNITS=HOURS ACTIVE=YES PRIORITY=1”

Ba Db devc=devclassname t=full wait=no



4) WHAT TYPES OF TAPES YOU ARE USING?

LTO1---100--------200---15Mbps

LTO2---200--------400---30 Mbps

LTO3---400--------800----80 Mbps

LTO4---800--------1600---120 Mbps



5) How Can U Find What Type Of Tape U R Using?

Q libv library nameàfor ex: LTO 3



6) HOW CAN U DELETE THE DB BACKUP TAPES?

Delete volhistory type=DB backup begind=-6   endd=-2



7) HOW U CHECK THE FAILED AND MISSED BACKUP INFORMATION?

Q Event * * Exception=yes+++

Q Event *  *type=admin-------It display only admin schedules



8) WHAT WE HAVE TO DO IF CLIENT BACKUP IS FAILED OR MISSED?



First take the node name and query it in TSM Server by q  n nodename f=d, Here you wil find the ip address, then based upon the OS login in to the client system,  check dsmerror.log and dsmsched.log

Based upon

 the error trouble shoot it



9) HOW CAN WE CHECK TSM SCHEDULAR IS RUNNING OR NOT IN UNIX?

Ps – ef  | Grep  Dsmcsched

            To start the services in UNIX Flavors

sudo /opt/tivoli/tsm/client/ba/bin/dsmc sched > /dev/null 2>&1

sudo nohup dsmc schedule 2 > /dev/null &

sudo /opt/tivoli/tsm/client/ba/bin/dsmc sched -quiet &

sudo dsmc -optfile=/opt/tivoli/tsm/client/ba/bin/dsm.opt



10) HOW CAN U LOG IN TO THAT PARTICULAR NODE WITH OUT KNOWING THE IPADDRESS?

By Using the cmd i.e  Q NODE NODENAME F=D

It will display the Tsm Name---Host name of the system

It will display the Tsm address----Ipaddress of the system

Still if you not able find the ip address, you will be having internal tool to check the hostname and ipaddress.

Also Read: 200+ TSM Interview Question & Answers to crack any interview



11) SERVER CONFIGURATION FILES?

dsmserv.opt, dsmserv.dsk, devconfig.out, volhist.out

DSMSERVE.OPT: All the server configuration Information (Protocol detail, bufffersize, log pool size, Volhistpath, devconfig path)        

DSMSERV.DSK:All db,log volumes paths

DEVCONFIG.OUT:All device configuration information like device class, drives configuration info.

VOLHIST.OUT: All sequential volumes information.



12)CLIENT CONFIGURATION FILES?



DSM.OPT---windows and DSM.SYS for Unix

NODENAME *CLINET_ SERVER_NAME*

TCPSERVERADDRESS *TSM_SERVER_NAME

TCPCLIENTPORT 1500

PASSWORDACCESS GENERATE

ERRORLOGRETENTION 15D

SCHEDLOGRETENTION 15D

SCHEDMODE PROMPTED

SCHEDMODE POLLING

DSM.OPT----    Only server name will be there (UNIX)

DSMSCHED.LOG----Scheduled Information will be there

DSMERR.LOG----Error related logs will be Displayed



14) Backup Failure problems on Windows servers



1 Server out of data storage space

2 System Object error1

3 Snap shot operation failure       

4 TCP/IP error

5 Microsoft Volume shadow copy failed

6 Authentication failure

7 Removing previous system state backup failed

8 Communication with TSM server lost

9 O.S refused memory allocation



15) Backup Failure problems on UNIX servers



1.       File not found

2.       Directory path not found

3.       Invalid password

4.       TCP/IP issue

5.       Server out of data storage space

6.       Incremental processing on file system stopped



16) Backup Missed.

1.       Duration window.

2.       Service hung.

3.       Server down.

4.       Network problems.

5.       Backup data being huge.

6.       Backup status:



Definations :



Successful: Successful backups are those where all files are backed up. Ex 100 out of 100.



Partial: Partial backups are results of successful backups but not all files are backed up. There will be a difference between processed files for backup and actual backup.



Failed: Failed backups are those that are results of backup that are unable to backup certain file or failed during backup.



Missed: Missed backups are those that did not start during the specified duration window.



17) what is reclamation? Which tape is eligible for reclamation?

reclamation is the process of moving the un expired data from  fragmented  tapes to another tapes which are in filling state.  The tape that shows full state , but the pct utilization low, then the tape is eligiligible for reclamation based on the reclamation threshold.



18) RETURN CODES AFTER SCHEDULING?

0---àOperation completed successfully

4---à operation completed successfully except with one or more skipped files

8---à operation completed with one or more warning message object

12--àOperation failed with one or more error messages



19) EVENT MESSAGE FORMATING?

AN[R S E] ------------àR---Server------- S---Client     E---Event

àI Information, W Warning, E-Error, S Severe

                                

20) TO CHECK THE SERVER INSTALLATION HAS COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY?

Windows------INITSERV.LOG

AIX------INSTALL.TRACE





21) PASSWORDACCESS GENERATE?

Tsm client password is encrypted and stores in a file on the client. If a client receives that password

Has expired from the tsm server then client generates a new password

NOTE: password dir is a option in the b/a client to specify the location of the encrypted password file

But win32 systems are having exception that the encrypted password stores in the registry



22) TIPS & HINTS FOR LIBRARIES, DRIVES AND DEVICE DRIVERS PROBLEMS?

1.       Has the o/s changed

2.       Has the host bus adaptor Or scsi adapter connecting to the device updated or replaced

3.       Has the adopter  firmware changed

4.       Has the cabling between the computer and device changed

5.       Are any of the cable connections loose

6.       Has a device driver changed



23) when the drive is offline the what u will do?

try to make it online using update drive command

Update drive libraryname  drivename  online=yes.

Still it’s not coming to online then do power cycling means power on/off.

 I have mentioned some of the issues I have faced in my environment. I hope this will be little useful...

1. Drive was in unavailable state

The drive was not in online. means we are not able to access the drive.

Action followed:

> We make the Drive to offline from TSM server.

> We recycled the drive (Power Off and ON)

> Did a cleaning for that drive.

> Then Drive was working but the library was still showing the error message in the log.

> Then we rebooted the Library once to delete the error log message the inventory

24) what situations migration will fail?

there no scratch volumes in subordinate storage pool

There is no mount points available in the library.

There is no destination storage pool.

25) what are the tapes you are using?

LTO 1, LTO 2, LTO 3, LTO 4, LTO 5.

26) what is the library model  u r using?

3584 , type scsi

27) how to define a library?

define libray libraryname  librarytype shared=yes/no  

Search=no means server check in the named volumes

Yes: server searches the library for volumes that are to be checked in.

Bulk: server searches for the library I/o ports  that are checked automatically.

28) how can u do the migration manually ?

migrate  stg  stgname  lowmig=%

Update stg stgname nextstg=stgname

29) how to define a path for library?

define path sourcename  destinationname sourcetype= server  destinationtype =library device=devicename

30) how to define drive?

define drive libraryname drivename  online=yes/no.

Also Read: Frequently used AIX Commands


31) how to define drive path?

define path sourcename destination name sourcetype=server  destination type=drive library=libraryname device=device name.

32) process to implement the tsm server?

fist define stg

Def policy set

Def mgmt class

Define copy group

Register the node in tsm server and assign that node to domain.

33) how to configure the ba/ client?

in  dsm .opt we have to configer server ip address                     

Communication method,tcpipport,node name ,password access generate.

34) how to check in library?

checkin libvol libraryname volume name  search=no/yes /bulk  status=private/scratch checklabel=yes

35) how to checkout from library?

checkout libvol libraryname volumename  remove=yes/no/bulk.

36) Label a volume?

label libvol libraryname volumename checkin=scratch labelsource=barcode  checklabel=yes/barcoede  search=yes/no/bulk

36) how to define device class?

define deviceclass deviceclassname  devicetype=file directory=  path  maxcapacity=  ..mb(if it is a file device class)

37) what will u do when recovery log utilization reaches to high?

if there is any space available then extend the log size  then take the db backup

If the space is not available then go for show logpin for which session is pinning the recoverylog,

And cancel that session using   cancel session session no.

38) what is pinning ?

Which session increases the recovery log utilization .

39) how to take the backup of tdpsql?

tdpsqlc backup database name  full/inc/log

40) how to change the tdpsql password?

tdpsqlc  changetsmpassword  currentpassword    new password  confirm pass word.

Also Read: Understanding Management Class Binding and Management Class Rebinding


41) how to audit library?

audit library libraryname checklabel=barcode.

42) Audit volume?

audit volume volumename fix=yes/no

43) how to take the back up of the database?

backup db deviceclass=devcnamw type=full/inc/snapshot

44) how can u check the schedule status?

q event * *

45) how can u check the last two days missed schedules ?

q event * * exception=yes    begind=-2

46) how can u check the administrative schedule status?

q event * type=admin

47) parameters in  q status f=d


48) what will u do when the library is full ?

first check  all the DR volumes are checked out from the library or not

Using   q drmedia  *  where state=mountable.

Check out all the primary storage tapes to make room empty for scratch tapes.

Verify  that all volumes have space to be reclaimed

Are reclaimed and use move data command to move the data manually.

It’s the time to buy a new library.

49) what will u do when the drives are offline?

when the drives are offline then update the drive and drive path

Update drive  libraryname  drive name

Update path sourcename destinationname sourcetype=server destinationtype=drive library=libraryname  online=yes

50) what will u do when the recovery log becomes full ?

when the recovery log is full you may not able to start the server, define additional log volume  using dsmfmt.then u can start the server.

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