TSM Interview Question and Answers by IBM Noida

Below are some of the latest IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Interview Questions asked by IBM Noida team for L2 and L3 Level TSM administrator positions. we have tried to answer most of the questions, I recommend you to also to prepare your own answers from IBM redbooks. Each Interview went for about an hour with 30-40 questions to each person. I am only posting 25 questions here, please follow my next posts for more question and answers.....

L2 & L3 Level TSM Interview Question and Answers:

1. What is the diff b/w notmountable and voultretrive DRM process ?
notmountable:- the tapes will be onsite and are not used for any onsite  operationsor process.
voultretrive:- this volumes  are in offsite and does not contain any valid data.

2. What does it mean by the Error code or return codes 4 & 12 in schedules ?
The return codes can be seen in the dsmsched.log.
rc    0 :- the schedule is completed.
error 4 :- the schedule completed with some files skipped
error 8 :- the schedule completed with some warnings
error 12 :- the schedule stopped without completion

3. Backupset configuration and restore in gui & cmd ?
        Go through backupset confiuration steps in TSM Admin Guide
restore backupset <scourcefile> <destinationfile> backups=<backupsetname>

4. How to check OS level errors in AIX ?
# errpt -a,
        # /var/log/messages, 
     In Windows  --- go to event viewer

 5. How to check server to server communication in tsm ?
ping server <servername>

6. How to check OS  version in AIX ?
oslevel or  uname -a

7. How to define Server to server comunication ?
def server <servername> serverpa=<pass> hla=192.168.20.63  lla=1500 crossdef=yes

Also Read: Tape Library related Interview Questions

8. How to check the total storage space client occupied in TSM?
q fi nodename

9. what is Tapeutility ?
It is a library diagnostic tool to perform all kind of operations on tape library (update firm ware, drive maintenance, cleaning, moving volumes from one slot to another slot).

10. How to do Caterage/drive cleaning ?
clean drive <libname> <drivename>

11. What is the DRM process ?
1. backup db
        2. backup stg <pristg> <copystg>
        3. backup volhistory.out, devconfig.out, dsmserv.opt, dsmserv.dsk files
        4. Run prepare command  
        5. Move DR Media to offsite/onsite --- move drmedia mountable to vault, valul tretrive to onsite retrive

12. Define admin schedules ?
def sch <sch.name> t=admin cmd="<any admin command>" active=yes/no startd= startt= 

13. what are TSM server tuning parameters ?
    
 Server tuning parameters:
txngroupmax:- Specifies the number of files transferred as a group between commit points,default 4096. (server and client )
bufpoolsize:- The database buffer pool provides cache storage, which allows database pages to remain in memory for longer periods of time.(1/8 to 1/2 of RAM),default-32MB
maxsessions:- specifies the maximum number of simultaneous client sessions that can connect to the server. default 25
tcpnodelay :- allows the data packets less than MTU(max transmission unit)size to be sent immediately,(with out nagle algorithm)
tcpwindowsize:- The TCPWindowsize option specifies the amount of receive data in Kilobytes that can be in-transit at one time on a TCP/IP connection.default 63kb in win 64kb in aix
movebatchsize/movesizeth :-This option specifies the number of files that are to be moved and grouped together in a batch, within the same server transaction. The default value for MOVEBatchsize is 40 and the maximum value is 1000. The default value for MOVESizethresh is 500 and the maximum value is 2048.(server operation)
      
Client tuning parameters:
MEMORYEFFICIENTBACKUP :- TSM backs up one directory at a time, by default TSM backup all directories at a time which is memory intensive.
RESOURCEUTILIZATION :- Regulate the number of sessions that the client can communicate with the server during process.
tcpnodelay :- allows the data packets less than MTU(max transmission unit)size to be sent immediately,(with out nagle algorithm)
tcpwindowsize:- The TCPWindowsize option specifies the amount of receive data in Kilobytes that can be in-transit at one time on a TCP/IP connection.default 63kb in win 64kb in aix
txnbytelimit:- The txnbytelimit option specifies the number of kbs the client program buffers before it sends a transaction to the server. default 25600, range is 300 - 2 GB.
14. What is the Label command ?
label libvol <libr.name> search=bulk/yes labelsource=barcode/prompt/vollist, checkin=scratch overwrite=no/yes vollist= (vol1,vol2| -file=<filename>)
15. If you give search=yes/bulk what is difference ?
yes:- it labels the tapes inside the library
bulk:- it labels the tapes in the  i/o slot
16. Explain tdp oracle Configuration ?
  Go through document

17. Why you audit library and give command ?
-> to resolve the inconsistency b/w tsm db inventory and physical library
->  audit lib <libr. name>

18. How to create  disk volume ?
def vol stgname volname f=1024mb

19. How to increase stgpool size ?
increase maxscr parameter for sequential stgpools and create more volumes for disk stgpools.

20.How to find out incl and excl files in TSM Server ?
    q node nodename f=d ----  will give you the particualr optionset name assigned to the node and then run 
q cloptset clientoptionsetname --- will give you the contents of that specific option set.


21. TSM server installation in AIX ?
      Go through TSM Server Installation steps in TSM Installation guide in AIX document.

22.How to configuration tdp exchange ?
Go through TDP Exchange document.

22. How to take Backup and restoration in tdpsql and exchange ?
tdpsqlc backup <dbname> <full,log,group,file,set>
tdpexcc backup <dbname> <full, Incremental>

23. How to stop expiration process ?
in dsmserv.opt file  set expireintervel 0  OR
Cancel Expiration
24. How to see all running processes in AIX ?
ps -ef ------- all processes
ps -ef | grep -i dsm ------ tsm server process 

25. How to kill process in AIX ?
kill -9 <process number>

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