31 August 2013

IBM AIX High Availability Cluster Multiprocessing HACMP Interview Questions


This post has latest (August 2013) interview questions asked on IBM AIX High Availability Cluster Multiprocessing (HACMP) concepts and some of the scenario based interview questions asked on IBM HACMP. Hope it helps for someone...... All The Best

IBM HACMP Interview Questions :

  1. What is the active-active cluster?
  2. What are the policies in Hacmp?
  3. In your cluster what are you using for fallback policy?
  4. cluster goes into barrier state ?how will u troubleshoot? 
  5. RG goes into error state is not going to move ? how will u troubleshoot?
  6. what is cluster ST_INIT ?
  7. what is cluster ST_VOTING?
  8. What are the RG policies? 
  9. What is the startup policy? 
  10. What is the fall over policy?
  11. Waht is HACMP
  12. Policy in HACMP
  13. If the RG is in Error what you will do. How will you trouble shoot it
  14. How to flush the service IP

IBM HACMP Scenario Based Interview Questions :

  1. What is the significance of persistent ip in the HACMP cluster and Which version you are using in HACMP cluster?
  2. I have 2 node cluster, one of the node in cluster  is down then Parsistent ip in that node is pingable or not?
  3. I have 2 node cluster, one of my node is down then serviceip is pingable or not and it is accessible or not?
  4.  have four node cluster,  one of my base ip is down in accessible  node,  then the service ip is accessible or not, if it is accessible from where it is accessible?
  5. In the above scenario the entire network is  down then what is the scenario ?
  6. In HACMP cluster DMS, when it will happen?
  7. HACMP up gradation?
  8. How to do offline with snapshot migration
  9. When try to Synchronize in hacmp i got error after i rectify that again ill try to Synchronize that is also error
  10. how to rollback to my pervious configuration?? Without snapshot
  11. In cluster sync is failed and I don’t have latest samp image of it how will u recover it?
  12. Cluster vg is locked how will unlock it?
  13. Some one done changes in cluster with out using c_spoc like chfs command what you are going to do and how will u recover it?
  14. What is the minimum seconds of heart beat interval? 
  15. Two node cluster environment. The cluster status is unmanaged stat. This situation one node is failure what will happen?
  16. In Hacmp the node is working fine, Did some changes in cluster and synchronize it but it was fails and i dont have previous snapshot, How do you get back to normal or previous configuration. 
  17. In Hacmp synchronization fails but it was locked with synchronization how to release the lock.

29 August 2013

How to fix or troubleshoot TSM Atape device drivers issues in AIX operating system

Follow these below steps for upgrading the Atape device driver in AIX, including reconfiguring the devices in AIX, upgrading Atape, and deleting and redefining the tape paths, drives, and library in Tivoli Storage Manager.

Troubleshooting Atape device drivers in TSM

Step 1

From Tivoli Storage Manager, Save the output from the device queries, and save the current device configuration (the filename is optional):

query library 
query drive f=d 
query path f=d 
query devclass f=d 
backup devconfig [ filename=devconfig.bak ]

Step 2

From AIX, 

List the tape devices:
lsdev -Cc tape

Remove the drive and library device names:
rmdev -dl <dev#>

For example, if the drive device name is /dev/rmt1:
rmdev -dl rmt1

Step 3

Upgrade Atape, Ftp the Atape driver in binary mode from IBM FIXCentral:

http://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/ 

Remove the older Atape driver (optional):
installp -u Atape.driver

Install and commit the Atape driver. For example, if you downloaded the file to /tmp/Atape.9.3.5.0.bin:
installp -acXd /tmp/Atape.9.3.5.0.bin all

Configure the tape device:
cfgmgr -v
(-v is not required but will show where it hangs if it does) 

Verify the new devices are Available:
lsdev -Cc tape 

While not always absolutely necessary, it is strongly recommended to reboot the system after upgrading the Atape.driver.

Step 4

From Tivoli Storage Manager, While it is recommended to remove and redefine the paths after any hardware change, including upgrading Atape.driver, sometimes it is not necessary to do anything else after upgrading Atape. If the activity log reports I/O errors for the library or drives, sometimes it is only necessary to force the Tivoli Storage Manager server to communicate with the drives to resolve them:

update path <server> <driver> srctype=server desttype=drive library=<libr> device=<dev#> online=yes

If this does not resolve the I/O errors, then continue with steps 5,6. 

Step 5

Delete the drive and library paths 

For each drive:
delete path <server> <drive> srctype=server desttype=drive library=<libr>

For the library:
delete path <server> <drive> srctype=server desttype=library

Step 6

Redefine the drive and library paths
define path <server> <libr> srctype=server desttype=library device=/dev/<xxx> online=yes 

define path <server> <libr> srctype=server desttype=library library=<libr> devicename=/dev/<xxx> online=yes

(Use the devconfig file backup as a guide for these definitions.) 

Conditions and limitations of using Virtual Tape Library (VTL) in Tivoli Storage Manager TSM environment

In general, a virtual tape library (VTL) is a component that emulates physical tape drives, libraries, and volumes, and that utilizes disk as the underlying storage hardware. Because VTLs emulate all the SCSI capabilities of tape hardware, VTL usage is not apparent to Tivoli Storage Manager servers, regardless of the server level or platform.


Because the underlying disk storage hardware is disk and because "drives" and "volumes" in a VTL environment are logical entities that are modified for particular environments, the differences between VTLs and physical tape libraries has significant side-effects for Tivoli Storage Manager servers in the following key areas:

Library Capacity:

The concept of "capacity" in VTLs is different than "capacity" in physical tape libraries. In a physical tape library, each volume has a defined capacity, and the library's capacity is defined in terms of the total number of volumes residing in the library. The capacity of a VTL, alternatively, is defined in terms of total available disk space. Furthermore, the number and size of volumes on disk can be increased or decreased by the user.

This variability affects what it means to "run out of space" in a VTL. For example, a volume in a VTL can run out of space before reaching its assigned capacity if the total underlying disk runs out of space. In this situation, the server can receive an abrupt end-of-volume message without any warning, resulting in backup failures. 

When out-of-space errors and backup failures occur; however, there is usually disk space available in the VTL. It is "hidden" in volumes that are not currently in use. For example, volumes that are logically deleted or returned to scratch in the Tivoli Storage Manager server are only deleted in the server database. The VTL is not notified, and the VTL maintains the full size of the volume as allocated in its capacity considerations. 

To help prevent out-of-space errors, you can use the RELABELSCRATCH parameter on the DEFINE LIBRARY and UPDATE LIBRARY commands. The RELABELSCRATCH option enables the server to overwrite the label for any volume that is deleted and to return the volume to scratch status in the library. During this operation, volumes are checked out of the library and then checked back in with an immediate LABEL LIBVOLUME command. As part of this command, OVERWRITE=YES is specified for the volume that was deleted and returned to scratch. 

The RELABELSCRATCH option was introduced in V5.5.1. Later fixes enhanced the original functionality. To take full advantage of this option, use the following server levels:
V5.5.3.0 and later, includes all fixes
V6.1.0.0 and later, includes all fixes
V6.2.0.0 and later, includes all fixes
V6.3.0.0 and later, includes all fixes

Storage pool selection: 

The number of user-defined volumes in a VTL tends to be very large compared to the number of volumes in physical tape libraries. Furthermore, the capacity of VTL volumes is often logically modified to be smaller than the capacity of physical tape volumes. These characteristics do not cause any general backup or restore problems. However, they can create some undesired side effects for performance in environments that combine VTL storage pools and physical tape storage pools.

When selecting storage pools to restore or to retrieve data, the server evaluates the number of volumes required for the operation and selects the storage pool with the fewest volumes. A VTL that is set up with small logical volumes often has data that is spread out over more volumes than the data in a physical tape library. As a result, the server selects the physical tape storage pool, which has fewer volumes, rather than the faster VTL storage pool. 

To force the server to ignore the number of volumes when selecting a storage pool to restore or to retrieve data, use the IGNORENUMVOLSCHECK option .


The IGNORENUMVOLSCHECK option is available with the following server levels:
V5.5.4.2 and later
V6.1.3.2 and later
V6.2.0.0 and later
V6.3.0.0 and later

Drive selection performance:

Drive configuration in a VTL, like volume configuration in a VTL, is variable. Most VTL environments attempt to utilize as many drives as possible to maximize the number of concurrent tape operations. A single tape mount in a VTL environment is typically significantly faster than a physical tape mount. However, using a large number of drives increases the amount of time that Tivoli Storage Manager servers require to select a drive for the requested mount operation. The selection process takes longer as the number of drives defined in a single library object in the Tivoli Storage Manager server increases. Virtual tape mounts can take as long or longer than physical tape mounts depending on the number of drives in the VTL.

APAR IC66116 improved server drive-selection performance by roughly doubling the optimal number of drives in a VTL. Prior to IC66116, the general recommendation was to create libraries with about 80 - 120 drives. Some environments required more drives, but this tended to increase the overhead involved in server drive selection. If more drives were required, the recommendation was to logically partition the VTL into multiple libraries and assign each library 80 - 120 drives. 

With APAR IC66116, the recommended maximum number of drives is 150 - 250 for each library. This recommendation is based on benchmark testing at V6.1 and V6.2. The changes from this APAR apply to the V5.5.5.0, V6.1.4.0, and V6.2.1.0 servers.

http://www.ibm.com/support/entdocview.wss?uid=swg1IC66116

The V6.3 Tivoli Storage Manager server introduced a new library type, called VTL, that increases mount performance with large numbers of drives. When using this library type, there can be no mixed media within the library and a path must be defined for all the drives to all of the servers or storage agents that use the library. Given these two assumptions, the server can dramatically improve drive selection performance, such that the recommended maximum number of drives would be 300 - 500 drives per library. If the assumptions made for VTL libraries are not true, the drive selection performance will degrade to the levels of a SCSI library type as stated in the previous paragraph (128 - 256 drives). For example, a mixture of different drive types (3592 + LTO) or drive generations (LTO2 + LTO3) within the same VTL library would degrade performance. Likewise, if paths are not defined between all drives and a storage agent that used the library, drive selection performance would also degrade. For more information on the new VTL library type see Managing virtual tape libraries in the V6.3 Tivoli Storage Manager Information Center. 

Server version 6 and later benefit more from the changes in APAR IC66116 than server version 5 because some of the changes in the APAR relate specifically to DB2 performance.
The drive recommendations above are highly dependent on the environment. For example, a large number of drives can overload the bandwidth capabilities of the fibre cards in the VTL or the HBA on the host. Environmental constraints can reduce the effective number of drives that should be defined within a single library to a lower value than the recommended maximums.

27 August 2013

IBM Tivoli Storage Manager TSM interview questions by Wipro


Hello All, Below are the latest Tivoli Storage Manager Interview Questions asked by Wipro and Infosys collected from different people. Most of these questions are asked in first round only, Check again for next round questions. Please find the  answers by yourself whcih will also helps you to know more concepts.

ALL THE BEST

Latest Tivoli Storage Manager Interview Questions

  • Previous company setup?
  • Day to day Activities ?
  • Lan free configaration?
  • How to stop storageagent?
  • How to check how many time ur system is rebooted?
  • How to check client version?
  • About collocation?
  • About reclamation with reusedely parameter.?
  • Difference b/w 6.x and 5.x.?
  • How to check db and log in 6.3.?
  • How to increase the activelog archivelog.?
  • How to connect to db2.?
  • Copy group parameter and details.?
  • How to find the server deleted file.?
  • How to check route info.?
  • How to take db snapeshot backup.?
  • Difference b/w dbfull and dbsnapeshot backup.?
  • Different type of schedules.?
  • What is archive backup? when u go for archive.?
  • Difference b/w classic and enhanced scheds,defining the scheds.?
  • Labeling,checkin,checkout.?
  • Difference b/w search=bulk/yes.?
  • About status=scartch/private.?
  • Data flow in db,activelog archivelog.?
  • How to restore file and what is -pic and -ina.?
  • Tell me about ur self.?
  • How to define sched.?
  • Will the cloptset be assigned for domain level or nodelevel?
  • If i give in clopset include/exclude file in server level how the client will know those are include/exclude? 
  • Do you have any knowledge on backupset?
  • How will you find out particluar node having which backup set?
  • What are the diff b/w generate and define backupsets?
  • How will u stop the expiration and migration process manually?
  • How will you restore a system state using command line?
  • How will you take system state backup?
  •  How to check the tsm version in aix level?
  •  How to check the client version ? 
  • What is the command to take the log backup in batch file?
  • How to check the tdp oracle has successfull configured or not?
  • What it will do the tdpoconf?
  • How will you maintain your storage media?
  • How will you find out read/write errors?
  • How to check if tsm is running in aix?
  • How to start tsm server in background?
  • What is the difference b/w foreground and back ground?
  • How will u check os level errors in windows and aix?
  • Do you have any knowledge on clusters?
  • How to check the library is shared are not?
  • How will you find out whether the server is up or down in Aix level?
  • In my yester day backup how much of data has gone through lan and lanfree?
  • My tsm server is crashed what will you do?
  • What is tcpnodelay?
  • What it will show if yes or no given in tcpnodelay?
  • Tsm server is crashed, where will you check for the errors.
  • How will u restor your tsm using drm.
  • What are the drm states?
  • What is the courier retrivew state?
  • What is migration? if i gave copy stgpool as a next stgpool what will happen? we can use tape as a nextstg?
  • How will you find out particluar node activity from last 30 days?
  • What is the root directory path in linux?

Frequently used AIX commands

Below are the Important & Frequently used commands used by most of the AIX Administrators

ls                Lists files in current directory
cd                change directory
mkdir          to make a directory
rmdir           to remove directory
cp                to copy a file
rm                to remove a a file
mv                to rename a file
more            to check the file page wise
tail                 to check the bottom lines of a file
head             to check the top lines of a file
grep             to find particular format of words or format
chmod         to change the file permissions
kill                to kill a process and to stop the process
who              to check who are logged in currently
finger            to show who all are logged in
history          to show you the commmands run previously
df -gt              to list  the disk free space in Gigs
exit                 to logout frm the aix or Unix machine
topas             to check the utilisation of CPU,process which is using most resources and also                         the I\O onDisk
ifconfig -a to show you all the ipaddressess of htat server
errpt               to check the errorlog of AIX for both software and hardware
nslookup      to find out server name frm ip address and vice versa


cfgmgr                                                To check n update the database and list the hardware
lsdev -cc tape                                    To check all the tapes drives
lslpp -L  all                                          List all the softwares that are installed
lslpp -L  <software name>               To Check if the software installed
lslpp -f                                                  Lists all the file sets and packages
lslpp -ha                                              To list the history of files that have been installed
hostname                                            to get the hostname of the host you hav logged in
ifconfig -device name                      to list the network card setting  for that particular card
ifconfig devicename UP/DOWN       To change the status of the Nic card v r refering
ifconfig devicename DETACH          To remove the Nic frm the list of Nic interfaces
route -ADD/DELETE -NET/HOST Destination Gateway  to add a route between the source and Destination.


lsattr -EHI inet0                         displays the route listed in odm database
odmget -q "name=inet0" xyz Gives u the list of the details in the ODM database about the                                                                ROUTE  which is in ODM Database

uname -a                                    to show the flavour of unix,version and serial number of                                                                   themachine
lsattr -EHI inet0                        displays the route listed in odm database
lscfg -vl rmtname                      how to find the serial number of a drive
lscfg -vl fcs0 or 1 or 2              to get the wwpn name of the FC
lscfg                                            to list all the devices
lscfg -v                                         verbose for all the devices
rmdev -l devicename -d           to delete it
lsattr -l devicename -E            how to get the WWN number of a drive
mkdev -l devicename               to change the defined device to available
prtconf                                        to show all the info abt the hardware of the system
bootinfo -b                                  will tel u frm where the server has botted up
bootinfo -r                                   tell you the real memory
bootinfo -T                                  tell you the machine type
ping                                             to check the remote machine is alive or not

Most important and frequently used Tivoli Storage Manager TSM Commands

Below mentioned are the frequently used TSM Commands

Frequently used TSM Commands

TSM Script Commands

define script scriptname
update script test "cmd tat u need to run"
run script test

TSM Schedule Commands

define sched schedname t=a startd=date startt=time cmd="command that u need to run"
define sched schedname t=a startd=date startt=time cmd="run scriptname"
q eve * t=a begind=-1 endd=-0

TSM Important & Frequent Commands

define Association domname schedname nodename
define backupset nodename backupsetname devc=deviceclassname retention=no.of days description="what ever u want"
define clientaction nodenames with commas
define clientopt define clientopt clopsetname incluexclude "include "
define cloptset  define cloptset cloptsetname
define collocgroup  collocgroupname
define collocmember collocgroupname nodename
collocatebyfilespec yes in dsm.opt will also work
define copygroup domname polname mgmtclassname
define dbbackuptrigger  define dbbackuptrigger devc=devclassname logfullpct=60
define dbcopy "path to the dbvol" "path to copy vol" f=size of the vol
define dbvolume define dbvol "path to volume" f=1024
define devclass define devclass devclass devtype
define domain def domainname
define drive define drive libname drivename
define library define library library name
define logcopy  define logcopy "path to log vol" "path to copy vol" f=size
define logvolume defind logvol "path to vol" f=size
define mgmtclass domname polname mgmtname
define nodegroup
define nodegroupmember
define policyset define domname polname
define schedule def sched t=a cmd="command to run" startd=date startt=time
define schedule client def sched startd=date startt=time
define volume stg=stgname path to volume f=size
delete association domname schedname nodename

disable sessions
disable events

expire inventory
extend log extend log value
extend db  extend db value

move data move data volumename
move nodedata move nodedata nodename


register node register node nodename nodepasswd passexp=days domain=domainname userid=none
register admin register admin adminname admin passwd
               granth auth adminname classes=system
register license register license file=license file

TSM Export Commands

export admin   export admin admin name devc=devclassname volumes=volumename
export node    export node filespace=filespacename filedata=backup/archive/all fromdate=frm date todate=todate
export policy  export policy devc=deviceclassname volumename=voklumename
export server export server filedata=all,archive,bakcup,active

TSM Set Commands

set actlogretention  set actlogretention number of days
set crossdefine      set crossdefine on
set eventretention    set eventretention number of days
set invalidpwdlimit set invalidpwdlimit number of days
set logmode set logmode rollforward
set maxcmdretries  set maxcmdretries 6
set maxschedsessions set maxschedsessions 30
set passexp  set passexp 12
set randomize set randomize  12
set servername hlladdress serverpassword


Manually running the TSM admin processes

backup db t=full devc=deviceclassname
reclaim stg stgpoolname duration=duration th=threshold value
backup stg primary stg copystg
update stg stgname highmig=value lowmig=value
migrate stg stgname
expire inventory


TSM Server Health Check Commands

q log
q db
q stg
q path
q drive
q pro
q se
q mo
show logpinned
q vol access=unavailable
q vol access=readonly
q act se=ANR????E
q eve * * begind=-1 endd=-0
q eve * t=a begind=-1 endd=-0
select count(*) from libvolumes where status='Scratch'
q volhist t=dbb begind=-1
q db f=d  make sure tat is > 99 check the cache hit
SELECT volume_name  FROM volumes WHERE error_state='YES'
q dbvol

Storage Area Network (SAN) basic L1 and L2 support interview questions


Below are the Storage Area Network Basic Interview Questions


SAN Interview Questions

  • what is the difference between SAN,NAS and DAS ?
  • what is FC Protocol ?
  • what is SCSI and ISCSI ?
  • Explain Different RAID LEVELS?
  • what is FC ?
  • Explain FC layers ?
  • Explain FC topologies ?
  • what is F,N,E,G,NL,FL ports ?
  • Explain WELL KNOWN ADDRESSES ?
  • what is Principal Switch ?
  • Hardware components of Switch ?
  • Access levels of Switch ?
  • Licenses of switch ?
  • TRUNKING,ISL,ZONING of SWITCH with COMMANDS ?

26 August 2013

Latest IBM AIX scenario based interview questions


Hello All, Below are the latest AIX Interview Questions asked by IBM collected from different people. Please find the  answers by yourself instead of asking someone and mugging them up.

IBM AIX Interview Questions

  1. How will you convert the jfs filesystem to jfs2 filesystem?
  2. What procedure do you follow while migration?
  3. Nimadm consist of how many steps?
  4. What is difference between Etherchannel and link aggregation?
  5. In Ether channel one switch goes bad, what happen?
  6. In Link aggregation one adapter goes bad, what happen?
  7. Where you can find user limits?
  8. How to know Ethernet adapter is 2 port or 4 port?
  9. When user login first time what are the files should be updated?
  10. How to delete the datavg already we have a backup?
  11. What are the prerequisites for client while doing  migration by using nimadm? 
  12. While increasing the filesystem its throws an error?
  13. Normal vg creation command?
  14. What is quorum?
  15. Vg contents what like vgda?
  16. How to see the IP address of the server?
  17. If issue an ifconfig command can you see the subnetmask ?
  18. What is uid and gid?
  19. Lv name consist how many max characters?
  20. While doing ftp its not allowing more than 3GB, what might be the reason?
  21. How to change the fsize of the user?
  22. If in vg first pv is failed, if we reboot the server, it will boot or not, in case of mirrored vg?
  23. TL upgrade? 
  24. Is downtime is required to update TL? 
  25. Have you done migration in your environment? 
  26. What are the pre-cautions have to take before migration?
  27. After migration how do you know migration is successful or not?
  28. How do you know backup will work or not which was taken before migration ?
  29. Auto mount file which file read ?
  30. How to set password never expire ?
  31. How will rename your datavgname ?
  32. One file system mounted in nfs one client can read another cant write anything what is the reason ?
  33. What is the configuration file for paging device ?
  34. What is Aduit file and location ?
  35. How activate the paging.
  36. What is sysdump. 
  37. How do configure the primary dump.
  38. How you delete the sysdump.
  39. what is the meaning histsize,account_locked,rlogin attribute in /etc/security/user? 
  40. maxage=13 menas how long the the user can user the passwd?
  41. what is mean by wwpn number? how will u see that?
  42. Differnce b/w etherchannel and link aggregation? 
  43. once tl updation completed if it is not expected level means what will u do? 
  44. Diference b/w normal vg ,big vg ,scallable vg? 
  45. LVM structure? 
  46. how to create the filesystems?how will u proceed? 
  47. lv types? 
  48. You have one BIG vg..which having 1016 pv.u trying to add one more pv, is it posiible to add one more pv?
  49. How will create user?
  50. stanza for /etc/passwd?and will it contain?
  51. stanza for /etc/security/password?
  52. how will create normal vg and meny pv"s having normal vg?
  53. how meny types vg's?
  54. is it reqiuere downtime to change normal to scalable vg and what will u do?
  55. how will u see mac addres?
  56. have done TL upgradation tell me the prequisets ?
  57. how many types of lv's in aix?
  58. how types of vg in aix?
  59. how meny pv's having scalable vg?
  60. how will change pp size in vg how will do this activity?
  61. why your using dump device?
  62. How will you convert normal vg to big vg ?
  63. How will you conform a vg is normal or big vg and scalable vg?
  64. What is the significance of t-factor?
  65. How will you convert jfs type filesystem to jfs2 type filesystem?
  66. How will you unmirror rootvg?
  67. How will you reduce pv in the vg?
  68. How many types of vg’s are there?
  69. How many types of vg’s are there?
  70. what is the max filesystem size of jfs?
  71. How will you change the limits?
  72. Tell about /etc/passwd and /etc/security/passwd?
  73. How to clear the boot record of pv?
  74. How will you set the boot record?
  75. How will you see the boot bevice?
  76. How will you see the bootlist order?

AIX SCENARIO BASED QUESTIONS 

  1. Oracle 9i is running after migration from 5.3 to 6.1 application people is not able to access what is the reason?
  2. One file  with data 10GB  exits I reduced 5GB  still it has showing 7GB?
  3. There are 4 pv’s in a vg , which pv’s are got corrupted how would you conform and how will resolve this ?
  4. One PV is showing as a missing state in a vg how will you recover it?
  5. I have a pv with 1 TB (1024 GB), I want to create  a normal vg by using this pv,  how much PP size it will take, explain this scenario? 
  6. While restoring the mksysb of one server into another new server, ip address and hostname conflicts are occurred, how will you proceed?
  7. We have 4 lpars with same vlan , but sea is not configured, what will happen?
  8. How to remove 1 PV form VG consist of 10 PVs data spread over 10 PVs
  9. Oracle 9i is running after migration from 5.3 to 6.1 application people is not able to access what is the reason?
  10. One file  with data 10GB  exits I reduced 5GB  still it has showing 7GB?
  11. In NPIV 4 port adapter and one port is fails, how do replace the adapter.

24 August 2013

How to Configure tivoli storage manager TSM storage pool hierarchy - Video Tutorials

Logical storage pools and storage volumes are the principal components in the Tivoli® Storage Manager model of data storage. By manipulating the properties of these objects, you can optimize the usage of storage devices.

TSM StoragePool Hierarchy

When you configure devices so that the server can use them to store client data, you create storage pools and storage volumes. The procedures for configuring devices use the set of defaults that provides for storage pools and volumes. The defaults can work well. However, you might have specific requirements not met by the defaults. There are three common reasons to change the defaults:
  • Optimize and control storage device usage by arranging the storage hierarchy and tuning migration through the hierarchy (next storage pool, migration thresholds).
  • Reuse tape volumes through reclamation. Reuse is also related to policy and expiration.
  • Keep a client's files on a minimal number of volumes (collocation).

You can also make other adjustments to tune the server for your systems. Below video demonstrates how to set up a storage pool hierarchy with the command line and Administration center.


Visit these below links to manage storage pools efficiently in your TSM environment

What are the different types of tivoli storage manager TSM Interfaces - Video Tutorials

Install the Tivoli Storage Manager server software on the computer that manages storage devices and install the Tivoli Storage Manager client software on every workstation that transfers data to Tivoli Storage Manager server-managed storage.

Tivoli Storage Manager Interfaces

Allow approximately 30 - 45 minutes to install a Tivoli Storage Manager Version 6.3 or later server, using this guide. Allow approximately 15 - 30 minutes to install a Tivoli Storage Manager Version 6.3 or later server, using this guide.
An upgrade from V6.1.x, V6.2.x, or V6.3.x to V6.3 or later takes approximately 20 - 50 minutes. Your environment might produce different results than that obtained in the labs.
The following figure illustrates the main parts for installing a new Tivoli Storage Manager server.
The image is a graphical depiction of planning, installing, and configuring the Tivoli Storage Manager server.

To install the Tivoli® Storage Manager 6.3 or later server, you can use the graphical installation wizard, the console wizard, or the command line in silent mode.

Using the Tivoli Storage Manager installation software, you can install the following components:
  • Tivoli Storage Manager ServerTip: The Tivoli Storage Manager client application programming interface (API), the database (DB2®), and the Global Security Kit (GSKit) are automatically installed when you select the server component.
  • Tivoli Storage Manager Server Languages
  • Tivoli Storage Manager License
  • Tivoli Storage Manager Devices
  • Tivoli Storage Manager Storage Agent
After installing the server codes, the TSM server and TSM database instance needs to be configured. This below video demonstrates how to use the Configuration wizard to enable an instance of Tivoli Storage Manager 6.


Different types of TSM Interfaces

Administration Center

The Administration Center is a web-based interface for centrally configuring and managing IBM Tivoli Storage Manager servers. It provides wizards to help guide you through common configuration tasks. Properties notebooks allow you to modify settings and perform advanced management tasks.

The Administration Center is installed as an IBM Tivoli Integrated Portal component. The Tivoli Integrated Portal allows you to install components that are provided by multiple IBM applications and access them from a single interface.

Operations Center 

The IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Operations Center is a web-based user interface for monitoring your storage management environment. You can use the Operations Center to identify potential issues at a glance, manage alerts, and access the Tivoli Storage Manager command line.

The Administration Center interface is also available, but the Operations Center is the preferred monitoring interface.

command-line interfaces

Tivoli Storage Manager provides several different command-line interfaces. The interface you choose depends on the tasks that you want to perform and accessibility.

Tivoli Storage Manager provides three command-line interfaces:
  • Administrative command-line client
  • Server console
  • Administration Center command line
The administrative command-line client is a program that runs on a file server, workstation, or mainframe. It is installed as part of the Tivoli Storage Manager server installation process. With the administrative client, you can issue any server commands. In this below video use of the command line and GUI interfaces for Tivoli Storage Manager 6.4 are described and demonstrated.



Compared to the administrative client, the capabilities of the server console are limited. For example, you cannot issue certain commands from the server console, and you cannot specify that certain commands process before other commands can be issued. (This procedure can be useful if, for example, you want to run two commands in quick succession.) Furthermore, because the server console is a command-line window on the system on which the server is installed, you must be physically located at the server system to use the console. The administrative client can be accessed remotely from a different location. You cannot route commands to other servers from the server console.

The Administration Center is a Web-based, task-oriented interface for centrally configuring and managing Tivoli Storage Manager servers. The Administration Center provides a command-line interface that you can use if necessary. For example, you might want to use the command-line interface to perform Tivoli Storage Manager functions that are limited or not supported in the Administration Center. Using the command line in the Administration Center, you can issue any server commands.


Server scripts provide for automation of common administrative tasks. A macro is a file that contains one or more Tivoli Storage Manageradministrative commands. When you issue the MACRO command, the server processes all commands in the macro file in order, including commands contained in any nested macros.

Below Video Demonstrates different kinds of Query commands usefull in TSM Server.