ABS FAQs


General Responses

  1. Who are the contact persons for TSM at the LRZ?

    Please direct inquiries to the central LRZ-Servicedesk. Templates are also available there, with which you can easily make frequently occurring requests (e.g. delete nodes, grant delete permission).

  2. How big should the files I put into TSM be?

    In principle TSM allows arbitrary file sizes. In practice, a certain minimum size is recommended, at least for archiving (for backup, you have little influence on the file sizes). Ideally, the files should be larger than a few hundred kilobytes. Archiving a few hundred files smaller than 100 KB is also no problem. Only in the case of larger quantities of small files should these be packed beforehand in tar format or as a ZIP file.

  3. How long will my data be kept?

    The values specified here are the default settings set by the LRZ. With the command "dsmc q mgmt -det" you can display the corresponding parameters yourself. Basically you have to distinguish between archived and backed up data. The retention period is also described in the TSM guidelines.
    For archive data the rule is simple: they are kept at the LRZ for 10 years by default (parameter: Retain Version).
    For backup data the matter is more complicated: In total up to 3 versions of each file are kept at the LRZ (Parameter: Versions Data Exists). The inactive versions of a file are deleted after 6 months (Parameter: Retain Extra Versions, Retain Only Version), active versions are never deleted.
    If you have other requirements, please contact the LRZ contact persons by formulating your request in an Incident in the LRZ-Servicedesk-Portal.

  4. How can I make sure that the scheduler is always running?

    Under Unix by automatic startup when booting the workstation either by including the start command (see above) in an rc file or the entry in the file "/etc/inittab":

    TSM::once:/usr/TSM/dsmc sched > /dev/null 2>&1

    See also subchapters 5.1.1.6, 5.1.1.7 and section 10.f of the TSM Best Practice Guide (PDF).
    Under Windows, the corresponding service is configured to start automatically when the computer is rebooted.

  5. Does my IP address have to be registered at the LRZ?

    Since a connection to the TSM server always starts from the client, the server, i.e. the LRZ, does not need to know an IP address for the registration.

  6. Why do you need the command "dsmadmc"?

    Not at all as a normal user. With their help the server is administrated. If you have little space on your computer, you can also delete these commands or not install the corresponding packages (TSM Administrative Client).

  7. Is archiving the same as backup?

    In chapter 2.1 of the TSM Best Practice Guide (PDF) the terms are explained and in subchapter 2.1.5 the differences between archives and backup are explained.

  8. What happens to symbolic links?

    The symbolic links are handled differently in Archive and Backup.
    The processing type is controlled by one variable each, which you can define in dsm.opt or on the command line.
    In the case of Archive the variable is called ARCHSYMLINKASFILE, in the case of Backup the variable is called FOLLOWSYMBOLIC. Please refer to the manufacturer documentation of your client for the exact description of the variables.
    The default settings of the two above mentioned variables of the TSM client are chosen as follows:
    During backup symbolic links are not resolved. If the file is restored, a symbolic link is created again, which points to the same file path as before. It is not possible to follow a symbolic link to a directory to search for a file within TSM.

    During archiving symbolic links are resolved. So an archive file is created with the path name the symbolic link had and the content the file had at the time of archiving to which the link points. You can use this specifically to give the archive file a certain name, but it can also prove disadvantageous if a file had several names and it is no longer known under which one it was archived. In the special case that an invalid link (target not (anymore) available) is archived, TSM only saves the corresponding link.

    In both cases this handling of symbolic links can cause files to seem to have disappeared without a trace when they are searched under a different name than they were created under. During backup, which is usually done automatically and regularly, the "correct" name is always the one that does not contain a link; during archiving, on the other hand, the name that was actually used during the archiving process.

  9. Is a file space the same as a file system?

    The term file space in TSM is related to the OS term mounted file system.

    In many cases a mounted filesystem or more precisely a mount point to which a filesystem is mounted is mapped to a file space.

    However, the attributes of a file space also include the type of the file system.

    Therefore e.g. a locally mounted filesystem /fs and a filesystem /fs mounted via network (NFS) with the same data will be stored in two different file spaces.

    TSM divides the set of files stored for a node into file spaces which are managed completely separate from each other. The option "subdir=yes" does not mean the addition of all subdirectories, but only those which are in the same file space. The boundaries of the file spaces are initially determined by the configuration of the file systems on the source computers (on Unix systems, for example, by the boundaries of the file systems, under Windows by the drives). Each client administrator can create new boundaries and thus new file spaces by defining so-called virtual mount points.

    So you have to be aware that for TSM the world ends at the file space boundary. Therefore you can't usually get information about all your files by searching for "/*" using "-subdir=yes"; rather you have to do this search for each File Space separately.

    An exotic but more insidious problem occurs when files end up in the wrong file space, such as the following:

    a. The file space "/a" is set up.

    b. The file "/a/b/c" is archived and ends up in the file space "/a".

    c. The file space "/a/b" is created.

    d. The file "/a/b/c" is searched for in the file space "/a/b" and consequently not found. In this case

    should have been explicitly searched for "{/a/}b/c".

    To track such problems you need a list of file spaces, which you can get with the command "dsmc q filespace".


  10. How must the access rights be set under Unix?

    Unless the installation procedure itself already takes care of correct access rights, the following settings are recommended: 755 or rwxr-xr-x for directories and executables, 644 or rw-r--r-- otherwise). The only exception is the dsmtca file. It must be owned by root and must be provided with an s-bit (for example, by the mask 4755 or rwsr-xr-x).

  11. What does the message client is down level mean?

    This error message appears only with older TSM client versions.

  12. How can I change the password for my node and what characters can it consist of?

    The password can be changed using the graphical user interface (GUI) via Utilities → Change password or using the "dsmc set password" command.

    The password must be between 8 characters and 63 characters long, case-insensitive.
    It may consist of the following characters:
    letters a - z
    digits 0 - 9
    Special characters + (plus), . (dot), _ (underscore), - (hyphen) and & (ampersand).

  13. Can I access a TSM node from different operating systems?

    Yes and No. For some UNIX variants this would be technically possible, but expensive to implement. But this is generally not recommended, because an OS flag is set for each TSM node in the internal TSM database and may be overwritten by another OS, so that the access to the node is blocked and a manual access to the TSM database is necessary. The side effects in such a case are obvious and data loss is hardly avoidable. Especially dangerous is the access from Windows to UNIX nodes.
    See also section 10.b of the TSM Best Practice Guide (PDF).


  14. Is it possible to store or transfer the files encrypted with TSM?

    In section 10.f of the TSM Best Practice Guide (PDF) the setup of the encryption at the TSM client and its verification is explained.

  15. Where are all these "dsmerror.log" files coming from in many of my directories?

    The TSM Unix client prints error messages to "stderr" and writes them to a file named "dsmerror.log" written in the current directory.  To ensure that this file is always stored in the same location, set the variable "DSM_LOG", e.g.

    DSM_LOG=$HOME; export DSM_LOG (Bourne-Shell)

    or

    setenv DSM_LOG $HOME (C-Shell)

  16. How can I check when my archive data expires?

    Query via the Unix Bash

    1. Method (output the directories that expire on a given day/month/year).

    With dsmc q fi display the filespaces of your node, then for each filespace:
    dsmc q ar "<FILESPACE>/*" -subdir=yes -Quiet |sed 's/+\//g'|awk -F' ' '{ print $5" "$6}' |grep <expiration date> 

    The expiration date can be year, month.year or day.month.year. 
    Example with filespace /lrz/dat/* and expiration date 7.2022:
    dsmc q ar "/lrz/dat/*" -subdir=yes -Quiet |sed 's/+\///g'|awk -F' ' '{ print $5" "$6}' |grep 07.2022

    outputs that the following directories will expire in July 2022:

    /lrz/dat/TSM 07/10/2022
    /lrz/dat/TSM/Script 07/10/2022
    /lrz/dat/TSM/Script/6.2 10.07.2022
    /lrz/dat/TSM/Script/6.2/check-homeelem-foribmTS3500-2-rzg.sh 10.07.2022
    /lrz/dat/TSM/Script/6.2/check-homeelem-foribmTS3500-2-rzg.sh 10.07.2022
    /lrz/dat/TSM/Script/6.2/check-homeelem-foribmTS3500-2-rzg.sh 10.07.2022

    2. Method (output of directories that have been archived in a given period)

    Attention: Please note that the expiration time is 10 years (current date - 10 years)

    Using 'dsmc q fi' display the filespaces of your node, then for each filespace:
    dsmc q ar "<FILESPACE>/*" -subdir=yes -Quiet yes -fromdate=<FROMDATE> -todate=<TODATE>

    Example for /lrz/dat/ ,FROMDATE =09.07.2010 TODATE=09.07.2012
    dsmc q ar "/lrz/dat*" -subdir=yes -Quiet -fromdate=09.07.2010 -todate=09.07.2012

    Query via the TSM GUI for Windows and Unix
      
    1. start TSM Client 
    2. click on Retrieve or Actions -> Retrieve Package
    3. click on Edit -> Find
    4. tick Date, then tick Files Archived
    5. select the desired date, but keep in mind that you have to calculate back 10 years (expiration time).
    6. click on Search and the filespaces will be displayed

  17. How many files and what amount of data can I store in a node?

    A maximum of 10 million files or 20TB should be stored in a node. You can check how many files or what amount of files are stored in your nodes in DATWeb under Occupancy.

    The reason for this restriction is the very fast increase of the recovery time when exceeding these thresholds: Up to 10 million files or 20TB in one node the recovery is performant. From 30 million files or 100TB in a node, full-scale recovery becomes barely feasible.

    Split your backups/archives into multiple nodes if the number of files or amount of data is too large.

    For further questions about splitting the data into multiple nodes please contact our service desk

  18. Do I need an Oracle JAVA license to use IBM Spectrum Protect?
    No, you do not need an additional license as long as the included Java products are not used to develop other programs or applications.

    In detail:
    - IBM Java Runtime Environment is used under AIX and Windows. You still have the right to use these Java technology components at no additional cost under the terms of the IBM product license. 
    - All other platforms use Oracle Java. Here, IBM has a comprehensive agreement with Oracle that grants IBM the right to bundle Java technology with IBM products. Oracle's commercial pricing does not affect the IBM customer using Java products under the IBM product license. It is not necessary to contact Oracle to license or support Java products.

    IBM's exact wording can be found at https://developer.ibm.com/javasdk/support/commercial-licensing/.

Configuration Responses

  1. As an administrator, how can I control where the schedule log file is created?

    Under Unix by an entry in "dsm.sys", under Windows in "dsm.opt", e.g:

    schedlogname /tmp/dsmsched.log

    The scheduler must be restarted to notice the change.

  2. How can I limit the size of the schedule log file?

    Under Unix by an entry in "dsm.sys", under Windows in "dsm.opt", e.g:

    schedlogretention 14 [S]

    This line limits the entries in the schedlog to the last 14 days. By the additional specification "S" in the line the deleted entries are written to "dsmsched.pru".

  3. As an administrator, how can I control who can use TSM?

    Under Unix by an entry in "dsm.sys", under Windows in "dsm.opt", e.g:

    users maier mueller schneider

    the access to TSM will be restricted to the users "maier", "mueller" and "schneider". Analog to this you can also enter groups, see manual.
    If such an entry is missing, every user of the workstation can use TSM for his files.

  4. How can I specify the file systems/drives to be backed up?

    By explicitly specifying the mountpoints/drives in the call, e.g.

    dsmc incremental -domain="/ /usr /home"

    or better by an entry in  "dsm.opt":

    domain / /usr /home

    Without this information all local file systems without "/tmp"secured. The same applies to the drives and directories under Windows.

  5. How can I exclude individual files or subdirectories from the backup?

    By an entry in the file "inclexcl", e.g.

    exclude /unix

    In the file "dsm.sys" is specified, where the file "inclexcl" is located.
    Under Windows the entries are directly in the file "dsm.opt". See also online manual.

  6. Can I put the configuration files in a separate directory under Unix?

    To increase clarity, the Unix administrator can place all configuration files in a separate directory, such as /usr/local/adsm/etc. In the installation directory only symbolic links remain, like this:

    # mkdir -p /usr/local/adsm/etc

    # cd "Inst-dir"

    # ln -s /usr/local/adsm/etc .etc

    # mv dsm.sys /usr/local/adsm/etc

    # mv dsm.opt /usr/local/adsm/etc

    # ln -s .etc/dsm.sys dsm.sys

     # ln -s .etc/dsm.opt dsm.opt

  7. How can I access a node other than the default node?

    Linux:

    To access another node, the following lines should be added to the dsm.sys file:

    defaultserver        < Server name of the default node >   # Should be in the first line of dsm.sys.
servername           < Freely selectable but unique name >
tcpserveraddress     < Name of the TSM server, which manages the node >
tcpport              < TSM server port >
nodename             < Name of the node >

    On systems with a dsm.opt file, the following line should be added to the file:

    servername           < Server name of the default node >

    With the command "dsmc -se=< Server name of the non-default node >" you can then access the other node.


  8. How can I run a TSM client on a UNIX system which is not installed into the default directory?

    If you can't install your TSM client in the default directory for some reason, do the following to use the client: Assuming the TSM client was installed under /usr/slocal/tsmclient/ you have to set the following environment variables.

    DSM_CONFIG=/usr/slocal/tsmclient/ba/bin/dsm.opt
BIN_DIR=/usr/slocal/tsmclient/ba/bin/
DSM_DIR=/usr/slocal/tsmclient/ba/bin/
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/slocal/tsmclient/ba/bin/:/usr/slocal/tsmclient/lib/:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

    Alternatively to exporting the LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable you can configure your system to automatically search for shared libraries in the corresponding paths (e.g. ld.so.conf under Linux). If the LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable is not set automatically when starting a shell, the TSM programs may not work properly (especially if they are called by an unprivileged user). In this case either the system has to be configured to set the LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable automatically when starting a new shell or at least the path /usr/slocal/tsmclient/lib/ has to be configured as shared library directory (ld.so.conf or equivalent mechanisms).


  9. What do I have to do so that files with umlauts in their names can be correctly backed up under Unix/Linux?

    In subchapter 5.1.1.1 of the  TSM Best Practice Guide (PDF) the necessary configuration steps are explained. 

  10. I forgot on which TSM server my node was registered. What do I do now?

    Log in to DATWeb with your TSM administrator ID.
     Click Nodes Occupancy in the left column under Menu. You will then see a table showing for each of your nodes the server on which it has been registered and how much archive or backup data is stored. 

  11. I forgot on which TCP port the TSM server on which my node was registered is listening. What do I do now?

    Log in to DATWeb with your TSM administrator ID.
    In the left column under Your Nodes, double-click the node name from which you need the access data. In the server settings area, the Tcp server address and the Tcp port are displayed.

  12. How do I change the TSM server address on Windows, Linux or MAC?

    1. Possibility (not for MAC!): Change the entry TCPSERVERADDRESS in the TSM configuration file. This step must be done for each node individually.

    To update the TSM server address, you have to change the entry behind TCPSERVERADDRESS in the TSM configuration file dsm.opt (Windows) or dsm.sys (Linux).

    You find the path to the configuration file

    under Windows here:C:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\baclient
    under Linux     here:/opt/tivoli/tsm/client/ba/bin

    Example - Change S99.lrz-muenchen.de from to S88.abs.lrz.de:
    TCPSERVERADDRESS S99.lrz-muenchen.de
    TCPPORT 8099

    2.  Possibility (for MAC, Windows and Linux): Change the TSM server address via the graphical user interface of TSM.

    For that please start TSM Tools for Administrators (MAC) or the Backup-Archive - GUI (Windows/Linux) and then click Edit -> Preferences -> Communication.
    Now you can enter the new TSM server address under SERVER ADDRESS and only have to confirm with Apply and OK.

    Attention! If your backup starts automatically, you have to restart the TSM service.

    Windows: 
    Go to Start -> Control Panel -> Search for Services -> Show Local Services -> Select your TSM scheduler service -> Right click -> Restart.

    Linux:
    Open console -> enter cd /etc/init.d -> dsmcad stop -> dsmcad start

    MAC:
    Start     TSM Tools for Administrators -> TSM Client Acceptor stop -> TSM Client Acceptor start

  13. What changes to the node configuration can be made via DATWeb?

    You can change the following settings via DATWeb:

    1. Set or delete a deputy for one or more nodes (Aux. account).

    2. Sending an email to the admin/deputy indicating the status of the automatic backup of the node (Backup emails)

      • never

      • daily

      • only if the scheduler did not run successfully

    3. Setting a new node password in case you forget it. This requires entering the new password twice identically. This operation also resets the SSL parameter. 

  14. To make these changes, proceed as follows:

    • Log in to DATWeb with the identifier that manages the node

    • Double click on the node you want to change on the left under "Your Nodes"

    • Then click on "Change Node Details" in the upper right corner of the screen 

    • Enter the new values in the appropriate fields 

    • Click on "Submit" or on "Change Password" to confirm the change.

    Hints:

    • The password change will be activated about 15 -20 minutes later. 

    • The password can only be changed if the node is not active, i.e. if there is no connection to the TSM server. Otherwise the password will be changed only after the connection is terminated.

    • The time of the last password change can be found via "Query Details from TSM Server" in the line "Password Set Date/Time:".
    • PLEASE NOTE: Choose secure passwords and handle them carefully. Whoever gets hold of the password will have access to all your saved/archived data!

 Error messages, errors Responses 

  1. What does this error message mean: "ANS4503E Valid password not available for server ..."?

    The access to a TSM server is always password protected, but in some cases the end user is not even aware of it, because the password is encrypted in a file at his computer. Now the above error message occurs if this file is missing or contains a wrong password. As an end user you cannot do anything in this case; you inform your local administrator about the error. The local administrator can store the password again. This is done by a simple connection to the server, e.g. by a

    dsmc query mgmt

  2. What to do in case of "ANS4219E NODENAME cannot match the HostName"?

    This message appears if you have an entry of the type "nodename xyz" in the "dsm.opt" file, where "xyz" is the host name. If the node name is the same as the host name, such an entry in "dsm.opt" is not only not necessary, it also leads to the above error message and must therefore be removed.

  3. Why do I not see any or not all files stored in TSM?

    A wide variety of causes are possible for this. The most common are:

      • An archived file is searched as a backup file or vice versa.

      • The file has been saved, often by using a symbolic link, under a different name than the one under which it is searched.

      • The file is located in a different "file space".

      • The file is quite visible, but not in the small window on the left of the graphical user interface, but further to the right in the hidden part.

      • If several nodes are installed on the machine, it is also possible that you have established a connection under the wrong node. This case occurs mainly when several nodes are used from one machine. This configuration is relatively rare on the institute's own computers, so you should first rule out other possible errors before looking in this direction.

      • The worst case: everything is correct. The file was never backed up or archived, or the file copy was deleted.

  4. Why do I not see network drives under Windows 7/8 in the TSM client?

    If you are using a Windows operating system and want to backup your network drives, you have to disable the user account control. TSM needs extended permissions to backup network drives. TSM gets these permissions only if the user account control is deactivated. If the user account control is activated, it can happen that the network drives are not displayed in TSM.