Monday, December 10, 2012

TSM: Linux x86/x86_64 Client Requirements

IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Linux x86/x86_64 Client Requirements

For an overview of TSM Client and Server supported operating systems and platforms:

http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21243309

Link to latest Server and Client downloads:

http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21239415

Hardware and Software Requirements

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

TSM client schedule backup fails with RC=12 although backup is complete

Technote (troubleshooting)


Problem(Abstract)

A TSM client schedule may be reported as failed with a return code of 12, for example,
"ANS1512E Scheduled event 'DAILY_INCREMENTAL' failed. Return code = 12"
although the schedule backup does complete.

Cause

Working as designed

Monday, November 26, 2012

TSM: Enabling logging of TSM server service on Windows

Question

Is there any logging to check what the server is doing when starting the server as a service?

Cause

When starting the Tivoli Storage Manager server in the foreground using dsmserv command, there are logging information in the command windows to see what actions the server is taking. However, if the server is started using the Windows service, there is no logging information. This is especially helpful when debuging problems in regard to the service failing to start.

Friday, October 19, 2012

AIX: chvg -g on scalable and mirror pool VGs can fail with 0516-058 lchangevg: Not enough memory available now.

Problem summary:

Can not increase size of scalable volume group with mirror pool with 29 and more hdisks on AIX 6.1.

Problem description:

chvg -g on scalable and mirror pool VGs can fail with
# chvg -g VGName
0516-058 lchangevg: Not enough memory available now.
         Try again later
0516-732 chvg: Unable to change volume group VGName
if the VG has 29 or more hdisks

Thursday, October 11, 2012

TSM: Server doesn't start after upgrade from 6.2.3 to 6.2.4 - page corruption issue on TSMDB1

Technote (troubleshooting)

Problem(Abstract)

TSM Server doesn't start after upgrade from 6.2.3 to 6.2.4

Google does redirect of blogger sites to a country-specific URL (ccTLD)

In last days I noticed that Google redirects my blog from address radek-it.blogspot.com to radek-it.blogspot.cz.

I googled today to know the reason of doing that and here is the explanation:

http://support.google.com/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2402711

How can they do such change without noticing blog owners?
Yes, I know, it's for free but anyway I don't agree with this process and I'm considering to move blog from blogger to own web hosting with another blogging application.

TSM Client Functional Compatibility Table for versions 6.1, 6.2, 6.3

Which IBM Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) servers support and are compatible with the major new functionality in the TSM 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 clients?


Database size, database reorganization, and performance considerations for Tivoli Storage Manager Version 6 servers

Technote (troubleshooting)

Problem(Abstract)

Unexpected database growth and reduced server performance can occur over time on a Tivoli Storage Manager Version 6 server.

For more check IBM web site:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21452146&myns=swgtiv&mynp=OCSSGSG7&mync=E

How to check missing library volumes in TSM using QUERY LIBVOLUME and SHOW SLOTS

Technote (troubleshooting)

Problem(Abstract)

Missing library volumes from the QUERY LIBVOLUME output when compared with the SHOW SLOTS output.

Estimating deduplication on a TSM server database and storage pools

Determining the impact of deduplication on a Tivoli Storage Manager server database and storage pools

How can I tell how much Tivoli Storage Manager server database space is being consumed to manage my deduplicated storage pools? How much data am I saving in my deduplicated storage pools? If my server continues to manage more and more data, how much growth can I expect within my database? This document addresses these questions from a cost-benefit angle. 


For information go to IBM web site:
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21596944



Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Resolving errors with the Ultrium tape drives



This article lists error codes that can appear on the single-character display (SCD) of the Ultrium tape drives and describes each error.

Tape Alert flags supported by the Ultrium tape drives

This table lists the Tape Alert Flags that are supported by the Ultrium tape drives.



Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Brocade FOS 6.x and 7.x Interoperability and FOS 7.x Supported Products

How to check If old SAN switches with FOS 6.x are supported to be connected with new SAN SW with FOS 7.x?


FOS V7.0 is only supported on 16G and 8G platforms. 
Means all 2498-xxx  and 2499-xxx products sold by IBM.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

IBM POWER 6 & 7 systems facts inc. rPerf and features

Need a quick reference for IBM Power ® Systems -- including Power processor-based BladeCenter® blade servers and IBM PureFlex™ compute nodes? The Facts and Features reports give you a side-by-side comparison of the various systems available with many of their key specifications and information about supported AIX, IBM i and Linux versions.

http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/power/hardware/reports/factsfeatures.html

Saturday, September 1, 2012

AIX: while infinite loop aix ksh


Here is an example of infinite loop using while in shell ksh in AIX

while true
do
echo "Hello world!"
sleep 5
done

PowerVM: Managing VLANs on SEA on-line without any disruption

Make VLAN tagging modular to avoid downtime

Summary:  Shared Ethernet adapters (SEAs) can be used for IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tagging. However, once the SEA is in use, you cannot make changes to the VLANs on the trunk virtual Ethernet adapter without stopping the SEA. By using separate virtual adapters for each tagged VLAN, you can attach a new virtual adapter with its new VLAN to the SEA without any downtime. Retiring a VLAN from the SEA can be just as easy with a modular approach: one tagged VLAN per virtual adapter.

The problem and goal:

You have a shared Ethernet adapter (SEA) with VLAN tagging that services mission-critical websites. A new website requires an additional VLAN to be attached to the SEA. Outages are difficult to arrange. You can not use dynamic logical partitioning (DLPAR) to add VLANs to an existing virtual adapter on the SEA, because the adapter is in use as part of the SEA configuration.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Severe latency bottleneck detected on ISL / Trunk port

How to troubleshoot error "Severe latency bottleneck detected" on ISL/trunk port?
What can cause this problem and how a root cause can be found?


I faced this problem at one of my customers.
We received this alert on trunk created from two 8Gbit ISL ports between two 5100 switches.

Here is alert message:
Time    Level    Message    Service    Number    Count    Message ID    Switch 
Mon Aug 06 2012 20:32:05 CEST    Warning    Severe latency bottleneck detected at slot 0 port 35.    Switch    1241    1    AN-1010    XSAN01

Saturday, August 25, 2012

IBM DB2: Diagnosing database corruption

Summary:  Learn how to identify and categorize the most common corruption issues while using IBM DB2®. In this article, learn corrective and preventive techniques you can implement to combat corruption issues.

Read more on this link:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/data/library/techarticle/dm-1208corruptiondb2/index.html?cmp=dw&cpb=dwinf&ct=dwnew&cr=dwnen&ccy=zz&csr=082412

AIX: Capturing Boot Debug


Capturing Boot Debug

Question

Capturing Boot Debug

Answer

This document can be used to assist in capturing boot debug information which may help determine why a system is hanging during IPL.These steps are valid for AIX 5L and AIX 6.1.

AIX: cfgmgr returning cfgpkcs11 -l pkcs11 0514-040 Error initializing a device into the kernel after clonning AIX from mksysb over a NIM

When cloning AIX 6.1 TL7 SP4 from mksysb receiving error message during first boot and boot process takes too long:

         0 Method error (/usr/lib/methods/cfgpkcs11 -l pkcs11 ):               
         0      0514-040 Error initializing a device into the kernel.

When running cfgmgr receiving this error:

cfgmgr
Method error (/usr/lib/methods/cfgpkcs11 -l pkcs11 ):
          0514-040 Error initializing a device into the kernel.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Breaking limits of LVM, Physical Partitions, Volume Groups in AIX

Are you facing the situation that you can not extend LUN or mirror smaller LUNs to one big LUN in AIX because you reached limit of Physical Partitions in Volume Group?


extendvg VGname hdisk4
      0516-1254 extendvg: Changing the PVID in the ODM.
      0516-1162 extendvg: Warning, The Physical Partition Size of 512 requires the
              creation of 1140 partitions for hdisk4.  The limitation for volume group
              VGname is 1016 physical partitions per physical volume.  Use chvg command
              with -t option to attempt to change the maximum Physical Partitions per
              Physical volume for this volume group.

Is yes, read more :-)

Monday, August 6, 2012

IBM Information Archive CTJIW0239E when open properties of Appliance in ISC


When open properties in Integrated Solution Console in Information Archive Management - System Management - General settings error message CTJIW0239E is received.


CTJIW0239E

The IBM Remote Support Manager for Storage server is unavailable. The configuration settings cannot be determined. 

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

AIX dsmserv Receiving XM_BUFFER error during tape operation

Technote (troubleshooting)

Problem(Abstract)

During a Tivoli Storage Manager Server tape operation , the XM_BUFFER error is logged in the AIX errpt log.

Upgrading Atape device driver in AIX TSM

Technote (troubleshooting)

Source: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21174910

Problem(Abstract)

This document gives the 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 TSM.

Resolving the problem

1) From TSM:
Save the output from the device queries, and save the current device configuration (the filename is optional):

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

How to show DB2 level - version on TSM server

Using command db2level we can list information about version of DB2 installed as part of TSM server.
user@host:/opt/tivoli/tsm/db2/bin> ./db2level
DB21085I  Instance "tsminst1" uses "64" bits and DB2 code release "SQL09074"
with level identifier "08050107".
Informational tokens are "DB2 v9.7.0.4", "s110330", "IP23236", and Fix Pack
"4".
Product is installed at "/opt/tivoli/tsm/db2".

Monday, July 16, 2012

IBM Education Assistant - Tivoli Storage Manager V6.2

Web page IBM Education Assistant with e-learning flashesfor Tivoli Storage Manager V6.2.
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/ieduasst/tivv1r0/topic/com.ibm.iea.tsm/tsm/TSMv62.html
TopicsTivoli Storage Manager

Version: V6.2
Configuration
Configuration
Implementation
Implementation
Upgrade
Upgrade
Client functions
Client functions

Friday, July 13, 2012

IBM DS3950, DS4000, DS5000 Recommended Firmware Levels

This page contains recommended firmware levels for the following products: DCS3700, DS3950, DS4200, DS4700, DS4800, DS5020, DS5100, and DS5300.
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=ssg1S1003714

IBM DS3200, DS3300, DS3400, DS3500 Recommended Firmware Levels

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=ssg1S1003713
These are the recommended firmware levels for the DS3200, DS3300, DS3400 and DS3500.

H205535: Possibility of incorrect data being written on Multi-bit error correcting code (ECC) - IBM System Storage


Source

RETAIN tip: H205535
http://www-947.ibm.com/support/entry/portal/docdisplay?brand=5000008&lndocid=MIGR-5090005

Symptom

When one of the listed IBM Storage Subsystem controllers has detected a Multi-bit Error Correcting Code (ECC) memory error, users will see an informational message in the Major Events Log (event 0x2604) and that individual controller will reboot. If that Multi-bit ECC memory error happens on a dirty cache block that does not begin at offset 0x0, the data may be written incorrectly.
Any of the listed IBM Storage Subsystem controllers running any of these controller firmware versions are susceptible to this issue.
  • 7.77.33.00 or older
  • 7.70.45.00 or older
  • any 7.60.xx.xx
  • any 7.50.xx.xx
  • any 7.36.xx.xx
  • 7.35.69.00 or older
  • any 7.30.xx.xx

Monday, June 4, 2012

How to reset SDDPCM statistics on all devices

How to use pcmpath to reset error or all SDDPCM statistics on AIX?

Run this command:
pcmpath clear device `pcmpath query device | sort -n +2 | grep DEV | awk '{print $2}'| head -1` `pcmpath query device | sort -n +2 | grep DEV | awk '{print $2}'| tail -1` count error

Command can be executed by distributed shell on several hosts:
dsh -e path_to_script_with_command_above

Monday, May 28, 2012

How to use HMC to boot LPAR from network using lpar_netboot

lpar_netboot too boot LPAR from network (NIM) using HMC console without setting up LPAr in SMS menu:
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wikis/display/virtualization/lpar_netboot

How to track allocated resource in NIM, reset and deallocate resouces

If a resource is allocated to any client in NIM and you want to delete or change resource you get this type of message:

lparx:/ # nim -o remove -arm_image=yes master_mksysb
0042-001 nim: processing error encountered on "master":
   0042-061 m_rmbosi: the "master_mksysb" resource is currently
        allocated for client use

To check whether resource is allocated:
lsnim -l -t mksysb | egrep ":|alloc_count"|grep -v date
lsnim -l -t lpp_source| egrep ":|alloc_count"|grep -v date
lsnim -l -t spot| egrep ":|alloc_count"|grep -v date

To reset and deallocate resources from all machines run this script:
for i in `lsnim -c machines | awk '{print $1}'`
do
    nim -o reset -a force=yes $i
    RC=$?
    if [ $RC -eq 0 ] ; then
        nim -Fo deallocate -a subclass=all $i
    fi
done

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

TSM Locating volume names for both primary and copy file objects

Problem(Abstract)

Explains how to find out which volumes in both primary and copy storage pools contain a specific file object

Resolving the problem

To find out which volumes in primary and copy storage pools hold a specific file object, perform the following:

1) Run a select statement to view a particular file and get the Object_ID. Example:
select * from backups
select * from archives

2) Run the following command:
show bfo 0 OBJECT_ID

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

TSM ANR8302E I/O error on drive

ANR8300E I/O error on library (OP=xx, CC=xx, KEY=xx, ASC=xx, ASCQ=xx, SENSE=xx)