Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Simple TSM 6.2 Server Restore

I just completed a DR test and we had to restore one of our TSM servers from a Data Domain replicated copy. This was our first time restoring a TSM server from a replicated DD copy and after importing the replicated volumes and defining our initiators we set about restoring the TSM database. Our AIX server had been restored from an image (SysBack) and we had a current volhist and devconfig file so we began our restore. If you think that the restore from a Data Domain is not relevant to your environment because you use tape, think again. The Data Domain mimics an STK library with IBM drives and so we had to follow the same directions as anyone using tape backup.

To restore the TSM 6.x DB from tape you must have your volhist and devconfig files. You will need to modify the devconfig so that the only lines are those defining the devclass, server name, and server password; all other lines should be deleted. Then you need lines defining a manual library, a tape drive, and a line defining a path to the drive (which for us was an LTO3 drive).


DEFINE LIBRARY MANLIB LIBTYPE=MANUAL
DEFINE DRIVE MANLIB DRIVE1 ONLINE=YES 
DEFINE PATH TSMSERV1 DRIVE1 SRCT=SERVER DESTT=DRIVE LIBR=MANLIB DEVICE=/dev/rmt1 ONLINE=YES

Note: Do not define an element address or serial with the drive, TSM will detect these when you run the DSMSERV RESTORE DB command.

When running the DSMSERV RESTORE DB command TSM will start up and query the devconfig file to retrieve the information on the devclass, drive, library type, server name, and password. Once TSM has successfully queried the tape drive it will query the volhist file for the most current DB backup volume depending on whether you are restoring to the most current date or to a specific point in time. When TSM has identified the volume to use it will prompt you to mount the tape. When I saw the mount I went into the Data Domain web based GUI and moved the DB backup volume from its "virtual slot" to the drive that is /dev/rmt1. Once the tape was mounted, TSM was able to recognize the tape had been loaded and began restoring the DB. If more than one tape is required to complete the restore TSM will prompt you for each tape. With the library web GUI available you can move the tapes as needed and accomplish the restore. Once the restore completes you can bring TSM back up and audit/fix anything that could be out of sync. With the switch to DB2 I was expecting a little more work to get TSM back up and running, but surprisingly it was quite simple.

Now if you don't have a SysBack of your TSM server the rebuild can take a lot longer and requires you to recreate some of the DB2 dependent files. I might have to do a BRM restore without an image in the near future and if I do I'll post a step by step process for everyone.  If anyone has already done this and would like to post the process on TSMAdmin let me know.



Sunday, October 02, 2011

TSM Symposium 2011, Dresden

Here's a picture:
Harry REDL, _flex, Norbert POTT