Page 1 Virtual Tape Library VTL User Guide Sun Microsystems, Inc. www.sun.com Part No. 96267 May 2008, Revision G Submit comments about this document at: glsfs@sun.com...
Page 2 Copyright 2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara, Californie 95054, Etats-Unis. Tous droits réservés. Sun Microsystems, Inc. a les droits de propriété intellectuels relatants à la technologie qui est décrit dans ce document. En particulier, et sans la limitation, ces droits de propriété...
Page 3: Revision History
Revision History Short Name VTL User Guide 96267 • G Part # Revision Date 96267 Nov 2006 Jan 2007 Mar 2007 Aug 2007 Nov 2007 Feb 2008 Mar 2008 May 2008 Comments Base document supplied by the vendor. Major revision. Published.
Page 4 VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 5: Table Of Contents
Contents About this book Introduction: VTL appliances and enterprise data‐protection Features Advantages of VTL tape virtualization Shorter runtimes and reduced dependency on backup windows Shorter run times for non‐sequential backup jobs Improved reliability Better utilization of tape subsystems Improved utilization of backup media Larger, more flexible libraries Compatibility with ACSLS management software True tape virtualization with dynamically allocated disk space Key VTL features and options NDMP migration VTL high‐availability option Automated Tape Caching Virtual tape replication VTL Secure Tape encryption option 96267 • G...
Page 6 Understanding VTL Zoning Zoning for standard‐availability systems Zoning for high‐availability systems Using the VTL console Running the VTL console application Populating the console Understanding the VTL console interface Virtual Tape Library System SAN Clients Reports Physical Resources VTL operations Managing network connectivity Managing virtual libraries Configuring physical libraries and devices Configuring and provisioning virtual libraries Creating virtual tapes Connecting virtual libraries with storage clients Controlling VTL virtual libraries with ACSLS Backing up the VTL system configuration Recovering the server configuration Protecting VTL metadata Administering user acounts and passwords Virtual tape drive compression Managing tapes Locating virtual tapes Replicating tapes VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 7 Copying tapes Moving tapes between virtual and physical libraries Managing tape caching Creating and viewing reports Encrypting and shredding data Working with the Event Log Using the Attention Required tab Managing VTL servers Installing the VTL console Recovery following a system failure Failback Resuming backups following a failover/failback Configuring email alerts Updating VTL software VTL command line reference Using the command line utility Commands Common arguments Login/logout to the VTL Server Log in to the VTL Server Log out from the VTL Server Virtual devices / Clients Get virtual device list Get Client virtual device list Add client Delete client 96267 • G Contents...
Page 8 Get client properties Assign virtual device Unassign virtual device Create virtual device Delete virtual device Get supported virtual libraries Get supported virtual drives Create virtual tape library Add virtual tape drive Create standalone tape drive Create virtual tape Move virtual tape Tape copy Set tape duplication Set tape properties Automated tape caching Set tape caching Sync physical tapes Migrate virtual tapes Reclaim disk space Renew cache System configuration Add a license keycode Remove a license keycode Get VTL info Import/Export Import tape Export virtual tape viii VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 9 Get import/export job status Resume import/export jobs Delete import/export jobs Suspend import/export jobs Cancel import/export jobs Replication Create a replica Promote a replica Remove replication Suspend replication Resume replication Set replication properties Get replication properties Get replication status Start replication Stop replication Physical devices Inventory physical tape library Get physical tape list Move physical tape Eject physical tape Assign physical resource to VTL Unassign physical resource from VTL Get physical device information Rescan physical devices Import disk Prepare physical device for VTL server Reports 96267 • G Contents...
Page 10 Server throughput report SCSI channel throughput report Device throughput report Physical resources configuration report Disk usage report Physical resources allocation report Specific physical resource allocation report Fibre Channel adapter configuration report Replication status report Virtual library information report Virtual tape information report Create job report Event Log Get Event Log Technical support Get X‐Ray Get attention required information Required ports Troubleshooting Problems during console operations Problems affecting physical resources Problems with virtual resources Problems during import/export operations Taking an X‐ray for technical support SNMP traps ILOM command reference VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 11: About This Book
About this book This book introduces tape virtualization and guides you through the administration of Sun StorageTek Virtual Tape Library (VTL) solutions, including VTL Plus 2.0 and VTL Value systems. It starts with a high‐level explanation of VTL technology, common deployment architectures, and special features. It then provides detailed instructions for carrying out the tasks common to VTL administration according to Sun VTL best practices, including: SAN zoning using the VTL Console graphical user interface (GUI) and installing copies on management stations administering local area network (LAN) connections designing, creating, and managing virtual libraries and virtual tapes using special features like automatic tape caching, automatic tape archiving, and tape replication using encryption and data compression features to best advantage handling failback after a high‐availability system has failed over reporting configuring and using email notifications Finally, appendices provide additional information that, while not essential to a normal installation, may prove useful in special circumstances. The document is task‐oriented, organized around the work you have to do rather than around the features or components of the product. Each chapter and section begins with a list of the tasks it contains. Tasks are presented in order, and the steps in each process are numbered, in the sequence in which they are to be performed. Conditional steps (steps that you perform only in specified circumstances) begin with the condition (“If A ...”) and end with the corresponding action (“... do B”); if the condition does not apply, you simply skip the step. Each task ends with a reference to the next task in the sequence: Next task: “Installing ...” on page 3. 96267 • G...
Page 12: Taking Advantage Of This Book's Hypertext Features
When the setup process branches, the task ends with conditional alternatives: Next task: If the customer does not plan to run the management console from a host on the local area network (LAN), press Skip, and go to the next task. Otherwise, carry out the procedure “Configuring the Ethernet LAN” on page 57. When you have finished a sequence of tasks, this is clearly noted: Stop here. To minimize the time you spend switching between publications or between major sections of the document, we have made an effort to avoid cross references to external information wherever possible. If you need to have a figure, a table, or a procedure, it should always be, at worst, on a neighboring page. Taking advantage of this book’s hypertext features If you choose to view this book online, rather than in printed form, you can jump quickly to any part of the book by clicking on the corresponding entry under the Bookmarks tab on the left side of the Adobe Acrobat interface. In addition, clicking on entries in the table of contents, cross references, or references to subsequent tasks will take you directly to the indicated part of the document. You can then use the back arrow on the Adobe Acrobat Reader to return, if desired, to the point you left. In addition, clicking on most Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) and on most references to online resources will open your default web browser to the corresponding web page, so that you can, if necessary, obtain a required download immediately (be aware, however, URLs to specific pages change frequently and may not always be accurate). VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 13: Understanding The Conventions Used In This Book
Understanding the conventions used in this book The table below illustrates the conventions that represent literal and variable values, commands, and property names in this book. Convention AaBbCc123 AaBbCc123 AaBbCc123 ABCD VTL_Plus Obtaining the latest information and supporting resources The Sun StorageTek Support portal <www.support.storagetek.com> provides links to the latest documentation, software updates, and licensing resources for VTL Plus solutions. Always check the portal for updates to this document before proceeding. Documents distributed on CDROM may not reflect the latest changes to VTL hardware, software, and services. Commenting on this book Sun welcomes your comments and suggestions for improving this book. Contact us at glsfs@sun.com. Please include the title, part number, issue date, and revision: VTL User Guide, part number 96267 (May 2008 Revision G). 96267 • G Meaning Fixed‐width text is used for literal values, including names of commands, files, directories, literal computer inputs/outputs, and Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) Oblique text is used for variables that stand for real names or values and for book titles. Bold, san‐serif text indicates callouts in illustrations. Numbered paragraphs indicate steps in a process that should be executed in sequential order. Bulleted paragraphs indicate lists of alternatives or components.
Page 14 VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 15: Introduction: Vtl Appliances And Enterprise Data-Protection
CHAPTER Introduction: VTL appliances and enterprise data‐protection Sun StorageTek VirtualTape Library (VTL) technology makes the benefits of disk‐to‐ disk‐to‐tape architecture available to complex backup environments that cannot readily accommodate the disruptions and administrative burdens that often accompany major changes to information‐management environments and processes. VTL solutions make disk media available to applications that are configured to work with tape. VTL software presents your existing tape‐centric backup architecture with what appear to be familiar tape libraries, drives, and data cartridges while managing the complexities of the implementation—disk arrays, RAID groups, and logical volumes—internally. Such transparency is absolutely critical when backup is just one aspect of an enterprise‐wide business‐continuity plan. When legacy systems and multiple, interdependent applications, procedures, policies, and/or service providers are involved, even modest changes to a backup architecture can have unforeseen, far‐ reaching consequences. The advantages that disk‐to‐disk backup has to offer are no less critical in complex environments. Heavy workloads, tight schedules, and multiple dependencies often make backup windows very tight or non‐existent. Jobs that fail to complete cannot, in most cases, be retried. Tape‐based backup systems perform well when handling big jobs, like full backups of large files and file systems that can stream large amounts of sequential data. But much of the current backup workload consists of intermittent, essentially random I/O—incrementals, full backups of heterogeneous small servers and workstations, and small files (such as those associated with email systems). Tape drives perform poorly under these conditions. But disk‐based storage is ideally placed to handle this type of I/O. The remainder of this chapter provides: a brief summary of VTL “Features” on page 2 a detailed discussion of the “Advantages of VTL tape virtualization” on page 4 a more in‐depth look at selected, “Key VTL features and options” on page 8. 96267 • G...
Page 16: Features
Features Features The Sun StorageTek VTL solution has the following features: Emulation of most widely used tape libraries, drives, and media types, including the latest Sun StorageTek T10000‐series drives and media Dynamic allocation of disk capacity VTL software can allocate disk space to virtual tapes in 5‐GB increments, up to the full, rated capacity of the emulated media. This minimizes wasted space, provides natural load balancing, and optimizes the performance of the disk array. Auto Archive feature The Auto Archive option writes data to physical tape whenever a backup application or utility moves a virtual tape from a virtual library to an import/export slot. The physical tape library must support barcodes: the VTL software has to find a matching barcode in the physical library in order to export a virtual tape to a physical cartridge. Replication of tapes to local and remote VTL systems VTL software supports manual copying and both event‐ and policy‐driven automatic replication methods. Automated Tape Caching option With the optional tape‐caching feature, VTL software can automatically save a single virtual volume with a single barcode in two physical forms, one on disk and one on physical tape. The tape‐caching feature manages retention and migration of the physical images, under the control of user‐specified policies and schedules. This lets users keep space in the disk cache free for new backup sets while retaining the tape images of older virtual volumes. When a virtual volume no longer resides in the disk cache, a pointer in the cache seamlessly redirects requests to the tape image. High availability option An optional, high‐availability configuration provides intelligent failover, with duplicate, self‐monitoring VTL server nodes and redundant, primary and standby paths between backup applications and VTL data. Encryption and secure data destruction To ensure that the data that you export to physical tape is confidential and secure, VTL offers a Secure Tape Option that uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the U.S. government. VTL User Guide • May 2008 G •...
Page 17 Features The Shred feature insures military standard, secure data destruction by overwriting virtual tape with random bit patterns. Data destruction jobs are queued so that the shred process does not have an excessive impact upon performance. Data compression Sun VTL Plus 2.0 supports both software‐based and hardware‐based data compression. Both data‐compression technologies offer similar functionality. Both are based on the LZO algorithm. When necessary, either can increase the amount of data that will fit on a virtual tape of a given capacity. Compression ratios can approach 2:1 for data sets made up of highly compressible file types, such as plain text and uncompressed bitmapped images (incompressible file types, such as ZIP archives, GIF images, and JPG images reduce the attainable compression proportionately). However, the optional VTL Plus 2.0 compression hardware offers significantly higher throughput performance compared with the software‐only approach. Specialized ASICs (application‐specific integrated circuits) on the optional compression cards perform the calculations that software‐only solutions must perform on the system CPU. Support for Sun StorageTek ACSLS and Library Station library‐management software ACSLS and Library Station support makes a high degree of integration possible between VTL solutions and complex enterprise storage environments that include large libraries with multiple partitions and mixed open systems and mainframe systems. Sun VTL virtual libraries can cache or copy tape volumes to storage pools on shared, ACSLS‐managed libraries. Alternatively, ACSLS can be configured to manage virtual libraries. Email notifications The VTL email alerts feature monitors an extensible set of pre‐defined critical system functions and automatically notifies a local system administrator by email. You can extend or modify the CallHome monitoring scripts to customize monitoring for your needs. X‐ray diagnostics The X‐ray feature combines snapshots of the current state of the appliance, its configuration, and its environment with system event logs and saves the result in a standard, tape‐archive (tar) format. Key VTL features are discussed in more detail later in this chapter. 96267 • G Chapter 1 Introduction: VTL appliances and enterprise data-protection...
Page 18: Advantages Of Vtl Tape Virtualization
Advantages of VTL tape virtualization Advantages of VTL tape virtualization Adding Sun StorageTek VirtualTape Library appliances to an existing tape‐based backup architecture can thus realize the following advantages: “Shorter runtimes and reduced dependency on backup windows” on page 4 “Shorter run times for non‐sequential backup jobs” on page 5 “Improved reliability” on page 5 “Better utilization of tape subsystems” on page 5 “Larger, more flexible libraries” on page 6 “Compatibility with ACSLS management software” on page 6 “True tape virtualization with dynamically allocated disk space” on page 7. Shorter runtimes and reduced dependency on backup windows VTL appliances can handle a narrow backup window by using numbers of virtual drives operating in parallel, something that would be highly impractical with physical tape drives. In this way, the critical, first copy of the primary data is reliably transferred to disk‐based virtual tape in minimum time. Thereafter, vaulting software and/or VTL tape‐caching features can copy the backup from virtual to physical media using a smaller, more economical number of physical drives. See the figure below: Multiple virtual drives speed backup during the critical backup window primary storage backup window...
Page 19: Shorter Run Times For Non-Sequential Backup Jobs
Advantages of VTL tape virtualization Shorter run times for non‐sequential backup jobs Disk‐based VTL systems reduce run time when storage operations are poorly matched to the operational characteristics of tape backup systems. Properly configured, streaming tape backups achieve transfer rates that are as high as or higher than those attainable by disk technology. But many common jobs—such as incrementals and full backups of workstations—produce semi‐random I/O. Non‐ sequential I/O keeps tape drives busy mounting, unmounting, and positioning media, greatly reducing throughput. Disk‐based secondary storage is much better suited to these semi‐random backup jobs. Improved reliability Disk‐based VTL systems can significantly increase the reliability of the backup process. Backup jobs are more likely to succeed the first time, because the critical step—the creation of a copy of the data—is a simple, fast write to a RAID subsystem. Jammed tapes, lack of ready media, and off‐line drives no longer ruin jobs. See the figure below: Backup is more reliable with virtual tape libraries physical primary storage library FAILURE! SUCCESS! virtual library Better utilization of tape subsystems Disk‐based VTL systems can improve utilization, performance, and reliability of tape‐storage subsystems. When non‐sequential I/O is backed up to disk, tape can be reserved for sequential jobs that can stream a physical tape drive. Large‐scale full backups can, for instance, go directly to tape, insuring maximum performance. Jobs ...
Page 20: Improved Utilization Of Backup Media
Advantages of VTL tape virtualization that produce intermittent or non‐sequential I/O, such as incrementals and backups of work stations, are copied to tape only after they have been backed up to disk and incorporated into large, sequential backup sets. This approach uses tape drives continuously, at close to their maximum throughput. The drives spend less time idle, since they mount and reposition less often. Fewer drives and tapes are needed for a given workload. Devices and media suffer less wear and tear. Improved utilization of backup media Tape virtualization lets you create emulated tape volumes that are more closely sized to the average size of your backup media. If you do not decide to use tape caching (see “Automated Tape Caching” on page 12), you set the maximum capacity of your virtual tapes to 50‐60 GB or to the average size of your backup jobs (whichever is larger). This approach minimizes wasted space in the critical disk cache, where the first copy of each backup job is stored, and makes a maximum number of cartridges available for backup jobs at any given time. Your copy/vault software can then consolidate these smaller volumes onto full‐sized physical tape cartridges outside the backup window. If you also enlarge the size of the library, as described below, you can accomodate a larger total number of these smaller virtual tapes. If you adopt tape caching, you cannot size virtual tapes this way, since, as we shall see, the disk and physical‐tape images of the virtual tape must be logically identical. Larger, more flexible libraries The Sun VTL virtual library faithfully emulates a Sun L700 physical tape library. But, while the L700 has 678 slots, the Sun VTL can have up to 64000 in a non‐tape caching solution, depending on the backup application (see “Automated Tape Caching” on page 12). This is a particularly important consideration if you improve media utilization by reducing the size of your virtual tape volumes, as described above. One large virtual library can, on its own, serve all the needs of a backup application master server. Compatibility with ACSLS management software Tape virtualization lets you control disk‐based virtual libraries with the same industry‐standard, Sun ACSLS software that controls physical tape libraries. ACSLS adds an additional virtualization layer to your backup environment, further ...
Page 21: True Tape Virtualization With Dynamically Allocated Disk Space
Advantages of VTL tape virtualization Operating systems and backup applications that currently interact with a physical library via ACSLS continue to use ACSLS when accessing VTL virtual libraries. ACSLS further hides the particulars of disk‐based tape virtualization behind a standard, well‐known interface. This ability to mask the library implementation from client applications and operating systems lets ACSLS make disk‐based tape‐virtualization available to platforms that could not otherwise support it. Platforms that do not support SCSI passthrough library control, such as Unisys, Tangent, and mainframe operating systems, can back up to Sun VTL virtual libraries using ACSLS. The more powerful, more specialized library‐control functionality of ACSLS improves the availability of suitably configured VTL solutions. The brief SCSI path interruptions that may accompany failover and failback are less likely to interfere with the backup application, because ACSLS retries the connection aggressively enough to restore the path. True tape virtualization with dynamically allocated disk space Correctly configured, dynamically sized virtual tape volumes provide the highest capacity and performance. When tapes are created with the VTL Capacity On Demand feature enabled, the VTL software allocates space as data is written to disk rather than all at once. For instance, a physical tape with a capacity of 400‐GB can be emulated without allocating any space initially, and thereafter enlarged as needed in 5‐GB increments (see the figure below). = 2-MB tape archive files Space is not allocated on disk until data is written This approach to space allocation has two major advantages. First, it minimizes ...
Page 22: Key Vtl Features And Options
) and copies them over the SAN to physical media ( command and control information across the Ethernet LAN ( To take advantage of this functionality, you must enable the VTL Plus 2.0 Hosted Backup and NDMP options. NDMP 4.0 SAN fabric backup application server Ethernet LAN Note that the Sun VTL Plus Hosted Backup and NDMP options are not required when backing up a Network Attached Storage (NAS) filer to a VTL applaince. In this instance, the NAS filer is simply a backup client. The backup application server VTL User Guide • May 2008 VTL appliance virtual tape library hosted NDMP agent below). The backup ) by sending NDMP ). physical tape library G • 96267...
Page 23: Vtl High-Availability Option
Key VTL features and options controls NDMP agent software on the filer ( data from the filer over the SAN to virtual tape volumes ( media server ( SAN fabric media server Ethernet LAN VTL high‐availability option In a VTL high‐availability system, intelligent self‐monitoring software, redundant hardware, and high‐availability LAN and SAN configurations protect both the data path and your ability to manage storage. To help you to better understand the steps in the failover configuration process, this section provides a high‐level description of the three key components of the high‐availability VTL solution: “Server node failover” on page 9 “Management path failover” on page 10 “Storage path failover” on page 11. Server node failover The Sun StorageTek VTL high availability option uses two server nodes, each configured to monitor its companion. Each member of the pair serves as the primary server for its own storage clients and as the secondary, standby server for those of its companion. To protect against server failures, each server sends heartbeat information to its secondary using a service IP address. If heartbeat information indicates a fatal error in a companion server’s processes, the healthy server notifies its companion that it is assuming primary server responsibility for both sets of clients and initiates failover. If the heartbeat information stops altogether, the healthy server immediately initiates failover. Finally, if a primary server’s own, self‐ monitoring routines detect a storage device connectivity failure and cannot determine if the failure is local, the primary reports the failure to its companion via the heartbeat signal. If the companion, secondary server can access all devices, 96267 • G ), so no softwre has to be hosted on the VTL appliance.
Page 24 Key VTL features and options including the device in question, the failure is local to the primary, and the secondary initiates failover. If the secondary cannot access devices, the outage is global, and no failover occurs. Service IP addresses carry heartbeat information between VTL nodes and management IP addresses carry commands between nodes and VTL management consoles Management path failover When a high‐availability VTL system fails over, the failover server automatically inherits the failed server’s management IP address, so that remote management consoles can still reach the VTL system. If the heartbeat signal is lost, the management IP address for the failed node transfers to the healthy node VTL User Guide •...
Page 25 Key VTL features and options Storage path failover In a standard‐availability VTL system, there is one logical path from a VTL client to VTL storage, and every Fibre Channel port is either a target port for a VTL client or a storage‐facing initiator. But in a high‐availability system, there are two paths, a primary and a secondary or standby path, as shown below. Fibre Channel path failover in high-availability VTL systems Primary server for A Secondary server for B Secondary server for A Primary server for B Failover during replication If a replication operation is in progress when failover or failback occurs, replication stops. Once failover/failback has completed, replication resumes with the next normally scheduled operation. Mirroring and failover If mirroring is in progress during failover/recovery, after the failover/recovery the mirroring will restart from where it left off.
Page 26: Automated Tape Caching
Key VTL features and options Automated Tape Caching The Automated Tape Caching option presents backup applications with virtual tape volumes that are physically implemented on disk, tape, or both. This keeps the implementation simple—the backup application manages only the virtual tape volumes and virtual libraries—while giving the backup administrator the ability to fine tune the physical implementation for best performance and reliability. VTL software can implement virtual tape volumes and virtual libraries using an optimal combination of resources: disk arrays, physical tapes, physical libraries, and physical tape drives. VTL policies specify where data should reside—on disk for fast random access, on tape for longer term storage, or on both for maximum redundancy—and for how long. Under policy control, VTL software can automatically copy backup sets from disk to tape, outside of the backup window. It can retain the backup sets in the disk cache for a specified period, so that users can rapidly restore data during the period when the need is highest. It can then free up the disk cache for new backup sets while retaining an image on tape. If a restore is necessary, a pointer in the disk cache points the request to the physical tape image, transparently and automatically. The Automated Tape Caching option thus simplifies and automates management of the disk cache, insuring adequate capacity with minimum disk resources. Policies can be built around the number of days that data sets reside on disk, around a disk‐capacity high water mark, or around a specified event or time of day. Physical tape I/O can thus be run as a background process that does not interfere with production datacenter operations. Note – Automated Tape Caching and Auto Archive/Replication cannot be used at the same time on the same virtual library. Virtual tape replication Replicating data provides additional protection for the information on a virtual tape by maintaining a copy locally or on another VTL server. VTL software supports three replication methods, two of them automatic and one a manual process that can be used if you are not using the automatic methods. See the following subsections for additional information: “Auto Replication” on page 13 “Replication” on page 13 “Remote Copy” on page 14.
Page 27: Remote Replication
Key VTL features and options Auto Replication The Auto Replication option copies virtual tapes from a virtual library to another VTL server whenever a backup application or utility moves a virtual tape to an import/export slot. You enable Auto Replication at the library level when you create a virtual tape library (see “Setting up the Auto Replication option” on page 50). You can then selectively enable the feature on a tape‐by‐tape basis as tapes are created. You cannot alter the Auto Replication status of an existing virtual tape. Replication The VTL Replication feature maintains synchronized replica resource copies of virtual tapes on a designated VTL server. At the end of a policy‐defined replication interval, VTL software copies data that has changed and is not currently in use from the primary virtual tapes to the replica resources. During normal operation, backup clients have no access to replica resources—the latter are purely internal protections within the VTL system. If the primary virtual tape is corrupt or otherwise unusable, however, administrators can promote replica resources as part of their disaster recovery process. Once promoted, the replica resource becomes the primary virtual tape, with the same barcode and attributes. Backup clients can thus use it for recovery as if it were, in fact, the original copy. You can configure the VTL Replication feature for either: Remote Replication or Local Replication. Remote Replication Remote Replication maintains synchronized copies of virtual tape volumes on the storage arrays of a pair of VTL appliances that are connected across Ethernet local area networks (LANs) or Wide Area Networks (WANs). Data is thus transferred at LAN/WAN speed, but is not subject to the distance limitation imposed by Fibre Channel storage area network (SAN) technology. Local Replication Local Replication maintains local, synchronized copies of virtual tape volumes on the storage arrays of a single VTL appliance. Data is transferred at SAN speed over distances limited to the maximum possible with a Fibre Channel SAN. 96267 • G Chapter 1 Introduction: VTL appliances and enterprise data-protection...
Page 28: Vtl Secure Tape Encryption Option
Key VTL features and options Remote Copy Remote Copy copies a single virtual tape to another server on demand. VTL Secure Tape encryption option The VTL Secure Tape option uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm to protect physical media that might otherwise be vulnerable to theft or diversion during transit. VTL software encrypts data when it is exported to physical tape and decrypts it when it is reimported to virtual tape. Key management The Secure Tape feature provides for flexible cryptographic key management that can be adapted to local security requirements and policies. Administrators can generate a single key for all exported tapes or multiple, unique keys for different tapes or sets of tapes. Multiple keys are more secure in the sense that the compromise of a single key exposes fewer tapes. But keys are harder to manage. Administrators must keep track of which key applies to which tape, because using the wrong key will cause indecipherable data to be imported into the virtual library. To facilitate centralized key management, keys can be exported to an external key package file. Key packages can be centrally generated and distributed, by secure means, to remote sites where data is imported to or exported from VTL systems. Password protection For additional security, each key is password‐protected. Administrators must provide the correct password before changing a key name, password, or password hint, and before deleting or exporting a key. VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 29: Understanding Vtl Zoning
CHAPTER Understanding VTL Zoning Zoning is the crucial first step when integrating a storage system, such as the VTL appliance, into a Fibre Channel storage area network (SAN). While specific zoning recommendations must vary from SAN environment to SAN environment, this chapter describes the basic requirements that all successful VTL deployments must address. “Zoning for standard‐availability systems” on page 15 “Zoning for high‐availability systems” on page 16. Zoning for standard‐availability systems The basic zoning requirement for VTL solutions that do not implement the high‐ availability feature is that each SAN zone contain only one initiator and one target, as shown in the figure below. You zone standard‐availability VTL systems the same way, regardless of the type of zoning you use. In a soft‐zoned SAN, each target and initiator is defined by a logical World Wide Port Name (WWPN), while in a hard‐zoned SAN, target and initiator are defined by physical port numbers. But, in either case, you have one client initiator and one VTL target per zone. 96267 • G VTL server node Zone A Client...
Page 30: Zoning For High-Availability Systems
Zoning for high‐availability systems Zoning a high‐availability system is slightly more complex than zoning a standard system, due to the need for redundant paths between initiators and targets. Once again, each SAN zone can have only one initiator and one target. But the total number of zones you need depends on whether the SAN is soft‐zoned (by World Wide Port Name) or hard‐zoned (by port number). See: “WWPN zoning (soft zoning)” on page 16 “Port zoning (hard zoning)” on page 17. WWPN zoning (soft zoning) A soft‐zoned SAN maps initiator to target using a logical World Wide Port Name (WWPN), rather than a physical hardware address. This name‐to‐name zoning establishes a logical route that may traverse varying physical ports and varying physical paths through the SAN. To accomplish failover, we thus need only a single zone for the client initiator, the active VTL target, and the standby VTL target. See the figure below Active VTL server node A Standby VTL server node B Standby VTL server node A Active VTL server node B During failover, the zone still contains only one initiator and one target at a time. But the target WWPN is remapped from a port on the failed server node to a physical port on the standby server. The standby physical port spoofs the WWPN of the failed port, so zoning does not change. The figure below shows a soft‐zoned SAN ...
Page 31 Failed VTL server node Active VTL server node A Active VTL server node B Port zoning (hard zoning) A hard‐zoned SAN maps initiator to target using a physical port address. This port‐ to‐port zoning establishes a fixed, physical route through the SAN. So, since each SAN zone can contain only one initiator and one target, you must provide two zones for each initiating client. The figure below shows a hard‐zoned SAN before VTL failover: Active VTL server node A Standby VTL server node B Standby VTL server node A Active VTL server node B As the above figure shows: ...
Page 32 During failover, the standby port becomes active by spoofing the WWPN of the failed port. The figure below represents a hard‐zoned SAN after VTL failover: Active VTL server node A Active VTL server node B SAN clients include backup application hosts, such as Symantec NetBackup master servers, and ACSLS servers (if ACSLS is to control VTL virtual libraries). VTL must not share initiator ports with other SAN clients, such as physical tape devices. Next task: When you have completed zoning, log in to the VTL server, scan for Fibre Channel devices, and make sure that all devices are visible. VTL User Guide • May 2008 Client A port2 port1 port3 port5 Client B port6 port4 Zone B ACSLS server G • 96267...
Page 33: Using The Vtl Console
CHAPTER Using the VTL console The Virtual Tape Library console application is the graphical user interface that you use when administering and managing the VTL system. The console provides you with full control over virtual library operations, from creating libraries and tapes to managing disk storage and data migration from disk to physical tape. The VTL console software is installed on a management workstation that you provide and communicates with the appliance via your local area network (LAN). In most deployments, your Sun service representative will install one instance of the console for you (you can install as many additional instances as you require on other machines, though no more than two instances can access the same VTL server at the same time). For information on installing additional instances of the console, see “Installing the VTL console” on page 143. The following sections explain how you use the console application: “Running the VTL console application” on page 20 “Populating the console” on page 20 “Understanding the VTL console interface” on page 22. Note – For information on the text‐based, VTL command line user interface, see Appendix A, “VTL command line reference” on page 169. 96267 • G...
Page 34: Running The Vtl Console Application
Running the VTL console application Running the VTL console application Launching the VTL console 1. To launch the console on a Sun Solaris workstation, open a terminal window and enter the command shown below: % /usr/local/vtlconsole/vtlconsole & 2. On a Microsoft Windows system, press the Start bar to access the main menu system, and select All Programs > Sun Microsystems > VTL 5.0 > VTL Console. 3. To launch the console on a Linux workstation, open a terminal window and enter the command shown below: % /usr/local/vtlconsole/vtlconsole & Stop here. Populating the console Once the console is running, you can specify the VTL servers that you want to see in the object tree at the left side of the VTL console. You can discover, add, or remove servers: “Discovering VTL server nodes” on page 20. “Adding a server node to the console tree” on page 21 “Deleting a server node from the console tree” on page 22...
Page 35 Populating the console 1. From the console main menu, select Tools ( Servers from the submenu ( 2. When the Discover Virtual Tape Library Server dialog appears, enter the subnet filter ( OK ( After a short wait, the VTL console application discovers the appliance and adds it to the list on the left side of the graphical user interface (GUI). Stop here. Adding a server node to the console tree 1. In the tree view of the VTL console, right‐click on VTL Servers ( 2. From the context menu, select Add ( 96267 • G below) and subnet mask ( subnet_of_VTL_node subnet_mask_of_VTL_node above). below), then select Discover VTL ) for the VTL appliance. Then press below). Chapter 3 Using the VTL console...
Page 36: Understanding The Vtl Console Interface
Understanding the VTL console interface 3. When the VTL User Login dialog appears, enter the VTL Server host name or IP address ( Stop here. Deleting a server node from the console tree 1. In the tree view of the VTL console, right‐click on the name of the server you wish to delete from the console view. 2. From the context menu, select Delete. 3. When the confirmation dialog appears, select Yes. Stop here. Understanding the VTL console interface The VTL console interface consists of four main parts: a main menu, a left‐hand main window pane, a right‐hand main window pane, and a status bar at the bottom of the interface. The VTL main menu system ( and carry out the administrative functions it supports. The left hand pane of the VTL console interface represents the component objects of the VTL system as the branches of a tree ( “Virtual Tape Library System” on page 24 “SAN Clients” on page 25 “Reports” on page 25 “Physical Resources” on page 26. Clicking on the icon for a VTL server ( VTL User Guide • May 2008 above) and the User Name, and Password ( and ...
Page 37 Understanding the VTL console interface Once you have logged in to the server, clicking on the plus (+) symbol next to the icon expands the server branch of the interface, revealing the sub‐components of the VTL system: the Virtual Tape Library System, SAN Clients, Reports, and Physical Resources ( Clicking on the plus (+) symbol next to any icon expands the corresponding branch of the object tree, revealing the sub‐components and sub‐branches that lie beneath it. Clicking on the minus (-) symbol collapses the branch. Selecting an object in the tree displays a tabbed property sheet for the object in the right‐hand pane of the console ( menu system that lets you change the properties of the object or perform tasks with the object ( The status bar at the bottom of the window ( information for the locally installed console software. A drop‐down box displays console session information. 96267 • G above). above). Right‐clicking an object opens a context above) displays versioning Chapter 3 Using the VTL console...
Page 38: Virtual Tape Library System
Understanding the VTL console interface Virtual Tape Library System The Virtual Tape Library System branch of the object tree is the primary management tool for routine VTL operations. Right‐clicking on the subbranches of the Virtual Tape Library System gives you access to context sensitive menus that control most of the common VTL management operations. Virtual Tape Library System icons The following table explains the icons that represent virtual tape drives and virtual tapes in the console object tree. Icon Description The The the Automated Tape Caching option. The Automated Tape Caching option. The structure of the Virtual Tape Library System The Virtual Tape Libraries branch lists the virtual tape libraries that are currently defined. Each virtual tape library contains a virtual tape drive branch containing one or more drives and a virtual tape branch containing one or more tapes, sorted in barcode order. Right clicking on the members of the Virtual Tape Libraries subbranch brings up a context menu listing operations that can be performed on the branch. These include: assigning virtual tape libraries and/or drive to SAN clients (backup servers). creating and deleting virtual tapes creating and deleting virtual tape drives enabling replication or auto‐archiving features for tapes in the library setting Automated Tape Caching policies (if you are using this option)
Page 39: San Clients
Understanding the VTL console interface The Virtual Vault branch lists the virtual tapes that are currently being stored outside the virtual tape libraries, in barcode order. Virtual tapes in the vault can be replicated, exported to a physical tape, or moved to a virtual library or standalone drive. The number of tapes that can be stored in the vault is limited only by the available disk storage space. The Import/Export Queue branch lists the import and export jobs and Automated Tape Caching jobs that have been submitted. If needed, you can cancel a pending job from here. You can have up to 32 concurrent import/export jobs running, depending upon the number of physical tape drives attached to your VTL. The Physical Tape Libraries branch lists the physical tape libraries that are available to VTL. Right clicking on the members brings up a context menu that lets you inventory slots, import/export or move physical tapes, copy the physical tape to virtual tape, or link physical tape to virtual tape for direct access. The Physical Tape Drives branch lists the standalone physical tape drives that are available to VTL. Right clicking on the members brings up a context menu that lets you eject physical tapes, copy physical tapes to virtual media, or link physical tapes to virtual media for direct access. The Replica Resources branch lists the virtual tapes that have been replicated from a remote server. Clients do not have access to replica resources. The Database branch contains configuration information for the VTL. The database can be mirrored for high availability. SAN Clients The SAN Clients branch of the VTL object tree lists the backup servers that back up data to VTL libraries. By right‐clicking on this branch and its subbranches, you can add SAN clients, assign them to libraries, unassign them, view client properties, etc. Reports The Reports branch of the VTL object tree holds reports that you generate. ...
Page 40: Physical Resources
Understanding the VTL console interface virtual tape and library information job status By right‐clicking on this branch, you can select and generate reports. Physical Resources The Physical Resources branch of the VTL object tree lists Fibre Channel HBAs and storage devices attached to the VTL server. Storage devices include the disk volumes that hold virtual tapes, physical tape libraries and physical tape drives. Right‐clicking on this branch or its subbranches brings up context menus that let you scan devices or prepare devices for use as virtual tape. The following table describes the icons that describe physical resources in the console object tree: Icon Description The The interface icon indicates that this is an initiator port. The The red arrow indicates that this interface has no access to storage. Either a device is not connected to the interface, or the device is down. The The The server. The Owner field lists the other server. VTL User Guide • May 2008 interface icon indicates that this is a target port. interface icon indicates that this is a dual‐port interface card. icon indicates that this disk has been virtualized. icon indicates that this is a physical (“Direct”) device.
Page 41: Vtl Operations
CHAPTER VTL operations This chapter covers routine configuration, administration, and management of server nodes, virtual tape libraries, drives, and tapes, including: “Managing network connectivity” on page 27 “Managing virtual libraries” on page 33 “Managing tapes” on page 86 “Managing tape caching” on page 120 “Creating and viewing reports” on page 123 “Encrypting and shredding data” on page 127 “Working with the Event Log” on page 135 “Managing VTL servers” on page 140. Managing network connectivity VTL appliances use your Ethernet local area network (LAN) for system management and administration and your storage area network (SAN) for connecting to the system’s storage clients (your backup hosts). Sun services personnel establish required connectivity during the system installation process. However, if you subsequently make changes to your network configurations, you can update the VTL configuration using the procedures in this section. “Configuring local area network connections” on page 28 “Setting the VTL server node host name” on page 30 “Obtaining SAN interface configuration information” on page 31 “Administering SAN client connections” on page 32. 96267 • G...
Page 42 Managing network connectivity Configuring local area network connections 1. In the Network Configuration property sheet, enter the Domain name below). Check the Append suffix to DNS lookup check box ( customer needs to append the domain name to the machine name during DNS lookup. 2. Enter IP address information for the Domain Name Server (if used) in the DNS section ( above), using the Add and Edit buttons. 3. Enter the IP address of the Default gateway ( 4. Select the NIC_name Ethernet interface, and push the Config NIC button above). NIC_name is nge0 on VTL Plus systems and e1000g0 on VTL Value systems. On VTL Plus systems, do not change the configuration of the other Ethernet interfaces. They are reserved for system use. For details, see the appendix on VTL private network addresses. VTL User Guide • May 2008 domain_name nnn.nnn.nnn.1 . nnn . nnn . nnn NIC_name ) if the ...
Page 43 Managing network connectivity 5. When the IP Address Configuration property sheet appears, click the Static radio button ( NIC_name 6. Click the Edit button ( provided. 7. Leave the MTU text field ( 8. Press OK ( above). You return to the Network Configuration property sheet. 9. If Network Time Protocol (NTP) is in use, press Config NTP ( Network time Protocol Servers dialog appears, use the controls provided ( enter the NTP server IP addresses. Click OK ( ntp_server_name 96267 • G below). nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn above), and enter the IP address that the customer above) as set by the factory. NIC_name above). When the Chapter 4 VTL operations ) to ...
Page 44 Managing network connectivity Note the Enable SSH, Enable FTP, and Allow root to login in telnet session check boxes. While ssh is enabled by default, ftp and remote login by root are disabled for security reasons. Sun recommends that you leave these options set to the defaults. For secure remote access, use the vtladmin account with ssh or sftp. Then, if root privileges are required, use the su command after logging in. 10. When you return to the Network Configuration property sheet, click OK above). 11. When you are prompted to restart the network, press Yes ( The network should restart automatically. 12. Reconnect to the VTL server node. Stop here. Setting the VTL server node host name 1. When the Set Hostname dialog appears, enter a valid name for your VTL appliance ( below). Valid characters include letters, numbers, underscores, and dashes. 2. Press OK ( above). VTL User Guide •...
Page 45 Managing network connectivity 3. When prompted to restart the network and server, press Yes ( 4. Log back in to the server to continue working. Stop here. Obtaining SAN interface configuration information You can obtain the configuration information for any of the Fibre Channel host bus adapters on the VTL server by examining the object in the VTL console. 1. In the tree‐view pane of the VTL console, select Physical Resources ( and Storage HBAs ( 96267 • G below). below) Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 46 Managing network connectivity 2. Select the HBA that you wish to check ( tabs to locate the required information ( Stop here. Administering SAN client connections You can obtain the configuration information for any of a VTL server’s SAN clients by examining the object in the VTL console, as described below. To add a SAN client, see “Connecting virtual libraries with storage clients” on page 64. 1. In the tree‐view pane of the VTL console, select SAN Clients ( click on the name of the client ( 2. In the pane at right, use the tabs to see adapter information ( VTL User Guide • May 2008 above), and, in the pane at right, use the below) and above). G • 96267...
Page 47: Managing Virtual Libraries
Managing virtual libraries 3. To see virtual device assignments, expand the client node ( Channel protocol node ( 4. Right‐clicking on the client node ( opens a menu of administrative actions ( Using the context menu, you can Assign virtual devices to clients, Unassign virtual devices from clients, Delete the client or protocol, Detach devices, and view or refresh client properties. Stop here. Managing virtual libraries This section covers the essential configuration tasks that are performed whenever virtual libraries, devices, and media are added to the VTL system. During initial configuration, the tasks in this section are run sequentially by the VTL configuration wizard. During routine system maintenance, you may also run them independently, as described below: “Configuring and provisioning virtual libraries” on page 39 (includes “Creating virtual tape libraries” on page 41 and “Creating virtual tapes” on page 56) “Connecting virtual libraries with storage clients” on page 64. 96267 • G ) of the tree view. above) or Fibre Channel protocol ( D below ) and Fibre ) node Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 48: Configuring Physical Libraries And Devices
Managing virtual libraries Configuring physical libraries and devices VTL software supports either direct‐attached libraries or, optionally, shared libraries managed by ACSLS/Library Station software. If you are using a direct‐attached library, see “Managing direct‐attached physical tape storage” on page 34. If you are using a shared library, see “Managing ACSLS and Library Station tape pools” on page 38. Managing direct‐attached physical tape storage If you have a direct‐attached library or device, you must assign the library or device to VTL using the VTL console software. Carry out the following tasks: “Preparing physical libraries and devices for assignment” on page 34 “Assigning direct‐attached physical tape libraries/devices” on page 37. Preparing physical libraries and devices for assignment 1. If you have not added a new physical library or tape device, stop here and go to the next task. VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 49 Managing virtual libraries 2. Otherwise, in the object tree of the VTL console, right‐click the Physical Resources node ( menu ( 3. When the Select a Preparation Operation dialog appears, click the Prepare Device(s) radio button ( 4. Select Reserved for Direct Device from the Device Category list control above), and press Next ( 96267 • G below), and select Prepare Devices from the context below). Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 50 Managing virtual libraries 5. When the Select Physical Devices panel appears, use the check boxes and/or the selection buttons ( want to assign to the VTL system. Press Next ( If you are configuring an IBM iSeries/AS400 solution, assign IBM Magstar 3590E11, 3592, or Ultrium LTO1, LTO2, or LTO3 physical drives to the virtual tape library for use in import and export operations. 6. When the Prepare Device panel appears, press Finish. Next task: “Assigning direct‐attached physical tape libraries/devices” on page 37. VTL User Guide • May 2008 below) to select the libraries or devices that you G • 96267...
Page 51 Managing virtual libraries Assigning direct‐attached physical tape libraries/devices 1. In the object tree of the VTL console application, open the branch for the VTL server ( below). 2. Open the branch for the Virtual Tape Library System ( 3. Right‐click on the Physical Tape Libraries branch ( Assign from the context menu ( 4. When the Select Libraries or Drives dialog appears, use the check boxes and or selection buttons ( system. 5. Press Finish ( Stop here. 96267 • G below) to assign physical tape drives to the VTL above). above). above), and select Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 52 Managing virtual libraries Managing ACSLS and Library Station tape pools When the VTL software’s ACSLS/Library Station option is enabled, Sun StorageTek ACSLS Manager™ or Library Station software manages the physical library and the tape volumes in the VTL system’s assigned tape pools. You merely need to update the VTL console view whenever tapes are added or removed from the pool. Proceed as follows. Inventorying ACSLS/Library Station libraries from VTL whenever tapes are added to or removed from pools When you add or remove tapes from an ACSLS/Library Station pool, inventory the tapes through the VTL Console: 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, open the branch for the VTL server below). 2. Open the branch for the Virtual Tape Library System ( 3. Open the branch for the Physical Tape Libraries ( 4. Right‐click on the name of the physical library ( from the context menu ( Stop here. VTL User Guide • May 2008 below). below). below), and select Inventory G • 96267...
Page 53: Configuring And Provisioning Virtual Libraries
“Setting virtual library system properties” on page 39 “Creating virtual tape libraries” on page 41 Setting up optional functionality (see “Configuring Automated Tape Caching” on page 45, “Setting up the Auto Archive feature” on page 49, or “Setting up the Auto Replication option” on page 50) “Generating the virtual library” on page 51 “Creating virtual tapes” on page 56. Setting virtual library system properties 1. In the tree view at the left of the VTL console, right‐click the VirtualTape Library System ( 2. When the Change VirtualTape Library properties sheet appears, if you wish to use VTL compression software, check the Enable Virtual Tape Library compression mode check box ( Consider your requirements carefully before enabling software compression. Software compression is a computationally demanding operation that consumes processor cycles that would otherwise be used to move data. When you enable the feature, you thus trade throughput performance for capacity. Most VTL solutions are aimed at increasing backup performance. VTL storage is used as a fast, temporary repository for data that will be moved to physical tape for long‐term storage. In such cases, the hardware‐based compression capabilities of physical tape drives provide 96267 • G below), and select Properties from the context menu ( below). ...
Page 54 Managing virtual libraries both the needed long‐term storage capacity and the fastest possible transfer to tape media. Compression hardware cannot further compress data that has been compressed by software, so the end‐to‐end backup process is significantly slower. On the other hand, the VTL software compression feature is valuable when it is truly needed: when data is stored on the appliance long‐term, rather than cached pending migration to long‐term storage on physical tape when data has to be replicated across a slow WAN link. 3. If you plan to use tape caching, use the spinner control to adjust the Tape Caching Policy Disk Capacity Threshold to 85% ( When using automatic tape caching, you have to make sure that the disk never fills up, preventing you from creating new virtual volumes. The 75% threshold has been found to offer a good margin of safety. 4. Press OK ( above). Stop here. VTL User Guide • May 2008 above). G • 96267...
Page 55 Managing virtual libraries Creating virtual tape libraries 1. When the Create Virtual Library Wizard appears, select the type of library that you want to emulate ( the default, and press Next ( Select a unique, informative virtual library name. A name that indicates the backup application media server and the function or usage of the library (such as NDMP data migration) is one useful possibility. Select the Sun VTL library type for compatibility with major backup applications, such as Symantec NetBackup. For compatibility with IBM i‐Series/AS400 clients, choose the IBM3590, IBM3584, or IBM3583 library type. 2. When the Enter Virtual Drive Information dialog appears, select the type of tape drive you want to emulate ( Prefix ( ). 96267 • G below), enter a Virtual Library Name ( mediaServerName_libraryUsage below), and enter a Virtual Drive Name virtualLibraryName_make_model- ) or use ...
Page 56 Managing virtual libraries If you plan to attach a physical tape library to the VTL appliance for tape import or export, emulate the physical library so that virtual tapes will be compatible with their physical counterparts. Select an informative virtual drive‐name prefix that shows the relationships between virtual libraries and drives. Using the virtual library name plus the make and model of the emulated drive is one possibility. 3. Select the Total Virtual Drives using the spinner control ( Next ( To insure that the four target ports on a VTL appliance are fully and evenly utilized, create one virtual library and at least four virtual tape drives for each client (backup server) that connects to the VTL system. 4. If you are going to use tape caching, check the Enable Automated Tape Caching check box when the dialog appears ( change ( ). Then stop here, and go to the 5. If you are not going to use tape caching, press Next ( Enable and configure tape caching policy dialog. The Auto Archive/Replication dialog appears. VTL User Guide • May 2008 above), and press ...
Page 57 Managing virtual libraries 6. If you do not intend to implement autoarchiving or replication, press Next below) to skip over the Auto Archive/Replication dialog. The Auto Archive option writes data to physical tape whenever a backup application or utility moves a virtual tape from a virtual library to an import/export slot. The physical tape library must support barcodes: the VTL software has to find a matching barcode in the physical library in order to export a virtual tape to a physical cartridge (you do not need to specify which physical library). The Auto Replication option copies virtual tapes from a virtual library to another VTL server whenever a backup application or utility moves a virtual tape to an import/export slot. 96267 • G Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 58 Managing virtual libraries 7. Indicate if you want to use tape duplication. Tape duplication allows you to make up to five duplicate copies of a physical tape whenever virtual tape data is exported to physical tape. You must have at least two identical physical libraries (same model, same number of drives, same tapes with the same barcodes). When data is exported, separate export jobs will be created for each physical library and each job will have a unique job ID. The duplication job will look for a tape with a matching barcode in another library. If one is found, the data is duplicated to that physical library. If a matching tape is not found, but there are additional identical physical libraries, the system will look for a match there. Note – You should not have duplicate physical tape barcodes in your system unless you are using tape duplication. If this library is using Automated Tape Caching or if you selected the Move option for Auto Archive on the previous dialog, the virtual tape data will not be deleted until the duplication job finishes successfully. VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 59 Managing virtual libraries Next task: If you are going to configure tape caching on this virtual library, go to “Configuring Automated Tape Caching” on page 45. If you are going to use the automatic archiving features, go to “Setting up the Auto Archive feature” on page 49. If you are going to use the automatic replication feature, go to “Setting up the Auto Replication option” on page 50 Otherwise, go to “Generating the virtual library” on page 51. Configuring Automated Tape Caching You configure Automated Tape Caching for the virtual library by defining a migration policy and a reclamation policy. A VTL policy is simply a set of criteria (triggers) that control how and when VTL software automatically moves data from its physical disk cache. Using the configuration dialogs, you can specify simple schedules or more complex state‐ and event‐driven policies. Migration policies control when VTL copies data from the disk cache to physical tape. Good migration policies maximize the performance and reliability of the disk cache by minimizing simultaneous reads and writes. Simultaneous reads and writes—cross I/O—force disk arrays to switch back and forth between multiple, competing I/O steams, reducing throughput and subjecting hardware to excessive wear. So best practice is to schedule migration as soon as possible after a backup AND at a time when other backup jobs are not running. Reclamation polices control when VTL releases the disk space that is used by a data set that has already migrated to tape. Prompt and efficient reclamation prevents over‐subscription of the disk and consequent backup failures and system down time, while minimizing investment in cache capacity. Best practice is to reclaim space as soon as the highest demand for restores has passed—typically after three to five days. This approach strikes the best balance between taking advantage of the speed and convenience of a disk‐based restore and minimizing consumption of cache space. To create a migration policy, select one of the following approaches: “Creating simple schedule‐driven migration policies” on page 46 “Creating state‐ and event‐based migration policies” on page 46. Then go to “Creating a reclamation policy” on page 48.
Page 60 Managing virtual libraries Creating simple schedule‐driven migration policies When the Please select migration trigger(s) dialog appears, proceed as follows. 1. Click the Time Based radio button ( 2. To migrate data every day, click the Daily Migration Schedule radio button ( below). Using the controls provided ( should begin. 3. To migrate data every week, click the Weekly Migration Check Schedule radio button ( migration should begin ( 4. Press Next ( Next task: “Creating a reclamation policy” on page 48. Creating state‐ and event‐based migration policies When the Please select migration trigger(s) dialog appears, proceed as follows. 1. To migrate data based on the state of data and/or virtual storage, click the Policy Based radio button ( VTL User Guide •...
Page 61 Managing virtual libraries 2. To migrate data when ALL of of the conditions specified are satisfied, click the And radio button ( 3. To migrate data when ONE OR MORE of the conditions specified is satisfied, click the the Or radio button ( 4. To trigger migration based on the age of the data, check the Age Based check box, and use the spinner control to select the desired number of days ( 5. To trigger migration based on disk usage, check the Disk Capacity Based check box ( 6. To trigger migration based on the end of a backup job, check the End of Backup check box ( above). If you want the end of a backp job to trigger migration only when a tape is full, also check the Only When Tape Is Full check box above). 7. To delay migration for a specified period following another triggering event, check the check Delay Migration Unitl check box, and enter the number of hours and minutes for the dealy in the box provided ( 8. Press Next ( Next task: “Creating a reclamation policy” on page 48. 96267 •...
Page 62 Managing virtual libraries Creating a reclamation policy The reclamation policy determines when expired virtual volumes are released. Proceed as follows. 1. When the Please select a reclamation trigger dialog appears, click the radio button that corresponds to the desired triggering condition ( 2. If you choose to specify a Retention Period, use the spinner control ( to specify the number of Day(s). 3. Then press Next ( Next task: “Generating the virtual library” on page 51. VTL User Guide • May 2008 above). below). above) G • 96267...
Page 63 Managing virtual libraries Setting up the Auto Archive feature 1. When the Auto Archive/Replication dialog appears, check the Auto Archive/Replication check box ( 2. Specify Auto Archive by clicking the Auto Archive radio button ( 3. Select the desired archiving behavior by clicking either the Move radio button (and setting the grace period using the spinner and list controls provided) or the Copy radio button ( The Copy option copies the virtual volume to physical media, leaving the virtual volume on disk. The Move option deletes the virtual volume from disk once the specified grace period has expired. 4. If you wish to eject tapes to import/export slots, check the Eject physical tapes to I/E slots after export check box ( 5. If you wish to encrypt the archived data, check the Encrypt data ... check box, and select a key from the list control provided ( 6. Press Next ( Next task: “Generating the virtual library” on page 51. 96267 • G below). above).
Page 64 Managing virtual libraries Setting up the Auto Replication option 1. When the Auto Archive/Replication dialog appears, check the Auto Archive/Replication check box ( 2. Click the Auto Replication radio button ( 3. To copy virtual media to the target library while leaving the source virtual media in the source library, click the Copy radio button ( 4. To move virtual media to the target library, deleting the source virtual media, click the Move radio button ( source library for a specified period before deleting them, define a grace period using the spinner and list controls at right ( 5. Select the Remote server name for the server that will host the replicated data. Select a name from the list control provided, or press Add to add a server to the list ( above). 6. Press Next ( Next task: “Generating the virtual library” on page 51. VTL User Guide • May 2008 below). above). If you want to retain the source volumes in the above). above).
Page 65 Managing virtual libraries Generating the virtual library Using this procedure, you define the remaining characteristics of your virtual library and media. You supply a barcode range, slot count, and import/export slot count for the library and define the capacity of the media. Setting the barcode range defines the set of barcodes that the virtual library will support. Each batch of cartridges that you subsequently create must be a subset of the range you define now—you cannot change it later. So Sun recommends setting this value to the widest range possible, 000000-ZZZZZZ. The virtual library can then support any barcoding scheme that you will ever need. By default, the slot count for a virtual library is the maximum defined for the Sun L700 physical library that the Sun VTL virtual library emulates, 678. Sun recommends adjusting this value to the maximum possible—4096—so that you are not needlessly constrained by it later. Once a library is defined, you cannot change the number of slots that it contains. Proceed as follows. 1. When the Enter Virtual Library Information dialog appears, enter a Barcode Starts value in the text field provided ( The starting value shown, 000000, allows you the greatest range possible. But whatever you choose, enter exactly six (6) barcode characters when emulating Sun StorageTek libraries—neither more nor less. 2. Enter a Barcode Ends value in the text field provided ( The ending value shown, ZZZZZZ, allows you the greatest range possible. But whatever you choose, enter exactly six (6) barcode characters when emulating Sun StorageTek libraries—neither more nor less. 96267 • G 4096 below). ...
Page 66 Managing virtual libraries 3. Using the spinner control provided, adjust the Number of Slots to 4096, the maximum supported by major backup application software for a single virtual library ( above). In most cases, set the slot number to the maximum value. Once a library is defined, you cannot change the number of slots that it contains, so it makes sense to set this number as high as possible. However, if you have to emulate a particular physical library (such as an IBM3590) rather than the Sun VTL library type, exercise care when changing the number of slots (or any other library properties). From an application or client point of view, virtual and physical instances of a given library type should generally be functionally identical. If they are not, clients and applications may behave in unanticipated ways. Finally, if you set up multiple libraries, you will not be able to create more than 65536 tapes per VTL server node, regardless of the number of slots and libraries configured. 4. Press Next ( 5. If you changed the default Number of Slots, the VTL software displays the following warning. Press OK. VTL User Guide • May 2008 above).
Page 67 Managing virtual libraries 6. When the Enter virtual tape properties dialog appears, check the Tape Capacity On Demand check box ( Sun recommends capacity on demand for most users. 7. If you are not using tape caching, use the Maximum Capacity spinner control above) to set the maximum size of your virtual tapes to 50‐60 GB or to the average size of your backup jobs (whichever is larger). This approach minimizes wasted space in the critical disk cache, where the first copy of each backup job is stored. It maximizes the number of cartridges available for backup jobs at any given time. Your copy/vault software can then consolidate these smaller volumes onto full‐sized physical tape cartridges outside the backup window. 8. If you are using VTL data compression with tape caching, use the Maximum Capacity spinner control ( of the encompassed capacity of the selected media. In the example above, you would reduce maximum capacity to 42‐43 GB when using compression. When you enable tape caching, a single virtual tape has two images, one in the disk cache and one in the tape cache. Both images must be logically identical. But when you use compression with tape caching, you cannot be sure that the disk and tape images will be identical. Different compression algorithms can produce slightly different compression ratios. So, unless you allow a 10‐15% margin of safety, you might find that a compressed data set that fills a tape image on disk will not fit on a physical cartridge. 9. If you are using tape caching, leave the Maximum Capacity control set to the maximum capacity of the physical media, unless you are also using VTL data ...
Page 68 Managing virtual libraries 10. Press Next ( 11. When the confirmation screen appears, press Finish ( 12. When the Batch Creation Status panel appears, press OK ( Next task: If you decided to create tapes, go to “Creating virtual tapes” on page 56. Enabling Auto Replication on an existing library 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, expand the node for the VTL server. 2. Under the VTL server, expand the Virtual Tape Library System and Virtual Tape Libraries nodes. VTL User Guide • May 2008 above). below). below). G • 96267...
Page 69 Managing virtual libraries 3. Under the Virtual Tape Libraries node, right‐click on the virtual tape library that you want to enable, and select Properties. 4. When the Change Virtual Library Properties property sheet appears, check the Auto Archive/Replication check box ( Replication radio button ( 5. Select the desired replication method by clicking the Copy radio button or by clicking the Move radio button and entering a grace period using the list and spinner controls provided ( 6. Select the Remote server name for the server that will host the replicated data. Selecting a name from the list control provided, or press Add to add a server to the list ( above). 7. Press OK ( above). Stop here. 96267 • G below), and click the Auto above). Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 70: Creating Virtual Tapes
Managing virtual libraries Creating virtual tapes Follow the procedures outlined below: “Enabling the advanced tape creation method” on page 56 “Setting replication parameters for virtual tape volumes” on page 61 “Launching the virtual tape batch creation process” on page 64. Enabling the advanced tape creation method 1. If you have not already done so, from the console main menu, select Tools below), then select Console Options ( 2. When the Console Options property sheet appears, make sure that the Enable advanced tape creation method check box ( and press OK ( The advanced tape creation method is enabled by default starting with VTL Plus 2.0. Sun recommends the advanced tape‐creation method because it makes it easier to avoid creating more virtual tapes than the available disk space can hold and makes it easier to manage multiple virtual tapes in multiple libraries. When the advanced method is enabled, tape creation dialogs display the available disk space alongside the controls that specify initial tape size and the desired number of tapes. Using this value, you can calculate the maximum number of full cartridges that you can create without oversubscribing the disk. While VTL software VTL User Guide •...
Page 71 Managing virtual libraries tries to calculate this value for you, it does so using the currently allocated size of the virtual tapes. If you are using the capacity on demand feature of the Sun VTL, the currently allocated size is the increment size (typically 5 GB), not the full capacity of the emulated media (for example, 40 GB for Sun StorageTek 9840C cartridges). As a result, the software will let you create as many increment‐sized tapes as will fit in the available disk space, up to the maximum number of slots defined for the library (658 for the Sun VTL library type). If you accept this number and create the tapes, the system will run out of disk space long before the tapes appear to be full. The advanced method also adds a control to the tape‐creation interface that lets you assign prefixes to tape names. By assigning the same prefix to both the virtual library and each of its virtual tapes, you can greatly simplify subsequent library management. Next task: “Selecting physical disk resources for use as virtual tape” on page 57. Selecting physical disk resources for use as virtual tape 1. When the Select Physical Devices dialog appears, press Select All below). 2. Press Next ( Next task: at this point, the behavior of the configuration wizard depends on the configuration of the virtual library: If the new virtual tapes will reside in a library that has the Auto Archive option enabled, the wizard displays two additional dialogs at this point, Select a Physical Tape Library and Select Physical Tapes. So go to “Setting Auto Archive parameters for virtual tape volumes” on page 58.
Page 72 Managing virtual libraries Otherwise, the wizard skips directly to the Specify Batch Mode Information dialog. So go to “Allocating disk space to virtual tapes” on page 60. Setting Auto Archive parameters for virtual tape volumes If the new virtual tapes will reside in a library that has the Auto Archive option enabled, proceed as follows. 1. In the Select a Physical Tape Library dialog, check the Create virtual tape(s) to match physical tape(s) ... check box ( nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn ... Checking the Create virtual tape(s) to match physical tape(s) ... check box insures that the barcodes of the new virtual tapes will match those of the physical tapes, thus fulfilling an essential prerequisite for auto archiving. VTL User Guide • May 2008 below). Press Next ( nnn.nnn.nnn ... G •...
Page 73 Managing virtual libraries 2. In the Select Physical Tapes dialog , select physical tapes using the check boxes ( below) and/or button controls provided ( ). Then press Next ( ). Next task: “Allocating disk space to virtual tapes” on page 60. 96267 • G Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 74 Managing virtual libraries Allocating disk space to virtual tapes 1. When the Specify Batch Mode Information panel appears, enter a descriptive prefix for the virtual tape labels ( Choose a meaning name prefix that shows the relationships between virtual tape volumes and virtual libraries. 2. If you only plan to create one virtual library for your VTL system, you can use all of the available disk capacity for tapes. Enter the Maximum ( value for the Number of Virtual Tapes ( VTL User Guide • May 2008 below). virtualLibraryName_VTV below). virtualLibraryName_VTV below) as the new G • 96267...
Page 75 Managing virtual libraries 3. Otherwise, if you plan to create additional libraries later, divide the Maximum above) between the libraries, and enter the number allocated to this library as the Number of Virtual Tapes ( The new value has to be less than the Maximum, so that capacity is reserved for creating tapes for the additional libraries. 4. Check the Use Default ID for Starting Number check box ( Next ( 5. When the Set Barcode Range Option panel appears, check the Use the following barcode range for this batch check box ( Next ( The Set Barcode Range Option panel defines the set of barcodes that the virtual library will support. Each batch of cartridges that you subsequently create ...
Page 76 Managing virtual libraries 1. When the Select Target Server for Auto-Replication Option dialog appears, check the Automatically replicate the virtual tape(s) to the selected target server check box ( 2. Select the remote server from the list ( list ( ). Press Next ( 3. When the Target Server Information panel appears, press Next ( VTL User Guide • May 2008 below). above), or press Add to add a server to the remote_server_IP below). G • 96267...
Page 77 Managing virtual libraries 4. When the Specify Replication Timeout and Retry Policy property sheet appears, configure timeout and retry intervals using the spinner controls provided below). Then press Next ( 5. When the Specify the Options for Data Transmission property sheet appears, check the Compress Data ( Compression software can be valuable when transmitting replica data over slow links. However, assess requirements carefully. Consider the operational impact of the additional processor workload and consequent reductions in throughput before enabling this option. 6. Check the Encrypt Data check box ( Encryption software is often necessary when replicating data over insecure links. However, assess requirements carefully. Consider the operational impact of the additional processor workload and consequent reductions in throughput before enabling this option. 96267 • G below) check box to enable compression. above) to enable encrypted transmissions. Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 78: Connecting Virtual Libraries With Storage Clients
Managing virtual libraries 7. Press Next ( Next task: “Launching the virtual tape batch creation process” on page 64. Launching the virtual tape batch creation process 1. When the Create Virtual Tapes summary screen appears, press Finish below). 2. When the batch job finishes and the Virtual Tape Batch Creation Status panel appears, press OK ( Note that tape creation can take some time, so the status panel will not appear immediately. Stop here. Connecting virtual libraries with storage clients To connect virtual libraries with client machines (typically backup application or NDMP agent hosts), carry out the following tasks: “Starting the Add Client Wizard” on page 65 VTL User Guide • May 2008 above). above). G • 96267...
Page 79 Managing virtual libraries “Adding Fibre Channel SAN clients” on page 66 “Assigning virtual libraries to storage clients” on page 69. Starting the Add Client Wizard 1. In the tree menu of the VTL console, select the VTL server branch. 2. Right‐click the SAN Clients branch ( 3. Select Add from the context menu ( Next task: “Adding Fibre Channel SAN clients” on page 66. 96267 • G below). below). Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 80 Managing virtual libraries Adding Fibre Channel SAN clients 1. When the Enter the Generic Client Name dialog appears, enter the client name in the text field provided ( The client is typically an ACSLS server or a backup application host, such as a Symantec NetBackup master server. 2. When the Select Client Protocols dialog appears, check the Fibre Channel check box ( VTL User Guide • May 2008 below). Press Next ( below), and press Next ( G • 96267...
Page 81 Managing virtual libraries 3. When the Set Client Fibre Channel Properties property sheet appears, select the World Wide Port Name (WWPN) of the initiator by checking the corresponding check box ( Initiator WWPN, and press OK ( 4. When the Fibre Channel Option panel appears, check the check boxes for any optional support that the client requires ( 96267 • G below), or press the Add button ( ). Then press Next ( below). Then press Next ( ), enter a new Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 82 Managing virtual libraries 5. When the Add the Generic Client summary screen appears, press Finish below) to add the client. Next task: “Starting the Assign a Virtual Tape Library Wizard” on page 68. Starting the Assign a Virtual Tape Library Wizard VTL storage clients are the backup application hosts that manage your backup jobs. To assign libraries to clients, proceed as follows. 1. Open the Assign a Virtual Tape Library Wizard by right‐clicking on the object‐tree node for virtual library, and selecting Assign from the context menu below). 2. Press Next ( Next task: “Assigning virtual libraries to storage clients” on page 69 VTL User Guide • May 2008 client_name WWPN above). G • 96267...
Page 83 Managing virtual libraries Assigning virtual libraries to storage clients 1. When the Assign a Virtual Tape Library Wizard appears, check the Assign the tape library and all drives... check box ( a client ( ), and press Next ( As a general rule, assign one library per client. client_x client_y client_z 2. When the Select a Fibre Channel Target panel appears, select the Target WWPN that you will zone to the client from the list ( To insure that the four target ports on the VTL appliance are fully and equally utilized, assign a minimum of four virtual tape drives per client. 96267 • G virtual_library_name below), and press Next ( virtual_library_name below), select ...
Page 84: Controlling Vtl Virtual Libraries With Acsls
Managing virtual libraries 3. When the Assign a Fibre Channel Client to the Virtual Tape Library confirmation screen appears, press Finish ( client_name 4. Log in to each VTL client (each backup server), and scan for new Fibre Channel devices. Stop here. Controlling VTL virtual libraries with ACSLS If you plan to administer VTL virtual libraries using the Sun ACSLS application, you need to carry out the following tasks: “Discovering SAN virtual libraries from the ACSLS host” on page 70 “Creating ACSLS host driver instances for virtual libraries” on page 71 “Adding virtual libraries to the ACSLS configuration” on page 73. Discovering SAN virtual libraries from the ACSLS host 1. Log in to the ACSLS server as root. 2. Configure all Fibre Channel‐connected virtual libraries into the system with the devfsadm command: [ACSLS_server]root:# ./devfsadm VTL User Guide • May 2008 virtual_library_name G •...
Page 85 Managing virtual libraries 3. Perform a configuration reboot: [ACSLS_server]root:# ./reboot -- -r Next task: “Creating ACSLS host driver instances for virtual libraries” on page 71. Creating ACSLS host driver instances for virtual libraries Once you have discovered the newly attached VTL virtual libraries, proceed as follows. 1. Log in to the ACSLS server as root. 2. Change to the the home directory of the ACSSS user, [ACSLS_server]root:# cd $ACSSS_HOME The default location of $ACSSS_HOME is 3. Quiesce ACSLS with the kill command: [ACSLS_server]root:# ./kill.acsss kill.acsss: Bringing down ACSLS kill.acsss: ACSLS is down A message that states that the PID file does not exist means that ACSLS was not ...
Page 86 Managing virtual libraries 5. Edit the file /usr/kernel/drv/mchanger.conf, adding an entry for each virtual library that the oeprating system discovered. Each library entry includes a driver name (mchanger), a parent driver (fp, the Solaris Fibre Channel port driver), a driver class (scsi), a logical unit number (lun), and a World Wide Name for the remote Fibre Channel port (fc-port-wwn): [ACSLS_server]root:# vi /usr/kernel/drv/mchanger.conf name="mchanger" class="scsi" target="is" lun="by" name="mchanger" class="scsi" target=0 lun=0; name="mchanger" class="scsi" target=0 lun=1; name="mchanger" class="scsi" target=0 lun=2; name="mchanger" parent="fp" class="scsi" lun=0 fc-port-wwn="210000e08b8a0bc2"; name="mchanger" parent="fp" class="scsi" lun=1 fc-port-wwn="210000e08b8affc2"; name="mchanger" parent="fp" class="scsi" lun=2 fc-port-wwn="210100e08ba57d7c"; [ACSLS_server]root:# 6.
Page 87 [ACSLS_server]root:# ./add_drv mchanger 12. Change to the ACSSS home directory, and start ACSLS: [ACSLS_server]root:# cd ../ [ACSLS_server]root:# ./rc.acsss Copyright 2007 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Use is subject to license terms. NOW IN SU - ACSSS. Copyright 2007 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Use is subject to license terms.
Page 88 Managing virtual libraries 2. When you are asked if the ACS (Automated Cartridge Subsystem) is in a partitioned library, enter n (no): Is ACS in a partitioned library? (y or n): n Number of connections to ACS: 1 Device or host - ACS, connection #0: 2008-03-20 10:28:13 Obtaining Configuration details, please wait 2008-03-20 10:28:13 Configuration Details for ACS # 2 Partition ID...
Page 89: Backing Up The Vtl System Configuration
Managing virtual libraries 4. Wait for 60 seconds (one minute), then start the ACSLS command preocessor, cmd_proc: $ cmd_proc This material is confidential and proprietary to StorageTek and may be licensed only under a valid StorageTek licence. Do not copy or distribute unless authorized in writing by StorageTek. If this software is used by the Government, use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 2.52.7-7013.
Page 90 Managing virtual libraries “Manually saving the VTL configuration” on page 76 “Automatically backing up the VTL configuration” on page 76. Manually saving the VTL configuration 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, highlight the VTL server node ( 2. From the VTL main menu, select Tools ( 3. From the submenu, select Save Configuration ( 4. When the Save dialog appears, supply a filename ( Stop here. Automatically backing up the VTL configuration To insure that the VTL configuration is alway protected, use the Auto Save feature to periodically create a point‐in‐time snapshot of the VTL configuration on another server. VTL User Guide • May 2008 above). above). above), and press Save ( below). G • 96267...
Page 91 Managing virtual libraries 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, right‐click on the the VTL server branch below). 2. From the context menu, select Properties ( 96267 • G above). Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 92 Managing virtual libraries 3. Select the Auto Save Config tab ( 4. Check Enable Auto Save Configuration File check box ( 5. In the field provided, enter the Ftp Server Name for the machine that will host the backup configuration files ( The target server must have FTP server installed and enabled. 6. Enter the relative path to the Target Directory in the field provided ( The specified path should be relative to the root directory of the ftp server. Do not use an absolute path. 7. Enter host log on information for the remote server in the fields provided above). The specified user must be an ftp user on the remote host and must have read/write access to the specified target directory. 8. Specify a replication Interval using the list controls provided ( 9. Specify the Number of Copies that should be retained using the spinner provided ( above). 10. Click OK ( above).
Page 93: Recovering The Server Configuration
Managing virtual libraries Stop here. Recovering the server configuration If the VTL server configuration is lost or corrupt, you can recover it from a backup file using the procedure below. Caution – This is a disaster recovery procedure only. Never execute it during day‐ to‐day operation of the server. Restoring a configuration overwrites existing virtual device and client configurations and does not restore VTL partition information. Restoring the configuration 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, select the branch for the VTL server that has lost its configuration information. 2. From the VTL main menu, select Tools. 3. From the submenu, select Restore Configuration. 4. Click OK to confirm. 5. When prompted, locate the backup configuration file. The VTL server restarts. Resources added after the configuration was saved will show up in the Virtual Vault after the configuration is restored. Deleted resources will be displayed in the virtual tape library with a red dot, indicating incomplete status. Stop here. Protecting VTL metadata The VTL database holds the metadata that maps data stored on virtual tape to locations on the physical, random‐access disk media. Without this critical information, virtual tape data cannot be recovered, so protecting it is essential. Sun StorageTek VTL appliances protect this metadata by storing it on a RAID system, a set of storage disks configured to survive the loss of any single member of the set without loss of data. 96267 • G Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 94 Managing virtual libraries Mirroring supplies an additional layer of protection. Mirrored databases maintain two separate, synchronized copies of the metadata, either of which can provide access to virtual tape data on its own. Mirroring the VTL database 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, expand the branch for the VTL server below). 2. Expand the Virtual Tape Library System branch ( 3. Right‐click on the Database object ( 4. From the context menus, select Mirror ( VTL User Guide • May 2008 below). above) and Add ( below). G • 96267...
Page 95 Managing virtual libraries 5. When the Select a Creation Method dialog appears, select Express below), and press Next ( The Express method takes advantage of the intelligence built in to the RAID subsystem to make best use of disk resources. 96267 • G Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 96: Administering User Acounts And Passwords
Managing virtual libraries 6. When the confirmation dialog appears, confirm that all information is correct, and then click Finish to create the mirrors. The VTL software creates and synchronizes the mirror database. When the process completes, the value of the Mirror Synchronization Status field of the database property sheet becomes Synchronized ( Stop here. Removing a mirror configuration 1. Right‐click on the database. 2. Select Mirror ‐‐> Remove to delete the mirrored copy and cancel mirroring. You will not be able to access the mirrored copy afterwards. Stop here. Administering user acounts and passwords You can perform the following tasks from the VTL console: “Managing administrators” on page 83 “Changing administrator passwords” on page 84. VTL User Guide • May 2008 below). G • 96267...
Page 97 Managing virtual libraries Managing administrators Only the root user can add or delete a VTL administrator or change an administrator’s password. 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, right click on the server name ( select Administrators from the context menu ( There are two types of administrators: VTL Administrators are authorized for full VTL console access. VTL Read-Only Users are only permitted to view information in the Console. They are not authorized to make changes and they are not authorized for client authentication. 2. When the VTL User/Administrator Management dialog appears, use the controls provided to manage administrator accounts ( When you add an administrator, the name must adhere to the naming convention of the operating system running on your VTL Server. Refer to your operating system’s documentation for naming restrictions. You cannot delete the vtl user or change the vtl password from this screen. Use the Change Password option instead. Stop here. 96267 • G below), and above). Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 98: Changing Administrator Passwords
Managing virtual libraries Changing administrator passwords 1. Right‐click on the VTL server node name ( from the context menu ( 2. When the dialog appears, enter the password that you need to change in the Old Password text box ( 3. Enter the changed password in the New Password and Confirm Password text boxes ( 4. Press OK ( Stop here. Virtual tape drive compression VTL’s compression saves disk space by compressing files so that more data can be stored by a virtual tape drive. The increase in capacity is directly related to the compressibility of the data being backed up. If you can compress the data being backed up by a factor of up to 2:1, you can store up to twice as much information on the virtual tape. Disk compression can vary depending upon the dataset; certain file types (ZIP, PDF, GIF, RAR, etc.) are already compressed and cannot be compressed further. VTL User Guide • May 2008 below). above). below), and select Change Password G •...
Page 99 Managing virtual libraries VTL supports two types of compression: Hardware compression ‐ uses a Hifn Express DR1000 (1 GB/sec compression) or DR600 (600 MB/sec) compression card. A license keycode is required for hardware compression. Software compression ‐ uses an LZO algorithm that runs on the VTL server. In order to use compression, you must also enable tape drive compression in your backup application. Note – Note: If you are already using software compression that is supplied by your backup application, you should not use VTL’s compression. Using both types of compression will cause VTL to try to compress already‐compressed data and this can slow down your backups. To enable or disable compression: 1. Enable tape drive compression in your backup application. 2. If you are using hardware compression, install a certified compression card in your VTL server. You can have up to two compression cards per VTL server. The compression card(s) must be installed before compression begins. If you try to use hardware compression and a compression card is not available, VTL will send an error message to the console event log and uncompressed data will be written to the virtual tape drive. 3. In the VTL Console, right‐click on VirtualTape Library System and select Properties. 4. Select the Enable VirtualTape Library compression mode checkbox and specifywhether you are using Software or Hardware compression. If you are upgrading a VTL system that previously used software compression to now use hardware compression, the compression mode will be switched to hardware when the tape is overwritten. Both types of compression are global settings, which means that they will apply to all tapes in your system. If compression is enabled on the VTL server, you can still disable or enable compression on each individual virtual tape drive in the same manner as real tape drives ‐‐ via your backup application or via SCSI commands which are sent by the ...
Page 100: Managing Tapes
Managing tapes UNIX — On backup servers that run Solaris or other UNIX operating systems, specify a compressed tape device file such as /dev/rmt/0cbn to enable compression or /dev/rmt/0ubn to disable compression. Windows — On Windows servers select the option in your backup software to enable or disable hardware tape drive compression. If global VTL compression is disabled, it is possible to enable individual drive compression, but it will have no effect. You will see a compression icon next to each virtual tape drive with compression enabled. Managing tapes This section addresses the following topics: Locating virtual tapes Copying a tape to a remote server. Locating virtual tapes To locate a virtual tape, proceed as follows. Searching for virtual tapes by barcode 1. To locate a virtual tape, select Edit from the main menu. 2. Then select Find from the context menu. 3. When prompted, enter the full barcode for the virtual tape, and press Search. The console opens the object tree at the virtual tape. Stop here. Replicating tapes This section covers creating and working with synchronized replicas of virtual tapes on local and/or remote VTL servers. Topics include: “Setting up tape replication for multiple tapes” on page 87 VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 101 “Checking replication status with a report” on page 101 “Changing replication properties” on page 102 “Deleting a replication configuration” on page 103 “Promoting a replica resource” on page 103. Setting up tape replication for multiple tapes 1. Before continuing, make sure that you have write access to both the primary (local) and target (remote) VTL servers and that there is enough space available on the target for the replica resources you intend to create. 2. In the object tree of the VTL console, expand the VTL server node. 3. Under the VTL server, expand the Virtual Tape Library System and Virtual Tape Libraries nodes. 4. Under the Virtual Tape Libraries node, right‐click on the virtual tape library for which you want to enable replication ( 5. From the context menus, select Replication ( 96267 • G below). below), Add ( Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 102 Managing tapes 6. When the Select Virtual Tapes to enable Replication... panel appears, use the check boxes ( Press Next ( 7. When the Specify the Target server Type panel appears, click the radio button for a Remote or Local Server ( VTL User Guide • May 2008 below) and/or selection buttons to select tapes ( below). Then press Next ( ). G • 96267...
Page 103 Managing tapes 8. When the Select Target Server panel appears, use the list ( or server or press Add ( 9. If you chose the Remote Server option above, in Step 7, edit the IP address of the remote VTL server in the space provided ( Next ( 96267 • G ) to add one to the list. Press Next ( below), if necessary, then press below) to select Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 104 Managing tapes 10. If you chose the Local Server option above, in Step 7, press Next ( 11. When the Select the Replication Policy ... panel appears, use the check boxes, list boxes, and spinner controls provided to define the policy you want to apply ( below). Press Next ( VTL User Guide • May 2008 below). G • 96267...
Page 105 Managing tapes 12. When the Select the Replication Timeout and Retry Policy panel appears, use the spinner controls provided to define the policy you want to apply below). Press Next ( 13. When the Specify the Options for Data Transmission panel appears, use the check boxes provided to select the options you want to use ( Next ( Remember that compression and encryption are CPU‐intensive software processes that reduce system throughput. Use them judiciously, when necessary. 96267 • G below). Press Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 106 Managing tapes 14. When the confirmation panel appears, press Finish ( Stop here. Setting up replication for individual tapes 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, expand the VTL server node, the Virtual Tape Library System node, and the Virtual Tape Libraries node. VTL User Guide • May 2008 below). G • 96267...
Page 107 Managing tapes 2. Then open the node for the library that holds the tape you want to replicate below), and open the Tapes node ( 3. Right‐click on the virtual tape for which you want to enable replication ( 4. From the context menus, select Replication ( 5. When the Specify the Target server Type panel appears, click the radio button for a Remote or Local Server ( 96267 • G ). above), then select Add ( below). Then press Next ( above). Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 108 Managing tapes 6. When the Select Target Server panel appears, use the list ( or server or press Add ( 7. If you chose the Remote Server option above, in Step 7, edit the IP address of the remote VTL server in the space provided ( Next ( VTL User Guide • May 2008 ) to add one to the list. Press Next ( below), if necessary, then press below) to select G • 96267...
Page 109 Managing tapes 8. If you chose the Local Server option above, in Step 7, press Next ( 9. When the Select the Replication Policy ... panel appears, use the check boxes, list boxes, and spinner controls provided to define the policy you want to apply ( below). Press Next ( 96267 • G Chapter 4 VTL operations below).
Page 110 Managing tapes 10. When the Select the Replication Timeout and Retry Policy panel appears, use the spinner controls provided to define the policy you want to apply below). Press Next ( 11. When the Specify the Options for Data Transmission panel appears, use the check boxes provided to select the options you want to use ( Next ( Remember that compression and encryption are CPU‐intensive software processes that reduce system throughput. Use them judiciously, when necessary. VTL User Guide • May 2008 below). Press G • 96267...
Page 111 Managing tapes 12. When the Select a Creation Method panel appears, click the Express radio button ( below), and press Next ( The Sun StorageTek VTL appliance includes an integrated RAID device, so there is no advantage to manually selecting target volumes using the Custom method. The Custom method may also result in load balancing problems and significantly greater management overhead. 13. When the Enter the Virtual Tape Replica Name panel appears, enter a name or accept the default ( 96267 • G below), and press Next ( Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 112 Managing tapes 14. When the confirmation panel appears, press Finish ( Note – Once you create your replication configuration, you should not change the hostname of the source (primary) server. If you do, you will need to recreate your replication configuration. Stop here. Manually synchronizing replicas (manual replication) You can synchronize replicas manually, when necessary. To do so, proceed as follows. 1. Right‐click on the primary virtual tape, and select Replication from the context menu. 2. Select Synchronize from the following context menu. Stop here. VTL User Guide • May 2008 below). G • 96267...
Page 113 Managing tapes Suspending and resuming replication You can manually suspend forthcoming replications that would otherwise be launched automatically from your replication policies (currently active replications are unaffected). To do so, proceed as follows. 1. Right‐click on the primary virtual tape, and select Replication and Suspend from the context menus. 2. If desired, you can synchronize replicas manually during the suspension period by right‐clicking on the primary virtual tape, and selecting Replication and Synchronize from the context menus. 3. To continue with normal replication, right‐click on the primary virtual tape, and select Replication and Resume from the context menus. Stop here. Stopping a replication that is already under way 1. To stop a replication that is currently in progress, right‐click on the primary virtual tape. 2. Select Replication from the context menu. 3. Select Stop from the following context menu. Stop here. 96267 • G Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 114 Managing tapes Checking replication status from the primary VTL server 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, drill down to the Tapes node, and select the primary virtual tape ( 2. In the properties sheet at the right, select the Replication tab ( 3. Scan down the sheet until you see the Replication Status row ( Stop here. VTL User Guide • May 2008 below). above). above). G • 96267...
Page 115 Managing tapes Checking replication status from the target VTL server 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, drill down to the Replica Resources node ( below). 2. Select the replica resource corresponding to the primary virtual tape ( 3. In the properties sheet at the right, select the General tab ( 4. Scan down the sheet until you see the Replication Status row ( Stop here. Checking replication status with a report 1. Use the procedure in “Creating a report” on page 123 to create a Replication Status Report While a report can be generated for a single tape, it is most useful for assessing the replication status of multiple tapes. Reports can be created to fit a range of criteria, including: all tapes that have replication enabled all tapes replicated from a source server all tapes replicated to a target server all tapes in a given range of dates. 96267 • G Chapter 4 VTL operations above)) above). above).
Page 116 Managing tapes all tapes on a group of servers Reports can be filtered to exclude all but current replication configurations, all but deleted or prompted configurations, or any desired combination. 2. Examine the report for the status ( Stop here. Changing replication properties You can change the following for your replication configuration: Static IP address of your target server Policies that trigger replication (watermark, interval, time) Timeout and retry policies Data transmission options (encryption, compression) To change properties, proceed as follows: 1. Right‐click on the primary virtual tape, and select Replication and Properties from the context menus. 2. Make the appropriate changes, and press OK. Stop here. VTL User Guide • May 2008 below) of the job or jobs you are interested in. G • 96267...
Page 117 1. Right‐click on the primary virtual tape, and select Replication from the context menu. 2. Select Remove from the following context menu. This allows you to remove the replication configuration on the primary and either delete or promote the replica resource on the target server at the same time. Stop here. Promoting a replica resource If a primary virtual tape is damaged or corrupted, administrators can restore the data by promoting the equivalent replica. After promotion, the virtual tape is placed in the virtual vault on the former target server (now the primary). An administrator can then: move the virtual tape to a virtual library on the local server replicate the virtual tape back to the original source server. Once promoted, a replica resource cannot revert to being a replica resource. You must create a new replication configuration for the new primary tape. TIn order to maintain the integrity of restored data, the VTL software will not promote an invalid replica resource, such as a replica that has been damaged or left incomplete by a transmission fault. It will likewise refuse to promote a replica resource while a replication is still in progress. 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, expand the VTL target server node, expand the Virtual Tape Library System and Replica Resources nodes. 2. Under the Replica Resources node, right‐click on the replica that you want to promote ( below). 96267 • G Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 118: Copying Tapes
Managing tapes 3. From the context menus, select Replication ( 4. When the confirmation panel appears, press OK ( 5. Rescan devices from the SAN client or restart the client so that it can see the promoted virtual tape. Stop here. Copying tapes You can copy the contents of a single tape to a remote server, on demand, using the VTL Remote Copy feature. The Remote Copy feature replicates full tapes. It does not append data to existing virtual tapes or overwrite the contents of tapes. VTL User Guide • May 2008 below), Promote ( below). G • 96267...
Page 119 Managing tapes You can only copy tapes with barcodes that are not found on the remote server. If a copy exists and you wish to proceed, you must first delete the existing remote copy copy. You cannot copy a tape that is configured to take advantage of the Replication, Auto Replication, or Auto Archive features. To copy tapes to a remote server, proceed as follows. Copying a tape to a remote server 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, expand the VTL server node. 2. Under the VTL server, expand the Virtual Tape Library System and Virtual Tape Libraries nodes. 3. Under the Virtual Tape Libraries node, right‐click on the virtual tape library that you want to enable ( 4. Right‐click on the virtual tape that you want to copy ( Copy from the context menu ( 96267 • G below), and expand the Tapes node. below), and select Remote Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 120 Managing tapes 5. When the Select the Target Server panel appears, use the list to select the server where you want to copy the tape ( to the list. Then press Next ( 6. When the Enter Replication Parameters panel appears, edit the IP address if necessary ( VTL User Guide • May 2008 below), then press Next ( nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn below) or press Add ( ) to add a server G • 96267...
Page 121: Moving Tapes Between Virtual And Physical Libraries
Managing tapes 7. When the Specify a Location panel appears, select a location on the remote server ( below), and press Next ( 8. When the confirmation panel appears, press Finish ( Stop here. Moving tapes between virtual and physical libraries VTL software can import a physical tape as a virtual tape or export virtual tape to physical tape, using an attached physical tape library or tape drive. You can thus use the import and export functions to: 96267 • G below). Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 122 Managing tapes copy a physical tape to a virtual tape that emulates the same type of media directly access a physical tape without copying the entire tape recycle a physical tape after importing its contents to virtual media move data from a virtual tape to a physical tape of the same media type VTL import/export capabilities are particularly useful when you are not using the Automated Tape Caching feature and want to move tapes from a virtual library to physical media for long term storage. Should you subsequently need to recover files, you can access the physical tape volume directly, in the physical library, by using the VTL import function. This gives the backup application immediate access to the tape data without waiting for a complete copy—a big advantage when you need to restore only a small amount of data. You should note, however, that VTL software supports several of ways of moving data from virtual to physical storage, each of which has advantages in particular situations. In addition to VTL’s export function, each of the following methods supports migration of data from virtual to physical media: copying virtual tape to physical tape using the functionality provided by your backup or copy‐/vault‐management application automatically cloning virtual volumes to physical media after each backup using the VTL Auto Archive function automatically cloning virtual volumes to physical media using the policy‐driven VTL Automated Tape Caching option. You should thus consider your options before deciding on a method. Automated Tape Caching and Auto Archive cannot be used together. Up to 32 import/export jobs can run concurrently, although, in practice, this is generally limited to something less by the number of physical tape drives available on the attached library. This section holds instructions for the following tasks: “Importing a physical tape into a virtual library” on page 109 “Importing cartridges in an IBM iSeries environment” on page 115 “Exporting virtual tape to physical tape” on page 115 “Exporting cartridges to the virtual vault in an IBM iSeries environment” on page 119. VTL User Guide • May 2008 G •...
Page 123 Managing tapes Importing a physical tape into a virtual library 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, right‐click the node for the physical tape library or drive that holds the tape you wish to import ( Tape from the context men ( 2. When the Select virtual library ... panel appears, use the list to select a virtual library that holds volumes of the same capacity as the volume you want to import ( below). Press Next ( VTL exports tapes to like media only. You cannot export to a dissimilar physical tape. 96267 • G below). Select Import Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 124 Managing tapes 3. When the Select the import mode ... panel appears, click the radio button that corresponds to the behavior you want ( 4. If the tape is encrypted and you wish to decrypt it, check the Decrypt data ... check box ( If the data was not previously encrypted, imported data is unusable. If you supply an incorrect key or if you enter an invalid password when challenged, the imported data is not decrypted. 5. Press Next ( VTL User Guide • May 2008 above), and enter the correct key. above). below). G • 96267...
Page 125 Managing tapes 6. When the Select the physical tape to import ... panel appears, use the check boxes and/or selection buttons provided to select the tape(s) that you want to import ( below). Then press Next ( You can select a tape based on its barcode or slot location. You can then use the same barcode for the virtual tape or you can enter a new barcode. You can also select a slot for the virtual tape. 7. When the Select Virtual Tape Creation Method panel appears, click the Express radio button ( The Sun StorageTek VTL appliance includes an integrated RAID subsystem, so there is no advantage to manually selecting target volumes using the Custom method. The Custom method may also result in load balancing problems and significantly greater management overhead. 96267 • G below), and press Next ( Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 126 Managing tapes 8. When the Select Physical Devices panel appears, use the check boxes and/or selection buttons provided to select the LUNs that you wish to use ( Press Next ( 9. When the Specify Batch Mode Information panel appears, enter a Virtual Tape Name Prefix that matches the convention used in the rest of the virtual library ( below). VTL User Guide • May 2008 below). G • 96267...
Page 127 Managing tapes 10. Set the Virtual Tape Size to the full size of the emulated media ( and Tab to another field to recalculate the Maximum number of tapes possible with the available storage ( you will create in order to import your specified number of physical tapes ( does not exceed the recalculated Maximum ( 11. If the Number of Virtual Tapes that you will create in order to import your specified number of physical tapes ( ), stop here. You cannot import the number of tapes you specified. 96267 • G ). Make sure that the Number of Virtual Tapes that above) exceeds the recalculated Maximum below), ) Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 128 Managing tapes 12. Otherwise, reset the Virtual Tape Size to the default value for using capacity on demand with this type of media ( Starting Number check box ( 13. Verify the information, and press Finish ( Next task: If you are working in an IBM iSeries/AS400 environment, go to “Importing cartridges in an IBM iSeries environment” on page 115. Otherwise, stop here. VTL User Guide • May 2008 below). Check the Use default ID for ), and press Next ( below) to import the tape. G • 96267...
Page 129 Managing tapes Importing cartridges in an IBM iSeries environment 1. If you have not already done so, import tapes into the virtual library using the VTL console, as described in “Importing a physical tape into a virtual library” on page 109. 2. At the AS/400, re‐inventory the tape library. In the option field next to the tape library, enter 9 (INVENTORY). 3. Add tapes to the inventory by entering either of the following at the command line: ADDTAPCTG DEV(library_device_name ) CTG(cartridge_identifier ) CGY(*NOSHARE) CHKVOL(*NO) ADDTAPCTG DEV(library_device_name ) CTG(cartridge_identifier ) CGY(*SHARE400) CHKVOL(*NO) The tape status changes from INSERT to AVAILABLE. Stop here. Exporting virtual tape to physical tape 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, right‐click on the virtual tape node that you want to export ( 96267 • G below), and select Move to Vault from the context menu ( Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 130 Managing tapes 2. When the Move Tape to Virtual Vault dialog appears, select the tape(s) that you want to move using the check boxes and/or selection buttons provided below). Press OK ( 3. Now, in the object tree of the VTL console, open the Virtual Vault node, and right‐click the virtual tape that you want to export ( from the context menu ( VTL User Guide • May 2008 below). Select Export Tape G • 96267...
Page 131 Managing tapes 4. When the Select a physical library or drive panel appears, use the list to select the library or device to which you want to export virtual tape ( Press Next ( 5. Select how you want the data exported. Move Mode ‐ Copies the contents of the virtual tape to its physical counterpart and then removes the virtual tape from the system. Specify a grace period if you want to keep the virtual tape for a time before deleting it. If you select EnableTape Duplication on the next dialog, the virtual tape data will not be deleted until the duplication job finishes successfully. Copy Mode ‐ Copies the contents of the virtual tape to its physical counterpart and retains the virtual tape after the data is transferred. 96267 • G below). Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 132 Managing tapes 6. Select or clear the Eject physical tapes to I/E slots after export check box. 7. Select Encrypt data when exporting to physical tape with the selected key if you want to encrypt the data on the tape. You can select this option only if at least one key has been created. If you select this option, you must select the key to use. All the data on the tape will be indecipherable until is imported back to a virtual tape library and decrypted using the same key. Note that when you encrypt data, physical tape drive compression is disabled; it will be enabled if you do not encrypt data. 8. Indicate if you want to enable tape duplication. Tape duplication makes a duplicate copy of the physical tape when data is exported. You must have at least two identical physical libraries (same mode). 9. If you wish to move the physical tapes to an import/export slot after the export operation is complete, check the Eject physical tapes ... check box above). 10. If you wish to encrypt the physical tape, check the Encrypt data ... check box, and supply a key using the control provided ( 11. Press Next ( 12. When the Select Virtual Tape(s) panel appears, select each virtual tape that you want to export using the check boxes at left ( buttons ( ). 13. For each tape, check the Same Barcode check box ( want to preserve the barcode.
Page 133 Managing tapes 15. Press Next ( 16. When the Verify and Export ... panel appears, press Finish ( Stop here. Exporting cartridges to the virtual vault in an IBM iSeries environment 1. Export a cartridge by entering the following at the command line: RMVTAPCTG DEV(library_device_name ) CTG(cartridge_identifier) 2. If desired, use the VTL console to verify that the cartridges have been removed from the virtual library and placed in the virtual vault. Stop here. 96267 • G below). below). Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 134: Managing Tape Caching
To manually cause data in a cache to be migrated to physical tape, proceed as follows: 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, right‐click on a virtual tape cache. 2. Select Migrate to Physical Tape from the context menu. Note that all data on the physical tape is overwritten. Stop here. Manually freeing cache space 1. If you need to release space in a single cache, in the object tree of the VTL console, right‐click on a virtual tape cache, and select Reclaim Disk Space. Note that all data in the cache is overwritten. 2. To release space in multiple tape caches, in the object tree of the VTL console, right‐click on the Virtual Tape Library System node, and select Reclaim Disk Space from the context menu. Stop here. Renewing cache for a directly linked tape VTL software automatically recaches a direct link physical tape if the link is overwritten by a backup application. To manually renew the cache for a direct link tape, proceed as follows: VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 135 Managing tape caching 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, right‐click on the direct link tape that you wish to recache. 2. Select Renew Cache from the context menu. Stop here. Disabling a policy To disable a tape caching policy: 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, right‐click on a virtual tape library, and select Automated Tape Caching from the context menu. 2. Clear the Enable Tape Caching Policy check box. All the options that you previously set are retained, but data migration will not occur automatically until you select this check box again. 3. Click OK. Stop here. Relinking physical tapes If a directly linked physical tape is ejected from the physical tape library after the virtual tape has been released from cache, you have to relink the physical tape before you can access it from the VTL console. Note – Once the physical tape is reloaded in a library, the backup application can inventory access the library and access the tape directly, if necessary. 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, right‐click on the virtual tape library, and select Sync Library from the context menu. 2. If you have multiple libraries, select the appropriate physical library. 96267 •...
Page 136 Managing tape caching 3. When the Sync Library dialog appears, check the checkbox that corresponds to the physical tape that needs to be relinked ( button. 4. Press Next ( 5. When the select the mode panel appears, click the Create Direct Link radio button ( below). VTL User Guide • May 2008 above). below) or use the Select-All G • 96267...
Page 137: Creating And Viewing Reports
Creating and viewing reports 6. If the data was encrypted before being migrated, check the Use encryption/decryption on tape(s) check box, and supply the select the appropriate key using the list control provided ( 7. Press Next ( Stop here. Creating and viewing reports You can work with reports using the VTL console. See: “Creating a report” on page 123 “Viewing a report” on page 126 “Exporting data from a report” on page 127. Creating a report 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, right‐click on the Reports node ( and select New from the context menu ( 96267 • G above), then Finish. above). below), Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 138 Creating and viewing reports 2. When the Select a Report Type dialog appears, select a type from the list below). Press Next ( 3. When the Select Report Options panel appears, select the desired report properties using the controls provided ( Note that different report types offer different options. In the example above, the Include All SAN Resources and Clients option covers all current and previous configurations for the server (including physical tape libraries/drives and clients that you may have changed or deleted). The Include Current Active SAN Resources and Clients Only option covers only the physical tape libraries/drives and clients that are currently configured for this server. VTL User Guide • May 2008 and below). Press Next ( G •...
Page 139 Creating and viewing reports 4. When the Enter the Report Name dialog appears, for the report, enter the name in the field provided ( 5. When the Create the Report panel appears, press Finish ( Stop here. 96267 • G below), and press Next ( Chapter 4 VTL operations below).
Page 140: Viewing A Report
Creating and viewing reports Viewing a report 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, expand the Reports node ( the list of current reports. 2. Select the current report that you wish to view ( The desired report appears in the right‐hand pane of the console ( Stop here. VTL User Guide • May 2008 above). below) to view above). G • 96267...
Page 141: Encrypting And Shredding Data
Encrypting and shredding data Exporting data from a report 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, expand the Reports node and right‐click the name of the report that you want to export ( You can export server and device throughput and usage report data to comma‐or tab‐delimited text files. 2. In the context menu., select Export ( 3. When the Save dialog appears, use the Files of type list control to select the desired format ( Stop here. Encrypting and shredding data To ensure that the data that you export to physical tape is confidential and secure, VTL offers a Secure Tape Option that uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the U.S. government. With this option, you can create one or more keys that can be used to encrypt the data when it is exported to physical tape and decrypt it when it is imported back to virtual tapes. The data on the tape cannot be read without being decrypted using the appropriate key. 96267 • G above). above), and press Save ( below). Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 142: Creating A Key
Encrypting and shredding data Each key consists of a secret phrase. For additional security, each key is password‐ protected. You must provide this password in order to change the key name, password, or password hint, or to delete or export the key. You can apply a single key to all virtual tapes when you export them to physical tape, or you can create a unique key for each one. Creating multiple keys provides more security; in the unlikely event that a key is compromised, only the tapes that use that key would be affected. However, if you use multiple keys, you must keep track of which key applies to each tape so that you use the correct key to decrypt the data when you import the physical tape back to virtual tape. Note: If you apply an incorrect key when importing a tape, the data imported from that tape will be indecipherable. Once you have created one or more keys, you can export them to a separate file called a key package. If you send encrypted tapes to other locations that run VTL, you can also send them the key package. By importing the key package, administrators at the other sites can then decrypt the tapes when they are imported back into virtual tape libraries managed by VTL. You can enable encryption and specify which key to use when you either manually import or export a tape or when you use the auto‐archive/replication feature. For instructions, see the following: “Creating a key” on page 128 “Changing a key name or password” on page 129 “Deleting a key” on page 130 “Exporting a key” on page 131 “Importing a key” on page 132 “Shredding a virtual tape” on page 133. Creating a key 1. In the navigation tree, right‐click the server name and click Key Management. 2. Click New. 3.
Page 143 Encrypting and shredding data 5. In the New Password and Confirm Password text boxes ( password for accessing the key (10–16 characters). You will need to provide this password when changing the key name, password, or password hint and when deleting or exporting the key. You do not have to provide a unique password for each key. In fact, if you use the same password for multiple keys, you have to provide the password only once when you export multiple keys that all use the same password. 6. In the Password Hint text box ( help you remember the password. This hint appears when you type an incorrect password and request a hint. 7. Click OK ( above). Stop here. Changing a key name or password Once you have created a key, you cannot change the secret phrase associated with that key. However, you can change the name of the key, as well as the password used to access the key and the hint associated with that password. 96267 • G below), type a hint (0–32 characters) that will below), type a Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 144: Deleting A Key
Encrypting and shredding data If you rename a key, you can still use that key to decrypt data that was encrypted using the old key name. For example, if you encrypt data using Key1, and you change its name to Key2, you can decrypt the data using Key2, since the secret phrase is the same. To change a key name or password: 1. In the navigation tree, right‐click the server name, and click Key Management. 2. From the Key Name list, click the key you want to change. 3. Click Edit. 4. If you closed the Key Management dialog box after creating the key, type the current password for accessing this key in the Password text box. If you just created the key, did not close the Key Management dialog box, and subsequently decided to change the key, you are not prompted for the password. 5. Make the desired changes: 6. Click OK. Stop here. Deleting a key Caution: Once you delete a key, you can no longer decrypt tapes that were encrypted using that key unless you subsequently create a new key that uses the exact same secret phrase, or import the key from a key package. 1. In the navigation tree, right‐click the server name and click Key Management. 2. From the Key Name list, click the key that you want to delete. 3. Click Delete. 4.
Page 145 Encrypting and shredding data Exporting a key When you export a key, you create a separate file called a key package that contains one or more keys. You can then send this file to another site that uses VTL, and administrators at that site can import the key package and use the associated keys to encrypt or decrypt data. Creating a key package also provides you with a backup set of keys. If a particular key is accidentally deleted, you can import it from the key package so that you can continue to access the data encrypted using that key. 1. In the navigation tree, right‐click the server name and click Key Management. 2. Click Export. 3. In the Package Name text box, type the file name to use for this key package (1–32 characters). 4. In the Decryption Hint text box, type a three‐character hint. When you subsequently attempt to import a key from this key package, you are prompted for a password. If you provide the correct password, the decryption hint specified here appears correctly on the Import Keys dialog box. If you provide an incorrect password, a different decryption hint appears. You can import keys using an incorrect password, but you will not be able to decrypt any files using those keys. 5. From the Select Keys to Export list, select the key(s) that you want to include in the key package. When you select a key or click Select All, you are prompted to provide the password for each key. (If multiple selected keys use the same password, you are ...
Page 146 Encrypting and shredding data 6. Select Prompt for new password for all keys in package if you want to create a new password for the key package. If you select this option, you will be prompted to provide the new password when you click OK on the Export Keys dialog box. You will subsequently be prompted for this password when you try to import a key from this package. In addition, all keys imported from this package will use this new password rather than the password originally associated with each key. If you clear this option, this package will use the same password as the first selected key (which appears in the Password for All Keys in Package area), and you must provide this password when you try to import a key from this package. You must also provide this password when you subsequently change, delete, or export any key imported from this package. 7. In the Save in this directory text box, type the full path for the file. 8. Click OK. If you selected the Prompt for new password for all keys in package ...
Page 147 Encrypting and shredding data the key package. If you provide an incorrect password, you will still be able to import the keys in the package, but you will not be able to use them to decrypt any data that was previously encrypted using those keys. 6. From the Select Keys to Import list, select the keys that you want to import. You can select only those keys that have a green dot and the phrase Ready for Import in the Status column. A red dot and the phrase Duplicate Key Name indicates that a key of the same name already exists in this instance of VTL and cannot be imported. If you selected a key and subsequently decide not to import it, you can clear the key. You can also clear all selected keys by clicking De-Select All. (You can click this button only if the Show All Keys check box is cleared.) Note: A key of the same name might not necessarily have the same secret phrase. For example, you might have a key named Key1 with a secret phrase of ThisIsTheSecretPhraseForKey1. If the key package was created by another instance of VTL, it might also have a key named Key1, but its secret phrase might be ThisIsADifferentSecretPhrase. Since the key names are the same, you will not be able to import the key in the key package unless you rename the existing Key1. After you rename the key, you can continue to use it to decrypt tapes that were encrypted using that key, and you can also import the key named Key1 from the key package and use it to decrypt tapes that were encrypted using that key. 7. Click OK. The imported keys appear in the Key Name list on the Key Management dialog box. When you subsequently export or import a tape, these key names also appear in ...
Page 148 Encrypting and shredding data 1. Move the tape(s) you want to shred to the virtual vault. In the object tree of the VTL console, start by right‐clicking on a tape that you want to shred ( and select Move to Vault ( 2. When the Move tape to Virtual Vault dialog appears, use the check boxes above) and selection buttons ( OK ( 3. Select the tape(s) you want to shred. In the object tree of the VTL console, click on the Virtual Vault ( VTL User Guide • May 2008 ) from the context menu. ) to select the tapes you want to shred. Press below). below), G • 96267...
Page 149: Working With The Event Log
Working with the Event Log 4. Right‐click on one of the tapes that you want to shred (G above), and select Tape Shredding ( 5. When the Shred Virtual Tape Resource dialog appears, check the Delete After Shredding check box ( after shredding. 6. In the space provided, type YES ( and press OK ( You can view the status by highlighting the virtual tape in the vault. The status bar displays the progress. If you want to cancel the shredding process, right‐click on the tape or the Virtual Vault object and select Tape Shredding > Cancel. Note – Tape shredding may adversely affect backup performance. We recommend that you perform tape shredding when there are no backups running. Stop here. Working with the Event Log The Event Log details significant occurrences during the operation of the VTL ...
Page 150: Viewing An Event Log
Working with the Event Log The columns displayed are: Type Date Time Event Message The VTL console lets you work with logs in the following ways: “Viewing an event log” on page 136 “Sorting an event log” on page 136 “Quickly printing an event log” on page 137 “Filtering, exporting, purging, and printing an event log” on page 137 Viewing an event log 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, select the server that you want to check. 2. In the panel on the right side of the VTL console, click on the Event Log tab. Stop here. Sorting an event log 1. On the Event Log tab, click on the column head that you want to use as a sort key. 2. If you want to reverse the sort order, click on the column heading again. Stop here. VTL User Guide • May 2008 I: This is an informational message. No action is required.
Page 151 Working with the Event Log Quickly printing an event log 1. From the VTL console main menu, select File. 2. From the submenu, select Print. Stop here. Filtering, exporting, purging, and printing an event log 1. With the Event Log tab ( icon in object tree of the VTL console ( 2. From the context menu, select Event Log ( 96267 • G below) of the server open, right‐click on the server above). Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 152: Using The Attention Required Tab
Working with the Event Log 3. From the submenu, select the operation that you wish to perform ( If you wish to search or filter the log, the Event Log Options dialog ( lets you set up and apply your criteria. Stop here. Using the Attention Required tab When events that may require user intervention occur, the VTL console flags the server icon with an exclamation point (!) and displays notifications in the Attention Required tab of the server properties sheet. Typical events include physical library failures, appliance hardware errors, replication errors, and completed import/export jobs. The VTL console lets you manage Attention Required notifications notifications in the following ways: “Accessing the Attention Required tab” on page 139 “Clearing issues from the Attention Required list” on page 139. VTL User Guide • May 2008 above). below) G • 96267...
Page 153 Working with the Event Log Accessing the Attention Required tab 1. In the VTL object tree, locate the flagged server ( 2. In the right‐hand pane, select the Attention Required tab of the server property sheet ( Stop here. Clearing issues from the Attention Required list 1. If you want to clear an entire class of events from the list, check the check box for the event type ( 2. If you want to clear an individual event, check the corresponding check box above) 3. Click the Clear button ( Stop here. 96267 • G above). above). above). below). Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 154: Managing Vtl Servers
Managing VTL servers Managing VTL servers The VTL console lets you manage the server node by: “Setting server properties” on page 140 “Configuring SNMP traps” on page 140. Setting server properties 1. Right‐click on the server and select Properties. 2. On the Activity Database Maintenance tab, indicate how often the VTL activity data should be purged. The Activity Log is a database that tracks all system activity, including all data read, data written, number of read commands, write commands, number of errors etc. This information is used to generate information for the VTL reports. 3. On the SNMP Maintenance tab, VTL to send traps to your SNMP manager. Refer to “Configuring SNMP traps” on page 140 for more information. 4. On the Auto Save tab, enter information to replicate your VTL configuration to another server. This protects your configuration if the VTL server is lost. Refer to “Automatically backing up the VTL configuration” on page 76 for more information. 5. On the Storage Monitoring tab, enter the maximum amount of storage that can be used by VTL before you should be alerted. When the utilization percentage is reached, a warning message will be sent to the Event Log. Stop here. Configuring SNMP traps VTL provides Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) support to integrate ...
Page 155 Managing VTL servers 2. Select the SNMP Maintenance tab. 3. Indicate the information that should be included in traps sent to your SNMP manager. SysLocation ‐ Enter the location that should be included in traps. SysContact ‐ Enter any contact information that should be included in traps. This could be a name or an email address. 4. Specify the type of message that should be sent. Five levels of messages are available: None: no messages will be sent. Critical: only critical errors that stop the system from operating properly will be sent. Error: errors (failure such as a resource is not available or an operation has failed) and critical errors will be sent. Warning: warnings (something occurred that may require maintenance or corrective action), errors, and critical errors will be sent. Information: informational messages, errors, warnings, and critical error messages will be sent. 5. Click Add to enter the name of your SNMP server and a valid SNMP community name. 6. To verify that SNMP traps are set up properly, set the level to Informational and then do anything that causes an entry to be added to the event log (such as logging into the VTL console or creating a new virtual tape library or virtual tape drive). You should see an SNMP trap for the event. Stop here. 96267 • G Chapter 4 VTL operations...
Page 156 Managing VTL servers VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 157: Installing The Vtl Console
CHAPTER Installing the VTL console The Virtual Tape Library console application can be installed on a full range of operating platforms. In most cases, a Sun service representative installs the console on one customer‐provided server as part of the initial deployment. Customers can install as many additional instances as required on other machines. Note, however, that no more than two (2) instances of the console can access the same VTL server at the same time. To install the console, follow the instructions for the selected host type: “For information on the text‐based, VTL command line user interface, see Appendix A, “VTL command line reference” on page 169.” on page 143 “Installing the console on Linux platforms” on page 144 “Installing the console on Microsoft Windows platforms” on page 144. Note – For information on the text‐based, VTL command line user interface, see Appendix A, “VTL command line reference” on page 169. Installing the console on Solaris platforms On Solaris systems, you install the console using the procedure below. 1. Log in to the host as the root user. 2. Using Secure File Transfer Protocol (sftp), download the installation files to the client. For x86 platforms, select the i386 package: % sftp vtladmin@appliance_IP-address sftp> get /software/Solaris/vtlconsole-n.nn-n.nnn.i386.pkg For SPARC platforms, select the sparc package: % sftp vtladmin@appliance_IP-address sftp>...
Page 158 3. If you are installing the console software on an x86 platform, enter the following command, and respond to the on‐screen prompts: % pkgadd -d vtlconsole-n.nn-n.nnn.i386.pkg 4. If you are installing the console software on a SPARC platform, enter the following command, and respond to the on‐screen prompts: % pkgadd -d vtlconsole-n.nn-n.nnn.sparc.pkg 5. To launch the console, enter the following command: % /usr/local/vtlconsole/vtlconsole & Stop here. Installing the console on Linux platforms On Linux systems, you install the console manually, using the procedure below. 1. To install the console software, log in to the host as the root user. 2. Using Secure File Transfer Protocol (sftp), download the installation files to the client: % sftp vtladmin@appliance_IP-address sftp> get /software/Linux/vtlconsole-n.nn-n.nnn.i386.rpm 3. To install the console software, enter the following command, and respond to the on‐screen prompts: % rpm -i vtlconsole-n.nn-n.nnn.i386.rpm The console will install in the /user/local/vtlconsole directory.
Page 159 3. Using Explorer, change to the temporary directory, and double‐click on setup.exe to launch the console installation program. Stop here. Launching the VTL console on a remote host 1. To launch the console on a Sun Solaris workstation, open a terminal window and enter the command shown below: % /usr/local/vtlconsole/vtlconsole & 2. On a Microsoft Windows system, press the Start bar to access the main menu system, and select All Programs > Sun Microsystems> VTL 5.0> VTL Console. 3. To launch the console on a Linux workstation, open a terminal window and enter the command shown below: % /usr/local/vtlconsole/vtlconsole & Stop here. 96267 • G ikernel.ex_ layout.bin ISInstall.exe setup.bmp ISInstall.ini...
Page 160 VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 161: Recovery Following A System Failure
CHAPTER Recovery following a system failure To recover a VTL high‐availability system following a failure on one node, carry out the following tasks: “Failback” on page 147 “Resuming backups following a failover/failback” on page 157. Failback For best results, run failback as a manual process, using the procedure outlined below. Initiating failback For the purposes of this description, the current, active node is VTLPLUSN2, the failover node for VTLPLUSN1, the failed/offline node. 1. Open a terminal window on the management host, and ssh to the IP address of the currently active node, VTLPLUSN2: VTL_Plus ]vtladmin# ssh vtladmin@nnn.nnn.nnn.nny Connecting to nnn.nnn.nnn.nny ... Password: where nnn.nnn.nnn.nny is the management or “server” IP address of VTLPLUSN2, the node that took over for the failed server node, VTLPLUSN1 and vtladmin is the VTL administrator account user ID. 2. Make sure that you are logged in to the actual, active node: VTL_Plus ]vtladmin# uname -a SunOS VTLPLUSN2 n.nn Generic_nnnnnn-nn i86pc i386 i86pc 96267 •...
Page 162 ]vtladmin# cd /usr/local/vtl/bin 5. Run the vtl status command: VTL_Plus ]vtladmin# vtl status Sun Microsystems VTL Server v Copyright 2001-2007 by FalconStor. All Rights Reserve Status of VTL SNMPD Module... [RUNNING] Status of VTL QLogic Module... [RUNNING] Status of VTL Authentication Module... [RUNNING] Status of VTL Server (Compression) Module.
Page 163 Failback 7. Run the sms command. The results should look like those shown. VTL_Plus ]vtladmin# sms Usage: sms {force|nas|nasc|fm|sm|bmr|bmrreset|setroot (sm/fm)|clearreboot(sm/fm) } {value} bmr - to set the BMR health status bmrreset - to reset BMR value nas - to reset the NAS failure status nasc - to set nas health check force - enable force up fm - to set ipstorfm debug level sm - to set ipstorsm debug level Last Update by SM: Sun Jan 28 15:32:39 2007...
Page 164 Failback 9. Make sure that you are logged in to the actual, failed node: VTL_Plus ]vtladmin# uname -a SunOS VTLPLUSN1 n.nn Generic_nnnnnn-nn i86pc i386 i86pc The system should display the expected node name. 10. If you are not logged in to the correct system, you have accidently logged into the management IP address (which always connects to the active node) rather than the service (“monitoring”) address. Close the ssh session, and ssh to the other IP address for the failed node. 11. Change to the directory that holds the VTL executables: VTL_Plus ]vtladmin# cd /usr/local/vtl/bin 12. Before proceeding further, make sure that no I/O is being sent to the failed node. Make sure that all backup jobs have completed and that failover has completed successfully. Stop I/O, if necessary. If host I/O is not stopped, data may be lost. VTL User Guide • May 2008 G •...
Page 165 Failback 13. Run the sms command, and make sure that the FailOverStatus is DOWN (failed over to the standby server): VTL_Plus ]vtladmin# sms Usage: sms {force|nas|nasc|fm|sm|bmr|bmrreset|setroot (sm/fm)|clearreboot(sm/fm) } {value} bmr - to set the BMR health status bmrreset - to reset BMR value nas - to reset the NAS failure status nasc - to set nas health check force - enable force up fm - to set ipstorfm debug level sm - to set ipstorsm debug level Last Update by SM: Sun Jan 28 15:32:39 2007...
Page 166 VTL_Plus ]vtladmin# cd /usr/local/vtl/bin 19. Run the vtl status command: VTL_Plus Sun Microsystems VTL Server vn.nn (Build nnnn) Copyright 2001-2007 by FalconStor. All Rights Reserve Status of VTL SNMPD Module... [RUNNING] Status of VTL QLogic Module... [RUNNING] Status of VTL Authentication Module... [RUNNING] Status of VTL Server (Compression) Module.
Page 167 Failback 21. Run the sms command, and make sure that the FailOverStatus is READY for failback: VTL_Plus ]vtladmin# sms Usage: sms {force|nas|nasc|fm|sm|bmr|bmrreset|setroot (sm/fm)|clearreboot(sm/fm) } {value} bmr - to set the BMR health status bmrreset - to reset BMR value nas - to reset the NAS failure status nasc - to set nas health check force - enable force up fm - to set ipstorfm debug level sm - to set ipstorsm debug level Last Update by SM: Sun Jan 28 15:32:39 2007...
Page 168 Failback 23. In the object tree of the VTL console, right‐click the restarted server node, VTLPLUSN1, and select Failover > Stop Takeover from the context menu. 24. Open a terminal window on the management host, and again ssh to the management (“server”) IP address of the restarted node, VTLPLUSN1: mgt_host ]user# ssh vtladmin@nn.nnn.nnn.nnx Connecting to nnn.nnn.nnn.nnx ... Password: where nnn.nnn.nnn.nnx is the as‐configured IP address of the restarted node, and vtladmin is the VTL administrator account user ID. 25. Make sure that you are logged in to the actual, restarted node: VTL_Plus SunOS VTLPLUSN1 n.nn Generic_nnnnnn-nn i86pc i386 i86pc The system should display the expected node name. 26. If you are not logged in to the correct system, you may have accidently logged into the service IP address of the other node rather than the management (“server”) address. Close the telnet session, and telnet to the other IP address for the restarted node. 27. Change to the directory that holds the VTL executables: VTL_Plus ]vtladmin# cd /usr/local/vtl/bin VTL User Guide •...
Page 169 Failback 28. Run the vtl status command: VTL_Plus Sun Microsystems VTL Server vn.nn (Build nnnn) Copyright 2001-2007 by FalconStor. All Rights Reserve Status of VTL SNMPD Module... [RUNNING] Status of VTL QLogic Module... [RUNNING] Status of VTL Authentication Module... [RUNNING] Status of VTL Server (Compression) Module. [RUNNING] Status of VTL Server (FSNBase) Module...
Page 170 Failback 30. Run the sms command, Make sure that the FailOverStatus is now UP: VTL_Plus Usage: sms {force|nas|nasc|fm|sm|bmr|bmrreset|setroot (sm/fm)|clearreboot(sm/fm) } {value} Last Update by SM: Sun Jan 28 15:32:39 2007 Last Access by RPC: Sun Jan 28 15:32:35 2007 FailOverStatus: 1(UP) Status of IPStor Server (Transport) : OK Status of IPStor Server (Application) : OK Status of IPStor Authentication Module : OK Status of IPStor Logger Module : OK Status of IPStor Communication Module : OK...
Page 171: Resuming Backups Following A Failover/Failback
Resuming backups following a failover/failback Failover events are also available via the primary serverʹs Event Log. Next task: “Resuming backups following a failover/failback” on page 157. Resuming backups following a failover/failback Failover/failback take approximately three minutes to complete. During this period, I/O is not possible, and any backup, import/export, replication jobs that are launched fail. Thereafter, you may or may not need to restart backup operations, depending on the application used and the backup host operating system. 96267 • G Chapter 6 Recovery following a system failure...
Page 172 Resuming backups following a failover/failback VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 173: Configuring Email Alerts
CHAPTER Configuring email alerts You can configure VTL appliances to send automatic notifications to local system administrators via email whenever system problems arise. Configuring email alerts 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, right-click on the VTL server node, and select Options >...
Page 174 Note that email notifications cannot use an SSL connection. If the email server requires SSL, configure email notification to use the local host SMTP server, and make sure that DNS and SMTP are set up and running on the VTL server node. The email account password is stored in plain text, so set up an account that the SMTP server will use exclusively for email notification.
Page 175 ipstorckcfg check ipstor.conf (VTL configuration check) notifies the administrator if the VTL software’s XML configuration file, ipstor.conf, changes. If changes are found or if no previous version exists, the script creates a copy of the current file under the name ipstorconf.diff.nnn, where nnn is the script-generated version number of the file.
Page 176 7. When the Set Email Alerts Event Notification Properties panel appears, use the radio buttons to select the event-severity level that should trigger notification ( time ( ), and press Next ( 8. When the Verify the Email Alerts Properties panel appears, press Finish.
Page 177 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, right-click on the VTL server, and select Email Alerts from the context menu. 2. When the Set Email Alerts Properties dialog appears, select the Trigger tab ( 3. If you want to modify an existing trigger, highlight the trigger ( press Edit ( press OK ( 96267 •...
Page 178 4. To create a new trigger, press Add ( Trigger dialog appears, supply a Trigger Name, a command line Argument string, and a File Location (path and filename) for the script ( notifications, if desired ( 5. Press OK to exit the Set Email Alerts Properties dialog. Stop here.
Page 179: Updating Vtl Software
CHAPTER Updating VTL software When software patches become available, they are posted on the online Sun StorageTek Customer Resource Center with accompanying, explanatory text (“readme”) files. Download the patch files to a temporary directory on the VTL console host, and install them using the process below. In general, you should consult your Sun support representative before downloading and applying patches. Never apply patches from sources other than Sun. Applying patches Each patch file has a name of the form update-vtxxxxxxsolarisnn, where xxxxxx represents the patch build number and nn represents the applicable version of the Solaris operating system. The corresponding text (“readme”) files have the the same name, plus the suffix .txt. All patches are applied using the VTL console software, as follows. 1. Understand the behavior of each patch before proceeding: read the accompanying text file (the “readme”). Some VTL patches require a platform reboot, while others merely stop and restart the server software. 2. Make sure that no critical processes are running before you proceed. Processes will stop when the server software restarts. 96267 • G...
Page 180 3. Then, from the VTL console main menu, select Tools ( below). 4. From the submenu, select Add Patch ( above). 5. When the warning notice appears, click OK ( below) to continue. VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 181 6. Locate the subdirectory where the patch files reside ( ), and press Open ( update-vtxxxxxxsolarisnn In the example, the patch files are shown in the standard location where patches are kept on the VTL appliance. If you are running the console from a remote host, the patch files will be in the temporary download directory that you selected. 7. When the confirmation dialog appears, type YES in the text box ( press OK ( “update-vtxxxxxxsolarisnn” “Description_of_patch“ 8. If the patch requires it, reboot the server, log back in to Solaris, and restart the VTL console. Otherwise, the patches install and restart the VTL service, logging you out. After a minute or two, you can reconnect. 96267 • G update-vtxxxxxxsolarisnn below), select the patch file below), and Chapter 8 Updating VTL software...
Page 182 9. Reconnect to the VTL server by double‐clicking on the server node in the object tree at the left of the VTL console. 10. Verify that the patch was successfully applied: after you have connected, select the Version Info tab for the server ( below), and make sure that the Version and Build ( ) have been updated. vN.N nnnn nnnn VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 183: Vtl Command Line Reference
APPENDIX VTL command line reference VirtualTape Library User Guide VirtualTape Library (VTL) provides a simple utility that allows you to perform some of the more common VTL functions at a command line instead of through the VTL Console. You can use this command line utility to automate many tasks, as well as integrate VTL with your existing management tools. Using the command line utility iscon Type at the command line to display a list of commands. Each command must be combined with the appropriate long or short arguments (ex. Long: name Short: If you type the command name (for example, arguments will be displayed for that command. Commands On the following pages is a list of commands you can use to perform VTL functions from the command line. You should be aware of the following as you enter commands: Type each command on a single line, separating arguments with a space. You can use either the short or long arguments. Variables are listed in <> after each argument. Arguments listed in brackets [ ] are optional. The order of the arguments is irrelevant. Arguments separated by | are choices. Only one can be selected. 96267 • G servername ) that are described in this chapter. --server- c:\iscon importtape ), a list of ...
Page 184: Common Arguments
For a value entered as a literal, it is necessary to enclose the value in quotes (double or single) if it contains special characters such as *, <, >, ?, |, %, $, or space. Otherwise, the system will interpret the characters with a special meaning before it is passed to the command. Literals cannot contain leading or trailing spaces. Leading or trailing spaces enclosed in quotes will be removed before the command is processed. Common arguments The following arguments are used by many commands. For each, a long and short variation is included. You can use either one. The short arguments ARE case sensitive. For arguments that are specific to each command, refer to the section for that command. Short Argument Note – You only need to use the (-p) arguments when you log into a server. You do not need them for subsequent commands on the same server during your current session. VTL User Guide • May 2008 Long Argument Value/Description --server-name VTL Server Name (hostname or IP address) --server- VTL Server Username username --server-password VTL Server User Password...
Page 185: Login/Logout To The Vtl Server
Login/logout to the VTL Server Login/logout to the VTL Server Log in to the VTL Server iscon login [-s <server-name> -u <username> -p <password>|-e] [-X <rpc- timeout>] iscon login [--server-name=<server-name> --server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>|--environment] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command allows you to log into the specified VTL Server with a given username and password. Once successfully logged into the server, ‐u (‐‐server‐ username) and –p (‐‐server‐password) are not necessary for the other CLI commands with optional –u and –p arguments. In order to use the ‐e (‐‐environment) parameter, you must set the following three environment variables: ISSERVERNAME ISUSERNAME ISPASSWORD After setting these variables, the environment parameter can be used in the login command in place of ‐s <server‐name> ‐u <user‐name> ‐p <password>. Therefore, you could type the following to log in: iscon login ‐e To set these environment variables in the bash shell, you must set three variables as follows: export ISSERVERNAME=10.1.1.1 export ISUSERNAME=root export ISPASSWORD=password ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds ...
Page 186: Log Out From The Vtl Server
Virtual devices / Clients Log out from the VTL Server iscon logout -s <server-name> [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon logout --server-name=<server-name> [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command allows you to log out from the specified VTL Server. If the server was not logged in or you have already logged out from the server when this command is issued, error 0x0902000f will be returned. After logging out from the server, the ‐u and –p arguments will not be optional for the server commands. Virtual devices / Clients Get virtual device list iscon getvdevlist -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-l [-v <vdevid> | -n <vdevname>] [-A] [-C] [-M <output-delimiter>] ] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon getvdevlist --server-name=<server-name>...
Page 187: Get Client Virtual Device List
Virtual devices / Clients ‐C (‐‐long‐client‐list) displays the assigned client list when ‐l (‐‐longlist) option is specified. ‐M (‐‐output‐delimiter) can be specified when ‐l is specified to replace the linefeed with the specified delimiter. The maximum length of the delimiter is 8. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Get Client virtual device list iscon getclientvdevlist -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -c <client-name> [-t <client-type>] [-l [-M <output-delimiter>] ] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon getclientvdevlist --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] --client-name=<client-name> [--client-type=<client-type>] [--longlist [--output-delimiter=<output-delimiter>] ] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc- timeout>] Description: This command retrieves and displays information about all virtual devices assigned ...
Page 188: Add Client
Virtual devices / Clients Add client iscon addclient -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -c <client-name> [-I <initiator-wwpns>] [-a <on|off>] [-A <on|off>]] | [-C <on|off>] [-X <rpc- timeout>] iscon addclient --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] --client-name=<client-name> [--initiator-wwpns=<initiator-wwpns>] [--enable-VSA=<on|off>] [--enable-iSeries=<on|off>]] | [--enable- Celerra=<on|off>] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command allows you to add a client to the specified server. ‐c (‐‐client‐name) is ...
Page 189: Get Client Properties
Virtual devices / Clients This command allows you to delete a client from the specified server. ‐c (‐‐client‐ name) is the name of the client to be deleted. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Get client properties iscon getclientprop -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -c <client-name> [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon getclientprop --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] --client-name=<client-name> [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command gets client properties. ‐c (‐‐client‐name) is required to specify the client name. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Assign virtual device iscon assignvdev -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -v <vdevid>...
Page 190: Unassign Virtual Device
Virtual devices / Clients The values for <access‐mode> are: Readonly, ReadWrite, ReadWriteNonExclusive. The values for the short format are: R / W / N. ‐y (‐‐vlib‐only) is an option that allows you to assign the virtual tape library to the client without assigning all of the virtual tape drives in the library. The default is to assign all of the virtual tape drives in the library. ‐I (‐‐initiatorWWPN) and ‐T (‐‐targetWWPN) are options for Fibre Channel clients. The initiator WWPN or target WWPN is a 16‐byte hex value or ʺ*ʺ for all. For example, 13af35d2f4ea6fbc. The default is ʺ*ʺ if it is ‐I or the ‐T option is not specified. ‐l (‐‐lun) is another option for Fibre Channel clients. The range is between 0 and 15. The next available LUN will be assigned if is it is not specified. ‐M (‐‐output‐delimiter) can be specified when ‐l is specified to replace the linefeed with the specified delimiter. The maximum length of the delimiter is 8. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Unassign virtual device iscon unassignvdev -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -v <vdevid> -c <client-name> [-y] [-f] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon unassignvdev --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username>] [--server-password=<password>] --vdevid=<vdevid>...
Page 191: Create Virtual Device
Virtual devices / Clients ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Create virtual device iscon createvdev -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -I <ACSL> [-n <vdevname>] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon createvdev --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] --scsiaddress=<ACSL> [--vdevname=<vdevname>] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command allows you to create a direct virtual device, such as virtual tape library or virtual tape drive. ‐I (‐‐scsiaddress) is required to specify the SCSI address of the virtual tape library or virtual tape drive in the following format: ACSL=#:#:#:# (adapter:channel:id:lun) ‐n (‐‐vdevname) is an option to specify the direct virtual device name. A default name will be generated if the name is not specified.The maximum length is 64. Leading and trailing spaces will be removed. Enclose the name in double quotes.The following characters are invalid for the direct virtual device name: <>ʺ&$/\ʹ ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time ...
Page 192: Get Supported Virtual Libraries
Virtual devices / Clients ‐v (‐‐vdevid) is required to specify the virtual device ID. A virtual device cannot be deleted if any of the following conditions apply: The specified virtual device is a virtual tape library or a virtual tape drive and there are clients currently connected to the library or drive. The specified virtual device is a virtual tape configured for replication, unless the ‐f (‐‐force) option is used. The specified virtual device is the only existing virtual tape drive in the parent virtual tape library. ‐d (‐‐delete‐virtual‐tapes) is an option to delete all of the existing virtual tapes from a virtual tape library, a standalone virtual tape drive, or a loaded virtual tape drive selected for deletion. By default, the virtual tapes are moved to the vault, or, if a loaded virtual tape drive is selected, back to the library. ‐f (‐‐force) is an option to force the deletion of a virtual tape configured for replication. The corresponding virtual tape replica will not be deleted or promoted. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Get supported virtual libraries iscon getsupportedvlibs -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-l [-t <vlib-type>] [-c][-M <output-delimiter>] ] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon getsupportedvlibs --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username>...
Page 193: Get Supported Virtual Drives
Virtual devices / Clients ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Get supported virtual drives iscon getsupportedvdrives -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-l [-M <output-delimiter>] ] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon getsupportedvdrives --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] [--longlist [--output-delimiter=<output-delimiter>] ] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc- timeout>] Description: This command retrieves information about all supported virtual tape drives. ‐l (‐‐longlist) can be specified to get the supported drive information in a long format. The default is to display the information in a list format. ‐M (‐‐output‐delimiter) can be specified when ‐l is specified to replace the linefeed with the specified delimiter. The maximum length of the delimiter is 8. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds.
Page 194 Virtual devices / Clients [--capacity-on-demand --initial-size=<initial-size> --increment- size=<increment-size>] [--max-capacity=<max-capacity>] [--auto-loader=<on|off>] [--key-name=<key-name> --key-pasword=<key-password>] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc- timeout>] Description: This command creates a virtual tape library. ‐t (‐‐vlib‐type) is required in the following format: <vdendorID>:<productID> ‐n (‐‐vlib‐name) is optional. A default name will be provided in the format of <vendorID>‐<productID>‐<vid> if it is not specified. ‐d (‐‐vdrive‐type) is required to specify the type of tape drive to be created in the library. The format of <vdrive‐type> is as follows: <vdendorID>:<productID> ‐r (‐‐vdrive‐name‐prefix) is an option to specify the prefix of the virtual drive. The default prefix is in the format of <drive‐vdendorID>‐<drive‐productID>‐<vid>. ‐R (‐‐num‐of‐drives) can also be specified up to the maximum number of drives supported by the library. The default is 1 if it is not specified. ‐A (‐‐auto‐archive‐mode) is an option with one of the following values: copy or move. ‐Y (‐‐delay‐delete‐days) is an option for move mode to specify the number of days to wait before deletion. The maximum is 365 days. ‐J (‐‐auto‐eject‐to‐ie) is an option to be specified with ‐A (‐‐auto‐archive‐mode) to eject the tape to the import/export (IE) slot after the export job. ‐N (‐‐auto‐replication) is an option with one of the following values: replication or remotemove. ‐S (‐‐target‐name) is the remote server name for auto‐replication. It is required for auto‐replication. ‐M (‐‐delay‐delete‐time) is an option for remotemove mode to specify a time to wait before deletion. It can be specified in days(D), hours(H) or minutes(M). For example, 2D, 10H, 150M. The default value is one day. ‐B (‐‐barcode) can be specified in the following format: <barcodeB>‐<barcodeE> Barcode is an alpha‐numeric value with a length of 4 to 12. <barcodeB> and <barcodeE> have to be the same length. <barcodeE> has to be greater then <barcodeB>. A default <barcode‐range> will be ...
Page 195: Add Virtual Tape Drive
Virtual devices / Clients ‐T (‐‐num‐of‐slots) and ‐E (‐‐import‐export‐slots) are optional. The <num‐of‐slots> can exceed the maximum number of slots supported by the specified library type, but it is limited to 65536. The <‐‐import‐export‐slots> cannot exceed the maximun number of IE slots supported by the specified library type. The default is to use the maximum number of slots supported by the specified library type. ‐D (‐‐capacity‐on‐demand) is an option to expand the virtual tape when needed. The default is to create the virtual tape with the maximum capacity if it is not specified. ‐I (‐‐initial‐size) and ‐C (‐‐increment‐size) are options to be specified with <capacity‐ on‐demand> option. The default value for both options is 5 GB. The <‐‐increment‐ size> cannot be less than 5 GB. ‐m (‐‐max‐capacity) is an option to specify the maximum capacity of the virtual tape. The maximum capacity configured for the specified type of virtual library will be used if it is not specified. The unit of <max‐capacity>, <initial‐size> and <increment‐size> are all in GB. ‐L (‐‐auto‐loader) is an option to set the auto‐loader for those libraries that support the feature. The default value is off. ‐k (‐‐key‐name) and ‐W (‐‐key‐password) are options for tape encryption support to be set in conjunction with Auto‐Archive Mode. Specify the key name and key password of the encryption key if you wish to encrypt the data when exporting the virtual tape to the physical tape. A virtual device ID will be assigned to the virtual library when it is created successfully. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Add virtual tape drive iscon addvirtualdrive -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -L <tape-library-vid> [-r <vdrive-name-prefix>] [-R <num-of-drives>] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon addvirtualdrive --server-name=<server-name>...
Page 196: Create Standalone Tape Drive
Virtual devices / Clients ‐L (‐‐tape‐library‐vid) is required to specify the virtual tape library to add the virtual tape drive(s). ‐r (‐‐vdrive‐name‐prefix) is an option to specify the prefix of the virtual tape drive. The default prefix is in the format of <drive‐vdendorID>‐<drive‐productID>‐<vid>. ‐R (‐‐num‐of‐drives) is optional, the default is 1 if it is not specified. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 300 seconds. Create standalone tape drive iscon createstandalonedrive -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -d <vdrive-type> [-r <vdrive-name-prefix>] [-R <num-of-drives>] [-D -I <initial-size> -C <increment-size>] [-m <max-capacity>] [-X <rpc- timeout>] iscon createstandalonedrive --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username>...
Page 197: Create Virtual Tape
Virtual devices / Clients The unit of <max‐capacity>, <initial‐size> and <increment‐size> are all in GB. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Create virtual tape iscon createvirtualtape -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -v <parent-vid> [ [-g <#(GB)> [-I <ACSL>] ] [-n <vdevname>] [-B <barcode | barcode-range>] -t <count>] [-A -l <plib-vid> -b <physical-tape-barcode> [-J] | -N [-S <target-name>] [-U <target-username>...
Page 198: Move Virtual Tape
Virtual devices / Clients ‐B (‐‐barcode) is an option to either set the virtual tape with the provided barcode or create virtual tapes in batch mode configured with barcodes form the specified barcode range. The argument must be within the barcode range configured for the library and must not contain used barcodes. When provided as a barcode range, the option creates a virtual tape for each barcode in the range. ‐t (‐‐count) is an option to create multiple virtual tapes having the barcode automatically chosen from within the barcode range configured at library level. The library must have the required number of free slots available. If combined, ʺcountʺ and ʺbarcodeʺ options must agree in number. If the parent library has the auto‐archive/remotecopy property enabled, use the following options to provide additional information for virtual tape creation: ‐A (‐‐enable‐auto‐archive) is an option when the parent library is enabled with auto‐ archive option. ‐l (‐‐plib‐vid) is required when <auto‐archive‐mode> is specified. It is the physical tape library where the tape will be exported to automatically. ‐b (‐‐physical‐tape‐barcode) is required to specify the list of physical tape barcode(s) when the auto‐archive option is specified. Separate multiple barcodes with commas. For example, ‐b 00010001,00010009,0001000A ‐J (‐‐auto‐eject‐to‐ie) is optional when <auto‐archive‐mode> is specified. ‐N (‐‐enable‐auto‐replication) is an option when the parent library is enabled with the auto‐replication option. ‐S (‐‐target‐name) can be specified when auto‐replication option is specified. The default remote server from the parent library will be used if it is not specified. The count and barcode options cannot be specified when the ‐A (‐‐enable‐auto‐ archive) option is specified because the number of tapes will be obtained from the list of barcodes specified with ‐b (‐‐physical‐tape‐barcode) option. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Move virtual tape iscon movevirtualtape -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -v <vdevid>...
Page 199 Virtual devices / Clients iscon movevirtualtape --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] --vdevid=<vdevid> [--tape-library-vid=<tape-library-vid> | --tape-drive-vid=<tape-drive-vid> | --slot-no=<slot-no>] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command moves a virtual tape to a different location. ‐v (‐‐vdevid) is required to specify the ID of the virtual tape to be moved. ‐L (‐‐tape‐library‐vid) is the virtual library to move to. It is not required if the virtual tape is moved within the library. ‐D (‐‐tape‐drive‐vid) is the virtual drive in a library or the standalone drive to move ‐l (‐‐slot‐no) is the slot in a library to move to. If none of the above locations are specified, the vault will be assumed to be the new location. If the tape is in a slot in a library, it can be moved to a different slot or a drive in the library, or it can be moved to the vault. Vlib Slot ‐> Tape drive (in the library only) Vlib Slot ‐> Slots in same library Vlib Slot ‐> Vault If it is in a drive in the library, it can be moved to an available slot in the library or to the vault. Vlib Drive ‐> Slots in same library Vlib Drive ‐> Vault If the tape is in a standalone drive, it can only be moved to the vault. Standalone Tape Drive ‐> Vault If the tape is in the vault, it can be moved to an available slot in a library, or an available standalone drive. Vault ‐> Vlib (First available slot) Vault ‐> Standalone Tape Drive ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds ...
Page 200: Tape Copy
Virtual devices / Clients Tape copy iscon tapecopy -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -v <source-vdevid> -S <target-name> [-U <target-username> -P <target- password>] [-L <tape-library-vid> | -D <tape-drive-vid>] [-n <vdevname>] [-f] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon tapecopy --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] --source-vdevid=<source-vdevid> --target-name=<target-name> [--target-username=<target-username> --target-password=<target-password>] [--tape-library-vid=<tape-library-vid>...
Page 201: Set Tape Properties
Virtual devices / Clients -v <vdevid> -Z <on|off> -Q <num-of-copies> [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon setvirtuallibrarytapeduplication --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] --vdevid=<vdevid> --tape-duplication=<on|off> --num-of-copies=<num-of-copies> [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command sets the Tape Duplication property for a virtual tape library. ‐v (‐‐vdevid) is required in order to identify the virtual library. ‐Z (‐‐tape‐duplication) is required in order to enable or disable the Tape Duplication property: on (enable) or off (disable). ‐Q (‐‐num‐of‐copies) is an option to specify the number of copies to be made using the same barcode if tape duplication option is enabled. The maximum value is 5. The default value is 1. The virtual library must have the Auto Archive or Tape Caching property enabled in order to enable tape duplication. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Set tape properties iscon settapeproperty -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -v <vdevid>...
Page 202 Virtual devices / Clients Description: This command sets tape properties. ‐v (‐‐vdevid) is required to specify the ID of the virtual tape to set the properties. ‐B (‐‐barcode) is the option to specify the new barcode for the tape. ‐f (‐‐force) option is required if the new barcode is not in the barcode range specified for the parent library. Barcode is an alpha‐numerical value with a length of 4 to 12. ‐F (‐‐full‐capacity) is an option to expand the tape to the maximum capacity and turn off the <capacity‐on‐demand> option if it is enabled for the virtual tape. ‐w (‐‐tape‐write‐protect) is an option to turn on and off the tape write protection with the following values: on or off. ‐A (‐‐auto‐archive‐mode) is an option with one of the following values: copy or move or inherited or none. ʺnoneʺ is the value to turn off the auto‐archive mode if the virtual tape is enabled with auto‐archive option. ʺinheritedʺ can only be specified when the parent library is enabled with auto‐ archive option. ‐Y (‐‐delay‐delete‐days) is an option for move mode to specify the number of days to wait before the deletion. The maximum is 365 days. ‐J (‐‐auto‐eject‐to‐ie) is an option for auto‐archive mode in order to enable or disable the ejection of the physical tape to the IE slot after a successful archive job: on (enable) or off (disable). ‐N (‐‐auto‐replication) is an option with one of the follwing values: localcopy, localmove, replication, remotemove, or none. ‐S (‐‐target‐name) is the remote server name for auto‐replication. It is required for auto‐replication. ‐U (‐‐target‐username) and ‐P (‐‐target‐password) are options to specify a different user ID and password to log in to the remote server. ‐M (‐‐delay‐delete‐time) is an option for auto‐replication move mode to specify up to 30 days of retention period before deletion. The default value is 1 day. The value can be specified in days(D), hours(H) or minutes(M). For example: 2D, 10H, 150M. ‐A (‐‐auto‐archive‐mode) and ‐N (‐‐auto‐replication) cannot be specified if replication is enabled for the tape. VTL User Guide • May 2008 G •...
Page 203: Automated Tape Caching
Automated tape caching ‐k (‐‐key‐name), ‐W (‐‐key‐password) and ‐d (‐‐disable‐key) are options for tape encryption support to be set in conjunction with Auto‐Archive Mode. Specify the key name and key password of the encryption key if you wish to encrypt the data when exporting the virtual tape to the physical tape. Specify ‐d (‐‐disable‐key) if you wish to disable tape encryption for this tape. ‐Z (‐‐tape‐duplication) is an option to set the Tape Duplication property with one of the following values: on (enable), off (disable), or inherit. ‐Q (‐‐num‐of‐copies) is an option to specify the number of copies to be made using the same barcode if the tape duplication option is enabled. The maximum value is 5. The default value is 1. Tape Duplication can be enabled only if the virtual library hosting the virtual tape has the Tape Caching property enabled or the virtual tape has the Auto Archive property enabled. At least one of the properties has to be specified. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Automated tape caching Set tape caching iscon settapecaching -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -L <library-vid> -t <tape-caching-enable> [-S <start-time>][-W <day-of-the- week>] [-b <and-or>] [[-e][-f]][-c <disk-capacity>][-d <days-old>] [-R <retention-days>...
Page 204 Automated tape caching Description: This command can be used in order to enable, disable, or change the Automated Tape Caching policy for a virtual tape library. ‐L (‐‐tape‐library‐vid) is the virtual device ID of the virtual tape library to be set. Set ‐t (‐‐tape‐caching‐enable) to 1 for enable or 0 to disable. If the disable option is used all other arguments will be ignored. The enable option must be used in order to set or change the tape caching policy. Time based data migration triggers: ‐S (‐‐start‐time) alone can be used to start daily migrations at the time specified. The default value is 00:00(am)(hh:mm). When combined with other data migration triggers, the ‐S option will delay the migration execution to the specified time. ‐W (‐‐day‐of‐the‐week) can be used to start weekly migrations on the specified day at 00:00(am): Sunday: 0, Monday: 1, ..., Saturday: 6. The default value is ‐1. This option is ignored if Policy Based triggers are used. Policy based data migration triggers: ‐b (‐‐trigger‐combine) tells how trigger policies are combined (specified by ‐e, ‐c, ‐d). 1 ‐‐ and; 0 ‐‐ or. The default value is 1 (and). ‐e (‐‐end‐of‐backup) triggers data migration when unloading a tape from a drive after some data is written to it. ‐f (‐‐tape‐full) applies to ‐e options. Data is migrated only if the tape becomes full. ‐c (‐‐disk‐capacity) triggers data migration when disk usage percentage is above the global disk space threshold. ‐d (‐‐days‐old) triggers date migration after data was retained on disk for (days‐old) days (up to 3650 days). Reclamation triggers: ‐R (retention‐days) determines the number of days virtual tapes will be kept in the system before they are deleted. Select ‐I (‐‐immediately) and virtual tapes will be deleted immediately after data migration completes. Select ‐M (‐‐no‐more‐space) and virtual tapes will be deleted when disk space is needed to create (or expand) a virtual tape. The last used will be deleted. Select ‐N (‐‐never) and virtual tapes will never be deleted. The reclamation triggers are exclusive. VTL User Guide • May 2008 G •...
Page 205: Sync Physical Tapes
Automated tape caching ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Sync physical tapes iscon syncphysicaltape -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -l <plib-vid> -b <physical-tape-barcode> -L <virtual-tape-library-id> -t <virtual-tape-slot-no> [-M <sync-mode>] [-k <key-name> -W <key-password>] [-I <ACSL list>] [-n <vdevname>] [-g <#(GB)>] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon syncphysicaltape --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username>...
Page 206: Migrate Virtual Tapes
Automated tape caching ‐k (‐‐key‐name) and ‐W (‐‐key‐password) are options for tape encryption support. If the tape to be synchronized was encrypted through the system, you need to specify the key name and the key password of the encryption key to decrypt the data on the imported tape. [‐I <‐‐scsiaddress>] is the option to specify which physical devices to be used to create the virtual device. It can be a list of ACSLs separated with commas. ACSL=#:#:#:# (adapter:channel:id:lun) ‐n (‐‐vdevname) is an option to specify the virtual tape name or prefix when creating more than one tape. The maximum length of the virtual device name is 64. Leading and trailing spaces will be removed. Please enclose the name in double quotes to ensure the proper name. The following characters are invalid for the name: <>ʺ&$/\ʹ ‐g (‐‐size‐gb) is an option to specify the initial size, in GB, of the virtual tapes, if the capacity‐on‐demand property for the virtual tape library is enabled. The default is 1 ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Migrate virtual tapes iscon migratevirtualtapes -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -T <tape-vid-list> [-f] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon migratevirtualtapes --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] --tape-vid-list=<tape-vid-list> [--tape-full] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command migrates the specified virtual tapes to the physical libraries they are ...
Page 207: Reclaim Disk Space
Automated tape caching Reclaim disk space iscon reclaimtapes -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -T <tape-vid-list> [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon reclaimtapes --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] --tape-vid-list=<tape-vid-list> [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command reclaims the disk space occupied by the specified migrated virtual tapes. ‐T (‐‐tape‐vid‐list) is required to specify the ID of the virtual tapes to be reclaimed, separated with commas. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 300 seconds. Renew cache iscon renewcache -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -v <vdevid>...
Page 208: System Configuration
System configuration ‐I (‐‐scsiaddress) is the option to specify which physical devices should be used to create the virtual device. It can be a list of ACSLs separated with commas or a file enclosed in <> containing an ACSL on each line. ACSL=#:#:#:# (adapter:channel:id:lun) ‐n (‐‐vdevname) is an option to specify the virtual tape name or prefix when creating more than one tape. The maximum length of the virtual device name is 64. Leading and trailing spaces will be removed. Enclose the name in double quotes to ensure it is properly parsed and interpreted. The following characters are invalid for the name: <>ʺ&$/\ʹ ‐g (‐‐size‐gb) is an option to specify the size in GB. The size of the virtual tape will be the size configured in the properties of the virtual tape library or virtual tape drive if it is not specified. This option cannot be specified if the capacity‐on‐demand option is not enabled at library level. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. System configuration Add a license keycode iscon addlicense -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -k <license- keycode> [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon addlicense --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] -- license=<license-keycode> [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command adds a license keycode.
Page 209: Remove A License Keycode
System configuration Remove a license keycode iscon removelicense -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -k <license-keycode> [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon removelicense --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] -- license=<license-keycode> [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command removes a license keycode. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Get VTL info iscon getvtlinfo -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-T <vtl-info_type> [-L <tape-library-vid>]] [-F <vtl-info-filter>] [-l [-M]] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon getvtlinfo --server-name=<server-name>...
Page 210: Import/Export
Import/Export ‐F (‐‐vtl‐info‐filter) is an additional filter that can be combined using the following values separated with commas: library or drive or tape. library = include physical and/or virtual library information. drive = include physical and/or virtual drive information. tape = include physical and/or virtual tape information. For example: ‐F ʺlibrary,drive,tapeʺ or ‐‐vtl‐info‐filter=ʺlibrary,drive,tapeʺ The default is to display all of the information that applies. There will be an error if <vtl‐info‐type> is specified and the <vtl‐info‐filter> specified does not apply. For example, ʺlibraryʺ does not apply to ʺVDRIVESʺ. ‐l (‐‐longlist) is an option to display the information in a detail format. ‐M (‐‐output‐delimiter) can be specified when ‐l is specified to replace the linefeed with the specified delimiter. The maximum length of the delimiter is 8. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Import/Export Import tape iscon importtape -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-M <import-mode>] -v <plib-or-pdrive-vid> [-B <barcode> | -l <slot-no>] -L <tape-library-vid> [-b <virtual-tape-barcode>] -t <virtual-tape-slot-no> [-j <job-description>] [-k <key-name>...
Page 211: Export Virtual Tape
Import/Export ‐M (‐‐import‐mode) is an option in one of the following values: copy (default) or direct‐access or recycle. ‐v (‐‐pdrive‐or‐pdrive‐vid) is required to specify the virtual device ID of the physical tape library or physical tape drive from which the physical tape is to be imported. If the physical tape is from a physical tape library, either <barcode> or <slot‐no> of the physical tape should be specified with ‐B (‐‐barcode) or ‐l (‐‐slot‐no) to identify the physical tape. If the barcode contains leading or trailing space characters, it must be enclosed in double quotes. No physical tape information is required if the physical tape is imported from a standalone physical tape drive. ‐L (‐‐tape‐library‐vid) is the virtual device ID of the virtual tape library to which the physical tape is to be imported. ‐t (‐‐virtual‐tape‐slot‐no) is required for the virtual tape location. ‐b (‐‐virtual‐tape‐barcode) is optional when the physical tape from a physical tape library contains barcode. It is required if the physical tape does not have a barcode or when it is from a physical tape drive. ‐j (‐‐job‐description) is an option to specify a description for the tape import job. ‐k (‐‐key‐name) and ‐W (‐‐key‐password) are options for tape encryption support. If the tape to be imported was encrypted through the system, you need to specify the key name and the key password of the encryption key to decrypt the data on the imported tape. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 300 seconds. Export virtual tape iscon exportvirtualtape -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -v <vdevid> -L <tape-library-vid> -b | -B <barcode> | -l <slot-no> [-M <export-mode>...
Page 212: Get Import/Export Job Status
Import/Export Description: This command exports the information from a virtual tape to a physical tape. ‐v (‐‐vdevid) is required to specify the ID of the virtual tape to be exported to the physical tape. ‐L (‐‐tape‐library‐vid) is also required to specify the ID of the target physical tape library. One of the three export methods below is required to select the physical tapes: ‐b (‐‐same‐barcode) is the option to select a physical tape with the same barcode of the virtual tape if a physical tape with the same barcode exists. ‐B (‐‐barcode) is the option to specify the barcode of an available physical tape in the physical tape library. ‐l (‐‐slot‐no) is the option to specify the slot number of an available physical tape in the physical tape library. ‐M (‐‐export‐mode) is an option with one of the following values: copy (default) or move. ‐Y (‐‐delay‐delete‐days) is an option for move mode to specify the number of days to wait before deletion. The maximum is 365 days. The default value is 365 days. ‐j (‐‐job‐description) is an option to specify a description for the tape export job. ‐f (‐‐force) is required when the tape is scheduled to be deleted. ‐J (‐‐auto‐eject‐to‐ie) is an option to eject the tape to the IE slot after the export job. ‐k (‐‐key‐name) and ‐W (‐‐key‐password) are options for tape encryption support. Specify the key name and key password of the encryption key if you wish to encrypt the data when exporting the virtual tape to the physical tape. ‐Z (‐‐tape‐duplication) is an option to enable tape duplication with the following value: on. ‐Q (‐‐num‐of‐copies) is an option to specify the number of copies to be made using the same barcode if the tape duplication option is enabled. The maximum value is 5. The default value is 1. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Get import/export job status iscon getimportexportjobstatus -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] VTL User Guide •...
Page 213: Resume Import/Export Jobs
Import/Export [-j <job-id-list>] [-T <job-type> -S <job_status>] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon getimportexportjobstatus --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] [--job-id-list=<job-id-list>] | [--job-type=<job_type> -- job_status=<job_status>] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command displays the status of the import/export jobs present in the queue. If no filters are specified, the command displays all the jobs that are in the queue. ‐j <‐‐job‐id‐list> is an optional list of job IDs separated with commas. The command displays the status of specified jobs only. All other filters are ignored. ‐T <‐‐job‐type> is an optional job type based filter. The command displays those jobs matching the provided type. The accepted job type values are: IMPORT, EXPORT, or OTHER. ‐S <‐‐job_status> is an optional job status based filter. The command displays those jobs matching the provided status. The accepted job status values are: FAILED, HOLD, READY, or OTHER. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Resume import/export jobs iscon resumeimportexportjobs -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -j <job-id-list>...
Page 214: Delete Import/Export Jobs
Import/Export Delete import/export jobs iscon deleteimportexportjobs -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -j <job-id-list> [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon deleteimportexportjobs --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] --job-id- list=<job-id-list> [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command deletes specified import/export jobs. The jobs must be held in the import/export queue. ‐j <‐‐job‐id‐list> is a list of job IDs separated with commas. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Suspend import/export jobs iscon suspendimportexportjobs -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -j <job-id-list> [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon suspendimportexportjobs --server-name=<server-name>...
Page 215: Replication
Replication [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] --job-id- list=<job-id-list> [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command cancels specified import/export jobs. The jobs must be held in the import/export queue and must be running. ‐j <‐‐job‐id‐list> is a list of job IDs separated with commas. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Replication Create a replica iscon createreplication -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -v <source-vdevid> -S <target-name> [-U <target-username> -P <target- password>] [-w <watermark(MB)> | [-d <YYYYMMDDHHMM> -i <#[H|M]>]] [-r <on>] [[-t <timeout>] [-I <retry-in]>] [-C <retry-for>]] [-c <on|off>] [-e <on|off>] [-n <replica-vdev-name>] [-X <rpc-timeout>]...
Page 216 Replication ‐v (‐‐source‐vdevid) is required to specify the ID of the virtual tape to be configured for replication. ‐S (‐‐target‐name) is required to specify the target server name. ‐U (‐‐target‐username) and ‐P (‐‐target‐password) are optional for connection and login to the target server if the target server are not logged in with a login command. The replication configuration requires a trigger policy to be set. If no trigger policy is specified, the command will automatically apply the appropriate default policy based on the tape caching property of the specified virtual tape. Any combination of the following two options can be used to set up a replication trigger policy for a virtual tape with the tape caching property disabled. The default policy is 1024 MB watermark. ‐w (‐‐watermark) is a data size based trigger in MB. The watermark is checked when the tape is unloaded from the tape drive and the replication is triggered if the amount of new data on the tape has reached the specified watermark. ‐d (‐‐date) combined with ‐i (‐‐interval) is a time based trigger. The replication is triggered at the time specified by date and then repeated every interval. ‐d (‐‐date) format is YYYYMMDDHHMM and ‐i (‐‐interval) format is a number followed by H for hours or M for minutes (e.g. ‐i 2H or ‐‐interval=120M). The default value for interval is 1H (one hour). ‐r (‐‐repl‐first) is an option to replicate the virtual tape before it is migrated. Use ʺonʺ in order to enable this policy or ʺoffʺ to have tape migration executed first. The default policy is to replicate the virtual tape after it is migrated. Replication is retried based on the timeout policy: ‐t (‐‐replication‐timeout) in seconds (default 60). ‐I (‐‐replication‐retry‐interval) in seconds (default 60). ‐C (‐‐replication‐retry‐count) retry count (default 1). ‐c (‐‐compression) is an option to enable or disable compression with one of the values: on or off. ‐e (‐‐encryption) is an option for remote replication only to set encryption with one of the values: on or off. ‐f (‐‐force) option is required when the tape is scheduled to be deleted. The deletion schedule for the virtual tape will be removed and the replication will be configured. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. VTL User Guide • May 2008 G •...
Page 217: Promote A Replica
Replication Promote a replica iscon promotereplica -s <server-name> -v <vdevid> | -S <target-name> -V <replicaid> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-U <target-username> -P <target-password>] [- [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon promotereplica --server-name=<server-name> --vdevid=<vdevid> | --target-name=<target-name> --replicaid=<replicaid> [--server- username=<username> --server-password=<password>] [--target-username=<target-username> --target-password=<target-password>] [--force] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command allows you to promote a replica to a regular virtual device if the primary disk is available and the replica disk is in a valid state.
Page 218: Suspend Replication
Replication --server-password=<password>] [--target-username=<target-username> --target-password=<target-password>] [--force] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] This command allows you to remove the replication configuration from the primary disk on the primary server and delete the replica disk on the target server. Specify either the primary server and the source virtual tape ID or the target server and the tape replica ID. The user name and password must be provided for both servers, if the servers were not registered using the login command. ‐v (‐‐vdevid) is the ID of the source virtual tape and ‐V (‐‐replicaid) is the ID of the tape replica. If the target server no longer exists or cannot be connected to, only the replication configuration on the primary server will be removed. If the primary server no longer exists or cannot be connected to, only the tape replica will be deleted. ‐f (‐‐force) option has to be specified when either the primary server or target server no longer exists or cannot be connected. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Suspend replication iscon suspendreplication -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -v <vdevid> [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon suspendreplication --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] --vdevid=<vdevid> [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command allows you to suspend scheduled replications for a virtual device that ...
Page 219: Resume Replication
Replication Resume replication iscon resumereplication -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -v <vdevid> [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon resumereplication --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] --vdevid=<vdevid> [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command allows you to resume replication for a virtual device that was suspended by the suspendreplication command. The replication will then be triggered by the replication policy once it is resumed. ‐v (‐‐source‐vdevid) is the ID of the source virtual tape on the primary server to be resumed. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Set replication properties iscon setreplicationproperties -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -v <source-vdevid> [-w <watermark(MB)> | [-d <YYYYMMDDHHMM> -i <#[H|M]>]] | [-r <on|off>] [[-t <timeout>] [-I <retry-in]>] [-C <retry-for>]] [-c <on|off>] [-e <on|off>] [-X <rpc-timeout>]...
Page 220: Get Replication Properties
Replication ‐w (‐‐watermark) is a data size based trigger in MB. The watermark is checked when the tape is unloaded from the tape drive and the replication is triggered if the amount of new data on the tape has reached the specified watermark. ‐d (‐‐date) combined with ‐i (‐‐interval) is a time based trigger. The replication is triggered at the time specified by date and then repeated every interval. ‐d (‐‐date) format is YYYYMMDDHHMM and ‐i (‐‐interval) format is a number followed by H for hours or M for minutes (e.g. ‐i 2H or ‐‐interval=120M). To delete a watermark trigger specify 0 for the watermark. To delete a time based trigger specify NA for date. At least one trigger must remain active. The date argument is not required if you are only changing the interval. For virtual tapes having the tape caching property enabled, replication is triggered based on the tape caching policy: ‐r (‐‐repl‐first) is required to replicate the virtual tape before it is migrated. Use ʺonʺ in order to enable this policy or ʺoffʺ to have tape migration executed first. The replication retry policy can be changed using the following options: ‐t (‐‐replication‐timeout) in seconds (default 60). ‐I (‐‐replication‐retry‐interval) in seconds (default 60). ‐C (‐‐replication‐retry‐count) retry count (default 1). ‐c (‐‐compression) is an option to enable or disable compression with one of the values: on or off. ‐e (‐‐encryption) is an option for remote replication only to set the encryption with one of the values: on or off. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Get replication properties iscon getreplicationproperties -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -v <source-vdevid> [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon getreplicationproperties --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username>...
Page 221: Get Replication Status
Replication ‐v (‐‐source‐vdevid) is required to specify the ID of the source virtual tape. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Get replication status iscon getreplicationstatus -S <target-name> [-U <username> -P <password>] -V <replicaid> [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon getreplicationstatus --target-name=<target-name> [--target-username=<username> --target-password=<password>] --replicaid=<replicaid> [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command shows the replication status. ‐S (‐‐target‐name) is the target server and ‐V (‐‐replicaid) is ID of the tape replica, both of which are required. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Start replication iscon startreplication -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -v <vdevid>...
Page 222: Stop Replication
Physical devices Stop replication iscon stopreplication -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -v <vdevid> [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon stopreplication --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] -vdevid=<vdevid> [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] This command allows you to stop the replication that is in progress for a virtual device. ‐v (‐‐source‐vdevid) is the ID of the source virtual tape on the primary server to stop. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Physical devices Inventory physical tape library iscon plibinventory -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-l <physical-tape-library-vid>] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon plibinventory --server-name=<server-name>...
Page 223: Get Physical Tape List
Physical devices Get physical tape list iscon getphysicaltapelist -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -l <physical-tape-library-vid> [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon getphysicaltapelist --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] --plib-vid=<physical-tape-library-vid> [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command displays a list of physical tapes located in the specified physical tape library. ‐l (‐‐plib‐vid) is the ID of the physical tape library. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 300 seconds. Move physical tape iscon movephysicaltape -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -m <move-operation> -L <physical-tape-library-vid> -B <physical-tape-barcode>...
Page 224: Eject Physical Tape
Physical devices ‐B(‐‐physical‐tape‐barcode) identifies the physical tape to be moved. If barcode is not provided, the current tape location must be provided accordingly to the requested operation. ‐l(‐‐from‐location‐d) is the current slot or import/export (IE) slot number, or the physical drive virtual ID. ‐t(‐‐to‐location‐id) is the destination slot or IE slot number or the physical drive virtual ID. This does not apply to the IEslot. If the destination is the IEslot, the physical tape will be moved to the first available IEslot. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 60 seconds. Eject physical tape iscon ejectphysicaltape -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -L <physical-tape-library-vid> -B <physical-tape-barcode-list> [-A <acs-lsm-cap>] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon ejectphysicaltape --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] --tape-library-vid=<physical-tape-library-vid> --tape-barcode-list=<physical-tape-barcode-list> | [--acs-lsm-cap=<acs-lsm- cap>] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command ejects physical tapes from the specified library.
Page 225: Assign Physical Resource To Vtl
Physical devices Assign physical resource to VTL iscon assignresourcetovtl -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -I <ACSL> [-L <tape-library-vid>] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon assignresourcetovtl --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] --scsiaddress=<ACSL> [--tape-library-vid=<tape-library-vid>] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command assigns a physical tape library or drive to VTL. ‐I (‐‐scsiaddress) is required in order to identify the physical tape library or the physical tape drive to be assigned to VTL. ‐L (‐‐tape‐library‐vid) is an option to specify the physical tape library as a parent when assigning physical tape drive to physical tape library that is already assigned to VTL. The physical tape library information can be retrieved by issuing the getvtlinfo command. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 30 seconds. Unassign physical resource from VTL iscon unassignresourcefromvtl -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -v <vdevid>...
Page 226: Get Physical Device Information
Physical devices Get physical device information iscon getpdevinfo -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-F [-M | -C <category>] | [-a] [-A] [-I <ACSL>] ] [-o <output-format>] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon getpdevinfo --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] [--config [--include-system-info | --category=<category>] | [--allocated-list] [--available-list] [--scsiaddress=<ACSL>] ] [--output-format=<output-format>] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: ‐F (‐‐config) is an option to get the physical device configuration information. The ...
Page 227: Rescan Physical Devices
Physical devices Rescan physical devices iscon rescandevices -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-a <adapter-range>] [-i <scsi-range>] [-l <lun-range>] [-L] [-X <rpc- timeout>] iscon rescandevices --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] [--adapter-range=<adapter-range>] [--scsi-range=<scsi-range>] [--lun- range=<lun-range>] [--sequential] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command allows you to rescan the physical resource(s) on the specified server to get the proper physical resource configuration. ‐a (‐‐adapter‐range) is the adapter or adapter range to be rescanned. The default is to rescan all adapters, if it is not specified. For example: ‐a 5 or ‐a 5‐10 ‐i (‐‐scsi‐range) is the starting SCSI ID and ending SCSI ID to be rescanned. The default is to rescan all the SCSI IDs if the range is not specified. For example: ‐i 0‐5 ‐l (‐‐lun‐range) is the starting LUN and ending LUN to be rescanned. The default is not to rescan any LUN if it is not specified. For example: ‐l 0‐10 ‐L (‐‐sequential) is an option to rescan sequentially.
Page 228: Prepare Physical Device For Vtl Server
Physical devices The <guid> is the unique identifier of the physical device. <ACSL> is the SCSI address of the physical device in the following format: #:#:#:# (adapter:channel:scsi id:lun) Either ‐i (‐‐guid) or ‐I (‐‐scsiaddress) has to be specified. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 300 seconds. Prepare physical device for VTL server iscon preparedisk -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-U <target-username> -P <target-password>] -i <guid> | -I <ACSL> -C <category> [-N <new-guid>] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon preparedisk --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] [--target-username=<username> --target-password=<password>] --scsiaddress=<ACSL>...
Page 229: Reports
Reports Reports Server throughput report iscon createserverthroughputreport -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password] [-z <report period>] | [-D <date-range>] [-o <filename>] [-f] [-X <rpc- timeout>] iscon createserverthroughputreport --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] [--report-period=<report-period>] | [--date-range=<date-range>] [--output-file=<filename>] [--force] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command creates a report that displays throughput data and configuration information for a specific server. ‐z (‐‐report‐period) is the period of time that the report should cover. The accepted values are: t ‐ today y ‐ yesterday 7 ‐ last seven days 30 ‐ last thirty days...
Page 230: Scsi Channel Throughput Report
Reports SCSI channel throughput report iscon createscsichannelthroughputreport -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-z <report period>] | [-D <date-range>] -t <adapter-no> [-o <filename>] [-f] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon createscsichannelthroughputreport --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] [--report-period=<report-period>] | [--date-range=<date-range>] --adapter-no=<adapter-no> [--output-file=<filename>] [--force] [--rpc- timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command creates a report that displays the throughput values for a specific SCSI/Fibre channel. ‐t (‐‐adapter‐no) is required in order to identify the requested SCSI/Fibre Channel adapter.
Page 231: Device Throughput Report
Reports Device throughput report iscon createdevicethroughputreport -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] -I <ACSL> [-z <report period>] | [-D <date-range>] [-o <filename>] [-f] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon createdevicethroughputreport --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] -- scsiaddress=<ACSL> [--report-period=<report-period>] | [--date-range=<date-range>] [--output-file=<filename>] [--force] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command creates a report that displays throughput values for a specific device. ‐I <ACSL> (‐‐scsiaddress) is the LUN address of the device. ‐z (‐‐report‐period) is the period of time that the report should cover. The accepted values are: t ‐ today y ‐ yesterday...
Page 232: Physical Resources Configuration Report
Reports Physical resources configuration report iscon createphyresourcesconfreport -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-o <filename>] [-f] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon createphyresourcesconfreport --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] [--output- file=<filename>] [--force] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command creates a report that displays the physical resources configuration for a specific server. This report lists all of the physical resources on this server, including each physical adapter and physical device. ‐o (‐‐output‐file) is the file name used to save the report data. If the output filename is not specified, the default filename is: PhysicalResourcesConfiguration‐server‐MM‐ DD‐YYYY‐hh‐mm‐ss[.#] [.#] is the additional suffix when there is a duplicate. Specify the ‐f (‐‐force) option if you want to overwrite the existing file if the output file already exists. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The default RPC timeout is 300 seconds. Disk usage report iscon creatediskusagereport -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>][-o <filename>] [-f] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon creatediskusagereport --server-name=<server-name>...
Page 233: Physical Resources Allocation Report
Reports Specify the ‐f (‐‐force) option if you want to overwrite the existing file if the output file already exists. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The default RPC timeout is 300 seconds. Physical resources allocation report iscon createphyresourcesallocreport -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-o <filename>] [-f] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon createphyresourcesallocreport --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] [--output- file=<filename>] [--force] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command creates a report that displays the physical resource allocation for a specific server. ‐o (‐‐output‐file) is file name used to save the report data. If the output filename is not specified, the default filename is: PhysicalResourcesAllocation‐server‐MM‐DD‐ YYYY‐‐hh‐mm‐ss[.#] [.#] is the additional suffix when there is a duplicate. Specify the ‐f (‐‐force) option if you want to overwrite the existing file if the output file already exists. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The default RPC timeout is 300 seconds. Specific physical resource allocation report iscon createphyresourceallocreport -s <server-name>...
Page 234: Fibre Channel Adapter Configuration Report
Reports This command creates a report that displays the physical resource allocation of a specific device on a specific server. ‐I <ACSL> (‐‐scsiaddress) is the LUN address of the device. ‐o (‐‐output‐file) is the file name used to save the report data. If the output filename is not specified, the default filename is: PhysicalResourceAllocation‐server‐MM‐DD‐ YYYY‐‐hh‐mm‐ss[.#] [.#] is the additional suffix when there is a duplicate. Specify the ‐f (‐‐force) option if you want to overwrite the existing file when the output file already exists. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The default RPC timeout is 300 seconds. Fibre Channel adapter configuration report iscon createfcaconfreport -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-o <filename>] [-f] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon createfcaconfreport --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] [--output- file=<filename>] [--force] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command creates a report that displays the Fibre Channel adapter configuration for a specific server. ‐o (‐‐output‐file) is the file name used to save the report data. If the output filename is not specified, the default filename is: FCAdaptersConfig‐server‐MM‐DD‐YYYY‐ hh‐mm‐ss[.#] [.#] is the additional suffix when there is a duplicate.
Page 235: Virtual Library Information Report
Reports [-D <date-range>] [-r <repl-resource-type> | -R <resourceList>] [-o <outputFilename>] [-f] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon createreplicationstatusreport --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] [--date- range=<date-range>] [--repl-resource-type=<repl-resource-type> | --resource-list=<resourceList>] [[--output-file=<outputFilename>] [--force] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command creates a report that displays the status of a specified resource on a specific server. ‐D (‐‐date‐range) is an option to specify the date range to be queried. The date format is YYYYMMDD or YYYYMMDD‐YYYYMMDD. If date range is not specified, the default is todayʹs date. ‐r (‐‐repl‐resource‐type) is an option to specify a generic resourse type to be queried. It can be one of the following: TAPE TAPEReplica The default value is TAPE. ‐R <‐‐resource‐list> in an option to report the status of the specified resources only. The argument can be a list of virtual identificators separated with commas or the name of a file enclosed in <> containing the resource ID on each line. All the resources must be of the type specified by ʺ‐rʺ.
Page 236: Virtual Tape Information Report
Reports [-o <filename>] [-f] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon createvirlibinforeport --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] [--output- file=<filename>] [--force] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command creates a report that displays all of the virtual libraries for a specific server. ‐o (‐‐output‐file) is the file name used to save the report data. If the output filename is not specified, the default filename is: VirtualLibraryInfo‐server‐MM‐DD‐YYYY‐hh‐ mm‐ss[.#] [.#] is the additional suffix when there is a duplicate. Specify the ‐f (‐‐force) option if you want to overwrite the existing file if the output file already exists. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The default RPC timeout is 300 seconds. Virtual tape information report iscon createvirtapeinforeport -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-o <filename>] [-f] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon createvirtapeinforeport --server-name=<server-name>...
Page 237: Create Job Report
Reports Create job report iscon createjobreport -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-z <report period>] | [-D <date-range>] [-o <filename>] [-f] [-X <rpc- timeout>] iscon createjobreport --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] [--report-period=<report-period>] | [--date-range=<date-range>] [--output-file=<filename>] [--force] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command creates a report that displays all of the jobs executed during a selected period of time for a specific server. ‐z (‐‐report‐period) is the period of time that the report should cover. The accepted values are: t ‐ today y ‐ yesterday 7 ‐ last seven days 30 ‐ last thirty days ‐D (‐‐date‐range) is the starting date and ending date in the following format ...
Page 238: Event Log
Event Log Event Log Get Event Log iscon geteventlog -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-D <date-range>] [-F <fileFormat>] [-o <filename>] [-H] [-f] [-X <rpc- timeout>] iscon geteventlog --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] [--date- range=<date-range>] [--file-format=<fileFormat>] [--include-heading] [-- output-file=<filename>] [--force] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command gets the event log. ‐D (‐‐date‐range) is the starting date/time and ending date/time in the following format: YYYYMMDDhhmmss‐YYYYMMDDhhmmss or YYYYMMDDhhmmss ‐F (‐‐fileFormat) is one of the following formats: csv (default) or txt.
Page 239: Technical Support
Technical support Technical support Get X‐Ray iscon getxray -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-l <#|all|YYMMDDhhmm-YYMMDDhhmm>] [-r] [-o <filename>] [-f] [-X <rpc- timeout>] iscon getxray --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] [--get-log=<#|all|YYMMDDhhmm-YYMMDDhhmm>] [--rescan-for-xray] [--output- file=<filename>] [--force] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This command allows you to get X‐ray information from the VTL Server for diagnostic purposes. Each X‐ray contains technical information about your server, such as server messages and a snapshot of your serverʹs current configuration and environment. You should not create an X‐ray unless you are requested to do so by your Technical Support representative. ‐l (‐‐get‐log) is a filter to get the specified log messages. # = number of lines all = all the log messages YYMMDDhhmm‐YYMMDDhhmm = log messages in date/time range The default is to get all the log messages.
Page 240: Get Attention Required Information
Technical support Get attention required information iscon getattentionrequired -s <server-name> [-u <username> -p <password>] [-X <rpc-timeout>] iscon getattentionrequired --server-name=<server-name> [--server-username=<username> --server-password=<password>] [--rpc-timeout=<rpc-timeout>] Description: This commands displays the attention required messages. ‐X (‐‐rpc‐timeout) is an option to specify a number between 1 and 30000 in seconds for the RPC timeout. The system will retry the command for the amount of time specified if the server does not respond. The default RPC timeout is 300 seconds. VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 241: Required Ports
APPENDIX Required ports In order to maintain a high level of security, you should disable all unnecessary ports. The only ports required by VTL are: TCP port 11576 ‐ Used for VTL Console to VTL Server management communication. UDP port 11577 ‐ Used for IP replication. UDP port11578 ‐ Used for encryption. UDP port11579 ‐ Used for encryption. TCP port 11580 ‐ Used for communication between a failover pair. UDP port 161 ‐ Used for SNMP traps. TCP port 161 ‐ Used for SNMP traps. TCP/UDP port 3205 ‐ Used for iSCSI. TCP port 3260 ‐ Used for iSCSI. Although you may temporarily open some ports during initial setup of the VTL server, such as the telnet port (23) and FTP ports (20 and 21), you should shut them down after you have done your work. 96267 • G...
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Page 243: Troubleshooting
APPENDIX Troubleshooting This appendix addresses the following issues: “Problems during console operations” on page 229 “Problems affecting physical resources” on page 232 “Problems with virtual resources” on page 233 “Problems during import/export operations” on page 237 “Taking an X‐ray for technical support” on page 239 Problems during console operations Issue: VTL console is unable to connect to a VTL server Indications: The VTL console does not connect to the server node. The word Failed appears at during the connection process. Diagnostics: Determine the cause of the failure using the following procedure. Case: Connection fails before login 1. Wait for a while. Then attempt to connect again. 2. If you can now connect, stop here. The server was busy and unable to respond immediately.
Page 244 5. If you still cannot connect, try to connect using the server’s IP address instead of its server name (or vice versa). 6. If you can now connect, stop here. The host name or IP address that failed may be incorrect. 7. If you still cannot connect, check network connectivity. Ping the target server and other machines in the same subnet.
Page 245 Case: Connection fails while expanding the VTL server node 1. Check the memory consumption on the console host. 2. If memory consumption is excessive, stop unnecessary processes, and retry. 3. If you can connect, stop here. Avoid running memory‐intensive applications on this host when the console is in use. 4. If you cannot connect or if memory consumption appears to be within normal limits, contact Sun technical support.
Page 246: Problems Affecting Physical Resources
Case: High server activity 1. Check the Event Log or syslog (/var/adm/messages) for CPU-intensive activity on the server. Backup jobs that backup to multiple virtual or physical devices in parallel, data compression, and encryption all place heavy demands on the CPU. 1. Also, try starting a second instance of the VTL console. If the second VTL console cannot establish connections, that means the server is busy with previous RPC operations.
Page 247: Problems With Virtual Resources
Diagnostics: Determine the cause. 1. In the Virtual Tape Library System branch of the VTL object tree, highlight the tape in the console, and make sure that the Total Size field is accurate. 2. If the Total Size field is accurate, make sure that client machine has been refreshed to see the updated virtual resource.
Page 248 5. If you find disk space errors, there may not be enough physical disk space for the expansion. Add more physical storage or change the size of expansion. Then retry. 6. If no disk space problems were found, or if correcting them does not solve the problem, make sure that the physical storage partition is valid.
Page 249 2. If the operating system does not show the device, got to “The operating system cannot detect the device” on page 235. 3. If the operating system does show the device, go to “Applications cannot see the device” on page 235. Case: The operating system cannot detect the device 1.
Page 250 Case: The backup application cannot see the device at all 1. If the operating system sees the device but a backup application does not, check the drivers for the backup software. Make sure the driver is appropriate for the library and tape drive type. 2. If a driver appears to be inappropriate, refer to the backup software manual. Some backup products recommend specific versions of drivers or special settings.
Page 251: Problems During Import/Export Operations
3. Using the VTL console, load a tape into a virtual drive. While most raw device utilities work with tape drives, they cannot, in most cases, load tapes. Even if some can move tapes, you need to know the exact address of the tape and the drive. 4. Attempt to access the device using the raw utility. 5. If you cannot access the device, go to “The operating system cannot access the device”...
Page 252 You can only import and export data between a physical tape device and a virtual tape device of the same type, using physical and virtual media of the same capacity. 2. If dissimilar physical and virtual devices or media are being used, stop here. Correct the condition, and retry the import/export job. 3. If physical and virtual devices are identical or if making them so does not solve the problem, see if compressed data is being imported/exported.
Page 253: Taking An X-Ray For Technical Support
2. If physical tape drives require cleaning, clean them, and stop here. Retry the import/export operation. 3. If cleaning is unnecessary or does not help, see if physical tapes need to be moved and mounted before the import/export operation can continue. 4.
Page 254 Taking an X‐Ray 1. In the object tree of the VTL console, right‐click on the branch representing the VTL server ( below), and select X-Ray from the context menu ( VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 255 2. When the X-Ray Options dialog appears, check the checkboxes corresponding to the items that you need to include ( The defaults are shown below: If you select the Log File option, you can filter the output by specifying a number of records or a date range. You can limit the results to VTL system‐related messages by checking the VTL Messages Only check box. 3. In the Save As text box ( X‐Ray archive. 4. X‐Rays are saved as gzipped tar archives. 5. Press Take X-Ray ( 96267 • G below). above), specify an output path and filename for the above) to generate the output. Appendix C Troubleshooting...
Page 256 VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...
Page 257: Snmp Traps
APPENDIX SNMP traps The VTL product family defines the following Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) traps. Trap Severity Message Error SCSI Port Error -- %1. 1000 Error Socket connection could not be terminated properly -- %1. 1001 Error Socket connection could not be terminated properly due to error during shutdown -- %1. 1002 Error Unexpected interrupt occurred.
Page 258 Trap Severity Message 1020 Informational Replication for virtual tape %1 started. 1021 Informational Replication for virtual tape %1 finished. 1022 Warning Replication has failed for virtual tape %1 -- %2. 1023 Error Failed to connect to physical device %1. Switching alias to %2. 1024 Informational Device %1 has attached to the VTL Server.
Page 259 Trap Severity Message 1047 Error Rescan replica has failed for virtual device %1 -- the replica device failed with error %2. 1048 Error Rescan replica has failed for virtual device %1 -- the network transport returned error %2. 1049 Error Rescan replica cannot proceed -- replication control area not present on virtual device %1 1050...
Page 260 Trap Severity Message 1074 Error Replication cannot proceed -- unable to allocate memory. 1075 Error Replication cannot proceed -- unexpected error %1. 1076 Informational Starting replication for virtual device %1 of group %2 to replica device %3. 1077 Informational Replication for group %1 has completed successfully. 1079 Error Replication for group %1 has failed due to error on virtual device %2...
Page 261 Trap Severity Message 7002 Error Patch %1 failed -- it applies only to build %2. 7003 Error Patch %1 failed -- you must be the root user to apply the patch. 7004 Warning Patch %1 installation failed -- it has already been applied. 7005 Error Patch %1 installation failed -- prerequisite patch %2 has not been applied.
Page 262 Trap Severity Message 10206 Informational Add scsi alias=%1. 10207 Error "Add Adapter %1 failed, not enough memory." 10208 Informational "Set Adapter %1 offline, adapter count %2." 10209 Error "Add Physical Device %1 failed, not enough memory." 10210 Warning Marked Physical Device [%1] OFFLINE because its GUID: %2 does not match scsi GUID: %3.
Page 263 Trap Severity Message 11006 Error VTL communication module failed to start. 11007 Warning There is not enough disk space available to successfully complete this operation and maintain the integrity of the configuration file. There is currently %1 MB of disk space available. VTL requires %2 MB of disk space to continue.
Page 264 Trap Severity Message 11170 Error Failed to virtualize LUN %1 because of mismatching size between configuration file and disk. Please do rescan and try it again. 11200 Error Buffer overflow. 11201 Error Too many Console connections. 11202 Error Console (%1): Illegal access. 11203 Error Console (%1): SCSI device re-scanning has failed.
Page 265 Trap Severity Message 11232 Error Console (%1): Failed to get memory status. 11233 Error Console (%1): Failed to map the SCSI device name for [%2 %3 %4 %5]. 11234 Error "Console (%1): Failed to execute ""hdparm"" for %2." 11235 Error Console (%1): Failed to get the VTL Server module status.
Page 266 Trap Severity Message 11265 Error Console (%1): Failed to restart IOCore module. 11266 Error Console (%1): Failed to erase partition of virtual device %2. 11267 Informational Console (%1): Virtual device %2 partition erased. 11268 Error Console (%1): Failed to update meta information of virtual device %2. 11269 Error Console (%1): Failed to get ID for SAN Client (%2).
Page 267 Trap Severity Message 11298 Error Console (%1): Failed to reset cache on target device %2 (ID: %3) for %4 copy. 11300 Error Invalid user name (%1) used by client at IP address %2. 11301 Error Invalid password for user (%1) used by client at IP address %2. 11302 Error Invalid passcode for machine (%1) used by client at IP address %2.
Page 268 Trap Severity Message 11509 Informational Console (%1): Properties set for the VTL Server. 11510 Error Console (%1): Failed to save report -- %2. 11511 Error Console (%1): Failed to get the information for the NIC. 11512 Error "Console (%1): Failed to add a replica for virtual tape %2 to VTL Server %3 (watermark: %4 MB, time: %5, interval: %6, watermark retry: %7, suspended: %8)."...
Page 269 Trap Severity Message 11539 Error Console (%1): Failed to import physical device %2. 11540 Error "Console (%1): Host name mismatch (old: %2, new: %3)." 11541 Error Console (%1): Failed to save event message (ID: %2). 11542 Error Console (%1): Failed to remove virtual tape replica %2. 11543 Informational Console (%1): Virtual tape replica %2 removed.
Page 270 Trap Severity Message 11575 Error Console (%1): Failed to unassign Fibre Channel device %2 from %3 (not rolled back) and returns %4. 11576 Informational Console (%1): Fibre Channel device %2 unassigned from %3. 11577 Error Console (%1): Failed to get Fibre Channel target information. 11578 Error Console (%1): Failed to get Fibre Channel initiator information.
Page 271 Trap Severity Message 11651 Error Medium Test failed for SCSI device %1. 11652 Error "Could not get type for SCSI device %1, because of inquiry string failure." 11653 Error "Discarded scsi device %1, unsupported type ""%2""." 11654 Error "Discarded scsi device %1, missing MTI vendor in inquiry string." 11655 Error "Discarded scsi device %1, bad capacity size."...
Page 272 Trap Severity Message 11711 Error Console (%1): The replication setup for %2 %3(s) was rolled back. 11712 Error Console (%1): Failed to configure replication for %2 %3(s). Error: %4. 11713 Informational Console (%1): Replication for %2 %3(s) configured successfully. 11714 Error Console (%1): The configuration file update for replication removal for %2 %3(s) was rolled back.
Page 273 Trap Severity Message 11740 Error Console (%1): Failed to create virtual tape drives. Error: %2. 11750 Informational Console (%1): Add VirtualTape Library Emulation option successfully. 11751 Informational Console (%1): Remove VirtualTape Library Emulation option successfully. 11780 Informational Tape id %1 [%2] is enabled with auto-replication move mode and will be deleted in %3 at about %4.
Page 274 Trap Severity Message 12005 Error Failed to allocate memory. 12006 Warning Log size warning. 12007 Error Failed to delete file %1. 12008 Error Wrong file format %1. 12009 Error Missing parameter %1. 12010 Error Invalid parameter %1. 12011 Error Wrong status for file %1. 13000 Informational "VTL Failover Module started -- [Primary %1, IP %3, Heartbeat %4][Secondary...
Page 275 "The Live Trial period has expired for VTL Server %1. Please contact Sun Microsystems, Inc. or its representative to purchase a license." 13711 Warning "The following options are not licensed: %1. Please contact Sun Microsystems, Inc. or its representative to purchase a license." 13800 Critical Primary server failure detected.
Page 276 Trap Severity Message 13811 Informational Primary server failback initiated. 13812 Informational Server IP address add successfully. 13814 Informational Quorum disk returned to primary. 13815 Informational Virtual drives added successfully. 13816 Informational Primary server restored. 13817 Critical Primary server failback was unsuccessful. Failed to update the primary configuration.
Page 277 Trap Severity Message 13843 Error Secondary server fail to get original conf file from repository before failback . 13844 Error Failed to write %1 to repository. 13845 Warning Quorum disk failure detected. Secondary is still in takeover mode. 13846 Informational Force takeover is initiated.
Page 278 Trap Severity Message 13878 Error Primary server has invalid failover configuration. 13879 Critical Secondary server detect kernel module failure, reboot machine may need. 15050 Error Server ioctl call %1 failed on vdev id %2: Invalid Argument (EINVAL). 15051 Error Server ioctl call %1 failed on vdev id %2: I/O error (EIO). 15052 Error Server ioctl call %1 failed on vdev id %2: Not enough memory space (ENOMEM).
Page 279 Trap Severity Message 19051 Informational [Remote Copy] The copying of the virtual tape %1 to the remote server has been started. 19052 Informational [Remote Copy] The copying of the virtual tape %1 to the remote server has finished. 19053 Informational "[Remote Copy] The configuration for remote copy is removed.
Page 280 Trap Severity Message 19204 Error Console (%1): Failed to delete Key %2. 19205 Informational Console (%1): Key %2 has been deleted successfully. 19206 Error Console (%1): Failed to update information for key %2. 19207 Informational Console (%1): Information for key %2 has been updated successfully. 19208 Error Console (%1): Failed to create key package %2.
Page 281 Trap Severity Message 25001 Error %1 failed to start -- %2. 25002 Informational %1 paused. 25003 Error %1 failed to pause -- %2. 25004 Informational %1 resumed. 25005 Error %1 failed to resume -- %2. 25006 Informational %1 stopped. 25007 Error %1 failed to stop -- %2.
Page 282 Trap Severity Message 26207 Error Failed to define device %1 -- %2. 26208 Error Failed to undefine device %1 -- %2. 26209 Error Drive %1 is busy and cannot be detached. time. 26210 Informational Both %1 and %2 have the same disk signature (%3). 27000 Error Failed to connect to VTL Server ’%1’...
Page 283 Trap Severity Message 40007 Error "Unload tape from drive failed, Drive %1, EC %2" 40008 Error Failed to create new tape in Virtual Library %1 40009 Error "HW Error with Move Medium command, Lib %1, SrcEle %2 DestEle %3" 40010 Error Attach to tape %1 failed 40011...
Page 284 Trap Severity Message 40038 Informational "Physical Library unassigned. Vid %1, [%2][%3]" 40039 Error Read Element command to Physical Library %1 failed. EC %2 40040 Error Attach to device %1 failed. EC %2 40041 Informational "Physical Tape Drive assigned to exclusive use for VTL. VID %1, [%2][%3]" 40042 Informational "Physical Tape Drive unassigned.
Page 285 Trap Severity Message 40070 Error Cannot delete Tape %1 40071 Error "Cannot import Tape, dest slot %1 in Virtual Library %2 is full" 40072 Informational "Properties of Tape %1 has been changed. Barcode %2, MaxCapacity %3 MB" 40073 Informational "Tape Created in Stand Alone Virtual Tape Drive. Tape VID %1, Drive VID %2" 40074 Error "Export to Physical Tape failed.
Page 286 Trap Severity Message 40100 Error Waited %1 seconds to get a response from %2 (%3) after trying to retrieve drive information in ACS %4. Timing out. 40101 Error Failed to retrieve volume information in ACS %1 and Pool %2. Error from %3 (%4): %5.
Page 287 Trap Severity Message 40127 Informational Disk space allocated for tape VID %1 Barcode [%2] in vault has been reclaimed successfully 40128 Error Failed to reclaim disk space allocated for tape VID %1 Barcode [%2] in vault 40129 Informational No Free physical drive to load direct link tape VID %1 BarCode [%2]. 40130 Warning Unable to renew cache for tape VID %1.
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Page 289: Ilom Command Reference
E E E APPENDIX ILOM command reference The following table summarizes Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) commands you can use to manage the service processor. For more information on ILOM commands, see the ILOM Administration Guide. Description User Commands Add a local user. Delete a local user. Change a local user’s properties. Display information about all local users. Display information about LDAP settings. Change LDAP settings. Network and Serial Port Setting Commands Display network configuration information. Change network properties for the ILOM. Changing certain network properties, like the IP address, disconnects your active session. Display information about the external serial port. Change the external serial port configuration. Display information about the serial connection to the host. 96267 • G Command create /SP/users/user1 password=password role=administrator|operator delete /SP/users/user1 set /SP/users/user1 role=operator...
Page 290 Description Change the host serial port configuration. Note: This speed setting must match the speed setting for serial port 0, COM1 or /dev/ttyS0 on the host operating system. Alert Commands Display information about PET alerts. You can configure up to 15 alerts. Change alert configuration. System Management Access Commands Display information about HTTP settings. Change HTTP settings, such as enabling automatic redirection to HTTPS. Display information about HTTPS access. Change HTTPS settings. Display SSH DSA key settings. Display SSH RSA key settings. SNMP Commands Display information about SNMP settings. By default, the SNMP port is 161 and v3 is enabled. Display SNMP users. Add an SNMP user. Delete an SNMP user. Display information about SNMP public (read‐ only) communities. Add this device to an SNMP public community. Delete this device from an SNMP public community. Display information about SNMP private (read‐ write) communities. Add this device to an SNMP private community. VTL User Guide • May 2008 Command set /SP/serial/host pendingspeed=integer commitpending=true...
Page 291 Description Host System Commands Delete this device from an SNMP private community. Start the host system. Stop the host system. Reset the host system. Start a session to connect to the host console. Stop the session connected to the host console. Clock Settings Set the ILOM clock to synchronize with a primary NTP server. Set the ILOM clock to synchronize with a secondary NTP server. 96267 • G Command delete /SP/services/snmp/communities/private/ start /SYS stop /SYS reset /SYS start /SP/console stop /SP/console set /SP/clients/ntp/server/1 address= set /SP/clients/ntp/server/2 address= Appendix E ILOM command reference comm2 ntpIPaddress ntpIPaddress2...
Page 292 VTL User Guide • May 2008 G • 96267...

Sun Microsystems Virtual Tape Library User Manual

About this Book

1 Introduction: VTL Appliances and Enterprise Data-Protection

2 Understanding VTL Zoning

3 Using the VTL Console

4 VTL Operations

5 Installing the VTL Console

6 Recovery Following a System Failure

7 Configuring Email Alerts

8 Updating VTL Software

VTL Command Line Reference

Required Ports

Troubleshooting

SNMP Traps

ILOM Command Reference

Quick Links

Need help?

Questions and answers

Related Manuals for Sun Microsystems Virtual Tape Library

Summary of Contents for Sun Microsystems Virtual Tape Library

Table of Contents