Problems and solutions for common TSM server issues

Issue 1:
We have a tape library with one drive. In the morning at 08:00 AM we start a backup of storage pools to tape and it finish to 6:00 PM. The customer wants to move dr media of yesterday in the morning with command  MOVE DRMEDIA * WHERESTATE=MOUNTABLE TOSTATE=VAULT but this command finish with failure because the drive is busy. Is There a parameter to add to command for move tape while the drive are writing ?

Solution

The problem that you are facing is because of the default value of the DRMCHECKLABEL parameter. The default value of this parameter is YES, which means that the label of the tape has to be chacked by the MOVE MEDIA command first before its checked out. You need to update the parameter to NO.

dsmadmc> set DRMCHECKLABEL NO

To check the current value of your DRM setting use

dsmadmc> q drmstatus

and you will see that the "Check Label" parameter is set to yes. You need to update it and set it to NO.

Also Read: How TSM Server determines the eligibility of files during different types of backup ?

Issue 2:
We have tsm server on win 2008 r2 and it working regularly. I promote this server to domain controller and after reboot the tsm server not start because the db2 do not start. The tsm server and db2 are running with domain administrator. How can i solve it?

Solution

Domain administrator should be parts of the dbadmin and dbusers accounts. The solution is 

1) set HKLM\ SOFTWARE\ IBM\ DB2\ GLOBAL_PROFILE\DB2_EXTSECURITY to NO

2) set HKLM\ SOFTWARE\ IBM\ DB2\ InstalledCopies\ DB2COPY1\GLOBAL_PROFILE\DB2_EXTSECURITY to No

3) verify if the db2users e db2admns exist on active directory group , if not exist create it.

4) Launch this command

"db2extsec -u <mydomain>\db2users -a <mydomain>\db2admns"

  Note: AD and TSM is the worst combination to work on same server, not recommended.

Also Read: Increase TSM server performance by following these guidelines

Issue 3: 
IBM Tivoli Storage Manager server versions 6.2.4, 6.2.5, 6.3.0, 6.3.1, and 6.3.2 incorrectly set the logical block protection attribute for tape volumes. As a result, when users upgrade Tivoli Storage Manager server to version 6.3.3, they might not be able to append to tape or restore data if the attribute is incorrectly set to "yes" for the volume.

Solution

With the fix for APAR IC90153, Tivoli Storage Manager server automatically corrects the logical block protection attribute for all volumes that are not supported with logical block protection.

If unable to restore data, users can move data from an affected volume to another volume in the same storage pool.

If unable to append data to a volume, mark the volume read-only and the Tivoli Storage Manager server will select a new scratch volume for writing.

Also Read: TSM Administrator Daily routine tasks

Issue 4:
There is a problem with GENERATE BACKUPSET command in Tivoli Storage Manager V6.2 servers. The problem is GENERATE BACKUPSET can have an incomplete set of files in the backup set, complete with success status, and report no error message. This can happen if GENERATE BACKUPSET is run simultaneously with data movement operations such as migration, reclamation, and MOVE DATA. If the data involved in the GENERATE BACKUPSET is also involved in the data movement operation, this can cause the GENERATE BACKUPSET to unsuccessfully retrieve the data from storage, not include the file in the backup set, not report a file is skipped, and end with success status.

Solution

Avoid simultaneous data movement  and GENERAE BACKUPSET operations

Also Read: Take TSM DB backup immediately if you notice these messages

Issue 5: 
Auditing a library while running a database backup operation on a library client could result in the loss of backup data if the library manager changes the backup volume to scratch status in error. This problem is due to a process timing issue that can arise when a database backup operation and an audit library operation are run simultaneously. It can occur on all versions. 

Solution 

The work-around for this problem on all versions is to avoid issuing an AUDIT LIBRARY command on the library client while a database backup operation is in progress. To check the status of a backup operation, you can use the QUERY PROCESS command.

When available, upgrade Tivoli Storage Manager to one of the following fix pack versions, which will contain the fix for this problem.

• 5.5.7
• 6.1.6
• 6.2.5
• 6.3.3