Backup Recovery and Media Services

Graphical interface enhancements

• Support for the IBM Systems Director Web browser environment.
• Scheduling support for IBM Systems Director Navigator for i Web browser environment.
• High Availability independent auxiliary storage pools enhancement.
• Enhanced e-mail notification to support multiple e-mail addresses.
• Enhanced the BRMS log to provide the option to filter on control groups.
• BRMS maintenance feature in the Backup Policy now allows the user to run movement, expire partial volume sets and reorganize BRMS database files.
• Note: BRMS graphical interface refers to both the IBM i® Navigator BRMS plug-in and the IBM Systems Director Web environment BRMS plug-in.

Recovery enhancements

• New outfile support parameters have been added on the BRMS restore commands as well as the BRMS recovery policy.
• New *COMPATIBLE special value has been added for the Allow object differences parameter on BRMS restore commands.
• A new parameter Saved auxiliary storage pool (SAVASP) has been added on the BRMS restore commands to provide better control on the selection of which library or object was saved.
• On the work with object displays the "Objects saved" columns have been increased to support more than 999,999 objects.
• New Recovery report enhancements:
  • The "Verify System Information" step in the recovery report has been updated to include new instructions to use the Update System Information (UPDSYSINF) command.
  • The "Recover User Profiles" step in the recovery report, under the "Attention" section where the user is instructed what restore defaults to use, the user is asked to use *COMPATIBLE now for the Allow object differences prompt.
  • On the Start Recovery using BRM (STRRCYBRM) command, a new parameter Recovery element override has been added to allow the user to override specific sections on the recovery report.
  • Note: Currently only system data can be overridden with this new parameter.
  • The objects saved column on the recovery report has been increased to support more than 999,999 objects.

Media services enhancements

• Better handling of non-BRMS media when a customers inventory has a mixed media pool of BRMS media and non-BRMS media.
• Increased protection on backups saved to virtual media that have not been saved off to physical media.
• The Print Media Movement (PRTMOVBRM) command now includes media scheduled to move and media that are at the beginning of the media rotation.

Advanced Feature enhancements

• A new High Availability enhancement has been added for independent auxiliary storage pools.

Network enhancements

• Increased management of media information between the BRMS networked systems has been added.

Install enhancements

• For new installs of BRMS, the *SYSGRP control group will now have a new BRMS IFS list that contains all the IBM directory information.
• A new BRMS IFS list named QALLUSRLNK will be created on install. This list will have all of the IFS directory information except /QIBM/ProdData and /QOpenSys/QIBM/ProdData.

Back to top

Recovery enhancements

Incremental saves of spooled file lists are now supported based on the creation date of the spooled files. This will allow users to save only new spooled files during backups. This function is available after loading the following PTFs:

• V5R4M0 : SI37269
• V6R1M0 : SI37276

Note: Incremental saves of spooled files are only available when using spooled file list backup items (*SPL) in controlgroups. Incremental saves done using library backup items in control groups will not save newly created spooled files.

Back to top

When using BRMS to run duplicates, DUPMEDBRM, the expiration date of the duplicate media will normally not have the same expiration date as the original media.

With PTF SI33971 (V5R3M0), SI33974 (V5R4M0) or SI33975 (V6R1M0) or superseding PTFs, it is possible to allow the expiration date of the duplicate volume to match the expiration date of the original volume.

In V6R1M0 or above specify *FROMVOL on DUPMEDBRM EXPDATE parameter.

In V5R3M0 and above, set the value to one of the following to get *FROMVOL expiration date in the DUPMEDBRM EXPDATE parameter:

010170 for systems with a Date format of *MDY
010170 for systems with a Date format of *DMY
700101 for systems with a Date format of *YMD

Back to top

The ability to use an API to add and remove object level omit's to control group items has been introduced for V5R3 and V5R4.

Note: The following BRMS PTF or their supersede is required

V5R3M0            SI30646
V5R4M0            SI30647

This is included in the base code of BRMS at V6R1M0

Add Control Group Entry Object Omit (Q1AADDCGEO) API

This API will allow a way to programmatically add object omits to a backup item in a backup control group. Folders are not supported. Only libraries (includes generics), configuration and security data and user authority information for ASPs 2-32.

Required Parameter Group:

1. Control group name Input Char(10)
2. Control group type Input Char(10)
3. Control group sequence number Input Binary(4)
4. Objects to omit library name Input Char(10)
5. Objects to omit type Input Char(10)
6. Objects to omit name Input Char(10)
7. Error code I/O Char(*)

Required Parameter Group

1. Control group name INPUT CHAR(10) Specifies the name of the control group that is having an object omit added.
2. 
   
3. Control group type INPUT CHAR(10) Specifies what type of control group is to be used. Backup, Archive, or Migration are the 3 types. Only Backup is currently supported. The possible value follows:
   
             *BKU A backup control group will be created.
4. 
   
5. Control group entry sequence number INPUT BINARY(4) Indicates which entry is to have objects omitted. The possible values are:
   
             10 -9990 Specifies the entry to use. Type a sequence number from 10 through 9990.
6. 
   
7. Objects to omit library name INPUT CHAR(10) Specifies the name of the library containing the objects to be omitted during the save. The possible values are:
   
             *SAVCFG Configuration data is to be omitted from the system or system information save. (*SAVSYS or *SAVSYSINF)
             *SAVSECDTA Security data is to be omitted from the system or system information save. (*SAVSYS or *SAVSYSINF)
             *USRASPAUT Omit the BRMS save of the authority information from user auxiliary storage pools (2-32) from the system or system information save. (*SAVSYS or *SAVSYSINF)
             Library-name The objects are to be omitted from this library. generic*-library-name The objects are to be omitted from these generic libraries.
8. 
   
9. Objects to omit object type INPUT CHAR(10) Specifies the type of objects omitted during the save. (This attribute is available on servers at V5R3 and above.)
   
             *ALL All object types are omitted.
             Object-type Objects of this type are omitted. This can be any valid special value supported by the Object type parameter on the i5/OS save commands.
10. 
    
11. Objects to omit object name INPUT CHAR(10) Specifies the name of the objects omitted during the save. (This attribute is available on servers at V5R3 and above.) The possible values are:
    
              *ALL All objects of the specified library and type are omitted.
              generic*-object-name Objects having this generic name are omitted.
              object-name Object having this name are omitted.
12. 
    
13. Error code I/O CHAR(*) The structure in which to return error information. For the format of the structure, see the Error Code Parameter topic in the i5/OS Information Center.

Remove Control Group Entry Object Omit (Q1ARMVCGEO) API

This API will allow a way to programmatically remove object omits from a backup item in a backup control group. Folders are not supported. Only libraries (includes generics), configuration and security data and user authority information for ASPs 2-32.

Required Parameter Group:

1. Control group name Input Char(10)
2. Control group type Input Char(10)
3. Control group sequence number Input Binary(4)
4. Error code I/O Char(*)

Required Parameter Group

1. Control group name INPUT CHAR(10) Specifies the name of the control group that is having an object omit added.
2. Control group type INPUT CHAR(10) Specifies what type of control group is to be used. Backup, Archive, or Migration are the 3 types. Only Backup is currently supported. The possible value follows.
   
             *BKU A backup control group will be created.
3. 
   
4. Control group entry sequence number INPUT BINARY(4) Indicates which entry is to have objects omitted. The possible values are:
   
             10 -9990 Specifies the entry to use. Type a sequence number from 10 through 9990.
5. 
   
6. Error code I/O CHAR(*) The structure in which to return error information. For the format of the structure, see the Error Code Parameter topic in the i5/OS Information Center.

Sample programs

The following illustrates called Q1AADDCGEO to create an omit for a data area DA in library OMITLIB, which is in control group TESTOMITS at sequence 20.

PGM
    DCL   VAR(&SEQ) TYPE(*INT) LEN(4) VALUE(20)
    DCL   VAR(&ERRCODE) TYPE(*CHAR) LEN(16) VALUE(X'0000000000000000')
    CALL   PGM(QBRM/Q1AADDCGEO) PARM('TESTOMITS ' '*BKU   ' &SEQ 'OMITLIB '
    + '*DTAARA ' 'DA   ' &ERRCODE)
ENDPGM

The following illustrates called Q1ARMVCGEO to remove an omit for control group TESTOMITS at sequence 20.

PGM
    DCL   VAR(&SEQ) TYPE(*INT) LEN(4) VALUE(20)
    DCL   VAR(&ERRCODE) TYPE(*CHAR) LEN(16) VALUE(X'0000000000000000')
    CALL   PGM(QBRM/Q1ARMVCGEO) PARM('TESTOMITS ' '*BKU   ' &SEQ &ERRCODE)
ENDPGM

Back to top

Specific System Synchronization

BRMS saves write to BRMS media. A BRMS system can only perform saves to BRMS media that it owns. Each save generates data, referred to here as save history. Media may contain save history for multiple saves. The save history for each save on media is owned by a BRMS system. It is possible that each save history may be owned by different systems and also be different than the system that owns the media itself. The following discussion involves save history and save history owners, it does not involve the owner of the media itself.

The existing BRMS function of receiving save history remains unchanged. That function meets the needs of many customers, but in large BRMS network groups excessive amounts of undesired network traffic and database records are sent to all of the BRMS systems receiving save history. For example, a cluster may consist of three systems: Production, High Availability (HA) and a Backup. The save history from a Backup system is only relevant to the Production and High Availability systems, but it is being synchronized and stored on all the systems in the BRMS network group. This is significant when there can be a hundred or more systems in the BRMS network group.

The new function described herein allows the BRMS system generating the save history (i.e. performing the backups) to determine which systems will receive the save history, and whether the systems should own the save history. Thus, the Backup system of a cluster can specify which system will receive the save history for a specific IASP. In addition to selecting the target system, if the option to change the save history owner is implemented, it will appear as if the target system performed the backup. In other words, if the backup of library LIBA on IASP 33 (named "IASP01") was performed on the Backup system, when it is synchronized to the Production and HA systemswith a change in ownership, the Production and HA systems can view the backup of library LIBA on iASP01 as if it occurred locally. STRRCYBRM ACTION(*RESTORE) will display the library, and if the IASP is available and has LIBA on it, the recovery report will show recovery steps for LIBA in IASP01.

Library-level save history can be synchronized to specific systems and the system owner of the synchronized data can be changed to make it appear as if the backup occurred on the target system in one of two ways:

1. In releases i7.1 and later, the Manage Systems section of the BRMS graphical user interface (GUI) can be used to setup the system synchronization environment.
2. In releases V5R4M0 and later, the following green screen interfaces can be used to setup the system synchronization environment:
   
   To add a specific system sync, change the system name to make it look like the backup was done by this system and synchronize the reference date/time:
    CALL QBRM/Q1AOLD PARM('HSTUPDSYNC' '*ADD' ‘SYSTEM’ ‘NETWORK ID' 'IASPNAME' '*CHGSYSNAM')
   
    To add a specific system sync, keep the name of who did the backup and synchronize the reference date/time:
    CALL QBRM/Q1AOLD PARM('HSTUPDSYNC' '*ADD' ‘SYSTEM' ‘NETWORK ID' 'IASPNAME ' '*NORMAL')
   
   To remove a specific system:
    CALL QBRM/Q1AOLD PARM('HSTUPDSYNC' '*REMOVE' ‘SYSTEM' ‘NETWORK ID' 'IASPNAME ' )
   
   To remove all systems:
   
   CALL QBRM/Q1AOLD PARM('HSTUPDSYNC' '*REMOVE' '*ALL')
   
   To display what is currently setup:
    CALL QBRM/Q1AOLD PARM('HSTUPDSYNC' '*DISPLAY')
   
   Note: In releases V6R1M0 and earlier, the following PTFs are required to use the green screen interfaces:
   
    V5R4M0 : SI31612
   
   V6R1M0 : SI31613
   
   

Note the following restrictions:

- Only libraries and IFS data backed up from an IASP can have it's ownership changed. Items saved from *SYSBAS are not supported.
- Data backed up to save files or TSM will not be synchronized.
- Object detail is not synchronized.
 

User-defined IASP Timestamps

In an environment using external storage to perform a Flashcopy of IASP, it may be beneficial to supply a user-defined timestamp for your backups. For example, if the Flashcopy occurred at 1pm but the backups were not performed until 3pm, BRMS will, by default, use 3pm as the time of backup and reference point for future incremental backups. However, the Flashcopy time reflects when the IASP data was last changed.

The following interfaces will allow users to define their own flashcopy timestamps for specific IASP's.

To add or update a timestamp:

 CALL QBRM/Q1AOLD PARM('FLASHTIME' '*ENABLE' 'IASPNAME' 'FILESYSTEM TYPE' '1071213143302')

 where IASPNAME is the name of the IASP, FILESYSTEM TYPE is either *QSYS or *IFS, and 1071213143302 is the timestamp in CYYMMDDHHMMSS format.

 Note that if you want to have a timestamp for IASP ASP45 for both *IFS and *QSYS types you'll need to use *ENABLE twice - once for *QSYS and once for *IFS. These timestamps are independent of each other, and increment independently. *QSYS applies to libraries and objects in the IASP, and *IFS refers to all link objects in the IASP.
 

To view the current configurations, issue the following command:

 CALL QBRM/Q1AOLD PARM('FLASHTIME' '*DISPLAY')

 When displayed, two timestamps are shown. The first is the user-specified timestamp, the second timestamp is what BRMS used internally.
 

To remove a configuration for a specific IASP, issue the following command:

 CALL QBRM/Q1AOLD PARM('FLASHTIME' '*DISABLE' 'IASPNAME' 'FILESYSTEM TYPE')
 

To remove all the user defined timestamp configurations, issue:

 CALL QBRM/Q1AOLD PARM('FLASHTIME' '*DISABLE' '*ALL')
 

Internally, there are places where BRMS requires a unique timestamp. In those cases, BRMS will generate a new unique timestamp incremented from the user-defined timestamp. Save While Active sync points and incremental reference timestamps will always use the value defined by the user. BRMS maintains a list of the timestamps used, and clears this list when STRMNTBRM with parameter RUNCLNUP(*YES) is specified.

Note the following restrictions:

- The BRMS Advanced Feature (57xxBR1 Option 1 (FC5103) ) is required on the system where the FLASHTIME interface is used.
- User-defined timestamps are not used for archival backups.
- User-defined timestamps are not used for *LINK from IASP *ALLAVL or *CURASPGRP.
- Any SAVBRM or *LINK control group entry which saves from multiple IASP's will not use user-defined timestamps.
- Native backups (SAVLIB, SAVOBJ, etc) are not affected.
- If a library with the same name exists in multiple IASP's and object detail is retained, it is recommended that different user-defined timestamps be used for each IASP entry of *QSYS type.
- Do not use timestamps later than the current system date/time.
 

Back to top

This section lists the functions that were changed or added to the BRMS graphical interface.

• Support for the IBM® Systems Director Navigator for i® Web browser environment.
• Ability to create and manage media policies (previous releases hid media policies).
• Support for DVD, CD-ROM, optical libraries, and virtual optical devices.
• Support for file or object level backup of Linux® or Windows® guest operating systems.
• Backup policy and archive policy renamed as backup control group and archive control group.
• Ability to manage and select media policies from the Backup Control Group and Archive Control Group Wizards, and from the Properties page.
• Backup control group and archive control group properties support for restoring and saving private authorities.
• Backup control group and archive control group properties support for disk pools and generic libraries.
• Backup and archive control groups properties support for software encryption, including tape libraries and stand-alone tapes.
     Notes:
  • Save file encryption and optical media encryption are not supported.
  • If you are using encrypted independent auxiliary storage pools (ASPs) and want to have the data remain encrypted when you save them to tapes, you need to use the software encryption function provided in the backup and archive control groups to encrypt the data; otherwise, the data will be decrypted when you save them to tapes.
• Global policy properties support for restore operations from alternate media, use of SNA networking, and management of restricted state interfaces.
• Ability to balance media ownership to match the required number of media needed by systems within the BRMS network (network systems must be running V6R1 i5/OS or later).

Note: BRMS graphical interface refers to both the IBM i™ Navigator BRMS plug-in and the IBM Systems Director Navigator for i Web environment BRMS plug-in. In addition, enhancements to the BRMS functions are listed in the following sections.

Backup enhancements
 

• Ability to view and print backup statistics report to monitor backup activities.
• Capability to encrypt the data saved to removable media for both backup and archive activities.
• Ability to save specific objects across many libraries generically.
• Ability to save private authorities at an object level.
• Ability to override the device, parallel resources, media class, move policy, and media retention that is set in a control group at the time when running the backup control group.
• Ability to select the type of parallel save you would like to have run with a specific entry in a control group.
• Support for FlashCopy® environment.
• Support for missing object control groups for integrated file system objects.
• Support for multiple job save-while-active function.

Recovery enhancements

• Support for point-in-time recovery for objects using remote journals.
• Better journal management needed for recovery.
• Ability to restore private authorities at an object level.
• Capacity to determine what full or incremental save operations need to be restored.
• Ability to sort the saved items in a certain priority order in a recovery report so they will not be forced to recover alphabetically.
• Ability to exclude one or more locations in the recovery report.

Media services enhancements

• Support for automatic duplication, which allows you to immediately duplicate data from a save operation to other media using multiple devices.
• Ability to balance the number of scratch volumes owned by each system in a BRMS network.
• Support for the media append rules to select based on the most current expiration date.
• Move Media retention capability, which enables you to move media to a location where it is needed, and then after a specified amount of time, move back to its original location without affecting its movement schedule.
• Media status marked with *INZ (Initialize), *EXP (Expired), and *ACT (Active).

Hierarchical Storage Manager (HSM) enhancements

• Ability to copy archive and backup control groups to remote systems.

Device enhancements

• Tape Library 35xx and TS3400 enhancement, which synchronizes media status of tape library to all systems in BRMS network.
• Support for DVD/optical devices. BRMS provides you with a single interface to manage all the removable media storage devices.

Network enhancements

• Ability to choose the network communication method.
• Support for IPv6 TCP/IP interfaces.
• Support multiple TCP/IP interfaces, including virtual and physical interfaces.

Install enhancements

• Ability to preserve the current print files attributes and create new print files when upgrading BRMS.

New BRMS APIs

• q1aCrtCg

  Create Control Group

• q1aCrtCgBO

  Create Control Group Based On

• q1aDltCg

  Delete Control Group

• q1aAddCgE

  Add Control Group Entry

• q1aRmvCgE

  Remove Control Group Entry

• q1aAddCgEO

  Add Control Group Entry Object Omit

• q1aRmvCgEO

  Remove Control Group Entry Object Omit

• q1aCrtLst

  Create List

• q1aDltLst

  Delete List

• q1aAddLstE

  Add List Entry

• q1aRmvLstE

  Remove List Entry

Back to top

PTFs SI24934 for V5R4, SI24933 for V5R3 and SI24932 for V5R2 include support for the data encryption capabilities that are now standard on IBM System Storage™ TS1120 Model E05 Tape Drives.

• Learn more

Back to top

PTFs SI24433 for V5R4, SI24427 for V5R3 and SI24426 for V5R2 include a helpful tool for customers with the advanced BRMS feature. This tool will produce a report that displays the users of the resources in a tape library for all systems in a BRMS network that share that library.

• Learn more

Back to top

BRMS for V5R4M0 continues to extend existing capability and provide new functions for improving automation, minimizing backup windows, and providing additional backup, recovery, and media management flexibility.

Enhancements include:

• Duplication of history items
• Improved duplication media and device error recovery
• Virtual tape devices and virtual media
• Support for IBM Data Retention (DR) 450 and DR 550 servers
• Native save/restore of spooled files
• New system spooled file management using expiration
• Parallel save/restore of Integrated File System (IFS)
• New backup options and improved system recovery
• Electronic messaging using e-mail
• More BRMS IBM i Navigator client functions
• BRMS integration with SAN for FlashCopy solution

• Learn more

Back to top

ESS FlashCopy creates a clone of the source system onto a second set of disk drives which are then attached and used by another system or LPAR partition. BRMS provides a mechanism to perform a backup on the second system such that it appears to have been done on the original system.

• Learn more

Back to top

V5R3 provides the following new and enhanced functions that make BRMS more powerful and easier to use.

The BRMS server now supports:

• Optimized incremental save-while-active backup of libraries
• Remote duplication of media using the BRMS Network feature
• Reclamation of fragmented media
• Enhanced expiration of volumes in a media set
• Integrated backup and recovery of objects saved with pending transactions
• Restricted state TCP/IP and aliasing for the BRMS Network feature
• Saves of spooled files on independent auxiliary storage pools
• Library, object and folder omits for individual backup control groups
• True restricted state saves in batch
• Additional BRMS Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) client functions
• Better integration with TSM/PASE (Portable Application Solutions Environment)
• Still more System Recovery Report improvements
• Improved install times and reduced storage requirement

The BRMS IBM i Navigator client continues to improve functions for managing your backups, media, backup history, and recoveries using a highly accessible GUI.

• Learn more

Back to top

• IBM i Technology Center
• Advanced Job Scheduler (AJS)
• IBM Systems Support