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The following are answers to some frequently asked questions about the BRMS iSeries Navigator Client.
How to Install the BRMS iSeries Navigator Plug-in:
V6R1 and Above
To install the BRMS plug-in, use the iSeries Navigator "Install Options->Install Plug-in" action. This action is available from the main iSeries Navigator "File" menu and the "My Connections" folder context/pop-up menu.
The following System i selection window is displayed. Be sure to select a System i with the BRMS product installed.
The System i NetServer signon screen may be displayed. Note, the server name may be different than the System i name. Enter the System i password (not the Windows password as the text says).
The following screen appears. Select the desired plug-ins, click OK, and follow the instructions subsequent screens.
V5R4M0 and below
To install the BRMS plug-in, use the iSeries Navigator "Install Options->Install Plug-in" action. This action is available from the main iSeries Navigator "File" menu and the "My Connections" folder context/pop-up menu.
Note: iSeries Navigator install plug-in action is not the same as the "Start->Programs->IBM iSeries Access for Windows->Selective Setup" action. It may appear the same from a GUI perspective; however, the iSeries Navigator processing of "Install Plug-in" will attempt to identify the iSeries netServer, add it to LMHosts file if needed, and map the iSeries IBM directory as a share to your workstation.
Tip: If the iSeries netserver and TCP servers are working properly and the connection fails, it may be due to your client firewall. In Rochester, the Check Point Integrity Flex or Zone Labs settings can ;cause a problem. Shutdown the firewall or change the Check Point Integrity Firewall->Main->Internet Zone Security to medium and then retry the plug-in install.
The following is the first dialog you will see:
Choose the server that you want to install the plug-in from (e.g., for BRMS, the server with the BR1 product installed), click OK, and a password dialog will appear. Enter your iSeries profile name and password (the prompt may ask for the Windows password, but it needs to be the iSeries profile password). Note, on some windows OS'es, the windows password must be the same as the iSeries password.
After entering your iSeries profile name and password, a scan for plug-ins occurs and the following window will then be displayed:
Check the Backup, Recovery and Media Services check box, click Next, and follow the directions on the remaining panels.
Note: The first time the iSeries Navigator is used after the installing a plug-in, the following dialog will appear:
Click the "Scan Now" button. If you do not click the "Scan Now", the plug-ins that were just installed will be disabled and will not show up in the iSeries Navigator hierarchy.
How to Un-install the BRMS Plug-in:
V6R1M0 and above
Option 1: MS Windows Command Prompt commands to remove a specific or all plug-ins:
Command to remove the BRMS plugin: cwbinplg /REMOVE=IBM.BRMSPlugin
General command syntax to remove a single plug-in: cwbinplg /REMOVE=<vendor>.<name>
Where <vendor>.<name> is the name of the plug-in.
Command to remove all plug-ins: cwbinplg /REMOVEPROD
Option 2: Remove the plug-in using System i Navigator "Install Options->Install Plug-in" command. This only works if you connect to the System i the plug-in was installed from. The steps are the same as the V6R1 and newer plug-in install steps, except when you get to the screen that shows the plug-ins, un-check the BRMS plug-in.
V5R4M0 and below
From the Windows "Start", select Programs->IBM iSeries Access for Windows->Selective Setup". When you get to the following dialog (second one):
Click the second radio button and then click next. The following dialog appears:
Expand the iSeries Navigator entry by clicking the "+". Then scroll down to the iSeries Navigator plug-ins near the end:
Uncheck the "Backup, Recovery and Media Services" check box, click next, and following the instructions on the subsequent panels (you may be instructed to restart your computer).
Rescan for System i Navigator Client Plug-ins
If the plug-in does not display in the System i Navigator client tree after the plug-in was successfully installed, it may be in a disabled state due to previous conditions or code levels. To potentially clear the plug-in disabled state, do the following:
1) From System i Navigator client, right click on the System i name under "My Connections" and select the "Properties" action.
2) The Properties, shown below, are displayed. Select the "Plug-ins" tab and click the "Rescan" button.
3) Click the "OK" button, close System i Navigator, and then restart System i Navigator.
What differences are there in terminology between the green screens and the BRMS Client?
You will find these differences between BRMS Client and green screen terminology.
- The BRMS Client term Backup Policy refers to the combined attributes of a green screen backup control group and a media policy.
- The BRMS Client term Changes only backup is the same as a Cumulative backup in the green screens.
- The BRMS Client term Media pool is the same as a Media Class in the the green screens.
- The BRMS Client term Disk pool is the same as an Auxiliary storage pool in the green screens.
- The BRMS Client term Global Properties is the same as the System policy in the green screens.
What functions are available through the BRMS Client?
The BRMS Client functions are fully documented in the student guides. A summary of these functions by release is as follows:
Version 5 Release 1
If you currently use the green screen interface, you will not find the robust function in the BRMS iSeries Navigator client that you are used to. For this version of the BRMS client you will be able to perform the following tasks:
- Create and run a backup policy
- Restore individual items
- Schedule items to be backed up and restored
- Print a system recovery report
- View the backup history (media information in the green screen)
- Run BRMS maintenance activities
- Run policies that are shipped with BRMS
- Add media
- View the backup and recovery log
- Display and manage tape media
Functions that are not available are:
- Creating and running move policies
- Managing advanced functions, such as hierarchical storage management
- Creating backup policies using:
- Media libraries
- Parallel devices
- Save files
- Tivoli Storage Manager servers
- Managing the BRMS Network
Version 5 Release 2
The BRMS iSeries Navigator client was significantly enhanced with V5R2. These enhancements include:
- A Move Policy wizard and move policy properties to help you create and maintain move policies and to optionally create new locations. In addition, media functions and tasks were added to enable you to perform and verify media movement operations.
- New backup policy properties allow you to specify media libraries, save files and TSM servers as backup devices with options to enable and specify parallel device backups. You can now specify the days of the week when running commands before and after the backup, or add special actions (exits) to be performed during backups. You can also define the type of incremental backup to use, what subsystems should be ended and/or restarted, and what job queues are to be held and/or released. You can also specify whether backup items are to be saved using save-while-active.
- New functions were added to the Backup Policies folder which allows you to create, update and manage your backup lists, and to save your backups saved to save files.
- New function was added to the Move Policies folder which allows you to create, update and manage your locations.
- A new Media Pools folder was added to the Media folder with functions provided for creating, updating and maintaining your media pools (classes).
- The Backup History Include panel has been enhanced with new options so you can filter the backup history based on expiration date, saved system, and disk pool name or number.
- The Volumes Include panel has been enhanced with new options so you can filter the volumes based on location, container, owning system, as well as, volumes marked for duplication, duplicated volumes, or secured volumes.
- Options were added to Run maintenance and cleanup so that you can now select the specific maintenance functions you want to run.
- Options were added to Print reports so that you can now select one or more BRMS reports of various types for printing on the iSeries server.
- Global properties were added to the plug-in. These properties let you specify whether TCP/IP is to be used for BRMS network operations. You can also specify notification controls, signoff exception and IPL controls using these global properties.
- The Restore wizard was enhanced to allow you to perform point-in-time recoveries of objects saved using online incremental Lotus ® server backups. In addition, the Restore wizard now supports restore of objects saved to TSM servers, objects saved to parallel devices, and objects saved to save files.
Are the BRMS Client Backup Policies viewable and runnable from green screen?
The Backup Policies created by the BRMS Client can be viewed and run from the green screens.
Backup control groups and the assigned media policies can be viewed from Backup Policy properties by the BRMS Client. However, it is not recommended that green screen created backup control groups be modified using the BRMS Client unless the user is aware of certain modifications which will be made to conform to the BRMS Client design. A message will be presented to the user if a green screen backup control group is about to be modified by the BRMS Client. The user will have the opportunity to cancel the operation or continue.
What modifications does the BRMS Client make to the green screen created backup control group, and are the changes compatible?
Note: If your current green screen Control Groups do not reference the System Policy (*SYSPCY), Backup Policy (*BKYPCY), and do not share Media Policies among Control Groups, then using the BRMS plug-in to iSeries Navigator (BRMS plug-in/client) to edit Backup Policies should have no functional impacts to your green screen created Control Groups. If this is not true, read on.
The backup policies created by the BRMS plug-in can be viewed and run from the green screen. Also, control groups created from the green screen can be viewed and edited via the BRMS plug-in Backup Policy Properties. However, changing control groups created on the green screen using the BRMS plug-in is not recommended unless you understand the following (note, a message will be presented to the user when a green screen created or edited control group is about to be changed by the BRMS plug-in; the user will have the opportunity to cancel the operation or continue):
- The BRMS plug-in backup policies are designed to be independent of each other. Thus, if you make changes to one policy, it will not affect the others. To ensure this independence, Control Groups updated with the BRMS plug-in will have all references to the green screen system policy (*SYSPCY) and backup policy (*BKYPCY) removed. These references will be resolved and replaced with the actual values when the backup policy is saved by the BRMS plug-in. Therefore, any attributes you change in the green screen backup policy or system policy do not affect Backup Policies created or edited by the BRMS plug-in. The exceptions to this are the Sign off exceptions and Subsystem to check controls in the system policy, which are used by the BRMS plug-in.
- Prior to V6R1, the BRMS plug-in hides the Media Policy from the user (no BRMS plug-in functions exist to show or edit Media Policies). Media Policy attributes are indirectly shown and edited via Backup Policy properties. As mentioned earlier, the BRMS plug-in Backup Policies are designed to be independent of each other. To ensure this, the BRMS plug-in will create a new Media Policy based on the currently used one if the Control Group being edited contains a Media Policy that is used by other Control Groups or is a shipped BRMS Media Policy, If a new Media Policy is created, the Control Group will be changed to use the new one. This is no longer true in V6R1 and future releases due to a design change to expose the Media Policies on the user interface.
- When you create a new backup or archive policy using the BRMS plug-in, it will use new Media policies that are dynamically created.
See also FAQ " Do BRMS Client Backup Policies use the green screen global omits list?"
Do the BRMS Client Backup Policies support all the attributes and functions of green screen backup control groups?
Yes - all green screen backup control group functions are provided with the Version 5 Release 2 BRMS client
Does the BRMS Client provide functions that the green screens do not?
The BRMS Client has several functions not available as attributes of green screen backup control groups. These functions include:
- Ending Integrated Windows servers before backup.
- Ending hosted logical partitions before backup.
- Unmounting of user-defined file systems (UDFSs) before backup
- Starting Integrated Windows servers after backup
- Starting hosted logical partitions after backup.
What save media does the BRMS Client support?
With Version 5 Release 2, the BRMS Client allows you to create Backup Policies using standalone tape devices, media libraries, save files, and Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) servers as the save media. The BRMS Client supports specifying use of parallel devices when saving libraries to tape devices or media libraries. This is the same level of function provided by green screens.
Where can I find my media policies in the BRMS Client?
The BRMS Client does not externalize green screen media policies. The attributes of the media policies are displayed as a subset of the BRMS Client Backup Policy properties. The BRMS Client still creates a full and incremental media policy on behalf of the user. These media policy can be viewed from the green screens. The naming convention for the automatically created media policies is Zyymmddnnn.
Does the BRMS Client use any green screen Backup Policy attributes?
Backup Policies created or modified by the BRMS Client use these elements found in the green screen Backup Policy.
- Items to Omit from Backup
See FAQ "What modifications does the BRMS Client make to the green screen created backup control group, and are the changes compatible?"
Does the BRMS Client use any green screen System Policy attributes?
Backup Policies created or modified by the BRMS Client use these elements found in the green screen System Policy.
- Home location for media
- Output queue/library
- Day start time
- Media monitor
- Shared inventory delay
- Auto enroll media
- Trace
- Default usage
- Network group
Does the BRMS Client support Archive and Retrieve operations?
Archive and retrieve operations are currently not supported by the BRMS Client.
Do BRMS Client Backup Policies use the green screen global omits list?
It depends: If no omits were added to the Client Backup Policy (i.e., green screen Control Group) via the BRMS Client Backup Policy Properties, the green screen global omits list will be used. If an omit is added via the Client Backup Policy Properties, then the green screen global omits list is not used or processed when the Client Backup Policy/Control Group is run. Note, this is true even when the Control Group that contains the BRMS Client added omit is run via green screen. Also, note that omits added via the Client Backup Policy Properties are added to the selected entry within a Client Backup Policy/Control Group and are not added to the global green screen omits list.
Install BRMS Plug-in into "IBM Systems Director Navigator for i" (L1C) Web Environment:
Starting with IBM i release V6R1, BRMS supports a web interface via the IBM Systems Director Navigator i (a.k.a. L1C). The plug-in is automatically installed when the BRMS product is installed. It is also removed when the BRMS product is removed. The IBM i http *admin servers must be stopped and restarted after the BRMS product is installed to enable the BRMS web plug-in.
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