Tivoli Storage Manager for Windows Administrator's Guide


Preparing Media for Automated Library Devices

Administrators prepare tape and optical disk volumes for TSM by labeling them and checking them into the library volume inventory:

Task Required Privilege Class
"Labeling Media" System
"Checking Media into Automated Library Devices" System
"Obtaining Element Addresses for Library Device Storage Slots" Any Administrator or Operator

Labeling Media

Labeling media for use with automated library devices is different than labeling media for use with single-drive, manual devices because automated devices require the administrator to also check media into the library volume inventory. The extra checkin processing can be done at the same time that the volume is labeled. Administrators labeling volumes with the Labeling Wizard can select checkin processing in the wizard. Administrators labeling volumes with the LABEL LIBVOLUME command can issue the CHECKIN parameter.

Any media, used in any TSM device, requires a label. All labels used with TSM must meet the following criteria:

Labeling Media for use with an Automated Library Device

Administrators insert tapes or optical disks into storage slots or entry/exit ports and invoke the Labeling Wizard.

  1. Double click the Server Utilities IconTSM Server Utilities icon on the desktop. The TSM Server Utilities window opens.
  2. Click Volume Labeling Icon Volume Labeling in the TSM Server Utilities tree. The Volume Labeling view appears in the right pane.
  3. Click Library Media Labeling in the right pane of the TSM Server Utilities.
  4. Click the Start button. The TSM Autochanger Media Labeling Wizard appears.
  5. Follow the instructions in the wizard. In the last wizard dialog, check the box named Checkin Tapes.

By default, the label command does not overwrite an existing label on a volume. However, if you want to overwrite existing volume labels, you can specify OVERWRITE=YES when you use the LABEL LIBVOLUME command. See Labeling Volumes Using TSM Commands.

Attention: By overwriting a volume label, you destroy all of the data that resides on the volume. Use caution when overwriting volume labels to avoid destroying important data.

Labeling Media for use with a Bar-Code Reader

Library devices equipped with bar-code readers can obtain volume names using the reader instead of prompting the administrator. Administrators labeling media with the labeling wizard can check the bar-code check box in the wizard. Administrators labeling media with TSM commands can issue the LABEL LIBVOLUME command with the SEARCH=YES and LABELSOURCE=BARCODE parameters. TSM reads the bar code and the media is moved from the entry/exit port to a drive where the information on the bar-code label is written as the internal label on the media. After the tape is labeled, it is moved back to the entry/exit port or to a storage slot if the CHECKIN option is specified.

Do not mix volumes with bar-code labels and volumes without bar-code labels in a library device because bar-code scanning can take a long time for unlabeled volumes.

Bar-code support is available only for TSM-controlled library devices using the TSM device driver. Bar code support is unavailable for devices using the native Windows device driver or devices whose media is managed by other programs. Removable Storage Manager (RSM). See Using Removable Media Managers With Tivoli Storage Manager.

For volumes for device type REMOVABLEFILE, see Labeling Media for Devices not Supported by the TSM Device Driver.

Checking Media into Automated Library Devices

After volumes have been labeled, administrators must make the volumes available to TSM devices by checking the volumes into the library volume inventory using the CHECKIN LIBVOLUME command.

Administrators can save time by checking in volumes as part of the labeling operation. See Labeling Media.

The CHECKIN LIBVOLUME command involves device access, and may take a long time to complete. For this reason, the command always executes as a background process. Wait for the CHECKIN LIBVOLUME process to complete before defining volumes or the defining process will fail.

Checking Media Labels During Volume Check-In

Administrators can specify that TSM read media labels for the volumes they are checking in. When label-checking is enabled, TSM mounts each volume and reads the internal label before checking in the volume. TSM checks in only volumes that are properly labeled. Checking labels can prevent errors later, when TSM selects and mounts volumes, but it also increases checkin processing time.

Checking a Single Volume into an Automated Library Device

Administrators can check single volumes in by specifying the CHECKIN LIBVOLUME command with the SEARCH=NO parameter. TSM issues a mount request identifying a storage slot with an element address. The media can be loaded directly into a single storage slot or into one of the device's entry/exit ports, if it is equipped with them.

For example, an administrator checks a scratch volume named VOL001 into a library device named TAPELIB by entering the following command:

checkin libvolume tapelib vol001 search=no status=scratch

TSM finds that the first empty slot is at element address 5, and issues the following message:

ANR8306I 001: Insert 8MM volume VOL001 R/W in slot with element
address 5 of library TAPELIB within 60 minutes; issue 'REPLY' along
with the request ID when ready.
 

If the library device is equipped with entry/exit ports, the administrator can load the volume into a port without knowing the element addresses of the device's storage slots.

After inserting the volume into an entry/exit port or storage slot, the administrator responds to the preceding message at a TSM command line by issuing the REPLY command with the request number (the number at the beginning of the mount request):

reply 1

Checking Volumes In Using a Library Device's Bar-Code Reader

Administrators can save time checking volumes into library devices equipped with bar-code readers by using the characters on the bar-code labels as names for the volumes being checked in. TSM reads the bar-code labels and uses the information on the labels to write the internal media labels. For volumes missing bar-code labels, TSM mounts the volumes in a drive and attempts to read the internal, recorded label.

For example, to use a bar-code reader to search a library device named TAPELIB and check in a scratch tape, enter:

checkin libvolume tapelib search=yes status=scratch
checklabel=barcode
 

Checking Volumes in from the Library Device's Entry/Exit Ports

Administrators can check multiple volumes into automated library devices by issuing the CHECKIN LIBVOLUME command with the SEARCH=BULK parameter. TSM searches the device's entry/exit ports for labeled volumes that it can check in automatically. The CHECKLABEL=NO option is invalid with the SEARCH=BULK option, so the process takes on the behavior of label checking which is to move the volume from the entry/exit ports to the drive where the label is read. After reading the label, TSM moves the tape from the drive to a storage slot. When bar-code reading is enabled with the CHECKLABEL=BARCODE parameter, TSM reads the label and moves the tape from the entry/exit port to a storage slot.

Checking Volumes in from the Library Device's Storage Slots

Administrators can check multiple volumes into automated library devices by issuing the CHECKIN LIBVOLUME command with the SEARCH=YES parameter. TSM automatically searches the storage slots for new volumes that have not yet been added to the volume inventory. Issuing the SEARCH=YES parameter eliminates issuing an explicit CHECKIN LIBVOLUME command for each volume.

For example, for a SCSI device you can simply open the library access door, place all of the new volumes in unused slots, close the door, and issue the CHECKIN LIBVOLUME command with SEARCH=YES.

See Obtaining Element Addresses for Library Device Storage Slots.

Checking In Private Volumes

Private volumes are volumes that are either predefined to a storage pool or volumes that are partially-written. Administrators can check in private volumes, but they must ensure they assign a private status to them before checking them in. Private volumes cannot accidentally be overwritten when a scratch mount is requested. The server does not allow the administrator to check in a volume with scratch status when that volume already belongs to a storage pool. See Overview of Volumes.

Checking in Partially-Written Volumes

Partially written volumes are always private volumes. Volumes begin their lives with a status of either scratch or private, but once TSM stores data on them, their status becomes private. See Returning Partially-Written Volumes to Automated Library Devices.

Checking Volumes into Fully-Populated Library Devices

Administrators can check volumes into devices that are fully populated and have no empty storage slots by enabling tape swapping. Swapping allows TSM to select and eject volumes to store in a different physical location. TSM selects the volume to eject by checking first for any available scratch volumes, then for the least frequently mounted volumes. Without tape swapping, the check-in fails. See Setting Up and Managing a Volume Overflow Location for an Automated Library Device

Checking Volumes into 3494 Library Devices

When a volume is first inserted into the device, either manually or automatically at the convenience I/O station, the volume is assigned to the insert category (X'FF00'). A software application, such as TSM, can then interact with the device control unit to change a volume's category number to a different value. To do this for TSM, use the CHECKIN LIBVOLUME command.

Obtaining Element Addresses for Library Device Storage Slots

Administrators managing devices equipped with entry/exit ports add and remove media by loading the media into the ports, but administrators managing devices without entry/exit ports must load tapes into storage slots. This requires administrators to reply to mount requests that identify storage slots with element addresses. An element address is a number that indicates the physical location of a storage slot or drive within an automated library device.

Administrators need device names and element addresses when:

Element addresses for IBM-supported devices are available in the Device Configuration wizard and at Web site ( http://www.tivoli.com/support/storage_mgr/tivolimain.html ) or see the device manufacturer's documentation.


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