IT38004: BACKUP USING DYNAMIC TARGET ALLOCATION CAN LEAVE BEHIND ORPHANEDFLASHCOPY PAIRS AND VOLUMES

APAR status

• Closed as program error.

Error description

• When running backup operations using IBM Spectrum Protect
  Snapshot with Storwize V7000 and SAN Volume Controller
  dynamic target allocation adapter (SVCDTA) for CIM
  devices (DS8K,SVC,V7K) and using dynamic target allocation,
  created target volumes and FlashCopy pairs and consistency
  groups can be left behind orphaned instead of being removed
  when the number of backup versions exceeded the value set
  for the MAX_VERSIONS parameter and obsolete backups should be
  deleted. This can happen when FLASHCOPY_TYPE parameter in the
  IBM Spectrum Protect Snapshot profile is set to either
  INCR or NOCOPY.
  
  Customer/Support Diagnostics:
  
  There are no visible errors or logs from the IBM Spectrum
  Protect Snapshot side. The only symptom is to see more volumes
  and FlashCopy mappings on the storage system than defined by the
  MAX_VERSIONS parameter in the IBM Spectrum Protect Snapshot
  profile. The occurrence of problem the intermittent and more
  likely seen in a heavily loaded system with lots of changes that
  lead to the long-running cleaning process after execution of the
  storage command stopfcconsistgrp. This happens when at least
  one Flashcopy relation and corresponding consistency group are
  still in the 'stopping' state when IBM Spectrum Protect Snapshot
  starts the delete and subsequent synchronous reconcile
  operations.
  
  Spectrum Protect Versions Affected:
  IBM Spectrum Snapshot versions 8.1.x on all supported platforms
  IBM Tivoli FlashCopy Manager versions 4.1.x on all supported
  platforms
  
  Initial Impact: Low
  
  Additional Keywords:
  TS005784564 fcm FlashCopy orphan
  

Local fix

• Manually delete orphaned volumes and FlashCopy relationships.
  Increase SVC_CLEAN_RATE parameter in the DEVICE section of the
  profile file when SVCDTA is configured.
  

Problem summary

• ****************************************************************
  * USERS AFFECTED:                                              *
  * All users of IBM Spectrum Protect Snapshot for UNIX with     *
  * SVCDTA adapter configured in the profile: v.8.1.x up to      *
  * v.8.1.11                                                     *
  ****************************************************************
  * PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:                                         *
  * See ERROR description.                                       *
  ****************************************************************
  * RECOMMENDATION:                                              *
  * Apply fixing level when available. This problem is currently *
  * projected to be fixed in the next release. Note that this    *
  * information is subject to change at the discretion of IBM.   *
  ****************************************************************
  

Problem conclusion

• The SVCDTA adapter has been fixed so that Spectrum Protect
  Snapshot for Unix will not leave behind orphaned FlashCopy pairs
  and volumes.
  

Temporary fix

Comments

APAR Information

• APAR is sysrouted FROM one or more of the following:

• APAR is sysrouted TO one or more of the following:

Modules/Macros

• SVCDTA
  

Fix information

• Fixed component name

  FLSHCPY DB2 AGE

• Fixed component ID

  5608AC6DB

Applicable component levels