DECOMMISSION NODE (Decommission an application or system)

Use this command to remove an application or system client node from the production environment. Any backup data that is stored for the client node expires according to policy settings unless you explicitly delete the data.

Attention: This action cannot be reversed and causes deletion of data. This command does not delete the client node definition until after its data expires. After you issue this command, the client node cannot access the server and its data is not backed up. The client node is locked, and can be unlocked only to restore files. File spaces that belong to the client node, and the client node itself, are eventually removed.

By using this command, you can decommission the following types of client nodes:

Application client nodes

Application client nodes include email servers, databases, and other applications. For example, any of the following applications can be an application client node:

IBM Spectrum® Protect Snapshot
IBM Spectrum Protect for Databases
IBM Spectrum Protect for Enterprise Resource Planning
IBM Spectrum Protect for Mail
IBM Spectrum Protect for Virtual Environments

System client nodes

System client nodes include workstations, network-attached storage (NAS) file servers, and API clients.

When a client node is no longer needed in the production environment, you can issue this command to initiate a gradual, controlled decommission operation. The command completes the following actions:

Deletes all schedule associations for the client node. Schedules are no longer run on the client node. This action is equivalent to issuing the DELETE ASSOCIATION command for every schedule with which the client node is associated.
Prevents the client from accessing the server. This action is equivalent to issuing the LOCK NODE command.

After the command finishes, client node data is no longer backed up to the server. Data that was backed up before the client node was decommissioned is not immediately deleted from the server. However, all backup file versions, including the most recent backup, are now inactive copies. The client files are retained on the server according to your storage management policies.

After all data retention periods expire or a node's retention sets expire or are deleted, and after all client backup and archive file copies are removed from server storage, IBM Spectrum Protect deletes the file spaces that belong to the decommissioned node. This action is equivalent to issuing the DELETE FILESPACE command.

After the file spaces for the decommissioned node are deleted, the node definition is deleted from the server. This action is equivalent to issuing the REMOVE NODE command.

After you decommission a client node, but before it is removed from the server, you can use the QUERY NODE command to verify that the client node is decommissioned.

Restriction: You cannot decommission a client node that is configured for replication. You can determine a client node's replication state by using the QUERY NODE command. If a client node is configured for replication, you can remove the client node from replication by using the REMOVE REPLNODE command.

To reset the status of a node that was previously decommissioned from the production environment, use the RECOMMISSION NODE command.

Privilege class

To issue this command, you must have system privilege, unrestricted policy privilege, or restricted policy privilege. If the same-named administrator ID has client owner authority over the node that is being decommissioned, that administrator can also issue this command.

Syntax

Parameters

node_name (Required)

Specifies the name of the client node to be decommissioned.

Wait

Specifies whether to wait for the server to complete processing this command in the foreground. This parameter is optional. The default value is NO. You can specify the following values:

No: The server processes this command in the background and you can continue with other tasks while the command is processing. Messages that are related to the background process are shown either in the activity log file or the server console, depending on where the messages are logged.
Yes: The server processes this command in the foreground. The operation must complete before you can continue with other tasks. Messages are shown either in the activity log file or the server console, or both, depending on where the messages are logged.

Restriction: You cannot specify WAIT=YES from the server console.

Example: Decommission a client node

Decommission the client node CODY.

decommission node cody

Related commands

Table 1. Commands related to DECOMMISSION NODE
Command	Description
DECOMMISSION VM	Decommissions a virtual machine.
DEACTIVATE DATA	Deactivates data for a client node.
QUERY NODE	Displays partial or complete information about one or more clients.
RECOMMISSION NODE	Recommissions a decommissioned node.
RECOMMISSION VM	Recommissions a decommissioned VM.