Setting up virtual tape storage

Follow these steps to set up your virtual tape storage.

If you do not already have virtual tape device type 63B0, create one and vary it on:
CRTDEVTAP DEVD(TAPVRT01) RSRCNAME(*VRT) 
VRYCFG CFGOBJ(TAPVRT01) CFGTYPE(*DEV) STATUS(*ON)
Note: You can have up to 35 virtual tape devices active at one time.

Creating an image catalog using System i Navigator

To create virtual images using System i® Navigator, perform the following steps:

  1. In System i Navigator, expand Configuration and Service > Hardware > Tape Devices and right-click Stand-Alone Devices and select Create Virtual Devices.
  2. Enter your information into the Create a virtual tape device description window.

Creating an image catalog and add volumes using the IBM i command line

The following examples show how to create an image catalog and add volumes using the CRTIMGCLG command.

Start of changeThis example shows how to create an image catalog and multiple virtual volumes with different attributes.
  • CRTIMGCLG IMGCLG(CLG1) DIR('/CLG1DIR') Type(*TAP)
    TYPE(*TAP)(Create an empty tape catalog.)
  • ADDIMGCLGE IMGCLG(CLG1) FROMFILE(*NEW) TOFILE(VOL001) 
    IMGSIZ(5000) VOLNAM(VOL001)  (Add 1 new tape volume with a size of 5GB.)
  • ADDIMGCLGE IMGCLG(CLG1) FROMFILE(*NEW) TOFILE(VOL002) 
    IMGSIZ(100000) VOLNAM(VOL002)  (Add 1 new tape volume with a size of 100GB.)
End of change
Start of changeThis example shows how to create an image catalog and multiple virtual volumes with the same attributes.
  • CRTIMGCLG IMGCLG(CLG1) DIR('/CLG1DIR') TYPE(*TAP) ADDVRTVOL(10) 
    PREFIX(VOL) IMGSIZ(5000)  (Create an image catalog with 10 5GB tape volumes.)
End of change