Configuring IBM Spectrum Protect server for LAN-free backups for 1.0.17 and lower

Before you can back up or restore Integrated Analytics System, both IBM Spectrum Protect client and IBM Spectrum Protect server must be configured for LAN-free operations.

1. Ensure that the external storage is mounted as a GPFS file system and is accessible by both IBM Spectrum Protect server and IBM Spectrum Protect storage agent, which runs on the client, with both read/write permissions.
   1. On host node (outside of the container), execute:

      mmlsconfig

   2. Scroll down to File systems in cluster. You should see a file system named: /dev/external_mnt/SAN listed.
   3. Repeat steps on IBM Spectrum Protect Server.
2. Ensure that IBM Spectrum Protect server is set up for server-to-server communication by confirming that its server name, server password, hl address, and ll address are specified.
   Using the dsmadmc or command builder in the Operations Center on IBM Spectrum Protect Server, confirm whether or not this step has been completed by executing:

   query server <IBM spectrum protect servername>

   Example:

   Server Name | Comm. Method | High-level Address | Low-level Address | Days Since Last Access | Server Password Set | Virtual Volume Password Set | Allow Replacement
   
   TSMINST1    | TCPIP        | 9.xx.xxx.xxx       | 1500              | 320                    | Yes                 | Yes                         | No

   If IBM Spectrum Protect server isn’t set up for server-to-server communication, run the following commands for server-server communication, including LAN-free sharing and library sharing:

   set servername <IBMSpectrumProtectServerName>         
   set serverpassword <IBMSpectrumProtectServerPassword>     
   set serverhladdress <IBMSpectrumProtectServerIPaddress>      
   set serverlladdress <IBMSpectrumProtectServerTCPport>  
   

   Example:

   set servername tsminst1 
   set serverpassword passw0rd
   set serverhladdress 9.88.356.21
   set serverlladdress 1500
   

   Then, verify whether the server has been added by running the

   query server <IBM spectrum protect servername>

   command.
3. Depending on how many nodes your system has, define each LAN-free Storage Agent on the IBM Spectrum Protect server by running the following command:

   DEFINE SERVER <storage_agent_name> serverpassword=<set password> hladdress=<server/storage agent ip address> lladdress=<based on number set in above command>

   Example:

   DEFINE SERVER node0101_sta serverpassword=passw0rd hladdress=9.32.216.140 lladdress=1500

   Note: DEFINE SERVER refers to the storage agent name that pertains to each node, not the IBM Spectrum Protect Server name.
4. Define a device class and storage pool that is used for LAN-free traffic. It can’t be a container pool and deduplication can’t be enabled because a LAN-free usage and data deduplicationaren’t compatible. If you use a devclass file, this file must be on a shared file system (GPFS/Scale) and you must set the shared=yes parameter.
   1. Define device class:

      DEFINE DEVCLASS <device class name> devtype=<type> directory=<newly mounted filesystem on TSM SERVER> shared=yes mountlimit=<max # of files that can be opened simultaneously for input and output> maxcap=<max size of any data storage files assigned to stg pool in dev class>

      Note: mountlimit number should be minimum of however many MLNs there are in total in Integrated Analytics System (IAS) when planning to run backup from IAS using 1 session. If you want to run more, do MLN * # of session. IAS currently supports 1-2 sessions..

      Example:

      DEFINE DEVCLASS shared_file_dc devtype=file directory=/external_mnt/SAN shared=yes mountlimit=30 maxcap=5g 

      For more information:

      DEFINE DEVCLASS (Define a FILE device class)

      More than one directory or file system can be used on this type of device class, for capacity and performance reasons. The server and LAN-Free clients must mount the same directories and filesystems.

      To see all the logical drives the define devclass created, issue query drive.

   2. Define storage pool:

      DEFINE STGPOOL <Storage pool name> <device class> maxscratch=<max # of scratch volumes> pooltype=primary collocate=<specify which candidate keeps data> reusedelay=<specifies # of days that must elapse after all files are deleted from a volume to rewrite to it>

      Example:

      DEFINE STGPOOL shared_file_SP shared_file_dc maxscratch=500 pooltype=primary collocate=node reusedelay=1

      For more information:

      DEFINE STGPOOL (Define a primary storage pool assigned to sequential access devices)

      The maxscratch parameter controls how many volumes can be created on the file system. The volumes are of the size that is specified in the maxcap parameter in the define devclass command. Attempt to set a maxscratch that would use around 85-90% of the free file system space. That way, if you begin to fill the file system, you can increase the maxscratch to get a little more data into the storage pool, as you attempt to either add capacity or clean it up. When the storage pool is fixed, you can set the maxscratch value such that you will use no more than 85-90% of its free space.

5. Create a domain that can write to that pool.

   To define a new policy domain, follow the steps that are provided in Creating a policy domain

   1. Define policy domain: DEFINE DOMAIN (Define a new policy domain)
   2. Define policy set: DEFINE POLICYSET (Define a policy set)
   3. Update registered nodes:

      update node <registered node name> domain=<newly created domain name to associate with node>

      Example:

      update node node0101-fab domain=DB2_Backups

   If you already have an existing policy domain, update the existing one. The nodes that are backup LAN-free must belong to this newly created/updated domain.
6. Define a library.
   Note: This step is optional as you can use an existing library.

   Follow DEFINE LIBRARY (Define a library) according to the type of library you’ll be using.

   Example: define a FILE library by running

   define library SHARED_FILE_DC libtype=file shared=yes

7. The IBM Spectrum Protect Server needs to communicate to the Storage Agent how to write to the storage pool, by telling it what path it can use to write to the shared location. For every logical drive, you need a path definition. The server keeps tracks to the paths of all the shared logical and physical drives. DEFINE PATH (Define a path when the destination is a drive)
   Note:

   The following command needs to be done for however many drives are set, which were set in step 4 under the mountlimit parameter. For example, if you set mountlimit to 30, you’ll run command 30 times, 1 time per each drive.

   You must define paths on the IBM Spectrum Protect server by using the disk device names as seen by the storage agent on each client system that is /external_mnt/SAN.

   Important: On Integrated Analytics System the path to use is path or mount point of the IBM Spectrum Scale (GPFS) file system inside each container.

   DEFINE PATH <storage_agent_name> <drive name_#> srctype=<source type> desttype=<destination type> device=<device type> library=<library name> directory=/external_mnt/SAN
   .
   .
   DEFINE PATH <storage_agent_name> <drive name_#> srctype=<source type> desttype=<destination type> device=<device type> library=<library name> directory=/external_mnt/SAN
   

   Example for a system with a limit of 30 mount points:

   DEFINE PATH node0101_sta shared_file_dc1 srctype=server desttype=drive device=file library=shared_file_dc directory=/external_mnt/SAN
   .
   .
   DEFINE PATH node0101_sta shared_file_dc30 srctype=server desttype=drive device=file library=shared_file_dc directory=/external_mnt/SAN
   

8. Configure the Storage Agent on the IBM Spectrum Protect Client side.
   Log into the docker container:

   ssh bluadmin@<nodename> -p 50022

   Note: Each of the IAS container nodes (i.e. node0101-fab) is an IBM Spectrum Protect client. The following steps are to be run from the master node inside the docker container: Configuring IBM Spectrum Protect client for LAN-free backups.
9. On the Integrated Analytics System (IAS) appliance, run the following commands:
   1. Log in to the docker container:

      ssh bluadmin@<nodename> -p 50022

   2. Issue command to validate the server and storage agent are communicating:

      netstat -an | grep :1500 

      This command shows the TCP/IP port.

10. On IBM Spectrum Protect server, run the following commands to test if the configuration is completed successfully:
    1. Show the number of sessions from Spectrum Storage Agent. The number depends on the number of configured Spectrum Storage Agents.

       q sess

    2. Show the other side of the settings for IBM Spectrum Protect server and Spectrum Storage Agent. This command routes the q sess command to the Spectrum Storage Agent that is specified by sta_name.

       sta_name:q sess

    3. Check whether Spectrum Storage Agent is pinged successfully, where sta_name is the name of Spectrum Storage Agent.

       ping server sta_name

    4. Check whether IBM Spectrum Protect server is pinged successfully, where sta_name is the name of Spectrum Storage Agent, and name is the name of IBM Spectrum Protect server.

       sta_name:ping server name

    If any of these tests fails, update the security for the node session for all nodes by running the following command:

    update node nodename from client side sessionsecurity=transitional