Mac OS X operating systemsOracle Solaris operating systemsLinux operating systemsAIX operating systems

Creating and modifying the client system-options file

The client system-options file is an editable file that identifies the server and communication method, and provides the configuration for backup, archiving, hierarchical storage management, and scheduling.

About this task

Creating and modifying the client system-options file (dsm.sys) is a required task.

The backup-archive client GUI provides a Configuration Wizard that can be used to create basic configuration files and test the connection to the IBM Spectrum Protect server. The Configuration Wizard starts automatically if the configuration files are not found when the GUI starts. If you want to modify the configuration files after they are created, click on Setup Wizard from the Tools menu of the GUI.

If you do not use the Configuration Wizard, you can create and modify the client options file manually.

Mac OS X operating systemsFor Mac OS X, copy the dsm.sys.smp file to dsm.sys in one of the following locations. The default locations are listed in the order that they are searched.

  1. A location identified by the DSM_DIR environment variable
  2. /Library/Application Support/tivoli/tsm/client/ba/bin/
  3. /Library/Preferences/Tivoli Storage Manager/

    The client uses the first options file that is found. You must use the name dsm.sys for this file. The dsm.sys file is controlled by the system administrator.

Oracle Solaris operating systemsFor Oracle Solaris systems, copying dsm.sys.smp to dsm.sys is not required. The client options files (dsm.opt and dsm.sys) are automatically created in /usr/bin, if they do not already exist, and they are linked to the client installation directory when you install the client. Note that the files are not removed if you uninstall the client, so you can reuse your settings if you upgrade or reinstall the client.

Mac OS X operating systemsLinux operating systemsAIX operating systemsFor the other platforms, as the root user, copy the dsm.sys.smp file to dsm.sys and then edit that file to configure your settings. The client looks for dsm.sys in the directory specified by the DSM_DIR environment variable (if it is set and exported), and then in the installation directory.

Important: If you are reinstalling and you want to keep your existing dsm.sys file intact, do not copy the dsm.sys.smp file to dsm.sys.

Use the dsm.sys file to specify one or more servers to contact for services, and communications options for each server. This file can also include authorization options, backup and archive processing options, and scheduling options.

Edit dsm.sys to include the server or servers to which you want to connect. The following is an example of a client system-options file stanza which contains the required options for a server you want users to contact. You can specify options for more than one server:
   Servername                server_a
   COMMMethod                TCPip
   TCPPort                   1500
   TCPServeraddress          node.domain.company.com
Important: If you want to use the web client, you must also specify the passwordaccess=generate option, and log in with the client to save the password.

As the default, your client node contacts the first server identified in the dsm.sys file. You can specify a different server to contact by entering the servername option in your own client user-options file (dsm.opt), or by entering that option with a command.

Oracle Solaris operating systemsLinux operating systemsAIX operating systemsYou can also specify a default server and a migration server (if you have the HSM client installed on your workstation) in your dsm.sys file.

The dsm.sys file can also contain the following option categories:

  • Communication options
  • Backup and archive processing options
  • Restore and retrieve processing options
  • Scheduling options
  • Authorization options
  • Error processing options
  • Transaction processing option
  • Web client options

You can modify your dsm.sys file using one of the following methods:

  • From the client Java™ GUI main window, select Edit > Client Preferences.
  • Use your favorite text editor.
Mac OS X operating systemsImportant: For Mac OS X, the system-options file must be a plain text file, encoded as Unicode (UTF-8). By default, TextEdit does not save files as plain text. Select Format > Make PlainText to save the user-options file as a plain text file. Set the Plain Text Encoding: to Unicode (UTF-8). Do not add the .txt extension.

If you update the dsm.sys file while the client is running, you must restart the process to pick up the changes.