Active Tasks

View status information for IBM Spectrum Protect sessions, jobs, and processes.

The table shows the following types of tasks:

Server processes. These processes are created when an administrative command is issued, either directly from the command-line interface or as the result of an Operations Center action. Processes are also created by jobs.
Administrator, client, and server sessions. Sessions are established when an administrator or client node connects to the server and during server-to-server operations, such as replication.
Jobs. A job manages multiple server processes to complete a particular task. The individual server processes of a job complete discrete actions of the overall job.

The table shows only active tasks, which are automatically refreshed every 30 seconds. To view information for failed or completed tasks, use the Completed Tasks page.

Tip: To view more status information, hover over the ID number for a session or process. For more details about a task, issue the QUERY SESSION or QUERY PROCESS command.

The following actions and status indicators are available on the page:

Interrupt

You can interrupt jobs that are in the running or sleeping state. Interrupting a running job stops all child processes of the job. Interrupt jobs to resolve problems or to take other necessary actions for a job. For example, a job to copy a retention set to tape storage requires tape devices and tape volumes. You might interrupt the job if a tape device requires maintenance, or if a new scratch volume needs to be made available.

Remember: An interrupted job remains interrupted until you explicitly resume it. After you resolve any problems, use the Resume action to resume the job.

Resume

You can resume an interrupted job. Interrupted jobs typically require some administrator intervention before they are resumed. Determine why the job was interrupted and resolve any problems before you resume the job.

Resuming an interrupted job places that job in the sleeping state. The next time the job's associated storage rule begins processing, the storage rule restarts the job.

Cancel

You can cancel tasks that are server processes or that are administrator, client, or server sessions. You can cancel individual server processes that are managed by a job, but you cannot cancel a job by using this action. To terminate a Retention Set job, go to the Retention Sets page and use the Terminate action. For other types of jobs, select the processes that are managed by the job to cancel them.

When you cancel a task, the following conditions apply:

If the task is waiting for a tape volume to be mounted, the mount request is automatically canceled. If the request requires an operator response, the task might not end until the request is answered, canceled, or times out.
If a volume that is associated with the task is being mounted, the task might not end until the mount is complete.
If a backup or archive operation is interrupted, the server rolls back the results of the current transaction. Any uncommitted changes are undone, which can take some time to complete.
For a session that is in the "Running" state, the session does not end until it enters one of the following states: "Send wait", "Receive wait", or "Idle wait".
A session that is in the "Idle wait" state is automatically reestablished when the client starts to send data again.
If you cancel a process that is managed by a retention job, the job is interrupted. The job remains in the interrupted state until you resume the job.

Tips:

To view and manage mount requests, use the QUERY REQUEST, REPLY REQUEST, and CANCEL REQUEST commands.
If a tape volume is not available to complete a process, the reason might be that a MOVE MEDIA or CHECKOUT LIBVOLUME command was issued, or the volume was manually removed from the library.
If you cancel a process that is related to a server-to-server export operation, the process cannot be restarted. As an alternative, use the SUSPEND EXPORT command, which allows the operation to be restarted later.

State

The "Running" state is always shown for processes, even if a process is idle.

The following session states can be shown:

Ending: The session is ending, and resources are being released.
Idle wait: The server is waiting for the client's next request. The session is canceled if the client does not initiate communication within the time limit that is specified by the IDLETIMEOUT server option.
Media wait: The server is waiting for access to a tape volume.
Receive wait: The server is waiting to receive an expected message from the client. The session is canceled if the client does not respond within the time limit that is specified by the COMMTIMEOUT server option.
Running: The server is completing an operation, and is not waiting to send data.
Send wait: The server is waiting for acknowledgment that the client has received a message that was sent by the server.
Starting: The session is starting, and authentication is in progress.

The following job states can be shown:

Running: The job is running. A job can runs only during the processing window for its associated storage rule. Multiple server processes run under the job to complete discrete actions.
Sleeping: The job is waiting for the next processing window of its associated storage rule.
Interrupted: The job is interrupted and must be resumed by an administrator. Typically some intervention on behalf of the job is required before the administrator resumes the job. Jobs can be interrupted by an administrator, or the server might interrupt the job based on error conditions. For example, a job to copy a retention set to tape storage requires tape devices and tape volumes. An administrator might interrupt a job to upgrade a tape device. After the new device is configured, the administrator can resume the job. The server interrupts a job if any of processes that are managed by the job exit with an error. A process might exit with a timeout error, for example, if the process is unable to write to tape. The error might be due to a problem with the tape device, a lack of tape volumes, or a network connectivity problem. After the problem is resolved, the administrator resumes the job.

Job ID

A job ID is shown for jobs and for processes that are managed by a job. By filtering or sorting this column, you can group all the processes that are managed by a particular job.

Parent Process

A parent process ID is shown for processes that were started by another process. By filtering or sorting this column, you can group all the processes that were started by the same parent process.

Activity Log

Use the activity log pane to monitor task progress. The activity log shows the messages that were issued since the selected task started. To view more messages, use the QUERY ACTLOG command.

For more information about using IBM Spectrum Protect commands, see the IBM Spectrum Protect documentation.