Starting IBM Storage Archive LE on a Linux system

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How to mount a library on the IBM Storage Archive on a Linux® system.

Before you begin

The ltfs command is used to mount a library to the directed mount point. In the following example, the library device name and the mount point are given as parameters of the ltfs command. The library device name is /dev/sg10 and the mount point name is /mnt/ltfs.
$ ltfs -o changer_devname=/dev/sg10 /mnt/ltfs

Before you mount the library, a mount point such as /mnt/ltfs must be created and the user must be given write access permission. If you want to mount more than one library device, unique mount points must be created for each device. For example, you can create mount point /mnt/ltfs0 for library device /dev/sg10 and then create mount point /mnt/ltfs1 for library device /dev/sg11. For more information, see ltfs.

About this task

Complete the following steps to mount a tape library by normal user authority:
Note: To mount a library as a normal user, the following steps are required to be performed only once.

Procedure

  1. Open a terminal and become a superuser.
  2. Add a user who starts IBM Storage Archive to the tape group.
  3. Create a mount point directory like /mnt/ltfs and set the write permission to the directory.
    Note: Unique mount points must be created for each library device.
  4. Create a work directory like /var/lib/ltfs (the default work directory) and, if it is not exited or is configured, set the write permission to the directory.
  5. Add read/initiate permission to the fusermount: 
    $ su
Password:
# usermod -a -G tape USER
# mkdir /mnt/ltfs
# chmod 666 /mnt/ltfs
# mkdir /var/lib/ltfs
# chmod 666 /var/lib/ltfs
# chmod +rx /bin/fusermount
  6. List available drives, as in the following example: 
    
$ /opt/ibm/ltfsle/bin/ltfs -o device_list
5cd1 LTFS14000I LTFS starting, LTFS version 2.4.3.0, log level 2.
...
5cd1 LTFS17089I Distribution: Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 7.6 (Maipo).
5cd1 LTFS17085I Plugin: Loading "sg" changer backend.
5cd1 LTFS17085I Plugin: Loading "sg" tape backend.
Changer Device list:.
Device Name = /dev/sg92 (9.0.20.1), Vendor ID = IBM , Product ID = 03584L32   , Serial Number = 0000078A4274040A, Product Name = TS3500/TS4500.
Device Name = /dev/sg84 (8.0.20.1), Vendor ID = IBM , Product ID = 03584L32   , Serial Number = 0000078A4274040A, Product Name = TS3500/TS4500.
Device Name = /dev/sg72 (1.0.20.1), Vendor ID = IBM , Product ID = 03584L32   , Serial Number = 0000078A4274040A, Product Name = TS3500/TS4500.
Device Name = /dev/sg69 (9.0.19.1), Vendor ID = IBM , Product ID = 03584L32   , Serial Number = 0000078A4274040A, Product Name = TS3500/TS4500.
Device Name = /dev/sg62 (8.0.19.1), Vendor ID = IBM , Product ID = 03584L32   , Serial Number = 0000078A4274040A, Product Name = TS3500/TS4500.
Device Name = /dev/sg37 (1.0.19.1), Vendor ID = IBM , Product ID = 03584L32   , Serial Number = 0000078A4274040A, Product Name = TS3500/TS4500.
Tape Device list:.
Device Name = /dev/sg91 (9.0.20.0), Vendor ID = IBM , Product ID = ULT3580-TD5  , Serial Number = 1168001522, Product Name =[ULT3580-TD5].
Device Name = /dev/sg83 (8.0.20.0), Vendor ID = IBM , Product ID = ULT3580-TD5  , Serial Number = 1168001522, Product Name =[ULT3580-TD5].
Device Name = /dev/sg71 (1.0.20.0), Vendor ID = IBM , Product ID = ULT3580-TD5  , Serial Number = 1168001522, Product Name =[ULT3580-TD5].
Device Name = /dev/sg66 (9.0.19.0), Vendor ID = IBM , Product ID = ULT3580-TD5  , Serial Number = 1068003675, Product Name =[ULT3580-TD5].
Device Name = /dev/sg59 (8.0.19.0), Vendor ID = IBM , Product ID = ULT3580-TD5  , Serial Number = 1068003675, Product Name =[ULT3580-TD5].
Device Name = /dev/sg35 (1.0.19.0), Vendor ID = IBM , Product ID = ULT3580-TD5  , Serial Number = 1068003675, Product Name =[ULT3580-TD5].
  7. Share the tape library. If you want to share the tape library with other users, add the user_allow_other option in the /opt/ibm/ltfsle/etc/fuse.conf file.
    Note: Refer to the topic Sharing a mounted tape library among multiple users in the Related information section for steps 5 and 7.
  8. Mount the tape library. If you want to mount the tape library as a user other than root and allow other users to access the file system, add the -o allow_other option as follows: 
    $ ltfs -o changer_devname=/dev/sg10 -o allow_other /mnt/ltfs
    Otherwise, edit the command line as follows:
    $ ltfs -o changer_devname=/dev/sg10 /mnt/ltfs
    To let another user use the mount point, set the group, user, and permission as follows: 
    # ltfs -o changer_devname=/dev/sg10 -o gid=group -o uid=user -o umask=775 /mnt/ltfs
    Note: If on-disk metadata storage is enabled, only a root user can mount the library. For more information, see Metadata storage.
  9. When the tape library is mounted, cartridges in the library can be accessed as subdirectories under the mount point /mnt/ltfs as shown in the following example: 
    $ ls -l /mnt/ltfs
total 3
drwxrwxrwx  1 root   root   0 Nov 28 11:28 AA0012L5
drwxrwxrwx  1 root   root   0 Nov 28 11:28 AA0023L5 -- My Video Tape
drwxrwxrwx  1 root   root   0 Nov 28 11:28 AA0025L5 -- My Data Tape

    In this example, three tape volumes are under the mount point: AA0012L5, AA0023L5 – My Video Tape, and AA0025L5 – My Data Tape. Refer to the topic Subdirectory names in the Related information section for naming rules. Each subdirectory can be accessed as a file system as shown in the following example:

    $ ls -l /mnt/ltfs/AA0012L5