Entering options with a command
You must follow the general rules for entering options with a command.
- Enter a command, a dash (–), the option name,
an equal sign (=), and the option value or parameter. Do not include
spaces on either side of the = sign.
Here are examples of this syntax on different clients:




dsmc archive -description="year end 1999" /home/
dsmc archive -description="Project A" c:\devel\proj1\* - For options that do not include parameters, enter a command, a dash (–), and
the option name. For example,
dsmc incremental -quietNote: Use a leading dash (-) to indicate that the following text is the name of an option. If an object name begins with a dash, you must surround it in either single quotation marks (') or quotation marks ("). Most operating system command line processors strip the quotation marks before the command-line arguments are submitted to the IBM® Storage Protect client application. In such cases, by using escape characters or doubling the quotation marks allows the client to receive the quoted object name. In loop mode, surround such objects in either single quotation marks (') or quotation marks ("). - Enter either the option name, or an abbreviation for the option
name. For example, to enter the latest option, enter
either
-lator-latest. The capital letters in the syntax of each option indicate the minimum abbreviation for that option name. - Enter options before or after command parameters. For example,
you can enter the option before or after a file specification:




dsmc selective -subdir=yes "/home/devel/proj1/*" dsmc selective "/home/devel/proj1/*" -subdir=yes
dsmc selective -subdir=yes c:\devel\proj1\* dsmc selective c:\devel\proj1\* -subdir=yes - When you enter several options on a command, separate them with a blank space.
- Enclose the value in quotation marks (
" ") if the option value that you enter contains a blank space. For example:



dsmc archive -description="Project A" "/home/devel/proj1/*"
dsmc archive -description="Project A" c:\devel\proj1\* - Most options that you enter on the command line override the value that is set in the preferences file. However, when you use the domain option with the incremental command, it adds to the domain specified in your client options file rather than overriding the current value.


On AIX®, Solaris, Linux® on z, and Mac: The maximum number of characters for a file name is 255. The maximum combined length of the file
name and path name is 1024 characters. The Unicode representation of a character can occupy several
bytes, so the maximum number of characters that a file name might contain can vary.
On Linux: The maximum length for a file name is 255 bytes. The maximum combined length of both the file name and path name is 4096 bytes. This length matches the PATH_MAX that is supported by the operating system. The Unicode representation of a character can occupy several bytes, so the maximum number of characters that comprises a path and file name can vary. The actual limitation is the number of bytes in the path and file components, which might or might not correspond to an equal number of characters.
On Linux: For archive or retrieve operations, the maximum length that you can specify for a path and file name (combined) remains at 1024 bytes.
The maximum number of bytes for a file name
and file path is 6255 combined. However, the file name itself cannot
exceed 255 bytes and the path that leads to the file cannot exceed
6000 bytes. Furthermore, directory names (including the directory
delimiter) within a path are limited to 255 bytes. The Unicode representation
of a character can occupy several bytes, so the maximum number of
characters that a file name might contain can vary.
For Mac OS X, the maximum length of a file name
is limited to 504 bytes (not characters). The Unicode representation
of a character can occupy several bytes, so the maximum number of
characters that a file name contains can vary.
Table 1 lists client command options that you can enter only on the command line with specific commands.
| Command option | Description | Commands |
|---|---|---|
| archmc | Use the archmc option with the archive command to specify the available management class for your policy domain to which you want to bind your archived files. | archive |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() class
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Specifies whether to display a list of NAS objects or client
objects when you use the following commands. |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
query backup
delete filespace query filespace |
| console | Use the console option with the query systeminfo command to output system information to the console. | query systeminfo |
deletefiles
|
Deletes the local copy of files from your workstation after they
are archived on the server. |
archive
|
![]() ![]() ![]() deletefiles
|
![]() ![]() ![]() Deletes the local copy of files from your workstation after they
are archived on the server. Can also be used with the restore image command and
the incremental option to delete files from the restored image that are deleted
from the file space after the image is created. |
![]() ![]() ![]()
archive
restore image |
| description | Assigns or specifies a description for files when archive, delete, retrieve, or query archive operations are performed. |
archive
delete archive query archive query backupset retrieve |
| detail | Displays management class, file space, backup, and archive information, depending on the command with which it is used. |
delete filespace
query archive query backup query filespace query mgmtclass |
| dirsonly | Backs up, restores, archives, retrieves, or queries directories only. |
archive
incremental query archive query backup restore restore backupset retrieve selective |
![]() ![]() dynamicimage
|
![]() ![]() Performs a dynamic image backup. |
![]() ![]() backup image |
| filelist | Specifies a list of files to be processed for the command. The backup-archive client opens the designated file list and processes the files that are listed within according to the command. |
archive
backup group delete archive delete backup expire incremental query archive query backup restore retrieve selective |
| filename | Use the filename option with the query systeminfo command to specify a file name in which to store the system information. | query systeminfo |
| filesonly | Backs up, restores, retrieves, or queries files only. |
archive
incremental query archive query backup restore restore backupset retrieve selective |
| fromdate | Use the fromdate option with the fromtime option to specify a date and time from which you want to search for backups or archives during a restore, retrieve, or query operation. |
delete backup
query archive query backup restore restore group retrieve |
| fromnode | Permits one node to perform commands for another node. A user on another node must use the set access command to permit you to query, restore, or retrieve files or images for the other node. |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() query archivequery backup query filespace query group ![]() ![]() ![]() query imagequery mgmtclass restore restore group ![]() ![]() ![]() restore image retrieve |
![]() ![]() ![]() fromowner
|
![]() ![]() ![]() Displays file spaces for another owner. Also specifies another
owner from which to restore or retrieve files. |
![]() ![]() ![]()
query archive
query backup query group ![]() ![]() ![]() query image restore restore group ![]() ![]() ![]() restore image retrieve |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() fromtime
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Specifies a beginning time on the specified date. Use with the
fromdate option. This option is ignored if the fromdate option is
absent. |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
query archive
query backup restore restore group retrieve |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() groupname
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Specifies the fully qualified name for a group. |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
backup group
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ifnewer
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Replaces existing files with the latest backup version only if the
backup version is newer than the existing version. |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
restore
restore backupset restore group retrieve |
![]() ![]() imagetofile
|
![]() ![]() Use the imagetofile option with the
restore image command to specify that you want to restore the source image to a
file. You might need to restore the image to a file in the event of bad sectors present on the
target volume, or if you want to do some manipulations with the image data.
|
![]() ![]() restore image |
imagetofile
|
Use the imagetofile option with the
restore image command to specify that you want to restore the source image to a
file. You might need to restore the image to a file in the event of bad sectors present on the
target volume, or if you want to do some manipulations with the image data. |
restore image |
| inactive | Displays a list of active and inactive files when used with the pick option. |
![]() ![]() ![]() delete groupquery backup query group ![]() ![]() query image query nas restore restore group ![]() ![]() restore image restore nas delete groupquery backup query group query image query nas query systemstate restore restore group restore image restore nas restore systemstate |
| incrbydate | Requests an incremental backup by date. | incremental |
![]() ![]() incremental
|
![]() ![]() Applies changes to the base image by using information from
incremental backups that are made after the original image backup.
|
![]() ![]() restore image |
incremental
|
Applies changes to the base image by using information from
incremental backups that are made after the original image backup. |
restore image |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() latest
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Restores the most recent backup version of a file whether it is
active or inactive. |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
restore
restore group |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() mode
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Use the mode option with these commands, as
follows:
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
backup group
backup nas ![]() ![]() ![]() backup imagerestore nas |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() monitor
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
backup nas
restore nas |
nojournal
|
Use this option with the incremental command to
specify that you want to perform the traditional full incremental backup, instead of the default
journal-based backup. |
incremental |
nojournal
|
Use this option with the incremental command to
specify that you want to perform the traditional full incremental backup, instead of the default
journal-based backup. |
incremental |
noprompt
|
Suppresses the confirmation prompt that is presented by the
delete group, delete archive, expire, and
set event commands. |
delete archive
delete backup delete group expire |
![]() ![]() ![]() noprompt
|
![]() ![]() ![]() Suppresses the confirmation prompt that is presented by the
delete group, delete archive, expire,
restore image, and set event commands. |
![]() ![]() ![]()
delete archive
delete backup delete group expire restore image |
![]() ![]() ![]() optfile
|
![]() ![]() ![]() Specifies the client user-options file that you want to use when
you start a backup-archive client session. |
![]() ![]() ![]() dsmc |
optfile
|
Specifies the client options file you want to use when you start a
backup-archive client session. |
dsmc.exe |
![]() ![]() ![]() pick
|
![]() ![]() ![]() Creates a list of backup versions, images, or archive copies that
match the file specification you enter. From the list, you can select the versions to process.
Include the inactive option to view both active and inactive objects. |
![]() ![]() ![]()
delete archive
delete group expire query nas restore restore group ![]() ![]() restore image restore nas retrieve |
pick
|
Creates a list of backup versions, images, or archive copies that
match the file specification you enter. From the list, you can select the versions to process.
Include the inactive option to view both active and inactive objects. |
delete archive
delete group expire query nas restore restore asr restore group restore image restore nas retrieve |
| pitdate | Use the pitdate option with the pittime option to establish a point in time for which you want to display or restore the latest version of your backups. |
![]() ![]() ![]() query backupquery group ![]() ![]() query image query nas restore restore group ![]() ![]() restore image restore nas query backupquery group query image query nas query systemstate restore restore group restore image restore nas restore systemstate All query and restore system object commands |
| pittime | Use the pittime option with the pitdate option to establish a point in time for which you want to display or restore the latest version of your backups. |
![]() ![]() ![]() query backup![]() ![]() query image query nas restore ![]() ![]() restore image restore nas query backupquery image query nas query systemstate restore restore image restore nas restore systemstate All query and restore system object commands |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() preservepath
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Specifies how much of the source path to reproduce as part of the
target directory path when you restore or retrieve files to a new location. |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
restore
restore backupset restore group retrieve |
![]() ![]() ![]() removeoperandlimit
|
![]() ![]() ![]() Specifies that IBM Storage Protect removes the 20-operand limit. If you specify
the removeoperandlimit option with the incremental,
selective, archive, or backup image
command, the 20-operand limit is not enforced and is restricted only by available resources or other
operating system limits. |
![]() ![]() ![]()
incremental
selective archive backup image |
runasservice
|
Forces the client command process to continue running, even if the
account that started the client logs off. Use this option on all Windows clients. |
schedule |
![]() ![]() ![]() showmembers
|
![]() ![]() ![]() Displays all members of a group. |
![]() ![]() ![]()
query group
restore group |
showmembers
|
Displays all members of a group. |
query group
query systemstate restore group |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() todate
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Use the todate option with the
totime option to specify an ending date and time to which you want to search for
backups or archives during a restore, retrieve, or query operation. |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
query archive
query backup restore restore group retrieve |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() totime
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Use the totime option with the
todate option to specify an ending date and time to which you want to search for
backups or archives during a restore, retrieve, or query operation. |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
query archive
query backup restore restore group retrieve |
| type | Use the type option with the query node command to specify the type of node to query. | query node |
| v2archive | Use the v2archive option with the archive command to archive only files to the server. The client will not process directories that exist in the path of the source file specification. |
archive
|
![]() ![]() verifyimage
|
![]() ![]() Use the verifyimage option with the
restore image command to specify that you want to enable detection of bad sectors
on the destination target volume. If bad sectors are detected on the target volume, the client
issues a warning message on the console and in the error log.
|
![]() ![]() restore image |
verifyimage
|
Use the verifyimage option with the
restore image command to specify that you want to enable detection of bad sectors
on the destination target volume. If bad sectors are detected on the target volume, the client
issues a warning message on the console and in the error log. This option is valid for all Windows clients. |
restore image |
| virtualfsname | Specifies the name of the virtual file space for the group on which you want to run the operation. |
backup group
|