Issuing commands from the administrative client

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The administrative command-line client is a program that runs on a file server, workstation, or mainframe.

About this task

Ensure that your administrative client and your server are running in compatible languages. See LANGUAGE for language and locale options. If your client and server are using different languages, the messages that IBM Storage Protect generates might not be understandable.

Tip: Text strings that are sent from the client to the server do not depend on the server language setting. The text is displayed properly if the administrative client runs in the same locale when sending the string and when receiving the string.

For example, assume that you update a node contact field with a value that contains national characters (update node myNode contact=NLcontact_info), and later query the node (query node myNode format=detailed). If the client is running in the same locale when you update as when you query, the NLcontact_info displays properly. If you update the node contact field when the client is running in one locale, and query the node when the client is running in a different locale, the NLcontact_info might not display properly.

Procedure

Starting and stopping the administrative client

The IBM Storage Protect server must be running before an administrative client can connect.

Use the DSMADMC command to start an administrative client session.

  • To start an administrative client session in command-line mode, enter this command: 
    dsmadmc -credentialsfile=secretpwdfile -dataonly=yes
    By entering the DSMADMC command with the -CREDENTIALSFILE option as shown, you are not prompted for a user ID and password.
    Tips:
    • The -CREDENTIALSFILE option is preferred as a secure alternative to the -ID and -PASSWORD options. However, the -CREDENTIALSFILE option cannot be used with administrator IDs that are configured for multifactor authentication (MFA).
    • If an administrator has multifactor authentication (MFA) set up on the account, a time-based one-time password (TOTP) must be appended at the end of the password. For more information, see Setting up multifactor authentication for administrators.
  • To stop an administrative command-line client session, enter the following command: 
    quit
  • To interrupt a DSMADMC command before the IBM Storage Protect server finishes processing it, press Ctrl+C or use the UNIX kill -15 command.
    Note: Due to signal-handler design limitations with the DSMADMC command on UNIX and Linux, pressing Ctrl-C or using the UNIX kill -15 command can lead to a core memory dump. If you need to avoid such a core memory dump, use the UNIX kill -9 command from an available command line.

Monitoring server activities from the administrative client

To monitor IBM Storage Protect activities, such as server migration and client logons, run the administrative client in console mode. You cannot enter any administrative commands in console mode.

  • To start an administrative client session in console mode, enter the following command: 
    dsmadmc -consolemode

    You are prompted for a password if authentication is turned on for the server. If you do not want to be prompted for your user ID and password, enter the DSMADMC command with the -CREDENTIALSFILE option.

    Tips:
    • The -CREDENTIALSFILE option is preferred as a secure alternative to the -ID and -PASSWORD options. However, the -CREDENTIALSFILE option cannot be used with administrator IDs that are configured for multifactor authentication (MFA).
    • If an administrator has multifactor authentication (MFA) set up on the account, a time-based one-time password (TOTP) must be appended at the end of the password. For more information, see Setting up multifactor authentication for administrators.
  • To end an administrative client session in console mode, use a keyboard break sequence.
    Operating system Break sequence
    UNIX and Linux® clients Ctrl+C
    Windows clients Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Break
    Note: Due to signal-handler design limitations with the DSMADMC command on UNIX and Linux, pressing Ctrl-C or using the UNIX kill -15 command can lead to a core memory dump. If you need to avoid such a core memory dump, use the UNIX kill -9 command from an available command line.

Monitoring server activities from the administrative client

To monitor the mounting and dismounting of removable media, run the administrative client in mount mode. When the client is running in mount mode, you cannot enter any administrative commands.

  • To start an administrative client session in mount mode, enter the following command: 
    dsmadmc -mountmode

    You are prompted for a password if authentication is turned on for the server. If you do not want to be prompted for your user ID and password, enter the DSMADMC command with the -CREDENTIALSFILE option.

    Tips:
    • The -CREDENTIALSFILE option is preferred as a secure alternative to the -ID and -PASSWORD options. However, the -CREDENTIALSFILE option cannot be used with administrator IDs that are configured for multifactor authentication (MFA).
    • If an administrator has multifactor authentication (MFA) set up on the account, a time-based one-time password (TOTP) must be appended at the end of the password. For more information, see Setting up multifactor authentication for administrators.
  • To end an administrative client session in mount mode, use a keyboard break sequence.
    Operating system Break sequence
    UNIX and Linux clients Ctrl+C
    Windows clients Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Break

  • Processing individual commands from the administrative client

    To monitor the mounting and dismounting of removable media, run the administrative client in mount mode. When the client is running in mount mode, you cannot enter any administrative commands.

  • To start an administrative client session in mount mode, enter the following command: 
    dsmadmc -mountmode

    You are prompted for a password if authentication is turned on for the server. If you do not want to be prompted for your user ID and password, enter the DSMADMC command with the -CREDENTIALSFILE option.

    Tips:
    • The -CREDENTIALSFILE option is preferred as a secure alternative to the -ID and -PASSWORD options. However, the -CREDENTIALSFILE option cannot be used with administrator IDs that are configured for multifactor authentication (MFA).
    • If an administrator has multifactor authentication (MFA) set up on the account, a time-based one-time password (TOTP) must be appended at the end of the password. For more information, see Setting up multifactor authentication for administrators.
  • To end an administrative client session in mount mode, use a keyboard break sequence.
    Operating system Break sequence
    UNIX and Linux clients Ctrl+C
    Windows clients Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Break

Processing a series of commands from the administrative client

Use the interactive mode to process a series of administrative commands.

To start an administrative client session in interactive mode, a server session must be available. To ensure the availability of server sessions for both administrative and client node sessions, the interactive mode of the administrative client is disconnected if one or more of the following conditions is true:
  • The server was stopped by using the HALT command.
  • Commands were not issued from the administrative client session for the length of time that is specified with the IDLETIMEOUT server option.
  • The administrative client session was canceled with the CANCEL SESSION command.

  • To start an administrative session in interactive mode, use the following command: dsmadmc

    You can use continuation characters when you use interactive mode. For more information, see Using continuation characters to enter long commands.

    You can automatically restart your administrative client session by entering another command each time the tsm: servername > prompt appears.

    Do not enter a server command with the DSMADMC command. Doing so starts the administrative client in batch, not interactive, mode. For example, do not enter:
    dsmadmc server_command

Formatting output from commands

IBM Storage Protect formats the output processed from commands according to your screen or window width.

  • If the width of your screen or window is not wide enough to display the output horizontally, IBM Storage Protect arranges and displays the information vertically.
  • You can format the output of QUERY commands using the DISPLAYMODE and OUTFILE administrative client options.

Saving command output to a specified location

The most common use for redirecting output is to save the output from query commands to a specified file or program. You can then browse the contents of the file or in some cases, print the contents.

On some operating systems, you can redirect output of a command by using special characters such as >, >>, and |. Redirection characters direct the output of a command to a file or program that you specify instead of to your screen. You can save the output from a command by entering redirection characters at the end of the command. To redirect output, leave a blank between the redirection character and the file or program name. See the following examples.

When redirecting output, follow the naming conventions of the operating system where you are running the administrative client.

  • The examples in the following table show how to redirect command output.
    Task Procedure
    Redirect the output of a QUERY DOMAIN command to a new file in batch or interactive mode Use a single greater-than sign (>) to redirect the output to a new file or write over an existing file:

    dsmadmc -credentialsfile=secretpwdfile query domain acctg > dominfo.acc
    Append the output of a QUERY DOMAIN command to the end of an existing file in batch or interactive mode Use two consecutive greater-than signs (>>) to append the output to the end of an existing file:

    dsmadmc -credentialsfile=secretpwdfile query domain acctg >> dominfo.acc
    Redirect all output from an administrative client session in console mode to a program called filter.exe Use the vertical bar (|) to direct all output for a session to a program:

    dsmadmc -console -credentialsfile=secretpwdfile | filter.exe

    The program can be set up to monitor the output for individual messages as they occur and take appropriate action, such as sending mail to another user.

    In console mode, redirect all output to a file Specify the -OUTFILE option with a destination file name. For example, the following command redirects all output to the save.out file:

    dsmadmc -credentialsfile=secretpwdfile -consolemode -outfile=save.out