Examples: Automating backups

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Use the following sample procedure to automate your backups.

About this task

This example uses the following assumptions:

The backup-archive client is registered to the IBM® Storage Protect server with a node name of mars and a password of marspswd in policy domain bacliwnt.
The event to be scheduled is a daily incremental backup of file systems on client workstations. The backup begins between 9:00 and 9:15 PM.
The backup-archive client is installed to the c:\program files\tivoli\tsm\baclient directory.
The communication parameters in the backup-archive client options file (dsm.opt) are appropriate for the IBM Storage Protect server.

Procedure

On the server:
1. Enter the following command on the server console or from an administrative client to define the schedule: def sched bacliwnt wnt_daily_incr desc="Daily Incremental Backup" priority=2 starttime=21:00 duration=15 durunits=minutes period=1 perunits=days dayofweek=any
  The administrative client does not have to be running on the same system as the IBM Storage Protect server.
  The following message is displayed:
```
ANR2500I Schedule WNT_DAILY_INCR defined in policy domain BACLIWNT.
```
2. To associate the backup-archive client to this schedule, issue the following command: define association bacliwnt wnt_daily_incr mars.
  The following message is displayed:
```
ANR2510I Node MARS associated with schedule WNT_DAILY_INCR in policy domain 
BACLIWNT.
```
  A schedule that performs an incremental backup is defined on the IBM Storage Protect server. The schedule starts around 9:00 PM. The schedule is re-executed once a day and can start on any day of the week. If you want to confirm that the schedule and association are set correctly, you can use the Query Schedule command.
On the backup-archive client:

This example assumes that you installed the backup-archive client in the c:\program files\tivoli\tsm\baclient directory. It also assumes that the options files in each of these directories are updated so that the communication parameters point to the IBM Storage Protect server.
1. Log in using an account with administrative privileges.
2. Open a command prompt window and issue the following command: cd /d "c:\program files\tivoli\tsm\baclient"
  
  If the path contains a space, for example c:\program files\tivoli\tsm\baclient, enclose the name in double quotation marks.
3. In the window, issue the following command: dsmcutil inst scheduler /name:"TSM Client Scheduler" /node:mars /password:marspswd /clientdir:"c:\program files\tivoli\tsm\baclient" /optfile:"c:\program files\tivoli\tsm\baclient\dsm.opt" /autostart:yes
  
  Your system is now ready to run automatic daily incremental backups. The /autostart:yes option specifies that the scheduler service starts automatically each time the system is rebooted. You can use the /startnow:[Yes|No] option to specify whether to start the scheduler service after the command is executed; the default is Yes.
  
  If you specify /startnow:No you must start the service manually using the Services Control Panel, or issue the following command: net start "TSM Client Scheduler"
4. The scheduler uses the backup-archive client options file to validate the node and password, and to contact the server for schedule information. This example assumes that the dsm.opt file is updated so that the communication parameters point to the IBM Storage Protect server.
  If you see the following message:
```
A communications error occurred connecting to the IBM Spectrum Protect server.
```
  Ensure that the options file contains entries that point to the correct IBM Storage Protect server. Also, ensure that the server is running.
  Use the dsmcutil update command to correct one of the parameters that was incorrectly specified with the dsmcutil install command. For example, to update the client directory and options file for the specified scheduler service, enter: dsmcutil update scheduler /name:"TSM Central Scheduler Service" /clientdir:"c:\program files\tivoli\tsm\baclient" /optfile:"c:\program files\tivoli\tsm\baclient\dsm.opt"
  
  Then, reissue the net start "TSM Client Scheduler" command.

Results

Note:

If any changes that affect the scheduler service are made to the backup-archive client options file, the scheduler service must be restarted. If you are using client acceptor-managed scheduling, the restart is not necessary since the scheduler is restarted by the client acceptor for each backup and the changes are picked up.
For example, the IBM Storage Protect server address or the schedule mode was changed in the options file. You can stop and restart the scheduler service by issuing the following commands: net stop "TSM Client Scheduler" and then net start "TSM Client Scheduler".
The dsmsched.log file contains status information for the IBM Storage Protect scheduler service. In this example, the file is located in this path: c:\program files\tivoli\tsm\baclient\dsmsched.log. You can override this file name by specifying the schedlogname option in the options file, dsm.opt.
Output from scheduled commands is sent to the log file. After scheduled work is performed, check the log to ensure that the work is completed successfully. When a scheduled command is processed, the schedule log might contain the following entry: Scheduled event eventname completed successfully.
This entry is merely an indication that the scheduled command that is associated with the eventname was successfully issued. No attempt is made to determine the success or failure of the command. You can assess the success or failure of the command by evaluating the return code from the scheduled command in the schedule log. The schedule log entry for the return code of the command is prefaced with the following text: Finished command. Return code is: