Options in the IBM Storage Protect configuration file dsm.opt

This topic describes the options in the IBM Storage Protect configuration file dsm.opt.

Note: Use the DSM_CONFIG environment variable to point to a specific dsm.opt file.

Special character handling

For IBM Storage Scale file systems with special characters frequently used in the names of files or directories, backup failures might occur. Known special characters that require special handling include: *, ?, ", ’, carriage return, and the new line character.

In such cases, enable the IBM Storage Protect client options WILDCARDSARELITERAL and QUOTESARELITERAL on all nodes that are used in backup activities and make sure that the mmbackup option --noquote is used when invoking mmbackup.

Note: The characters control-X and control-Y are not supported by IBM Storage Protect. Therefore, the use of these characters in file names in IBM Storage Scale file systems results in these files not getting backed up to IBM Storage Protect.

Important IBM Storage Protect client configuration options

Option name Remarks Context
QUOTESARELITERAL [YES | NO]

Requires the use of mmbackup with option --noquote if this is set to YES.

 General
WILDCARDSARELITERAL [YES | NO]

To handle the wildcard characters * and ? in file and folder names.

 General
HSMDISABLEAUTOMIGDAEMONS [YES | NO]

To prevent the IBM Storage Protect for Space Management automigration daemons from starting.

Instead, the mmapplypolicy scan engine is used to identify migration candidates.

 IBM Storage Protect for Space Management
SKIPACLUPDATECHECK [YES | NO]

Requires UPDATECTIME to be enabled if this is set to YES.

Using the SKIPACLUPDATECHECK option also omits checking for changes in the extended attributes (EAs) on Linux® and AIX® systems. Using this setting ensures that a file only gets backed up when the content of the file changes, not when only the ACL or EAs change. The backup of file after content changes then also includes the current ACL or EAs of the file.

 General
SKIPACL [YES | NO]

Requires UPDATECTIME to be enabled if this is set to YES.

Using the skipacl option also omits EAs on Linux and AIX systems. Using this option can be considered when static ACL structures are used that can be reestablished through another tool or operation external to the IBM Storage Protect restore operation. If you are using this approach, ensure that the ACL is restored or established by inheritance, to avoid an unauthorized access to a recently restored file or directory.

After enabling this option, the ACL or EA is no longer backed up.

 General
UPDATECTIME [YES | NO]

This is to check the change time (ctime) attribute during a backup or archive operation. It is required to perform operations such as determining ACL changes.

 General