IMPORT POLICY (Import policy information)

Use this command to import policy domain information from sequential export media to the Tivoli® Storage Manager server. IBM® Tivoli Storage Manager servers with retention protection enabled do not allow import operations.

Tivoli Storage Manager client data can be moved between servers with export and import processing, if the same removable media type is supported on both platforms.

Restriction:

If target and source server levels are not compatible, the import operation might not work. See the Administrator's Guide for server compatibility requirements.
Importing data from a CENTERA device class is not supported. However, files that are imported can be stored on a CENTERA storage device.

You can use the QUERY ACTLOG command to view the status of the import operation. You can also view this information from the server console.

This command generates a background process that can be canceled with the CANCEL PROCESS command. If an IMPORT POLICY background process is canceled, some of the data is already imported. To display information about background processes, use the QUERY PROCESS command.

Limitation: The Tivoli Storage Manager server does not convert code pages during export, import, and node replication operations. If servers are running in different locales, some information in databases or system output might become unreadable. Invalid characters might be displayed, for example, in the contact information for the administrator and client nodes, and in descriptions of policy domains. Any field that is stored in the server character set and that includes extended ASCII characters can be affected. To resolve the issue after the import or node replication operation, update the fields with the appropriate UPDATE commands. This server limitation does not affect client data. Any client data that was exported, imported, or replicated can be restored, retrieved, and recalled.

Privilege class

To issue this command, you must have system privilege.

Syntax


                  .-*---------------.   
>>-IMport Policy--+-----------------+--------------------------->
                  | .-,-----------. |   
                  | V             | |   
                  '---domain_name-+-'   

   .-Preview--=--No------.                                   
>--+---------------------+--DEVclass--=--device_class_name------>
   '-Preview--=--+-No--+-'                                   
                 '-Yes-'                                     

                     .-,-----------.      
                     V             |      
>--VOLumenames--=--+---volume_name-+--+------------------------->
                   '-FILE:--file_name-'   

   .-Replacedefs--=--No------.   
>--+-------------------------+---------------------------------><
   '-Replacedefs--=--+-No--+-'   
                     '-Yes-'

Parameters

domain_name

Specifies the policy domains for which information is to be imported. Separate multiple names with commas and no intervening spaces. You can use wildcard characters to specify names. The default (*) is all policy.

Preview

Specifies whether you want to preview the results of the import operation without importing information.This parameter supports the following values:

No: Specifies that the information is to be imported.
Yes: Specifies that the operation is previewed but not completed. Information is reported to the server console and the activity log.

The PREVIEW=YES option requires that you mount the export volumes. This parameter is optional. The default value is NO.

DEVclass (Required)

Specifies the device class from which import data is to be read. You cannot specify the DISK, NAS, or CENTERA device classes.

If all drives for the device class are busy when the import runs, Tivoli Storage Manager cancels lower priority operations, such as reclamation, to make a drive available.

VOLumenames (Required)

Specifies the volumes to be used for the import operation. Volumes must be imported in the same order as they were exported. This parameter supports the following values:

volume_name: Specifies the volume name. To specify multiple volumes, separate the names with commas and no intervening spaces.
FILE:file_name: Specifies the name of a file that contains a list of volumes. In the file, each volume name must be on a separate line. Blank and comment lines that begin with an asterisk are ignored.

Use these naming conventions when you specify volumes that are associated with the following device types:

For this device	Specify
Tape	1 – 6 alphanumeric characters.
FILE	Any fully qualified file name string. For example: /imdata/mt1 d:\program files\tivoli\tsm\data1.dsm.
REMOVABLEFILE	1–6 alphanumeric characters.
SERVER	1–250 alphanumeric characters.

Replacedefs

Specifies whether to replace policy definitions on the target server. This parameter supports the following values:

Yes: Specifies that objects are to be replaced by the imported objects.
No: Specifies that objects are not to be replaced by imported objects.

The default value is NO.

Example: Import policy information from specific tape volumes

From the server, import the information for all defined policies from tape volumes TAPE01, TAPE02, and TAPE03. Specify that these tape volumes be read by a device that is assigned to the MENU1 device class.

import policy devclass=menu1 
volumenames=tape01,tape02,tape03

Example: Import policy information from tape volumes listed in a file

From the server, import the information for all defined policies from tape volumes that are listed in a file that is named thus:

TAPEVOL
TAPEVOL.DATA

Specify that these tape volumes be read by a device that is assigned to the MENU1 device class. The file contains the following lines:

TAPE01
TAPE02
TAPE03

import policy devclass=menu1 volumenames=file:tapevol

import policy devclass=menu1 volumenames=file:tapevol.data

Related commands

Table 1. Commands related to IMPORT POLICY
Command	Description
CANCEL PROCESS	Cancels a background server process.
EXPORT POLICY	Copies policy information to external media or directly to another server.
IMPORT ADMIN	Restores administrative information from external media.
IMPORT NODE	Restores client node information from external media.
IMPORT SERVER	Restores all or part of the server from external media.
QUERY ACTLOG	Displays messages from the server activity log.
QUERY PROCESS	Displays information about background processes.