Set processing environment variables

Some circumstances require you to set environment variables to ensure that IBM Spectrum Protect™ applications can locate the files that are needed to perform client operations, and that applications can create log files that record events and errors that occur during client operations.

You must set the environment variables in any of the following circumstances:

You want to invoke the backup-archive client from a directory other than the directory where the backup-archive client is installed
You want to specify a different options file for the backup-archive client, the administrative client, or both.
You do not want log files to be written to the default installation directory.

Tip: You can also specify an alternate client options file for the command-line client (not the administrative client) using the optfile option.

There are four environment variables you can set which affect backup-archive client processing:

PATH

Includes the directory where the executable file for the client executables (dsmc, dsmadmc, dsmj) resides.

DSM_DIR

Specifies the directory where the executable file for the client executables (dsmc, dsmadmc, dsmj) the resource files, and the dsm.sys file reside. You cannot specify the root (/) directory for DSM_DIR.

Refer to the installation section for your operating system to find the default installation directory information.

When you request an image backup, image restore, snapshot-based file backup, NAS backup, or NAS restore, the client uses the DSM_DIR environment variable to locate the corresponding plug-in library. If DSM_DIR is not set, the client looks for the plug-in library in the following directories:

AIX®: /usr/tivoli/tsm/client/ba/bin/plugins
Oracle Solaris and all Linux clients: /opt/tivoli/tsm/client/ba/bin/plugins

DSM_CONFIG

Specifies the fully-qualified path and file name of the client user options file for users who create their own personalized options file. If DSM_CONFIG is not set, or the client optfile option is not used, the client user options file is expected to satisfy these requirements:

The options file must be named dsm.opt.
For UNIX clients other than Mac OS X, if DSM_DIR is not set, then the file must reside in the default installation directory. If DSM_DIR is set, then the file must reside in the directory specified by DSM_DIR.
For Mac OS X, the file can reside in any of the following locations. These directories are searched in order, and the first option file found is used. ~/Library Preferences/Tivoli Storage Manager, /Library Preferences/Tivoli Storage Manager, or /Library/Application Support/tivoli/tsm/client/ba/bin.

Refer to the installation section for your operating system to find the default installation directory information.

DSM_LOG

Points to the directory where you want the IBM Spectrum Protect log files to reside. You cannot specify the root (/) directory for DSM_LOG. The log files contain information about errors and events that occur during processing. The client creates the logs to help the technical support team diagnose severe errors.

Refer to the installation section for your operating system to find the default installation directory information.

Important: Set the DSM_LOG environment variable to name a directory where read-write permissions allow the required write access for the user to create and write to the log file. This prevents log write failures and process termination. Use the chmod or setacl commands to give the files permissions that allow all client user IDs to read and write them. If the log names are the default names, just set the DSM_LOG environment variable to point to the directory where they reside. When the client cannot write to the log file, an error message is written to stderror and to the syslog daemon. The syslog daemon must be running and configured to process messages with a priority of LOG_ERR for the error message to appear in the system log. Starting and configuring the syslog daemon is system specific. Use man syslogd command for information about starting the syslog daemon. Use man syslog.conf for information about configuring the syslog daemon.

Note:

The errorlogname and schedlogname options override DSM_LOG. If you specify the errorlogname client option, the file is stored in the directory specified by the errorlogname option and not in the location specified by DSM_LOG. If you specify the schedlogname client option, it is written to the directory specified by the schedlogname option and not in the location specified by DSM_LOG.
The log files cannot be symbolic links. The client detects any such links, delete the links, then exits the operation. This action prevents the client from overwriting protected data. The affected logs are created as files in a subsequent operation.

To use the backup-archive client Java™ GUI program, you must export the directory where you installed the java binary file. For example, enter the following command:

export PATH=$PATH:java_bin_dir

where: java_bin_dir is the path to the runnable Java binary file in your file system.