BRMS FlashCopy support

ESS FlashCopy® creates a clone of the source system onto a second set of disk drives which are then attached and used by another system or LPAR partition. BRMS provides a mechanism to perform a backup on the second system such that it appears to have been done on the original system.

The following are the steps needed to succeed in this special backup:

On the primary system.

Prepare BRMS for FlashCopy.

First enable BRMS for FlashCopy by setting the Enable FlashCopy parameter on the System Policy to *YES. Type WRKPCYBRM *SYS, select option 1 and page to the bottom screen. This only needs to be done once.

  V7R2M0                   Change System Policy                      RCHAS400  
                                                                                
 Type choices, press Enter.                                                     
                                                                                
  End all subsystems options                                                    
    Controlled end delay time  . . . . . . 60            1-99999 seconds,*IMMED 
    Abnormal end delay time  . . . . . . .   10          10-999 minutes,*NOLIMIT
    End servers wait time  . . . . . . . .    6          0-9999 seconds         
  Controlling subsystem:                                                        
    Allow backups in batch . . . . . . . . *NO           *NO, *YES              
    Restricted state time limit  . . . . . *NOMAX        5-9999 minutes, *NOMAX 
  Allow alternate input media. . . . . . . *YES          *NO, *YES              
  Volume prefix  . . . . . . . . . . . . .               Prefix                 
  Enable FlashCopy . . . . . . . . . . . . *YES          *NO, *YES              
  BRMS submitted jobs:                                                          
    Job description. . . . . . . . . . . . *USRPRF       Name, *USRPRF          
      Library. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   *LIBL       Name, *LIBL, *CURLIB   
    Job queue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *JOBD         Name, *JOBD            
      Library. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   *LIBL       Name, *LIBL, *CURLIB   
  BRMS flight recorder size  . . . . . . . 050           001-999 megabytes      
                                                                         Bottom 
 F3=Exit   F4=Prompt   F5=Refresh   F12=Cancel

Next you will need to notify BRMS, that this system’s data is being copied via ESS FlashCopy and the backup could be performed on the clone system. This step is required prior to performing FlashCopy function. Run this command:
INZBRM OPTION(*FLASHCOPY) STATE(*STRPRC)

Note: When the system is in FlashCopy mode, a BRMS synchronization job will not run on the production system. BRMS activity should not be performed on the production system until all steps in post FlashCopy steps are completed. Any update to the BRMS database on the production system via any BRMS activity such as save, restore, BRMS maintenance will be lost. When the system is in FlashCopy state, all BRMS incoming communication from the BRMS networked system will be blocked. BRMS backup information about the current system might be outdated when backup is being performed on the clone system.

Quiesce system (PWRDWNSYS) to ensure all main storage content is written to disk.
Issue the FlashCopy.
Restart the primary system.

On the secondary system.
1. Change system attributes and network configuration during manual IPL. For example:
  - At Dedicated Service Tools (DST), change the IP address of Service Tools Server (STS).
  - During the IPL, change the IPL attributes to start system to RESTRICTED STATE.
  - Change the IP information in CFGTCP.
2. Set BRMS system state to FlashCopy mode.
  1. Use the following command to set the BRMS system state to the backup FlashCopy state:
    INZBRM OPTION(*FLASHCOPY) STATE(*STRBKU)
3. Secondary system is treated as the primary system in the BRMS network.
4. Complete saves using BRMS.
5. Set BRMS state to FlashCopy backup complete mode.
  1. Use the following command to set the BRMS state back to complete mode:
    INZBRM OPTION(*FLASHCOPY) STATE(*ENDBKU)
6. Save QUSRBRM and transfer it to the primary system. To save QUSRBRM issue the following command:
  SAVLIBBRM LIB(QUSRBRM) DEV(tape-media-library-device-name) MEDPCY(media-policy) OMITOBJ((*ALL *JRN) (*ALL *JRNRCV)) OBJDTL(*OBJ) SAVTYPE(*FULL) SEQNBR(1) ENDOPT(*REWIND)
Back on the primary system.
1. Restore the QUSRBRM that was saved and brought over from the secondary system. Run this command:
  QSYS/RSTLIB SAVLIB(QUSRBRM) DEV(tape-media-library-device-name) VOL(volume-identifier) SEQNBR(1) OMITOBJ((QUSRBRM/*ALL *JRN)) ALWOBJDIF(*FILELVL *AUTL *OWNER *AUTL) MBROPT(*ALL)
2. Use the following command to set the BRMS FlashCopy state back to complete mode:
  INZBRM OPTION(*FLASHCOPY) STATE(*ENDPRC)
  Note: This will start Q1ABRMNET subsystem if system is not in restricted state. This will start all BRMS synchronization jobs.
3. Resume BRMS activities on the primary system.

For additional information on FlashCopy, please refer to the IBM® i and IBM System Storage®: A Guide to Implementing External Disks on IBM i Redbooks® publication.