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Basic Steps for Creating Virtual Tape

Troubleshooting


Problem

The purpose of this document is to provide the basic steps for creating virtual tape on your IBM i. For more information, see the additional documentation listed this document.

Resolving The Problem

The purpose of this document is to provide the basic steps for creating virtual tape on your IBM i. For more information, you should refer to the additional documentation listed in this document.

Basic Steps for Creating Virtual Tape
1. Create a virtual tape device:

CRTDEVTAP DEVD(TAPVRT01) RSRCNAME(*VRT)
2. Vary on the virtual optical device:

VRYCFG CFGOBJ(TAPVRT01) CFGTYPE(*DEV) STATUS(*ON)
3. Create the virtual tape image catalog to hold the images:

CRTIMGCLG IMGCLG(VIRTUALTAP) DIR('/virtualtap') TYPE(*TAP) CRTDIR(*YES)
4. Add your virtual tape images (repeat for as many volumes needed):

ADDIMGCLGE IMGCLG(VIRTUALTAP) FROMFILE(*NEW) TOFILE(VOL001) IMGSIZ(20000) ALCSTG(*MIN) VOLNAM(VOL001)

Notes:
1. TOFILE and VOLNAM is recommended to match and be a six-character volume name that does not already exist in your inventory.
2. IMGSIZ is the maximum image size of the volume and its listed in Megabytes. Minimum is 16 MB and maximum is 1 TB. The above example has 20,000 MB or 20 G.
3. ALCSTG determines if the storage is allocated up front (*IMGSIZ) or dynamically as needed (*MIN). For reducing size, see document: Understanding Storage Allocation with Virtual Tape and How to Get the Storage Back after a Save or INZTAP.
5. Load the image catalog onto the virtual tape device:

LODIMGCLG IMGCLG(VIRTUALTAP) DEV(TAPVRT01)

The virtual tape device can now be used with any supported command. Example: SAVLIB LIB(MYLIB) DEV(TAPVRT01)


Additional Documentation
o i5/OS V5R4 Virtual Tape: A Guide to Planning and Implementation
o Image Catalog and Virtual Media - Maximum Capacities and Limitations (ibm.com)
o Saving and Restoring an Image Catalog and Its Images to Another System (ibm.com)
o Understanding Storage Allocation with Virtual Tape and How to Get the Storage Back after a Save or INZTAP (ibm.com)
o Creating an Image Catalog to be Used with a User or Independent ASP (ibm.com)

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Historical Number

609457145

Document Information

Modified date:
14 October 2024

UID

nas8N1011372

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