IBM Support

IBM i Virtual Tape and Virtual Optical Must Gather Document

How To


Summary

This document is the starting point for determining the data to send IBM i support for Virtual tape or Virtual Optical related issues.

Steps

Data to collect for Save / Restore, Virtual Tape, Virtual Optical, and BRMS issues
1) Sign in as QSECOFR or a userid with *ALLOBJ and *SERVICE authority

2) Update QMGTOOLS:
QMGTOOLS/CMPVER, press Enter, F6 to automatically download and update QMGTOOLS. This can be performed non-disruptively.

Note: If QMGTOOLS has not been installed, follow this document to install QMGTOOLS:
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/mustgather-how-obtain-and-install-qmgtools-and-keep-it-current

3) Install the latest device flight recorder PTF (by release). This can be installed immediately without an IPL or any requisites:
IBM i 7.4 - SI72309
IBM i 7.3 - SI72308
IBM i 7.2 - SI72307

4) Run the QMGTOOLS SYSSNAP collection:

4a. QMGTOOLS/SYSSNAP OUTPUT(*IFS) COLLECTDFT(Y) LICLOGS(Y) PALS(Y) QHST(Y) COLSRDTA(Y/Y/Y) STRDATE(MMDDYY) ENDDATE(MMDDYY)
Additional System Snapshot (SYSSNAP) information here: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/qmgtools-system-snapshot-syssnap 
Note: Prompt with F4 and enter the Start and End date to cover a day before and after the issue occurred. This is hard coded for MMDDYY regardless of your QDATFMT system value. Unless advised otherwise, do not collect more than seven days.

Note: If this partition is a client of VIOS, then prompt the above command with F4 and select 'Y' for the Collect VIO snap and then enter the VIO Servers' IP and padmin password to collect the VIO snap for each VIO server.

4b. When the collection is finished, copy the directory file location at the bottom of the screen such as /tmp/system_SYSSNAP_xxxxx.zip

==========================

Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . OUTPUT       > *IFS
Collect default info . . . . . . COLLECTDFT     Y
Collect LICLOGS (VLOGS)  . . . . LICLOGS        N
Collect PALs . . . . . . . . . . PALS           Y
  Include tape stats . . . . . .                N
Collect QHST . . . . . . . . . . QHST           N
  PRTSECLVL  . . . . . . . . . .                N
Collect Service Docs . . . . . . SRVDOCS        N
  Collect lock info  . . . . . .                  N
  Collect database lock info . .                  N
Collect HA data  . . . . . . . . COLHA          N
Collect DB2 Mirror data  . . . . COLDB2M        N
Collect SR data (QSRSRV) . . . . COLSRDTA       Y
  Collect BRMS data (QSRSRV) . .                Y <- If BRMS is being used
  Collect device FR (QSRSRV) . .                Y
Collect temp storage data  . . . COLTMPSTG      N
Collect SQL data . . . . . . . . COLSQL         N
  Collect PC snapshot  . . . . . COLPCSNAP      Y
Collect VIO snap . . . . . . . . COLVIOSNAP     N
Note: For tape related issues, the tape flight recorders exist in a limited storage area on the system. If a failure occurs and additional activity occurs on the tape device such as vary off/on, save or restore operations, the tape flight recorders may wrap and no longer contain the information necessary to debug the problem. In addition to collection the SYSSNAP listed above, collect the tape flight recorders immediately after any tape-related failure using QMGTOOLS: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/666659
Important Information: Additional data collection details on specific environments below.

Native IOPless Fibre Channel, SAS, and SCSI LVD Tape:
IBM i connected directly to tape devices. Fibre Channel tape drives can be directly attached or via a SAN/Networking switch.  Additional information: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/1108539#NATIVE

Switch logs: If requested, these logs shall be reviewed by the SAN team:
Brocade: Supportsave, https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/how-collect-supportsave-brocade-switch
Cisco Switch: Show Tech and Logging onboard, https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/how-collect-logs-cisco-mds-9000-series-switches
Virtual hosted (NPIV)
This environment includes fibre channel adapters which are owned by the VIOS partition and the adapter is virtualized to the IBM i client. These adapters show up as IOA type 6B25 on the IBM i partition. This configuration is SAN based by definition because a NPiV capable switch must be used to provide the N-port virtualization. Additional information: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/1108539#NPIV

VIOS snap from all related VIO Servers:
 http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg3T1013064

Switch logs: If requested, these logs shall be reviewed by the SAN team:
Brocade: Supportsave, https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/how-collect-supportsave-brocade-switch
Cisco Switch: Show Tech and Logging onboard, https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/691279
DSI iSCSI VTL device for the IBM Cloud
DSI VTL is a virtual (RHEL based) appliance that can be deployed and consumed as tape interface from IBM i. This is considered Ethernet attached tape.

VIOS owned SAS and USB Tape Drives:
For VSCSI the adapter and drive are owned by the VIOS partition and the tape drive is virtualized to an LPAR via a virtual adapter. The client doesn't interact with the drive directly. It interacts with the device driver on the VIOS partition and that device driver interacts with the drive.
For more information on this configuration see: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/1108539#VIOS
VIOS snap from all related VIO Servers:  http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg3T1013064

Switch logs: If requested, these need to be reviewed by the SAN team.
Cisco Switch: Show Tech and Logging onboard, https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/691279
IBM i hosting i - Tape:
Specific IOP-less attached physical tape and tape library devices supported in the host IBM i LPAR can be virtualized to an IBM i client LPAR.  An existing vSCSI connection can be used, but is is recommended that a new vSCSI connection be created explicitly for tape I/O traffic. Theses adapters show up as IOA type 290A on the IBM i client partition. In addition to the virtual SCSI connections, a Network Server Description (NWSD) is needed in the IBM i server partition. There is a maximum of 4 tape resources for each virtual adapter.
For more information on this configuration see Client Virtual Tape Devices:  https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/1108539#CLIENT
IBM i Removable Media: Tape Library Virtualization:  https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/3544173
RDX Drives (USB):
RDX is a removable disk-based device. This is an optical class device. This device can be directly attached or virtualized from an IBM i host to IBM i client partition. IBM i 7.1 Technology Refresh 5 and later releases report the device as a 63B8 regardless of native attached or virtualized client. There is no VIOS support for RDX.
Note: If the device is virtualized collect on both the IBM i host and IBM i client partitions.

USB Flash Drives:
Flash drives, also referred to as memory keys or thumb drives, are small pluggable devices that do not have removable media. A single flash drive can hold a large amount of data that would otherwise need multiple DVDs, and can typically access the data much faster. On IBM i, they are "optical class" devices whose main purpose is data movement such as IFS copy, Save/Restore operations directly to or from the device, or D-mode IPLs.
Note: USB flash drives can be can be virtualized from an IBM i host to an IBM i client LPAR. USB flash drives appear as Type-model 63BC-0D2 on the client partitions. If the device is virtualized collect on both the IBM i host and IBM i client partitions.
CD/DVD Optical Devices & IFS/NFS file backed virtual devices:
Physical optical devices and IFS (632B-001) / NFS (632B-003) file backed virtual optical devices. Any optical drive supported in the host IBM i LPAR can be virtualized to an IBM i client LPAR.  If the device is virtualized collect on both the IBM i host and IBM i client partitions.
For additional information on specific products and macros:
If BRMS is involved, use the following options within the SYSSNAP:
Collect BRMS data = Y
If tape/optical/RDX is involved, Collect device FR = Y
If VIOS is involved, Collect VIOS snap = Y

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Additional documentation
IBM i Removable Media Welcome page:  https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/1105935
Recommended minimum PTF levels for IBM i optical and tape device support: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/1108005

Document Location

Worldwide

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Document Information

Modified date:
15 July 2025

UID

ibm16403964

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