How To
Summary
IBM Spectrum Protect 8.1.13 introduces a technology preview of a feature for enabling direct backup operations from IBM Spectrum Protect Plus to IBM Spectrum Protect (without an intervening vSnap server). The goal of the new feature is to provide a streamlined process to back up the many data types that can be stored in IBM Spectrum Protect Plus. By backing up the data to IBM Spectrum Protect, you can provide an extra layer of data protection.
Objective
The technology preview provides insight into the feature that is under development.
To run the technology preview, you must complete the following tasks:
1. Ensure that prerequisites are met. For more information, see Before you begin.
2. On the IBM Spectrum Protect server, use a wizard to configure the Open Snap Store Manager (OSSM) instance. For instructions, see Configuring the Open Snap Store Manager instance.
2. On the IBM Spectrum Protect server, use a wizard to configure the Open Snap Store Manager (OSSM) instance. For instructions, see Configuring the Open Snap Store Manager instance.
3. In the IBM Spectrum Protect Operations Center, use another wizard to generate a local workload of randomized data and start the simulated workload. For instructions, see Running the workload simulation.
To protect your storage environment, the generated workload will consist of randomized data in an isolated storage pool. The data will be maintained separately from production data. Depending on your system environment and other factors, the workload simulation can take 15 minutes to a couple of hours.
After you run the workload simulation and do not plan any more runs, clean up your system environment by following the steps in Cleaning up the environment after the workload simulation.
Limitation: After you clean up the environment, the extents that were created for the workload simulation are typically deleted within 36 hours. However, some containers that were created for the workload simulation might not be deleted. To delete the containers, restart the IBM Spectrum Protect server. You can restart the server at a time that is convenient for you.
Before you begin
Ensure that the following prerequisites are met:
- The system where you plan to install OSSM must be running on a Linux® x86_64 operating system. The technology preview was tested on the following operating systems:
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.9
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.3
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15, SP2
The technology preview is not available on Ubuntu operating systems. - You must have system privileges on the IBM Spectrum Protect server.
- The IBM Spectrum Protect server, Operations Center, and the OSSM component must be installed on the same system:
- If you are upgrading the IBM Spectrum Protect server: Upgrade the server and other non-OSSM components first. Then, run the installation process again and install only OSSM.
- If you are installing the IBM Spectrum Protect server for the first time: Select all components that you plan to install, including the server and OSSM, at the same time.
Restriction: Always install OSSM on the server that is configured as the hub server of the Operations Center. OSSM will not work if it is installed on a spoke server.
You can select the OSSM component in the IBM Installation Manager:
Language restrictions:
- You can run the server with any supported language package except for multibyte (non-ASCII) language packages.
- The messages that are displayed in the console of the OSSM agent and in the OSSM instance configuration wizard will be in English only. Messages that are issued by the OSSM agent to the OSSM user interface in the Operations Center will also be in English only.
Tip: For general instructions about installing and upgrading the server, Operations Center, and other components, see Installing and upgrading the server. - During the workload simulation, the server and Operations Center must be running.
- On the IBM Spectrum Protect server, you must create a unique administrator ID with system privileges. This new administrator ID will be used exclusively for OSSM and will be requested when you run the configuration wizard. This administrator ID cannot be used in the Operations Center or in any other capacity. The session security for this administrator ID must be set to the TRANSITIONAL state.
Restriction: IBM Spectrum Protect 8.1.14 users should not enable multifactor authentication while creating the administrator ID.
Tip: To verify session security, run the following command:
query admin format=detailed
In the Session security field, you should see Transitional. If you do not see that value, run the UPDATE ADMIN command and specify SESSIONSECURITY=TRANSITIONAL.
In the Multi-Factor Authentication Required field, you should see No. If you do not see that value, an authorized administrator should run the UPDATE ADMIN command and specify MFARequired=No. - You must create an empty directory, which is owned by the instance user ID, with 2 GB of space for the OSSM database. When you run the OSSM configuration wizard, you will be prompted to specify the directory.
- You must create an empty directory, which is owned by the instance user ID, with at least 200 GB of space for simulated workload data. Before you run the workload simulation, you will be prompted to specify the directory.
The amount of disk space that is required to run the simulation will vary.
Example
Assume that you run the simulation by backing up 100 GB of data each day for 10 days, and assume a 73% reduction in space usage due to compression and data deduplication.
Calculate the workload: 100 GB of data x 10 backups = 1000 GB of data
Calculate the reduction: 1000 GB x 73% = 730 GB
Subtract the reduction from the total amount of backup data: 1000 GB - 730 GB = 270 GB
Based on these calculations, you can expect to use about 270 GB of data in the file system. If you repeat the workload three more times, your total disk usage will be approximately 1 TB.
Tip: After you run the workload simulation in the Operations Center, you can click Reset to clean up the environment before your next workload simulation. If you click Reset in the Operations Center after the fourth run of the simulation, up to 36 hours might be required for the extents in the containers to expire and release disk space in your selected directory.
Configuring the Open Snap Store Manager instance
The Open Snap Storage Manager (OSSM) component is intended as a gateway between IBM Spectrum Protect Plus and IBM Spectrum Protect.
To configure the OSSM instance for the technology preview, log in as a root user and complete the following steps:
1. On the server where IBM Spectrum Protect and OSSM are installed, change to the following directory:
installation_directory/ossm/bin
where installation_directory represents the directory where OSSM is installed. For example, run the following command:
cd /opt/tivoli/tsm/ossm/bin
2. To start the OSSM instance configuration wizard, run the following command:
cd /opt/tivoli/tsm/ossm/bin
./ossmcfg.bin
The "Open Snap Store Manager instance configuration wizard" opens.
3. Configure the OSSM instance by following the steps in the wizard. In the wizard, use the administrator ID and the directory that you created for this purpose, as described in Before you begin.
Running the workload simulation
Run the workload simulation in the Operations Center. To help ensure that the workload simulation can be completed successfully, keep the Operations Center window open until the simulation is completed.
1. In the Operations Center, on the menu bar, click Technology Preview.
2. In the OSSM window, click Configure.
The Configure the Technology Preview wizard opens. Follow the steps in the wizard to accept the certificate that is used for secure communication. The wizard creates a directory-container storage pool on the hub server. You are prompted to provide the name of the 200 GB (or larger) directory that you created for this purpose. The first time you run the wizard, the directory must be empty, must be owned by the instance user ID, and must have at least 200 GB of free space. For example, you can specify /ossm/data as the directory if that directory meets all requirements.
The wizard creates a domain, client node, and a directory-container storage pool on the server.
The Configure the Technology Preview wizard opens. Follow the steps in the wizard to accept the certificate that is used for secure communication. The wizard creates a directory-container storage pool on the hub server. You are prompted to provide the name of the 200 GB (or larger) directory that you created for this purpose. The first time you run the wizard, the directory must be empty, must be owned by the instance user ID, and must have at least 200 GB of free space. For example, you can specify /ossm/data as the directory if that directory meets all requirements.
The wizard creates a domain, client node, and a directory-container storage pool on the server.
3. Start the workload simulation by clicking Start simulation.
When the simulation starts, the file system is mounted in the background and backup operations begin.
4. In the Data window, monitor the results of the workload simulation.
The window displays a list of backups.
You can also view the newly created storage pool in the Operations Center by clicking Storage > Storage Pools.
Reminder: For the purposes of this technology preview, OSSM messages are in English only, regardless of the language package that is installed on the server.
Rerunning the workload simulation
Optionally, to rerun the workload simulation, complete the following steps:
1. In the Operations Center, on the menu bar, click Technology Preview.
2. In the OSSM window, click Reset.
The node, file space, and domain that were previously created are deleted from the server.
Tip: You might see an exclamation point 
in the user interface while the server and agents are reset. Typically, the reset process takes less than 1 minute. No action is required.
in the user interface while the server and agents are reset. Typically, the reset process takes less than 1 minute. No action is required.3. Follow the steps in Running the workload simulation, starting with step 2.
The directory that you provided during the initial configuration will be pre-populated when you run the wizard. Do not empty the directory.
The directory that you provided during the initial configuration will be pre-populated when you run the wizard. Do not empty the directory.
Cleaning up the environment after the workload simulation
When you finish running the workload simulation and do not plan to rerun it, follow the steps to clean up the system environment. The cleanup operation removes the files that were created during the workload simulation so that you can later install any newer versions of OSSM.
To clean up the system environment, complete the following steps:
- Remove the OSSM node, file space, and domain by taking the following actions:
a. In the Operations Center, click the Technology Preview menu to open the Technology Preview page.
b. In the OSSM window, click Reset.
Tip: You might see an exclamation point in the user interface while the server and agents are reset. Typically, the reset process takes less than 1 minute. No action is required. - Log in as a root user and stop the OSSM services by running the following operating system command:
systemctl stop ossm.service - As the root user, disable the OSSM services by running the following command:
systemctl disable ossm.service - Uninstall the OSSM component by taking the following actions:
a. Change to the IBM Installation Manager eclipse directory by issuing the following command:
cd /opt/IBM/InstallationManager/eclipse/tools
b. Start Installation Manager in console mode by issuing the following command:
./imcl -c
c. Select the option to remove an installed software package by entering 5 and pressing Enter.
d. Follow the steps in the wizard. Initially, select IBM Spectrum Protect as the package group from which to uninstall a component. Later, select Open Snap Store Manager. - Remove the OSSM directory, which is instance_user_home_directory/.ossm. For example, if the home directory of the instance user is /home/tsminst1, you would run the following command:
rm -r /home/tsminst1/.ossm - Remove the 2 GB directory that you created for the OSSM database. For example, if the directory is /home/tsminst1/ossmDatabase, you would run the following command:
rm -r /home/tsminst1/ossmDatabase - On the IBM Spectrum Protect server, remove the administrator that you created for the technology preview. For example, if the administrator is named ADMINOSSM, you would issue the following command:
remove admin adminossm
After you reset the environment, the extents that were created for the workload simulation are typically deleted within 36 hours. However, some of the newly created containers might remain. - Determine whether any containers remain by running the following command:
query container stgpool=techpreview1 - If containers remain in the TECHPREVIEW1 storage pool, restart the IBM Spectrum Protect server at a convenient time to delete the containers. Wait until the containers are deleted before you proceed to the next step.
- Delete the TECHPREVIEW1 storage pool and any storage pool directories that were created. On the IBM Spectrum Protect server, take the following actions:
a. Query the names of the storage pool directories that were used for the workload simulation by issuing the following command:
query stgpooldir stgpool=techpreview1
b. Delete each storage pool directory that was created for the workload simulation by issuing the following command:
delete stgpooldir techpreview1 stgpool_directory_name
where stgpool_directory_name specifies the name of a storage pool directory that was used in the simulation.
c. Delete the storage pool that was created for the workload simulation:
delete stgpool techpreview1
Document Location
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Document Information
Modified date:
25 May 2022
UID
ibm16475581