Automatic Transfers of Media to Cloud Storage

Control groups that have a QCLD prefix will cause BRMS to automatically create and transfer media to the cloud during a backups.

Automatic transfers using virtual media requires a large amount of system storage.  Symptoms that indicate your system storage is too small include message BRM1799 indicating the save operation was cancelled.

Considerations for resolving message BRM1799:

• Set Media Size for Automatic Transfers to the Cloud

• Set Number of Turnkey Automatic Volumes

• Cloud ASP Support Setup

• Retain Media After Transfers

NOTES:

1. The automatic transfer will begin after the first volume switch if the save spans media

2. Using SAVxxxBRM commands will not trigger the automatic transfer of media.

3. When using virtual optical media, the automatic transfer will only start once the save job is completed.

BRMS control groups for automatic transfers to the cloud - QCLDBxxxxx

Control groups that have a QCLDB prefix are created by BRMS for each cloud resource defined on the system.  The QCLDB control groups should not be changed by the user but users can tailor control groups that will automatically transfer media to the cloud,  see section User control groups for automatic transfers to the cloud - QCLDUxxxxx below for more information.

Note: When using IBM Cloud Storage Solutions for i V1.2.0, a full system backup requires that the data from QCLDBIPLnn and QCLDBGRPnn control groups are backed up using a cloud connector resource that does not use encryption and/or compression. To use cloud connector resources with encryption and/or compression for a full system save scenario, you must create two different sets of cloud connectors to the same resource. One control group pair using compression and/or encryption and another pair using neither compression nor encryption to back up all the system data needed for a Disaster Recovery.

The control groups QCLDBSYSnn and QCLDBUSRnn can be backed up with a cloud connector resource using any configuration.

The following control groups will be created by BRMS:

• QCLDBIPLxx - Used to do SAVSYS and full backups of system and user objects to media that will be transferred to the cloud but must be burned to optical media before use during recovery. This group is not created for cloud connectors using compression or encryption.

• QCLDBGRPxx - Used to do cumulative incremental backups of system and user objects to media that will be transferred to the cloud but must be burned to optical media before use during recovery. This group is not created for cloud connectors using compression or encryption.

• QCLDBSYSxx - Used to do full backups of system and user objects that can be restored from cloud media without burning the cloud media to physical optical media.

• QCLDBUSRxx - Used to do cumulative incremental backups of system and user objects that can be restored from cloud media without burning the cloud media to physical optical media.

where xx is a unique number for each cloud resource.

NOTES:

1. Control groups that have a QCLDB prefix cannot be deleted.   QCLDBxxxxx control groups should not be changed by the user. 

2. QCLDBIPLxx and QCLDBGRPxx BRMS control groups only work for basic cloud connectors. These groups cannot be used with cloud connectors created using IBM Cloud Storage Solutions for i V1.2.0 with compression or encryption.

3. Do not copy the QCLDBIPLxx and QCLDBGRPxx control groups  and modify the copies to use encryption or compression connectors. They will not work in a Disaster Recovery scenario.

4. QCLDBIPLxx and QCLDBGRPxx BRMS control groups automatically override the media policy to use optical, the control group media policy setting is ignored.

5. The default BRMS created QCLDIPL *LNK list used in control groups QCLDBIPLxx and QCLDBGRPxx can be changed by users.  The default contents do not reflect customer unique environments and files may need to be removed.  Users can remove items from the QCLDIPL *LNK list that do not exist on their system to prevent BRM14A1 errors.  

User control groups for automatic transfers to the cloud - QCLDUxxxxx

QCLDBxxxxx control groups should not be changed by the user.  Instead, a QCLDBxxxxx control group can be copied to a QCLDUuuuuu control group, where uuuuu is a user specified suffix, which the user can then change.  Since the user's QCLDUuuuuu control group has a QCLD prefix, it will also cause BRMS to automatically create and transfer media to the cloud when it is used to do a backup.

After a QCLDBxxxxx control group has been copied to QCLDUuuuuu, QCLDUuuuuu will be associated with the move policy that was created by BRMS for the cloud resource. The move policy associated with the control group can be changed but the move policy that is used must contain a cloud location at sequence 10 otherwise automatic cloud transfers will not work properly.

Example

This example requires that product IBM Cloud Storage Solutions for i is installed on the system and the following BRMS PTF(s) must be installed on a stand-alone BRMS system or on all the systems in a BRMS network:

• 7.3 - SI61153

• 7.2 - SI61152

• 7.1 - SI61151

This scenario will save a single empty library, automatically transfer the media to the cloud and then transfer media back to the system during a restore.

1. Create a cloud resource by running one of the following commands:

   • CRTFPRICC

   • CRTSLRICC

• CPYTOCLD

• CPYFRMCLD

1. Configure BRMS objects required to use the cloud resource:

   • INZBRM OPTION(*DATA)

2. The pre-defined cloud control groups that BRMS created for the cloud resource should be setup to work as defined.  To simplify this example, copy one of the pre-defined control groups:

   • WRKCTLGBRM TYPE(*BKU)

     • specify 3=Copy next to QCLDBUSR01

       • specify QCLDUUSR01 for the New Name field

3. Create a library to save to the cloud:

   • CRTLIB LIB(CLDLIB)

4. Change the entries in the control group to save the library created in the previous step:

   • WRKCTLGBRM TYPE(*BKU)

     • specify 2=Change entries next to QCLDUUSR01

       • clear all entries from the control group by removing all the numbers from the Seq column

       • add and entry for library CLDLIB:

         • Seq - 10

         • Backup Items - CLDLIB

         • Let the remaining fields use default values.

   • WRKCTLGBRM TYPE(*BKU)

     • specify 8=Change attributes next to QCLDUUSR01

       • specify *NONE for the  Automatically backup media information field

5. Run the control group:

   • STRBKUBRM CTLGRP(QCLDUUSR01) SBMJOB(*NO)

6. View the media to verify that it is at the cloud location:

   • WRKMEDBRM FILEGRP(QCLDUUSR01)

     • verify the volume is in *ACT status

     • verify the location is the cloud resource created in step 2

7. Delete the library:

   • DLTLIB LIB(CLDLIB)

8. Restore the library:

   • WRKMEDIBRM CTLGRP(QCLDUUSR01)

     • specify 7=Restore next to the saved item

       • specify 1=Select next to the saved item

9. Verify that the library was restored:

   • DSPLIB LIB(CLDLIB)

10. View the media to verify that it is at the home location:

    • WRKMEDBRM FILEGRP(QCLDUUSR01)

      • verify the volume is in *ACT status

      • verify the location is *HOME

NOTES:

1. Media created with automatic transfer to the cloud can be marked for duplication but the duplication requires that the media be moved out of the cloud location before the duplication can be performed.

2. Automatic duplication, specified through a media policy, is not supported for media that is created with automatic transfer to the cloud.