Collecting Data for IBM Spectrum Protect : Scheduler Problems

Collecting troubleshooting data early, even before opening the Case, helps IBM® Support quickly determine if:
Symptoms match known problems (rediscovery).
There is a non-defect problem that can be identified and resolved.
There is a defect that identifies a workaround to reduce severity.
Locating root cause can speed development of a code fix.

Collecting Data: Table of contents:

	Gathering general information
	Manually Gathering General Information
	Gathering IBM Spectrum Protect Scheduler Problem Information
	Submitting Information to IBM Support
	Online Self-Help Resources
	Related Information

 

Gathering General Information

Entering general information into an electronically-opened Problem Case (previously called PMRs) eliminates waiting on the phone to provide general information to support.

 

Manually Gathering General Information

IBM Spectrum Protect can gather general information about the configuration into a file called dsminfo.txt by running the following IBM Spectrum Protect client command:
QUERY SYSTEMINFO
ex: dsmc query systeminfo -optfile=<path and filename of option file>

If you can not gather dsminfo.txt file generated with QUERY SYSTEMINFO, manually gather the following:

• Complete IBM Spectrum Protect client level to 6 digits - example 8.1.5.101
• IBM Spectrum Protect client options file used when the error occurs - dsm.opt or the value specified with OPTFILE parameter.
• IBM Spectrum Protect client system options file used when the error occurs - dsm.sys on Unix systems only
• IBM Spectrum Protect client error log - dsmerror.log or the value specified as ERRORLOGNAME parameter.
• IBM Spectrum Protect client schedule log - dsmsched.log or the value specified as SCHEDLOGNAME parameter
• IBM Spectrum Protect client web log - dsmwebcl.log - if the problem happened during a scheduled operation using a CAD managed scheduler.

The above IBM Spectrum Protect Client files can be found in the installation file path. The default installation path is:
Windows: C:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\baclient
Mac: /Library/Preferences/Tivoli Storage Manager and /Users/user1/logs
Netware: sys:\tivoli\tsm\client\ba
AIX: /usr/tivoli/tsm/client/ba/bin
HP/Linux/Solaris: /opt/tivoli/tsm/client/ba/bin

Provide the IBM Spectrum Protect server activity log for the timeframe between the client scheduled startup and completion using the QUERY ACTLOG command on the IBM Spectrum Protect server.
 

Gathering Scheduler Problem Information

IBM Spectrum Protect Client on Windows:
Gather the following additional outputs:
1. From a MS-DOS prompt, goto the baclient directory and issue the following commands (save each output to a file):
dsmcutil list
dsmcutil query /name:"name of service"
(repeat the query command above for each service name listed by the DSMCUTIL LIST command)

2. Start regedit (Start -> Run -> regedit) and export the registry key information for the following branches:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IBM\ADSM\CurrentVersion\BackupClient
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\YourTSMServiceName
(save the above key information for each service name listed by the DSMCUTIL LIST command)

IBM Spectrum Protect Client on Unix:
Gather the /etc/inittab file, if you have configured the IBM Spectrum Protect scheduler startup as a background process

IBM Spectrum Protect Client on Macintosh:
Confirm which of the two methods was used to setup the IBM Spectrum Protect Scheduler - refer to the IBM Spectrum Protect B/A client user's manual for details on setting up the IBM Spectrum Protect Scheduler

All IBM Spectrum Protect client versions:
If the problem stems from a schedule failure (such as a scheduled backup), answer the following questions:
1. When exactly did the problem first begin to occur?

• Ex: During daily evening scheduled backups on XX/XX/XXXX

2. Is the problem activity and symptoms easily re-creatable?

• Ex: Yes, the scheduled backup fails consistently every evening with the same error

3. Have other operations from this client been successful?

• Ex: If the scheduled backup fails, does a manual backup succeed?

4. Were there any specific changes to applications or patches applied that could be contributing to the behavior?

• Ex: Windows update applied patches X and Y
  Ex: Application X was recently upgraded from version X to version Y
  Ex: IBM Spectrum Protect scheduler service was recently uninstalled and reinstalled because of reason X

5. Have you researched the ANS message responses that result from the operation on the Support home web page for potential solutions (and what technotes did you find/use)?
6. If the problem is believed to be associated with a known APAR based on research from step 5 and the problem still exists after the upgrade, did any of the conditions around the failure change (and if so, how)?
7. If applications that perform similar activities as IBM Spectrum Protect are present on the system, does the IBM Spectrum Protect operation still fail after turning off those applications?

• Ex: St. Bernard OFS, HSM products, Disk management or file duplication utilities

8. Are there any other attributes of the system or network environment that make this problem unique from other systems that are not affected?
 

Submitting Information to IBM Support

After a Case is open, you can submit diagnostic troubleshooting data to IBM.

When data is uploaded to the Case, the status will be automatically be updated to acknowledge that data has been received. If you are still working with older Problem Management Records, you will want to update the PMR to indicate that you have sent the data.

 

Online Self-Help Resources

• Review up-to-date product information at the IBM Spectrum Protect page.

• Sign into your account on the Spectrum Protect Product page, to access additional resources or to open a Case with the Support team.

 

Related Information

• Exchanging information with IBM Technical Support
• Latest Server and Client Downloads - Fixpacks and Fixtests