Requirements and limitations for Tivoli Storage Manager client management services

Tivoli® Storage Manager client management services is a component that you install on Tivoli Storage Manager backup-archive clients to collect diagnostic information such as client log files. Before you install the client management service on your system, you must understand the requirements and limitations.

In the documentation for the client management service, client system is the system where the backup-archive client is installed.

Requirements for the client management service

Verify the following requirements before you install the client management service:

To remotely access the client, the Operations Center administrator must have system authority or one of the following client authority levels:
- Policy authority
- Client owner authority
- Client node access authority
Ensure that the client system meets the following requirements:
- The backup-archive client must be at Tivoli Storage Manager Version 6 or Version 7.
- The client management service can be installed only on client systems that run on Linux or Windows operating systems:
  - Linux x86 64-bit operating systems that are supported for the backup-archive client
  - Windows 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems that are supported for the backup-archive client
- The SSL security protocol is required for transmission of data between the client management service and Operations Center. Basic authentication is provided and data and authentication information are encrypted through the SSL channel. SSL is automatically installed along with the necessary SSL certificates when you install the client management service.
On Linux client systems, you must have root user authority to install the client management service.
For client systems that can have multiple client nodes, such as Linux client systems, ensure that each node name is unique on the client system.
Tip: After you install the client management service, you do not have to install it again because the service can discover multiple client options files.

For the most up-to-date system requirements for the client management service, see http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21243309.

Limitations of the client management service

The client management service provides basic services for collecting diagnostic information from backup-archive clients. The following limitations exist for the client management service:

You can install the client management service only on backup-archive clients, and not on other Tivoli Storage Manager client components and products.
If the backup-archive clients are protected by a firewall, ensure that there is firewall connectivity between the Operations Center and the backup-archive client through the configured port for the client management service. The default port is 9028, but it can be changed.
The client management service scans all client log files to locate entries for the previous 72-hour period.
The Diagnosis page in the Operations Center provides basic troubleshooting information for backup-archive clients. However, for some backup issues, you might have to access the client system and obtain further diagnostic information.
If the combined size of the client error log files and schedule log files on a client system is more than 500 MB, delays can occur in sending log records to the Operations Center. You can control the size of the log files by enabling log file pruning or wrapping by specifying the errorlogretention or errorlogmax client option.
If you use the same client node name to connect to multiple Tivoli Storage Manager servers that are installed on the same server hardware, you can view log files for only one of the client nodes.