How the Networked Systems Receive Media Information

Every System i platform in a BRMS network group receives media inventory updates, regardless of which system makes the change. You can instruct BRMS to update the media content information. To do so, take the following steps:

1. Type WRKPCYBRM *SYS at a command line and press Enter. This takes you to the System Policy menu.
2. Select option 4 (Change Network Group). This takes you to the Change Network Group display.

                             Change Network Group                 RCHAS400 APPN   
                                                                                  
    Network group . . . . :  *MEDINV           Position to  . . . . :             
    FlashCopy state . . . :  *ENDPRC                                              
    Communication method  :  *AVAIL            *AVAIL, *IP, *SNA, *NONE           
    Notify period . . . . :     30             30-99999 seconds                    
    Type options, press Enter.                                                     
      1=Add   4=Remove   8=Set time                                                
                                                                                   
         Remote Local    Remote     System            Network                      
    Opt Location Name  Network ID   Status            Status                       
     _     ________     ________                                                   
           SYSTEM04     ITSCNET     Offline           Inactive                     
                                                                                   
                                                                                   
                                                                                   
                                                                                   
                                                                            Bottom 
                                                                                   
    F3=Exit    F5=Refresh    F11=BRMS Media Information    F12=Cancel              

3. Press F11 to get to the BRMS Media Information panel. You will then see the BRMS Media Information for both the local system and the remote system.

                             Change Network Group                 RCHAS400 APPN    
                                                                                   
    Network group . . . . :  *MEDINV           Position to  . . . . :              
    FlashCopy state . . . :  *ENDPRC                                               
    Communication method  :  *AVAIL            *AVAIL, *IP, *SNA, *NONE            
    Notify period . . . . :     30             30-99999 seconds                    
    Type options, press Enter.                                                     
      1=Add   4=Remove   8=Set time                                                
                                    -----BRMS Media Information-----               
         Remote Local    Remote       Local     -------Remote-------               
    Opt Location Name  Network ID    Receives   Receives   Overrides               
     _     ________     ________                                                   
           SYSTEM04     ITSCNET       *NONE     *LIB         *NO                   
                                                                                   
                                                                                   
                                                                                   
                                                                            Bottom 
                                                                                   
    F3=Exit    F5=Refresh    F11=Main Network Panel       F12=Cancel               

4. Change the value in the BRMS Media Information panel’s Local Receives column to *LIB. The default value for this field is *NONE, which indicates that BRMS can share only media information with this system. Thus, to review the contents of a volume belonging to another system on this system, BRMS must use DDM to retrieve the information. In this case, then, BRMS must have an active communications link to DDM.

   The system does not require DDM to retrieve this information if you use the *LIB option. To do so, select option 13 (Display contents) from the Work with Media display. Option 13 takes you to the Work with Media Information display. If a failure occurs, you can use synchronized media information to build a recovery report for the failed system. You can use this local database to recover objects that belong to another system.

   Note:

   In releases previous to 7.1, the local systems BRMS media information receive value is for all the systems in the network. Once you specify *LIB for the local systems Receive Media Information field, that meant all systems in the network will send their media information to the local system. In release 7.1 or later we have provided the ability to customize more at the system level. You may choose to only allow specific systems to send their media information.
5. Press Enter to apply your changes.

You can change the BRMS Media Information panel’s Local Receives column at any time. The synchronization process may take longer if your network contains a large number of media information records. Therefore, you should not change this field frequently.

If you want to add a previously networked system that still contains a media inventory, ensure that you do not move the media inventory from the old system to an existing one. Specifically, do not run the INZBRM *NETSYS command on the existing system when you add the old system to the network. Instead, run the INZBRM *NETSYS command on the new system to the existing system by using the FROMSYS parameter.

Once the network is operational, you should regularly verify that it is working properly. For more information about how to verify your network, see Checking BRMS Network Synchronization.