Tivoli Storage Manager scheduler overview
The Tivoli® Storage Manager central scheduler allows client operations to occur automatically at specified times.
To understand scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager, several terms need to be defined:
- schedule definition
- A schedule definition on the Tivoli Storage Manager server specifies critical properties of an automated activity, including the type of action, the time the action should take place, and how frequently the action takes place. Numerous other properties can be set for a schedule. For information about the DEFINE SCHEDULE, see the Tivoli Storage Manager server documentation.
- schedule association
- A schedule association is an assignment to a specific schedule definition for a client node. Multiple schedule associations allow single schedule definitions to be used by many client nodes. Because schedule definitions are included with specific policy domains, it is only possible for nodes that are defined to a certain policy domain to be associated with schedules defined in that domain.
- scheduled event
- A scheduled event is a specific occurrence of when a schedule is run for a node. The following
conditions must be met before automatic scheduled events take place for a client:
- A schedule definition must exist for a specific policy domain.
- A schedule association must exist for the required node, which belongs to that policy domain.
- The client scheduler process must be running on the client system.
When creating a schedule definition on the Tivoli Storage Manager server, schedule actions that you can take
include incremental, selective, archive, restore, retrieve, image backup (does not apply to Mac OS
X), image restore (does not apply to Mac OS X), command, and macro. The scheduled action that is
most frequently used is incremental with the objects parameter left undefined.
With this setting, the backup-archive client performs a domain incremental backup of all file
systems defined by the client domain option. A schedule definition using the
command action allows an operating system command or shell script to be
executed. When automating tasks for Tivoli Storage Manager
for Data Protection clients, you must use command action schedule definitions,
which invoke the command-line utilities for those applications.
When creating a schedule definition on the Tivoli Storage Manager server, schedule actions that you can take
include incremental, selective, archive, restore, retrieve, imagebackup, imagerestore, command, and
macro. The scheduled action that is most frequently used is incremental with the
objects parameter left undefined. With this setting, the Tivoli Storage Manager client performs a domain incremental backup of
all drives defined by the client domain option. A schedule definition using the
command action allows an operating system command or shell script to be
executed. When automating tasks for Tivoli Storage Manager
for Data Protection clients, you must use command action schedule definitions,
which invoke the command-line utilities for those applications.
define schedule standard test1 action=incremental starttime=12:00:00 period=1
perunits=hour dur=30 duru=minutes| Event | Window start | Window end | Actual start (just an example, times vary) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12:00:00 | 12:30:00 | 12:05:33 |
| 2 | 13:00:00 | 13:30:00 | 13:15:02 |
| 3 | 14:00:00 | 14:30:00 | 14:02:00 |
| and so on |
The variation in actual start times is a result of the randomization feature provided by the Tivoli Storage Manager central scheduler which helps to balance the load of scheduled sessions on the Tivoli Storage Manager server.
- Examples: Blank spaces in file names in schedule definitions
When you define or update a schedule objects parameter or the schedule options parameter with file specifications that contain blank spaces, put quotation marks (") around each file specification that contains blanks, then add single quotes (') around the entire specification. - Preferential start times for certain nodes
Occasionally, you might want to ensure that a particular node begins its scheduled activity as close as possible to the defined start time of the schedule. The need for this typically arises when prompted mode scheduling is in use. - Scheduler processing options
Scheduler processing options determine what operations are performed when a scheduler job is started. - Client-acceptor scheduler services versus the traditional scheduler services
You can configure the Tivoli Storage Manager client to manage the scheduler process using the Tivoli Storage Manager client acceptor daemon. - Set the client scheduler process to run as a background task and start automatically at startup
You can configure the Tivoli Storage Manager client scheduler to run as a background system task which starts automatically when your system is started. - Examples: Display information about scheduled work
Schedules can be classic or enhanced, depending on how the interval to the next execution is defined. - Display information about completed work
When you run the schedule command in the foreground, your screen displays output from the scheduled commands. - Specify scheduling options
You can modify scheduling options in the client options file or the graphical user interface (GUI). - Scheduler options for commands
The scheduler executes commands under a user ID of 0 (root); however, some commands might need to be executed under a user ID other than 0. - Enable or disable scheduled commands
You can use the schedcmddisabled option to disable the scheduling of commands by the server. - Change processing options used by the scheduler service
When you configure the Tivoli Storage Manager central-scheduling services (the scheduler, the client acceptor, or the remote client agent), some of the processing options that you specify are defined in the Windows registry. - Manage multiple schedule requirements on one system
In certain situations it is preferable to have more than one scheduled activity for each client system.