Administrator's Guide


Managing Client Nodes

Managing client node registration includes:


Task Required Privilege Class
Set registration to open or closed System
Register client nodes to any policy domain System or unrestricted policy
Register client nodes to specific policy domains and assign the nodes to a specified client option set System, unrestricted policy, or restricted policy for those domains
Update, rename, lock, or unlock any client nodes System, unrestricted policy
Update, rename, lock, or unlock client nodes assigned to specific policy domains System, unrestricted policy, or restricted policy for those domains
Define client options from the server System or unrestricted policy
Request information about client nodes or file spaces Any administrator
Delete any file space from storage pools System or unrestricted policy
Delete file spaces defined for client nodes assigned to specific policy domains System, unrestricted policy, or restricted policy for those domains
Remove any client nodes System or unrestricted policy
Remove client nodes assigned to specific policy domains System, unrestricted policy, or restricted policy for those domains

Setting Client Node Registration

Before a user can request backup or archive services, the workstation, or client node, must be registered with the server.

ADSM provides two methods for registering client nodes with an ADSM server:

Open registration
Users register their own client nodes. ADSM prompts the client for an ADSM node name, password, and contact information.

Closed registration
An administrator must register each client node.

At installation, registration is set to closed. To set registration to open, enter:

set registration open
Note:Existing registered client nodes are not affected by changes to the registration process.

Defining Client Options from the Server

Central client configuration allows an administrator to define a set of client options to be used by a client node at ADSM Version 3. The client options specified in the set are used in conjunction with the client options file. This allows an administrator to specify additional options that may not be included in the client's option file. Specify the option set with the REGISTER NODE or UPDATE NODE commands. The client can use these defined options during a backup, archive, restore, or retrieve process.

To define a client option set and have the clients use the option set, do the following:

  1. Create the client option set with the DEFINE CLOPSET command.

  2. Add client options to the option set with the DEFINE CLIENTOPT command.

  3. Specify which clients should use the option set with the REGISTER NODE or UPDATE NODE command.

Creating a Client Option Set

When you create a client option set, you define a name to the option set, and can optionally provide a description of the option set. For example:

define cloptset engbackup description='Backup options for eng. dept.'
Note:The option set is empty when it is first defined.

Setting Client Options in an Option Set

You can set client options in a defined client option set.

The following example shows how to set a client option in the engbackup option set.

define clientopt engbackup schedlogretention 5

For a list of valid client options you can specify, refer to ADSM Administrator's Reference.

ADSM automatically assigns sequence numbers to the specified options, or you can choose to specify the sequence number for order of processing. This is helpful if you have defined more than one of the same option as in the following example.

define clientopt engbackup include d:\adsm
define clientopt engbackup include d:\payroll

A sequence number of 0 is assigned to the option include d:\adsm. A sequence number of 1 is assigned to the option include d:\payroll. If you want to specifically process one option before another, include the sequence parameter as follows:

define clientopt engbackup include d:\adsm sequence=2
define clientopt engbackup include d:\payroll sequence=1

The FORCE parameter allows an administrator to specify whether a client node can override an option value. The default value is NO. If FORCE=YES, the client cannot override the value.

Register Client Nodes and Assign Them to an Option Set

You can register or update a client node and specify an option set for the client to use as follows:

register node mike pass2eng cloptset=engbackup

The client node MIKE is registered with the password pass2eng. When the client node MIKE performs a scheduling operation, his schedule log entries are kept for 5 days.

Updating the Sequence Number for a Client Option

You can update the sequence number for a client option to change its processing order. This is helpful if you have more than one of the same option, for example several INCLUDE options.

The following example shows how to change the sequence number for the DATEFORMAT option from 0 to 9:

update clientopt engbackup dateformat 0 9

Deleting an Option from a Client Option Set

You can remove an option that is defined in a client option set. The following example shows how to remove the SCHEDMODE polling option from the financeschd option set:

delete clientopt financeschd schedmode

Copying a Client Option Set

You can copy an existing client option to another option set. The following example shows how to copy the engbackup option set to financeschd option set:

copy cloptset engbackup financeschd

Requesting Information about a Client Option Set

To display information about the contents of a client option set, issue the following command:

query cloptset financeschd

Updating the Description for a Client Option Set

You can update the description for a client option set. The following example shows how to update the description for the engbackup option set:

update clopset engbackup description='Scheduling information'

Deleting a Client Option Set

When you delete a client option set, client node references to the option set are null. The clients continue to use their existing client options file. The following example shows how to delete the engbackup client option set:

delete cloptset engbackup

Registering Client Nodes

There are two methods for client registration: open registration and closed registration. Users can register themselves to the server when registration has been set to open. Administrators can register client nodes when registration is set to open or closed.

User Registration of Client Nodes

Under open registration, when a user accesses ADSM from an unregistered workstation, the server prompts the user for a password and contact information and registers the workstation as a client node with the server. On UNIX systems, only the root user can register a workstation as a client node with the server.

ADSM sets the following defaults:

To change the defaults after the client node has been registered, you can update the client node (see "Updating Client Node Information").

Administrator Registration of Client Nodes

To register a client node under open or closed registration, an administrator provides some or all of the following information:

For example, you want to register three workstations from the engineering department and assign them to the ENGPOLDOM policy domain. (Before you can assign client nodes to a policy domain, the policy domain must exist. For information about how to define a policy domain, see Chapter 12. "Managing Client Data Using Policies".)

You want to set file compression on and let the users delete backed up or archived files from storage pools. From an administrative client, you can use the macro facility to register more than one client node at a time. For this example, you create a macro file named REGENG.MAC, that contains the following REGISTER NODE commands:

register node ssteiner choir contact='department 21'
domain=engpoldom compression=yes archdelete=yes backdelete=yes
register node carolh skiing contact='department 21, second shift'
domain=engpoldom compression=yes archdelete=yes backdelete=yes
register node mab guitar contact='department 21, third shift'
domain=engpoldom compression=yes archdelete=yes backdelete=yes

Next, issue the MACRO command:

macro regeng.mac

For information on the MACRO command, see ADSM Administrator's Reference.

Registering a Source Server as a Node on a Target Server

To use virtual volumes, the source server is registered as a client node on the target server.

The REGISTER NODE and UPDATE NODE commands have a default parameter of TYPE=CLIENT. To register a source server as a node you must specify the TYPE=SERVER parameter. For details, see Chapter 4. "Storing Data on Another Server".

Managing Client Node Access

You can control client node access to ADSM by updating or renaming client nodes or by locking and unlocking client nodes from the server.

Updating Client Node Information

You can update the following client node information:

For example, you can update client node TOMC to prevent him from deleting archived files from storage pools by entering:

update node tomc archdelete=no

Renaming Client Nodes

You can rename a client node if the workstation network name or host name changes.

For example, with UNIX systems, users define their ADSM node named based on the value returned by the HOSTNAME command. When users access the server, their ADSM user IDs match the host name of their workstations. If the host name changes, you can update a client node user ID to match the new host name.

For example, to rename CAROLH to ENGNODE, enter:

rename node carolh engnode

ENGNODE retains the contact information and access to backup and archive data that belonged to CAROLH. All files backed up or archived by CAROLH now belong to ENGNODE.

Locking and Unlocking Client Nodes

You can prevent a client node from accessing the server and performing functions such as back up and restore or archive and retrieve. You can later let the client node reaccess the server. For example, to prevent client node MAB from accessing the server, enter:

lock node mab

To let client node MAB access the server again, enter:

unlock node mab

Requesting Information about Client Nodes

You can request information about client nodes. For example, as a policy administrator, you might query the server about all client nodes assigned to the policy domains for which you have authority. Or you might query the server for detailed information about one client node.

Client Nodes Assigned to Specific Policy Domains

You can display information about client nodes assigned to specific policy domains. For example, to view information about client nodes assigned to STANDARD and ENGPOLDOM policy domains, enter:

query node * domain=standard,engpoldom

The output from that command might look like this:


+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Node Name    Platform     Policy Domain   Days Since   Days Since   Locked?     |
|                          Name                  Last     Password               |
|                                              Access          Set               |
|----------   --------     --------------  ----------   ----------   -------     |
|DEBBYG         DOS        STANDARD                 2          12    No          |
|ENGNODE        AIX        ENGPOLDOM               <1           1    No          |
|HTANG          OS/2       STANDARD                 4          11    No          |
|MAB            AIX        ENGPOLDOM               <1           1    No          |
|PEASE          AIX        STANDARD                 3          12    No          |
|SSTEINER       (?)        ENGPOLDOM               <1           1    No          |
|                                                                                |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

A Specific Client Node

You can view information about specific client nodes. For example, to review the registration parameters defined for client node JOEAIX, enter:

query node joeaix format=detailed

The resulting report would look like this:


+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                     Node Name: JOEAIX                                          |
|                      Platform: AIX                                             |
|               Client OS Level: n/a                                             |
|                Client Version: Version 3, Release 0, Level 6.1                 |
|            Policy Domain Name: AIXUSERS                                        |
|         Last Access Date/Time: 1997.06.04 16.34.13                             |
|        Days Since Last Access: <1                                              |
|        Password Set Date/Time: 1997.05.09 23.54.57                             |
|       Days Since Password Set: 26                                              |
|         Invalid Sign-on Count: 0                                               |
|                       Locked?: No                                              |
|                       Contact:                                                 |
|                   Compression: Client's Choice                                 |
|       Archive Delete Allowed?: Yes                                             |
|        Backup Delete Allowed?: No                                              |
|        Registration Date/Time: 1997.05.09 23.54.57                             |
|     Registering Administrator: ADMIN                                           |
|Last Communication Method Used: Tcp/Ip                                          |
|   Bytes Received Last Session: 149                                             |
|       Bytes Sent Last Session: 500                                             |
|Duration of Last Session (sec): 403.19                                          |
|   Pct. Idle Wait Last Session: 0.02                                            |
|  Pct. Comm. Wait Last Session: 0.00                                            |
|  Pct. Media Wait Last Session: 0.00                                            |
|                     Optionset: AIX_OPT                                         |
|                           URL: http://JOEAIX:2121/webshell                     |
|                     Node Type: Client                                          |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Requesting Information about File Spaces

A file space name identifies a group of files that are stored as a logical unit in server storage. On registered client nodes, users can define file spaces for their workstation.

On client nodes such as OS/2 or DOS, a file space name identifies a logical partition, such as the volume label of a disk drive. For example, a volume with the label XYZ is a different file space from a volume with the label ABC.

On client nodes such as AIX or SunOS, a file space name identifies a file system or file space defined by a user with the VIRTUALMOUNTPOINT option. With this option, users can define a virtual mount point for a file system to back up or archive files beginning with a specific directory or subdirectory. For information on the VIRTUALMOUNTPOINT option, refer to the appropriate ADSM Using the Backup-Archive Client.

You can display file space information in order to:

You display file space information by identifying the client node name and file space name.
Note:File space names are case-sensitive and must be entered exactly as known to the server.

For example, to view information about file spaces defined for client node PEASE, enter:

query filespace pease *

The following figure shows the output from this command. The report shows that client node ID PEASE:


+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Node Name                      Filespace   Platform Filespace Capacity %Util    |
|                               Name                 Type          (MB)          |
|------------------------------ ----------- -------- --------- -------- -----    |
|PEASE                          /home/peas- AIX      JFS          196.0  91.7    |
|                                e/dir                                           |
|PEASE                          /home/peas- AIX      JFS          328.0  81.0    |
|                                e/dir1                                          |
|PEASE                          /home/peas- AIX      JFS           46.9  96.0    |
|                                e/dir2                                          |
|                                                                                |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Deleting File Spaces and Client Nodes

You can delete a client node from a server, but first you must delete all of that client's data from server storage by deleting any file spaces belonging to the node.

Deleting a File Space

You may want to delete a file space when:

Removing Client Nodes

After all file spaces belonging to a client node have been deleted (see "Deleting a File Space"), you can delete the client node.

For example, to remove client node DEBBYG, enter:

remove node debbyg


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