Automate your Tape Backups in iCluster
Tape backups can and should be run on the backup box and can easily be automated using a feature in iCluster called checkpoint user exits using the DMSETSYNC command. This feature has been around forever but is probably iCluster’s best kept secret. What a checkpoint user exit does is place user entries in journals (immediately at the time of issue) so that you can define synchronization points when journal entries are scraped, received, and applied in the source and target environments. A user exit program is invoked when group jobs for a target arrive at the checkpoint journal entries. So to put this in simple terms, run DMSETSYNC to call a CL program at the end of day before your nightly batch jobs run. When the journal transaction that contains the submit of this CL is applied on the target, it can end the apply process, run the backups and then restart the apply process.
One command and three CLs will accomplish this task:
DMSETSYNC GROUP(MYGROUP) USREXIT(MYLIB/SBMCHKPT)
The SBMCHKPT CL submits the CHKPTEXIT CL in batch
The CHKPTEXIT CL ends the apply process using DMENDAPY, calls a third CL called READPID which reads the HAPID file to make sure the apply process is down, then returns and submits your CL or save commands to do the backups, and then restarts the apply process for the group using DMSTRAPY. Access the Rocket Customer Portal product support to get the complete CL programs.
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