5. Initial Backup using the TSM Client

5.1. Introduction and CLI

Having installed the TSM Backup Client software, you will now want to back up your data. There are two methods for doing this, either using the command line tool or using the Java based GUI.

To use the command line tool, open a terminal and run dsmc. This will give you a command line interface (CLI). Or you can just run commands straight from the shell. For example

dsmc incr /home

For more in depth usage of the CLI, see Using the TSM Client Command Line Interface for Backup & Restore

5.2. Select all local partitions

The Java based GUI requires X windows, ksh and Java to work. From an X terminal run dsmj. The GUI first displays a splash screen, and then the TSM Hub window is displayed as below. From here you can select Backup under BACKUP.


        The TSM GUI Hub.

This pops up another window as below.


        TSM Backup window.

To just back up all local disks, click on the grey box to the left of the icon and the word Local. If you have more data than the daily backup limit you may not want to do this. Scroll down for other examples.


        TSM Backup window with Local selected.

The Local node in the tree has been ticked. Notice the parent node HFS-TEST-OUCS - this name will be replaced with your TSM nodename.

5.3. Back up Local Filesystems

Now to back up the files, all that is required is to click on Backup.


        Close up of Backup button.

This will then show a progress bar as below.


        TSM backing up some files

It is also possible to see a report of current progress by clicking on Report. If you want to interrupt the backup process, click on the Stop button.


        TSM backing up some files displaying a live report.

Once the backup process has completed then a message will pop up. It is possible for this to become hidden behind another window.


        Backup complete.

Clicking OK will return you to the TSM Hub window.

5.4. Selecting local filesystems

It is possible to select some partitions to manually back up.


        TSM Backup window.

To view the individual filesystems click on the small circle to the left of the tick box and the word Local. This will expand the tree to display the filesystem partitions.


        TSM Backup window expanded filesystesm

To select filesystem partitions click on the square grey box to the left of the partition name. In the example below the following partitions have been selected: /, /boot, /usr and /var.


        TSM Backup window with partitions selected.

To back up the files click on Backup. You may want to follow the screenshots above in 5.3. Back up Local Filesystems .

5.5. Exploring the filesystem

It is possible to expand the tree to see what will be backed up. This is done by clicking on the small circle to the left of the tick box.


        TSM Backup window with expanded tree.

You may have noticed the red circle over /tmp/. This means that it has been excluded in dsm.sys. If you click on the directory name or the icon to its left (in the example below bin has been selected) then the files will be displayed in the right-hand pane.


        TSM Backup window displaying files in a directory.

5.6. Selecting a directory

It is possible to select a particular directory to back up. In the example below it is /bin/. Notice that I have clicked on the selector box and then clicked on the folder icon or directory name (bin). This shows that by selecting the directory, all the file and folder objects in that directory are also selected in the right-hand window pane.


        TSM Backup window with a directory selected.

To back up the files click on Backup. You may want to follow the screenshots above in 5.3. Back up Local Filesystems .

5.7. Selecting a file

It is possible to select a particular file to back up (or even a number of individual files). In this example it is /etc/ssh/sshd_config.


        TSM Backup window with one file selected.

To back up the files click on Backup. You may want to follow the screenshots above in 5.3. Back up Local Filesystems .

To cancel any individual selection, click the selector box to toggle it off. To cancel all your selections first select the parent folder icon in the left hand pane, then choose the [Deselect Items] option from the [Edit] menu.

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