@Marco Lachance , hope all is well!

Let me talk to some folks internally who might know.  I’m with you on AS400 knowledge 

Hi @Marco Lachance,

I’ll address these two questions separately

FS vs VTL - It depends on the use case:

If you want to use Commvault data backups, any storage type, multiple copies of the data, our dedupe engine etc etc then FS is the way to go.

If you have strict requirements on using fibre directly from the IBM i for backup, or you cannot use FS for backup (Either: more than 32 libraries need to be be part of the synclib, and you cannot stop/start applications on the IBM i) then VTL would be the option.

DR Subclient - Used for 1-Touch

The DR Subclient will perform a SAVSYS on the IBM i, we issue the command, IBM i goes into restricted state, runs a SAVSYS, creates and ISO locally, comes out of restricted state, ISO is backed up to Storage Pool.
This ISO (along with the other default subclient backups) can then be used for bare metal/ 1-Touch recovery.

Hope this helps

Rob

Thank’s @Rob 

It helps, but what do I need to provide for those 3 lines ?
Custom Scripts or Existing AS400 Command ?
All 3 ones or only one will do the jobs ?
And for the 1-Touch recovery, do we put the ISO on the HMC and boot from there ?

Thank you again

Hi @Marco Lachance,

These three are optional, and only required if you need to perform certain actions on the IBM:

Command to bring the system into restricted state box: Here you would add any commands that your system requires to set the IBMi LPAR to a restricted state.
 

Program to execute while the system is in restricted state box: Enter the full path to the program the software runs after the DVD catalog images are created and before the system returns from the suspended state.
 

Run custom startup program box: Type the full path to the program that starts the subsystems.

You can read about the full config here:
https://documentation.commvault.com/11.24/expert/16261_configuring_ibm_i_file_system_agent_1_touch_disaster_recovery_subclients.html

For the ISO, you would mount it somewhere the system can boot from it in MANUAL-D
https://documentation.commvault.com/11.24/expert/100221_creating_virtual_dvds_on_vios_for_ibm_i_disaster_recovery.html

https://documentation.commvault.com/11.24/expert/16271_restoring_minimal_operating_system_os_for_ibm_i_file_system_agent_client.html

Hi ​@Rob, 

Can you help to explain why we need VTL instead of FS if we cannot stop/start applications on the IBM i?

I have zero knowledge in IBM i. Thank you.

​@Aris 

First, it is essential to understand that IBM i consists of Libraries and Objects.

A library is like a folder (in Windows) and can hold Objects. You should note that you cannot have sub-libraries like you would subfolders, so all libraries are at the same level.

Objects can be things like programs, data files, reports, etc., and they are stored within libraries.

When running a backup of IBM i we want all the libraries to be synchronised so we can get a consistent backup of all the objects in the backup.

If you can stop your application when the backup runs, the libraries will be in sync as they are not in use.

If you cannot stop your application, we use an IBM process called Synclib to synchronise the libraries and get the required consistency.

Our agent for streaming backup is restricted (by IBM) to synchronising a maximum of 32 libraries at a time.

So, if your application has more than 32 libraries and you cannot stop it, you may need to consider using VTL2.0 backups.

When using Commvault VTL2.0, we use native IBM commands to perform the backup, which do not have a restriction on the number of libraries synclib can synchronize.