For the five potential data integrity-related issues for Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack, more information about the problems, and, if available, a workaround and target fix date, are provided below:
Issue 1. IC64526 (Windows 2008/Vista only)
If you use Instant Restore to restore a volume, incremental snapshots taken after the Instant Restore completes might be corrupted. If you use the corrupted snapshots, data loss can occur.Who is affected:
Customers with Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack Version 5.5.x installed, using Instant Restore to restore protected volumes on systems running either Microsoft Vista or Microsoft Windows 2008.
Workaround #1:
After completing an Instant Restore, if an incremental snapshot is taken for any policy containing the volume, do not use any of the subsequent incremental snapshots of the restored volume. You can do either a checkpoint or a full snapshot for all snapshot chains that include this volume. (Remember: A volume might be protected by more than one policy.)
Complete the following steps:
-
- From FastBack Manager, go to the Configuration tab.
- In the navigation tree, locate the policies.
- Right click to select a policy; then, click either Run Check Point or Run Full Snapshot.
Note: Full snapshots require and use more repository space.
Workaround #2:
If you do not want to manually run a checkpoint or full snapshot after each Instant Restore, you can configure the FastBack Client to automatically run a delta block snapshot after the FastBack Client service is restarted, by making a change the FastBack Client configuration file on each system with either Microsoft Windows 2008 or Microsoft Vista, and FastBack Client.
Complete the following steps:
1. From a command prompt window, change to the directory with the FastBackClient.ini file. The default path for this file follows: C:\Users\All Users\Tivoli\TSM\FastBack\client
2. Enter the following command to make a copy of the existing FastBackClient.ini file:
copy FastBackClient.ini FastBackClient.previous
This copy is your backup copy.
3. Using Microsoft WordPad (do not use Notepad), open the FastBackClient.ini file.
4. Go to the [Save-State] section.
5. Set the Differential-After-Restart parameter to 0. You can refer to the following sample:
[Save-State]
Differential-After-Restart = 0
The 0 parameter means that the software runs delta block after any restart of the client.
6. Save and close the FastBackClient.ini file.
7. Restart the FastBack Client system.
Note, do not complete the previous steps if you have started a checkpoint or full snapshot from FastBack Manager (described in Workaround #1).
Fixes:
Release |
Vulnerable levels |
First level with fix within that release |
TSM FastBack 5.5 |
5.5.0.0 through 5.5.5.119 |
Target: 5.5.6 |
This issue does not affect Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack, Version 6.1.0.0.
Issue 2. IC63799 (Disaster Recovery Server users only)
During a disaster recovery process, at the end of the process a locking mechanism does not lock some of the files. If a user starts FastBack Mount, an Instant Restore, or a Bare Machine Recovery and accesses files that should be locked, data that is being restore can become corrupted. If the data is corrupted, data loss can occur.
Who is affected:
Anyone who has installed IBM Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack Version 5.5.x and uses the Disaster Recovery Server. The problem occurs when you use FastBack Mount, or run an Instant Restore or Bare Machine Recovery on the Disaster Recovery Server while a disaster recovery task that fails to lock files correctly is running. This problem can also affect any customer that uses FilesX Xpress Restore 3.5.x and uses the Disaster Recovery Server.
Workaround:
Complete the following steps:
1. You may be able to download the following application from the following Microsoft Web site: junction.exe at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896768.aspx
2. Save the junction.exe file to the following location: %ProgramFiles%\Junction\junction.exe
3. Stop the FastBack Disaster Recovery Service.
4. From a command line prompt, change to the ftp home directory.
5. For each branch directory (for example, REP_BranchName), complete the following steps:
-
%Program Files%\Junction\junction.exe <Ftp_root_dir>\REP_BranchName\STAGE <Ftp_root_dir>\REP_BranchName
a. Under REP_BranchName, delete the STAGE directory.
b. Use the junction.exe application to recreate the STAGE directory. To complete this step, enter the following command:
6. Restart the FastBack Disaster Recovery Server.
For any REP_BranchName items created in the future, you need to repeat step 5b for the new REP_BranchName item.
If you want to verify that the junction functionality is working, you can create a file under <Ftp_root_dir>\REP_BranchName\STAGE and verify that the file is seen from the following directory: <Ftp_root_dir>\REP_BranchName
Fixes:
Release |
Vulnerable levels |
First level with fix within that release |
TSM FastBack 5.5 |
5.5.0.0 through 5.5.5.119 |
Target: 5.5.6 |
FilesX Xpress Restore 3.5 |
3.5.165 through 3.5.802 |
Not planned |
This issue does not affect Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack, Version 6.1.0.0.
Issue 3. IC64238 (Instant Restore users only)
During the Instant Restore process, access to the snapshot data in the repository might be denied. For example, a temporary network connectivity issue might restrict access to snapshot data in the repository.
(Windows 2000, 2003, XP only)
When access to the snapshot data in the repository is denied, the following message is displayed:
Read block from source have failed. The problem
may have been caused by a network failure.
See log file for more details.
If the problem was caused by a network failure,
correct the problem and resume the session.
(Windows 2008 and Windows Vista only)
When access to the snapshot data in the repository is denied, the “Read block from source have failed…” message might not be visible. The message is not visible if the system reboots while the Instant Restore process is running. For more details about this issue, you can refer to APAR IC63385.
You can ensure that this message is displayed by changing the FastBack Mount service mode to manual before launching the Instant Restore process. You can use the Windows Service Manager to make this change.
(All supported Windows OSs)
The Instant Restore process is paused until the problem is resolved. After the problem is resolved, you have to manually resume the Instant Restore process.
When the Instant Restore process is paused, applications can continue to access the volume that is being restored. This access may cause a data loss problem after the Instant Restore process is resumed.
Who is affected:
Anyone who uses Instant Restore to recover data with IBM Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack, Version 5.5.x. This problem also affects customer using FilesX Xpress Restore 3.5.x.
To determine if any data loss has occurred, check the system where the Instant Restore ran. If you identify a problem occurred during an Instant Restore, contact IBM Software Support for Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack.
Recommendation:
As an alternative to using Instant Restore, you can use the volume restore process.
Fixes:
Release |
Vulnerable levels |
First level with fix within that release |
TSM FastBack 5.5 |
5.5.0.0 through 5.5.5.119 |
Target: 5.5.6 |
FilesX Xpress Restore 3.5 |
3.5.165 through 3.5.802 |
Not planned |
This issue does not affect Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack, Version 6.1.0.0.
Issue 4. IC64240
When running the cleanup process, Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack might identify a snapshot chain that includes corrupted data. If a chain with corrupted data is detected, by default, the next snapshot that runs creates a full snapshot. This full snapshot is a good back up, but, note, all previous back up data might be corrupted.
If a snapshot chain that includes corrupted data is identified, snapshots on the chain prior to the full snapshot are available for use. Use these snapshots with caution because using a corrupted chain can result in corrupted data or in data loss.
Who is affected:
Anyone who has installed IBM Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack Version 5.5.x or FilesX Xpress Restore 3.5.x.
This problem also affects anyone who has installed IBM Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack Version 6.1.0.0. For Version 6.1.0.0, a message alerts you to this issue.
Workaround:
After a corrupt chain is identified, a message is written to the customer log file. To view the log file, from FastBack Manager, go to the Configuration tab. In the navigation area, there is an entry for the FastBack Server Log. Select this entry to view the log in the main window.
If a corrupt chain is identified, the following message is in the log file:
The cleanup process <volume/policy description> failed at a critical point. A repair job will be scheduled to fix the chain.
(All supported Windows operating systems except Windows 2008)
If the customer file log is filled with a large amount of data, go to the following directory:
../Documents & Settings/All users/application data/Tivoli/TSM/FastBack/server
Look at the clogxxx.log files and search for the message provided above.
(Windows 2008 only)
If the customer file log is filled with a large amount of data, go to the following directory: ..\ProgramData\Tivoli\TSM\FastBack\server
Look at the clogxxx.log files and search for the message provided above.
If the customer log file does not include a message about a corrupt chain, you can use the chain to restore data.
Recommendation:
Use the Workaround to determine if a corrupt chain has been identified. If the customer log file reports that a chain is corrupted, do not perform a restore of this chain. If you perform a restore using this chain, data loss and / or data corruption occurs (because a snapshot with corrupted data is used).
If the customer log file reports that a chain is corrupted, before mounting or performing a volume restore, you can use the following procedures to identify the data corruption or data loss issues:
-
- Run the file system check tool. You might have to refer to the operating system documentation for more help in completing this step.
- Run the application consistency check tool. You might have to refer to the operating system documentation for more help in completing this step.
Fixes:
Release |
Vulnerable levels |
First level with fix within that release |
TSM FastBack 6.1.0 |
6.1.0.0 |
Target: 6.1.1 |
TSM FastBack 5.5 |
5.5.0.0 through 5.5.5.119 |
Target: 5.5.6 |
FilesX Xpress Restore 3.5 |
3.5.165 through 3.5.802 |
Not planned |
Issue 5. IC64414
Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack does not support protecting LUNs greater than 2 TB.
Who is affected:
All Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack and FilesX Xpress Restore customers backing up LUNs greater than 2 TB. |