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FSFC Features and Upgrades - 4.3

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  • Features added in 4.3

    PowerHA Tools for IBM i 4.3 is now available GA. It has all the features and fixes from 4.2, but adds the following:

    • Removed the limit of how many CSE Data's it can manage (it used to be approximately 11)

    • Pause STRFSFLASH before IPL'ing the target LPAR, use RSMFSFLASH to resume

    • Increased the speed of BRMS transfer 3-5 fold

    • Give user choice whether to encrypt BRMS transfer

    • ZAPDDDLCK and DSPDDDLCK are shipped in the distribution packages

    • SSH enhancements

    • Simplified CRT/CHGCSEDTA panels

    • CHKFLASH/STRFLASH won't break when the DS is unavailable

    • Help text changes and updates

    • Various lock/unlock tweaks

    • Multi-flash improvements

    • Better retrieval of logs to controller

    • Validate source LPAR startup program isn't QZRDHASM/QZRDIASTRP prior to IPL Flashcopy

    • Many other minor tweaks and fixes

    The following features were added (or fixed) in the January 16th, 2018 build:

    • Data queue will be recreated if damage is detected

    • ENDFSFLASH handles previous failed STRFSFLASH

    • Program QZRDENDSBS included (source code and binary)

    • Ping reported failure despite being successful

    • BRMS *HIGH/*MED/*LOW compression removed (not valid for virtual tape)

    • Log includes toolkit version

    • Nuisance message CPIBC05 removed from logs

    • Miscellaneous log, joblog, help text and message fixes (typo's, missing, etc)

    • DMPVFYDTA added

    • No *FRCWRT prior to *SUSPEND

    • Collect joblogs for *CHGONLY

    • STRFSFLASH Pause and Resume (RSMFSFLASH) added

    • IASP CSEDTA flash options added back in

    • IAS0857 not issued during *IPL

    • Savefile name changed (from QZRDHASM_43 to QZRDHASM43)

    • SETUPFSFC and CHKFSFLASH reverts from QLPAR on failure

    • BRMS Xfer handles image catalog which already exists, and is more tolerant to resuming a transfer

    • Timing window modified to ensure trg.log is uploaded to the controller

    • Keylock parameters consistently work

    • Exit point *TGTSAVBRM added

    • DS8K FSFC license check fixed

    • Improper response to "Restart target" *inquiry message no longer results in MCH3601

    • MSG_ERROR put garbage in the job log

    • Double BRMS success messages caused lost log messages

    • Message sent to QSYSOPR indicating failure to restore BRMS is a program message (with a message ID)

    • Additional protections against updating media used outside of restricted media classes

    The following features were added (or fixed) in the February 1st, 2018 build:

    • Exit point *TGTBRMSAV properly blocks

    • FSR GMIR unscheduled switch tried to replicate in the wrong direction

    • BRMS Savefile removed after restore

    • Unable to receive BRMS if 3rd party message monitor messed with toolkit messages

    • Proper support for more than two tape devices

    The following features were added (or fixed) in the April 9th, 2018 build:

    • New feature added: Recovery Point FlashCopy and LUN Switches

    • Improvements to DMPVFYINF and DMPINF

    • New option when restarting target LPAR: *FRCINQ

    • STRFSFLASH removes all host connections before creating new ones

    • STRFSFLASH correctly handles multiple tape devices

    • Improved encryption error logging

    • Correctly handle IPL with negative response to confirmation message

    • Improvements in pulling joblogs

    • QUSRBRM savefile deleted on the source LPAR

    • WRKCSEDTA allows removing second tape device

    • RUNSVCCMD creates temp directory if not there

    • CRTCSEDTA handles spaces in secondary controller field

    • ENDFSFLASH fails if BRMS is not moved

    • STRFSFLASH handles NULLs returned from HMC instead of SRCs

    • WRKCSE, WRKCSEDTA and WRKCSEDRL check for cluster partitioned state

    • STRFSFLASH will use the LPAR name, not alias, when locking

    • STRFSFLASH unlocked source LPAR too soon

    • STRTCP on target only performed once, not once per IP listed

    • CHK/STRFSFLASH validates that there isn't an LPAR running on the target LUNs

    • Resolve Q1ABRMNET locking QUSRBRM on the target

    • Remove BRMS exit point on target to prevent BRMS locks

    • Better validation messages when incorrect SVC password entered

    • *LIBL not allowed when specifying Flashcopy Exit Program

    • Messages in viewlog cleaned up

    • More HMC error logging

    • F6 removed from confirm-delete panel

    • Incorrect message when attempting to add a LUN environment with a valid license

    The following features were added (or fixed) in the April 26th, 2018 build:

    • Remove non-standard Java parameters

    • New exit points *PRECHKCTL and *PREIPL

    • More Recovery Point Flash enhancements

    • Tape device enhancements

    • SVC Consistency group limit of 400 mappings increased to 1000

    • Additional logging

    • Deleting environments also clears out host connections

    • STRFSFLASH better handles source LPAR IPLing too fast

    • Logging updates

    • Import host connections (WRKCRSE opt 16) handles manually entering host names

    • Host connections can be specified with a filter

    • WRKCSEDTA no longer lists incomplete CSE Data's

    • Check of QSTRUPPGM fails if its in QSYS

    The following features were added (or fixed) in the August 20th, 2018 build:

    • MCH3401 on WRKCSECRDL resolved

    • SWRCYPNT allows changing copy rate

    • Handle consistency groups already in a prepared state

    • GMCV Flashcopy freeze monitoring time extended

    • *FRCINQ 'N' response will properly unlock BRMS

    • RSMFSFLASH no longer checks for flashcopy pre-conditions

    • RunSshTunnel has more logging

    • RunSshTunnel extended timeout interval for slow HMC/SVC/Network responses

    • WRKCSEDTA looks for existing CRGs instead of IFS objects

    • Remove the -force parameter when changing SVC host connections

    • MCH3601 from QZRDIAEXT2 in getJobLogs resolved

    • STR/CHKFSFLASH tolerates target LPAR powering up or down

    • Environment and CSE locking between cluster nodes improved

    • CHKCSEDTA changes to target host alias works

    • MSG_BUSY improvements (process interlocks)

    • Virtual tape devices will now start with Q to avoid system name collision

    The following features were added (or fixed) in the October 18th, 2018 build:

    • DMPVFYDTA to not include empty files

    • CHK/STRFSFLASH could IPL the wrong source LPAR if using FSR and environment has been switched

    • CLNICSMLOG was not removing the correct files

    • BRMS Xfer will exclude QA1ASP to prevent CPF3773 when restoring BRMS on the source in a busy BRMS network

    • Handle virtual tape resource name changes on IPL

    The following features were added (or fixed) in the March 5th, 2019 build:

    • SAVDDD / RSTDDD added

    • Increase number of concurrent ssh tunnels

    • Tolerate slower networks and HMCs

    • Allow use of --immed LPAR deactivation

    • Validate IP interfaces on target start even if TCP is running

    • BRMS Xfer more tolerant of CPF3773

    • Allow extending timeout limit from 30 to a specified number of hours

    • Added the SSPFRCWRT parameter to CHGASPACT

    The following features were added (or fixed) in the March 27th, 2020 build:

    • New location for BRMS flight recorder

    • Add timestamps to log records for RunSshTunnel

    • Flash time created for *IPL *CHGONLY

    • CSEDTA shutdown *NO and restart *NO changes to *YES/*NO

    • Miscellaneous enhancements to DMPVFYDTA

    • Send FSFC finished notifications to qsysopr as message with a message ID.

    • RTVINF shouldn’t try to set a DDD lock before ensuring that clustering is active

    • SBMBRMS loops when output priority of QLPAR is less than output priority of QLPARJOBD

    • WRKCSE allows code 82

    • Failed open of image file during ENDFSFLASH can caused the process to hang

    • When retrieving hardware resources, use *REPLACE instead of *ADD

    • DMPINF EXTDLOGS(YES) fails on invalid token message

    • Exit point *FINISH must be called on source for ENDFSFLASH *FAILBKU

    • Retry LODIMGCLG on source

    • RUNSVCCMD doesn't insert extra lines in known_hosts

    • Enable TCP KEEPALIVE for EXT2 socket

    • CRTCSECTA –license check for 88 is missing

    • Fix autostart cluster for WRKCSEDTA

    • Device Intervention required for FSFC process not works better

    • FSFC will not shut down and/remove the flash if “Start target after flashcopy” is *NO

    • Allow turn off DS8K ping

    • Exit point *PSTBKUTGT for non-BRMS sends correct status

  • Upgrading from 4.2 to 4.3

    To upgrade from 4.2 to 4.3, the CSE Data must be recorded, removed, and then recreated after the upgrade.

    All the controllers and source LPARs in a cluster must be at the same version (i.e. 4.3). We strongly recommend that they also all be at the same build date. The version and build date is stored in data area QZRDHASM/BUILD.

    The 4.3 controllers will support non-cluster source LPARs running at 4.3 or 4.2, which facilitates upgrading source LPARs in stages.

    To update the controllers:

    1. Ensure no STRFSFLASH or STRFLASH or SWCSE commands are in process.
    2. Issue WRKCSEDTA or DSPCSEDTA and record all the environments (opt 5)
    3. Issue WRKCSEDTA SELECT(*ALL) then delete them (opt 4)
      - Prior releases may not have WRKCSEDTA, therefore use WRKCLU opt 9 to remove the CRG's associated with CSE Data

    - At 4.3, there are no CRG's created with CSE Data for FSFC, so ensure that no associated data CRG's exist after deleting the CSE Data

    1. End the toolkit subsystem:
      ENDSBS QZRDFSR *IMMED
    2. On each controller, issue the restore command:
      RSTLIB SAVLIB(QZRDHASM) DEV(*SAVF) SAVF(QGPL/QZRDHASM43) MBROPT(*ALL) ALWOBJDIF(*ALL) OMITOBJ((QZRDHASM/*ALL *DTAQ))                              

    3. On each controlling partition:
      - issue the command SETUPFSFC NODEROLE(*CTL)

    4. On one controller LPAR (the data will be synchronized to other controllers):
      - Recreate the CSE data: WRKCSEDTA opt 1
      - NOTE: "BRMS save compression" must be *DEV, *YES or *NO. Other values are provided but they are not valid. They will be removed in later versions of the toolkit.

    To update a source LPAR:

    1. End the toolkit subsystem:
      ENDSBS QZRDFSR *IMMED

    2. On each source partition, issue the restore command:
      RSTLIB SAVLIB(QZRDHASM) DEV(*SAVF) SAVF(QGPL/QZRDHASM43) MBROPT(*ALL) ALWOBJDIF(*ALL) OMITOBJ((QZRDHASM/*ALL *DTAQ))                              

    3. On each source partition, issue the SETUPFSFC NODEROLE(*SRC) command

    4. The source LPAR’s startup program should be modified to include:
      QZRDHASM/RUNLPARCMD SRLN(xxxxxxx) LPAR(xx) CMD(CALL PGM(QZRDHASM/QZRDENDSBS))

      • Specify the target LPAR serial and LPAR numbers
      • Review QZRDHASM/QCLSRC QZRDENDSBS for changes

    After these steps have been performed, it is recommended that CHKFSFLASH be performed prior to the next planned flashcopy to test the configuration.

  • Updating 4.3 to a newer build date

    All the controllers and source LPARs in the cluster must be at the same version (i.e. 4.3). We strongly recommend that they also all be at the same build date. The version and build date is stored in data area QZRDHASM/BUILD.

    1. Ensure no STRFSFLASH or STRFLASH or SWCSE commands are in process.
    2. End the toolkit subsystem:
      ENDSBS QZRDFSR *IMMED

    3. Place the savefile on each controller and source LPAR and restore into QZRDHASM
      RSTLIB SAVLIB(QZRDHASM) DEV(*SAVF) SAVF(QGPL/QZRDHASM43) MBROPT(*ALL) ALWOBJDIF(*ALL) OMITOBJ((QZRDHASM/*ALL *DTAQ))                              

    4. On each controlling partition issue the command SETUPFSFC NODEROLE(*CTL)

    5. On each source partition, issue the command SETUPFSFC NODEROLE(*SRC)

    6. The source LPAR’s startup program should be modified to include:
      Early versions of 4.3 did not include this step. Skip if it has already been done.
      QZRDHASM/RUNLPARCMD SRLN(xxxxxxx) LPAR(xx) CMD(CALL PGM(QZRDHASM/QZRDENDSBS))

      • Specify the target LPAR serial and LPAR numbers
      • Review QZRDHASM/QCLSRC QZRDENDSBS for changes

    After these steps have been performed, it is recommended that CHKFSFLASH be performed prior to the next planned flashcopy to test the configuration.

  • Upgrading from 7.70 to 4.3

    Upgrading from the older (7.70) toolkit to the newer toolkit (4.2+) is a new implementation and requires a short consulting engagement.

    This can be performed remotely and includes skills transfer and new license keys.

    Both the old and new toolkits can co-exist on the same controllers and source LPARs.

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Document Information

Modified date:
05 May 2020

UID

ibm11138354

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