Enhancements to BRMS
Enhancements for the IBM Backup, Recovery, and Media Services (BRMS) for i solution are listed below. Many of these enhancements are delivered using the IBM i PTFs listed for each release. "Base" indicates that the enhancement is included in the base release.
It is recommended that BRMS PTFs should be applied immediate. The BRMS PTF exit program performs SQL operations which can cause unexpected delays and results if the BRMS PTF is applied delayed at the same time as DB related PTFs.
After installing the latest BRMS PTF, run STRMNTBRM.
2024-12-12
5770-BR1
5770-BR2
In version 7.4 and later:
BRMS SQL service enhancements have been added to view backup control group information. These new services give users the ability to view control group attributes, backup items and additionally backup and system policy settings.
2024-09-20
5770-BR1
In version 7.4 and later:
The BRMS delete product exit program processing has been enhanced to improve the migration to product 5770-BR2.
2024-09-09
5770-BR1
5770-BR2
2024-06-28
5770-BR1
5770-BR2
In version 7.4 and later:
The restore deferred object processing using RSTLIBBRM with multiple libraries or using a generic has been enhanced to run a single RSTDFROBJ DFRID(Q1ARSTID) at the end of the restore process.
RSTLIBBRM with a generic library parameter has been enhanced to restore libraries not currently on the system.
SQL service QUSRBRM.CG_BACKUP_STATUS has been enhanced to include archive control groups. NOTE: Archive control group data will be tracked after the PTF is applied and the control group has run. Archive control group runs prior to the PTF being applied are not tracked.
Phase 1 of BRMS web interface is available in 5770-BR2.
2024-03-15
5770-BR1
5770-BR2
In version 7.4 and later:
SETUSRBRM has been enhanced to add message BRM4009 to the BRM log.
BRMS exit program process for delayed apply of the BRMS PTF has been enhanced to remove SQL operations.
2023-12-11
7.5 SI84876, 7.4 SI84875, 7.3 SI84874
2023-10-06
7.5 SI84643, 7.4 SI84629, 7.3 SI84640
In version 7.4 and later:
BRMS support for 3592-70F tape drives and media with new *FMT3592A7 and FMT3592A7E densities has been added.
BRMS has been enhanced to support software data compression for tape and virtual tape.
In versions 7.4:
BRMS support for ZLIB compression option for save files added.
In version 7.3 and later:
Corrective action for CVE-2023-40377.
2023-09-07
7.5 SI84133, 7.4 SI84132, 7.3 SI84131
In Version 7.3 and later:
BRMS has been enhanced to support the new 3592-70F tape drive with *FMT3592A7 and FMT3592A7E densities.
7.5 SI84133
BRMS SQL service enhancements have been added to view the BRMS Functional Authority Information providing a way for administrators to view the functional authority information access set up for BRMS.
The SETUSRBRM command has been enhanced with the new USAGE(*REMOVE) parameter option to remove access to BRMS for a specified user (USER) parameter.
Note: *SECADM authority is required to use the SETUSRBRM command.
The Q3 2023 7.5 PTF SI84133, a SETUSRBRM command is required for each BRMS authorized user to take advantage of the new BRMS Functional Authority enhancements.
After SI84133 or superseding PTFs are applied, and a SETUSRBRM command has been run for each BRMS authorized user, BRMS will manage authorization for those users when new BRMS items are created (media policies, media classes control groups, etc.)
2023-06-09
7.5 SI83110, 7.4 SI83109, 7.3 SI83108
In Version 7.3 and later:
The BRMS for IBM Cloud using VTL iSCSI Device solution has been enhanced to IPL the iSCSI IOP when the control group brings the system out of restricted state.
The BRMS process to generate cloud turnkey volumes in image catalog Q1ABRMPOOL has been enhanced to set a valid move policy.
BRMS SQL service enhancements have been added to setup the IASP FlashCopy specific system synchronization environment.
2023-03-15
7.5 SI82234, 7.4 SI82233, 7.3 SI82232
In Version 7.3 and later:
BRMS SQL service enhancements have been added for BRMS Networking, Maintenance Policy functions, and copy control group support. These new services give users SQL procedures to set up a BRMS network, control maintenance options ran by control groups and procedures to copy control groups.
BRMS recovery report has been enhanced with attention block instructions to maintain the authority of customized output queues in library QUSRSYS during a disaster recovery.
2022-12-12
7.5 SI81688, 7.4 SI81687, 7.3 SI81686
In Version 7.3 and later:
BRMS has enhanced the network setup process to allow setting the local receives history and remote receives history values when adding a new system into the BRMS network.
The SAVBRM command has been enhanced to support the parameter OBJDTL(*YES) or OBJDTL(*NO) to specify whether object detail is kept in the BRMS database for IFS backups. The parameter default value is OBJDTL(*YES).
The BRMS PTF exit program processing has been enhanced to install the BRMS SQL Services when a BRMS PTF is applied.
7.5 SI81688
The SETUSRBRM command implementation has been enhanced to provide additional authority for the supplied USER() parameter to allow remote operations from a previous release for the specified USER parameter.
2022-10-26
7.5 SI81337, 7.4 SI81336, 7.3 SI81335
In Version 7.3 and later:
BRMS SQL service enhancements have been added for the BRMS enterprise function. These new services give users the ability to set up nodes in a BRMS enterprise network and to schedule and manage BRMS reports from a central system.
BRMS enterprise reporting has been enhanced to support the PRTMOVBRM command for reporting when using the new BRMS SQL service procedures.
BRMS has been enhanced with a new append to media volume selection which makes sure mounted volumes are reserved to the job before using them for backups. The purpose of this new volume selection algorithm is to prevent concurrent backup jobs from using the same volume.
The following non-recommended and previously deprecated functionality has been disabled:
The parameter Option OPTION(*SECUREDDM) with Action ACTION(*SET) on the Initialize BRMS (INZBRM) command has been disabled and will fail with message BRM412B. BRMS encourages using the alternate method of implementing the QDDMDRDASERVER special value in the SERVER parameter of Add Server Authentication Entry (ADDSVRAUTE) command. More information at Setting up a BRMS Network.
The Work with Media Policies (WRKPCYBRM *MED) command interface to create or change a media policy with a Media class special value of *ADSM has been disabled and will fail with message BRM1174. The reason for this change is that IBM Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) reached End of Support (EOS) in April of 2015.
2022-05-13
7.5 SI78291, 7.4 SI78290, 7.3 SI78289
In Version 7.3 and later:
BRMS recovery report has been enhanced to provide improved reporting for H/A environments. This support will provide a way to generate a single BRMS recovery report using tapes from your backup and production systems in an H/A environment.
BRMS using IBM Cloud Storage for i has been enhanced to improve BRMS network support. The purpose of this support is to ensure duplicate volume names are not generated when any system in the BRMS network is in restricted state or when the BRMS network synchronization job is not working.
BRMS has been enhanced with new SQL services for the BRMS log message distribution and log omits, media library management, and backup control group information.
BRMS has been enhanced to migrate control groups with GUI object omits to use object list omits.
7.3 SI78289
BRMS enhancements have been made to change the GUI only control group attributes for Allow activity overrides, Allow retention overrides, Lotus servers, Integrated Windows servers, and Guest partitions. More information at Interface to change GUI only control group attributes.
2021-12-13
In Version 7.3 and later:
BRMS has been enhanced with a new append to media volume selection which uses the same media policy retention for backups.
BRMS SQL Services now give users the option to view, order, and subset the BRMS control group backup status.
BRMS has been enhanced to manage BRMS SQL services during FlashCopy processing.
2021-09-14
In Version 7.3 and later:
BRMS has been enhanced to support Digital Certificate Manager (DCM) environments when doing cloud disaster recovery using BRMS with IBM Cloud Storage Solutions for i.
BRMS has been enhanced to support parallel backups and restores when using IBM Cloud Storage Solutions for i.
BRMS has been enhanced to support full system FlashCopy when using IBM Cloud Storage Solutions
for i.BRMS support for Ultrium 9 (LTO9) tape drives and media has been added.
DUPMEDBRM with SBMOPT(*YES) has been enhanced to delay when submitting multiple jobs to prevent volume selection collisions.
2021-06-10
7.4 SI76515, 7.3 SI76514, 7.2 SI76513
2021-04-14
7.4 SI75084, 7.3 SI75083, 7.2 SI75082
In Version 7.2 and later:
BRMS has been enhanced to provide improved cloud support for Network Installations using Network File System (NFS)
BRMS has been enhanced to support the IBM DSI VTL iSCSI device as a cloud backup solution using NFS.
2020-12-11
7.4 SI74479, 7.3 SI74478, 7.2 SI74477
In Version 7.2 and later:
BRMS SQL Services now give users the option to view, order, and subset the BRMS log information.
BRMS network sync job has been enhanced to improve performance by reducing the number of journal entries processed.
2020-09-10
7.4 SI73678, 7.3 SI73677, 7.2 SI73676
In Version 7.2 and later:
BRMS has been enhanced to provide BRMS SQL Services to view, order, and subset BRMS media.
BRMS move policy has been enhanced to support the movement of full volumes to a new location.
WRKOBJBRM command has been enhanced with a START() parameter to specify which saved object entries to display first.
STRMNTBRM with parameter PRTRCYRPT(*ALL) or PRTRCYRPT(*SAVEXCP) was enhanced to log message BRM1571 in the BRMS log with severity 0 if zero objects were not saved.
2020-06-12
7.4 SI72867, 7.3 SI72866, 7.2 SI72865
In Version 7.2 and later:
The PRTRPTBRM command using parameter TYPE(*CTLGRPSTAT) has been enhanced with a new EXPDATE parameter to allow reporting of active control group data.
The PRTRPTBRM command using parameter TYPE(*CTLGRPSTAT) output report has been enhanced to show if encryption was used during the backup of any control group entries.
BRMS changed the sync job for maintenance with the Reorganize BRMS database parameter RGZBRMDB(*YES) to reduce the amount of time there are locks on the network related files to help prevent locks during maintenance.
BRMS has been enhanced to allow the following values for IFS Backup Control Group Entries on the Save While Active attribute: *ALWCKWR, *ALWCKSY, *LNKALL, *LNKALLS.
Changes were made in the BRMS Recovery Report (QP1ARCY) to streamline the required recovery steps.
BRMS enhanced the BRMS Backup Control Group processing of an empty *OUTQ.
2020-03-13
7.4 SI71975, 7.3 SI73048, 7.2 SI71973
In version 7.2 and later:
BRMS has been enhanced to check the size of the restore data before performing the restore operation.
BRMS has been enhanced to include additional job log messages from backup and restore commands in the BRMS log.
BRMS will no longer write flight recorder logs or image catalog file in ‘/tmp/brms’. The BRMS flight recorders will be located in ‘/QIBM/UserData/BRMS/logs’. BRMS managed image file will be located in ‘/QIBM/UserData/BRMS/cloud’.
NOTE: BRMS maintenance needs to be run after applying the PTF to migrate existing BRMS managed image catalogs to their new locations. This initial BRMS maintenance job may run longer than normal depending on the size and number of images that need to be migrated.
2020-01-13
7.4 SI71876, 7.3 SI71875, and 7.2 SI71874
Changes were made in BRMS to address potential security concerns. Existing user profiles used to perform BRMS operations may require additional authority to allow proper access. Additional authority may be granted using the SETUSRBRM command with the new USAGE(*AUT) parameter option. Note: *SECADM authority is required to use the SETUSRBRM command.
BRMS enhanced the INZBRM OPTION(*FLASHCOPY) STATE(*STRPRC) processing to end the BRMS Enterprise subsystem named Q1ABRMENT.
BRMS now provides a Reclaim Media (Q1ARCLMED) API to reclaim a single tape volume.
Improved the IFS backup outfile processing performance.
BRMS support for DRDA/DDM Conjoined Mutual Authentication
To display the cloud Retain Media After Transfers retention period the following command can be run:
CALL PGM(QBRM/Q1AOLD) PARM('CLOUD ' 'RETAINDATA' 'S' 'mmmmmmmmmm' '*DSP')
where 'mmmmmmmmmm' is the move policy name.
2019-09-13
7.4 SI70626 - 7.3 SI70625 - 7.2 SI70624
BRMS has enhanced the way it processes job log messages to improve performance.
The STRRCYBRM command now orders *IBM and *ALLUSR libraries by ascending tape sequence order.
BRMS has been enhanced to provide turnkey virtual support when using media classes named QAVVRTTAP or QAVVRTOPT.
2019-07-19
7.4 SI70368 - 7.3