IBM Tape

From Leo's Notes
Last edited on 30 December 2021, at 01:07.

IBM tape devices are interfaced with the lin_tape device driver and is loaded as a Linux kernel module. Servers that require access to tape devices include Tivoli Storage Manager (for server or storage agents) or IBM Spectrum Archive. The lin_taped daemon creates the special device files that correspond to the tape devices.

After the lin_tape module is loaded, you can see all attached tape devices with /proc/scsi/IBMtape:

## On a TSM server with access to only LTO7 drives:
[root@tsm ~]# cat /proc/scsi/IBMtape
lin_tape version: 3.0.18
lin_tape major number: 243
Attached Tape Devices:
Number  model       SN                HBA             SCSI            FO Path
0       ULT3580-TD7 00078D15CE        lpfc            1:0:0:0         Primary
1       ULT3580-TD7 00078D15D3        lpfc            1:0:1:0         Primary
2       ULT3580-TD7 00078D1255        lpfc            1:0:2:0         Primary
3       ULT3580-TD7 00078D12D2        lpfc            1:0:3:0         Primary
4       ULT3580-TD7 00078D15CE        lpfc            2:0:0:0         Alternate
5       ULT3580-TD7 00078D15D3        lpfc            2:0:1:0         Alternate
6       ULT3580-TD7 00078D125C        lpfc            2:0:2:0         Primary
7       ULT3580-TD7 00078D1586        lpfc            3:0:0:0         Primary
8       ULT3580-TD7 00078D159C        lpfc            3:0:1:0         Primary
9       ULT3580-TD7 00078D125C        lpfc            3:0:2:0         Alternate
10      ULT3580-TD7 00078D1586        lpfc            4:0:0:0         Alternate
11      ULT3580-TD7 00078D159C        lpfc            4:0:1:0         Alternate
12      ULT3580-TD7 00078D12D2        lpfc            4:0:2:0         Alternate
13      ULT3580-TD7 00078D1255        lpfc            4:0:3:0         Alternate

## On a LTFSEE server with access to LTO8 drives on the same tape library:
[root@ltfs ~]# cat /proc/scsi/IBMtape                                                            
                                                                                                 
lin_tape version: 3.0.52                                                                         
lin_tape major number: 240                                                                       
Attached Tape Devices:                                                                           
Number  model       SN                       HBA                       SCSI            FO Path   
0       ULT3580-TD8 000780765B               qla2xxx                   5:0:0:0         Primary   
1       ULT3580-TD8 000780765B               qla2xxx                   3:0:0:0         Alternate 
2       ULT3580-TD8 0007807A0B               qla2xxx                   3:0:1:0         Primary   
3       ULT3580-TD8 0007807A4B               qla2xxx                   3:0:2:0         Primary   
4       ULT3580-TD8 0007807A0B               qla2xxx                   5:0:1:0         Alternate 
5       ULT3580-TD8 0007807A4B               qla2xxx                   5:0:2:0         Alternate


Additionally, the tape changers can be viewed with cat /proc/scsi/IBMchanger.

[root@tsm ~]# cat /proc/scsi/IBMchanger
lin_tape version: 3.0.18
lin_tape major number: 243
Attached Changer Devices:
Number  model       SN                HBA             SCSI            FO Path
0       03584L32    0000078BA6130401  lpfc            1:0:0:1         Primary
1       03584L32    0000078BA6130401  lpfc            2:0:0:1         Alternate
2       03584L32    0000078BA6130401  lpfc            3:0:1:1         Alternate
3       03584L32    0000078BA6130401  lpfc            4:0:1:1         Alternate

[root@ltfs ~]# cat /proc/scsi/IBMchanger                                                        
                                                                                                
lin_tape version: 3.0.52                                                                        
lin_tape major number: 240                                                                      
Attached Changer Devices:                                                                       
Number  model       SN                       HBA                       SCSI            FO Path  
0       03584L32    0000078BA6130402         qla2xxx                   3:0:0:1         Primary  
1       03584L32    0000078BA6130402         qla2xxx                   5:0:0:1         Alternate
2       03584L32    0000078BA6130402         qla2xxx                   3:0:2:1         Alternate
3       03584L32    0000078BA6130402         qla2xxx                   5:0:2:1         Alternate

See Also