System Programmer Reference › Backing Up Data › Backup Job Overview › Processing of Backup Jobs

Processing of Backup Jobs

A backup job can specify backing up SFS data, BFS data, CMS data, or all three. CA VM:Backup always starts backing up SFS and BFS data first, then CMS data. If there are more streams than storage groups, some streams will start with CMS data. If a stream finishes its SFS or BFS work, it will continue with CMS data. When a backup job starts, CA VM:Backup:

1. Verifies that the submitting user ID is an authorized CA VM:Backup system administrator or operator, or an authorized client
2. Verifies that CA VM:Backup was not initialized in restore-only mode
3. Scans the backup job definition to make sure it is a valid TEMPLATE file and that the resource pools specified in the job template file are defined in the VMBACKUP CONFIG file
4. Reads the current CP directory to obtain information for each minidisk included in the job as dictated by the backup job template file and associated exclusion file, if any
5. Verifies that file pools specified in the job are available and local to the CA VM:Backup service virtual machine (on the same system or node), and that the CA VM:Backup service virtual machine is enrolled as an administrator for those file pools
6. Performs the following steps, based on the type of data it is backing up SFS or BFS data:
   1. Obtains information from SFS about each file space included in the job as dictated by the backup job template file and associated exclusion file, if any. This information includes the storage group on which the file space resides.
   2. Acquires read-only links to all of the minidisks that make up the user storage group.
   3. Backs up the specified data to DASDtape or physical tape; as part of the backup, creates catalogs if specified and performs special processing (for example, data encryption) specified in the associated exception file, if any
7. Detaches the user storage group minidisks, acquires a read-only link to the next user storage group minidisks in the job, and continues backing up the data until all data has been backed up CMS data:
   1. Acquires a read-only link to the first minidisk in the job.
   2. Backs up the specified data to DASDtape or physical tape; as part of the backup, creates catalogs if specified and performs special processing (for example, data encryption) specified in the associated exception file, if any
   3. Detaches the minidisk, acquires a read-only link to the next minidisk in the job, and continues backing up the data until all CMS data has been backed up
8. When the job completes, if the job template contained the JOBOPTIONS JOBEND NOTIFY record, issues the JOBEND command to tell the submitting user ID that the job completed
9. If the job template contained the JOBOPTIONS ONETIME YES record, erases the job template and exception files for the completed job from its 191 minidisk

   Note: To make backups of CMS, SFS, and BFS data run more quickly, CA VM:Backup performs some processing ahead of time. For CMS data, CA VM:Backup pre-links three minidisks per stream. For SFS and BFS data, CA VM:Backup "prepares" three file spaces per stream. When it prepares a file space, CA VM:Backup makes sure the minidisks that comprise the storage group on which the file space resides are linked and then reads the SFS catalog records for the file space.