Backing up the Virtual I/O Server using IBM Tivoli Storage Manager incremental backup

You can back up the Virtual I/O Server at any time by performing an incremental backup with the IBM® Tivoli® Storage Manager.

Perform incremental backups in situations where the automated backup does not suit your needs. For example, before you upgrade the Virtual I/O Server, perform an incremental backup to ensure that you have a backup of the current configuration. Then, after you upgrade the Virtual I/O Server, perform another incremental backup to ensure that you have a backup of the upgraded configuration.

Before you start, complete the following tasks:

Ensure that you configured the Tivoli Storage Manager client on the Virtual I/O Server. For instructions, see Configuring the IBM Tivoli Storage Manager client.
Ensure that you have a mksysb image of the Virtual I/O Server. If you plan to restore the Virtual I/O Server to a different system from which it was backed up, then ensure that the mksysb includes information about user-defined virtual devices. For more information, see the following tasks:
- For instructions about how to create a mksysb image, see Backing up the Virtual I/O Server to a remote file system by creating a mksysb image.
- For instructions about how to save user-defined virtual devices, see Backing up user-defined virtual devices.

To perform an incremental backup of the of the Virtual I/O Server, run the dsmc command. For example,

dsmc -incremental sourcefilespec

Where sourcefilespec is the directory path to where the mksysb file is located. For example, /home/padmin/mksysb_image.