Hi all,

I have a backup server (TSM) which has been running with a generic scsi driver for the attached VTLs/Drives. I need to make a switch from that device driver to lin_tape. Lin_tape is already installed. My linux (newbie) question is this: do I need to unload the sg device driver first (mobprobe -r) before attempting to load the lin_tape driver to create my new, IBM* devices?

Sincere thanks,
C.J.

Well, there's not a lot we can tell you based on what you posted...we have no details. You tell us nothing about the version/distro of Linux, what models of tape drives, why you want to change the driver, version of TSM, etc. Short answer: yes.

Longer answer: If you're using IBM hardware with TSM, NEITHER is cheap, so this is for a company, and you are paying for support. If you have ANY doubts at all, calling support should be your first stop. You are probably also going to have to make some system changes, to prevent the older driver from automatically loading at reboot, unless you've already tried that...did you?? If you just installed that lin_tape driver (how???) did you reboot to see if it took effect?

Thank you for the reply, TB0ne.

More details:
* The version of TSM on this box is 7.1.4.
* The version of red hat is: Linux version 3.10.0-229.el7.x86_64 (mockbuild@x86-035.build.eng.bos.redhat.com) (gcc version 4.8.3 20140911 (Red Hat 4.8.3-7) (GCC) ) #1 SMP Thu Jan 29 18:37:38 EST 2015
* The drives/libraries are all on HP StoreOnce 6500 devices. The drives are all emulating LTO5.
* lin_tape version: 3.0.16

Why do I want to change the driver? I would like like to set up persistent naming for the devices so they don't get scrambled on reboot.

As it is now, I have to manually load the sg driver on reboot. It's not starting up automatically, so when the server gets rebooted, I will run a "modprobe sg" followed by "autoconf -a" out of the TSM devices/bin directory.

Fortunately, I'm on the newbie forum, so here are some newbie questions:
* Is lin_tape even going to work with HP VTLs/drives?
* Since the sg driver isn't loading automatically, should I simply be able to reboot then run "modprobe lin_tape" to get those /dev/IBM* devices created? I haven't tried this yet.

Sincere thanks,
C.J.

The kernel version implies you're using RHEL 7.x, right? There should/may be a file (it's being depreciated)in /etc telling you what's up. Try "cat /etc/*elease*", and see what you get.
Makes perfect sense. Since you're manually loading the sg module now, that implies it's not loaded at boot time, right? So you can just load the lin_tape module manually, and see what happens. You can auto-load modules easily. As root:

• Type in "cd /etc/modules-load.d"
• Type in "vi lin_tape.conf"
• Press i (insert) and put
  Code:

  # Load lin_tape at boot
  lin_tape

  into that newly created file.
• Save and exit vi

At boot time, the module will get loaded automatically. From the RHEL 7 guide. https://access.redhat.com/documentat...e_Loading.html
Best way to find out is to try it. Since the modules aren't loading automatically now, the worst case scenario is, you just have to reboot and you're back to where you were.
Yes, that's correct. But again, if you have ANY misgivings about what you're doing/attempting, you're in a well supported configuration. Contact Red Hat, IBM, and/or HP for help, but HP would be my first stop. If anyone would have the best drivers for that VTL, it'd be them. Once the OS sees it correctly, configuring TSM isn't that much of a chore.

Yeah, I am running version 7.1.

Thank you very much for the information. This is very helpful. I will give it a shot and report back.

Thank you,
C.J.