README for the IBM lin_tape driver Copyright (c) 2019 IBM Corp. The lin_tape driver is now released as a source RPM package. The lin_taped daemon is released as a set of binary RPM packages, with a separate binary package for each architecture. These files can be found in this folder. The kernels for which this driver is IBM certified are listed on the lin_tape.Readme file For Interoperability specifications go to SSIC: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/support/storage/config/ssic/displayesssearchwithoutjs.wss?start_over=yes IBM does not guarantee correct operation of the lin_tape driver on any other kernel or operating system. Note: There is no plan for IBM tape products and lin_tape to be supported on RHEL 6.3. Note on SLES distributions: Linux kernel modules may contain an internal "supported" flag which denotes that module as being officially supported by Novell. Beginning with SLES 11, modules such as lin_tape that do not contain this flag are prevented from being loaded (automatically or manually) by the modprobe command. This is the default configuration of SLES11 servers, but loading unsupported modules can be allowed through one configuration change. To allow the loading of unsupported modules in SLES11, set 'allow_unsupported_modules 1' in /etc/modprobe.d/unsupported-modules. After making this change, lin_tape will be allowed to load. To install the lin_tape driver with all the added value of the lin_taped daemon, perform the following steps: 1 - Download the appropriate level of the source RPM package to a directory of your choice on the Linux kernel for which you wish to install it. 2 - Run rpmbuild --rebuild , where filename is the name of the RPM file. This will create a binary RPM package for your kernel from the source RPM package. For example: #rpmbuild --rebuild lin_tape-1.xx.0-1.src.rpm. 3 - Output from the build will be printed to your screen. Near the end of the output, you will find a line that indicates the filename and location of your binary RPM package. For example, a line similar to the following will be output to your screen: Wrote: /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386/lin_tape-1.xx.0-1.i386.rpm 4 - To install the lin_tape driver from the binary package on RHEL or SLES, run rpm -ivh For example: #rpm -ivh /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386/lin_tape-1.xx.0-1.i386.rpm To install the lin_tape driver from the binary package on Ubuntu use alien -i --scripts (starting on lin_tape version 3.0.24) For example: #sudo alien -i --scripts /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/x86_64/lin_tape-x.x.x-1.x_86_64.rpm 5 - To install the lin_taped daemon, download it to your Linux filesystem and for RHEL and SLES run rpm -ivh on the daemon RPM file. For example: #rpm -ivh /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386/lin_taped-1.xx.0-rhel5.i386.rpm For Ubuntu run alien -i --scripts And then run sudo update-rc.d lin_tape defaults For example: #sudo alien -i --scripts lin_taped-x.x.x-ubuntu.x86_84 sudo update-rc.d lin_tape defaults Limitations: * Block size bigger than 2M is not supported on kernels >= 2.6.29 and lin_tape versions previous to 2.9.9 * 2.9.5 corrupts data at kernels >= 2.6.29 when blocksize bigger than 1M is used, it is fixed at 2.9.6 * Known race condition at SCSI error fixed at Kernel 2.6.32-504.el6 causes a crash or system hang https://access.redhat.com/solutions/1231363 * TS3310 Library: Control Path Failover is supported. However, there may be scenarios where manual intervention is required to reconfigure the failed path. * Path Failover is not supported in environments where a single host server has installed HBAs using different HBA drivers.