Files in this download contain Licensed Materials, property of IBM, (C) Copyright IBM Corp. 1998-2019. All Rights Reserved. See the Licensing agreement presented when the driver is downloaded. The IBM Tape Device Drivers for the Linux platforms are responsible for assisting in communication between the Linux host and the tape or changer device. The tape driver for Linux (lin_tape) and the tape driver daemon (lin_taped) work with IBM System Storage Tape Products in providing basic and advanced tape functionality for backup/restore and archive environments. ATTENTION: Tapeutil provides only a subset of device and command support that the IBM Tape Diagnostic Tool (ITDT) provides. The functions and capabilities of tapeutil are now performed by ITDT. Please use ITDT in place of tapeutil, as tapeutil is deprecated. IBM Tape Diagnostic Tool (ITDT) provides the customer with functionality to perform maintenance tasks and run diagnostic tasks to determine tape device issues. This is available to download with the device driver. "IBM Tape Device Driver Installation and User's Guide" (IUG) describes the IBM Tape and Medium Changer Device Drivers for AIX, HP-UX, Linux, Solaris, and Windows operating systems. For basic installation and usage infromation, please refer to the IUG. This is available to download at: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=577&uid=ssg1S7002972 The readme files contain information that may not be included in the IUG. The readme files take precedence over the IUG. Therefore, any information in this file that conflicts with information in the IUG will supercede the IUG. Supported Operating Systems The tape driver for Linux (lin_tape) and the tape driver daemon lin_taped) are developed to support various versions of Linux. For details on supported tape attachment please refer to the System Storage Interoperation Center website. http://www.ibm.com/systems/support/storage/config/ssic/ This are the min. supported kernel versions: RHEL 7.6 - 3.10.0-957 (only on ppc64le and x86_64) RHEL 7.5 - 3.10.0-862 (only on ppc64le and x86_64) RHEL 7.4 - 3.10.0-693 (Only on ppc64 and x86_64) RHEL 7.3 - 3.10.0-514 RHEL 7.2 - 3.10.0-327 RHEL 7.1 - 3.10.0-229 RHEL 7.0 - 3.10.0-123 RHEL 6.10 - 2.6.32-754 RHEL 6.9 - 2.6.32-696 RHEL 6.8 - 2.6.32-642 RHEL 6.7 - 2.6.32-573 RHEL 6.6 - Not supported due to kernel bug at released version 2.6.32-504, unless at special RHEL patch: 2.6.32-504.8.1 RHEL 6.5 - 2.6.32.431 RHEL 6.4 - 2.6.32-358.18.1 SLES 15 - 4.12.14-23.1 (only on ppc64le and s390x) SLES12 SP4 - 4.12.14-94 SLES12 SP3 - 4.4.114-94 (see section 2 for configuration considerations, lin_tape 3.0.32 or higher is required for kernels beyond 4.4.114) SLES12 SP2 - 4.4.21-69 (for latest kernels use at least lin_tape v3.0.32 and reveiw section 2 for configuration considerations) SLES12 - 3.12.28-4 SLES11 SP4 - 3.0.101-63 SLES11 SP3 - 3.0.79-0.11 SLES11 SP2 - 3.0.13-0.27 Ubuntu 18.04 - 4.15.0.34 (only on ppc64le and x86_64) Ubuntu 16.04.3 - 4.4.0-87 (only on x86_64) For previous versions please refere to lin_tape.fixlist Supported Applications If you use a third party application, consult with your application provider as to the compatibility with lin_tape. Tape Drivers for Linux The tape driver for Linux is named as lin_tape-n.nn.n-n.src.rpm, where n.nn.n-n is the version number of the device driver. The lin_tape module is open source. It can be compiled in newer kernel versions. The tape driver daemon for Linux is named as lin_taped-n.nn.n-..rpm, where n.nn.n is the version number of the daemon, specifies the Linux operating system, and specifies the architecture platform. i386, i586, i686 - 32-bit Intel-compatible servers s390x - 64-bit zSeries processors ppc64 - 64-bit pSeries processors ppc64le- 64-bit pSeries processors LE x86_64 - 64-bit Intel EM64T or AMD Opteron servers The lin_taped module is a binary rpm, so the correct selection for the correct Linux operating system and architecture platform is required. The two modules, lin_tape and lin_taped, are qualified together, so both are required for supported configurations. Please refer to specific install instructions for more information. Archive drivers are available for older Linux Operating Systems. ======================================================================== lin_tape Notices: 1. Known limitations 2. Setting up the environment 3. Notes for lin_taped daemon 4. Known issues ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Known limitations ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Join driver (SFMP feature to enable st/sg interfaces through lintape) use latest lin_tape version. Only supported on x86_64 RHEL 2. Block size bigger than 2M is not supported in kernels >= 2.6.29 with lin_tape versions previous to 2.9.9 3. TS3310 Library: Control Path Failover is supported. However, there may be scenarios where manual intervention is required to reconfigure the failed path. 4. lin_tape Device Driver for 64-bit will only support 64-bit applications. 32-bit applications are not supported. 5. lin_tape does not support any SCSI-to-FC bridge connection 6. Limited error recovery exists with Fibre Channel attachment due to environment limitations. 7. To backup data in IBM SAS drives in the fixed blocksize mode, the blocksize must be set to a multiple of 4; otherwise it will cause the open or set blocksize commands to fail. 8. The maximum SCSI transfer limit on zSeries FCP is 2 MB, but 256KB (lin_tape default setting) is highly recommended. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Setting up the environment ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Linux with 16Gb & 32Gb HBAs: For direct attach of supported configurations with LTO tape drives and 3592-Ex5 or earlier tape drives, prior to cable connectivity utilize the drive or library publications to change the drive port topology to "N-port" 1. For Linux zSeries please refer to the zFCP Best Practices document for zLinux device attachment configuration at this link: https://www-05.ibm.com/de/2018-linux-on-z-ws-boeblingen/agenda/pdf/17_-_zFCP_Best_Practices.pdf For all architectures on kenrels 4.4.x and above fast_io_fail_tmo and dev_loss_tmo require special parameters to be set for Error Recovery on FC transport layer. Without it null pointer crash can be reached by the scsi layer. # cat /etc/udev/rules.d/52-rport-tmos.rules ACTION=="add", KERNEL=="rport-*", ATTR{fast_io_fail_tmo}=="?*", ATTR{fast_io_fail_tmo}="5" ACTION=="add", KERNEL=="rport-*", ATTR{dev_loss_tmo}=="?*", ATTR{dev_loss_tmo}="2147483647" 2. If you would like to ensure all of the special files /dev/IBMtape* or /dev/IBMchanger* can be readable/writable by all users, you may add the following two lines in the /etc/udev/udev.permissions file: IBMtape*:root:root:666 IBMchanger*:root:root:666 3. If you are running a CVT or other device for which the medium changer is reported at LUN 0, you may need to set a parameter in /proc/scsi/device_info in order to get the tape drives to be scanned properly. This can be done by issuing the following at the command prompt: echo ::200 > /proc/scsi/device_info For example: echo IBM:ULT3582-TL:200 > /proc/scsi/device_info This will create a line similar to the following in /proc/scsi/device_info: 'IBM ' 'ULT3582-TL ' 0xc8 At that point you may need to reinstall your adapter driver or reboot your Linux host for the virtual tape drives to appear. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Notes for lin_taped daemon ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The lin_tape device driver provides facilities for device driver tracing, obtaining SIM/MIM data (for IBM 359x tape devices), automatically storing drive dumps, and saving log sense information when log threshold values are exceeded. A daemon (lin_taped) is provided with the device driver to process this information. Also, the lin_taped daemon needs to be running for tape device path failover support. For more information on lin_taped please refer to lin_taped.readme. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Known Issues ---------------------------------------------------------------------- - LTO Drive firmware. In a host environment with multiple cable paths lost and drive code level LTO8_J4D0, LTO7_J4D0 and LTO6_J450 there is a possibility of the drive becoming unresponsive to host SCSI commands and unsuccessful driver fail over. (drive incident #i137208). - At lin_tape 3.0.20 and 3.0.21 device name /dev/IBM* for a removed path/device does not persist as in previous versions where the device name is tagged as removed but still exists. - There is a known issue with particular Emulex HBA driver / FW level(s) included in later Linux kernel distributions. Please update the HBA driver to 8.3.7.33-1 or later.