README for the IBM lin_tape driver
Copyright (c) 2015 IBM Corp.

The lin_tape driver is now released as a source RPM package.  The lin_taped
daemon and IBMtapeutil are 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 
System Storage Interoperation Center website:

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 11 and later 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 <filename>, 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, run
rpm -ivh <filename> 

For example:

#rpm -ivh /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386/lin_tape-1.xx.0-1.i386.rpm

5 - To install the lin_taped daemon, download it to your Linux filesystem and
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


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.


      - OSXFUSE 2.5.6
      - ICU 4.8.1.1

    # rpm -Uhv ./ltfssde-2.2.1.1-[revision]-[distribution].[arch].rpm


    FUSE 2.7 or later (kernel and shared library modules are required)
    libxml2-2.6.16 or later
    libuuid 1.36 or later, or equivalent Universally Unique Identifier functions conforming to OSF DCE 1.1 (including the e2fsprogs package)
    libicu 3.6 or later
    IBM tape device driver for Linux (lin_tape) 2.9.2 or later
    net-snmp 5.3.2.2 or later
    net-snmp-libs 5.3.2.2 or later


Click on the "Select Product" tab.

2. In the first pull down menu labeled "Product Group", select "System Storage".

3. In the next pull down menu that appears which is labeled "Select from System Storage", select "Tape Systems".

4. With the next pull down menu, ""Select from Tape Systems", select "Tape Drivers and Software".

5. This will in turn bring up the "Select from Tape Drivers and Software" menu. This menu allows selection of the multiple options. In this case select either "Tape Device Drivers" or "Tape Diagnostic Tool ITDT" ** See note below regarding ITDT

