Archive mainframe data to the cloud

This topic describes how to archive mainframe data to the cloud. It describes how to create a policy, run archive policies, and manage archive policies and resources.

To create a new policy

Click the CREATE POLICY button on the top right. The CREATE A NEW POLICY page appears:

Enter the required input as shown in the example above:

Parameter	Details
Name	Select a name for the policy. If you plan to use the M9SAPI JCL interface for running policies from the mainframe, see Initiating BMC AMI Cloud server API to execute the policy for naming considerations.
Description	Optional
Execution type	Indicate the z/OS environment on which this policy runs, either an agent or an agent group. The agent must be pre-defined to the management server. Assigning an agent means this policy will be executed on the LPAR in which the agent is active. Agent grouping allows you to span work across several agents.
Status	When ENABLED, the policy can be run automatically or manually. When DISABLED, the policy can be run manually only. Before deleting a policy, it must be set to a DISABLED status.

To define a policy to archive data sets, select DATA SET ARCHIVE in the Type field.

Schedule

For a description of how to use the Schedule tab, see Schedule.

Options

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Option	Description
Use SMS policy	Backup according to SMS settings.
Primary days non-usage	This option is not available when “Use SMS policy” is checked. When it is available, it applies to all data sets, overwriting SMS attributes of SMS-managed data sets.
Allow archive only if backup exists	Check this checkbox (default) to ensure that only data sets with a current backup copy will be archived.
Override retention	Allows overriding the retention period that will be set for all archives done by this policy. The following override retention options are available: Forever: Archives created by the policy will be created as PERM archives with no expiration date. Period: Archives created by the policy will be created with a retention period calculated from the policy's run date. Available options are DAYS/WEEKS/MONTHS/YEARS. Date: Archives created by the policy will be created with an explicit expiration date. Once the specified date is passed, the policy will no longer be able run.

For more details, see Creating-a-new-policy.

Filters

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During activity, the policy uses the filters and policy options to select resources, excluding:

Temporary data sets
Data set aliases
VTOC Indexes and VVDSs
SYS1 prefixed data sets

Run archive policy

Run the policy by selecting Run now from the 3-dot menu:

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Confirm the request to run the policy by clicking on YES, RUN POLICY NOW.

Manage archive policy and resources

Recall an archive

Search resources are available on the upper right of any page.
Use a full name or a pattern:
Wildcard Symbol
Description
%
Replacing one character, e.g. M9RES%
*
Replacing zero or more characters
A search can be invoked for a data set, volume or Unix object by using the full name or a pattern. Partial matches are returned.
Using the three dot menu button on the left side of the table, select the Recall option.
Within the restore pop-up window, specify the Recall volume (if relevant).
Click on RECALL to perform the action.
Input the credentials in order to validate the restore operation is permitted.

Wildcard Symbol	Description
%	Replacing one character, e.g. M9RES%
*	Replacing zero or more characters

To check the status of the restore operations, a redirect to ACTIVITIES screen will take place.

Lifecycle management

Archive resource versions will expire as part of the BMC AMI Cloud life cycle process. For more information, see Working with BMC AMI Cloud life-cycle.