BRMS is definitely the way to go.  There are alternatives to using BRMS 
(and third party related products) though.  And, not all media libraries 
can be configured as sequential instead of random.  Many can, some can't.
We originally fought BRMS because we felt our backup needs were oh so 
unique.  We had a consultant show us how to use our media library without 
BRMS.  Of course every third sentence began with "If you were using BRMS 
you would...".  But using a tape library without BRMS involves a series of 
commands like (keeping in mind we shared the fiber san switch attached 
media library among a few lpars):
... and these instructions may look even more confusing because the list 
will strip out all the special formatting...
Load the ISeries tapes for that night's backup
The tapes are located on the shelf in the cabinet by the south door of the 
computer room - the box to the left
Keep in mind that the tape names will change from day to day but the first 
letter for each machine will always be the same
Put the tapes with the barcodes starting with D and H in the top I/O door 
of the tape drive - the D tape first and the H tape second
When the drive is ready select TAP02 and APPLY
On a GDIHQ screen type
WRKTAPCTG TAPMLB02
Hit enter and wait till the Work with Tape Cartridges screen appears you 
should see the following
        DFRI12      *UNKNOWN    L3          Inserted
        HFRI12      *UNKNOWN    L3          Inserted
Put a 1 in front of both tapes and hit enter - This will run for 3 or 4 
minutes
When it finished the screen will change to
        DFRI12      DFRI12      L3          Mounted
        HFRI12      HFRI12      L3          Mounted
And at the bottom of the screen you will see
        Cartridge DFRI12 volume DFRI12 mounted on device TAPMLB02.
On the command line type
SETTAPCGY DEV(TAPMLB02) OPTION(*MOUNTED)
        You should see Category *NOSHARE mounted on device TAPMLB02 at the 
bottom of the screen
CHKTAP TAPMLB02
        This will turn the 2 GDIHQ tapes around in the drive and load the 
correct starting tape for tonight's backup
        You should see the volume name beginning with D at the bottom of 
the screen. For example:
                Volume DTHU12 found on device TAPMLB02.
Put the tapes with the barcodes starting with G and W in the top I/O door 
of the tape drive - the G tape first and the W tape second
When the drive is ready select TAP04 and APPLY
On a GDI screen type
WRKTAPCTG TAPMLB04
Hit enter and wait till the Work with Tape Cartridges screen appears you 
should see the following
        GFRI12      *UNKNOWN     L2          Inserted
        WFRI12      *UNKNOWN    L2          Inserted
Put a 1 in front of the tape starting with G ONLY and hit enter DO NOT DO 
ANYTHING WITH THE TAPE STARTING WITH W YET - This will run for 1 or 2 
minutes
When it finished the screen will change to
        GFRI12      GFRI12            L2          Mounted 
        WFRI12      *UNKNOWN    L2          Inserted
And at the bottom of the screen you will see
        Cartridge GFRI12 volume GFRI12 mounted on device TAPMLB04.
On the command line type
SETTAPCGY DEV(TAPMLB04) OPTION(*MOUNTED)
        You should see Category *NOSHARE mounted on device TAPMLB04. at 
the bottom of the screen
On a GDWEB screen type
WRKTAPCTG TAPMLB04
Hit enter and wait till the Work with Tape Cartridges screen appears you 
should see the following
        GFRI12      *UNKNOWN     L2          Inserted
        WFRI12      *UNKNOWN    L2          Inserted
Put a 1 in front of the tape starting with W ONLY and hit enter DO NOT DO 
ANYTHING WITH THE TAPE STARTING WITH G THAT ONE IS LOADED - This will run 
for 5 minutes and will time out. 
The screen will change to 
        GFRI12      *UNKNOWN     L2          Inserted 
        WFRI12      *UNKNOWN    L2          Available
And you will see Resource request timed out on device TAPMLB04. at the 
bottom of the screen. You get this message because the tape for GDI is 
loaded in the drive and it couldn't physically load GDWEB's tape into the 
drive. This is OK and the way it should be. The backup will take care of 
loading GDWEB's tape after GDI's backup finishes and unloads it's tape.
 
Put the tape with the barcodes starting with S in the top I/O door of the 
tape drive
When the drive is ready select TAP06 and APPLY
On a GDISYS screen type
WRKTAPCTG TAPMLB06
Hit enter and wait till the Work with Tape Cartridges screen appears you 
will see
        SFRI12      *UNKNOWN    L3          Inserted
Put a 1 in front of the tape and hit enter - This will run for 1 or 2 
minutes
The screen will change to 
        SFRI12      SFRI12      L3          Mounted
And at the bottom of the screen you will see
        Cartridge SFRI12 volume SFRI12 mounted on device TAPMLB06.
On the command line type
SETTAPCGY DEV(TAPMLB06) OPTION(*MOUNTED)
        At the bottom of the screen you should see Category *NOSHARE 
mounted on device TAPMLB06.
Rob Berendt
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