Automatic EKM Path Diagnostics
You can enable the library to automatically perform EKM Path Diagnostics on all EKM key servers at selected intervals. During each interval, the library tests every configured key server. The library generates a RAS ticket if there are problems.
Automatic EKM Path Diagnostics is disabled by default. The default test interval is 4 hours. It is recommended that you leave Automatic EKM Path Diagnostics disabled, unless network interruptions are a common cause of encryption failures at your site.
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CAUTION: Running Automatic EKM Path Diagnostics may cause an increase in RAS tickets if tests are skipped due to tape drives being unavailable for a configurable number of consecutive test intervals. To reduce the occurrences of RAS tickets, you can specify the number of consecutive test intervals required to generate a RAS ticket to a higher number, or you can set the library to never generate a RAS ticket for missed test intervals.
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For a list of tests performed, see EKM Path Diagnostics. Note that the Automatic diagnostics differs from the Manual diagnostics in the following ways:
- The Manual diagnostics takes affected partitions offline.
- The Automatic diagnostics does not take partitions offline, but it may delay moves to tape drives while they are being tested.
- The Manual diagnostics requires that you select one tape drive to use for the test. Since the test only validates the selected drive, if you want to test the path for each tape drive, you must run the test multiple times (once for each drive). To test all servers, you must run the diagnostics once for each Library Managed Encryption enabled partition (each server pair is connected to a unique partition and tape drive). In addition, if the tape drive is not available (it must be unloaded, ready, and online), the Drive, Path, and Config tests are not performed.
- The Automatic diagnostics tests every connected EKM server in turn, and the library selects the tape drive to use for each test. If the selected tape drive is not available (it must be unloaded, ready, and online), then the library tries another tape drive that is connected to the key server until it finds one that is available. If no tape drives connected to a particular key server are available, then that server is skipped and the tests are not performed. If a server is skipped for “X” number of consecutive test intervals (where “X” is configurable on the Web client), the library generates a RAS ticket. If a tape drive remains loaded for a long time, it is possible that it will never be tested. If you want to test a specific tape drive, then you should use the Manual EKM Path Diagnostics. In particular, if you replace a tape drive, run the Manual EKM Path Diagnostics (see EKM Path Diagnostics).
To enable Automatic EKM Path Diagnostics:
- Select Setup > Encryption > System Configuration.
- Select the Automatic EKM Path Diagnostics check box.
- Select a test interval from the Interval drop-down list. The default test interval is 4 hours.
- From the Test Warning Threshold drop-down list, select the number of consecutive, missed test intervals required before the library generates a RAS ticket informing you that the test could not be performed within the specified number of test intervals. You can select "Off" or any value from 1 to 24. If you select "Off," the library will never generate a RAS ticket, no matter how many tests are missed. The default threshold is 3.
See also: