This guide helps users transition from DMF commands to the new DA commands system.

Data Archive: Home Directory

Your login account comes with:

  • 50MB of personal storage in your home directory (e.g., /home/username)
  • A symbolic link called archive inside your home directory (e.g., /home/username/archive)

IF you are part of other projects you will also find in your home directory:

  • Symbolic links to your project directories that point to the actual data storage location
  • Each project you have access to gets its own link


Note The Difference in the Folder Structure

Example:

/home/username/              (Your 50MB home directory)
   ├── archive/              (Link with your archive /archive/username)
   ├── project-alpha/        (Link to Project Alpha's folder)
   └── project-beta/         (Link to Project Beta's folder)

When you access /home/username/archive, you're actually accessing your archive folder. Similarly,
when you access /home/username/project-alpha, you're actually accessing your team's project-alpha project folder.


The full documentation about the DAcommands is available at this page: DAcommands Docs.

Command Mapping

DMF CommandDA CommandNotes
dmlsdalsFile listing with status
dmget -adagetStage files from tape to disk
dmput -rdareleaseMigrate files to tape. The -r flag for removing from disk pool is now the default behavior
dmattrdaattrFile Attribute Retrieval.  Not required Stage/Migrate files. ( See examples below)
dmfinddafind

Find Files with State Information. Not required Stage/Migrate files. ( See examples below)

dmftardmftar

dmftar has been updated to used the new backend, and no change is required in dmftar commands.

if you use dmftar on your own systems please update it from this repository https://gitlab.com/surfsara/dmftar

State Mapping

DMF StateDA StateDescription
REGREGFile only on disk
MIGN/AMigrating from disk to tape
UNMQUE/STGFile being staged from tape
DULDULFile on both disk and tape
OFLOFLFile only on tape

Migrating Common Operations

Checking File Status

Old:

dmls -l filename

New:

dals -l filename

Staging Files from Tape

Old:

dmget -a filename

New:

daget filename


Note: The -a flag behavior differs between commands:

  • daget -a, --all: Includes hidden files (dot files)
  • dmget -a: Updates file access time (incompatible with -h)

Recursive Directory Staging

Old:

dmfind <folder> -state REG -o -stage MIG | dmget -a

New:

daget -r <folder>

Migrating Files to Tape

Old:

dmput filename

New:

darelease filename

Important: this will only work with files that are in a DUL state, i.e., data that resides both online and offline. When a file has just been uploaded, it has a REG state. For performance and optimization, you should let the backend stack decide when to migrate to tape. 

Recursive Directory Migration

Old:

dmfind <folder> -state DUL | dmput

New:

darelease -r <folder>

Important Notes

  1. State Checking

    • The new system simplifies state checking through dals and its recursion and wildcard support.
    • The separate dmattr command is no longer needed.
    • To get just the state of a file (like dmattr -a state did), use dals -l and extract the state field with awk: dals -l file.dat | awk -F"[()]" '{print $2}'

  2. Default Behavior

    • daget runs non-verbosely by default (use daget -v for verbose output)
    • darelease handles the behavior of dmput -r by flagging files for releasing from disk to tape

  3. Finding Files by State

    • While dmfind doesn't have a direct equivalent, you can combine standard find with dals to achieve the same results.

  4. Remote Operations with Dmftar

    • dmftar has been updated to used the new backend, and no change is required in dmftar commands.
      if you use dmftar on your own systems please update it from this repository https://gitlab.com/surfsara/dmftar

  5. Simplified Command Structure

    • The new DA commands feature more consistent and intuitive naming. For example, instead of using "dmput -r" to release files, the simpler "darelease" command is used.
    • Operations that previously required combining multiple DMF commands are now single DA commands. All DA commands support recursive operations.
    • The new command structure does not allow overriding the management software for the following commands: 
      • Determine when to archive files to tape
      • Schedule file staging operations
      • Select which copy to stage when multiple tape copies exist

Best Practices

Use the -r (recursive) flag with daget and darelease for directory operations, instead of combining/piping commands to get recursive options


For any issues or questions during migration, please contact support through the service desk.

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