Exploring the Enhanced BRMS Web Interface on IBM i

The Backup, Recovery, and Media Services (BRMS) solution on IBM i has been a cornerstone for system administrators managing backup and recovery strategies across enterprise environments. BRMS base product provides all of the functions that most IBM i users need to implement a fully automated, single system, backup, recovery, and media management strategy. Using BRMS, you can manage your most critical and complex save operations Over the years, BRMS has evolved from a command-line utility to a powerful, web-enabled management tool — bringing ease of use, visibility, and control to the forefront.

💻 What is the BRMS Web Interface?

The BRMS Web Interface provides a modern and intuitive way to manage and monitor BRMS environments.
Instead of navigating through traditional green-screen commands, administrators can now perform key backup and recovery tasks through a graphical dashboard.

This interface is only available in 5770BR2 product which is the latest supported licensed program from IBM. Users of the 5770BR2 Web Interface can use the SQL button to see the equivalent SQL queries for each of the table

With the BRMS Web Interface, you can:

• View and manage control groups, media policies, and backup schedules
• Monitor backup and recovery activity in real time
• Analyze media inventory and volume usage
• Quickly identify errors, missed saves, or policy misconfigurations

This modern interface brings the convenience of browser-based management to the reliability of IBM i, allowing administrators to work faster and more efficiently.

To open the BRMS web interface, use the URL:  http://<systemname>:2088

If running with TLS, use the URL:  https://<systemname>:2089

                                                        Figure 1. BRMS Web Interface Overview

🚀 BRMS Web Interface – Now Enhanced with Control Group Attributes and Backup List Details

IBM i administrators have long relied on Backup, Recovery, and Media Services (BRMS) to simplify and automate their backup management processes. With every new release, IBM continues to refine BRMS—not only in function but also in usability.

The recent enhancement to the BRMS Web Interface introduces two valuable additions that make monitoring and managing backups even easier. The BRMS web interface has also been enhanced to show backup history and history details for objects, members, IFS, folders and spooled files.

                                         Figure 2. Screen showing control group backup status

• 🔍  View Control Group Attributes Directly from the Web Interface

Previously, detailed configuration insights into control group attributes—such as retention policies, device usage, and backup types—required green-screen navigation or command-line queries.
Now, administrators can view these attributes directly within the BRMS Web Interface, offering a more visual and intuitive way to verify configuration settings.
This enhancement helps you:

• Quickly validate backup configurations across environments
• Reduce dependency on traditional command interfaces
• Improve accuracy and oversight during audits and change reviews

• 🗂️ Backup List Details at Your Fingertips

The web interface now also provides comprehensive backup list details, giving a clear view of the libraries, directories, or IFS paths included in each backup operation.

There are four types of backup lists you can create:

• Folder lists (*FLR)
• Object lists (*OBJ)
• Spooled file lists (*SPL)
• integrated file system objects (*LNK)

This new capability helps you:

• Confirm that all required objects are included in the backup
• Easily compare backup content across control groups
• Identify inconsistencies or missing items before the backup runs

💡 Why It Matters

These enhancements strengthen BRMS as a modern, web-based management tool for IBM i environments. Administrators can now manage, verify, and monitor their backup configurations faster.
For organizations modernizing their IBM i operations, the improved BRMS web experience is another step toward streamlined, visual, and efficient system management.

🔧 Tip

If you haven’t yet explored the latest BRMS web interface, you can access it via installing the product 5770BR2. If your system is already having 5770BR1 installed then you need to migrate to 5770BR2. You cannot run both the products on same IBM i partition. This means your system is running a supported version at least IBM i 7.4 and later to take advantage of these new features. 5770BR2 is only supported BRMS product on IBM i 7.6.. IBM and Fortra continues to expand BRMS functionality with every release — and the latest updates bring significant usability improvements that enhance visibility and control. The new functionality to the BRMS product is added continuously and expected to see all the equivalent features in the web interface as well.