Media are not getting expired automatically in netbackup 7

Created: 02 Aug 2011 | 28 comments

Meenal

0 0 Votes

Hi ,

We are facing the below issue :

media are not getting expired automatically in netbackup 7 due to which backups will fail with 96 (unable to allocate new media for backup, storage unit has none available) .

Retention of media -2 weeks and 1 month

Media used - LTO4

We have also tried changing the media expiration timings ( put it to earlier time) eg : media is about to expire on 3rd August 2011 5:00 AM , we made it to expire at 3rd August 2011 2:45 AM ,but it did not help much.Media did not expire at the specified time .

Please suggest .

Discussion Filed Under:

Backup and Recovery, NetBackup - 7.1.x and Earlier, NetBackup, Best Practice, Troubleshooting

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Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

Yogesh9881

Accredited

Hi Meenal,

NBU will not expire media immediatly, media expiration will happen after IMAGE CLEANUP only.

NBU uses 12 hrs default time period for cleanup process.

If this post has helped you, please vote or mark as solution.

Before break-up, make sure you have a good backup..... ;-)

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

Marianne van den Berg

Trusted Advisor

Accredited

Certified

You did not mention your

You did not mention your master server OS? Is this 7.0 or 7.0.1?

If Windows master on 7.0.1, have a look at this: http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH138266
The 2nd part of the problem description may apply to your situation.

Please also bear in mind that Image Cleanup only runs every 12 hours. This means that image expiration will not happen at the exact time that is listed, but will be included in the next cleanup cycle. Always best to ensure an extra set of tapes are available...

Supporting Storage Foundation and VCS on Unix and Windows as well as NetBackup on Unix and Windows.
Handy NBU links

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

Meenal

Thanks for the suggestions

Thanks for the suggestions .

We are using :

Netbackup version 7.0.1

OS : Linux 2.6

We are out of scratch tapes as of now and we have multiple retention levels for different tapes like weekly , monthly , yearly and infinity.But the tapes i talked about were all for same retention of 2 weeks.

Any ideas or suggestions ..

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

Andy Welburn

Trusted Advisor

If there are tapes that will be made available by the next

clean-up, you could pre-empt this by running bpexpdate -deassignempty.

If not, my only immediate suggestion would be to find those media that are due to expire next & expire them early.

Regards Andy

"It's not too late to panic ..."

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

Yogesh9881

Accredited

Meenal,

can you run below command and post o/p.

/usr/openv/volmgr/bin#./vmquery -m <MediaID>

/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd#./nbemmcmd -listmedia -mediaid <MediaID>

If this post has helped you, please vote or mark as solution.

Before break-up, make sure you have a good backup..... ;-)

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

Meenal

Thanks Andy !! I already

Thanks Andy !!

I already tried deassignempty command but it showed no media to be deassigned .

then , i had manually expired the media which were supposed to be expired on 3rd August ,but didn't automatically expired.

Any other suggestions are welcome ......

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

Andy Welburn

Trusted Advisor

"i had manually expired the media...but didn't automatically

expire"

- did you run the deassignempty after?

Regards Andy

"It's not too late to panic ..."

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

Meenal

Andy , I ran the bpexpdate

Andy ,

I ran the bpexpdate -deassignempty command after manually expiring the media.

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

Meenal

Required outputs

Required outputs :

vmquery :

[root@uidbkp001 admincmd]# vmquery -m UITH03
================================================================================
media ID:              UITH03
media type:            1/2" cartridge tape (6)
barcode:               UITH03
media description:     Added by Media Manager
volume pool:           Thursday (4)
robot type:            TLD - Tape Library DLT (8)
robot number:          0
robot slot:            29
robot control host:    uidbkp001.cidr.gov.in
volume group:          000_00000_TLD
vault name:            ---
vault sent date:       ---
vault return date:     ---
vault slot:            ---
vault session id:      ---
vault container id:    -
created:               Thu 19 May 2011 04:51:45 PM IST
assigned:              Thu 23 Jun 2011 02:00:00 PM IST
last mounted:          Thu 21 Jul 2011 08:25:05 AM IST
first mount:           Thu 19 May 2011 06:13:34 PM IST
expiration date:       ---
number of mounts:      28
max mounts allowed:    ---
status:                0x0
================================================================================
[root@uidbkp001 admincmd]#

nbemmcmd :

[root@uidbkp001 admincmd]# nbemmcmd -listmedia -mediaid UITH03
NBEMMCMD, Version:7.0.1
====================================================================
Media GUID:                     61402776-8266-11e0-8000-c93c6e4428fa
Media ID:                       UITH03
Partner:                        -
Media Type:                     HCART
Volume Group:                   000_00000_TLD
Application:                    Netbackup
Media Flags:                    1
Description:                    Added by Media Manager
Barcode:                        UITH03
Partner Barcode:                --------
Last Write Host:                uidbkp001.cidr.gov.in
Created:                        05/19/2011 16:51
Time Assigned:                  06/23/2011 14:00
First Mount:                    05/19/2011 18:13
Last Mount:                     07/21/2011 08:25
Volume Expiration:              -
Data Expiration:                08/04/2011 08:24
Last Written:                   07/21/2011 08:24
Last Read:                      -
Robot Type:                     TLD
Robot Control Host:             uidbkp001.cidr.gov.in
Robot Number:                   0
Slot:                           29
Side/Face:                      -
Cleanings Remaining:            -
Number of Mounts:               28
Maximum Mounts Allowed:         0
Media Status:                   FULL
Kilobytes:                      1746720064
Images:                         59
Valid Images:                   32
Retention Period:               1
Number of Restores:             0
Optical Header Size Bytes:      1024
Optical Sector Size Bytes:      0
Optical Partition Size Bytes:   0
Last Header Offset:             25368094
Adamm Guid:                     00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
Rsm Guid:                       00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
Origin Host:                    NONE
Master Host:                    uidbkp001.cidr.gov.in
Server Group:                   NO_SHARING_GROUP
Upgrade Conflicts Flag:
Pool Number:                    4
Volume Pool:                    Thursday
Previous Pool Name:             -
Vault Flags:                    -
Vault Container:                -
Vault Name:                     -
Vault Slot:                     -
Session ID:                     -
Date Vaulted:                   -
Return Date:                    -
====================================================================
Command completed successfully.
[root@uidbkp001 admincmd]#

Aug

2011

1 Vote +1

Yogesh9881

Accredited

Hi Meenal,

Data Expiration: 08/04/2011 08:24

Tape contained huge amount of data & will expire on 4th Aug 2011. @ 8:24 AM

so u can reuse this tape for 5th AUG 2011

Recommendation :- Don't expire this tape manually.

If this post has helped you, please vote or mark as solution.

Before break-up, make sure you have a good backup..... ;-)

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

Meenal

1 ) What is the difference

1 ) What is the difference between the image cleanup interval (after 12 hours )and catalog cleanup wait time (after 60 minutes) as indicated :

2) What will be the start time for image cleanup interval ,if any.

Aug

2011

1 Vote +1

Yogesh9881

Accredited

Hi Meenal,

Take a look on below URL

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=HOWTO13912

If this post has helped you, please vote or mark as solution.

Before break-up, make sure you have a good backup..... ;-)

Aug

2011

1 Vote +1

Andy Welburn

Trusted Advisor

To save my typing (!)

click on that "help" button in the bottom right - it explains all the options/settings.

Regards Andy

"It's not too late to panic ..."

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

Meenal

I will explain my

I will explain my understanding in example.

If last backup session ended at 11:00 PM yesterday successfully, after that Image cleanup started. And My tape will expire at 02:45 AM next day morning then It will not expire this data untill and unless any new backup session will complete after 02:45 AM or after 12 hours of last successful image cleanup.

And i also want to know how i can check at what time last image cleanup happened?? Will it be shown in Activity monitor? I believe activity monitor shows catalog image cleanup. Please correct me if i am wrong.

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

Andy Welburn

Trusted Advisor

I think I understand & agree with your logic there!

Image Cleanup should also be visible in Activity Monitor as you state.

One thing to bear in mind also, which may also add to the "confusion", you can actually amend how often the deassignempty runs:

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?pag...

Regards Andy

"It's not too late to panic ..."

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

Meenal

Hi Andy , As per the above

Hi Andy ,

As per the above link ,

CHECK_EXPIRED_MEDIA_INTERVAL should be a file if I am not wrong ,

could you please suggest if the below usage is correct ?

[root@uidbkp001 bpsched.d]# cat CHECK_EXPIRED_MEDIA_INTERVAL
cat: CHECK_EXPIRED_MEDIA_INTERVAL: No such file or directory

Here it could not be found, so how can i modify my deassignempty timings ?

thanks in advance.

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

Andy Welburn

Trusted Advisor

Not there by default.

Per the T/N:

"The interval may be modified by creating the following file and inserting the desired interval"

Regards Andy

"It's not too late to panic ..."

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

Meenal

ok, thanks Andy .But still my

ok, thanks Andy .But still my original problem remains as it is .. Looking forward for some solution .....

Aug

2011

1 Vote +1

Andy Welburn

Trusted Advisor

So

as "we" got a little distracted earlier, to confirm:

- you have media that should have expired that haven't? Do they show as "empty" but are still "assigned"? (can you provide the vmquery/nbemmcmd output for one example of that media that should've expired that hasn't)

- you've waited for image cleanup etc Can you check the "All Log Entries" report for the time of the last cleanup. You should normally get output from the cleanup & deassign similar to the following:

 cleaning image DB
cleaning media DB(s)
Cleanup running in background, pid=28108
Deleting Expired Images
compression 610 ms, # of bptm calls 0
Deassigned media-id 300055 on host ndmp
deleted 261 expired records, compressed 0, tir removed 0, deleted 0 expired copies
image delete 26050 ms, image verify 0 ms, tir_info_remove 0 ms, copies delete 0 ms
Deassigned media-id 300251 on host master
Deassigned media-id 300414 on host ndmp
Deassigned media-id 300568 on host ndmp
Deassigned media-id 300487 on host master
Deassigned media-id 300552 on host master
Could not deassign media-id 300860, host master: requested media id is in use, cannot process request (97)
Deassigned 6 out of 708 media-ids found.

- and manually run the deassignempty command to no avail. Do you get any output from the deassignempty?

Have you seen this T/N? Can't remember if it was this or another recent post (but should still work anyway if run manually):

The bpexpdate -deassignempty command is not being run automatically by the scheduler, and empty tapes, which hold no valid images, are not being made available for backups
http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?pag...

Unless any of the above shows something, I'm personally getting low on ideas.....

Regards Andy

"It's not too late to panic ..."

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

CS2

Hi Andy, Even I am facing

Hi Andy,

Even I am facing same issue. There are more than 50-60 medias in library which are not getting expired automatically after retention period is over.We have retention of 2 weeks and 5 weeks for daily and weekly backup. However i can see medias from even january which still nto expired.

If i check the imgaes on the media using bpmeida i dont find any images on it. I had to expire many media manually because of this.

I also ran deassignempty but it gives me only few medias to deassign. However there are more than 50-60 medias needs to be expired.

C:\Documents and Settings\ChakShar>bpexpdate -deassignempty
Search for empty media that meet the following criteria:
Media id: All

Continue? y/n (n)y
The following empty media will be deassigned:
        Host:girbu17    Media-id:IDN698
        Host:bhmbu13    Media-id:000343
        Host:bhmbu13    Media-id:ITV620
        Host:bhmbu12    Media-id:0015L4
        Host:bhmbu12    Media-id:0022L4
        Host:girbu13    Media-id:ITV374
        Host:girbu12    Media-id:IDN216
        Host:girbu12    Media-id:IT1119
        Host:girbu12    Media-id:ITV224
        Host:girbu12    Media-id:ITV367
Are you SURE you want to continue y/n (n)?n
No changes made.

Any suggestion ?

Aug

2011

1 Vote +1

Andy Welburn

Trusted Advisor

Really should've been a new discussion, but....

Are they frozen?

Regards Andy

"It's not too late to panic ..."

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

CS2

yes Andy i checked few medias

yes Andy i checked few medias they are all "frozen expired" and "frozen expired MPX"

Aug

2011

1 Vote +1

Andy Welburn

Trusted Advisor

I would physically check them, as there could be a very good

reason why they were frozen - altho' it could well've been due to a tape drive issue or maybe another admin froze them for some other reason?

Once you are happy that they look to be physically ok & that it's ok to re-use them, unfreeze a couple. They should then get unassigned & released for re-use - keep an eye on them that they are not failing again. You could then do the same for those other frozen tapes.

But do check first - they must've been frozen for a reason.

Regards Andy

"It's not too late to panic ..."

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

CS2

Thanks Andy. I unfroze the

Thanks Andy. I unfroze the media and they become scratch. Most of them are new tapes so i can confirm they are physically ok as other new media from the same group are working fine.

However, i agree with your point they are being frozen due to soem reason. Since there are more than 50-60 tapes, is there any way to find out the reason of tapes being frozen..

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

Andy Welburn

Trusted Advisor

You could look in the media errors file

"The errors file is located on each media server in

/usr/openv/netbackup/db/media/errors (Unix)
program files\veritas\netbackup\db\media\errors (Windows)"

Taken from:

DOCUMENTATION: How Symantec NetBackup(tm) determines if a tape should be frozen or the status of a tape drive should be changed to down, and how to change this behavior
http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?pag...

Also of interest:

DOCUMENTATION: How to troubleshoot frozen media on UNIX and Windows
http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?pag...

But we digress - this probably isn't helping to resolve Meenals original issue.

Regards Andy

"It's not too late to panic ..."

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

Yogesh9881

Accredited

Hi Chaks,

I understand you are facing similar issue but ALWAYS open new post it will help us to help you

If this post has helped you, please vote or mark as solution.

Before break-up, make sure you have a good backup..... ;-)

Aug

2011

0 Votes 0

David McMullin

frozen tapes

if you have a tape stuck in a drive, any tape that tries to load to that drive will be frozen...

NBU 7.0.1 on Solaris 10
writing to EMC 4206 VTL
duplicating to LTO2 in SL8500
(Soon to be LTO5)
using ACSLS 7.3.1

Aug

2011

1 Vote -1

rchandr

Try...

Hi,

Try restarting the server and check whether it works... For me it worked fine... Till now we dint have this problem...

Note: Make sure no active jobs are running in the master console...

Regards

-C

Media are not getting expired automatically in netbackup 7

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