Tape media ID
Hi, we have more than 20 local sites which has it`s own media servers and it`s own tape range. we have aasigned them tape range to avoid any kind of issue related to that. But some of the sites when they have been confiugered not correctly inventored and we are seeing last 6 symbols of the barcode and this may make the tapes to be same within the sites.
Example:
Actual tape range for this site is 227000-227999, but when it is inventored we got 7000L2 instead of 227000L2. So now site which had a tape range with barcode 237000L2-237999L2 may have same media id as 7000L2 instead of 237000L2. No issues found yet but may lead to the problem. Now i have changed it to read only first 6 symbols of the tapes barcode but it is still reading last 6.
Is there any way to fix this?
Comments
If the tape is already know
If the tape is already know to NetBackup it is likely to do this as it is recognised
Once the tape has expired (no time assigned) then make a note of it and delete it from NetBackup completely.
Re-inventory the library and it should be added in correctly - but its actual tape header (written on the tape) will be incorrect so run a bplable command from the command line against this tape.
It will be mounted and read and say something to the effect that the tape already has data on it with a label of 7000L2 - say "yes" and it will overwrite the header with the correct Media ID so that it can be used
Failure to do this will cause NetBackup to freeze the tape.
So it may just be a work in progress - doing this as the tapes expire until you have them all done
Also note that the MediaID Generation Rule can be specific to the Admin Console running the inventory and even down to the user logged in doing it so make sure all users on all PCs have set the MediaID generation rule correctly
Hope this helps
Authorised Symantec Consultant
Don't forget to give a "Thumbs Up" or mark as "Solution" if someones advice has helped you.
Side note
To make sure that you don't write to the tapes again until they are re-labeled
you might want to freeze them - then once you see they are back in the lib and past the expiration date
un-freeze - delete - inventory - label as Mark says above.
I say this because I had the same issue - and I did not notice when the tapes went back into the lib after they expired and they got written to again! and I had to wait 6 months for them to expire. So I froze them that would give me time to at least notice the bad id's were back in the lib.
I don't have to know how to spell....I work on Unix.
NetBackup 7.0.1 - AIX & Windows
Thanks so much for the
Thanks so much for the details. One more question, You said that the header will be left from the old media id even if robot will read them correctly. Does this make any problem? Does this makes jobs fail? When NB reads the barcode and adds it to NB, should it be changed the header written on the tape as well?
When it adds it it as a new
When it adds it it as a new tape it will automatically get the mew mediaID but the tape will have th eold media ID written to it
That is why you must run the label command on it before youuse it
Authorised Symantec Consultant
Don't forget to give a "Thumbs Up" or mark as "Solution" if someones advice has helped you.
yes it causes a problem
when you put in a new tape - on the first use the media id is written to the tape header.
the next time the tape is used it is checked that the media id (for the barcoded tape) matches what is written on the header. If they do not match it will freeze the tape and not use it.
This is a safety feature. Say the barcode fell off of a couple of tapes and you put them back on wrong (this really started when we used those paper barcodes that slid in and out of the front of the tape - does not normally happen with sticky labels) so anyway - if the barcodes were wrong it would pull a that that it thinks is a scratch and want to write over it - but if it sees the media id and the header do not match it thinks - hey this might be a tape with valid images on it - I should not write to it. at that point it freezes the tape.
And point in fact when you go to do the label of the tapes you need to fix, make sure you uncheck the verify id - because it would do the comparison and see the difference and not label it with the new id.
I don't have to know how to spell....I work on Unix.
NetBackup 7.0.1 - AIX & Windows
I will test all what you guys
I will test all what you guys said and will update the result. I will try it know. :)
Is there any command which NB puts assign time to the tape even if it will not use it?
Thanks so much again.
A tape only gets an assigned
A tape only gets an assigned time when it has been written to or has been frozen by NetBackup
If it has a time assigned but is not frozen then it has valid backup data on it
Authorised Symantec Consultant
Don't forget to give a "Thumbs Up" or mark as "Solution" if someones advice has helped you.
I have ejected one of the
I have ejected one of the tapes and deleted it from NB. ran inventory, but it is still reading first six symbols. Does anything need to be changed from library itself, which tell only read 8 symbols or only read 6 symbols?
Next update: My mistake on
Next update:
My mistake on the first test. library was reading only 6 symbols and barcode was 111407. i have deleted it and tell NB to read last six symbols, but it didnt change anything.
Second test i found the robot which were reading 8 symbols of the label. deleted tape 7007L2 and ran inventory with MediaID generation specified to read first 6. after invenory got tape 2007007.
Second test completed successfully. :)
Thansk so much for your quick answers and resolution. I found my answer.
Would you like to reply?
Login or Register to post your comment.