Duplicate full backup and delete original?

Yes this can be done and the best way to do this is using SLP or use the duplicate option in VAULT management. In both these options there is a option where you can delete the original copy once it is duplicated..

SLP isn't availabe in BasicDisk is it? And NetbackupVault requires additional licensing?

You are right, the only option is to do them manually either using bpexpdate or the other option is in the GUI go to the Catalog options and search with primary copy and copy the contents in Excel, then select copy 2 and copy the content in Excel. Do the Vlookup in excel to find out the images that are duplicated and those images can be expired either using GUI option in Catalog or via bpexpdate.

I agree - the only 'automated' methods are SLP and NBU Vault.

If you have DSSU configured, disk will also be cleaned out when High Water mark is reached, provided that backups have been successfully duplicated.

what about a script using bpduplicate, then maybe bpexpdate?

Regardless, maybe someone can help me out with this bpduplicate script, at least I can automate that. I'm trying to make 2 copies of the image. Both new copies will reside on the same storage unit, but in different Volume Pools. I've been playing with it, and this is the closest I've gotten to working, where it starts writing one of the copies (to "Full", but I'm not sure if that's coincidence), but the other immediately generates a status 167.

bpduplicate -number_copies 2 -dstunit balt-srvr-nbu-lto,balt-srvr-nbu-lto -dp FULL,offsite_full -policy SharePoint_GRT -hoursago 11 -L c:\Duplicate_Scripts\Dup_SP_GRT_log.txt

Here's the output of the log file.

15:56:22 Duplicate started 6/28/2012 3:56:21 PM
15:56:22 Activity monitor job id = 308698
15:56:22 Copy 1 activity monitor job id = 308699
15:56:22 Copy 2 activity monitor job id = 308700
15:56:26 INF - Destination storage unit balt-srvr-nbu-lto on host balt-srvr-nbu
15:56:26 INF - Destination storage unit *NULL* on host balt-srvr-nbu
15:56:27 INF - Duplicating policy SharePoint_GRT schedule Weekly_Full backup id wtp-sp2010-fe1_1340902715 copy 1 created on 06/28/2012 12:58:35 on source path E:\SharepointBackup
15:56:28 INF - no storage units available for use (213), cannot continue with copy 3
15:56:32 INF - Waiting for mount of media id 000113 on server balt-srvr-nbu for writing.
15:56:34 INF - Beginning duplicate on server wtp-nbumedia2.wtplaw.com of client wtp-sp2010-fe1, reading file E:\SharepointBackup\wtp-sp2010-fe1_1340902715_C1_F1.

 

If you have only BasicDisk, I second Marianne's suggestion to use DSSU - it's automated in a way when HWM is reached. You don't even have to script it. It does make sense because you can still have the disk copy after the duplication, and only get cleaned up when disk is going to fill up. Just need to watch out for duplication error from time to time.

> bperror -S 167 -r
cannot find requested volume pool in EMM database
A backup to a nonrobotic drive was tried and the tape manager (bptm) cannot find or add the specified volume pool.

Verify the Media and Device Management volume configuration. Check the NetBackup Problems report for
 more information about the error. For detailed troubleshooting information, create a bptm debug log
 directory and retry the operation. Check the resulting debug log.

If FULL volume pool is fine, check exact spelling and case of offsite_full.

Interesting. I wasn't familiar with it, nor could I find much info. But, I think I got it set up now. Couple of questions/oncerns, which I suppose i can answer through testing, but in case you know the answer:

• High/low water marks- Is it possible that if I make the Low Water Mark lower, can the media server delete the files in real time so said backup can continue w/o error. It seems like the backup is if it hits the High Water Mark regardless.
• Once the duplication is complete, is the image on the Disk Storage Unit supposed to expire/cleanup/delete or anything? I did a successful duplication using DSSU, but the original image (on disk) was still in the Catalog as the primary, and the files were still on the disk space.
• Lastly, isn't this really a "backup to tape" that's simply been staged on disk first? I'm not sure what the difference would be but Netbackup documentation seems very specific about GRT backups and restores being done to/from Disk. But this might be something that I won't know definitively until I test.

Thanks in advance. As always, you have some really good info and suggestions.

1) You mean making default Low Water Mark (LWM) value lower? Of course you can, the only rule is "HWM > LWM". 

2) No, when duplication is done, it won't cleanup/expire/delete your image. It will start to do so when your HWM is reached. For example HWM is 90%, LWM is 70%, you keep doing backup (to DSU) and duplication (to tape) daily, nothing happens, one day the DSU  is 90% filled up, the image cleanup job now kicks in to select and cleanup the oldest images. How much data would it select to cleanup? That will be determined by LWM, so cleanup will select up to a point that DSU is back to 70% filled. So the automation is not based on duplication completion, but the disk usage/consumption.

3) Yes, it's a staging kind of setup and yes it's applicable to all type of data.

• High/low water marks- Is it possible that if I make the Low Water Mark lower, can the media server delete the files in real time so said backup can continue w/o error. It seems like the backup is if it hits the High Water Mark regardless. NO, Backup will fail until there is enough space again.
• Once the duplication is complete, is the image on the Disk Storage Unit supposed to expire/cleanup/delete or anything? I did a successful duplication using DSSU, but the original image (on disk) was still in the Catalog as the primary, and the files were still on the disk space. NO.
• Lastly, isn't this really a "backup to tape" that's simply been staged on disk first? I'm not sure what the difference would be but Netbackup documentation seems very specific about GRT backups and restores being done to/from Disk. But this might be something that I won't know definitively until I test. This will work for GRT, but as stated in the manual, images on tape will need to be duplicated back to Disk and it must be the Primary copy in order to Restore from it.