Forum Discussion

RaymT___'s avatar
RaymT___
Level 4
13 years ago
Solved

How do i develop indepth skills in drives,library and log analysing skills in NBU

Hi All,

I would like to develep indepth skills in drives, library checks and log analysing skills in netbackup. As im doing remote support alot of restrictions and dont have much indepth troubleshooting knowledge. I know some basic steps to check the drives in acls(q dr), mount/Dis mount in medias.

how do i go for on it..

Please guide me how do i start to learn indepth....

7.1.x and Earlier
Backup and Recovery
Best Practice
Error messages
Managing Backup Devices
Monitoring
NetBackup
Troubleshooting
  • mph999's avatar
    mph999
    13 years ago

    You could also read this technote to gain an idea of what scan does/ and how NBU uses tape drives.

     http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH169477

    The very basics...

    (1)

    scan is NOT a NetBackup command, it simply sends scsi-commands to what ever devices are configured at an OS level.  For os that require a pass through driver (for example in solaris this is the sg driver) this has to be configured correctly, but providing it is, and if scan then is not working the isue is between the OS and the devices,  

    (2)

    NetBackup does NOT write to tape drives, or read from them, or even position them.  These operations are handled by the operating system.  Generally, therefore, read/ write errors are NOT caused by NetBackup.  There are a few exceptions (block sizes if incorrect can screw things up), but it is safe to say, that if the system was working, and no config changes have been made, then the issue will be elsewhere.

    (3)

    robtest is not really a NetBackup command.  Like scan, it just send scsi commands to the library.  The only 'interaction' with NBU is that fact that in the config the device file must be correct (so that rtobtest can get to the library).  All output seen in robtest when you run commands (eg. s s (show slots)) is SENT from the library - if it is wrong, then it is a library issue.

    (4) 

    TAPEALERT and ASC/ ASCQ errors are send from the hardware and indicate a hardware issue or some sort.  The is an exception (listed in the technote) but it is quite rare.

     

    If the above was understood - many cases would be resolved by contacting the right people to solve them (ie. not Symantec) - just about every drive/ robot case I do (and I do a lot of them) are nothing to do with NetBackup.

     

    Regards,

    Martin

6 Replies

  • Amarnath_Sathis's avatar
    Amarnath_Sathis
    Level 5
    13 years ago

    Please go through the PDF Files on Device Configuration and Virtual Tape Libraries.

    This might be helpfull for understanding about Drives & Libraries

  • mph999's avatar
    mph999
    Level 6
    13 years ago

    You could also read this technote to gain an idea of what scan does/ and how NBU uses tape drives.

     http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH169477

    The very basics...

    (1)

    scan is NOT a NetBackup command, it simply sends scsi-commands to what ever devices are configured at an OS level.  For os that require a pass through driver (for example in solaris this is the sg driver) this has to be configured correctly, but providing it is, and if scan then is not working the isue is between the OS and the devices,  

    (2)

    NetBackup does NOT write to tape drives, or read from them, or even position them.  These operations are handled by the operating system.  Generally, therefore, read/ write errors are NOT caused by NetBackup.  There are a few exceptions (block sizes if incorrect can screw things up), but it is safe to say, that if the system was working, and no config changes have been made, then the issue will be elsewhere.

    (3)

    robtest is not really a NetBackup command.  Like scan, it just send scsi commands to the library.  The only 'interaction' with NBU is that fact that in the config the device file must be correct (so that rtobtest can get to the library).  All output seen in robtest when you run commands (eg. s s (show slots)) is SENT from the library - if it is wrong, then it is a library issue.

    (4) 

    TAPEALERT and ASC/ ASCQ errors are send from the hardware and indicate a hardware issue or some sort.  The is an exception (listed in the technote) but it is quite rare.

     

    If the above was understood - many cases would be resolved by contacting the right people to solve them (ie. not Symantec) - just about every drive/ robot case I do (and I do a lot of them) are nothing to do with NetBackup.

     

    Regards,

    Martin

  • Omar_Villa's avatar
    Omar_Villa
    Level 6
    13 years ago
    Read the nbu admin guide vol 2, it haves a lot of details but mainly all the issues with drives are at os level learn the os better u know it more deep u can get.