How can I rename a tape after it backed up - without erasing.

[pkokkinis]

I have BackupExec 2012 and need to rename the Friday3 tape to 2Q2012 but don't know how. The tape has already been shipped offsite. In prior versions of BE, I went to the Media tab, right clicked respective tape, selected Rename. No overwriting and no needing tape. How can I do this with BE 2012?

[Kiran_Bandi]

Change the media label. Media label will not be written to media untill next overwrite happens on that.

Open Media Properties, enter media label in media label field. 

EDIT: Here is the TN explaining the procedure: http://www.symantec.com/docs/HOWTO73328

Thanks....

[pkokkinis]

I do not have the tape anymore as it's in another city, but more importantly, do not want it overwritten. This can easily be done in pre-BE 2012 versions. Anyone else?

[VJware]

This is how, you did in pre-2012 - http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH35974

And this is how it is done in 2012 - http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=HOWTO73328#v53891223

[pkokkinis]

Obviously I'm alone on this one: I've always went under the Media tab and right clicked tape names and renamed on Month/Quarter/Year ends. I've never created a job which in turn would erase tape contents. Has anyone done this under the Media tab in previous versions? This is the functionality I'm trying to do in the new version.

[pkokkinis · Accepted solution]

Did some more research and talked to symantec tech support (always helpful by the way). Here's what I found in case it could help anyone else reading this post:

There's a difference between re-name and re-label.

Re-name is a simple right-click process that requires the media in BE2012 (but not in pre-BE2012 versions). You change the name, then click Apply. The Apply button is grayed out unless it sees the tape in the drive. This process is described in Article: HOWTO73328

Re-label is a job-creating process that also requires the media in BE2012 (and pre-BE2012 versions). You create the job, it does destroy all data on media, and re-labels it. This process is described in Article:    HOWTO73449

Thanks to you both for responding above and mentioning 73328. I'm a little bummed that I need the media with 2012 to re-name, but there's bigger problems to solve.

[Wtby]

Why does the media have to be in the drive to be able to rename it?

That's not very practical for remote servers.

[Larry_Fine]

It is a bug in BE 2012.

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH191236

[Wtby]

Thanks Larry, didn't see that when searching before.