How do I retrieve 10d catalog data and put it in readable format ?

[boomer]

I've been tasked by my government boss to create a spreadsheet containing tape ids and directory locations of data backed up on over 300 tapes during the past two years. I have copied the catalogs from four media servers and my CAS server to one central share on a SAN connected to my CAS. All servers now write catalog info to this share point. This catalog is 36Gb in size and will continually grow. We are not allowed to delete any catalog data.

My question is: Is there a BE utility that will extract all this data into delimited text format to import into a spreadsheet? I've tried the 5520 "catdump" utility with no success. Hopefully I can get some good info from you guys before I have to put in a call to Symantec Support. Thanks much!

[Ken_Putnam]

AFAIK, CATDUMP was the only way to extract catalog info, and it was discontinued with build 5520

Veritas/Symantec never provided an API, but you may be able to get what you want from one of the canned reports, but it's been quite a while since I played with them

[boomer]

Thanks for the info, Ken!

I haven't had any luck with canned reports either. The one media report only gives me info on tapes that were used during the past month, not the entire catalog.

If I can convince the upper management, would you recommend that we upgrade to 11d?

I understand that the catalog is in 'html' format. Would the upgrade also convert the older 36Gb central catalog files to 'html'? I would think this would be easier to export to  a spreadsheet. Thanks.

Message Edited by boomer on 08-08-200710:00 AM

[Ken_Putnam]

yes, if you upgrade an existing media server, the catalogs are updated to v11 format

I think what you were refering to is that Log Files in v11d are in XML format rather than TXT format. 

[boomer]

Getting back to my first question..............

I see there are several threads on this issue that don't have a resolution. I was able to create a batch file with the "catdump" utility running against all my .fh and .img files. I have over 12,000 lines of catalog info in this batch file and I am also getting prompted for a Y or N after every .img file. Has anyone found a resolution for this and could you post a sample of your successful command line? I am getting pressed for results. Thanks.

[Jeffh]

Worked with tech support and we were able to export a 10d catalog file to a text file. Maybe this will work for you.

[Jeffh]

Sorry... forgot to add, we used the catdump utility.