Tape Duplicate Fails

[ksdst1]

Hello,

I am running BEX2012, W2008R2 and have a full backup B2D (no deduplication) job every Saturday night, Incremental every week on Tue, Wed, Thurs and Fri, and a Duplicate to a single tape drive of the "most recent full backup on the last Sun of every month".  I keep getting a failure for the Duplicate to tape with error below..  I'm not sure how to know the actual problem that causes the job failure.  I've read posts that reference older versions of BEX where there is a "time-out" setting which can be disabled.  I can't find any such setting in BEX2012.  Also, should there be a BEX log file (not windows system event log files) that would give more specific information about the actual problem?  

Tnx...

0xe0008445 - The media operation was terminated by the user.

Verify- ServerName   Media mount failed. Invalid Physical Volume Library Media Identifier.

[CraigV]

Check the TN below and see if it helps you:

https://support.symantec.com/en_US/article.TECH36822.html

[Larry_Fine]

I suspect that your real problem is when the verify failed with the media mount failed error.  Does the duplicate job use more than one tape?  Does the verify section fail immediately?  Or does the verify get a byte count (ie part way through the verify phase) before getting the error?

Can you manually run a verify job of this tape(s)?

This might be a problem with the BE catalogs, but that is just a hunch at this point.

[ksdst1]

Tnx for the responses.

CraigV...where is the "Enable Automatic Cancellation" in BEX2012?

Larry, the Duplicate job uses four tapes and the failure occurs during the verify process, although not at the same point, or tape count, of the verify process.  I could attempt to run a manual verify but what would that show me?  How can I verify or repair the BE catalogs?

tnx    

[pkh]

Are you using a tape library or a stand-along tape drive?

[Larry_Fine]

Running one or more manual verify jobs will let you see exactly what is happening.  I presume your failing backup & verify job is happening in the middle of the night when nobody is watching.

If the verify failure happens during the switching of the tapes, then I would suspect a catalog issue as the root cause.

[ksdst1]

You are right.  At times I am not present to know if the failure is happening in between tape changes but it has happened at this point when I have been present.  If we assume there is a problem with the catalog, is there a way to "repair" it, ie. what steps can I take to clean up the catalog?

tnx

[ksdst1]

pkh...i stated stand alone

[CraigV]

Check under Backup Options --> Schedule --> Cancel the job if it is still running....

That should be it.

Thanks!

[Larry_Fine]

I missed that you were using a stand-alone tape drive.  With trying to backup and verify 4 tape cartridges, there is a lot of manual tape swapping.  Based upon the time-out error that you also mentioned, this may be as simple as somebody not changing a tape fast enough.  A manual verify with close babysitting may be verify informative.  If the verify works once, while being closely watched, that proves the tapes and the catalog is good.

[pkh]

Who changes the tapes during the backup job? During the verify, did the person put in the tapes in the same sequence as they are used during the backup? How do you ensure that the sequence is correct?

[ksdst1]

I am do it all.  Four tapes takes a long time so there is no way for me to be present through out the entire verify job.  Some time I have been present and was able to swap tapes immediately during the verify process, but it can still throw the same error message.  The error message I listed before is too general.  How can I know what is causing the fail?  

Generally, for the Duplicate backup job, the software will eject any full tape and "wait" for the next usable tape to be inserted without any problems (perhaps over night).  Why would this be different for the verify process?  (I manually number the tapes so i know the sequence).  

tnx

[ksdst1]

Below is more of the error information.  What does the Media GUID number indicate?  Is it the GUID of a particular tape or of the drive??

Drive and media mount requested: 6/30/2015 10:17:42 AM
Media mount failed.
Invalid Physical Volume Library Media Identifier.

Media GUID: {E0DA9D69-495A-4E0D-91EA-03D009F3CC9F}

tnx

[ksdst1]

Sorry...here is the full info from the Job Log.  I missed it before becuase it was not an "error" catagory, but instead in the "Job Operation-Verify" section.

Drive and media mount requested: 6/30/2015 10:17:42 AM
Media mount failed.
Invalid Physical Volume Library Media Identifier.

Media GUID: {E0DA9D69-495A-4E0D-91EA-03D009F3CC9F}
A selection on device \\IMM-SRV-01\D: was skipped because of previous errors with the job.
A selection on device \\IMM-SRV-01\C: was skipped because of previous errors with the job.
A selection on device \\IMM-SRV-01\System?State was skipped because of previous errors with the job.

[Larry_Fine]

The media GUID is how BE identifies tapes.  Think of it as a serial number.  BE allows duplicates labels and/or bar codes, so having a unique media GUID is how BE knows exactly which tape is which.

Did this ever work for you?  If so, what changeged since then?

GUID - Globally Unique ID

[ksdst1]

Tnx for the information about GUID.  I asked b/c the Media ID of the last tape that was in the drive when the backup finished and the verify started had a different GUID than listed in the previous error message.  Infact, the GUID in the error message is for the first tape from the backup. 

So for this verify, I was not able to insert the tape that was needed (the first tape), where as other times, I was able to insert the first tape in the series to start the verify job.  

Is there an inherent time limit for the whole Job (duplicate to tape backup/verify)?  Why does the error state "invalid physical volume library media identifier"?  What does "invalid physcial volume library" mean exactly?

tnx 

[Larry_Fine]

Each tape should have a unique GUID.

The 4 tapes used for that particular job also have a family GUID, but I don't recall seeing the family GUID displayed in modern versions of BE, so I am showing my age.  The family GUID is what is used to track othe overwrite & append timers as I recall.

There is no default time limit to respond to media requests for backup and verify that I am aware of.

"physical volume library" is presumably some geek-speek that I often just ignore mentally.  Your error "Media mount failed. Invalid Physical Volume Library Media Identifier."  makes as much sense to me as "Media mount failed. Invalid Media Identifier."  Of course when searching for help, you need to cut & paste the full error.

[pkh]

If your job is using multiple tapes, then it is time to move to a tape library which will automate the handling of multiple tapes.

Your present situation is the result of using a stand-alone tape drive.

[ksdst1]

Tnx for the info Larry.  

pkh...i have successfully done tape backups before, that included the verify stage, with multiple tapes and this stand-alone tape drive configuration.  

I ran a manual verify job this morning where it scanned tape 1 of the 4 tapes, and then stopped, producng produced the error below.  I don't understand the errors. It refers to "IMM-SRV-01\D: Data, Media mount failed".  

The backup job is a B2D of that file path, to the backup disk that lives on the "E:" drive.  Then there is the Duplicate tape backup of this full backup that now lives on the "E:" drive.  Why does this error msg show Media mount failed for "Verify- \\IMM-SRV-01\D: Data" which references the "D:\Data" location? 

Do the other two error messages that refer to "skipped" selections give a clue to the problem?  

tnx...

Job ended: Monday, July 06, 2015 at 10:48:46 AM
Completed status: Failed
Final error: 0xe0008105 - Invalid Physical Volume Library Media Identifier.
Final error category: Job Errors

For additional information regarding this error refer to link V-79-57344-33029

Errors
Click an error below to locate it in the job log
Verify- \\IMM-SRV-01\D: Data  Media mount failed.

Invalid Physical Volume Library Media Identifier.

VerifyA selection on device \\IMM-SRV-01\C: was skipped because of previous errors with the job.

A selection on device \\IMM-SRV-01\System?State was skipped because of previous errors with the job.

[Larry_Fine]

Why does this error msg show Media mount failed for "Verify- \\IMM-SRV-01\D: Data" which references the "D:\Data" location? 

I assume that this might be because you are doing a duplicate job of the the data from the D: drive.  If you were truly backing up the E: drive, then I would expect an error that mentions E:

I don't think that the skipped selection messages should prevent the verify from running OK, but I cannot say that with certainty.

You said that this used to work, what changeged since then?

Does it happen with every backup and duplication?  or just one set?