Fail to update in bpmedialist after assign by vmquery -assignbyid command

[NMT_screen]

Dear Sirs

          I need ur kind assistance.I have been running this netbackup for a number of years.I have a few volume pools in my netbackup server. Each volume pools has a few medias ( tapes ) assigned to it. Unfortunately,all the media ( tapes ) assigned to one of the volume pools are expired and cannot be used back for backup. So I deassign the tapes using " vmquery -deassignbyid xxxx " and reassign back to the original pool using " vmquery  -assignbyid xxxx".

           But when I check the current backup tape list using  this command "bpmedialist -U" , I  cannot see in the backup inventory list but all those tapes are still physically inside the tape library and still in the volume pool. So I did try the command " bpexpdate -ev " media id" -d "mm/dd/yyyy" , I saw the following error message.

"requested media id was not found in NB media database and/or MM volume database.

 KIndly please help me to advise what to do next. Currently I am running "netbackup 3.4 " edition on solaris 7 version. I feel depress since the problem was for quite a few days and all servers inside this volume pools are not able to backup / restore anymore.

[Patrick_Whelan_]

If the tapes are already expired, then you shouldn't have to do any of those things. If they are in the library try "moving" them to None (i.e. don't actually take them out, just use the move to move them to standalone) then reinventory the library. Good luck.

[NMT_screen]

Hi Patrick

             Thanks for reply. Pls.assist me to chk the following steps to do reinventory.

  ( 1 ) vmquery -deassignbyid <media_id> <pool_number> <status>

  ( 2 ) vmchange -p NonePool no -m < TAPE ID >

  ( 3 ) vmquery -assignbyid <media_id> <media_type> <pool_number> <status> <assigntime> |

  ( 4 ) bpmedialist -U         ( To chk the inventory list )

            But when I reassign the tape I must write down the assigntime which is in ctime format. Pls.explain how to change the current time to ctime format . Kindly correct me if i wrote down any thing here since I am little experience in netbackup.

Thanks.

[Darren_Dunham]

You said the data was expired.  If it's expired, you don't need to reassign. 

Are you trying to access the expired data, or just reuse the tapes?

--

Darren 

[NMT_screen]

Hi Darren,

             Thanks for your advice. In fact , my intention is to be able to backup the servers which are using the media tapes in this particular pool. Currently the tapes in this particular pool are expired. The error message when I use " bpmedialist -U " is as follow.

Server Host =   PLUTO

 id        rl     images   allocated           last updated        density  kbytes restores
                  vimages   expiration          last read           <------- STATUS ------->
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAPE11   3     22    08/17/2008 01:35  09/09/2008 15:16    hcart  297765696       0
                    22   10/10/2008 15:16        N/A                    EXPIRED

volume pool name =  PLUTO_LTO

               Inside this volume pool, I have  TAPE1, TAPE2,....... up to ., TAPE11 .But when I chk using "bpmedialist -U", I can see the above message and cannot see the TAPE1, ......, TAPE10. But I can see these tapes ( TAPE1,...., TAPE10) in the volume pool, PLUTO_LTO, using the GUI .

               Kindly tell me step by step how  to reuse all these tapes , TAPE1, .........., TAPE11 so that servers are able to backup using this volume pool.

Thanks.

[Andy_Welburn]

---

@NMT screen wrote:

The error message when I use " bpmedialist -U " is as follow.

Server Host =   PLUTO

 id        rl     images   allocated           last updated        density  kbytes restores
                  vimages   expiration          last read           <------- STATUS ------->
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAPE11   3     22    08/17/2008 01:35  09/09/2008 15:16    hcart  297765696       0
                    22   10/10/2008 15:16        N/A                    EXPIRED

---

From this output it shows that the tape (as opposed to the images on it) has expired. You can set this on your media if you don't wish to use them after a certain time - they can be 'dodgy' if they get too old!!

On the Admin Console GUI within Media & Device management/Media, right-click on the media in question select change & click the 'radio-button' Never under Expiration Date.

[NMT_screen]

Hi Andy,

           Thanks for your advise. In fact my netbackup version is 3.4 and may not be exactly like what you mentioned here. And I need to redo the TAPE1, .... , TAPE11 to the current volume manager pool list.

Thanks, 

[Andy_Welburn]

---

@NMT screen wrote:
... netbackup version is 3.4 ...

---

Sorry, missed that in your original post.

Unfortunately I started at 4.5 so've no xp prior to that. Sorry couldn't be of more help.

[Darren_Dunham]

---

@NMT screen wrote:

volume pool name =  PLUTO_LTO

               Inside this volume pool, I have  TAPE1, TAPE2,....... up to ., TAPE11 .But when I chk using "bpmedialist -U", I can see the above message and cannot see the TAPE1, ......, TAPE10. But I can see these tapes ( TAPE1,...., TAPE10) in the volume pool, PLUTO_LTO, using the GUI .

               Kindly tell me step by step how  to reuse all these tapes , TAPE1, .........., TAPE11 so that servers are able to backup using this volume pool.

Thanks.

---

That should happen automatically.  Your tapes 1-10 (which don't appear in bpmedialist) should be unassigned and ready for use now. 

Verify with 'vmquery -m <volume>'  You should see no 'assigned' date.  If so, they're ready for use.

11 shows that it's expired, which is an odd state.  Can you show vmquery output for that tape?

You shouldn't be running  'assignbyid' (or really 'deassignbyid').

--

Darren 

[NMT_screen]

Darren,

            Thanks. You're right. TAPE1 to TAPE 10 are unassigned. Here is the vmquery output of TAPE11 which shows EXPIRE.

NetbackupServer# vmquery -m TAPE11
================================================================================
media ID:              TAPE11
media type:            1/2" cartridge tape (6)
barcode:               TAPE11
description:           Added by Media Manager
volume pool:           PLUTO_LTO (37)
robot type:            TLD - Tape Library DLT (8)
robot number:          2
robot slot:            66
robot host:            NetbackupServer
volume group:          00_002_TLD
created:               Mon Sep 27 17:53:19 2004
assigned:              Sun Aug 17 01:35:33 2008
last mounted:          Tue Sep 09 16:11:15 2008
first mount:           Tue Oct 05 14:21:49 2004
expiration date:       Wed Oct 14 18:06:20 2009
number of mounts:      1028
max mounts allowed:    ---
status:                0x0

Here is the output of TAPE1, ....., TAPE10 which are missing in the "bpmedialist -U " inverntory list. They are unassigned mode.

NetbackupServer# vmquery -m TAPE1
================================================================================
media ID:              TAPE1
media type:            1/2" cartridge tape (6)
barcode:               TAPE1
description:           Added by Media Manager
volume pool:           PLUTO_LTO (37)
robot type:            TLD - Tape Library DLT (8)
robot number:          2
robot slot:              71
robot host:            NetbackupServer
volume group:          00_002_TLD
created:               Mon Sep 06 19:32:37 2004
assigned:              ---
last mounted:          Tue Sep 09 16:04:22 2008
first mount:           Sun Sep 12 08:37:53 2004
expiration date:       ---
number of mounts:      1041
max mounts allowed:    ---
 

 Thanks.

[NMT_screen]

Darren,

          Since TAPE1 to TAPE10 are not assigned, how can add to the database so that I should be able to see them in the "bpmedialist -U" inventory list since I shouldn't run -assignbyid ?

Thanks ahead.

[Darren_Dunham]

No.  Blank (available) tapes do not appear in 'bpmedialist' output.  Only after they have been grabbed and a current image is on it do they appear there.

Netbackup will assign the media when it first uses it for a backup.  You do not assign it yourself.  If you assign it, it will never be selected for a backup.

--

Darren 

[Darren_Dunham]

Odd. your tape 11 has an 'expiration' date in vmquery, but that date is in the future.  I'm not sure why it's showing as 'expired' in bpmedialist output.

Do you know why that volume has a volume-level expiration date?  That's uncommon and usually something that you would have had to set at your site.

--

Darren 

[NMT_screen]

Really appreciate your answers here,Darren. In fact these tapes (TAPE1, ....., TAPE10 ) have been running for some time and frequently freeze and status code 96 appear. So I manually took out all those 11 tapes from the library manually and replaced with the new tapes which are same bar code ( TAPE1,..., TAPE11 ). Then after some day later, those TAPE1,...,TAPE10 were totally dissappear from the "bpmedialist" and all bkp jobs belongs to them were not able bkp.When I chk, I noticed "mounting TAPE1,....,TAPE11 " in the job status and never see the "mounted TAPE1,.....,TAPE11"  in order to run the job. So the job is pending " mounting TAPE1,....., TAPE11" for long hours and never proceed to "mounted TAPE1,...,TAPE11" stage.

             The problem is within this "PLUTO_LTO" volume pool.

( 1 ) Is this changing TAPE1, .. ,TAPE11 could be the problem?

( 2 ) I changed back the orignial TAPE1,...,TAPE11 and bpmedialist still never show these tapes. Should I change back the blank tapes with same bar code and same media ID tapes to the library ?

( 3 ) Now i temporarily stopped backing up these servers. Should I restart these bkp jobs using original TAPES or NEW TAPES with same bar code and same media ID?

 Pls.advise

Thanks,

Thanks,

[NMT_screen]

Many Thanks Darren. Besides this TAPE11 , all other tapes have no exp date in the vmquery. For example, pls.chk below. I do not have the volume label expiration date. Could it be due to the change in new TAPES i made as per my previous message?

Netbackupserver# vmquery -m TAPE07
================================================================================
media ID:               TAPE07
media type:            1/2" cartridge tape (6)
barcode:                TAPE07
description:            Added by Media Manager
volume pool:           PLUTO_LTO (37)
robot type:            TLD - Tape Library DLT (8)
robot number:          2
robot slot:              78
robot host:            Netbackupserver
volume group:          00_002_TLD
created:               Thu Mar 31 15:21:59 2005
assigned:              ---
last mounted:          Tue Sep 09 10:53:22 2008
first mount:           Sat Apr 02 09:20:36 2005
expiration date:       ---
number of mounts:      937
max mounts allowed:    ---

[Darren_Dunham · Accepted solution]

Frozen tapes stay frozen forever unless you intervene.  Did you unfreeze the tapes at some point?

Once the tapes became unfrozen, they were allowed to expire.  If all the data was older than the retention period, then all the images expire and the tape disappears from bpmedialist.  So far, normal.

If these are brand new tapes, I'd delete the volumes from the media list and let Netbackup add them back when you do an inventory.  All the information it's kept is for the old tapes, and that's no longer valid.

--

Darren 

[NMT_screen]

Many Thanks. It is good for me to learn something from u. Understand that forzen tapes are quite often in my tapes and I used to unfreeze " bpmedia -unfreeze -ev TAPE01 -h MediaServer".  Understand that bpmedia database and volume database is separate and sometimes failed to syn each other like my TAPE here. Thanks for ur explanation.

            Ur way to delete volume for the bpmedialist is " vmdelete -m <media_id> | -v <volume_group> " ? Pls.let me know.

            Now I enable back the backup classes belong to my "PLUTO_volumepool" and I noticed that some tapes are auto assigned in the "bpmedialist" but it took too long to assign particular tapes and i saw "mounting TAPE1" in the job status for long hour. Is that normal?

Thanks,

[Darren_Dunham]

Yes, vmdelete -m <mediaid> is perfect.  You can also delete it from the GUI if you prefer.

Then when you run an inventory, it'll add it back as a new tape (which is appropriate for you).

Not sure why assignment and mounting is taking a long time.  See if that happens on these new tapes.  There may be some other issue occuring.

--

Darren 

[NMT_screen]

Thanks, Darren. I'll look into detail about why take so long to mount the tape using the log. It could be some other issues as well .

[NMT_screen]

Hi ,
    I still have this issue for mounting . Message is as follow in the Job Status. The "TAPE1" is mounting for more than 3 hours but not mounted.  This is the problem TAPE1 . Not only this TAPE1 , all tapes under this MediaServer1 are having same problem  as follow.  But other tapes under different media servers are running normal .

"Job xxxx"                                                  Started : 05/05/2009  17:05:30
Storage Unit :  LTO- MediaServer1                    Elapsed :                    03:23:00
Media Server :  MediaServer1                           Ended  : 
Status          :  05/05/2009   17:38:20   - Connecting
                      05/05/2009   17:38:10   - Connected: connect
                      05/05/2009   17:38:10   - mounting TAPE1


Current                        0
K Bytes  Written


Current 
Files Writtern                 1

Estimated completing      Previous backup data is not available.
*************************************************************************************************************
Pls.compare with the other tapes under different media server. This is normal backuping tape .

Job xxxx"                                                            Started : 05/05/2009 17:05:30
Storage Unit : LTO- MediaServer2                             Elapsed : 17:23:24
Media Server : MediaServer2                                      Ended : 05/05/2009 16:22:30

Status : 05/05/2009 17:38:20 - Connecting
05/05/2009 17:38:10 - Connected: connect
05/05/2009 17:38:10 - mounting TAPE2
05/05/2009 17:38:10 - mounted; mount time:  000:01:01
05/05/2009 17:38:10 - positioning to file 34
05/05/2009 17:38:10 - positioned: position time 000:17:01
05/05/2009 17:38:10 - begin writing
05/05/2009 18:50:10 - end writing  ; writing time 000:15:00

Current 0
K Bytes Written      6693088


Current                      93342
Files Writtern 1

Estimated % 
completing                      100 %

*****************************************************************************************
They are running on Netbackup 3.4 server and media tapes are just replaced on line ( w/o shutting down the tape library ). The TAPE1 from the media server 1 is mounting forever and never get mounted and written. Is it due to media tape problem or netbackup 3.4 problem?  Kindly advise since I am having this problem for long time.