11-13-2015 09:09 AM
Master is on Windows 2012 R2 VMware VM
Media servers on physical Win2008
Tapes are LTO3 and have a barcode configuration of 6 numbers, then L3 on the end (XXXXXXL3)
Tape Library: HP ESL 712e
Barcode Rules:
Barcode Tag | Media Type | Pool | Mounts/Clean |
---|---|---|---|
CLN | hcart3_clean | None | 25 |
L3 | hcart3 | 4 | 0 |
<DEFAULT> | DEFAULT | DEFAULT | 0 |
Media ID Rule:
Robot | Barcode Length | Media ID Rule |
---|---|---|
2 | 8 | 1:2:3:4:5:6 |
When we inject tapes for the FIRST time they come in as DLT and the Media ID is incorrect. It is grabbing the last 6 characters instead of the first 6.
Example:
Tape barcode: 234567L3
Resultant Media ID: 4567L3
If I go to the Scratch pool and delete all of these DLT tapes that just came in and then re-inventory the robot, everything works normally. The type becomes hcart3 and the Media ID is correct.
For the example above the media becomes 234567 which is what I wanted.
Why does this only happen on the first time we inject the tapes? It looks like all of the rules are getting ignored and it is dropping to the DEFAULT rule which I do not know what the defaults would be for Media Type and Media ID.
Some thoughts:
Something wrong with my rules.
These tapes are from an older version of NetBackup (they are not brand new) that we are now using in the 7.6 environment.
We had two other robots connected to this environment which we have since retired which is why the robot in the above table is number 2.
Anyone have any ideas? Thank you in advance.
Solved! Go to Solution.
11-13-2015 10:30 AM
I thought barcode rules select beginning of the barcode (2) not the end (L3)
remove this rule
L3 | hcart3 | 4 | 0 |
and add this one
2 | hcart3 | 4 | 0 |
11-13-2015 10:30 AM
I thought barcode rules select beginning of the barcode (2) not the end (L3)
remove this rule
L3 | hcart3 | 4 | 0 |
and add this one
2 | hcart3 | 4 | 0 |
11-13-2015 10:51 AM
11-13-2015 11:23 AM
Thanks for the reply. Couple of things.
Our tapes range from 000001L3 to 999999L3 so that rule would only work for the 2xxxxxx series if indeed barcode rules only read from the beginning. It work also work if a 2 was anywhere in the bar code.
Also, as I said above, when I delete the tapes from the scratch pool and then reinventory the robot all of the tapes come in as expected. They have the correct media type and Media ID. The L3 rule does work but only after a second inventory. That is why I am trying to figure out why it does not work on the first try only.
With all of the different types and formats of barcodes on tapes I find it had to believe that Symantec would limit the barcode rule to read only from the beginning.
From the help page:
The barcode tag is a unique string of characters from the barcode that identifies the type of media.
It does not say it has to start with the string.
11-13-2015 11:32 AM
Interesting you should mention the name/number thing Marianne.
It looks like it may have changed somewhere in versioning but when I create the rule there is a pull-down to select the pool (whihc is a list of pool names). After I save the rule, the pool name then shows up as a number and not the name.
I always thought it did show up as a name but we have just migrated to 7.6 and something may have changed.
11-13-2015 12:10 PM
Will Restore-
The rule you suggest to add would affect every tape that has a 2 in it anywhere. Our tapes range from 000000L3 to 999999L3.
The barcode tag does not have to be at the beginning of the barcode. It is simply a string that can be found anywhere in the barcode.
I know the L3 rule works because (as I said above) when I delete the DLT tapes from the scratch pool and then re-inventory the robot, they all come in just the way I expect with the Media Type being hcart3 and the Media ID being the first 6 characters of the barcode.
I am trying to figure out why things do not work on the FIRST time I inject the tapes.
11-13-2015 02:37 PM
11-16-2015 12:32 PM
Wow - the wayback machine! :)
11-17-2015 04:17 AM
Seeing that Barcode Tag needs leading characters, my suggestion is as follows:
Modify <DEFAULT> to look like this:
Barcode Tag: <DEFAULT>
Media Type: DEFAULT
Pool: Pool name / number
If you have more than one media type, best to order labels with different ranges (leading character) for each type.
This will enable you to create a different barcode rule for each media type.
11-23-2015 10:54 AM
After a bit more research I found that two of the four media servers did not have the barcode rules we had set on the other two. It just so happens that we using one of the media servers, to inject tapes, that did not have the rules defined.
After adding the barcode rules to the other two media servers, the inject now works (mostly). It will follow the L3 barcode rule above and will correctly assign the media ID. However, it still dumps all of the tapes into the NetBackup pool instead of the scratch pool. Ah well, take the good with the bad. I can easily move the tapes to the scratch pool.
But this does show that the Barcode Tag does not need leading characters because mine (L3) are at the end of the barcode.
11-23-2015 12:15 PM
11-23-2015 01:07 PM
I forgot to mention that I removed the default rule.
There are only two rules now. The CLN rule for cleaning tapes and the L3 rule.
11-23-2015 08:16 PM
11-23-2015 08:19 PM
Sounds good. Thank you Marianne.
11-23-2015 11:07 PM
11-24-2015 02:32 PM
Yes. I read that chain and I guess I was hoping that in 5 years and a few versions they would have fixed that. But alas...