How do I set which bar code to read by the robot?

[Michael_Kaish1]

Hi

We currently have an MSL5060 HP Tape Library that reads the following barcodes on our LTO-3 tapes: WN1234L3 is read as 1234L3

I have built a test environment with a different tape library(exabyte) and I want it to read the same way; however the barcode reader reads the following:
WN1234L3 as WN1234. I want this to be able to match the MSL5060 Tape library but I am unsure on how to go about it.

I tried barcode rules but that didn't work. We have Netbackup 6.0 MP4 running on both production and test environments.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Michael Kaishar
IT Operations

[Stumpr2 · Accepted solution]

This is covered in the "Media Manager Admin Guide" under
Media ID Generation Rules


Media ID generation rules can be added to the vm.conf file to specify the
robot number and barcode length with multiple configuration entries for each
robot or for each barcode format. With NetBackup 4.5, media ID generation
rules can also be added to the vm.conf file via the "Inventory Robot"
function of the NetBackup administration console graphical user interface.

The media ID generation rule has the following syntax:

MEDIA_ID_BARCODE_CHARS
:::::

where robot_number is the robot number, barcode_length is the number of
characters in the media's barcode format,

c1 is the first character of the Media ID

c2 is the second character of the Media ID

c3 is the third character of the Media ID

c4 is the fourth character of the Media ID

c5 is the fifth character of the Media ID

c6 is the sixth character of the Media ID

c1-c6 can specify a character from the media barcode or specify a fixed
character by prefixing the character with a "#".

For example, the rule:

0 8 #N:1:3:4:5:6

generates media IDs for robot 0 using the character N and the 1st, 3rd,
4th-6th characters of the 8 character barcode, and for the barcode, 123456L1
generates media ID N13456.

The rule:

0 8 1:2:3:4:5:6

generates media IDs for robot 0 using the 1st-6th characters of the 8
character barcode, and for the barcode 006498L2 generates media ID 006498.Message was edited by:
Bob Stump

[Chia_Tan_Beng]

Hi Michael,

Reading from your post I think your netbackup is set to take in whatever presented by the tape library. The tape library can also be configured to filter the 1st two or the last two character of the barcode when netbackup do a query.

Check the exabyte tape library installation/configuration guide and it should tells you where & how to configure the way you want it.

[Michael_Kaish1]

I have tried all of that but unfortunately it doesn't seem to want to take in the whole barcode.

The barcode example: WN1234L3 is only shown as WN1234 in the netbackup application. I have tried to uninstall and reinstall netbackup several times. I looked at our tape library and couldn't find anything to do with barcode filtering either.

I am able to change Media ID but I am unable to change the barcode. I want to do this to be able to recover a vaulted catalog with Media ID 1234L3 and barcode label WN1234L3. However all I get from this library is listed above.

Thanks

[Chia_Tan_Beng]

What's the model of the exabyte library?

[Michael_Kaish1]

It is the exabyte magnum 224 LTO3 Fibre library. I called their support and no one has called me back... it figures :)

The problem is that I can use vmchange to change barcodes however I cannot change media id...I used vm.conf with the suggested naming conventions and yet netbackup cannot accommodate.

Not sure...

Thanks

[Michael_Kaish1]

Hi

I followed the documented procedures and the robot ignores what i have configured in the vm.conf file. Yes the robot is a TLD based robot.

The barcode on the tape is WN1234L3...however the robot ignores the L3 and reads the barcode as WN1234.

I manually add the media id as 1234L3 by right-clicking in the robot section and click on add new. I choose 1/2 hcart tape type 3 for LTO3 and enter 1234L3 as the media id and that's the media id I need. The barcode I need is WN1234L3 but it is read in as WN1234.

I called exabyte and they told me that this is an application problem and not a hardware problem. I tried different barcodes and still the same problem. I followed the directions you pointed out and still the same problem.

Anyone out there seen this type of behavior before where the vm.conf is ignored?

Thanks

[Rakesh_Khandelw]

If your robot can read only 6 characters of barcode, WN1234L3, presnting barcode as WN1234 only and you want media barcode for the same in NetBackup as 1234L3

Try following in vm.conf of master server

MEDIA_ID_BARCODE_CHARS 0 6 3:4:5:6:#L:#3

and run vmupdate command from master server. Make sure you do not have any other barcode rule defined for this type of media.

You may not get the desired results if you are performing inventory from remote admin console. Make sure you run inventory from master server only.

[Stumpr2]

> where the vm.conf is ignored?
yes where the vm.conf is actually vm.conf.txt because of editing it with notepad

also
The wrong configurable media barcode rules are used for a robot inventory from the UNIX Java GUI.
http://support.veritas.com/docs/245851
Details:
This is a known limitation. If the NetBackup Java GUI is run from a system that is not the database host (typically the database host will be the master server), and a robot inventory is performed, the media ID generation rules, MEDIA_ID_BARCODE_CHARS, are displayed from the database host. This is wrong, as the actual inventory operation will read the rules from the local vm.conf file.

The NT GUI displays the local vm.conf file's data as the Java GUI should.

The inventory operation would be ideally blocked from all servers that are not the database host.


finally,
did you stop/start the netbackup services especially ltid/vmd?Message was edited by:
Bob Stump

[Chia_Tan_Beng]

> It is the exabyte magnum 224 LTO3 Fibre library. I
> called their support and no one has called me back...
> it figures :)

I downloaded its installation and user guides and find nothing relevant. Which is surprising because most of the enterprise library provide this feature.

Have you done robtest and read the slots content? What is the barcode/media ID you get? If you're using HPux, use mc command to directly query the media ID from the tape library to see whether the problem lies on NB or library itself.

> The problem is that I can use vmchange to change
> barcodes however I cannot change media id...I used
> vm.conf with the suggested naming conventions and yet
> netbackup cannot accommodate.
>
Don't use vmchange to change the media ID as it need to be in-sync with the physical barcode.

Have you tried Bob's latest reply?

[Michael_Kaish1]

Hi

This is not through java. This is a windows machine.

Thanks

[Michael_Kaish1]

Hi

I am told by exabyte that the bar code reader is a 6 character barcode reader. Now when i am moving from an 8 character library to a 6 char library what do i need to do for reading the disaster recovery files to recover from the catalog that I vaulted. I have followed docs and have not had any luck with this.

Thanks.

Again this is a windows system and not unix.

[The_Director]

If you want the new robot to read the tape WN1234L3 as 1234L3 like it does in the old robot label the tapes 1234L3.

The old robot read the barcode but dropped the first two letters. Drop those first too and it will read it the same way. It is just hiding the L3 because that just tells the robot what type of tape it is LTO3.

Good luck.

[Dennis_Strom]

http://support.veritas.com/docs/236271
How to use the new configurable media ID generation vm.conf rules for LTO barcodes

[The_Director]

haha, guess i should have read all the posts before posting.........sorry for the duplicate

[R_H_2]

Get the latest firmware for the drive and library installed.  Then, from the front panel of the library,  go to Lib, Library Settings, Storage Settings, Label Media Type.  There is where you choose between 6 and 8 character barcodes.