NEtbackup stand alone media management

[BAUKnight]

Salam,
i have Netbackup installed with a standalone drive, i ma getting the following in the activity monitor for a job that still running, and waiting

009-12-29 11:10:00 PM - requesting resource db-server-4mm
2009-12-29 11:10:00 PM - requesting resource db-server.NBU_CLIENT.MAXJOBS.db-server
2009-12-29 11:10:00 PM - requesting resource db-server.NBU_POLICY.MAXJOBS.sayar_backup
2009-12-29 11:10:00 PM - granted resource db-server.NBU_CLIENT.MAXJOBS.db-server
2009-12-29 11:10:00 PM - granted resource db-server.NBU_POLICY.MAXJOBS.sayar_backup
2009-12-29 11:10:00 PM - granted resource A00024
2009-12-29 11:10:00 PM - granted resource HP.C7438A.000
2009-12-29 11:10:00 PM - granted resource db-server-4mm
2009-12-29 11:10:00 PM - estimated 10665171 kbytes needed
2009-12-29 11:10:00 PM - started process bpbrm (8588)
2009-12-29 11:10:00 PM - connecting
2009-12-29 11:10:00 PM - connected; connect time: 00:00:00
2009-12-29 11:10:05 PM - Warning bptm(pid=9428) FREEZING media id A00024, it contains MTF1-format data and cannot be used for backups
2009-12-29 11:10:03 PM - mounting A00024
2009-12-29 11:10:05 PM - mounted; mount time: 00:00:02
2009-12-29 11:10:05 PM - current media A00024 complete, requesting next media Any
2009-12-29 11:10:08 PM - current media -- complete, awaiting next media Any
  A pending request has been generated for this resource request.
  Operator action may be required. Pending Action: No action.,
  Media ID: A00023, Barcode: --------, Density: 4mm, Access Mode: Write,
  Action Drive Name: N/A, Action Media Server: N/A, Robot Number: N/A, Robot Type: NONE,
  Volume Group: ---, Action Acs: N/A, Action Lsm: N/A


this is not the first time i got this error, i have a SCSI DAT72 drive, and i keep my backup for a week, then i use the same media in the next week, (since i think the new job will overwrite the old date on the media) but seems it does not.

any idea how to solve this issue, i need to keep my data for one week, and i have to delete the media conetent (erase) before starting my job, how to automate this in my policy.

[Marianne · Accepted solution]

Media id A00024 was previously used for Windows or BE backups?
" FREEZING media id A00024, it contains MTF1-format data and cannot be used for backups"
To overwrite this tape, go to Host Properties -> (Select Server) -> Media
Select all the tick-boxes for MTF formats.
About re-using media after a week:
NetBackup will automatically overwrite a tape from the beginning when all the images on it have expired.
If your backup started on day 1 at 19:10 and your retention level is 1 week, the expiration date/time will be day 8 at 19:10. If the backup starts at 19:00, the tape cannot be overwritten as it still contains valid backups.
NetBackup runs an Image Cleanup by default every 12 hours or after a successful backup session (explained in NBU Admin Guide I under Host Properties -> Global Attributes -> Image Cleanup
The recommendation is to always have an extra tapes to cater for delayed expiration.
You can keep an eye on Media List Report to see when tapes will expire.
The other solution is to manually expire the tape that you want to re-use: bpexpdate -d 0 -m <id>
PLEASE be VERY careful when manually expiring media - you run the risk of expiring valid data that might be needed for restores at a later stage...

[BAUKnight]

Marriane,
thanks for your response, i did what you suggested, and i will monitor the results this week,

for the policy, we are using GFS policies, but i am facing this porblem wi the daily backup, so i asked about it.

thanks again.