Netbackup 6.5.5 issues

[NathanNieman]

Ok were to start.

We just installed a new IBM LTO5 TS3301 tape Libaray.  194 slots, 8 drives.

We also have a old Overland NEO 4000 with 4 Drives.

One Master/Media server running windows 2003 SP2

running netbackup 6.5.5

First problem is why can't 6.5.5 see a LTO5?  Why does it have to be LTO3, and will this affect the amount of data that is being stored on the tape?  Ran backups last night and it seemed we used more LTO5 tapes than we use to with LTO3...  Planning on upgrading to 7.0 will this fix this issue?  and when we do will I have to delete everything in Netback "Tapes, robot, Drives" so it will see these tapes and drives are LTO5 "HCART5"

Also today out of no were my new volume group desided to flake out and drop every tape in the new system, once I rebooted and re inventored everything was fine again.

Now the bigger problem.  Having a issue with the new drive reading LTO3 tapes.  The Libaray sees the old tapes, and puts them in the slots but when I inventory from Netbackup it dosn't see the tapes.  So my though was ok we will bring up the NEO and just use that for now.  Problem is Netbackup sees the drives, but not the robot so it thinks they are stand alone drives.  Tried rebooting, etc, etc  "also we moved to a different fiber switch that is newer"

Do the new tapes, and the old need to be in the same Volume pool to be able to work on the new Machine? 

I am hoping these are simple fixs.  Would a upgrade to 7.0 take care of these issues, or should I just sort these out and then upgrade?

Any help would be great thank you.

[mph999]

The amount of data that is able to be written to a tape before it is full is 100% nothing to do with NBU.  NBU does not write any data to tapes at all, instead, it requests that the operating system writes the data to the tape using a specified blocksize.  The OS should then do this using the tape driver.  When the tape is full (detected by the tape drive), this info is passed back to NBU and a new tape is loaded etc ...

The above answer, from JH,  is spot on regarding not seeing the tapes.  Again, an understandable mis-conception is common, NBU never looks to see what is in a robot, it relies on the robot telling NBU what is has.  The outcome 'should' be the same, but how you get there is very different.

I would never say with 100% certainty, but the most likely cause for the two issues I've covered is outside of NBU.

Ahh, just seen this bit ... "Problem is Netbackup sees the drives, but not the robot so it thinks they are stand alone drives. "  When you run the device config wizard to add the drives for any media server, you must also select at the same time the media server that controls the robot, else, the drives end up as stand alone / non-robotic.

Martin

[J_H_Is_gone]

there is no HCART5 (even on 7.x )

there is HCART HCART2 HCART3

pick one it is nothing more then label saying all these tapes are of the same type.

When LTO4 come out you make them HCART , not that LTO5 is out you make the HCART2 , as there is a low probability that you will have LTO2's and LTO5's at the same time (as LTO5 cannot read a LTO2 tape)

As to the tape drive is NB thinks the tape drive is LTO3 that is problem with your master server OS.  Your OS has to fist see the tape drive as a LTO5, you might need new drivers on the OS.  I know NetBackup use to have drivers you could down load, but I have never had to use them my OS see my drives properly and reports it properly to NetBackup.  (and if you have your barcode rules set to have all LTO5 tapes come in has HCART3 that is a config issue in the barcode rules)

Now LTO5 tape drives can write to LTO4 tapes and READ LTO3 tapes.  So if you have a mix in your library you have to find a way to make that work.

Tapes do not have to be in the same volume pool, but you can have only one server control the library.

If you make 2 virtual libraries, then they each can have part of it but don't know that they will work with each other at all.

"Now the bigger problem.  Having a issue with the new drive reading LTO3 tapes.  The Library sees the old tapes, and puts them in the slots but when I inventory from Netbackup it does not't see the tapes. "

so are you saying the LTO5 tape drive cannot read the tape once loaded in the drive,,,,, or that the library is not reporting the tapes in it to NetBackup?

[NathanNieman]

Ok so I have 3 Volume Groups.

Old tapes are in Volume group ---, and 000_00000_TLD

New tapes are in Volume group 000_00001_TLD

How do I get the new tape drive using Volume group 000_00001_TLD to see the other volume groups.  I can't move the old tapes I have tried.

And they said oh yeah the new table drive should have no issues with reading your LTO3 tapes.

The new IBM3310 reads the bar codes, I add it to the Libaray media libaray on the machine, but when I Inventory Netbackup dosn't see them.

[NathanNieman]

Also I have only 1 media, and master server, which are the same server.

As for my last problem I am saying the new IBM 3310 can see the old LTO3 tapes, and will put them in the slots.

But when i go to the server and inventory the robot netback dosn't show the tapes being in the drive.

Just noticed the only really difference in the Media tape with the old LTO and new is Robot type.

The old say none for Robot type, and the new say TLD, can this be the issue?

[Andy_Welburn · Accepted solution]

I'm making a few presumptions here maybe, but this is how I read your volume groups:

--- this is "standalone" i.e. the tapes aren't in any robot.

000_00000_TLD is your old Neo library (TLD0)

000_00001_TLD is your new robot (TLD1)

From the Admin Guide:

"...The volume group shows the location of the volume. The location can be either the robot in which the volume resides, stand-alone, or off-site if you use the NetBackup Vault option.
If you move a volume physically to a different robot, you must change the group of the volume to reflect the move.

To change the volume group
1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, select Media and Device Management > Media.
2 In the Volumes list, select the volumes that you want to change the volume group assignment for.
3 Select Actions > Change Volume Group.
4 In the New volume group name field, enter the name of the new volume group or select a name from the list of volume groups.
5 Click OK. The name change is reflected in the volume list entry for the selected volumes. If you specified a new volume group (which creates a new volume group), the group appears under Volume Groups in the tree pane...."

This statement from the above "If you move a volume physically to a different robot, you must change the group of the volume to reflect the move." means if you manually took the tapes out of one volume group & put it in another (robot or standalone) & not logically i.e. through Inventory. Physical moves without logical changes will mean that NB will get confused as to the location of the media.

I'll leave this post for now & see if I can help with any of your other issues!

[Andy_Welburn]

This just means that the media is either not  in a robot (NONE) or is (TLD)

"But when i go to the server and inventory the robot netback dosn't show the tapes being in the drive."
 - I presume you are ticking the "update volume configuration" box & not just "show contents"

***EDIT***

Maybe worth posting the output of vmcheckxxx for both robots?

vmcheckxxx -rn 0 -rt tld
vmcheckxxx -rn 1 -rt tld

[NathanNieman]

Andy I tried to change the Volume Group but everything is grayed out under actions.

I though that would be the fix early on but I was not able to change it.

The old NEO system is not long on the server, since I can't find the robot in the libaray I am also working on that issue.

On the NEO box it only sees the drives, not the robot.

[Andy_Welburn]

If not, then no point in trying to change their location - it may only lead to more confusion down the line!

However, if they do you'll need to select the media before the actions are available. You can actually highlight more than one & right-click same to achieve the actions also.

[NathanNieman]

Ok I have fixed the NEO libaray issue.  Now I just got to get the 3310 to work with the LTO3 drives so I can take the NEO offline.

Problem with the old unit was 1 fiber was not moved that controls the unit!!!!!  Was a dark blue that not a bring orange so we didn't see it all 1000 times we looked.

[Will_Restore]

the mysterious dark fiber

[Andy_Welburn]

So that's what it is?!

[NathanNieman]

well that fixed the old box.

I still need to figure out why the new box inventory will not see the old LTO3 tapes.

[Will_Restore]

Have you seen this thread?

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/netbackup-65-restore-issues-unable-restore-lto-3-tape...

[NathanNieman]

Yes I have seen that thread.

All my drives are HCART3.

[Will_Restore]

posted to wrong thread 

[Marianne]

Are you still experiencing the problem experienced in this post? https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/netbackup-655-issues#comment-5218441

"the new box inventory will not see the old LTO3 tapes"

Have you tried "vmcheckxxx -rn <robot-number> -rt tld" as per Andy's post yet? That will check robot contents and compare it with volume config.