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Problems erasing tapes

ibrahimbaba
Level 4

i have run out of tapes and i am trying to reuse old tapes but i could not erase them as the system would not erase media with unexpired data hence i manually expired the tape using
C:\Program Files\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\admincmd>bpexpdate -m D321L4
- Media D321L4 is due to expire at 10/14/2014 04:00:14
Are you sure that the data on this media is not critical to your business, and you are sure you want to delete D321L4 y/n (n)? y

After which i tried to erase the tape but it gave me the message

5/13/2014 2:03:00 PM - begin Erase
5/13/2014 2:03:00 PM - started process bplabel (4696)
5/13/2014 2:03:00 PM - requesting resource EssentialServices:D321L4
5/13/2014 2:03:00 PM - granted resource D321L4
5/13/2014 2:03:00 PM - granted resource HP.ULTRIUM4-SCSI.000
5/13/2014 2:03:05 PM - mounting D321L4
5/13/2014 2:03:08 PM - Error bptm(pid=13284) error requesting media, TpErrno = Robot operation failed
5/13/2014 2:03:08 PM - current media D321L4 complete, requesting next resource HP.ULTRIUM4-SCSI.000:EssentialServices:D321L4
5/13/2014 2:03:14 PM - awaiting resource HP.ULTRIUM4-SCSI.000:EssentialServices:D321L4
A pending request has been generated for this resource request. Operator action may be required. Pending Action: Misplaced tape., Media ID: D321L4, Barcode: MTD321L4, Density: hcart, Access Mode: Write, Action Drive Name: N/A,
Action Media Server: N/A, Robot Number: 0, Robot Type: TLD, Volume Group: 000_00000_TLD, Action Acs: N/A, Action Lsm: N/A

after which it has not done anything

please help

 

**** Edited by MvdB to insert line-breaks ****

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

Anonymous
Not applicable

You dont need to erase the tape.

The tape is unassigned after you issuing the expiry of all the images command.. and ready to be overwritten from the beginning of the tape by the next backup job.

After it is unassigned, ideally it should go to your Scratch Pool.

 

My command I normally use in this situation is:

bpexpdate -m DXP321L4 -d 0

View solution in original post

14 REPLIES 14

Anonymous
Not applicable

You dont need to erase the tape.

The tape is unassigned after you issuing the expiry of all the images command.. and ready to be overwritten from the beginning of the tape by the next backup job.

After it is unassigned, ideally it should go to your Scratch Pool.

 

My command I normally use in this situation is:

bpexpdate -m DXP321L4 -d 0

Marianne
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited Certified

A pending request has been generated for this resource request.  Operator action may be required. Pending Action: Misplaced tape.

 

So, where exactly is this tape?

Can you Inventory the robot and see if the tape is in the robot? And which slot?

Then use robtest to confirm.
s s<number>

As a matter of interest - why do you feel that you should erase or re-lable the tape?
This is not a NBU requirement. Once all images on tape has expired and tape is not Assigned, NBU will automatically overwrite tape.
Is this a VTL?
 

RonCaplinger
Level 6

You also seem to have a problem with the location of the tape in your robot:

Pending Action: Misplaced tape

After you have expired the images on the tape(s), make sure the tape is not in a "frozen" status, and then run a robot inventory to make sure the NBU database is synchronized with the robot contents.  Then try running your backup job again.

ibrahimbaba
Level 4
I have the slot number but will run the inventory to confirm and will try the bpexpdate -m DXP321L4 -d 0 command thanks guys will feed you back when I do in the morning

ibrahimbaba
Level 4

the tape is in slot 1 and i have moved it to a new volume pool and still get an error saying

5/14/2014 9:59:09 AM - requesting resource td002-hcart-robot-tld-0
5/14/2014 9:59:09 AM - requesting resource td002.NBU_CLIENT.MAXJOBS.tdmail
5/14/2014 9:59:09 AM - requesting resource td002.NBU_POLICY.MAXJOBS.EXCHANGE_SYSTEM_STATE_BKP
5/14/2014 9:59:10 AM - granted resource td002.NBU_CLIENT.MAXJOBS.tdmail
5/14/2014 9:59:10 AM - granted resource td002.NBU_POLICY.MAXJOBS.EXCHANGE_SYSTEM_STATE_BKP
5/14/2014 9:59:10 AM - granted resource D321L4
5/14/2014 9:59:10 AM - granted resource HP.ULTRIUM4-SCSI.000
5/14/2014 9:59:10 AM - granted resource td002-hcart-robot-tld-0
5/14/2014 9:59:10 AM - estimated 364535055 Kbytes needed
5/14/2014 9:59:10 AM - begin Parent Job
5/14/2014 9:59:10 AM - begin Bare Metal Restore, Start Notify Script
5/14/2014 9:59:10 AM - started process RUNCMD (11260)
5/14/2014 9:59:11 AM - ended process 0 (11260)
Status 0
5/14/2014 9:59:11 AM - end Bare Metal Restore, Start Notify Script; elapsed time: 00:00:01
5/14/2014 9:59:11 AM - begin Bare Metal Restore, BMR Save
5/14/2014 9:59:12 AM - started process bpbrm (3528)
5/14/2014 9:59:17 AM - collecting BMR information
5/14/2014 9:59:17 AM - connecting
5/14/2014 9:59:19 AM - connected; connect time: 00:00:02
5/14/2014 9:59:19 AM - transferring BMR information to the master server
5/14/2014 9:59:19 AM - connecting
5/14/2014 9:59:19 AM - Error bpbrm(pid=3528) BMRERR: failed to connect via vnetd to bmr master daemon: cannot connect on socket (25)
5/14/2014 9:59:19 AM - end writing
Status 25
5/14/2014 9:59:19 AM - end Bare Metal Restore, BMR Save; elapsed time: 00:00:08
5/14/2014 9:59:19 AM - begin Bare Metal Restore, Policy Execution Manager Preprocessed
Status 96
5/14/2014 9:59:59 AM - end Bare Metal Restore, Policy Execution Manager Preprocessed; elapsed time: 00:00:40
5/14/2014 9:59:59 AM - begin Bare Metal Restore, Stop On Error
Status 0
5/14/2014 9:59:59 AM - end Bare Metal Restore, Stop On Error; elapsed time: 00:00:00
5/14/2014 9:59:59 AM - begin Bare Metal Restore, End Notify Script
5/14/2014 10:00:00 AM - started process RUNCMD (12772)
5/14/2014 10:00:00 AM - ended process 0 (12772)
Status 0
5/14/2014 10:00:00 AM - end Bare Metal Restore, End Notify Script; elapsed time: 00:00:01
Status 96
5/14/2014 10:00:00 AM - end Parent Job; elapsed time: 00:00:50
unable to allocate new media for backup, storage unit has none available(96)

what can i do

 

ibrahimbaba
Level 4

tried the command stuart gave and it expired the tape but did not move to the scratch pool

also it no longer has a slot number and its now under standalone unit

on the first tape i had to move it to slot 1 but when i run the inventory it does not show up

Marianne
Moderator
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... it expired the tape but did not move to the scratch pool

Tapes will only return to Scratch if they came from Scratch in the first place.

Run 'nbemmcmd -listmedia -mediaid <media-id>'
Have a look at 'Previous Pool Name: ' 
If it does not say Scratch, expired tape will not automatically go there when expired.
So, manually move tape (and other expired tapes) to Scratch as a once-off. 
After this, tapes will automatically return to Scratch when expired.

 

also it no longer has a slot number and its now under standalone unit

This means that at some point it was manually removed from the robot without updating robot contents.
This why you saw the
 Misplaced tape message.

 

on the first tape i had to move it to slot 1 but when i run the inventory it does not show up

Sure it was slot 1? Not perhaps a robot 'maintenance' slot?
NBU Inventory gets info from the robot about location of tapes.
Use robtest to confirm:
s s1 
(Robtest usage: 
http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH83129 )
 

 

Marianne
Moderator
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Run available_media report  from cmd (in ...netbackup\bin\goodies) and also work through this Status 96 wizard:

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=answers&type=wizard&wizardid=NBU090&wizardstepid...

If you feel that the tape in slot 1 should be used, please show us output the following:

nbemmcmd -listmedia -mediaid <media-id>
(in ...netbackup\bin\admincmd)

We need to verify that tape is really available, unassigned and not perhaps with tape (hardware) expiration date.

ibrahimbaba
Level 4

C:\Program Files\Veritas\Volmgr\bin>robtest.exe
Configured robots with local control supporting test utilities:
  TLD(0)     robotic path = {2,0,2,1}

Robot Selection
---------------
  1)  TLD 0
  2)  none/quit
Enter choice: 1
1

Robot selected: TLD(0)   robotic path = {2,0,2,1}

Invoking robotic test utility:
C:\Program Files\Veritas\Volmgr\bin\tldtest.exe -rn 0 -r {2,0,2,1}

Opening {2,0,2,1}
Lock of C:\Program Files\Veritas\Volmgr\misc\tld.lock.{2,0,2,1}.-1.-1.-1 failed
with LOCK_OP_FAILED: Error: -1Robotic test utility C:\Program Files\Veritas\Volm
gr\bin\tldtest.exe
returned abnormal exit status (0).

ibrahimbaba
Level 4

C:\Program Files\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\admincmd>nbemmcmd -listmedia -mediaid <d3
21l4>
The syntax of the command is incorrect.

C:\Program Files\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\admincmd>nbemmcmd -listmedia -mediaid d32
1l4
NBEMMCMD, Version:7.0
====================================================================
Media GUID:                     6f260de7-a4ac-46ff-a81c-866269345af4
Media ID:                       D321L4
Partner:                        -
Media Type:                     HCART
Volume Group:                   000_00000_TLD
Application:                    Netbackup
Media Flags:                    1
Description:                    Added by Media Manager
Barcode:                        MTD321L4
Partner Barcode:                --------
Last Write Host:                NONE
Created:                        05/22/2013 17:13
Time Assigned:                  -
First Mount:                    05/22/2013 17:15
Last Mount:                     10/14/2013 04:01
Volume Expiration:              -
Data Expiration:                -
Last Written:                   -
Last Read:                      -
Robot Type:                     TLD
Robot Control Host:             td002
Robot Number:                   0
Slot:                           1
Side/Face:                      -
Cleanings Remaining:            -
Number of Mounts:               25
Maximum Mounts Allowed:         0
Media Status:                   ACTIVE
Kilobytes:                      0
Images:                         0
Valid Images:                   0
Retention Period:               -
Number of Restores:             0
Optical Header Size Bytes:      0
Optical Sector Size Bytes:      0
Optical Partition Size Bytes:   0
Last Header Offset:             0
Adamm Guid:                     00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
Rsm Guid:                       00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
Origin Host:                    NONE
Master Host:                    td002
Server Group:
Upgrade Conflicts Flag:
Pool Number:                    5
Volume Pool:                    Exchage
Previous Pool Name:             -
Vault Flags:                    -
Vault Container:                -
Vault Name:                     -
Vault Slot:                     -
Session ID:                     -
Date Vaulted:                   -
Return Date:                    -
====================================================================
Command completed successfully.

C:\Program Files\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\admincmd>

Marianne
Moderator
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I have never seen such robtest error...

Is UAC disabled? If not, did you open cmd with 'Run as Administrator'?

About the status 96 and Media id D321L4:
Check that the policy has Storage Unit specified with robot 0 and HCART as attributes, and that Volume pool 'Exchage' is specified. Check pool name in policy atributes as well as in the schedule (in case another pool is selected in the schedule)

PS: Only run robtest when no backups are running and remember to quit out of it when you're done.

ibrahimbaba
Level 4

i think i may have found my problem the tapes where not in the tape drive library so put them back in and trying a backup now will let you know if it works outthanks for all your help 

Marianne
Moderator
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So... it seems my post above was correct?

This means that at some point it was manually removed from the robot without updating robot contents.
This why you saw the  Misplaced tape message.

Anonymous
Not applicable

You could improve this to a degree so not to get caught out in future, by adding a scheduled task in Windows to inventory the robot(s) on regular basis - maybe once a day. Some may argue this should never have to done. Your environment and operations may be the exception. Some tape libraries only have a 1 slot MAP - tedious activity to push through several tapes - maybe preferrable to open the library. But inventory must be performed thereafter. The vm.conf setting is ideal here but if a scheduled task is desirable as a catch all then something like this.

..volmgr\bin\vmupdate -rt tld -rn 0 -rh td002 -use_barcode_rules

there is the other setting vm.conf which is more useful and probably preferred

AUTO_UPDATE_ROBOT in vm.conf