Tape media refresh procedure

[Tungsten]

Howdy,

Just wondering (and I searched the forum fruitlessly) if there is a documented procedure for refreshing old tapes (DLT) to new tapes (LTO-4)?  I have been asked to for legal obligations and I inherited these systems (2 tape libraries) from the old backup admin.... and that tool never documented anything.

Any info anyone could provide would be appreciated.

I have tried to import the tapes, as they are so old they don't exist in the catalog and I get:

INF - Found no images matching the selection criteria that were ready for phase 2 import

Whatever the heck that means....

Thanks in advance.

[J_H_Is_gone]

So if you want to take you your old dlt tapes and duplicate them to new lto4 tapes... I am going to assume that you have both DLT tape drives and LTO4 tape drives on the same media server....

Look at the documentation on how to do imports phase 1 and phase 2.

This is my watered down version

First step is to create a list of images on the tape.

1. Insert the tape into the robot and inventory the robot.  This should add the media ID to the Media Manager.
2. In the NetBackup Administration Console, expand NetBackup Management > Catalog.
3. Select select the menu item Actions > Initiate Import.  The Initialize Import dialog appears.  Select a media server in the Media Host box and enter the tape label you have inserted into the Media ID text box and hit OK.
4. Click OK on the Catalog dialog that appears.
5. Click on the Catalog Results tab to see NetBackup look at each image on the tape and determine whether or not it has expired and can be imported.  The job also displays in Activity Monitor as an Import type.

Second step is to actually import the images.

1. In the NetBackup Administration Console, expand NetBackup Management > Catalog
2. Set up the search criteria to find imported images by setting the search action to Import.  Be sure to select a date range that includes the images you want to import and select Search Now.  The media ID will not show up in the Media ID drop down.
3. Right click on the image you wish to import and select import.
4. Select OK on the confirmation box that opens.
5. When the job is complete you may do a restore as usual.

Where I think you hit your probelm... when you do phase1 look at the dates of the images it found.

Now when you do phase 2 make sure your date range will get the images phase1 showed you.

[Karthikeyan_Sun]

Tungsten:

Import process does not require catalog images to present in the server, As per Hinchcliffe post., try to import the tape; and once the import is done, goahead and duplicate that tapes to LTO-4 tapes.

I think its possible.

Duplicating backup images

NetBackup can create up to 10 copies of unexpired backups. Indicate the number of backup copies in Host Properties > Master Servers > Global Attributes > Maximum backup copies. (See “Global Attributes properties” on page 431.)

Note: An alternative to taking time to duplicate backups is to create up to four copies simultaneously at backup time. (This option is sometimes referred to as Inline Copy.) (See “Multiple copies” on page 137.)

NetBackup does not verify in advance whether the storage units and the drives that are required for the duplicate operation are available for use. NetBackup verifies that the destination storage units exist. The storage units must be connected to the same media server.

For more information check the Admin Guide I ( page no 324)

[Tungsten]

Gents, thanks for the info, and indeed that is where I hit my problem.  Import is working as explained.

Mucho Gracious!

Tungsten