cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Unable to import tape

stwali005
Level 4

Windows Server 2003, Version Netbackup 6.5.

I have an issue where looks back in 2009, month end backups failed and were run the following week. This weekly tape seemed to have been used in a month end 3 months later. 

the data i am looking for is in the catalog, and is requesting a tape that is in 3 months later.

however - when i load the tape and do an inventory - it see's the tape but the label appears to be wrong.

I can see the tape F801L4, however in the backup and restore details it is requesting tape LAF801 - which is strange as that is the barcode and not the media ID.

So i have gone to Catalog - run an initiate import - phase 1 starts and then gives the following error:

"Media mounted has media id of LAF801, but F801L4 was requested. Must add LAF801 to media manager volume database and retry. Staus = cannot perform specified media import"

 

We also have a new system in place - netbackup 7.5. on Windows 2008 Server. I thought since there will be no record in the catalog of this tape i would manually import it into the new system and see if there is any data i can get off of it.

It wont import into this system either. Run the admin console as admin, gone to do an initiate import again.

"media F801L4 was not found in the volume manager database. It must be added to the volume manager database before it can be imported. Status = requested media id is not assigned to this host in the EMM database"

 

I am lost as to how i can see if there is any data on this tape i can pull off?

 

Any suggestions or if you need more info please let me know

 

Many thanks

 

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

Marianne
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited Certified

Let us go back to the NBU 6.5 environment.

Originally first 6 characters of the barcode label was used - LAF801. Probably because the robot at that stage only reported these 6 characters to NBU.
Then 'something' changed - it can be a newer tape library or new library firmware where all 8 characters of the barcode is now reported to NBU - LAF801L4, and now NBU adds the last 6 characters - F801L4.

I once experienced a similar situation at a customer.

Media id 005573 was needed for restore and added to the library.

Robot inventory added it with media id of 5573L3 (Barcode 005573L3) in the Scratch pool.

Image catalog had 005573 as media id. 

I obviously had no explanation of how something like this was possible. Just quickly helped to fix it:

Checked GUI to see slot number and Volume Group for 5573L3 and then deleted 5573L3.

I used the GUI to logically move 005573 to correct slot and Volume Group, and then updated barcode for media-id from cmd. (vmchange -barcode 005573L3 -m 005573)

Restore completed successfully.

So, on your 6.5 environment, you should be able to do the same. 

Backup was written to media id LAF801, but Inventory has now added it as F801L4 and should be Unassigned, right?

So, check slot number and volume pool for F801L4, then delete it.
Find LAF801 in Media section and move it to correct slot number.
If this media id for some unknown reason does not exist in Media section (Martin's nbcc and support call will fix this), use the GUI to add a new volume.
Type LAF801 as media-id, select the robot, slot number, Volume group and a pool.
Add barcode from cmd: vmchange -barcode 
LAF801L4 -m LAF801

You should now be able to run the restore.
 

*** EDIT ***

Similar issue described in this post: https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/netbackup-656-image-import

View solution in original post

5 REPLIES 5

Mark_Solutions
Level 6
Partner Accredited Certified

Looks like your library or barcode rules have changed and the tape may well have been over written as a result .. what is the time assigned date on it and how many valid images doe it have? (add columns in the media view to show these if they are not already visible)

If the images are in the catalog then there is no need to do an import we just need to get the media id and barcode right if something has changed

If it has not been overwritten then you could try:

move the tape to standalone first (right click - Move) (you may also have to delete it from NetBackup as the next command may not work - it won't delete if ut has a time assigned)

then run:

vmchange -barcode F801L4 -m LAF801

See if your restore then works ...

You may need to show us a bit more first to get to the bottom of this one though (like what the restore says and what you see in the media section of the admin console)

mph999
Level 6
Employee Accredited
Mark is correct in that the way the barcode is presented by the robot has changed at some point - but this should not have overwritten the tape, though it would appear that it has - if there is data on a tape, it has an assign tme, and NBU should not allow over writes, though it is possible to force expiration of a tape, whilst leaving the (now old) images in the catalog. So in theory, based on your explantion bpmedialist -m LAF801 and -m F801L4 should show details of the tape, which is an issue. I suggest you log a call and get NBCC run.

Marianne
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited Certified

Let us go back to the NBU 6.5 environment.

Originally first 6 characters of the barcode label was used - LAF801. Probably because the robot at that stage only reported these 6 characters to NBU.
Then 'something' changed - it can be a newer tape library or new library firmware where all 8 characters of the barcode is now reported to NBU - LAF801L4, and now NBU adds the last 6 characters - F801L4.

I once experienced a similar situation at a customer.

Media id 005573 was needed for restore and added to the library.

Robot inventory added it with media id of 5573L3 (Barcode 005573L3) in the Scratch pool.

Image catalog had 005573 as media id. 

I obviously had no explanation of how something like this was possible. Just quickly helped to fix it:

Checked GUI to see slot number and Volume Group for 5573L3 and then deleted 5573L3.

I used the GUI to logically move 005573 to correct slot and Volume Group, and then updated barcode for media-id from cmd. (vmchange -barcode 005573L3 -m 005573)

Restore completed successfully.

So, on your 6.5 environment, you should be able to do the same. 

Backup was written to media id LAF801, but Inventory has now added it as F801L4 and should be Unassigned, right?

So, check slot number and volume pool for F801L4, then delete it.
Find LAF801 in Media section and move it to correct slot number.
If this media id for some unknown reason does not exist in Media section (Martin's nbcc and support call will fix this), use the GUI to add a new volume.
Type LAF801 as media-id, select the robot, slot number, Volume group and a pool.
Add barcode from cmd: vmchange -barcode 
LAF801L4 -m LAF801

You should now be able to run the restore.
 

*** EDIT ***

Similar issue described in this post: https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/netbackup-656-image-import

stwali005
Level 4

All,

 

Thank you so much. Deleted and moved the tape as requested and ran the restore - it now see's it as LAF801 and mounted and restored the data i needed.

The manager's are vwery happy now :)

Many thanks all for your help.

Marianne
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited Certified

Glad everyone is happy! 

If the images have not yet expired on the 6.5 installation, LAF801 should not have been added during Inventory as F801L4 (new media-id), because the barcode remains the same - LAF801L4. It should at the most have said that media with that barcode exists already (cannot remember exact message in such instance).

This says to me that there are some database inconsistencies in this environment. 

Best to run nbcc and submit to Symantec for assistance in fixing the inconsistencies as per Martin's advice.

My method is a workaround to ensure that you can restore. Important to fix the inconsistencies.

On the 7.5 installation where there is no prior knowledge of LAF801 or F801L4, the solution is to add the media as F801L4 from cmd into a non-backup pool, and then run inventory to update robot location:
vmadd -m LAF801 -mt <media_type>  -b LAF801L4  -p <pool_number>

Import will now work because internal label and media id are the same.