Networker

Re: [Networker] duplicate name; pick new name or delete old one

2007-09-27 07:17:34
Subject: Re: [Networker] duplicate name; pick new name or delete old one
From: "Macina, Conrad" <Conrad.Macina AT PFIZER DOT COM>
To: NETWORKER AT LISTSERV.TEMPLE DOT EDU
Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2007 07:13:31 -0400
Hi, Rachel,

In my experience there can be several other causes for the "duplicate
name" message besides the ones Stan cites (bad barcode reader and media
database corruption).

One possibility is an I/O error during the original labeling. When you
relabel a tape, NetWorker appears to add the new volume name to the
media database BEFORE it labels the tape. So if the labeling operation
fails for any reason, the next time you try to label that tape,
NetWorker will find the volume name already in the media DB. Duplicate
names can also happen if a physical tape label has been replaced with
something different (a dangerous practice, to be sure). I've also seen
it happen for no reason whatsoever.

In most cases, the workaround is to delete the volume from the media db
manually before relabeling. You can do this from the GUI or via nsrmm -d
<volume>.

I've heard of situations where freshly-labeled tapes are marked as
recyclable so they can be cycled into other pools. That way you only
have to "stock" one pool.

HTH,

Conrad Macina
Pfizer, Inc.



-----Original Message-----
From: Stan Horwitz [mailto:stan AT TEMPLE DOT EDU] 
Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 10:17 PM
Subject: Re: duplicate name; pick new name or delete old one

On Sep 26, 2007, at 10:04 PM, Rachel Polanskis wrote:

> Hi,
> I think I have a problem.
>
> I am getting repeated instances of:
>
> duplicate name; pick new name or delete old one
>
> For freshly recycled and relabeled volumes.
>
> Should not be getting this for barcode managed media in an L700.
>
> If I have a Pool of volumes that expire, when we relabel them and  
> then mark them as recyclable, usually the volume gets reused  
> successfully.   Or if the volume doesn't need relabling and just  
> expires
> and is then marked recyclable.
>
> But lately, I am getting a spiral of doom situation where Legato  
> will select a free volume for use in a backup and then after  
> checking its label will print the dreaded:
>
> duplicate name; pick new name or delete old one
>
> And then it will proceed to grab the next free volume which will  
> possibly have the same issue.   And so, if I am asleep,
> in the middle of the night, the magical Legato spiral of doom will  
> manifest and the system will continuously load and unload
> volumes forever, printing the dread mantra:
>
> duplicate name; pick new name or delete old one
>
> instead of doing real work (ie backing stuff up),
> until I intervene, run "nsrmm -yd <volid>" on the offending tapes  
> and then manually relabel them.
>
> This is an onerous task, given we have thousands of volumes and I  
> want a solution!

You might have a defective (or dirty bar code reader) in your tape  
library and/or media database corruption. The media database  
corruption can usually be resolved with "nsrim -X". You should check  
the /nsr/logs/daemon.log too to see if it sheds any light on this  
issue. Also, why are you relabeling and marking volumes as  
recyclable? That makes no sense.

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