Re: [Networker] Media Index and Database Backup

In regard to: [Networker] Media Index and Database Backup, SUBSCRIBE...:

Folks,

I have 2 servers running on AIX 4.3.3 (ML09) with Networker 6.1.4 with 18
LT0 Gen1 drives.


That version of NetWorker is not supported by EMC anymore.  If you have
support and an update subscription, at some point you should consider
moving to 7.x  I would recommend 7.2.2.

You'll need to fix the problem you're having before you upgrade, though.

My Media Database has been growing at about 8Gb/day, very unsual and new.


Are you sure it's *just* the media database that's growing like that, or
is it possible that it's a combination of the media database and the
client file indexes?

It's not normal for the media database to grow 8 GB/day, even if you do
thousands of savesets a day.  You probably have some kind of media
database corruption if it truly is just your media database growing at
that rate.

It wouldn't be at all surprising for the client indexes to grow 8 GB/day,
depending on number of files on your clients and how frequently they change.

1.  Why will mm folder start growing so big out of no where?


You would have to be doing many thousands of savesets per day to get
natural media database growth at that rate.  Since you're implying that
fast growth of the media database is not normal for you, it probably
means that there's some kind of media database corruption.

If you run (near the end of the day)

        mminfo -q 'savetime>yesterday' | wc -l

how many savesets does it return?

2.  I get "NetWorker index: (warning) Filesystem containing file index is
   getting full." and then I lost my Networker environment.


That probably means your situation has gone from bad to worse.

3.  How do I bring the environment back up without any upgrade?


First, you need to have plenty of space available on the filesystem that
stores your indexes.  Without more space, you won't have any chance of
repairing the damage.  If you can't grow the volume that the media
database and indexes are on, you could

- consider moving a couple of your largest client indexes to a different
  filesystem, either temporarily or permanently.

- identify clients that have been deleted but that still have index
  directories on the /nsr filesystem, and delete those index directories.

- identify the clients that have indexes using the most space using
  something like

        cd /nsr
        du -ks * | sort -rn

  and then investigate whether you can purge older savesets from some
  of those clients, in an effort to free up some space on the /nsr
  filesystem.

4.  I think my Networker DB is currupted, how can I check?


Before you do anything, consider making a copy of your media database
and possibly the client file indexes, probably using the 'tar' or 'uasm'
commands, and stashing that copy on a different filesystem on your server
or elsewhere.  You should do that with NetWorker completely shut down.

There are multiple things you can do to try repair the damage, most of
them involving nsrck and nsrim.  Look at the man page for nsrck, and pay
attention to the various levels (1-6, you don't want level 7 in this
situation) available for the -L option.

You might also want to search EMC's site and the archives for this list
for the procedure to "scavenge" the media database.  That will sometimes
allow you to fix a corrupted media database when nsrck alone can't.

5.  I have always backup each Networker server to backup itself, should I
   cross backup both servers?


That might help in some situations, but it's still important to monitor
the available space on the filesystems used by the various NetWorker
indexes.

Tim
--
Tim Mooney                                           Tim.Mooney AT ndsu DOT edu
Information Technology Services                      (701) 231-1076 (Voice)
Room 242-J6, IACC Building                           (701) 231-8541 (Fax)
North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105-5164

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