A simple restore question..... I think....

[kidakat]

Hi All,

I'm a completely new user to TSM. It's not in production yet, I'm just trying to get my head wrapped around this. In a test environment I performed a backup using Tape1 and did a restore of the files from Tape1, everything worked great. After that I got into trouble:


I decided to try experimenting with different media

1. I changed the media in my single LTO3 drive to Tape2 by pressing the eject button on the physical tape unit and popping the new tape in.​

2. I performed another test backup of the same test system, this time with Tape2 in the drive.​

3. I deleted two of the four files that I backed up, and tried to do a restore.​

4. ---This is where it get's interesting--- For some reason, the drive ejects Tape2 (the tape that I backed up these files to) and the server asks for Tape1, the restore operation will patiently wait for this to occur. If I put Tape1 in the drive, the restore operation completes in error with the following:​

"Restore failed. ANS1314E (RC14) File data currently unavailable on server"​

"Restore failed. ANS1301E (RC1) Server detected system error"​

I'm getting the feeling that there is a pointer somewhere that's wrong, because the server thinks the data is on a different tape than it is actually on and it won't even look at Tape2. I am aware that I can't & shouldn't try to apply my understanding of the simple backup applications like BackupExec and ArcServe to TSM, but with those apps, I could catalog any tape and restore it.

Is there a way to recover this data? It's certainly not an intuitive process.

This is all a test scenario, so if the data's lost it's not a problem. I'm hoping to learn something with this exercise. Thanks so much for any feedback.

Aaron

 

[zatogo]

Hi Aaron,

On your second backup...did you attempt to backup the same files/folders again? If yes -- unless you specifically told TSM to back up the files even though they didn't change (you do this by choosing "always backup" in the client GUI) -- TSM won't backup the objects a second time if they did not change. This scenario would explain why TSM asked for the first tape in order to do the restore as that would be the only place the files existed.

I suggest this experiment...without putting any tapes in the tape drive(s), attempt the restore again. After selecting the files and clicking restore in the client GUI, go to the TSM Server and from a command line, type Q ACT...it should tell you what tape it wants (probably tape 1). Type Q REQUEST and read the message; put the tape it wants into the drive it specifies; type REPLY ### (where ### is the message number it gives you on the server screen).

If you are working from a single tape drive, you might not get any output from the Q REQUEST command as the restore may start on its own.

matt

 

[kidakat]

Matt,

Thanks for your feedback. When I did my second backup, I'm sure I backed up new files that had not previously been backed up.

I tried your experiment: When I issued "Q ACT" after attempting restore without media in drive, I recieved about a page worth of response (at the bottom I could see it asking for Tape1). When I issue "Q REQUEST" I see the same request to insert Tape1 in the drive.

If I put Tape1 in the drive at this point (the tape it's asking for), the restore operation instantly fails with the errors that I posted earlier (before I can issue the final comand you gave me: REPLY ### ).

When I was performing the second backup after switching tapes, should I have inventoried the tape drive so that TSM knew there was a different tape in the drive?

thanks,

Aaron

 

[zatogo]

Aaron,

Another thing to check...does TSM think one or both tapes are "unavailable"...type Q VOL ACC=UNAV

If yes...type UPDATE VOL TAPEX ACC=READWRITE


Then try the restore again.

TSM is a bit of a "control freak" when it comes to tapes and it likes to move them around. With a single tape drive you have to be careful because in a sense you are the robot arm.

matt

 

[JohanW]

I wouldn't fiddle tapes like that if I were you.

TSM knew tape1 was mounted, wrote to the drive and is now asking for the correct tape.

If you had soft ejected tape1 (dismount vol from within TSM), it would have asked for a tape when you started backing up. It's supposed to do that. You are supposed to mount *that* tape, not a different one, and especially not tricking the system into thinking one tape is in the drive when another one is actually in there. You are corrupting TSM's database that way, and then you get to live with the consequences.

 

[zatogo]

My thinking on the Q VOL ACC=UNAV command is that Aaron says in his first post that he "changed the media in my single LTO3 drive to Tape2 by pressing the eject button on the physical tape unit and popping the new tape in".

That makes me think he didn't do the "soft eject" mentioned by JohanW and therefore TSM doesn't know what happend to tape one.