In regard to: [Networker] Relabel Volume, stivermr said (at 3:13pm on Feb...:
I am using NetWorker 7.3 SP4 build 565 which is installed on Solaris 10
SPARC server.
That version is no longer supported by EMC, so unless it's the Solaris
rebranded version of NetWorker, you're probably out of support. You
likely want to at least consider an upgrade.
I assume by jukebox you mean a tape library?
I do, sorry.
If so there are two 8 slot
libraries each have there own tape drive in them. Also, we do not use
bar codes. I plan on eventually upgrading the system once I get a better
understanding of NetWorker. He was still using the old SDLT tapes and
the LTO tapes have a much larger capacity.
We recycle/reuse the tapes after 2 years. I am not sure where it is
specified in the GUI? I am more familiar with Symantec Backup Exec where
it is set in the Media area. I cannot seem to find where it is in
NetWorker.
It's not set at the media level, it's set at the individual saveset level.
Media isn't automatically expired until all savesets (and their
dependencies) are expired. If you think carefully about that, it has some
implications like not mixing clients with vastly different browse or
retention times in the same groups, because you could end up with just one
or two savesets on a tape that have a very long retention time, thereby
keeping that tape from being recyclable.
I was using new tapes that I would import into the library. Then
Inventory the tape and then Label the tape by selecting the backup set
which in my case is "FULL". That all works great.
Ok, good.
Now I am trying to reuse some old tapes that are two years old. I import
them into the library and then Inventory them. Once I do that is shows
that they are recyclable and it starts using them.
Ok, excellent. NetWorker is doing what I would expect.
When the tape is
full it does not update it with a new label. Is it suppose to update
with a new label?
In general, no. When NetWorker recycles a tape, as long as it's not
recycling it into another pool, it will give it the same label it had
previously.
Currently the tape label is FULL2011.007 and I want it
to be FULL2013.014 which is the next label in the FULL media set.
What you're experiencing is happening because of a couple things specific
to your environment:
- you don't have a bar-code reader on your library, and therefore you
don't have "match barcode labels" set. I'm guessing that most NetWorker
sites *do* have match barcode, so they would never see this.
- your tape label encodes the year in it, so it needs to change yearly.
I can understand perfectly why you're doing it, but it's a bit
unorthodox.
I'm guessing that what the previous admin was doing to get the effect you
want is that he or she was importing the tapes into the jukebox just
as you're doing, but then he or she was manually forcing NetWorker to
relabel the tape, rather than letting it recycle it and re-write the old
label.
I can think of a way to get NetWorker to change the labels automatically,
but it's convoluted and really no easier than just remembering to manually
force the label you want after you import the tape into the jukebox,
inventory it, and verify that the tape is "expired".
Regarding your 2011.007 that now has 2013 data on it... I initially
recommended that you not consider cloning your savesets to get them
copied off that tape, but now seeing that you're encoding the year in
the tape label, it might be better if you did clone those savesets.
Assuming you still have some of the FULL2011 tapes that are showing as
recyclable and haven't yet been auto-recycled, you'll want to manually
relabel those with the names you want. You can do that by selecting
the recyclable tape in the GUI and right clicking and selecting "Label..."
Then, be certain you select your "FULL" Target Media Pool. The GUI will
will likely auto-fill the next available label, in your case FULL2013.014,
but if it doesn't, carefully enter the one you want it to use.
Once you have manually relabeled the tapes you've imported, go back and
mark the FULL2011.007 volume as read-only, so it doesn't accept any more
data.
You're probably not going to be able to clone the data using the GUI,
because what you really want is to clone from a backup volume to another
backup volume, which I don't think the GUI lets you do.
I recommend you read up on cloning in the administrator guide, as well as
the documentation for the nsrclone and probably nsrstage commands
(assuming nsrstage was available in NetWorker 7.3, not certain). If you
get stuck trying to figure out how to do it so that the FULL2011.007
volume is no longer needed, ask again in this thread or open a new one.
Auto Media Management is not checked.
So NetWorker will never automatically label a completely blank tape it
finds in your jukebox. You must always label new tapes before NetWorker
would use them.
Neither is the Recycle from other pools under the FULL media set. I also
checked the INCR (incremental) set and it is not check either.
That's fine and it's the default, but there can be advantages to enabling
it. In your environment, it's probably best that it's not enabled.
Also, sometimes when I put a new tape in the library it takes a long
time in NetWorker to show up in the slot. Is there a way to make is scan
for changes?
Yes, multiple ways. In the NetWorker Administrator GUI, click the Devices
icon and find your library in the left-hand pane, then right-click and
select "Inventory...". If you've also highlight a slot or range of slots
before doing that, it will auto-populate the list of slots to inventory.
Otherwise, just fill in the slot # or #s that you want to inventory.
It can also be done from the command line using nsrjb (which has only a
few less options than ls(1)).
I know in Backup Exec I just right click on the library and
click on Scan and it is instantly updated.
Very similar to the NetWorker GUI.
Tim
--
Tim Mooney Tim.Mooney AT ndsu DOT
edu
Enterprise Computing & Infrastructure 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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