PowerVault 124T LTO-2 with Backup Exec 11d

Question

We are running Backup Exec 11d with Dell PowerVault 124T LTO-2. We had a scheduled tape backup at the end of the month, but the tape was never put in the slot. The backup never ran and therefore we cancelled it. We subsequently put the tape in the slot, re-inventoried and tried to run the backup job again. We received the "Library Insert" Please insert overwritable media into the robotic library... Even though this media is overwritable.

The only difference in this tape media seems to be that Export Pending is set to Yes. There is an export that runs after this job, but our loader does not support "auto-physical exporting." We have tried the Export Media command, import command, re-inventorying. Nothing seems to change the status of Export Pending. The Symantec support said that a manual import/export of the media function will need to be done on the PowerVault. How is that performed for this situation?

Any thoughts or further ideas?

Dennis Smith · Answer

Rsmeby,

Technically, there are a few things that could cause this tape to not be used. For example, the tape could have a defined overwrite period, a potential hardware fault on the drive head, not enough free space on the tape you are wanting to use, etc. However this really depends on the exact Tape Alerts being reported by Symantec Backup Exec at the time the tape is being used. On looking at the details of what you described, I believe that you are on the right path. (I.e., as outlined on Document ID: 204061 - http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/204061.htm, step 3) I would suggest the following in order for the tape to be deemed exported by the hardware:

If Exporting the media for offsite storage then perform either of these steps:

1. Once the job is complete, login to the web interface of the PV124T.

2. Verify the tape library is idle.

3. Select the Library Operations tab on the web interface.

4. Then move the tape from the tape drive under the Moving Tapes section of the remote web interface.

However, if you find yourself at the front of the tape library then perform the following steps:

1. Select the Commands menu

2. Select Eject

3. Select Cartridge

4. Select From Drive

The tape will then be exported once the command is executed successfully. On the other hand, if you are just going to re-use the tape for another data backup then I would suggest the tape be moved back to the slot it was in. The downside, of a hardware export or move request via the front panel or web interface would be that you would need to run a software inventory/scan from the backup solution in order for the software to “synch” up with the hardware. Please let us know if this information helped.

Rsmeby · Answer

I think that I forgot to clarify that the tape was in the drive, the media export is a software problem. Thankfully we solved it here by going under the 'Media' tab in Symantec backup exec 11d and moved the tape, which had an appendable period of none, to a media set with an appendable period of infinite.  After this we tried running the backup again in the Job Moniter and it still gave us the same error, so we moved the tape back to its orgional media set, ran an inventory and this set the export pending to No.  After this we tried running the backup again and it worked successfully.  Thank you for the advice, it pushed us in the right direction.

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PowerVault 124T LTO-2 with Backup Exec 11d

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