Avamar: AER - Volume Label Fail - Error Duplicate Volume Name

Identified Symptoms

The attempt to relabel a tape from a specific slot fails with an error message.

The error message indicates a duplicate volume name.

Error Message Details

The error message is "Error: Duplicate volume name `VOLUMENAME'. Select a new name or remove the original volume."

root@AvaUtilityNode:~/#: nsrjb -L -j JukeboxName -vvvv -f /dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst -S 71 -b "PoolName"
setting verbosity level to `4'
specified dev: /dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst
check_shared_devs hw id:
check_shared_devs dev: /dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst
check_shared_devs hw id:
check_shared_devs dev: /dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b5f-nst
check_shared_devs returning: 1
Info: Skipping device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b5f-nst': Device is assigned to nsrmmd.
Info: Preparing to load volume `-' from slot 71 into device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst'.
Info: Loading volume `-' from slot `71' into device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst'.
Info: Load sleep for 5 seconds.
Info: Performing operation `Verify label' on device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst'.
Info: Operation `Verify label' in progress on device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst'
Info: Cannot read the current volume label: no tape label found
Info: nsrmmgd assumes the volume is unlabeled and will write a new label.
Info: Performing operation `Label without mount' on device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst'.
Info: Operation `Label without mount' in progress on device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst'
Info: Label: `VOLUMENAME', pool: `PoolName', capacity: `'.
Info: Performing operation `Eject' on device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst'.
Info: Operation `Eject' in progress on device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst'
Info: Eject sleep for 5 seconds.
Info: Preparing to unload volume `-' from device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst' to slot 71.
Info: Unloading volume `-' from device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst' to slot 71.
Info: Unload sleep for 5 seconds.
Error: Duplicate volume name `VOLUMENAME'. Select a new name or remove the original volume.
Jukebox operation finished with status: failed
15771:nsrjb: Jukebox command terminated with errors.

Root Cause of the Issue

The issue arose because a previous re-label operation failed to read the tape label, causing a duplicate volume name entry.

When the label cannot be read, the tape is assumed to be blank and the old volume entry in the media database is removed.

The media database prevents the creation of duplicate entries. A label operation fails if an entry for that volume already exists in the database.

Error: Duplicate volume name `VOLUMENAME'. Select a new name or remove the original volume

Resolving the Duplicate Volume Name Error

To resolve the duplicate volume name error, the Avamar Extended Retention (AER) Administrator shall query the media database for any savesets under that volume label. Once confirmed there are no savesests under that volume label, the old volume label entry should be manually removed before labeling a tape.

First, check that the volume name does not exist in the media database by running the following command:

root@AvaUtilityNode:~/#: mminfo -avot -q volume=VOLUMENAME

Once confirmed that a volume does not exist in the media database, use this command to delete that volume:

root@AvaUtilityNode:~/#: nsrmm -d VOLUMENAME
Delete file and media index entries for LTO Ultrium-5 tape VOLUMENAME? y

Then, retry the label operation using this command below and use the following syntax.

where 
-f=tape_device_path ; -S=Slot_where_tape_is ; -b=Pool_Name ; "-vvvv=verbose level 4"; "-j=JukeboxName"; "-L=label operation

root@AvaUtilityNode:~/#: nsrjb -L -j JukeboxName -vvvv -f /dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst -S 71 -b "PoolName"
setting verbosity level to `4'
specified dev: /dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst
check_shared_devs hw id:
check_shared_devs dev: /dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst
check_shared_devs hw id:
check_shared_devs dev: /dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b5f-nst
check_shared_devs returning: 1
Info: Skipping device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b5f-nst': Device is assigned to nsrmmd.
Info: Preparing to load volume `-' from slot 71 into device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst'.
Info: Loading volume `-' from slot `71' into device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst'.
Info: Load sleep for 5 seconds.
Info: Performing operation `Verify label' on device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst'.
Info: Operation `Verify label' in progress on device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst'
Info: Cannot read the current volume label: no tape label found
Info: nsrmmgd assumes the volume is unlabeled and will write a new label.
Info: Performing operation `Label without mount' on device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst'.
Info: Operation `Label without mount' in progress on device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst'
Info: Label: `VOLUMENAME', pool: `PoolName', capacity: `'.
Info: Performing operation `Eject' on device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst'.
Info: Operation `Eject' in progress on device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst'
Info: Eject sleep for 5 seconds.
Info: Preparing to unload volume `VOLUMENAME' from device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst' to slot 71.
Info: Unloading volume `VOLUMENAME' from device `/dev/tape/by-id/scsi-35001438016000b59-nst' to slot 71.
Info: Unload sleep for 5 seconds.
Jukebox operation finished with status: succeeded

Caution: If there is any doubt about any part of this process, contact Dell Support at [1-800-782-4362] or go to the Dell Support website for further assistance.