NetWorker: How to configure a tape library manually using "jbconfig"

Summary: This article describes how to manually use the legacy 'jbconfig' command to configure a tape library in NetWorker.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.

Instructions

The NetWorker 'jbconfig' command is a legacy tool that predates the modern and advanced NetWorker Management Console (NMC) methods of library detection and automatic configuration.
 
NOTE: The NetWorker Management Console is the preferred and recommended method for library detection, configuration, and reconfiguration. The methods below are provided for situations where NMC is not an option, or to assist troubleshooting where NMC fails to detect or configure a library.
 

Using 'jbconfig' for a standard, server-local library with unshared tape drives

  1. Run the 'jbconfig' command:
    C:\Users\Administrator>jbconfig
    Jbconfig is running on host networker.dell.nsr (Windows Server 2008 R2 6.1),
      and is using networker.dell.nsr as the NetWorker server.
    
             1) Configure an AlphaStor Library.
             2) Configure an Autodetected SCSI Jukebox.
             3) Configure an Autodetected NDMP SCSI Jukebox.
             4) Configure an SJI Jukebox.
             5) Configure an STL Silo.
             6) Exit.
    which activity do you want to perform? [1] 2
  2. Choose option 2 to use autodetection:
    14484:jbconfig: Scanning SCSI buses; this may take a while ...
    Installing 'Standard SCSI Jukebox' jukebox - scsidev@2.1.0.
  3. This automatically detects the SCSI address for the library. Provide a name for the library:
    What name do you want to assign to this jukebox device? MrData
    15814:jbconfig: Attempting to detect serial numbers on the jukebox and drives ...
    15815:jbconfig: Will try to use SCSI information returned by jukebox to configure drives.
    Detected emulated library `MrData' on storage node `networker.dell.nsr'.
    The following drive(s) can be auto-configured in this jukebox:
     1> LTO Ultrium @ 2.2.0 ==> \\.\Tape2147483646
     2> LTO Ultrium @ 2.3.0 ==> \\.\Tape2147483645
    These are all the drives that this jukebox has reported.
  4. If automatic detection completes without error and you do not want to configure NDMP or Dynamic Drive Sharing, refuse to bypass auto-configure:
    To change the drive model(s) or configure them as shared or NDMP drives,
     you need to bypass auto-configure. Bypass auto-configure? (yes / no) [no] no
 

Using 'jbconfig' to manually define all handles and addresses, configure for a shared library, or configure Dynamic Drive Sharing:

  1. Using 'jbconfig' in manual mode requires many more details to successfully complete. First, get an 'inquire' output from all Storage Node hosts that must access any devices in this library. Identify which host should control the autochanger itself, and its SCSI address on that host, using 'inquire':
    C:\Users\Administrator>inquire -p
    scsidev@2.1.0:ADIC    Scalar 100      2.62|Autochanger (Jukebox),
                                               S/N: 79I9G00200
                                               ATNN=ADIC    Scalar 100      79I9G00200
                                               Virtual device
    scsidev@2.2.0:IBM     ULTRIUM-TD1     4561|Tape, \\.\Tape2147483646
                                               S/N: 79I9G00201
                                               ATNN=IBM     ULTRIUM-TD1     79I9G00201
                                               Virtual device
    scsidev@2.3.0:IBM     ULTRIUM-TD1     4561|Tape, \\.\Tape2147483645
                                               S/N: 79I9G00202
                                               ATNN=IBM     ULTRIUM-TD1     79I9G00202
                                               Virtual device
    2 Tape, 1 Autochanger (Jukebox), Total: 3
  2. On the Storage Node with the library, run the 'sjisn' command against the SCSI address of the autochanger robot from the previous step. This command reveals the drive's library order and corresponding serial number. In 'jbconfig', "Element 256" (the first) is considered Drive 1.
    C:\Users\Administrator>sjisn 2.1.0
    Serial Number data for 2.1.0 (ADIC     Scalar 100      ):
            Library:
                    Serial Number: 79I9G00200
                    SCSI-3 Device Identifiers:
                            ATNN=ADIC    Scalar 100      79I9G00200
            Drive at element address 256:
                    SCSI-3 Device Identifiers:
                            VENN=79I9G00201
            Drive at element address 257:
                    SCSI-3 Device Identifiers:
                            VENN=79I9G00202
  3. Compare this output with the 'inquire' output from each host that needs access to the drives.
    1. On each host, you can determine the local driver name of the device (such as \\.\Tape2147483645) corresponding with each serial number (such as 79I9G00202).
    2. Using the 'sjisn' output, determine which serial number corresponds to which physical drive in order. For example: 2 is the second.
    3. If needed, make a chart aligning host, drive name, serial number, and drive numbers.
  4. Next, run 'jbconfig' on the Storage Node with the library. If that is not the NetWorker server, include the '-s <servername>' argument:
    C:\Users\Administrator>jbconfig -s servername
    Jbconfig is running on host nsrnode1.dell.nsr (Windows Server 2008 R2 6.1),
      and is using networker.dell.nsr as the NetWorker server.
    
             1) Configure an AlphaStor Library.
             2) Configure an Autodetected SCSI Jukebox.
             3) Configure an Autodetected NDMP SCSI Jukebox.
             4) Configure an SJI Jukebox.
             5) Configure an STL Silo.
             6) Exit.
    which activity do you want to perform? [1] 4
  5. This time, select option 4. This allows manual configuration control. This may provide a workaround when NMC configuration fails or has problems. You can select the exact model of library, but usually, 56 (Standard SCSI Jukebox) is appropriate.
    Enter the number corresponding to the type of jukebox you are installing:
      1) ADIC-1200c/ADIC-1200d 20) Exabyte 690D          39) HP-Optical
      2) ADIC-VLS              21) Exabyte Jukebox       40) Sony TSL-7000
      3) ARC DiamondBack       22) Hitachi ML010 Series  41) Sony TSL-A500C
      4) Sun 20Gb 4mm Tape Loader 23) HP-C1553A/Surestore 12000e 42) Sony TSL-AIT
      5) Breece Hill Saguaro   24) HP-C1557A/Surestore 12000e 43) Digital 4mm DAT TLZ9L
      6) Breece Hill           25) HP C5713A             44) Digital 4mm DAT (TLZxx)
      7) Philips Blackjack     26) Hewlett-Packard A4853A 45) Digital TL800 Series
      8) DLI Libra Series      27) Metrum (SCSI)         46) Digital TL810 Series
      9) Quantum DLT/Digital DLT 28) Qualstar              47) Digital TL820 Series
     10) Exabyte 10e or 10h    29) Spectralogic          48) Digital TL893
     11) Exabyte 10i           30) STK 9704/Lago 340     49) Digital TL893
     12) Exabyte 18D           31) STK 9708/Lago 380 (SCSI) Datawheel 50) Digital TL896
     13) Exabyte 60            32) StorageTek 9730       51) Digital TL896
     14) Exabyte 120           33) StorageTek 9738       52) Digital TL899
     15) Exabyte 210           34) STK 9708/Lago 380 (SCSI) Datawheel 53) Digital TL899
     16) Exabyte 218           35) Dell PowerVault 130T  54) Digital Optical
     17) Exabyte 220           36) IBM 3570              55) Digital TK Series
     18) Exabyte 230D          37) IBM 7331/IBM 9427     56) Standard SCSI Jukebox
     19) Exabyte 400 Series    38) ATL/Odetics SCSI
    Choice? 56
    Installing an 'Standard SCSI Jukebox' jukebox.
  6. Choose a friendly name for the library:
    What name do you want to assign to this jukebox device? SonOfMrData
  7. Provide the SCSI address from the 'inquire' output on the local host (which must see the library in 'inquire'):
    39744:jbconfig: Enter the control port of the jukebox in the following format:
            scsidev@3.0.0 Pathname of the control port for the jukebox device? scsidev@2.1.0
  8. After the discovery preamble, provide all the host to host-local device name mappings, using the ordering determined from the 'sjisn' and 'inquire' output.
    1. Answer "no" to the NDMP prompt.
    2. If multiple hosts are sharing the library with one host per device ("Library sharing") but only one host per device, answer "no" to the second prompt.
    3. If one or more devices are shared concurrently among multiple hosts ("Dynamic Drive Sharing"), answer "yes."
      The drives in this jukebox cannot be auto-configured with the available
       information. You will need to provide the path for the drives.
      Is (any path of) any drive intended for NDMP use? (yes / no) [no] no
      Is any drive going to have more than one path defined? (yes / no) [no] yes
  9. The following prompts refer to the drive order as shown by the 'sjisn' output. For each drive, starting with the first ('1', regardless of 'sjisn' "Element number") and moving through that sequence, provide the host and device name mappings for each device as correlated by the serial number in each host's 'inquire' output against the 'sjisn' output:
    Drive  1, element 1 local bus, target, lun value = 0.0.0,
    Device path 1 ? nsrnode1.dell.com:\\.\Tape2147483646
    Device path 2 ? \\.\Tape3
    Device path 3 ?
    
    Drive  2, element 2 local bus, target, lun value = 0.0.0,
    Device path 1 ? nsrnode1.dell.com:\\.\Tape2147483645
    Device path 2 ? nsrnode2.dell.com:/dev/nst5
    Device path 3 ?
  10. In the context of these 'inquire' and 'sjisn' examples, the first drive in 'sjisn' (element 256) is referred to here as "Drive 1" (that is, the first), and has a serial number of 79I9G00201.
    1. The 'inquire' output for the library host (which in this case is a storage node nsrnode1.dell.com) shows the corresponding device name for that host to be \\.\Tape2147483646. It is entered as "<hostname>:<host's local devicename>" because this is a storage node.
    2. The second entry has no "<hostname>:" piece; this is because it is meant to represent a handle to the same device, but for the server. The "<hostname>:" element is never required for the server. The server's 'inquire' output is not shown here, but would report the same serial number as the first entry for drive 1, with a different (local) device name (\\.\Tape3).
    3. Multiple hosts accessing the same device is called "Dynamic Drive sharing." When you are done entering all host:devicename pairs for a given physical drive, entering a blank line proceeds to the next drive in order, if any.
    4. In this example, the second physical drive is traced in the same way: By position in 'sjisn' output, corresponding device name 'inquire' output for each host, with serial number as the common identifier for all outputs. A second storage node is sharing the second drive. As before, the hostname must be entered for Storage Nodes only, and the device names (local to each host) do not need any relationship to one another.
 

After configuring your tape library

  1. Attempt to reset your library: In NMC, right click the instance and choose "Reset," or use the command equivalent: nsrjb -HEvvvvv
  2. Inventory your library if necessary: Again, in NMC by right-clicking the library and selecting "Inventory," or from the CLI: nsrjb -IIvvvvv
  3. Test mounting and unmounting: Again, in NMC, or using the command line: jbverify (only tests local configuration)

Additional Information

For a command-line mechanism to add and remove configured devices to existing libraries, see:
 
For more advanced tape library troubleshooting information, see also:

Affected Products

NetWorker

Products

NetWorker Family
Article Properties
Article Number: 000013833
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 23 مارس 2026
Version:  6
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