NetWorker: How to use nsrclientfix, error "Cannot find attribute 'client id'"

Summary: How to use nsrclientfix to identify and fix clientid problems on a NetWorker server.

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Symptoms

The nsrclientfix command is used for the analysis of the media database to look for client id corruption.
It can also merge clients together in both the resource database and the media database.

One or more clients have more than one clientid.

98519:save: Unable to setup direct save with server <nw_server>: Cannot find attribute 'client id'..
90018:save: Cannot open a save session with NetWorker server '<nw_server>': Cannot find attribute 'client id'.
<nw_client>:/etc: retried 2 times.

Cause

  • The general cause is a client identifying itself to the media database during a backup as a name the NetWorker server does not realize is an alias.
  • This can also be caused by creating a client resource with a name other than the chosen name (client name) to represent the client.
  • Bad aliasing in the system's hosts file can cause this kind of problem. Corrections to the hosts file must be made before taking any further actions. 

Resolution

Prerequisites

Perform the following steps before changing the NetWorker client file indexes.

1. Perform a 'Server Protection Backup' to backup the existing indexes, media database (mm), and NetWorker resource database (nsrdb)

 
NOTE: The nsrclientfix command changes both the media and configuration databases. In case there are any problems or mistakes, having a backup of both databases is recommended.

Collect the bootstrap save set info with: mminfo -B


2. Shut down the NetWorker daemons on the NetWorker server:

Linux: systemctl stop networker (or nsr_shutdown)
Windows: net stop nsrexecd /y

 

3. Confirm all NetWorker daemons are down:
Linux: ps -ef | grep nsr
Windows: tasklist | findstr nsr

4. In addition to the server protection backup, copies of the mm and nsrdb folders can be made on the NetWorker server.
A. mm: Linux: /nsr/mm Windows: .\Program Files\EMC NetWorker\nsr\mm
B. nsrdb: Linux: /nsr/res/nsrdb Windows: .\Program Files\EMC NetWorker\nsr\res\nsrdb
C. nsrladb: Linux: /nsr/res/nsrladb Windows: .\Program Files\EMC NetWorker\nsr\res\nsrladb
D. Depending on the index size and available space on the server, the index can also be copied: Linux: /nsr/index Windows: .\Program Files\EMC NetWorker\nsr\index
 
5. Start NetWorker services:
Linux: systemctl start networker
Windows: net start nsrd 
 

Process
 

1. Identify which clients have clientid problems. The following command only checks for possible issues, but performs no corrective action. 


Syntax:
nsrclientfix -a - -p
Example: 
nsrclientfix -a - -p
alenka, alenka.emc.com                 <-- One or more clients
temporal                               <-- One client
localhost                              <-- One client
 
The file read in and output are of the same format. The file consists of a comma-separated list of clients separated by new lines. The number of clients on the line represents the actions taken.
 
2. Create a text file with the list of clients to be corrected by nsrclientfix
 
Syntax:
nsrclientfix -a file -p
This command does not take any corrective action. It creates the text file used by nsrclientfix to correct the problems.
 
Example: 
nsrclientfix -a text1 -p
alenka, alenka.emc.com
temporal
localhost

3. Review the list of clients to be merged.
Open the text file created in the previous step and review each line:
 
One client
When there is only one client on the line, it means it is marked to be purged. This does not show up during the analysis step unless the -p flag is used. Clients are reported for purging, (when requested) when an old client exists with no resource or media database entries. This is caused by either old decommissioned clients or from merging one client into another.
 
More than one client
More than one client means that the clients listed are to be merged together. The first name in the list is the primary name who s name and client id are preserved (if it already exists). The following names (secondary names) are merged in to the primary name. Any client resources of the secondary names are renamed to the primary name, and the alias lists of all the clients will be combined. The media database entries will also have their client IDs and names merged into the primary name.
 
NOTE: If the aliases you want to merge, for example, "old name" and "new name" do not appear on the same line, you must add the "old name" as a NetWorker alias of the "new name". For example: Add nwclientold or nwclientdummy as an alias for nwclient.
WARNING: Confirm that all the aliases listed on the same line belong to the same host. If there is an alias that belongs to a different host, nsrclientfix merges its save sets to the first alias in the list. If the save sets must be split later, this requires a complicated and time consuming workaround (in short, remove the save sets from the media database and scan them again.)
 
4. Use nsrclientfix with the text file to correct clientid problems on the clients listed.
 
Syntax:
nsrclientfix -u file

Example: 
nsrclientfix -u text1
Merging the following clients into 'alenka': alenka.emc.com

Merging the resource database for client 'alenka'.

Merging the media database for client 'alenka'.

The merging is complete for client 'alenka'.

Purging the client 'temporal'.

Purging the resource database of client 'temporal'.

Purging the media database of client 'temporal'.

Removing any index backups related to client 'temporal' in the media database.

Successfully purged client 'temporal'.

Purging the client 'localhost'.

Purging the resource database of client 'localhost'.

Purging the media database of client 'localhost'.

Removing any index backups related to client 'localhost' in the media database.

Successfully purged client 'localhost'.
 
NOTE: The merged clients will not be removed. The nsrclientfix command must run again to remove the aliases that were merged and not removed.
 
5. Purge clients that were previously merged and now have no save sets attached. The merged clients were not removed. To remove them, nsrclientfix must be run again: 
nsrclientfix -a text2 -p
alenka.emc.com

nsrclientfix -u text2
Purging the client 'alenka.emc.com'.

Purging the resource database of client 'alenka.emc.com'.

Purging the media database of client 'alenka.emc.com'.

Removing any index backups related to client 'alenka.emc.com' in the media database.

Successfully purged client 'alenka.emc.com'.

Additional Information

For nsrclientfix man page, see attachment "nsrclientfix man page.pdf"

Affected Products

NetWorker

Products

NetWorker
Article Properties
Article Number: 000015252
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 14 Jan 2026
Version:  5
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