Networker: NMC Alert "Cannot write to Database - errno Invalid Argument" Due to TCP Connection Timeout

Summary: NMC was generating the following alert: Cannot write to /Database/Database/97/08/50dea767-00000006-2b43c6c3-6a43c6c3-edd60c00-c89dd629 - errno Invalid argument

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.
Check out other resources

Symptoms

The NetWorker Management Console (NMC) Monitoring Tab reports the following error frequently:

Cannot write to /Database/Database/97/08/50dea767-00000006-2b43c6c3-6a43c6c3-edd60c00-c89dd629 - errno Invalid argument

The NetWorker server daemon logs also report:

XXXXXXXX nsrd NSR info 9 %s %s: %s 3 0 5 media 0 9 emergency 0 120 Cannot write to /Database/Database/97/08/50dea767-00000006-2b43c6c3-6a43c6c3-edd60c00-c89dd629 - errno Invalid argument.

Cause

The issue was likely caused by intermittent network session disconnections or timeout conditions between NetWorker components. When long-running operations experienced idle periods, the underlying TCP connections could be prematurely terminated by the operating system, firewall, or network devices. This resulted in communication interruptions while updating or writing information to the NetWorker database, leading to the "Cannot write to /Database/Database... errno Invalid argument" alert.

Resolution

Configre The NW_TCP_KEEPIDLE_SECS, NW_TCP_KEEPINTVL_SECS, NW_TCP_KEEPCNT, and NSR_SOCK_BUF_SIZE environment variabled on the NetWorker server operating system.
The full list of per-operating system instructions for TCP parameters are documented in the following article: NetWorker: Best practices for networking configuration

Affected Products

NetWorker Family, NetWorker
Article Properties
Article Number: 000486369
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 07 Jul 2026
Version:  1
Find answers to your questions from other Dell users
Support Services
Check if your device is covered by Support Services.