NetWorker: NWUI fails to get the list of groups with unable to parse the disk_uuid string

The NWUI solution is being used to manage the NetWorker data zone. The navigation panel is used to select "Protection > Groups," and the details pane generates "Failed to get the list of groups. Unable to parse 'disk_uuid' string: '50301dd2-9032-1b04-eca2-c943c61fd55d.'" The VMware Protection Groups are configured with rules to select the protected virtual machines (VMs) using tags, and the referenced VM has a disk exclusion.

The nwui.raw shows:

HH:MM:SS [https-jsse-nio-9090-exec-8] ERROR c.e.n.c.n.impl.PolicyApi - Could not fetch the list of groups.

• Linux: /opt/nwui/logs/nwui.raw
• Windows: C:\Program Files\EMC NetWorker\nwui\logs\nwui.raw
• NetWorker: How to use nsr_render_log

The localhost_access*.txt file shows:

XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [DD/MM/YYYY:HH:MM:SS -0500] "GET /nwrestapi/v3/global/protectiongroups HTTP/1.1" 500 487

• Linux: /nsr/authc/logs/localhost_access*.txt
• Windows: C:\Program Files\EMC NetWorker\nsr\authc-server\tomcat\logs\localhost_access*.txt

The NetWorker Server restapi.log shows:

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS INFO  [https-jsse-nio-9090-exec-2] c.e.n.w.WebApiRequest - Request method 'GET', URL 'v3/global/protectiongroups
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ERROR [https-jsse-nio-9090-exec-2] c.e.n.w.WebApiExceptionMapper - Status 'Internal Server Error', msg: Unable to parse 'disk_uuid' string: '50301dd2-9032-1b04-eca2-c943c61fd55d,'
com.emc.nw.webapi.exception.InternalServerErrorException: Unable to parse 'disk_uuid' string: '50301dd2-9032-1b04-eca2-c943c61fd55d,'
	at com.emc.nw.webapi.adapter.VMwareVmDataAdapter.convertJsonToXmlVmWorkItem(VMwareVmDataAdapter.java:639) ~[nwrestapi.jar:na]
	at com.emc.nw.webapi.adapter.ProtectionGroupDataAdapter.expandVMwareAllWorkItemSelection(ProtectionGroupDataAdapter.java:137) ~[nwrestapi.jar:na]
	at com.emc.nw.webapi.adapter.ProtectionGroupDataAdapter.getItems(ProtectionGroupDataAdapter.java:115) ~[nwrestapi.jar:na]
	at com.emc.nw.webapi.common.WebLogic.getItemList(WebLogic.java:173) ~[nwrestapi.jar:na]
	at com.emc.nw.webapi.common.WebLogic.getItemList(WebLogic.java:160) ~[nwrestapi.jar:na]
	at com.emc.nw.webapi.resource.ProtectionGroups.get(ProtectionGroups.java:101) ~[nwrestapi.jar:na]
	at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) ~[na:1.8.0_211]
	at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source) ~[na:1.8.0_211]
	at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source) ~[na:1.8.0_211]
	at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source) ~[na:1.8.0_211]
...
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS INFO  [https-jsse-nio-9090-exec-2] c.e.n.w.WebApiResponse - Response status Method: 'GET', URI:'v3/global/protectiongroups', Status '500'

• Linux: /nsr/logs/restapi/restapi.log
• Windows: C:\Program Files\EMC NetWorker\nsr\logs\restapi\restapi.log

{\"moref-id\":\"vm-1024536\",\"uuid\":\"50301dd2-9032-1b04-eca2-c943c61fd55d\",\"type\":\"VMDisk\",\"disks\":[\"\",\"6000C292-524d-1baa-f10b-5e780833a1ed\",\"6000C29c-75b5-ad1f-27d3-602b6d5da260\"]}

The cause of the null entry is not known.

Use the NetWorker administrative program (nsradmin) to remove the null .vmdk disk entry from the NetWorker Resource Database (nsrdb). 
 

1. Perform a Server Protection backup job and ensure that a bootstrap backup is obtained:

mminfo -B

2. Create a copy of the nsrdb directory on the NetWorker server.

• Linux: /nsr/res/nsrdb
• Windows: C:\Program Files\EMC NetWorker\nsr\res\nsrdb

3. From a command line or Linux shell, open the nsradmin command-line utility and access visual mode by entering visual. This loads an interactive command-line utility from which you can navigate through and modify NetWorker resources:
 

nsradmin > visual mode > NSR Protection Group > Select the "NSR Protection Group" > Edit > delete the NULL Disk entry in the "vproxy group exclude items" > save > Exit

Before:

{\"moref-id\":\"vm-1024536\",\"uuid\":\"50301dd2-9032-1b04-eca2-c943c61fd55d\",\"type\":\"VMDisk\",\"disks\":[\"\",\"6000C292-524d-1baa-f10b-5e780833a1ed\",\"6000C29c-75b5-ad1f-27d3-602b6d5da260\"]}

After:

{\"moref-id\":\"vm-1024536\",\"uuid\":\"50301dd2-9032-1b04-eca2-c943c61fd55d\",\"type\":\"VMDisk\",\"disks\":[\"6000C292-524d-1baa-f10b-5e780833a1ed\",\"6000C29c-75b5-ad1f-27d3-602b6d5da260\"]}

If any issues are observed, you can revert to the nsrdb copy created before the changes were applied.