Data Domain: How to test VTL functionality in NetBackup

1. Verify Device Visibility.

Use the NetBackup scan utility (or sgscan on Solaris) to show available devices: 

Commands

Windows:

C:\Program Files\Veritas\Volmgr\bin\scan

UNIX/Linux:

/usr/openv/volmgr/bin/scan

The output should provide a list of devices, along with their Serial Numbers. 
You can match the devices reported with the devices configured on DD VTL and confirm that they are visible. 
If the scan command can see the changer exported by DD VTL, you can proceed with the robtest command to check basic device functionalities. 

2. Test Robot and Drive Operations Using robtest

NetBackup’s robtest utility directly manages robotic operations and can be used to confirm:

• • Robot control
  • Drive mapping
  • Slot inventory
  • Volume movement

Commands

Windows:

C:\Program Files\Veritas\Volmgr\bin\robtest

UNIX/Linux:

/usr/openv/volmgr/bin/robtest

The robtest startup output lists robots in the form:

TLD(#)

Verify the correct robot number in the NetBackup UI before choosing one.
Incorrect selection may disrupt other active libraries.

After finding the correct robot, select it and you will have access to an interactive command prompt.
You can use the following commands to run your tests:

• List drives and check if they are empty or loaded
  • s d (means "show drives". It returns the status of all drives )
• List slots and check volume barcodes
  • s s (means "show slots". It returns the status of all slots )
• Mount a volume into a drive
  • m s# d#   (means "move from slot# to drive#"; as an example: "m s1 d1")
• Unload a volume from a drive, making it available for moving back to slot (this is not required if the VTL option "auto-offline" is enabled)
  • unload d#  (means "unload drive#")
• Move a volume back to the slot
  • m d# s#  (means "move from drive# to slot#")

3. Additional OS‑Level Drive Testing

On UNIX/Linux hosts, you can further validate drive behavior using:

mt status

To check drive state.

For I/O testing on a blank tape, you may use commands such as:

tar
dd

Important robtest Warning

As documented by Veritas:

"⚠️The robtest utility interferes with robotic operations and prevents any mounts or dismounts from occurring while it runs. Please exit the utility when testing has been completed."

Device discovery from CLI:
How to do device discovery from command line for NetBackup device configuration (External Link)

Robtest SCSI functionality tests:
Robtest commands that can be used to test the SCSI functionality of a robot (External Link)

Device verification with robtest:
How to verify device configuration using robtest (External Link)