Symptom:

How to manually remove a tape completely from NetBackup/Media Manager.

Solution:

First, if there are images on the tape, they need to be expired. This can be done
by:
bpexpdate -ev <mediaid> -d 0

This will not completely free up the tape if the tape is frozen or suspended, so the
command(s):
bpmedia -unfreeze -ev <mediaid>
or
bpmedia -unsuspend -ev <mediaid>
may be needed.

At this point there will be no image database entries for that tape and the media
database should show the tape as not assigned therefore allowing the tape to be
reused. However sometimes the image database and the media manager
database can be out of sync, and the tape may show as still assigned, or if the
tape has a NetBackup database backup on it, there would be no image entry to
begin with. When a tape shows an assigned date, but no images are related to
that tape, it will show up in the available_media report as dbbackup. To tell if a
tape actually has a dbbackup on it, the command:
vmquery -m mediaid
will show a status, where 0x0 means normal backups, 0x1 means NetBackup
database backup and 0x2 means Storage Migrator.
If it is 0x1, be certain this is not a database backup which will ever be needed.
If it is 0x2, it is in use by Storage Migrator and understanding of the use of the
tape by Storage Migrator (not covered here) is required.

To free up the tape, when it has an assigned date but no images in the database,
the command:
vmquery -deassignbyid <mediaid> <poolnumber> <status>
must be run, but the status will be displayed as 0x0, 0x1 or 0x2 and needs to be
just 0, 1 or 2 in the vmquery -deassignbyid.

At this point the tape is available to be used for backups.

If the tape was bad or destroyed and that is why it is being removed, the
command:
vmdelete -m <mediaid>
will remove the last remnants of information about it from media manager.
There are other options which may be specified for the above commands. Some
are to specify server names, volume database host names, etc. If the
NetBackup/Media Manager setup is complex, those options may be needed.
The full paths to the commands mentioned are:

/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bpexpdate
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bpmedia
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/goodies/available_media
/usr/openv/volmgr/bin/vmquery
usr/openv/volmgr/bin/vmdelete
All but available_media have man pages.

BPLABEL command

When using bplabel, insure the syntax is correct.

Example: \install_path\veritas\netbackup\bin\admincmd\bplabel -ev evsn -d 4mm -o
This example will overwrite a 4mm tape. The "evsn" would be your tape id

Bplabel will fail with an "Invalid density Drive Type" message if the density is entered
with capital letters.
Example: \install_path\veritas\netbackup\bin\admincmd\bplabel -ev evsn -d 4MM -o

The correct density syntax for bplabel is as follows:

4mm (4-mm cartridge)
8mm (8-mm cartridge)
dlt (dlt cartridge)
dlt2 (dlt cartridge alternate)
qscsi (1/4 in cartridge)

For a full description of bplabel please refer to pg. 590 in the NetBackup System
Administrator's Guide for NetBackup 4.5.

Symptom:
When running the bplabel command, the following error occurs: "requested number of drives are
not configured".
Exact Error Message:
requested number of drives are not configured
Solution:
A reason for this error is that the specified density of the media is
inaccurate. Here is an example of the bplabel command:
bplabel -ev A00001 -d dlt -p netbackup
If the density of the tape that is being relabeled isn't dlt, you will see
this error: "requested number of drives are not configured". Some
possible methods of figuring out the media density are listed below:
In the media and device management GUI, there will be a media type
column. Locate the tape that is being relabeled and see what this
column states as the media density.
Run the available_media command from the
<install_path>\netbackup\bin\goodies directory. There will be a
media type column that will report the density there as well.
Run the vmquery -m <media_id> command from the
<install_path>\volmgr\bin directory. This will show the media type of
the volume that was specified in the command.
A common mistake is to use "dlt" when the tapes are in fact "dlt 2" or
"dlt 3." If the media type is anything other than "dlt," such as "dlt 3",
then "dlt 3" must be used instead of dlt in the bplabel command.

bpclntcmd command

Examples of bpclntcmd on bomber:

/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/bpclntcmd -self
current domain = .min.ov.com
NIS is running.
cannot determine NIS master (group)
no such map in server's domain (4)
gethostname() returned: bomber
host bomber: bomber at 166.98.28.116 (0xa6621c74)
checkhname: aliases:

/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/bpclntcmd -ip <ip address from previous command>

checkhaddr: host : bomber: bomber at 166.98.28.116 (0xa6621c74)
checkhaddr: aliases: loghost
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/bpclntcmd -pn
expecting response from server bomber
bomber bomber 166.98.28.116 63558

/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/bpclntcmd -hn bomber

host bomber: bomber at 166.98.28.116 (0xa6621c74)
checkhname: aliases:

From the client:

nslookup ip_address_of _master

nslookup Name_master

nslookup ip_address_of _media_server

nslookup Name_media_server

nslookup ip_address_of _client

nslookup Name_client

from the master:

nslookup ip_address_of _master

nslookup Name_master

nslookup ip_address_of _media_server

nslookup Name_media_server

nslookup ip_address_of _client

nslookup Name_client

From the media server:

nslookup ip_address_of _master

nslookup Name_master

nslookup ip_address_of _media_server

nslookup Name_media_server

nslookup ip_address_of _client

nslookup Name_client

exclude and include lists

Using exclude_list and include_list for managing files to be excluded and included in a backup.
Solution:
This is additional information which should be used in conjunction with the
exclude_list/include_list information in the Netbackup System Administrator's Guide for
UNIX.
1. An include_list can contain only directories and files that are a subset of the class files
include list.
For example:

If class files include list definition is /etc/*

you can not have an include_list specify anything outside of the above criteria.
Therefore you could not, in this case, have and include_list with the entry /var/*.
(If the above entry was in the include_list - Netbackup would just ignore it)
This then leads to bullet 2 below.

2. An include_list requires a corresponding exclude_list, for example:

If class files include list definition is /etc/*

The exclude_list entry is /etc/*
and the include_list entry is /etc/*.conf

This will result in backing up only the *.conf files in the /etc directory.

3. When using the exclude_list and the include_list, one should give significant thought
and planning to the process. Because of the way that Netbackup processes the
information it can add significant processing overhead to the backup. The first thing that
Netbackup does on an automatic backup is to build the backup file list, using the Class
include files. So if you have specified the root directory (/) with the cross mount points
attribute set it will build a file list of all mounted file systems. The next thing that
Netbackup does, is check for the exclude_list, and if your exclude_list is /* - Netbackup
will throw away the backup list it has just made. Netbackup then reads the include_list
and in this case builds a new backup list of directories and files to include in the backup.
(See technote 230638 for additional info).

CLI for NetBackup Reports

Backup Status
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bperror -U -backstat
-s info -d mo/da/yr hr:mn:sc -e mo/da/yr hr:mn:sc

Client Backups
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bpimagelist [-A|-client name]
-d mo/da/yr hr:mn:sc -e mo/da/yr hr:mn:sc
Problems Report
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bperror -U -problems
-d mo/da/yr hr:mn:sc -e mo/da/yr hr:mn:sc

All Log Entries

/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bperror -U -all
-d mo/da/yr hr:mn:sc -e mo/da/yr hr:mn:sc

Media List
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bpmedialist -U -mlist
[-ev media ID]

Media Contents
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bpmedialist -U -mcontents
[-ev media ID]

Images on Media
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bpmedialist -U -mcontents
[-ev media ID]

Media Log Entries

/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bperror -U -media
-d mo/da/yr hr:mn:sc -e mo/da/yr hr:mn:sc

Media Summary
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bpmedialist -summary

Media Written
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bpimagelist -A media
-d mo/da/yr hr:mn:sc -e mo/da/yr hr:mn:sc

Volume detail
/usr/openv/volmgr//bin/vmquery -a