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Conference decwet::networker

Title:NetWorker
Notice:kits - 12-14, problem reporting - 41.*, basics 1-100
Moderator:DECWET::RANDALL.com::lenox
Created:Thu Oct 10 1996
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:750
Total number of notes:3361

401.0. "Problems using Jukeboxes TLZ6L" by NETRIX::"[email protected]" (Olaf Sammler) Wed Feb 12 1997 03:07

Hi !

A Customer has the following Configuration:

  - DECnsr Server V3.2A on Digital Unix V3.2c with 3 TLZ6L configured as
    Jukeboxes
      Active Devices: 3
      Parallelism: 6
      Sessions per Device: 2

  - 6 DECnsr Clients (Digital Unix V3.2c and Windows NT V3.51)


Since 3 months we have problems backing up to jukeboxes. First Friday customer
labels tapes for pools 'monat' (monthly full backup) and 'tag' ( dayly 
differential backup on level 7 and 5).
  Label templates:    monat           monat.mm.nnn        mm - month
                                                         nnn - number
                      tag             tag.mm.nnn          mm - month
                                                         nnn - number
After labeling, the tapes for pool 'monat' were distributed on all jukeboxes,
and an inventory is done for all jukeboxes.
Thats o.k. and also the database shows, thats is o.k.
   - Show Volumes indicates, that only all the new tapes are in jukeboxes
   - Show Details of Jukeboxes indicates, that only all the new tapes are 
     in the jukeboxes.

But with automatic beginning of full backup only one jukebox mounts a tape,
backs up data on this tape and automaticly changes the tapes in the jukebox.
The other jukeboxes do nothing, until manually mounting a tape of the pool.
After them, data backup runs to this tape, but no autochange is done.
It is not defined, which of the three jukeboxes works fine.

The only informations, I found in logs and Database, are the following:
( juk01 as jukebox, that works fine, without manually mount for other
  jukeboxes)
 
 - in /nsr/logs/messages after beginning of full backup
  .. suggest mounting monat.02.002       (Pool o.k., tape in juk01)
  .. backup to pool 'monat' waiting for 1 writable backup tape
  .. backup to pool 'monat' waiting for 2 writable backup tapes
  .. backup to pool 'monat' waiting for 3 writable backup tapes
  .. suggest mounting monat.12.002       (Pool o.k., tape not in jukeboxes)
  .. suggest mounting monat.12.002       (Pool o.k., tape not in jukeboxes)
  .. loading monat.02.002 in ....        (Pool o.k., tape in juk01)
         .
         . 
  .. loading monat.02.005 in ....        (Pool o.k., tape in juk01)
         .
         . 
  .. loading monat.02.008 in ....        (Pool o.k., tape in juk01)
         .
         . 

 - in the Details of Jukeboxes (messages-field)
    juk01: nsrjb-commands and messages for inventory and load
    other: nsrjb-commands only for inventory



Who can help me ??
Who creates the request for tapes, which are not in the jukeboxes, and why ??
How to solve the problem or workaround ??


                           Thanks, Olaf.  
[Posted by WWW Notes gateway]
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name		DateLines
401.1DECWET::KOWALSKITime's not for savingWed Feb 12 1997 08:0814
Thank you for the very complete report.

NetWorker is requesting that a previously used
and appendable volume be loaded in
preference to the unused volumes that are in
the jukebox.

When full backups are finished, since the customer
does not want to use the tapes any further, they
should change the volume mode to "readonly".  They
can do that now for old appendable volumes so they
won't be requested any more.

Mark
401.2DECWET::RWALKERRoger Walker - Media ChangersWed Feb 12 1997 10:0719
	You should try Mark's suggestion but I still think there is
	a problem here.  

	Always set tapes to read only if you don't want them used anymore.
	If the tape is put back in the drive for a recover it could 
	get appended to with new data that would not be from the desired
	month.

	Were there tapes of pool monat in the other loaders?  If not
	NetWorker will suggest mounting any tape it can find of the 
	proper pool.  There may be a problem here that if it has
	made the suggestion for a manual mount that it won't look for 
	more tapes in juk01 when the first one fills.  This is would be 
	a bug but Mark's suggestion will work around the problem.
	From your note it looks like all the monat tapes were in juk01.
401.3I think, it's a problemNETRIX::"[email protected]"Olaf SammlerWed Feb 12 1997 23:4724
Hi !

Thanks for your answers. 
I will try the workaround, but I think, that is not a solution for the
customer.

- All 3 jukeboxes are filled with tapes of pool 'monat' !! 
- I think, that the jukeboxes request mounts for tapes in the jukeboxes with 
  higher priority as appendable tapes of the same pool, that are not in the
  jukeboxes. Its true ??
- Customer not understand why set appendable tapes readonly. After full backup
  he takes tapes of pool 'monat' out of the jukeboxes, fills jukeboxes with
  tapes of pool 'tag', makes inventories for the jukeboxes and lets Networker
  work until the next full backup.

Why the full backup tries to load tapes, that are not in the jukeboxes, but
the
jukeboxes are full with tapes of the right pool 'monat'.


Thanks, and i hope of a better solution

                                               Olaf.
[Posted by WWW Notes gateway]
401.4DECWET::KOWALSKITime's not for savingThu Feb 13 1997 08:0616
I assumed that the customer did not want to use
the weekly full backup tapes any more since they
labelled a completely fresh batch for the next
full backup.  Setting the used fulls to readonly
will prevent NetWorker from requesting any
of those volumes, since some of them are 
still appendable.  Yes, the priority sequence is
to request tapes that are appendable over tapes
that are unused.  The "possible bug" question that 
Roger and I have is exactly what you are questioning:
will an appendable tape not in a jukebox be requested
over an unused tape that is in the jukebox.  By the
way, can you find out whether the customer has
automedia management enabled on these jukeboxes?

Thanks/Mark
401.5Something here doesn't fitDECWET::RWALKERRoger Walker - Media ChangersThu Feb 13 1997 09:4917
	Your log in note .0 does not match what you describe in note .4.

	The only device listed in the log is juk01.  If there were tapes
	of the proper pools in the other jukeboxes and they had
	been inventoried they would have be used before NetWorker
	requested a manual mount.  Is is possible that the opererator
	forgot to inventory some of the jukeboxes after they changed
	the tapes?

	For us to have any chance at resolving this problem we would need
	to see the system status before the full is started.  This would
	include the volumes from mminfo and a list of the jukebox
	contents from each device using nsrjb.  We would also need
	the nsr.res file so we can check the server settings and the
	pool definitions.  Then we would need a description of what
	happened during the backups and the log messages (unedited).
401.6NETRIX::"[email protected]"Olaf SammlerFri Feb 14 1997 00:2021
Hi !

Thanks Mark and Roger for your hints.

- Not Networker requests a manually mount of tapes that are in the jukeboxes
  juk02 and juk03. The Customer requests the mount because these jukeboxes not
  starts to backup after a lot of time !

- The media autochanger on jukeboxes is enabled. It is shown, because this
  month juk01 works o.k., last month juk03 worked o.k.

- I have the nsr.res and nsrjb.res, but only after the full backup. The 
  files in /nsr/logs I will get from Customer. 
  How can I send you ?



Thanks, and good weekend
                                 Olaf.

[Posted by WWW Notes gateway]