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NetVault 13.0.3 - Administration Guide for Managed Service Providers

Introduction Getting started Configuring clients Managing catalog search Configuring storage devices
About storage devices SAN considerations Quest DR Series systems Quest QoreStor NetVault SmartDisk EMC Data Domain Systems Snapshot Array Manager Virtual Tape Libraries Virtual standalone drives Shared Virtual Tape Libraries Physical tape devices Storage tiers
Backing up data Managing policies Restoring data Managing NetVault dashboard Managing jobs Monitoring logs Managing storage devices
Role-based access to manage storage devices Monitoring device activity Managing disk-based storage devices in list view Managing disk-based storage devices in tree view Managing the Snapshot Array Manager Managing tape libraries in list view Managing tape libraries in tree view Managing tape drives in list view Managing tape drives in tree view Adding shared devices
Managing storage media Managing user and group accounts Managing Tenant Monitoring events and configuring notifications Reporting in NetVault Working with client clusters Configuring default settings for NetVault
About configuring default settings Configuring encryption settings Configuring plug-in options Configuring default settings for post-scripts Configuring default settings for Verify Plug-in Configuring Deployment Manager Settings Configuring Job Manager settings Configuring Logging Daemon settings Configuring Media Manager settings Configuring Network Manager settings Configuring Process Manager settings Configuring RAS device settings Configuring Schedule Manager settings Configuring Web Service settings Configuring Auditor Daemon settings Configuring firewall settings Configuring general settings Configuring security settings Synchronizing NetVault Time Configuring the reporting utility Configuring NetVault WebUI default settings Configuring NetVault to use a specific VSS provider Configuring default settings using Txtconfig
Diagnostic tracing Managing diagnostic data Using the deviceconfig utility NetVault processes Environment variables Network ports used by NetVault Troubleshooting
Common errors Safe Mode in NetVault

Blanking tape media

Blanking a tape deletes or erases the backup data residing on the tape. It removes the NetVault header from the tape and deletes the media label and removes any group association. Blanking a tape also removes the indexes for backups stored on the selected tapes from the NetVault Database.

After blanking, a tape becomes available to NetVault for storing future backups. Hence, before blanking a media, ensure that tenant’s savesets are not present on that media.

To purposely destroy the data that is stored on a tape, you must blank it from NetVault and have its data securely removed by tools that are designed for such purposes.

The following sections describe the procedures that you can use to blank tape media:

•
Blanking multiple tapes in a library in list view
•
Blanking multiple tapes in a library in tree view
•
Blanking a single tape in list view
•
Blanking a single tape in tree view
Blanking multiple tapes in a library in list view
To blank multiple tapes in a library:
1
In the Navigation pane, click Manage Devices.
2
In the list of devices, click the icon to locate the library, and then click the corresponding Manage Library icon .
3
On the Tape Library Management page, click Bulk Blank, and configure the following options.
 
Table 108. Bulk blank
Option
Description

All media in list

To blank all media items in the Media that can be blanked list, select this check box.

Media that can be blanked

To blank specific media items, select the items in this list.

To select consecutive items, hold down the Shift key while clicking with the mouse button; to select non-consecutive items, hold down the Ctrl key while clicking with the mouse button.

Password

Type the password for the NetVault Server.

If no password is set for the NetVault Server, provide the system's root or administrator password.

Enter 'BLANK' to confirm request

To confirm, type BLANK (case-insensitive) in this box.

4
Click OK.
Blanking multiple tapes in a library in tree view
To blank multiple tapes in a library:
1
In the Navigation pane, click Manage Devices.
2
In the list of devices, locate and click the library in which the media items reside.
3
Click Bulk Blank.
4
In the Bulk Blank Media dialog box, configure the following parameters:
•
Select Media Items
•
Select Individual Media Items: In the media list, select the individual media items for blanking. To select consecutive items, hold down the Shift key while clicking with the mouse button; to select non-consecutive items, hold down the Ctrl key while clicking with the mouse button.
•
Select All Media Items: To blank all media items in the list, select the All Media in List check box.
•
Password: Enter the password for the NetVault Server.
•
Enter ‘BLANK’ to Confirm Request: To confirm bulk blanking, enter BLANK in the box. This string is case-insensitive.
5
Click OK.
 
* 
NOTE: This procedure cannot be used to blank an NetVault SmartDisk Device.
Blanking a single tape in list view
To blank a single tape:
1
To blank a tape from the Manage Devices page:
a
In the Navigation pane, click Manage Devices, and in the list of devices, click the icon to open the library that contains the tape.
b
If the tape is loaded in a drive, click the drive or the corresponding Manage Drive icon .
Otherwise, click the Slots link or the corresponding Manage Slots icon to open the Slot Browser. In the list of slots, select the slot that has the tape.
2
To blank a tape from the Explore Storage page:
a
In the Navigation pane, click Explore Storage.
b
Click Explore Tape Storage. In the list of media items, select the tape, and click Explore Media.
3
Click Blank, and then in the confirmation dialog box, click OK.
Blanking a single tape in tree view
To blank a single tape:
1
In the Navigation pane, click Manage Devices, click the slot that has the tape.
2
Click Blank, and then in the confirmation dialog box, click OK.

Scanning tape media

You can use the Scan method to query all backups stored on a tape and import those backups that are not indexed in the given NetVault Server’s database. You can also use the Scan method to import “foreign” tapes into the NetVault Database.

To import and restore NetVault Database backups to an alternate backup server, the alternate NetVault Server must have the same NetVault Machine Name as the original server that performed the backups. The amount of time it takes to scan the tapes depends on the number of backups that need to be imported and the size of the backup indexes. The scanning process does not read the data on the tape; this process skips between the start and end of backups to read the index for each backup saveset.

You can scan indexes that are generated with the same or previous versions of NetVault. You cannot scan indexes generated with a newer version of NetVault on an earlier version of the server if the servers do not use the same index version. If an index version is not supported, the index is not imported and a message is generated in the logs.

When a tape is swapped between libraries, removed from the NetVault Server, or loaded on a device that is controlled by a different NetVault Server, the NetVault Server is unable to find any information about that tape in the NetVault Database. In this case, the first scan retrieves header information from the tape and adds this information to the NetVault Database and then marks the tape as "foreign". NetVault cannot import backups stored on a “foreign” tape until you scan the tape again.

The following sections describe the procedures that you can use to scan tape media:

•
Scanning all tapes in a library in list view
•
Scanning all tapes in a library in tree view
•
Scanning a single tape in list view
•
Scanning a single tape in tree view
Scanning all tapes in a library in list view
To scan all tapes in a library:
1
In the Navigation pane, click Manage Devices.
2
In the list of devices, click the icon to locate the library, and then click the corresponding Manage Library icon .
3
On the Tape Library Management page, click Scan All. (If NetVault fails to start the process, click Force Scan.)
4
In the Scan Device dialog box, you can configure the following option:
•
Minimum life for imported backups: This option specifies the minimum life for backups that are imported to the NetVault Database. This option only applies to the backups that are not available in the NetVault Database.
The default value for this option is seven days. You can change the default setting by modifying the Media Manager settings. For more information, see Configuring general settings for Media Manager.
To change the minimum life setting for the current session, type or select a new value. The minimum life setting is specified in number of days.
Depending on the value set for this option, the retirement time for imported backups is modified as follows:
•
If a backup is already retired, its retirement time is set to the specified minimum life. If you specify zero, the retirement time for the retired saveset is set to one hour.
•
If a backup is scheduled to retire before the specified period, its retirement time is set to the specified minimum life.
•
If a backup is scheduled to retire after the specified period, its retirement time remains unchanged. For such backups, the backup life setting determines the retirement time.
Click Scan to start the scanning process and close the dialog box.
Scanning all tapes in a library in tree view
To scan all tapes in a library:
1
In the Navigation pane, click Manage Devices.
2
In the list of devices, locate and click the library.
3
Click Scan. (If NetVault fails to start the process, click Force Scan.)
4
In the confirmation dialog box, click OK.
Scanning a single tape in list view
To scan a single tape:
1
Use one of the following methods to select the tape that you want to scan:
•
To select a tape from the Manage Devices page:
a
In the Navigation pane, click Manage Devices, and in the list of devices, click the icon to open the library that contains the tape.
b
If the tape is loaded in a drive, click the drive or the corresponding Manage Drive icon .
Otherwise, click the Slots link or the corresponding Manage Slots icon to open the Slot Browser. In the list of slots, select the slot that has the tape.
•
To select a tape from the Explore Storage page:
a
In the Navigation pane, click Explore Storage.
b
Click Explore Tape Storage. In the list of media items, select the tape, and click Explore Media.
2
Click Scan.
3
In the Scan Device dialog box, you can configure the following option:
•
Minimum life for imported backups: This option specifies the minimum life for backups that are imported to the NetVault Database. This option only applies to the backups that are not available in the NetVault Database.
The default value for this option is seven days. You can change the default setting by modifying the Media Manager settings. For more information, see Configuring general settings for Media Manager.
To change the minimum life setting for the current session, type or select a new value. The minimum life setting is specified in number of days.
Depending on the value set for this option, the retirement time for imported backups is modified as follows:
•
If a backup is already retired, its retirement time is set to the specified minimum life. If you specify zero, the retirement time for the retired saveset is set to one hour.
•
If a backup is scheduled to retire before the specified period, its retirement time is set to the specified minimum life.
•
If a backup is scheduled to retire after the specified period, its retirement time remains unchanged. For such backups, the backup life setting determines the retirement time.
Click Scan to start the scanning process and close the dialog box.
Scanning a single tape in tree view
To scan a single tape:
1
In the Navigation pane, click Manage Devices.
2
In the list of devices, locate and click the slot that has the tape.
3
Click Scan. (If NetVault fails to start the process, click Force Scan.)

Marking a tape as unusable

If a piece of media is damaged or not suitable for use, you can mark it as “unusable” so that it is not selected for any job. You can set this property from the Explore Tape Media Item page. Once you mark the media as unusable, you need to assign a different media to tenant user groups.

To mark a tape as unusable:
1
In the Navigation pane, click Explore Storage.
2
Click Explore Tape Storage. In the list of media items, select the tape, and click Explore Media.
3
To mark the tape as unusable, click Mark Unusable.
4
To change this property, select the tape, and click Mark Usable.

Marking a tape as read-only

You can mark a tape as “read-only” to protect it from further writes. However, once the media is marked as read-only, new media must be assigned to tenants to store backups.

There are two ways to enable this property for a tape:

•
You can set the Protect Media from Further Writes after Backup option in the Target Set to enable write‑protection for a tape after the backup completes. For more information, see Configuring media sharing options.
•
Alternatively, you can set the read-only property from the Explore Tape Media Item page. The instructions are provided in this section.
To mark a tape as read-only:
1
In the Navigation pane, click Explore Storage.
2
Click Explore Tape Storage. In the list of media items, select the tape, and click Explore Media.
3
To mark the tape as read-only, click Mark Read Only.
4
To change this property, select the tape, and click Mark Writable.
 
* 
IMPORTANT: A piece of media can be marked as “read-only” to stop further writes if a SCSI error occurs during a write operation. When this error occurs, check for hardware errors. If no tape or media error is found, set the tape as “writable.”
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