Problem

NetBackup status code 97: requested media id is in use, cannot process request

Solution
Message: requested media id is in use, cannot process request Explanation: An operation was requested on a media ID that is in use. An example of this operation is the attempt to suspend or freeze a volume while it is in use for a backup or restore. Recommended action: Retry the command when the volume is not in use. Use the Device Monitor to determine if the volume is in use.

Problem
Using NetBackup 4.5 or later, how to re-use a NetBackup tape for Catalog backups (status code 97 is generated when configuring a catalog backup)

Error
Status Code: 97 requested media ID is in use, cannot process request

Solution
A tape which has been used by VERITAS NetBackup (tm) for client backups has a different status and label format than a tape which has been used for NetBackup catalog backups. It is for this reason that a NetBackup Client backup tape cannot be re-used for catalog backups without first altering the properties of the tape. That is, the tape must be expired, unassigned, and then relabeled. The following is a procedure for how these steps may be performed and/or verified.

1. Verify that no images exist on a specified NetBackup tape In order to verify that no images exist on a specified tape, the three NetBackup databases: Image, Media, and Volume databases need to be queried for entries associated with the tape. The following is an example using media ID QYG632.

i. To query the Image database, run the command:

# /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bpimmedia -l -mediaid QYG632

If this returns nothing then there are no images in the Image database associated with this tape. If it returns a list of backup IDs, then there are valid images for this tape and the decision must be made if these images may be expired so that the tape may be available for re-use.

ii. To query the Media database, run the command:

# /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bpmedialist -m QYG632

If the following message is returned:

requested media id was not found in NB media database and/or MM volume database

then the tape is not in current use by NetBackup and may be available for re-use. However, if it returns information similar to the following: Server Host = monkey ======================================================= id rl images allocated last updated density kbytes restores vimages expiration last read <------- STATUS -------> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------QYG632 1 4 05/08/2002 14:07 05/14/2002 12:38 dlt 12672 0 0 05/28/2002 12:38 05/17/2002 08:38 then it indicates there are images associated with this tape, and the decision must be made whether or not they may be expired.

iii. To query the Volume database, run the command:

# /usr/openv/volmgr/bin/vmquery -m QYG632

A typical output may be as follows: =========================================================

media ID: media type: barcode: description: volume pool: robot type: robot number: robot slot: robot host: volume group: created: assigned: last mounted: first mount: expiration date: number of mounts: QYG632 DLT cartridge tape (11) QYG632 Added by Media Manager NetBackup (1) TLD - Tape Library DLT (8) 0 1 monkey 00_000_TLD Thu Apr 25 15:17:24 2002 Mon May 27 12:00:57 2002 Mon May 27 10:53:14 2002 Thu May 02 09:33:15 2002 --22

max mounts allowed: status:

--0x0

================================================== This output shows the tape has an "assigned" time with status "0x0" which means that it is being used by NetBackup for client backups. A tape used for Catalog backup would show status "0x1." In the case of a client backup tape, it will become unassigned with no status when all the images on that tape have expired or if manual expiration of these images is carried out. An *Unassigned* tape is thus considered to be available for use. What we need to be careful about is that a previously used client backup tape that is available does not get selected for a catalog backup for reasons given in the first paragraph above. This can either be avoided by placing the tape for client backups in a volume pool other than the NetBackup pool (and in the case of Vault, a designated volume pool for catalog backups should have been created) OR to re-label the client backup tape as discussed below.

II. Expiring images on a specified NetBackup tape The outputs of (i), (ii), and (iii) above should be consistent in that if there are images in the image database, then the media on which these images are written should be listed in the media database and the media should show as being "assigned" in the volume database. If, by unfortunate chance, that this is not the case, it is highly likely that the NetBackup Catalog (databases) are out of sync and VERITAS Technical Services should be contacted immediately for further investigation. Assuming that all three outputs are consistent, the images on the tape need to be expired properly using the following command:
# /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bpexpdate -m QYG632 -d 0

If the execution of this command results in no error, then the tape can proceed to be re-labeled (see Section III). If an error message is encountered, then contact VERITAS Technical Services for further investigation. A successful execution of the command above should mean that: - there are no longer any images associated with media ID QYG632 when the Image database is queried - the Media database should display no information for media ID QYG632 when queried - the Volume database should show QYG632 as being unassigned

III. Labeling the tape The last step will be to label the tape by running the following command:

# /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bplabel -m QYG632 -d DLT -o -p NetBackup

Media ID QYG632 will now be ready for configuration as a NetBackup Catalog Backup tape.