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Tape not available


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Nice day, some tapes are not available in the scratch pool, although they are physically present in the library. He tried to move them to the library and did a full scan, but it didn't help. What can be done to make them available?

 

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Best answer by Laurent 17 May 2021, 14:21

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Userlevel 7
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@Wayn , thanks for the question!

I want to confirm, has someone has physically confirmed the tapes are in the library?  A full scan should definitely detect them if they are physically there (barring any other issues).

What kind of tape library is this?

If you put a tape into the slot, the library tells CV that the new barcode has been entered.  If it doesn’t show up in the CV gui, then that’s likely an issue where the library is not sending the OS an update mapping.

the guy screenshots here show me the tape is outside the library, so if you can confirm it is physically in the library AND you did a Full Scan, I would look at the library itself for errors.

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Thank you for your response. Yes, they are definitely in the library, I put them there myself. It's an IBM 3573. But they're not new, they've been used before. I chose to delete the contents and confirmed that they have to move to the scratch pool.

Userlevel 6
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If you navigate to the IBM 3573’s admin interface, are you able to see the tapes ?

Is the tape library not split from it’s hardware configuration, with like slots 0-10 to lib1 and slots 11-20 to lib2.. ?

Also look from the Storage Resources / Libraries / your tape library, the number of slots and configuration, to ensure that this matches the physical / logical configuration of your IBM library.

From there, check the Media by location / Media in library (make sure to show even empty slots). Does this match all of the above ?

 

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Hi @Wayn , following up to see if you have had a chance to review @Laurent ‘s advice.

Thanks!

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I logged in directly to the IBM library and launched the Inventory Library. Tapes are now available, even some others that weren't seen before. How is this possible, what causes it?

Userlevel 6
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Good news, at least :relaxed:

Well, this can come from many parts. 

I would suggest to check the configuration/settings from the physical library, then this library in Commvault, and then the properties/settings of the library in Commvault.

One good example would be that, like, any tape removal/change in the library is not reflected in the same library in Commvault, because the automatic inventory/rescan is not enabled.

I do manage multiple libraries worldwide, and sometimes tapes are swapped with other tapes (with different barcodes), but until I perform a Full Scan, or even a Reset Library of the device in the Commcell Console, I could notice that the library content is not updated in the Commcell Console. 

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Thanks @Laurent  🙂 We only have one library and we shoot several dozen tapes in it. Automatic inventory should be enabled. What specifically should I check? A full scan in Commcell didn't help here.

Userlevel 6
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Well, depending on your hardware, I can’t tell exactly. I have some Dell TL1000 libraries with LTO8 drives, and they are reported in Commvault as IBM3572..  

But from the webadmin interface of this Dell tape library, I can review its settings like this : 

Dell TL1000 physical/logical library settings (sample)

And this is what should also be reported by Commvault in the Storage Ressources/Libraries/your_tape_library from the Commcell Console.

Then also in the same part, check the Library Properties especially the 3 tabs :

And make sure they match your physical tape library configuration, and also how you expect it to behave.. 

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Here is our configuration.

 

Userlevel 6
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OK, from what I see, you have a FibreChannel dual port dual drive LTO8 tape library.

Is it directly attached to the HBAs of the server, or through a SAN switch ? 

Depending on the case, multipath can cause your TL to be seen differently from the server.

Commvault does not have direct drivers to manage system devices, so it only relies on the system drivers and setup inside the OS. Make sure it’s properly setup in the OS (especially using windows) and the MPIO/multipathing settings are also properly set.

Then I see that from the IBM management’s interface, the physical library is setup as one logical library. I’m not that used to IBM’s libraries. 

Maybe that logical configuration differs from the one detected by Commvault, especially as you have 5 reserved I/O slots from your 35 (or is it 5 from 40 = 35 free?).

Compare that configuration with the one you have in Commvault, from the Status tab, like this : 

Tape library / Properties / Status tab : Characteristics

 

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It is connected via a switch.

 

Here is the status:

Where can I find MPIO settings (Windows server 2019)?

Userlevel 6
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MPIO is a Feature to be added by your Windows Server administrator, through the Add Server Roles and Features Wizard, like this, after a few ‘next’ / ‘next’ clicks : 

MPIO feature

When this is added, this will require a restart.

After that you need to configure MPIO, calling it from the Start Menu / Search :

 

 

And then you’ll get the MPIO Properties window, where you’ll have to setup/activate MPIO on your device, according to your configuration and Vendor (IBM for this one).

Before that, if you go to your server’s Device Manager / Peripherals, you might see your tape drives doubled.. 

 

 

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@Laurent So I installed MPIO, but I don't know how to configure it.

Userlevel 6
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@Wayn Not that easy to answer without having access to the server and device.

But look at this article that explains such 

https://niktips.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/windows-mpio-with-ibm-storage/

Do you still have the same behaviour ?

Make sure your Commvault-configured tape library matches the same logical configuration (slots numbers / positions, and tape barcodes that are in each slot) that is defined and you will see in the IBM TS library overview. 

Make sure that empty slots are also shown.

Userlevel 7
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@Wayn , following up to see if you’ve been able to resolve this issue via @Laurent ‘s wise and sagely advice.

thanks!

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Unfortunately, it did not work. I do not have these dialogues in the system at all. I couldn't get IBM MPIO anywhere.

@Laurent 

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I’ll defer to @Laurent , though it is probably worth reaching out to the library vendor for further assistance.

Userlevel 6
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As suggested by @Mike Struening I unfortunately can’t assist further beeing offline so it would be better that you ask your vendor /supplier to review the physical configuration of the library, the MPIO setup of the MediaAgent it’s attached to, and then make sure it is reported to inside the Commvault library configuration.

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