Restoring Old Tapes

Hello and thanks for this great question.

You are correct, Cataloging the tape will create a new Index with which you can use to browse and restore.

Please feel free to read more about the tape cataloging process in the below documentation link:
https://documentation.commvault.com/2022e/expert/11992_cataloging_tape.html

Hi ODUrasler, 

The  "Unable to find/get index in the cache.." error indicates that most likely we aren’t able to rebuild the index. 

Was the backup you’re attempting to restore from already visible from the Commcell Console? Technically, catalog operations are used when a backup job is not available in the CommServe database. The catalog operation on a tape creates an index that you can view to select the jobs to merge into the CommServe database to then Browse/Restore.

When attempting a Browse/Restore, we are able to identify what tapes are required for both the index and the data itself. To confirm, perform another Browse/Restore from the backup and select the following dialog box options: List Media > select ‘List media containing index required for browse’ radio button (Link: Listing Media That Are Required for a Restore; disregard the iDataAgent being PostgreSQL as the steps are still applicable when performing the Browse/Restore regardless of iDA)

Another window should pop out and output the required tapes in order for the index reconstruction to take place. Are all of these listed tapes available in the library?

hi Jon! yes, the backup I’m trying to restore is from a few years ago, and I do see it from the “Backup History” within the commcell. I’ll try the “list media” route.

yes, all tapes are in the library.

Hi ODUrasler,

Thanks for the response, understood. A catalog operation in this context won’t be required as the Commserve does in fact have this backup being recorded in it’s database.

Lets see if all tapes are inserted in the library to reconstruct the index and we’ll go from there (if further log analysis is required).