Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of JosephGreenwald
JosephGreenwald

asked on

Backup exec 12.5-how to automatically reload tape and overwrite media?

I just purchased a new version of Backup Exec and I can't remember how to get the job to overwrite all media.  I have media that was from another backup software vendor, but Backup Exec doesn't seem to want to overwrite it.  I have the "Overwrite media" radio button selected in the job options under the "Device and Media", but it still tells me to insert overwritable media into the drive.

Also, when it gives an error message and ejects the tape, if I click Yes, No, Cancel, it will not automatically reload the tape.  I know this is possible with my LTO4 drive because my previous backup software (Yosemite) would do it.  This is pretty important because I can't always be there to pull the tape out and put it back in.
Avatar of L3370
L3370
Flag of United States of America image

Make sure the tapes are overwriteable per the settings of that tapes media set.  Lets say you have a media set named Daily. Right click on the set, select properties.

Change the overwrite protection period to the desired overwrite period--hours/days/weeks.  

As for the ejecting media, i'm not too familiar with your setup.  So may I suggest this?

Right click on the jobs you have and go to properties. Under the Device and Media section is "Eject media after job completes" checked?  could turning that off benefit you?
Avatar of JosephGreenwald
JosephGreenwald

ASKER

Therein lies the problem; this is a new media set to Backup Exec.  It is an existing media set to another software (Yosemite Backup), which has been uninstalled.  I have created a new media set with a 1 hour overwrite protection period, but I don't know how to import the existing media into that media set.

For ejecting the media; I don't have a problem with it ejecting, that is exactly what I want it to do so that I know the job is finished without logging in and checking it.  I want it to automatically reload the tape if I have to cancel the job and start it again when I am not onsite.  Or, if for some reason the tape doesn't get changed the following day, I would like it to pull the tape in from the previous day that is still in the drive, but it is ejected.  Yosemite pulled the tape back in automatically and ran the next day's backup.  I turned the "Eject media after job completes" on because I want it to do that.
ooooooh

Well then I'll politely exit myself from this question as I haven't a clue about Yosemite. :)

good luck.
My questions pertain to Backup Exec though, not Yosemite.  Yosemite was only mentioned because that is what the existing media set is part of.
Just leave the tape inside the drive, and when the backup runs -- it will overwrite the tapes and place them in the media set you specified in the job.  Also make sure you tell the job that it's ok to overwrite it.

The other way about is to catalog each of the tapes, by importing a foreign media set.
Sorry, you did do that.  Hmm let me think about this for a min.
Just to see if this is a media problem or the software problem. Let's see if it works if you format the tape prior to running the backup job.  Make sure you put the media in the scratch media so that backup will ignore any protection period.
Yeah I just did a quick erase so I'll see how it goes for tonights backup.
Were you able to find out what happened?
Not really.  It seems to be backing up data after I perform a quick erase on the tapes, but I keep getting a message asking me to remove the tape.  I read on the Symantec knowledgebase that this could be caused by a tape that does not have the auto-eject feature, but mine definitely does.  The strange thing is that the tape is already ejected partially like it normally does so that I can pull it out of the drive, so it is definitely working correctly.
I found a hotfix I'm going to try on their support site so we'll see how that works.

I still haven't figured out how to get the drive to pull the tape back in automatically after it is ejected though.
Unless it's an autoloader, it will not pull the tape back in.  

When you installed the tape, did you run the tapeinst located under "c:\program files\symantec\Backup Exec"?  This will install symantec drivers for the tape drive in your system.  This is the surest way that backupexec will use your tape drive appropiately.  They sometimes have updated drivers on their websites.

When it's asking for another tape it may be because your backup job is too large.  

A good rule of tumb is not to depend on the compress size that the tape drive support, use the uncompress number.  This means that if a tape says it will do 20/40gb.  Use 20GB for capacity planning.
It is not an autoloader, but again, it worked just as I want it to when I had Yosemite; the drive didn't change, just the software.

I did not run the tapeinst in that folder, but I selected to use Symantec drivers during the installation of Backup Exec.

It is not asking for another tape because the job is too large, I have plenty of space on the tape, it is simply displaying an alert that says "Please remove the media from the drive."
To get the tape to be overwritten by Backup Exec you need to label the media and add it to "scratch media", the job should then run and use the overwrite protection settings you have specified for the job.

Just ask on here if you need any help with either of those operations.
Any update?
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of JosephGreenwald
JosephGreenwald

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Great to hear, then you should either award the points or you could close the question.  All depends if you think any of the answers helped you.