Set timeout value when Veeam can't access tape

[MikeGar]

Hello,

Every once and awhile, we get a timeout error in Veeam saying it couldn't access the tape.

Is there a way to set a timeout value in Veeam where if it can't read/access the tape, it stops trying? Say after 30 minutes?

Because right now it keeps trying to access the tape for 3 days which prevents subsequent backups from starting the day(s) after.

Thanks.
Mike

[Dima P.]

Hello Mike,

What Veeam B&R are you using? Do you have the exact wording of the error you got? Thanks.

[MikeGar]

We are using Backup & Replication 8.0.0.2084

The exact wording is:
Error: Timed out waiting for tape

It's not much to go on, but that's all it says.

Thanks for any help.

[Dima P.]

Michael,

Thanks. Please get in touch with our support team - they should have a special regkey to change the default timeout for version 8.

[rreed]

What's the timeout for v9? We used up our last available tape after hours on Friday so it was still patiently waiting for tapes this morning but would like to know if we have more time not to panic and scream down to the data center w/ tapes in hand. Also, can we change it if we don't like the default?

[Dima P.]

Job awaits for a tape to be inserted for 72 hours. Registry should work for v9, will follow up once I find it

[veremin]

WaitForValidTapeTimeoutMin DWORD. Thanks.

[rreed]

Cool, thanks! That's on the backup server, correct? And to confirm, say 4 days, would be 5760 minutes? And do I need to bounce anything for the change to take affect?

[rreed]

While we're at it, how long will multiple jobs wait while other jobs run? Case in point, say I have around 24 or so tape jobs. Some of them can take a day or two to run, so that puts the last ones scheduled waiting for a good week or so. Not for tapes, but for other jobs to finish. Will they just sit there and wait patiently for their turn or will they eventually time out?

[Dima P.]

That's on the backup server, correct? And to confirm, say 4 days, would be 5760 minutes? And do I need to bounce anything for the change to take affect?

On the backup server and you may need to restart the tape service to make it work (complete reboot is better). 4 days = 5760 minutes, yes

Will they just sit there and wait patiently for their turn or will they eventually time out?

If all drives are busy jobs should await for the drive to be unlocked. I doubt that there is a configurable time out.

[Dima P.]

P.S. I was right - there is no regkey for that.

[rreed]

Very good, as long as jobs will just sit and wait indefinitely for other jobs to finish, that's fine. Many thanks, as always.

[smarechal]

Hello,

Is there any option top set a timeout for waiting tape job?

Thanks a lot

[Shestakov]

Hello Siegfried,
Could you elaborate on the case? What kind of waiting are we talking about?
Thanks!

[smarechal]

Yes, sorry.
I've got a chained job, VM to disk, and Disk to tape.
When i forget to change the tape, i would like the disk to tape job to stop automatically after x hours.
Is it possible?

Thank you.

[veremin]

In order to achieve what you're after, kindly, leverage a registry key mentioned above. Thanks.

[smarechal]

Thank you!

[veremin]

You're welcome. Feel free to ask for additional help, if needed. Thanks.

[Poweruser]

So setting WaitForValidTapeTimeoutMin DWORD to decimal 120 makes the tape job wait for 2 hours?
You should always provide Registry snippets for doing cut & paste to a reg file or at least set all default values to the registry... (if deleted in registry, they should be still inside the code, but it would be some skeleton "config" style to edit in registry..

[hwelvaar]

What's the exact registry location to set this DWORD WaitForValidTapeTimeoutMin key ?

This one:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Veeam\Veeam Backup and Replication ??

[veremin]

Correct. Thanks!