Recycle expired tapes to other pools

[bct44]

+1 for this request, it could be useful.

[Didi7]

Hi,

VBR seems to always take new tapes from the pool "free" even if there are expired tapes in the pool (let´s say pool A). This is okay so far, but if another pool (e.g. pool B) requests a tape, there are no free tapes left.
I would like to allow the expired tapes to be recycled from pool A to pool B.

How can I achieve this? If not possible I would have to try to calculate exactly how many tapes are necessary for each pool and cycle and assign them in advance.

Does anyone have an idea how to solve this?

Thanks in advance,
Helge

Your voice is heard

[Dima P.]

Already. We plan to provided an experimental registry key to enable the desired behavior with upcoming v12

[Didi7]

Excellent news since 2014

[matteu]

V12.....
The build we are waiting since 1 year soon !
I hope we can use it soon

[Didi7]

Launch event ...

https://go.veeam.com/v12

[mma]

https://go.veeam.com/v12

"Mobile phone*
this field is required."

No thanks.

[Mildur]

Hello

I had to answer a similar question in another topic. I wanted to share the registry key here too, just in case someone finds this topic:
veeam_backup_12_0_whats_new_wn.pdf - Page 29

Return expired tapes to free media pools — Create the TapeMarkExpiredMediaFree (DWORD, 1)
value to immediately return any expired tapes into the Free media pool. With this mode, tapes
will no longer be constantly assigned to the same media pool after it expires, which makes tape
management less predictable. However, this also allows you to maximize tape capacity usage
across all media pools

Best,
Fabian

[nunciate]

I inventoried my Expired tapes. I have about 30 or so tapes already expired. I applied the registry key and rebooted. The tapes are still showing expired.
I wonder if this only goes into effect on tapes that expire after the key is in place but doesn't affect any that have already expired.

Anyone know?

[nunciate]

Another thought on this. Is it possible it is only moving tapes to Free when you put them back in the library? My guess is that this is the case since you cannot move a tape to free unless it has a location slot number for the library.

Maybe someone at Veeam can provide some instructions on what to expect with the new functions?

[nunciate]

Well, I imported about 20 tapes that all show expired and they still show expired after the import so this clearly wasn't the issue.
I know this is just an experimental feature so hopefully, they can get it working in future updates.

[Didi7]

+1 for that

Long time due for integration into the GUI.

[Dima P.]

Hello Alan,

Well, I imported about 20 tapes that all show expired and they still show expired after the import so this clearly wasn't the issue.
I know this is just an experimental feature so hopefully, they can get it working in future updates.

Can you please raise a support case and share the case ID with us? Experimental or not - it should be working correctly and investigated if something goes wrong. Thank you!

[Dima P.]

Hello folks,

Short update here: the logic behind the key enables ability to reuse the expired tapes 'locked' by one media pool with another media pool but unless the tape is reused it's not reflected in the UI and the expired tape remains within the media pool. Aside from that it should work as expected.

[christian.naenny]

Currently, it's not possible to change this behaviour. Nevertheless, I believe that you can achieve what you're after with little PS scripting in place. The script will check the status of mediums in corresponding media pools, whether they are expired or not, and move the expired ones of free media pool.

I did exactly this in a fairly simple PowerShell script that is started every Monday morning. This script queries for the expired tapes and moves them to the Free pool.
If anyone wants this script, just let me know. I will gladly share it!
But I still would like the option for a Media pool to enable the automatic re-assignment of the expired tapes back to the Free pool!

Cheers
Christian

[Didi7]

Quote:
But I still would like the option for a Media pool to enable the automatic re-assignment of the expired tapes back to the Free pool!

Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss, long overdue 10 years later!

Btw, you are from Switzerland! Baar is a must visit! Maybe things speed up then!

[nunciate]

I use this PowerShell script every Monday. It removes any tapes expiring that week from Inventory. When I import those tapes back into the library they are in an unknown state so I can move them to free.
I keep track of all my tapes in a separate spreadsheet anyway so I know exactly what tapes to place in the csv file to be removed. The csv file is just a list of tape labels. No header or anything.

Code: Select all

Add-PSSnapin -Name VeeamPSSnapIn -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$tapes = Get-Content -Path "C:\Admin\Scripts\RemoveTapeMedia.csv"
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
foreach ($tape in $tapes)
{
  Write-Host $("Processing Tape {0}" -f $tape)
  Get-VBRTapeMedium -Name $tape | Remove-VBRTapeMedium
}