Discussions related to exporting backups to tape and backing up directly to tape.
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perjonsson1960
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Tape cleaning

Post by perjonsson1960 »

Folks,

Our tape robot indicates that one of the drives has sent a "clean request", but Veeam has not reacted. Is the clean performed when the next tape job starts, or is it supposed to be performed immediately? The tape robot is configured to NOT do tape cleaning itself, and Veeam is configured to "perform tape cleaning automatically". And yes, there is a cleaning cassette in one of the slots... ;-)

We are running B&R 9.5 U4a and the tape robot is a HPE StoreEver MSL6480.

PJ
nitramd
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Re: Tape cleaning

Post by nitramd »

Hello Per.

In my experience, it is the tape library or drive that actually handles the clean request not the backup software.
perjonsson1960
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Re: Tape cleaning

Post by perjonsson1960 »

Hi,

Thanks for your reply! I just found this:

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... l?ver=95u4

It seems that Veeam waits for the next tape job.

PJ
Dima P.
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Re: Tape cleaning

Post by Dima P. » 1 person likes this post

Hello PJ,

When automated cleaning is enabled we will track the 'cleaning required' state from the tape device. Whenever 'cleaning required' state is received during tape job - it's going to be performed whenever any other tape job kicks in (no to interfere with actual backup process).
perjonsson1960
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Re: Tape cleaning

Post by perjonsson1960 »

Thanks! And this will be reflected in the logs?

PJ
Dima P.
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Re: Tape cleaning

Post by Dima P. » 1 person likes this post

Yup, you will get a warning in the tape job log that tape drive requires cleaning as well as log will indicate when cleaning has been performed. Cheers!
perjonsson1960
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Re: Tape cleaning

Post by perjonsson1960 »

I got this in the log as the tape job started:

2019-08-05 10:34:39 :: TapeDrive alert: The tape drive is due for routine cleaning:. Wait for the current operation to finish. Then use a cleaning cartridge. Check the tape drive user manual for device specific cleaning instructions.

That doesn't sound like it has done or will do an automatic cleaning... The job has loaded backup tapes into both drives, and has started to back up to tape. This will go on for at least 50 hours or so. This means that the job started the back up without cleaning the drive first, right?
lyapkost
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Re: Tape cleaning

Post by lyapkost »

Hi. That's standart drive alert (21 in the list) which sould be followed by cleaning operation if cleaning is enabled in the library's properties in VBR and there's a valid cleaning tape in the library's magazine. If both conditions were met but cleaning didn't start I'd recommend opening a support case.
perjonsson1960
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Re: Tape cleaning

Post by perjonsson1960 »

Although the only thing B&R ever logged in the tape job was...

"The tape drive is due for routine cleaning:. Wait for the current operation to finish. Then use a cleaning cartridge. Check the tape drive user manual for device specific cleaning instructions."

...it seems that it has actually performed the cleaning at some point, because when I log in to the tape robot, and look at the status, the cleaning cassette says "Use count: 2" (we have two drives), and the tape robot gives a green light on everything. Before the tape job started the robot indicated a warning about that one of the drives needed cleaning. So it seems that B&R did the cleaning, but didn't log it.

PJ
sasilik
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Re: Tape cleaning

Post by sasilik »

lyapkost wrote: Aug 05, 2019 9:53 am Hi. That's standart drive alert (21 in the list) which sould be followed by cleaning operation if cleaning is enabled in the library's properties in VBR and there's a valid cleaning tape in the library's magazine. If both conditions were met but cleaning didn't start I'd recommend opening a support case.
I got this morning notification from tape library that one drive needs cleaning. It was sent just after one tape job finished. But I did not see any notifications in VBR or any mention of it on tape job log files. Couple hours after notification from tape library I said to the library that "clean the drive". Should I have waited until the beginning of next job and then VBR would have cleaned the drive itself? I have cleaning enabled on VBR and not enabled on tape library hardware and cleaning tape was in the library's magazine.
Dima P.
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Re: Tape cleaning

Post by Dima P. »

I got this morning notification from tape library that one drive needs cleaning. It was sent just after one tape job finished. But I did not see any notifications in VBR or any mention of it on tape job log files.

If the email notification was create by Veeam tape job - there should be a job session with a warning in it. Pleas take a look at the History > Tape and check if you have any jobs with warning state?
Should I have waited until the beginning of next job and then VBR would have cleaned the drive itself?
Yes, manual cleaning is not required. The fist action of any tape job pointed to that drive will be drive cleaning. Cheers!
sasilik
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Re: Tape cleaning

Post by sasilik »

As I stated the notification was from tape library itself. At first I thought that it was Veeam and I went to look at History and tape job log files but I didn't see anything related to tape cleaning and there were no warnings. And then I took a closer look and saw that it was a notification from library itself. I let library do the cleaning itself this time but if same thing happens next time then I am going to wait for the next job to start and see if there is going to be cleaning process and information about it.
Dima P.
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Re: Tape cleaning

Post by Dima P. »

sasilik,

Can you please check if the tape cleaning is enabled in the library properties in Veeam B&R? When enabled - there is no need to perform cleaning in the tape library console. Cheers!
sasilik
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Re: Tape cleaning

Post by sasilik »

Tape cleaning is enabled in Veeam B&R.
Dima P.
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Re: Tape cleaning

Post by Dima P. »

Thank you for the confirmation. Please keep an eye on your tape jobs and once you notice the cleaning notification in the job log (it also should be included in the email report) and let us know how it goes. Cheers!
sasilik
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Re: Tape cleaning

Post by sasilik »

I had again cleaning notification from tape library and VEEAM did its cleaning job after a while. The statement - The fist action of any tape job pointed to that drive will be drive cleaning - was correct.
Dima P.
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Re: Tape cleaning

Post by Dima P. »

Hello Markko,

Thank you for updating this thread with the results. Glad to hear that it works as it should, cheers!
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