About the vmphyinv physical inventory utility
For the following robotic libraries, the NetBackup Administration Console reports only the presence of media:
More detailed information is required to perform automated media management. For such robots, use the vmphyinv physical inventory utility.
The vmphyinv physical inventory utility inventories non-barcoded tape libraries by performing the following actions:
Mounts each tape
Reads the tape header
Identifies the tape in each slot
Updates the NetBackup volume configuration
Use the vmphyinv -verbose option to display more information about the suggested changes. The -verbose option shows the number of drives available, the contents of each tape, if the media is a catalog tape. (The media format column of the summary contains NetBackup database for NetBackup catalog tapes.)
This verbose information is written to stderr. To save the information, redirect stderr to a file.
vmphyinv is a command-line utility. Additional information about the syntax of the vmphyinv command is available.
For more information, see the NetBackup Commands Reference Guide.
Table: vmphyinv features, requirements, restrictions, and when to use
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vmphyinv features
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The vmphyinv utility has the following features: Can be run from any master server, media server, or SAN media server. Can be used with barcoded tape libraries because it verifies the contents of the media. Recognizes the NetBackup tape formats. Supports the remote administration. You do not need to run vmphyinv from the host to which the drives are attached. Tries to use multiple drives in a robot even if the drives are attached to different hosts. Works with shared drives (NetBackup Shared Storage Option). Supports all supported SCSI-based robot types. Can be used to inventory a single media in a standalone drive. Use the -u option or the -n option to specify the drive; the drive must contain media and it must be ready.
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vmphyinv requirements and restrictions
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The vmphyinv utility has the following requirements and restrictions: It cannot distinguish between the volume records based on the application type. When you move the media from robotic drives to standalone drives, you cannot specify a new volume group for the media.
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When to use vmphyinv
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Use vmphyinv to update the EMM database for NetBackup in the following cases: You want to inventory a robot that does not have a barcode reader or that contains non-barcoded media. You insert new media into a robotic library and no NetBackup volume records correspond to the media. Use the slot range or list option of vmphyinv to perform the inventory operation. You do not need to add volume records to the EMM database. You insert some media that have unknown media IDs or globally unique identifiers (GUIDs) into a robot. For example, you insert 10 media from a different tape library in slots 11 to 20. You do not know the IDs on the tapes. Use the slot range or list option of vmphyinv to perform the inventory operation. The vmphyinv utility mounts the media, reads the tape header, determines the media ID, and adds media records to the EMM database. Some of the media are misplaced and the EMM database does not reflect the correct physical location of these media. Inventory the robot or inventory a subset of media in the robot by using options in vmphyinv.
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See How vmphyinv performs a physical inventory.
