How to correctly decommission a NetBackup Media Server and remove it from the NetBackup environment

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Modification:
Before removing a media server from the NetBackup environment, several activities must be completed, or restores will require the import of tapes, which is a time consuming process.

These activities include:

• Determining which media need to be related with a new media server
• Updating the internal NetBackup database references to any tapes with active images that are moved to a new media server
• Removing the media server from the NetBackup environment
• Updating all references involving storage units, policies, and volume groups and pools
• Changing the configuration so NetBackup does not continue to recognize the old system as a valid media server

Perform the following steps to decommission a media server:

1. On the media server being decommissioned, determine which tapes have images that are not expired. This is done by running the bpmedialist command with the following options (Note: Use -l to get one line of output per tape):

    bpmedialist -mlist -l -h

2. Select another media server (or the master server, if it is also a media server) to inherit the tapes from the decommissioned media server.  Then the NetBackup internal databases (the mediaDB and the images database) need to be updated to reflect the new media server assignment. Since the mediaDB databases are binary, they can only be updated by the use of the bpmedia command. To update these databases, execute the bpmedia command with the following options for each tape identified in step 1:

    bpmedia -movedb -ev -oldserver -newserver

3. Move all tapes in all robots attached to the decommissioned media server to non-robotic status (standalone). This is done through the NetBackup Administrative Console.  Under Media and Device management, select Media.

 

Next, select the media to be moved, right-click on it, and select Move.

 

In the resulting dialog box, specify Standalone.

 

Multiple media can be selected using the or keys.

4. After moving all tapes in all robots associated with the decommissioned media server to standalone, use the Administrative Console to delete the tape drives and then the robots from the decommissioned media server

 

5. Once the tape drives and robots are deleted, delete all storage units associated with all robots on decommissioned media server through the Administrative Console

6. If any robots from the decommissioned media server are being moved to other media servers, power down the affected servers and make any cabling changes required, and physically attach the robots to the new media servers. Once the robots are recognized by the operating systems on the new media servers, add the robot and tape drives to those media servers through the Administrative Console.  Then, in the NetBackup Administrative Console, create the appropriate storage units. Next, physically load the tapes from the decommissioned media server into the correct robot. Finally, inventory all new robots, or robots with new tapes. This updates NetBackup with thew new location of all tapes in those robots.

7. Modify any policy that explicitly specifies any of the storage units on the decommissioned media server. These policies must point to any other defined storage unit in the NetBackup configuration or to Any Available, as appropriate.

8. Update the bp.conf and vm.conf files on the master server and all media servers (or the servers list on a Windows master or media server) in the NetBackup environment to remove any reference to the decommissioned media server. Also update the server list on all clients to no longer include a reference to the decommissioned media server. Cycle the NetBackup daemons/services on any system where these files are modified.