Any way to see what data is on a given backup tape?

[dan.jordan]

Am I correct that there is no way to see what backup data is on a particular tape in a tape set?  I would like to mark as "missing" a couple tapes at the end of the backup set (though they aren't really missing), but I don't know where the last backup ends that I want to keep on the tape set.  

 

Dan J

[jotrago]

If your objective is to keep one or more specific backups on a tape set, and remove the others, then a different approach is needed.

Create a new backup set, Then TRANSFER the backups you want to keep.

Then delete or recycle the original backup set and tapes

[dan.jordan]

If your objective is to keep one or more specific backups on a tape set, and remove the others, then a different approach is needed.

Create a new backup set, Then TRANSFER the backups you want to keep.

Then delete or recycle the original backup set and tapes

We inadvertently appended a backup to those tapes that should have gone to a different backup set.  The tapes it used to do that I wanted to free up again, but can't tell which tape the incorrect job started on.  No quick, easy way to tell, evidently.  Thanks.

[Lennart_T]

We inadvertently appended a backup to those tapes that should have gone to a different backup set.  The tapes it used to do that I wanted to free up again, but can't tell which tape the incorrect job started on.  No quick, easy way to tell, evidently.  Thanks.

 

Do you know when this backup ran? And for how long?

Then check the creation dates on the member tapes. Those tapes that were first used/created within this time frame are the ones you are looking for, EXCEPT THE LAST ONE. The last tape contains both the unwanted backup followed by the wanted backups. The other tapes can be marked as "lost" and then erased.

[jotrago]

You cannot delete stuff you DONT want out of a tape backup set. Grooming ONLY works on Disk Backup Sets

But you CAN transfer stuff you DO want.

You don't need to know where any of the backups are.

If you setup a transfer job to a new Backupset for the Snapshot(s) that you DO want to keep, Retrospect will ask for the required tapes.

Once complete you can recycle the old backup set tapes, which will delete the unwanted data.

Ideally this works if you have 2 tape drives, or you would need sufficient space on a Disk Backup Set to recover the wanted backups, and then transfer them again back to tape.

[Lennart_T]

  No quick, easy way to tell, evidently.  

 

 

You cannot delete stuff you DONT want out of a tape backup set. Grooming ONLY works on Disk Backup Sets

But you CAN transfer stuff you DO want.

You don't need to know where any of the backups are.

If you setup a transfer job to a new Backupset for the Snapshot(s) that you DO want to keep, Retrospect will ask for the required tapes.

Once complete you can recycle the old backup set tapes, which will delete the unwanted data.

Ideally this works if you have 2 tape drives, or you would need sufficient space on a Disk Backup Set to recover the wanted backups, and then transfer them again back to tape.

 

I would not call that method "quick" and "easy".

If there were many tapes and each tape cost a lot of money it might be worth the trouble.

[jotrago]

This is true, but there it is.

[dan.jordan]

Thanks, guys.  Now to my next challenge:  to find out why I'm still marked here as a "newbie" even though we've been using Retrospect since the days it was an EMC product...

[Lennart_T]

Thanks, guys.  Now to my next challenge:  to find out why I'm still marked here as a "newbie" even though we've been using Retrospect since the days it was an EMC product...

 

You are a "newbie" in the forum, judged by the number of posts.