Veeam and Tape II - Moving a tape library with data from one VBR server to another

In part I of this series we have seen how to move a tape library with all data to another VBR server which has already data on it.

(See it either here on this site or at Veeam Community)

Veeam and Tape I: Moving a tape library with data from one VBR server to another | Veeam Community Resource Hubcommunity.veeam.com

The open question was, how do I get my tapes with data to the correct media pools without losing my data…

When you select to move a tape to a media pool the following message appears:

So, the tapes are marked free, and the data is lost when a tape is moved? A quick check of the helpcenter and the forums says exactly this… https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/vsphere/moving_tapes_to_custom_pool.html?ver=110

But is this correct?

Fortunately, it is not. The tape is marked free when it is moved, but the data on the tape is not lost. Its metadata is deleted from the Veeam database – and this can be recreated.

1. All the tapes from the new library are assigned to the pool “Imported”

   

2. Move the tapes to their corresponding media pools.

   

   

3. Now the tapes are assigned to the correct media pool but appear to be empty. Only the media set information is preserved

   

   On the tape are no files shown

   

4. Now you have to catalog all the tapes in this pool which are shown as empty

   

   It takes some time – depending on the number of tapes and the amount of data on them…

   

   During the catalog process the expire dates are determined for each tape…

   

5. After the catalog process has finished, all tapes in the media pool are shown correct with expiration dates.

   

   And the files contained on the tape are viewable in the list.

   

So, the explanation in the helpcenter is not complete. Tapes are marked as free when they are moved to another media pool, but the data persists and can be rediscovered by new cataloging of the moved tapes.

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