How to replace tape drives in NetBackup without deleting the drive and re-adding the drive, or running the device configuration wizard.

Problem

How to replace tape drives in NetBackup without deleting the drive and re-adding the drive, or running the device configuration wizard.

Error Message

Missing Device (Drive)
Drive Path = MISSING_PATH

Cause

Generally, a tape drive has gone bad, it was replaced, the new device path is different, and NetBackup configuration still has the old path listed.

Solution

Replace the physical tape drive that is defective with a new / known good tape drive and update the path in NetBackup, as per the commands below.

1. Run the tpautoconf command to report discrepancies (-report_disc) between the detected devices and the NetBackup configuration.
    
   install_path\Veritas\volmgr\bin\tpautoconf -report_disc
======================= Missing Device (Drive) =======================
 Drive Name = HP.ULTRIUM7-SCSI.056
 Drive Path = MISSING_PATH:{0,2,2,0}:CZ29370C73
 Inquiry = "HP      Ultrium 7-SCSI  K4K1"
 Serial Number = CZ29370C73
 TLD(55) definition Drive = 1
 Hosts configured for this device:
 Host = media01
======================= New Device (Drive) =======================
 Inquiry = "HP      Ultrium 7-SCSI  K4K1"
 Serial Number = CZ20030K5J
 Drive Path = Tape0
 Found as TLD(55), Drive = 1

2. Run the scan -tape command to get the path:
    
   install_path\Veritas\Volmgr\bin>scan -tape
************************************************************
*********************** SDT_TAPE    ************************
************************************************************
Device Name  : "Tape0"
Passthru Name: "Tape0"
Volume Header: ""
Port: 0; Bus: 2; Target: 2; LUN: 0
Inquiry    : "HP      Ultrium 7-SCSI  K4K1"
Vendor ID  : "HP      "
Product ID : "Ultrium 7-SCSI  "
Product Rev: "K4K1"
Serial Number: "CZ20030K5J"
WWN          : ""
WWN Id Type  : 0
Device Identifier: "HP      Ultrium 7-SCSI  CZ20030K5J"
Device Type    : SDT_TAPE
NetBackup Drive Type: 3
Removable      : Yes
Device Supports: SCSI-6
Flags : 0x0

3. Use the path Port: 0; Bus: 2; Target: 2; LUN: 0 from the above output to run the command to replace the drive in the following way:
    
   install_path\Veritas\Volmgr\bin>tpautoconf -replace_drive HP.ULTRIUM7-SCSI.056 -path {0,2,2,0}
Found a matching device in global DB, HP.ULTRIUM7-SCSI.056 on host media01

Note: These example outputs are applicable for Windows media servers only.