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Veritas NetBackup™ Appliance Decommissioning and Reconfiguration Guide

Last Published: 2025-10-09

Product(s): Appliances (5.1.1)

Platform: NetBackup Appliance OS

Decommissioning a NetBackup 52xx or 53xx media server appliance

When you decommission a 52xx or 53xx media server appliance it means all of the backup images that are stored on the disk are lost. You can use Factory Reset command to decommission and reset a NetBackup appliance media server.

Note:

Factory reset does not remove an appliance from the NetBackup domain. Before performing a factory reset, ensure that the media server is fully decommissioned within NetBackup. It is recommended that you decommission the media server using the nbdecommission command. You can also follow the manual process to decommission the media server.

Note:

If the NetBackup 53xx media server appliance is a node in a high availability (HA) configuration, you need to remove the node from the HA configuration first and perform the following procedure to decommission it.

For more information on how to remove a node from an HA configuration, refer to NetBackup Appliance Commands Reference Guide.

To decommission a media server using the nbdecommission utility

This is the preferred method for decommissioning a media server. Run the following command:
```
nbdecommission -oldserver <old_server> -newserver 
<new_server>
```
For more details on this command, refer to the NetBackup Commands Reference Guide for the installed version.

Manually decommissioning and removing a media server from a NetBackup configuration involves several steps. Note the following before you do this procedure.

If devices connected to the media server hold NetBackup media, move that media to a new media server.
If the media is no longer usable or valid, remove it from the NetBackup configuration.
If you do not decommission and remove the media server using the manual procedure, and a subsequent restore requires media associated with the old server, you have to import that media, which takes a longer time than if you used the procedure.
If the server is configured for MSDP (Media Server Deduplication Pool), refer to the KB article 100004810, which provides steps to remove the related configuration.
All commands referenced in the manual procedure can be found in the following directories:
- UNIX/Linux: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd
- Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd
To discover references to the media server to be decommissioned, you can run the following command on the primary server:
```
nbdecommission -list_ref -oldserver <old_server>
```
You can also save this output as a text file.

To manually decommission a 52xx or 53xx media server

Determine which tapes on the old server contain NetBackup images that have not expired using the bpmedialist command, where the -l option produces one line of output per tape:
```
bpmedialist -mlist -l -h <old_server>
```
Use the NetBackup Administration Console to move the tapes in the robots that are attached to old server to a non-robotic status (standalone).
- Select each robot that is attached to the old server.
- Select all of the tapes and move them to standalone by selecting Actions > Move.

Choose another server or the primary server to manage the tapes from the decommissioned server. Logically move the media from the old server to the new server by running the following command:

bpmedia -movedb -allvolumes -oldserver <old_server> 
-newserver <new_server>

Note:

This command updates the NetBackup image database and replaces the media server entry in the header files of all backups from the old server with the new server entry.

Example of an image header file before you run the bpmedia command:

# FRAG: c# f# K rem mt den fn id/path host bs off md dwo f_flags 
f_unused1 exp mpx rl chkpt rsm_nbr seq_no media_subtype keep_date 
copy_date i_unused1
FRAGMENT 1 1 890 0 0 0 0 C:\backup\windows_client_1320927029_C1_F1 
windowsmaster 262144 0 0 -1 0 windowsmaster 1322136629 0 65537 
0 0 0 1 0 1320927040 0
BACKUP_ID windows_client_1320927029

Note:

The images reside in C:\backup. Move the images to the same location on the new media server to restore the backups. The operating system must be identical to maintain path accessibility.

Run the following command:

bpmedia -movedb -allvolumes -oldserver windowsmaster -newserver 
linuxmedia

The header file now looks like this:

# FRAG: c# f# K rem mt den fn id/path host bs off md dwo f_flags 
f_unused1 exp mpx rl chkpt rsm_nbr seq_no media_subtype keep_date 
copy_date i_unused1
FRAGMENT 1 1 890 0 0 0 0 C:\backup\windows_client_1320927029_C1_F1 
linuxmedia 262144 0 0 -1 0 windowsmaster 1322136629 0 65537 
0 0 0 1 0 1320927040 0
BACKUP_ID windows_client_1320927029

Run tpconfig or vmoprcmd command to ensure that no entries for the old media server remain.
Use the Administration Console to configure NetBackup so that restore requests are directed to the new server. In the General Server host properties of the primary server, add a Media Host Override entry that specifies the old server for the Original backup server and the new server as the Restore server.
Use the NetBackup Administration Console to delete the following in the given order:
- All storage units that use the robots that are associated with the old server.
- Drives from the old server.
- Robots from the old server.
If NetBackup is already removed from the media server, deleting devices from the GUI can trigger an error stating that the volume manager daemon on that server is not running. In such a scenario, run the following command from the primary (EMM) server:
```
nbemmcmd -deletealldevices -machinename <old_server> -machinetype media
```
Modify any policies that specify the storage units on the old server. Change the policies to point to any other defined storage units in the NetBackup configuration or to any available storage units.
Use the NetBackup Administration Console to remove any reference to the decommissioned media server in the Servers host properties of the primary server, all media servers, and all clients.
Restart the NetBackup daemons or services on any system that was updated.
To remove reference to the media server from EMM, run the following command:
```
nbemmcmd -deletehost -machinename <old_server> -machinetype media
```
Verify that all references have been removed by running the following command:
```
nbemmcmd -listhosts
```
Remove any files having the same name as the old server in the remote_versions directory:
- UNIX/Linux: /opt/openv/netbackup/remote_versions/
- Windows: *install_path\NetBackup\Remote_Versions*
If any robots from the old server are reused on other media servers, perform the following actions:
- Shut down the affected servers and disconnect the robots from the old servers. Connect the robots to the new media servers. Verify that the operating systems on the new media servers recognize the robots.
- Use the NetBackup Device Configuration Wizard to add the robots and drives to the media servers.
- Use the NetBackup Administration Console to create the appropriate NetBackup storage units.
- Use the NetBackup Administration Console to inventory the robots that are attached to the new server. The inventory updates the location of all tapes in these robots.

Note:

This procedure is also applicable to a SAN media server. A SAN media server is the same as a media server except it only backs up itself and does not backup remote clients.

After the appliance media server is decommissioned within the NetBackup domain, reset the appliance back to a factory state using the factory reset command.

To decommission a 52xx or 53xx media server appliance

Open an SSH session on the media server appliance.
Log on as admin.
Run the following command and follow any additional prompts to reset the appliance to factory default settings.
Main_Menu > Support > FactoryReset

To decommission a non-appliance media server, you must log in to the NetBackup Appliance Shell Menu from a primary appliance. Use the procedure below to decommission a non-appliance media server.

To decommission a non-appliance media server

Open an SSH session to the primary appliance.
Log on as admin.
Enter the following command to remove media server and move the ownership of the tape library:
Main_Menu > Appliance > Remove MediaServer TargetMediaServer
The variable MediaServer is the host name of the non-appliance media server that you want to decommission. And TargetMediaServer is the host name of the media server that you have selected to receive the media. The TargetMediaServer media server can be an appliance or non-appliance media server.
You can specify NONE for the TargetMediaServer variable if you do not need to move the media. If you specify NONE for the TargetMediaServer variable, then all of the backup images on the media that are attached to the media server are lost.
Enter Yes, to confirm that you want to remove this media server.
Note:
If the media server that you are about to decommission has a deduplication pool storage unit configured, you must manually expire the images on that storage unit before you attempt to remove the media server.
If you designated a valid media server in the TargetMediaServer variable, enter the following command on each of the appliances to shut them down after a successful decommission of the appliance
Main_Menu > Support > Shutdown
You must cable the tape library to the target media server.
Run the following command to turn on the media server.
Main_Menu > Support > Reboot
Enter the following command to configure the tape library to a media server that is defined in the TargetMediaServer variable.
Main_Menu > Manage > Libraries > Configure MediaServer
Note:
If you want to use a media server that is not an appliance media server, then you must use the NetBackup Administration Console to configure the tape library to that media server.
Where MediaServer is the media server that you connected to the tape library and need to configure.
From the decommissioned media server, run the following command and follow any additional prompts to reset the appliance to factory default settings.
Main_Menu > Support > FactoryReset
Once you have completed the factory reset process and finished decommissioning the media server, you can configure it to serve any role that you choose. If you configure it as a primary server, then you can use the Main_Menu > Settings > NetBackup AdditionalServers Add command to add a media appliance.