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Inventory and Catalog in Backup Exec

What is an Inventory?
An Inventory is the process of mounting media in the drive and reading the media label, which is then displayed in the Devices view. If this is the first time that Backup Exec ™ has encountered this media, the media label is also added to the Media view.
Note: Each time new tape is introduced in the tape drive or robotic library, it must be inventoried so that the Backup Exec database gets updated with the new tape Information.
To Inventory a Tape/Robotic Library:
1. Insert the tape
2. Click the Devices tab
3. Select the correct tape drive/robotic library slot
4. Right-click on the tape drive/robotic library slot and select Inventory (Figure 1)
Figure 1

The inventory will complete and should display the correct tape name.
What is a Catalog?
When cataloging a tape, Backup Exec reads the header information from the tape and stores it in a file on the hard drive.
The information contained in the catalog includes, but is not limited to:
  • Tape number/label/name (something to identify that tape from all others)
  • Date and time of the backup
  • Type of backup
  • What directories/files were backed up
·
Inventorying All Drives When Backup Exec Services Start:
A default can be set so that all drives are inventoried whenever the Backup Exec services are started.
An inventory of all drives on startup is recommended if media is often moved between robotic libraries, but Backup Exec may take longer to start.
To have Backup Exec perform an inventory each time Backup Exec starts:
1. On the Tools menu, click Options
2. In the Properties pane, under Job Defaults, click Preferences
3. Click Inventory all drives on Backup Exec services startup (Figure 2)
Figure 2
 
To Catalog a tape:
1. Click on the tape drive/robotic library
2. Select the tape from the right pane
3. Right-click the tape and select Catalog (Figure 3)
Figure 3

This will add the directory structure of the data on the tape to the restore tree. An inventory and catalog must be performed on all tapes to be included in a search.
Note:  The process to inventory and catalog Backup-to-Disk (B2D) Files is similar to what is shown above, with the exception that these files use a virtual tape library on the designated source or target hard disk.
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