Troubleshooting

Common Questions

This section lists common questions you may have while installing and using the LibMON software. Use this section as a guide to resolve problems encountered while operating LibMON. For a listing of error messages and possible solutions, see Error Messages.



I cannot communicate with the tape library.

First, verify power is applied to the tape library and the library is powered on. The LEDs on the front panel of each drive should also be on. See your drive product manual for a explanation of the front panel LEDs.

Most SCSI bus communication problems are due to cabling or termination problems. Verify that each of the connectors on all SCSI cables are fully engaged. Ensure that all busses are properly terminated.



How do I determine the device name for my medium changer?

The medium changer is the robot inside your tape library. When LibMON is installed, the LibMON pass-through driver is loaded and a symbolic link to the medium changer pass-through driver is created. When a single tape library is attached to the server, the medium changer device name is usually /dev/passthru0.



How do I determine the device names for my tape drives?

The server tape drive device files are created automatically when the server boots. The server uses the entry in /usr/kernel/st.conf to build the device files.

You must also verify that the st.conf file contains the proper entries for the tape drives. Refer to the Sun StorEdge Tape Library Installation Guide that came with your library (Part No. 805-0210-xx/805-1040-xx) for more information about the st.conf file.


Note - If you change the st.conf file, you must reboot the server for the changes to take effect. The Sun StorEdge Tape Library Installation Guide that came with your library (Part No. 805-0210-xx/805-1040-xx) describes the proper way to shut down and reboot the server.

Use the SCAN-DEVICES utility (included on the LibMON CD-ROM) to determine the medium changer and tape drive device names.


Note - Be sure the device names you use are consistent with those used by your backup software. For example, if your backup software uses /dev/rmt/0cbn, you should use the same device name for LibMON.


My storage software is reporting an I/O error when accessing a tape in a tape drive.

It is important that the tape drive device name in the Library Property Book agrees exactly with the device name used by the storage software. If necessary, open the Library Property Book and change the tape drive device names. Click Apply to complete the library update operation.



I cannot determine the SCSI bus device addresses.

LibMON does not require that you enter the SCSI bus device addresses for a library. However, knowing the SCSI address for each tape drive may help you in identifying the correct device name to use for each library when multiple tape libraries are attached to a single server.

For example, the default factory settings for a Sun StorEdge L1800 are as follows:

Device
SCSI ID
Tape Library
0
Top Tape Drive
2
Second Tape Drive
3
Third Tape Drive
4
Bottom Tape Drive
5


You can verify the settings from the front control panel of the Sun StorEdge tape library. Refer to the Sun StorEdge Tape Library Installation Guide that came with your library (Part No. 805-0210-xx/805-1040-xx) for more details.


Note - If you change the SCSI address of any device, you must cycle power to the library and reboot the server for the change to take effect. Refer to the Sun StorEdge Tape Library Installation Guide that came with your library (Part No. 805-0210-xx/805-1040-xx) for more details about the proper way to shut down and reboot the server.


I received an error message Device Name File: /dev/passthru1 does not exist when creating a -library.

When the server boots, it automatically creates device files for all tape libraries attached to the server. The files are located in /dev. For example, if you have one tape library attached to the server, verify /dev/passthru0 is present. The device name for a second library would be /dev/passthru1. Each tape library will have a separate device name.

You must reboot the server to create the device files if they don't exist. Refer to the Sun StorEdge Tape Library Installation Guide that came with your library (Part No. 805-0210-xx/805-1040-xx) for more information about the proper way to shut down and reboot the server.



I cannot log in to the system.

Your system administrator can provide you with a password. LibMON does not directly control user passwords. Passwords are handled by the HTTP server. LibMON must run with an NCSA compatible HTTP server, such as the Apache server. Refer to the HTTP server documentation.



I cannot modify the configuration.

There are two user types in LibMON: Guest and Admin. Guest users are prevented from creating, deleting, or modifying any of the LibMON settings. Admin users, usually system administrators, can create, delete or modify any LibMON setting.

Contact your system administrator to modify the configuration or to receive Admin status.



My client browser does not work.

Verify that you are using a supported browser.

Make sure that the environment variable CLASSPATH is not set before starting your browser. To unset this environment variable for Solaris, execute the following command from the shell where the browser application is started:

% unsetenv CLASSPATH



Note - If you used the Client Install method to access LibMON, make sure the CLASSPATH variable refers to the SUNWlmon.jar file only.

When running LibMON as a client from a Web browser, the following preferences are suggested:



Verify that the server, where the HTTP server software and LibMON are installed, is network-reachable from your machine. In Solaris, you can use the ping command to verify this. For example, to ping the machine named harvest, use the following command:

% ping harvest


If the machine is reachable, the ping command will reply with the output:



% harvest is alive


I am not receiving email notification of library events.

You will need to check two LibMON pages:

  1. Select the library on the LibMON Home Page.

  2. On the Selected menu, click Properties.

    The Library Property Book Page opens.

  3. In the Actions section, make sure the Email option is set to On.

  4. In the Contact section, verify that your name is listed as the contact for the library, and that your email address is entered correctly.

If any of the contact information is incorrect, you need to correct it on the Contact List Page:

  1. Return to the LibMON Home Page.

  2. On the LibMON Home menu, click Contact List.

    LibMON opens the Contact List Page.

  3. Correct the necessary contact information.



What do I do when I receive an email notification?

  1. Log into LibMON as an admin user.

    If the tape library is in an unavailable state (indicated by a red background for the tape library), there will be a red or yellow alert icon in the Event table in the LibMON Home Page.

  2. Select the event on the LibMON Home Page, and then open the Selected menu and click Properties.

    LibMON opens the Event Property Book Page.

  3. Follow the instructions in the recovery message section to solve the problem.



The tape library on the Physical View Page of LibMON appears empty.

The tape library may have become unavailable. Check your event log to verify that the tape library is online and operating normally.



I am unable to select any option on a LibMON page.

Verify that there is not a dialog box hidden behind another window. LibMON dialog boxes are modal, so if a dialog is displayed, none of the operations in the parent window are selectable.



Events, libraries, or contacts are not maintained in the LibMON databases between LibMON client sessions.

Verify that the LibMON databases have the correct ownership and read/write privileges. The default LibMON installation places the LibMON databases in the
/var/opt/SUNWlmon directory. The top level directories are named db and log. The root user must have read/write access to these databases. If the ownership or permissions are incorrect, they should be changed to root ownership and read/write permissions. To do this, execute the following commands:

chown -R root /var/opt/SUNWlmon/db
chown -R root /var/opt/SUNWlmon/log
chmod -R 775 /var/opt/SUNWlmon/db
chmod -R 775 /var/opt/SUNWlmon/log


The .jar file I downloaded using the client installation instructions does not run and appears to be corrupt.

Verify that the .jar file you downloaded, SUNWlmon.jar, is the same size as the original .jar file on the server (/opt/Apache/apache_1.2.5/htdocs/LibMON/standard/SUNWlmon.jar).

If the file sizes do not match, your HTTP server is probably not using the correct mime type setting for .jar files. The correct setting is mime_type=application/octet-stream. Consult your web server administrator to find out how to change this setting.



The LibMON pkgadd command did not complete successfully.

If the following message was received during LibMON installation:

Adding `pt' driver ...
drvconfig: System call `modctl_modconfig' failed: No such device or address
Warning: Driver (pt) configuration failed. System could not install driver.
pkgadd: ERROR: postinstall script did not complete successfully


Verify that the tape library is attached to the server, powered on, and configured correctly according to your tape library installation guide. Then, use pkgrm to remove the LibMON package and re-install LibMON.

For other types of errors, take action based on the message that is output during the LibMON pkgadd process. Then, use pkgrm to remove the LibMON package and re-install LibMON.


Note - If LibMON pkgadd fails for any reason, always perform a pkgrm to remove the LibMON package, and then re-install the package using the pkgadd facility once the problem has been fixed.


LibMON exits with the message Cannot open -database /var/opt/SUNWlmon/db or /var/opt/SUNWlmon/log.

LibMON must be started by the root user. Verify that you are executing the START-LibMON script as the root user. Also, verify that the LibMON databases exist and are owned by the root user.



LibMON exits with the message Exception creating server socket: java.net.SocketException: Address already in use.

Verify that LibMON is not already running. If LibMON is not running, the problem may be that another application is running at the default ports used by LibMON. See To Change the LibMON Port Assignment for a description of how to change the default LibMON port assignment.



When I navigate to the LibMON Home Page, nothing is displayed on the screen.

If the network is very busy or the network connection is very slow, there may be a considerable delay before the LibMON Home Page is displayed.



The Apache HTTP server exits with the message httpd: could not open transfer log file /opt/Apache/apache_1.2.5/logs/access_log. open: -Permission denied.

The Apache HTTP server is configured to be run by the root user. If you are running it as someone other than the root user, verify that all files are owned by you. You also need to edit the httpd.conf file in the /opt/Apache/apache_1.2.5/conf directory and change the value of Port 80 to a number that is greater than 2000. The URL must indicate the port number that the HTTP server is monitoring. For example, if the value in httpd.conf is Port 3500 and the server name is harvest, use the following URL to open the LibMON Home Page:

http://harvest:3500/LibMON


The Create Library Property Book window is too large for the screen.

This problem may occur on Windows systems using a screen resolution of 800x600. Try changing the screen resolution to 1024x768.



I am already running a web server. Can I still run LibMON using the Apache HTTP server?

Yes. When already running a web server, the simplest way to run LibMON is to use the Apache HTTP server (which is already configured for LibMON), but to run the Apache HTTP server at a port other than the default HTTP port (80).

  1. Open the /opt/Apache/apache_1.2.5/conf/httpd.conf file.

  2. Change the Port value to a unused port value other than 80 (for example, 3500).

  3. Save and close the httpd.conf file.

  4. As root, start the Apache HTTP server:

    # /opt/Apache/apache_1.2.5/START-Apache




When accessing the LibMON Start Page, you will need to indicate the port number to which the Apache HTTP server is listening. Use the following URL to open the LibMON Start Page:

http://hostname:portvalue/LibMON


where:



For example, if the value in the httpd.conf file is 3500 and the server name is harvest, you would use the following URL:

http://harvest:3500/LibMON


Error Messages

Server Error Messages

The following table lists error messages you may see when starting the server.

TABLE 15 Server Error Messages
Error Message
Probable Cause/Suggested Action
Cannot open database database path
The database or event log permissions are not correct. Make sure that the permissions are set to read/write. See Events, libraries, or contacts are not maintained in the LibMON databases between LibMON client sessions..

The database directory does not exist. See To Change the Database and Log Directories.
Error getting license: license error
There has been an error checking out a license for this product. Either you do not have a valid license or there is some other licensing problem.

The server is already running.
Exception creating server socket
The LibMON server had a problem creating the server socket.
Make sure that the server socket does not conflict with another application that is running on the server host.
See To Change the LibMON Port Assignment.


LibMON Error Messages

The following table lists error messages that appear in the LibMON GUI.

TABLE 16 LibMON GUI Error Messages
Error Message
Description/Suggested Action
A medium changer device name is required for library creation.
You must provide a medium changer name to create a library.
At least one attribute must be assigned to the display.
In the Display Attributes dialog, you must select at least one attribute to be displayed.
  1. Select one of the attributes in the Hide Attributes list.

  2. Select the Add button to add the attribute to the Show Attributes list.

  3. Select OK to save your changes.

At least one attribute must be assigned to the sort order.
In the Sort Order dialog box, you must select at least one attribute to be the primary sort.
  1. Select one of the attributes in the Available Attributes list.

  2. Select the Add button to add the attribute to the Sort Order list.

  3. Select OK to save your changes.

At least one event must be selected from the list of events to perform a delete operation.
  1. Select the event you want to delete.

  2. On the Selected menu, click Delete.

Cannot create contact contact name for the following reason: The server is in an unknown state. If this problem persists please restart the server.
The server has reached an unknown state. Retry the last operation performed. If the message persists, restart the LibMON server.
Cannot create library library name for the following reason: The server is in an unknown state. If this problem persists please restart the server.
The server has reached an unknown state. Retry the last operation performed. If the message persists, restart the LibMON server.
Cannot delete contact contact name, it is no longer in the database
This contact has been deleted from the database and therefore cannot be deleted.
Return to the Contact List Page to view the current list of contacts.
Cannot delete library library name, it is no longer in the database.
This library has already been deleted from the database and therefore cannot be deleted.
Return to the LibMON Home Page to view the current list of libraries.
Cannot parse library poll interval value
The poll interval value set in the START-LibMON script is invalid. See To Change the LibMON Poll Interval.
Cannot service library, it no longer exists in the database.
The library you are attempting to service no longer exists in the database. Reload the LibMON Home Page and select a valid library.
Cannot update contact contact name, it is no longer in the database
This contact has been deleted from the database and therefore cannot be updated.
Return to the Contact List Page to view the current list of contacts.
Cannot update library library name, it is no longer in the database.
This library has already been deleted from the database and therefore cannot be updated.
Return to the LibMON Home Page to view the current list of libraries.
Could not find file: filename.
The command description file is not in the predefined user command directory. This file should be in the /opt/SUNWlmon/command
/user
directory.
Could not start the applet name applet.
Exit the browser and restart the LibMON Home Page and navigate to the applet that failed. If the problem persists the LibMON installation may be corrupted or you may be running the wrong version of the browser.
Data transport names must be unique.
The data transport names provided for the medium changer must be unique.
If the library is connected to multiple hosts, see Using Duplicate Entries.
Duplicate command title: command title.
The command title is the value for the keyword TITLE in one of the command user description files. Each TITLE value must be unique. Change the value for TITLE and restart the server or refresh the user command from the GUI.
Duplicate device name: device name(s)
No duplicate devices name are allowed. If your library is connected to multiple hosts, see Using Duplicate Entries.
Error building user command.
An error occurred while building the user defined commands. Refer to the event log for a more detailed description of the problem.
Error getting scsi information for medium changer device medium changer name - SCSI error code
There was an error collecting SCSI information for the named medium changer device. Make sure the library is connected and on line.
Installed client version (clientVersion) does not match server version (serverVersion), go back to LibMON Start Page and perform Client Installation again.
The version of the client software you are running does not match the version of the LibMON server to which you are trying to connect. Update your client software via the Client Installation instructions on the LibMON Start Page.
IO exception parsing file: filename.
An IO exception occurred while parsing this file. Make sure the file has the correct read/write permissions.
Medium changer device medium changer name not supported - Product Variant product id NOT supported
The medium changer is not supported by the LibMON server. Make sure your library is supported.
Medium changer device name device name already exists in the database.
The medium changer device name already exist in the database. Duplicate device names are not allowed.
Medium changer device name file medium changer name does not exist.
The supplied medium changer name does not exist on the LibMON server host.
The name must be a valid medium changer name.
Medium changer device name file medium changer name is a directory.
The supplied medium changer name is a directory on the LibMON server host.
The name must be a valid medium changer name.
Missing command name in file: filename.
The named description file is missing the keyword NAME which names the executable or script to be started. In the description file, the command name should be on the line directly below the NAME keyword.
Mode select setting failed, try again.
Occasionally the mode select setting fails because the library is performing another operation. Try the operation again.
Request timed out.
The current request has timed out. Retry the operation.
Security exception accessing firmware directory.
The directory containing the firmware files cannot be accessed. Make sure the directory permissions are set correctly.
Serial command did not complete: serial command, check serial cables, cycle power on library and retry command.
The serial command failed to complete. Check serial cables, cycle power to the library and retry the command.
Serial Command Failed: error text, closing device
The serial command failed. Check serial cables, cycle power to the library and retry the command.
Serial Command Failed: serial command, invalid firmware download file download file. Check for valid file. Retry command.
Make sure that the firmware download file is of the correct type and has not been corrupted. Retry the command.
Serial command timed out.
The serial command timed out.
  • Check serial cables
  • Make sure the port is valid and has proper permissions set
  • Make sure the library is in a valid state
  • Retry the command If the problem persists, cycle power to the library and retry the command.
Serial model definition not available for library library name
Serial service is not available for this library. See Using the Service Features for a list of libraries that support serial service.
Serial port not specified for library library name
A serial port is not specified for the library. To specify a serial port:
  1. Select the library on the LibMON Home Page.

  2. On the Selected menu, click Properties.

  3. On the Library Property Book Page, enter the correct serial port in the Serial Port field.

Server firmware directory does not exist.
The directory where the firmware files reside does not exist. For details on where to place firmware files, see To Download New Firmware to the Library.
The database entry for library library name is corrupted. Please re-create library
The library data in the data base is corrupted. Delete and re-create the library. See To Delete a Library and To Create a New Library.
The following devices are not supported: list of devices
The devices listed are not supported by the LibMON server.
The server is in an unknown state. If this problem persists please restart the server.
The server has reached an unknown state. Retry the last operation performed. If the message persists, please restart the LibMON server.
The threshold value must be a value greater than or equal to the selected log sense parameters current value prior to turning on email or user defined actions
You have selected an invalid threshold value. The threshold value must be numeric, and must be greater than or equal to the current value for the selected parameter.
This library is currently executing serial command serial command, retry after command completes.
The library is currently busy executing a serial command. Please wait for the command to finish and retry the command.
To create a new contact, you must enter data in at least one of the contact fields and then select the OK button.
In the Create Contact Property Book dialog box:
  1. Type information into at least one of the fields.

  2. Click OK.

Unable to close serial port serial port.
The serial port could not be closed. Make sure the port is valid and has proper permissions set.
Unable to open serial port serial port, cannot execute serial command.
The serial port cannot be opened. Make sure the port is valid and has proper permissions set.
You must enter a full path name for the firmware file when this option is selected.
You have not entered the full path for the firmware file in the Firmware Download File Selection dialog box.
If you know the full path for the firmware file:
  1. Select the check box next to Full Path.

  2. Type the full path for the firmware file.

  3. Click OK.

  4. If you do not know the full path for the firmware file:

  5. Select the check box next to Known Files.

  6. Select a firmware file from the Known Files list.

  7. Click OK.