Virtual TapeServer 6.04.02 Operations and Administration Guide
92 | Using Scan/Cleanup
Also, if the meta_control_panel parameter is set to YES, the Meta Data Control Panel is
displayed at the bottom of the page. This control panel enables you to read and write
metadata. Metadata is stored with the virtual tape but is not part of the data itself. Metadata
is used by VTS to retain an audit trail of information, including the following:
• Tape label information, such as the volume label
• When the virtual tape was created, written to, updated, mounted, unmounted, or erased
• If and when the virtual tape was exported, imported, migrated, or restored
• How long the virtual tape has been retained
Note It is highly recommended that you do not write metadata unless instructed to do so by
Support.
To use the metadata control panel, complete these steps:
1. Select a virtual tape from the Cartridge Name drop-down list.
2. Specify whether to read or write metadata from the virtual tape by selecting an option
from the Direction drop-down list.
3. From the Meta Data Option drop-down list, select the metadata to read or write.
4. If you are reading data, leave the Meta Data Date field blank. If you are writing data,
enter a time or date in the field. Enter the date in the following format: DDMonYY (for
example, 22Dec06). Enter the time using the 24-hour clock, such as 15:39 for 3:39PM.
5. Click the VTMeta button. If you are reading data, a date is displayed in the Meta Data
Date field. If you are writing data, the operation and specified time or date is written to
the virtual tape.
Viewing Scan/Cleanup log files
While the Scan/Cleanup is running, a log file is created in /usr/local/tape/log. The file is
named erasebylist.date.log, such as erasebylist.12Mar06.log. The format of the
information written to the file is as follows:
02Mar05 14:41:factory:erase-by-list
Wed, 02 Mar 2005 14:41:25 -0800
/VAULT00/BILL/Q00001 erased
/VAULT00/BILL/Q00002 erased
/VAULT00/BILL/Q00003 erased
Total Freed: 0
Total Erased: 3
Total Errors: 0
If the freed space is negative, a virtual tape that had no metadata associated with it was
erased and the metadata was added. Thus, the virtual tape disk file size actually increased
slightly. Typically, you would erase a virtual tape that was never written or erased.
The log files are created as needed on a daily basis and are relatively small.