How to Mark a Tape as a Cleaning Tape

Applies To: System Center Data Protection Manager 2010

To clean a drive in a tape library using DPM, you specify which tape to use for cleaning, and then start the cleaning job. If the bar code on a tape starts with "CLN" (for example, bar code CLN0000812), DPM identifies the tape as a cleaning tape after a fast inventory.

However, if the cleaning tape does not have a bar code or the bar code does not start with "CLN", you must mark the tape as a cleaning tape and then run a detailed inventory. If you do not mark the tape as a cleaning tape before you run a detailed inventory, a cleaning job will start when DPM mounts this tape during the detailed inventory.

Follow the guidelines from the manufacturer of your tape device for cleaning frequency.

To mark a tape as a cleaning tape

  1. In DPM Administrator Console, click Management in the navigation bar.

  2. Click the Libraries tab.

  3. In the display pane, select the tape to be used for cleaning, and then in the Actions pane, click Mark as cleaning tape.

  4. Click Management on the navigation bar.

  5. On the Libraries tab, select a library.

  6. In the Actions pane, click Inventory.

  7. In the Inventory dialog box, select Detailed inventory, and then click Start.

To mark a tape as a cleaning tape using DPM Management Shell

  • Use the following syntax to mark a tape as a cleaning tape:

    Set-Tape [-Tape] <Media[]> -Cleaner [-PassThru] [-Verbose] [-Debug] [-ErrorAction <ActionPreference> ] [-ErrorVariable <String> ] [-OutVariable <String> ] [-OutBuffer <Int32> ]

    For more information, type "Get-Help Set-Tape -detailed" in DPM Management Shell.

    For technical information, type "Get-Help Set-Tape -full" in DPM Management Shell.

See Also

Tasks

How to Clean a Tape Drive
How to Inventory the Tape Library

Concepts

Managing Tapes