Importing is the process by which you move media that are outside a library into storage slots within the library. There are two ways of importing media:
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You can import media through the library’s mail slot (if available)
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You can open the library door and manually insert media into storage slots in the library
Note
Ensure that the barcode used in the media is compatible with the library’s barcode reader; see the library manufacturers documentation for a list of compatible label formats.
Import Media Through the Library Mail Slot
Importing media through a mail slot offers an advantage - the inventory update that is triggered by a mail slot import is much less time-consuming than the full inventory operation that is triggered when you open and then close the library door.
You can use one of the following methods to import media using the library mail slot:
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To manually import media , use the Import command from the CommCell Browser. (See Import Media - Getting Started for step-by-step instructions.)
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To automatically move the media from the mail slot to a storage slot in the library, disable the Prevent Auto Import of Media from mail slot option. (See Library Properties (Advanced) tab for more information.)
Once the media is available in the storage slot, the MediaAgent software must discover the media in order to use the media in the library. This is done automatically if the Enable Auto-Discover option for the library is enabled. (See Enable or Disable Automatic Media Discovery for instructions.) This will automatically move the media to the default scratch pool or an appropriate scratch pool based on the bar code patterns, if bar code patterns are defined. (See Managing Media in a Library for details.)
If the Enable Auto-Discover option for the library is not enabled, the media will be displayed (with a '?' icon) in the Media in Library pool in the CommCell Browser. You must subsequently discover the media, in order to use the media in the library. (See Discover Media from the CommCell Console and Discover a Specific Media Within a Library for step-by-step instructions.
See Also: Discover Media
Directly Insert Media by Opening the Library Door
Under certain circumstances you may want to open the library door even though a mail slot is available. For example, if you want to add many media to a library at once, it may be faster to open the door than to use the mail slot.
Once again, the media will be automatically discovered, if the Enable Auto-Discover option for the library is enabled. (See Enable or Disable Automatic Media Discovery for instructions.)
If this option is disabled, the media will be displayed (with a '?' icon) in the Media in Library pool in the CommCell Browser. You must subsequently discover the media, in order to use the media in the library. (See Discover Media from the CommCell Console and Discover a Specific Media Within a Library for step-by-step instructions.
Note
If you are not using a mail slot, be careful not to open the library door while media is mounted in drives within the library. In some library models opening the door causes the library to unmount all media, even those that are in active use. This can cause database inconsistency and failure of the running job(s).
In some libraries, inserting media and closing the mail slots may trigger a full inventory operation, rather than an inventory update.
Other Considerations
When a media is imported, the system assigns it in one of the following ways:
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If it is a media associated with the CommCell, which was previously exported, it will be assigned to the scratch pool or a storage policy copy to which it was assigned before it was exported.
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If the media is a new media the system assigns it to the scratch pool that you select (manual discovery) or to the default scratch pool (automatic discovery). (For additional information, see Discover Media.)
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When a previously discovered spare media is moved between libraries, if the media matches the media type of the default scratch pool in the new library, then it is assigned to the default scratch pool. Otherwise, it is assigned to any user-defined scratch pool of matching media type. If there is no scratch pool of matching media type, then the media is assigned to the default scratch pool.
By default, the MediaAgent retains the container and export location associated with the Media. These associations are viewable from the Media Properties - General tab. If necessary, you can enable a global option in the library from the Library Properties -Media tab, to automatically remove these associations when the media is brought back in to the library.
Related Topics
Import Cleaning Media
When you import a cleaning media, the system automatically assigns it to the cleaning media pool. For comprehensive information on cleaning media, see Cleaning Media.