This post is to provide the general trouble shooting steps for one DELL EMC Networker Common Error, the Error Message is:

No matching devices; check storage nodes, devices or pools

This error message usually appears in both Networker client and server daemon.raw logs. The good side to see this error is the client can communicate with server.

The error is related with the backup client could not find a matching backup device to write the backup data. Let’s use an example as below to explain the trouble shooting steps:

• Client “winprod001” is in group “WindowsProd”, and the backed target is media pool “DDPool1”
• There are two devices in media pool “DDPOOL1” with name “DDD001” and “DDD002”, mounted on storage node “SN001.test.com”
• Backup group “WindowsProd” is mapped with a backup work flow “WF-WindowsProd”
• The backup action in backup work flow “WF-WindowsProd” is named with “Backup”

Step 1: Check the devices (“DDD001” and “DDD002” in this example)

• Make sure they are enabled and mounted.

Step 2: Check the storage node (“SN001.test.com” in this example)

• Make sure the storage node is enabled and in “READY” status; and
• Make sure both devices “DDD001” and “DDD002” is write enabled

Step 3: Check the media pools (“DDPool1” in this example)

• Make sure the devices “DDD001” and “DDD002” are included in the media pool; and
• Make sure pool restrictions on “DDPool1” includes the right group “WindowsProd”, client “winprod001” and saveset type. (Or the pool restriction text box is all empty, which means allowing the backup from all clients)

Step 4: Check the client setting (“winprod001” in this example)

• Check the setting on client properties, in Globals (2 of 2) tab -> Storage Nodes attribute, specify the host-name of the proper storage node (“SN001.test.com”).

Step 5: Check the backup action (“Backup” in this example)

• Check the client override setting in backup action properties -> Backup Options:
  • If the client override behavior setting is “Client Can Override”, ignore this step; and
  • If the client override behavior setting is “Client Cannot Override”, update the “destination storage nodes” in “Data Movement” section on this page with the right storage node name “SN001.test.com”.

It is important to note that, even for the client initiated backup, the step 5 is still required to be checked to ensure the proper storage node setup.