Problem

NetBackup status code 89: problems encountered during setup of shared memory

Solution
Message: problems encountered during setup of shared memory Explanation: The NetBackup processes use shared memory for some operations. This status is returned when an error is encountered in the initialization of the shared memory by the operating system's APIs. Recommended action: Check for a shared memory problem. This error can occur if the system cannot allocate enough shared memory. It usually occurs with multiplexing, which increases the amount of shared memory required for the operation. An entry similar to the following may be seen in a NetBackup log or report:
system cannot allocate enough shared memory

If you see this type of message, refer to your platform vendor documentation for instructions on how to increase shared memory on your system.For older levels of Solaris: you may need to change one or more default System V Shared Memory settings to prevent jobs failing with "system cannot allocate enough shared memory," as follows. - For Solaris 8, the default shminfo_shmmax value is 1 megabyte and for Solaris 9 the default shminfo_shmmax value is 8 megabytes. You can place the following line in your /etc/system file to increase this setting. A value of 32 megabytes has been used in this example. Your system may require a greater value under some circumstances such as a high value for the NetBackup multiplexing parameter. According to Sun Microsystems documentation, setting this parameter to its maximum possible value has no side effects. (This parameter is not applicable to Solaris 10).
set shmsys:shminfo_shmmax=33554432

- For Solaris 8 or 9, the default shminfo_shmmni value is 100. You can place the following line in your /etc/system file to increase this setting. The default value is usually sufficient for NetBackup. In some circumstances, such as installing a NetBackup media server on a large database server, this setting may need to be increased. A value of 220 has been used in this example. (This parameter is not applicable to Solaris 10).
set shmsys:shminfo_shmmni=220

- For Solaris 8, the default shminfo_shmseg value is 6. You can place the following line in your /etc/system file to increase this setting. The default value is usually sufficient for NetBackup. In some circumstances, such as installing a NetBackup media server on a large database server, this setting may need to be increased. A value of 10 has been used in this example. (This parameter is not applicable to Solaris 9 or 10).
set shmsys:shminfo_shmseg=10

- For Solaris 8, if your /etc/system file does set shmsys:shminfo_shmmin, then it must be less than or equal to 100 for NetBackup processes to run. (This parameter is not applicable to Solaris 9 or 10). Note: If you modify any of these values in the /etc/system file, you must reboot the system with boot -r for the new settings to take effect. Refer to your vendor documentation for detailed instructions on how to modify these values. Note that these shminfo parameters are not applicable to Solaris 10.

Problem
STATUS CODE 89: NetBackup could not allocate enough shared memory for backup buffer control on Solaris 10 media servers.

Solution
Overview: At times backups may exit with status code 89 reported on Solaris 10 media servers, even though ample memory is available on the system. This may even continue to occur after increasing the maximum size of the system V shared memory segment by modifying or adding the shminfo_shmax setting in the /etc/system file. Log files: The bptm log files will show will show errors similar to the following at verbose level 1 or higher:
19:25:43.316 [9018] <16> mpx_setup_shm: could not allocate enough shared memory for backup buffer control, No space left on device 19:25:43.316 [9018] <2> send_brm_msg: ERROR 89 19:25:43.324 [9018] <2> bptm: EXITING with status 89 <----------

Resolution: It is recommended that the amount of system resources such as available swap and memory are monitored prior to tuning. Any system tuning should be undertaken with the philosophy that parameters may need to be removed or modified in /etc/system which may require a reboot of the system. If tuning the shminfo_shmax setting does not resolve this issue, increasing the system wide limit on the number of shared memory segments that can be created (shminfo_shmni) may. Examples of this parameter in /etc/system would be as follows:
set shmsys:shminfo_shmmni=256

or:
set shmsys:shminfo_shmmni=512

Problem
STATUS CODE 89: Increasing shared memory does not prevent backups from failing with a NetBackup Status Code 89 (problems encountered during setup of shared memory).

Error
problems encountered during setup of shared memory

Solution
Overview: It is possible that increasing the shared memory kernel parameters based on the calculation in TechNote 183702 (see Related Documents below) will not prevent backup from failing with a NetBackup Status Code 89, especially when backing up a large number of windows clients using the backup selection directive ALL_LOCAL_DRIVES. If the amount of shared memory configured in the kernel is adequate based on the shared memory formula, then other possible sources of the status 89 will need to be investigated. Troubleshooting:

Reducing the value configured in the /usr/openv/netbackup/db/config/NUMBER_DATA_BUFFERS file may resolve the problem. Log files: N/A Resolution: The shared memory calculation in TechNote 183702 is used to determine the NetBackup media server recommended minimum kernel requirements. It is also used for every UNIX platform that has the option to set tunable kernel parameters (Solaris, Linux, HP-UX). In large environments that are growing, it does become obvious that the recommended minimum kernel parameters (the ones include in the installation guide along with shared memory requirements) are not sufficient and need to be increased. At that point NetBackup Support would be unable to offer the specific values to which the parameters should be increased.

The information from page 21 of the Veritas NetBackup 6.0 Backup Planning and Performance Tuning Guide for UNIX, Windows, and Linux should also be taken into consideration when determining how much shared memory a media server should allocate. "As a rule, the number of clients (separate physical hosts) per master server is not a critical factor for NetBackup. Ordinary backup processing performed by each client has little or no impact on the NetBackup server, unless, for instance, the clients all have database extensions or are trying to run ALL_LOCAL_DRIVES at the same time." In summary, Status Code 89 can occur if there is not adequate shared memory allocated in the kernel. That is not, however, the only possible cause of this error. Assuming the kernel has enough shared memory configured, it is necessary to look at the other possible causes of the Status 89. See the Related Documents section below.