LTO cleaning tapes don't actually "expire" in the traditional sense - they exhaust their cleaning capacity. Each cleaning cycle consumes a portion of the tape's abrasive surface. When the tape can no longer effectively clean drives (typically after 15-50 cycles), the system marks it as expired.

The Quantum i6000 library provides several ways to check cleaning tape status:

# CLI command to list tape status
librarycmd -list_media | grep "Cleaning"

# Expected output format:
# Cleaning Tape 123456 [Available Cleans: 15/50, Status: Active]
# Cleaning Tape 789012 [Available Cleans: 0/50, Status: Expired]

While NetBackup stores available cleans in the mount count field, we can create a more reliable query:

# SQL query for NetBackup catalog
SELECT media_id, media_type, mount_count AS available_cleans
FROM media
WHERE media_type = 'LTO Cleaning'
ORDER BY mount_count ASC;

# PowerShell alternative
Get-NBUMedia -MediaType "LTO Cleaning" | 
Select-Object MediaID, @{Name="AvailableCleans";Expression={$_.MountCount}} |
Where-Object {$_.AvailableCleans -lt 5} | Format-Table

Here's a Python script that combines both library and backup system checks:

import subprocess
import sqlite3

def check_quantum_cleaning_tapes():
    cmd = "librarycmd -list_media | grep 'Cleaning'"
    output = subprocess.check_output(cmd, shell=True).decode()
    return [line for line in output.split('\n') if line]

def check_netbackup_cleaning_tapes(db_path):
    conn = sqlite3.connect(db_path)
    cursor = conn.cursor()
    cursor.execute('''
        SELECT media_id, mount_count 
        FROM media 
        WHERE media_type = "LTO Cleaning"
    ''')
    return cursor.fetchall()

def main():
    quantum_tapes = check_quantum_cleaning_tapes()
    netbackup_tapes = check_netbackup_cleaning_tapes('/path/to/netbackup/db')
    
    print("Quantum Library Cleaning Tapes:")
    for tape in quantum_tapes:
        print(tape)
    
    print("\nNetBackup Cleaning Tapes:")
    for media_id, cleans in netbackup_tapes:
        print(f"{media_id}: {cleans} cleans remaining")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

• Monitor cleaning frequency - excessive cleaning indicates drive issues
• Implement automated alerts when cleans drop below threshold (recommended: 10)
• Consider tape-specific properties - some models have different capacity
• Log cleaning operations to identify patterns

LTO cleaning tapes have a finite lifespan typically rated for 50 cleaning cycles, but real-world expiration can vary based on:

Tape drive contamination levels (dirtier drives consume more cleaning surface per cycle)
Manufacturing tolerances in the cleaning media
Environmental factors affecting tape substrate



Veritas NetBackup repurposes the "number of times mounted" field to track remaining cleans, initialized at 50. Here's how to query it via CLI:
# List all cleaning tapes with remaining cycles
tpconfig -l -cleaning_tape | grep "Mount Count"

# Sample output:
# CLEANING001  Mount Count: 32
# CLEANING002  Mount Count: 15 (EXPIRED)

The Quantum i6000's REST API provides direct access to tape health metrics. Example Python script to check cleaning status:
import requests
from requests.auth import HTTPBasicAuth

quantum_host = "https://i6000-ip"
auth = HTTPBasicAuth('admin', 'password')

def get_tape_status(barcode):
    endpoint = f"{quantum_host}/api/v1/media/{barcode}"
    response = requests.get(endpoint, auth=auth)
    return response.json()

cleaning_tape = get_tape_status("CLEANING001")
print(f"Remaining cleans: {50 - cleaning_tape['mountCount']}")
print(f"Expired: {'Yes' if cleaning_tape['expired'] else 'No'}")

Combine both systems for comprehensive monitoring. This PowerShell script polls both sources:
# NetBackup query
$nbCleans = & "C:\Program Files\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\tpconfig.exe" -l -cleaning_tape

# Quantum API call
$quantumResult = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "$quantumHost/api/v1/media/CLEANING001" 
    -Method Get -Credential $credential

# Cross-validation logic
if (($nbCleans -lt 5) -or ($quantumResult.expired -eq $true)) {
    Send-MailMessage -To "tape-admin@domain.com" 
        -Subject "Cleaning Tape Replacement Required" 
        -Body "Tape CLEANING001 has expired (NB counts: $nbCleans)"
}

When cleaning tapes expire before 50 cycles:

Check drive error logs for contamination warnings
Inspect physical tape for substrate damage
Validate robotic picker alignment

# Quantum drive error log check
GET /api/v1/drives/errors?severity=warning


Rotate multiple cleaning tapes to distribute wear
Implement threshold alerts at 20% remaining
Log cleaning cycles vs drive performance metrics