NetBackup NDMP tape backup failing with maximum number of NDMP processes (36) forked
Applies to
- ONTAP 9
- NDMP tape backup
- NetBackup tape device configuration
Issue
- NetBackup NDMP backup to tape fails with:
ERROR: maximum number of NDMP processes (36) forked. Cannot accept connection from IP address
- When NDMP sessions are monitored during a period of no backup activity, new NDMP sessions are observed being created every few minutes
- There are no backup jobs associated with the new NDMP sessions
- The new NDMP sessions are being requested by an IP address associated with the Veritas NetBackup server
Note: The maximum number of NDMP processes...
message can have various causes outside the specific scenario described by this article
If the three symptoms described above are not also present, and the ndmp debug log does not contain the messages in the Solution section, please refer to this article for more general info about "maximum number of NDMP processes" messages