3. Policy configuration. Symantec NetBackup 7.5

Chapter

3

Policy configuration

This chapter includes the following topics:

■

Notes on Snapshot Client policies

■

Configuring a Snapshot Client policy

■

Backup Selections tab options when configuring a policy

■

Off-host backup configuration options

■

Automatic snapshot selection

■

Selecting the snapshot method

■

Configuring backup scripts

■

About using alternate client backup

■

Configuring alternate client backup

■

Policy configuration tips

■

About disabling snapshots

Notes on Snapshot Client policies

Before you configure a Snapshot Client policy, note the following.

■ NetBackup Enterprise and the Snapshot Client add-on product must be installed on master server(s) and clients.

■ For the NetBackup Media Server and Third-Party Copy Device off-host backup methods, a Fibre Channel network or multi-ported SCSI disk array must be configured.

56 Policy configuration

Configuring a Snapshot Client policy

■ Storage devices must be configured (you can use the Device Configuration

Wizard).

■ Encryption and compression are supported, but are applied only to the backup copy that is written to a storage unit. The snapshot itself is neither compressed nor encrypted.

■ FlashBackup policies do not support encryption or compression.

■ BLIB with Snapshot Client (Perform block level incremental backups option on the policy Attributes tab): BLIB is supported with NetBackup for Oracle,

NetBackup for DB2, and with VMware.

If you choose the Perform block level incremental backups option on the policy Attributes tab, the other features of Snapshot Client are grayed out.

Configuring a Snapshot Client policy

The following procedure describes only the options pertaining to a Snapshot

Client policy. The Policy Configuration Wizard also available to create Snapshot

Client policies for on-host or off-host snapshots, for VMware and Hyper-V virtual machine backups, and for NDMP host backups.

Policy configuration

Configuring a Snapshot Client policy

57

To configure a Snapshot Client policy

1 Start the NetBackup Administration Console as follows:

On UNIX, enter:

/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/jnbSA &

On Windows, click Start > Programs > Symantec NetBackup > NetBackup

Administration Console.

2 Click Policies and select the policy to edit.

3 Select the policy type:

■ For VMware virtual machines, select FlashBackup-Windows VMware or

MS-Windows. For Hyper-V, select FlashBackup-Windows or Hyper-V.

Refer to the appropriate NetBackup guide for your virtual environment.

■ If client data is in a database, select the database type (DB2, Oracle,

MS-Exchange-Server, MS-SQL-Server, or SAP).

NetBackup 7.1 supports off-host backup of Oracle database in the SFRAC

(Storage Foundation Real Application Clusters) environment. For more details, refer to the Symantec NetBackup for Oracle System Administrator’s

Guide.

58 Policy configuration

Configuring a Snapshot Client policy

■ To use FlashBackup, select FlashBackup for UNIX clients or

FlashBackup-Windows for Windows clients.

Note: FlashBackup-Windows supports the backup and restore of NTFS files that are compressed.

The files are backed up and restored as compressed files (they are not uncompressed).

■ For all other cases, select Standard for UNIX clients and MS-Windows for Windows clients.

4 Make sure Perform snapshot backups is selected.

You can either select Perform snapshot backups or Bare Metal Restore. To perform snapshot backups, make sure that the Bare Metal Restore check box is disabled.

Note: For Perform block level incremental backups, note that this option works with NetBackup for VMware, NetBackup Oracle, or NetBackup DB2 database agent software. See the appropriate NetBackup guide.

5 Optional: select the snapshot method manually.

See

“Selecting the snapshot method”

on page 64.

Skip this step if you want NetBackup to select the snapshot method.

See

“Automatic snapshot selection”

on page 63.

6 To create a backup that enables Instant Recovery, select the Retain snapshots

for instant recovery attribute.

This attribute is required for block-level restore, file promotion, and rollback.

See

“Instant Recovery restore features”

on page 266.

Help for creating a policy for instant recovery backups is available.

See

“Configuring a policy for Instant Recovery”

on page 107.

7 To reduce the processing load on the client, select Perform off-host backup.

See

“Off-host backup configuration options ”

on page 60.

8 To save these settings, click Apply.

Policy configuration

Backup Selections tab options when configuring a policy

59

9 To define a schedule, use the Schedules tab, and to specify the clients, use the Clients tab .

Regarding clients: only one snapshot method can be configured per policy.

To select one snapshot method for clients a, b, and c, and a different method for clients d, e, and f: create a separate policy for each group of clients and select one method per policy. You may be able to avoid this restriction using the auto method.

10 To specify the files to be backed up, use the Backup Selections tab .

See

“Backup Selections tab options when configuring a policy”

on page 59.

11 On the Policy Attributes tab: if you click Apply or OK, a validation process checks the policy and reports any errors. If you click Close, no validation is performed.

Backup Selections tab options when configuring a policy

Note the following about the options on the Backup Selections tab:

■ Snapshot Client policies do not support the ALL_LOCAL_DRIVES entry in the

Backup Selections list (except for the VMware and Hyper-V snapshot methods).

■ For snapshots, the maximum pathname length is approximately 1000 characters (as opposed to 1023 characters for backups that do not use a snapshot method).

See

“Maximum pathname length”

on page 80.

The NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume I, describes other file-path rules.

■ Wildcards are permitted if the wildcard does not correspond to a mount point or a mount point does not follow the wildcard in the path.

For example, in the path /a/b , if /a is a mounted file system or volume, and

/a/b designates a subdirectory in that file system: the entry

/a/b/*.pdf

causes

NetBackup to make a snapshot of the

/a file system and to back up all pdf files in the

/a/b directory. But, with an entry of

/* or

/*/b

, the backup may fail or have unpredictable results, because the wildcard corresponds to the mount point

/a

. Do not use a wildcard to represent all or part of a mount point.

In another example,

/a is a mounted file system which contains another mounted file system at

/a/b/c

(where c designates a second mount point). A

Backup Selections entry of /a/*/c may fail or have unpredictable results, because a mount point follows the wildcard in the path.

Information is available on the Cross mount points policy attribute.

60 Policy configuration

Off-host backup configuration options

See

“Snapshot tips”

on page 80.

■ For a raw partition backup of a UNIX client, specify the /rdsk path, not the

/dsk path. You can specify the disk partition (except on AIX) or a VxVM volume.

Examples:

On Solaris: /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s1

/dev/vx/rdsk/volgrp1/vol1

On HP: /dev/rdsk/c1t0d0

/dev/vx/rdsk/volgrp1/vol1

On AIX and Linux:

On Linux:

/dev/vx/rdsk/volgrp1/vol1

/dev/sdc1

On AIX clients, backing up a native disk partition is not supported. A raw partition backup must specify a VxVM volume, such as

/dev/vx/rdsk/volgrp1/vol1 .

Note that

/dev/vx/dsk/volgrp1/vol1

(without the "r" in

/rdsk

) does not work.

■ If you used the Backup Policy Configuration Wizard, refer to the following topic.

See

“About the Policy Configuration Wizard”

on page 81.

Off-host backup configuration options

Off-host backup shifts the burden of backup processing to a separate backup agent, which reduces the impact on the client’s resources ordinarily caused by a local backup. The client supplies a small amount of information on how data is mapped. The backup agent does the bulk of the work by sending the client’s data to the storage device.

Select the off-host backup method when you create a new policy, you can also select off-host backup for an existing policy. Select off-host backup from the Add

New Policy dialog box. The following image shows a part of the dialog box.

See

“Configuring a Snapshot Client policy”

on page 56.

Policy configuration

Off-host backup configuration options

61

The Use and Machine fields designate the backup agent.

Select the type of off-host backup from the Use field:

■ VMware backup host

Select this option to designate a VMware backup host as the backup agent, for

VMware virtual machine (guest OS) backup. During restore, this host is called the VMware restore host.

Select the name of the backup host in the Machine pull-down.

To back up a virtual machine that does not have a NetBackup client installed on it, you must select this option. If a NetBackup client is installed on the virtual machine, you can back up the virtual machine in the same way as an ordinary physical host (a snapshot-based backup is not required).

The VMware backup host option requires the FlashBackup-Windows or

MS-Windows policy type.

See the NetBackup for VMware Administrator’s Guide for further information.

Note: The VMware backup host is not displayed when you select the Retain

snapshots for Instant Recovery check box as VMware backup is not supported for Instant Recovery.

■ Alternate Client

Select this option to designate another client (alternate client) as the backup agent.

An alternate client saves computing resources on the original client. The alternate client handles the backup I/O processing on behalf of the original client, so the backup has little effect on the original client.

Enter the name of the alternate client in the Machine field.

See

“About using alternate client backup”

on page 76.

■ Data Mover

62 Policy configuration

Off-host backup configuration options

Select this option to designate the backup agent as a NetBackup media server, a third-party copy device that implements the SCSI Extended Copy command, or a NAS filer (Network Attached Storage).

The Data Mover option requires the Standard, FlashBackup, or MS-Windows policy type.

Select the type of data mover in the Machine pull-down:

Network Attached Storage An NDMP host (NAS filer) performs the backup processing, by means of the NAS_Snapshot method.

NetBackup for NDMP software is required on the

NetBackup server. This option is required for NAS snapshots.

See

“Setting up a policy for NAS snapshots”

on page 156.

NetBackup Media Server A Solaris, HP, AIX, or Linux NetBackup media server performs the backup processing (for Solaris, HP, AIX, and Linux clients only).

Third-Party Copy Device A third-party copy device handles the backup processing.

For Solaris, HP, AIX, and Linux clients only.

Many types of devices are designed to act as third-party copy devices, such as routers, bridges, robotic libraries, and disk arrays. The backup agent can direct the data to SCSI-attached storage or to storage on the SAN.

For more information on media server and third-party copy backup, refer to the following:

■

■

NetBackup Snapshot Client Configuration tech note: http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH51377

NetBackup Snapshot Client Administrator's Guide.

The use of Perform off-host backup may require additional configuration, as follows:

■ For the policy storage unit or group of storage units, note:

Any_available is not supported for the following data mover types: NetBackup

Media Server and Third-Party Copy Device. Disk storage units are not supported for Third-Party Copy Device.

Instead of using a particular storage unit, you can create a storage unit group that designates devices that are configured on the SAN.

See the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume I.

■ Also note the following:

Policy configuration

Automatic snapshot selection

63

■

■

For the Third-Party Copy Device option, you must create a mover.conf

file.

Assistance with this file is available, in the NetBackup Snapshot Client

Configuration document.

See http://entsupport.symantec.com/docs/288300 .

If you do not have Veritas CommandCentral Storage and your backup devices do not support identification descriptors (SCSI E4 target descriptors), you may need to edit the

3pc.conf

file.

See http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH51377 .

Automatic snapshot selection

To have NetBackup select the snapshot method, click Perform snapshot backups on the policy Attributes tab. Note the following points:

■ If the policy is new, NetBackup selects a snapshot method when the backup starts (by default, the snapshot method is set to auto).

■ If the policy had been configured for a particular snapshot method, click the

Snapshot Client Options option and set the snapshot method to that particular one. NetBackup selects a snapshot method when the backup starts.

Use of the auto method does not guarantee that NetBackup can select a snapshot method for the backup. NetBackup looks for a suitable method according to the following factors:

■ The client platform and policy type.

■ The presence of up-to-date software licenses, such as VxFS and VxVM.

■ How the client data is configured. For instance:

■ Whether a raw partition has been specified for a copy-on-write cache.

See

“Entering the cache”

on page 163.

■ Whether the client’s data is contained in the VxVM volumes that were configured with one or more snapshot mirrors.

NetBackup uses the first suitable method found.

Note: The auto method cannot select a snapshot method that is designed for a particular disk array, such as EMC_TimeFinder_Clone or HP_EVA_Vsnap. You must select the disk array method from the drop-down list on the Snapshot

Options dialog box.

The auto method has the following advantages:

64 Policy configuration

Selecting the snapshot method

■ NetBackup can use a different snapshot method for each item in the Backup

Selections list, or for each client in the policy. As a result, NetBackup has more flexibility in choosing a snapshot method, and you can circumvent the one-snapshot-method-per-policy restriction.

■ At the time of backup, NetBackup selects a snapshot method according to how the client is configured at that moment. If the VxFS or VxVM license on the client has expired, or if the client was recently reconfigured, NetBackup selects a snapshot method accordingly.

Selecting the snapshot method

You can manually select a snapshot method as follows.

To select a snapshot method

1 Start the NetBackup Administration Console.

2 Click Policies.

3 In the All Policies pane, double-click the name of the policy.

The Change Policy dialog appears.

4 Make sure Perform snapshot backups is selected.

5 Click Snapshot Client Options.

Policy configuration

Selecting the snapshot method

65

6 In the pull-down menu, select the Snapshot method for the policy.

■ Choose auto if you want NetBackup to select the snapshot method.

See

“Automatic snapshot selection”

on page 63.

■ The available methods depend on how your clients are configured and which attributes you selected on the Attributes tab.

Only one snapshot method can be configured per policy. Configure each policy for a single method and include only clients and backup selections for which that snapshot method can be used. For example, for the nbu_snap method

(which applies to Solaris clients only), create a policy that includes Solaris clients only. The snapshot method you select must be compatible with all items in the policy’s Backup Selections list.

See

“Snapshot methods”

on page 66.

66 Policy configuration

Selecting the snapshot method

7 Specify required parameters, if any. Additional fields in the Snapshot Options dialog indicate required parameters.

See

“Configuration parameters for Snapshot Client”

on page 69.

See

“Snapshot Resources”

on page 75.

8 Click OK.

Snapshot methods

Table 3-1

describes each snapshot method (not including the disk array methods).

See

“Disk array methods at a glance”

on page 185.

Table 3-1 Snapshot method descriptions

Method auto

FlashSnap

Hyper-V

NAS_Snapshot

Description

NetBackup selects a snapshot method when the backup starts.

If necessary, NetBackup selects a different method for each item in the Backup Selections list.

For mirror snapshots on alternate clients, with the VxVM

FlashSnap feature. This method is for clients on Solaris, HP,

AIX, Linux, and Windows. UNIX clients must be at VxVM 3.2 or later. Linux and AIX clients must be at VxVM 4.0 or later.

Windows clients must be at VxVM 3.1 or later, with all the latest

VxVM service packs and updates.

FlashSnap is based on the VxVM disk group split and join technology.

For snapshots of Hyper-V virtual machines.

Refer to the NetBackup for Hyper-V Administrator's guide.

For copy-on-write snapshots of client data that resides on an

NDMP host. Requires NetBackup for NDMP software. Further information is available on requirements and configuration details.

See

“About NAS snapshot overview”

on page 153.

Table 3-1

Method nbu_snap

OST_FIM

VMware

VSP

Policy configuration

Selecting the snapshot method

67

Snapshot method descriptions (continued)

Description

For copy-on-write snapshots of UFS or Veritas VxFS file systems.

For Solaris clients only. nbu_snap is not supported in clustered file systems.

This method requires a raw partition that is designated for cache.

Or refer to the NetBackup Snapshot Client Administrator’s Guide for details.

For use in a policy that is configured for snapshot replication using Replication Director. The OST_FIM method works only if the Policy storage attribute points to a storage lifecycle policy that contains a snapshot-capable storage unit.

For snapshots of VMware virtual machines.

Refer to the NetBackup for VMware Administrator's guide

VSP is currently deprecated. VSP is for snapshots of open and active files on NetBackup pre-7.0 Windows clients. For 7.0 and later versions, clients in a policy that is configured with VSP,

NetBackup automatically uses VSS instead of VSP.

For more information on this method (Veritas Volume Snapshot

Provider), refer to the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide for

Windows, Volume I.

You can use VSP without Snapshot Client. In some cases, however, such as when the Busy File Timeout has expired, no snapshot is created. The backup job then may continue without backing up the busy file. If you use VSP with Snapshot Client, the backup successfully creates a snapshot of all files or the backup job fails.

68 Policy configuration

Selecting the snapshot method

Table 3-1

Method

VSS

VVR

VxFS_Checkpoint

Snapshot method descriptions (continued)

Description

VSS uses the Volume Shadow Copy Service of Windows 2003, and supports Instant Recovery. VSS is for local backup or alternate client backup.

For the most up-to-date list of Windows operating systems and disk arrays supported by this method, see the NetBackup

Snapshot Client Configuration document, at the following URL: http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH51377

For alternate client backup, the client data must reside on: either a disk array such as EMC, HP, or Hitachi with snapshot capability, or a Veritas Storage Foundation for Windows 4.1 or later volume with snapshots enabled. VSS supports file system backup of a disk partition (such as E:\) and backup of databases.

VSS-based snapshot methods offer a general interface to

Windows Shadow Copy Services. VSS selects the actual snapshot method depending on which snapshot provider is configured on the client. For instance, if the data resides on an EMC

CLARiiON array, and the array administrator configured the array and its snapshot capability: the Volume Shadow Copy

Service selects the appropriate CLARiiON VSS hardware provider to take the snapshot.

For alternate client backups of a replicated VxVM volume. For clients on Solaris, HP, Linux, AIX.

Requires VxVM 3.2 or later with the Veritas Volume Replicator license. Linux and AIX clients require VxVM 4.0 or later.

For copy-on-write snapshots of clients on Solaris, HP, AIX, or

Linux. The FlashBackup policy type does not support this method.

Requires the Storage Checkpoint feature of VxFS 3.4 or later.

HP requires VxFS 3.5 or later. Linux and AIX clients require

VxFS 4.0 or later.

Note that VxFS_Checkpoint requires the Snapshot Client license and the Veritas File System license with the Storage Checkpoints feature. Without both licenses, the copy-on-write snapshot

(Storage Checkpoint) cannot be opened and the backup fails.

Policy configuration

Selecting the snapshot method

69

Table 3-1

Method

VxFS_Snapshot

Snapshot method descriptions (continued)

Description

For copy-on-write snapshots of Solaris or HP clients on the local network (not off-host), for FlashBackup policies only. This method requires VxFS 3.4 (Solaris) or VxFS 3.3.2 (HP) or later.

This method also requires a designated cache.

Or see the NetBackup Snapshot Client Administrator’s Guide.

Note that all files in the Backup Selections list must reside in the same file system.

VxVM For any of the following types of snapshots with data configured over Volume Manager volumes, for clients on Solaris, HP, AIX,

Linux, or Windows. Linux and AIX clients require VxVM 4.0 or later.

For "third-mirror" snapshots (VxVM 3.1 or later).

For full-sized instant snapshots (VxVM 4.0).

For space-optimized instant snapshots (VxVM 4.0).

Configuration parameters for Snapshot Client

The following parameters are required for certain snapshot methods. If no additional parameters are required for the snapshot method you have chosen, the Snapshot Options dialog states that no parameters are required.

Cache device path parameter

Specify a raw partition for the cache (logical volume or a physical disk) by entering the cache partition’s full path name in the Value field. For example:

Solaris raw partition: /dev/rdsk/c2t0d3s3

VxVM volume:

HP LVM volume:

/dev/vx/rdsk/diskgroup_1/volume_3

/dev/volume_group_1/volume_3

This setting overrides a cache that is specified on Host Properties > Clients >

Client Properties dialog > UNIX Client > Client Settings.

See

“Entering the cache”

on page 163.

Do not specify wildcards (such as

/dev/rdsk/c2*

).

70 Policy configuration

Selecting the snapshot method

A complete list of requirements is available.

See

“Cache device requirements”

on page 160.

Warning: The cache partition’s contents are overwritten by the nbu_snap or

VxFS_Snapshot process.

Delay in seconds between disk group split retries parameter

Certain routine operating system processing must complete before the snapshot volume is available and the disk group can be split. By default, NetBackup waits

60 seconds before it retries the disk group split if Number of times to retry disk

group split is 1 or more. On some systems, a 60-second delay may be too short.

Use this parameter to set a longer delay between retries.

IBC receive timeout parameter (seconds)

Determines how long NetBackup waits for the next end-of-transaction marker to be received in the VVR replication data stream. For instance, a process may fail to send the marker, or the network connection may be down or overloaded. If this timeout is exceeded before the next marker is received, the backup fails.

IBC send timeout parameter (seconds)

Determines how long NetBackup waits for the next end-of-transaction marker to be automatically removed from the VVR replication data stream. If the marker is not removed, replication cannot continue. If this timeout is exceeded before the current marker is removed, the backup fails.

Keep snapshot after backup parameter

This option specifies whether or not the snapshot image is retained on the mirror disk after the backup completes (default is No). Retaining the image (Yes) enables a quick restore from the mirror in case data is deleted from the client’s primary disk. The image is retained on the mirror until the next time a backup is run using this policy. No indicates that the image is deleted from the mirror as soon as the backup completes.

If the client is restarted, the snapshots that have been kept must be remounted before they can be used for a restore. You can use the bpfis command to discover the images.

See the bpfis man page or the NetBackup Commands manual.

Note however that NetBackup automatically remounts Instant Recovery snapshots.

Policy configuration

Selecting the snapshot method

71

If the snapshot is on an EMC, Hitachi, or HP disk array, and you want to use hardware-level restore, important information is available.

See the Warning under Hardware-level disk restore in the NetBackup Snapshot

Client Configuration document. This document may be accessed from the following location: http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH51377

Maximum number of volumes to resynchronize concurrently parameter

For the configurations that have sufficient I/O bandwidth, multiple volumes can be resynchronized simultaneously, to complete resynchronization sooner. This parameter specifies the number of volume pairs that are resynchronized simultaneously. A volume pair consists of a source volume and its snapshot (or mirror) volume.

The default is 1, which means that volume pairs are resynchronized one at a time.

Accept the default if the I/O bandwidth in your clients and disk storage cannot support simultaneous synchronization of volumes. A major factor in I/O bandwidth is the number and speed of HBAs on each client.

Maximum Snapshots parameter (Instant Recovery only)

One of several options for determining when Instant Recovery snapshots are deleted.

See

“Means of controlling snapshots”

on page 105.

Number of times to retry disk group split parameter

After the FlashSnap snapshot is created, the disk group must be split to make the snapshot data accessible to the alternate client. For a short time, certain routine operating system processing must complete before the snapshot volume is available and the disk group can be split. The disk group cannot be split before the OS has made the volume available.

Use this parameter to set the number of times to retry the disk group split. The default is 0 (no retries): if the first attempt to split the disk group does not succeed, the backup fails.

You can also set the Delay in seconds between disk group split retries option.

Provider Type parameter

Indicates the type of VSS snapshot provider that creates the snapshot.

72 Policy configuration

Selecting the snapshot method

0-auto (the default)

1-system

2-software

3-hardware

If the policy is not configured for Instant Recovery, you can select this option. The auto option attempts to select the available provider in this order: Hardware, Software, System.

For an Instant Recovery backup, you must select the appropriate provider type (not 0-auto) and snapshot attribute; otherwise, the backup fails.

For example: To use a hardware provider to back up a

CLARiiON array using the EMC_CLARiiON_SnapView_Clone method, you must select 3-hardware as the provider type and 2-plex as the snapshot attribute.

Use the Microsoft system provider, for a block-level copy on write snapshot.

■

■

Unlike options 2 and 3, the Microsoft system provider does not require any additional software or hardware.

The Microsoft system provider does not support off-host backup, such as alternate client backup. For off-host backup, select option 2 or 3, depending on your environment.

For instance, use the Veritas Storage Foundations provider, for VxVM volumes. The software provider intercepts I/O requests at the software level between the file system and the volume manager.

Use the hardware provider for your disk array. A hardware provider manages the VSS snapshot at the hardware level by working with a hardware storage adapter or controller.

For example, if you want to back up an EMC CLARiiON or

HP EVA array by means of the array’s snapshot provider, select 3-hardware.

■ Depending on your array and on the snapshot attribute you select, certain preconfiguration of the array may be required.

See the appropriate topic for your disk array and snapshot method.

See

“Important note on VSS and disk arrays”

on page 74.

Resynchronize mirror in background parameter

This option determines whether or not the backup job completes before the resynchronize operation has finished (default is No). Yes means that a resynchronize request is issued, but the backup does not wait for the resync

Policy configuration

Selecting the snapshot method

73 operation to complete. No means that the backup job cannot reach completion until the resynchronize operation has finished.

Choosing Yes may allow more efficient use of backup resources. If two backups need the same tape drive, the second can start even though the resynchronize operation for the first job has not completed.

Snapshot Attribute parameter

Indicates the type of VSS snapshot to be created.

0-unspecified

1-differential

2-plex

If the policy is not configured for Instant Recovery, you can select this option.

For an Instant Recovery backup, you must select a snapshot attribute of 1 or 2; otherwise, the backup fails.

Use a copy-on-write type of snapshot. For example, to back up an EMC CLARiiON array using the

EMC_CLARiiON_SnapView_Snapshot method, select differential.

Use a clone or a mirror type of snapshot. For example, to back up an EMC CLARiiON array using the

EMC_CLARiiON_SnapView_Clone method, select plex.

Sync I/O delay in milliseconds parameter (UNIX only)

Specifies the delay in milliseconds between synchronizing successive sets of regions as specified by the value of the previous parameter (Sync region size in

MB). You can use this option to change the effect of synchronization on system performance.

The default is 0 milliseconds (no delay). Increasing this value slows down synchronization. It also reduces the competition for I/O bandwidth with other processes that may access the volume at the same time.

This option is the same as the slow=iodelay parameter on the VxVM vxsnap command. For more details on the slow=iodelay parameter, see the Veritas Volume

Manager Administrator’s Guide.

Sync region size in MB parameter (UNIX only)

Specifies the size in MB of each I/O request that is used when the regions of a volume are synchronized. Specifying a larger size causes synchronization to complete sooner, but with greater effect on the performance of other processes that access the volume. 1 MB (the default) is the minimum value that is suggested

74 Policy configuration

Selecting the snapshot method for high-performance array and controller hardware. The specified value is rounded to a multiple of the volume's region size.

This option is the same as the iosize=size parameter on the VxVM vxsnap command. For more details on the iosize=size parameter, see the Veritas Volume

Manager Administrator’s Guide.

Wait for mirror sync completion parameter

This parameter applies only to the off-host backups that use the NetBackup Media

Server or Third-Party Copy Device backup method.

With the default setting 1 (Yes), this parameter specifies that full-sized instant snapshots are not available for backup until the mirror synchronization is complete. Before synchronization is complete, some of the data that is required for the backup resides on the source disks but not on the snapshot disks. If the media server has access to the snapshot disks but does not have access to the source disks, and if the backup starts before the snapshot disks are fully synchronized with the source, the backup fails.

For a NetBackup Media Server or Third-Party Copy Device backup—if the media server cannot access the source disks—set this parameter to 1. If both the source and the snapshot disks are visible to the media server, you can set this parameter to 0 (No).

Important note on VSS and disk arrays

To back up a Windows client with the VSS method, please note the following about snapshot parameter values:

■ If you selected a Provider Type of 3 (hardware) and a Snapshot Attribute of

2 (plex): You must configure an appropriate number of clones or mirrors in the disk array, depending on the value that is specified for the Maximum

Snapshots (Instant Recovery only) parameter. If the Maximum Snapshots parameter is set to 3, you must configure three clones or mirrors. If you do not want to use Instant Recovery and the Maximum Snapshots parameter is

1, you need only configure one clone or mirror.

■ You must also synchronize the clones or mirrors with the disk array source device before starting the backup. If the clones or mirrors are not synchronized before the backup begins, VSS cannot select a clone or mirror on which to create the snapshot. The backup fails.

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75

Synchronize mirror before the backup parameter

Determines whether or not the primary and the mirror devices are automatically synchronized (if they were not already synchronized) before the backup begins.

Default is No.

Specify Yes to have unsynchronized devices synchronized before the backup begins. No means that unsynchronized devices are not synchronized before the backup starts. In this case (No), if the primary and the mirror devices are not synchronized, the backup cannot succeed.

Snapshot Resources

To configure the disk array methods, see the chapter titled Configuration of snapshot methods for disk arrays:

See

“Disk array configuration tasks”

on page 187.

Configuring backup scripts

For backups using a snapshot method, you can run scripts before and after the snapshot by adding directives to the Backup Selections list, as follows.

To configure backup scripts

1 Start the NetBackup Administration Console:

On UNIX:

/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/jnbSA &

On Windows: Start > Programs > Symantec NetBackup > NetBackup

Administration Console

2 Click Policies.

3 In the All Policies pane, double-click the name of the policy.

The Change Policy dialog appears.

4 Click the Backup Selections tab.

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About using alternate client backup

5 Add the following directive to the start of the Backup Selections list:

METHOD=USER_DEFINED

6 Add one or both of the following directive(s), as required.

DB_BEGIN_BACKUP_CMD=your_begin_script_path

DB_END_BACKUP_CMD=your_end_script_path

Note: DB_BEGIN_BACKUP_CMD and DB_END_BACKUP_CMD directives are not supported for Windows clients.

The arguments (arg) are optional.

For example:

In this example, the script shutdown_db.ksh

is run before the backup, and restart_db.ksh

is run after the snapshot is created.

About using alternate client backup

Alternate client backup is off-host in that all backup processing is off-loaded to another client. Off-loading the work to another client saves computing resources on the original client. The alternate client handles the backup I/O processing and the backup has little effect on the original client.

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77

Alternate client backup requirements

Before you configure a policy for alternate client backup, make sure the following have been done:

■ The client data must be configured as required by the snapshot method. The alternate client must have access to the snapshot devices (such as clones, mirrors, or replication disks).

■ For the FlashSnap and VVR snapshot methods, the following must be installed:

VxVM 3.2 or later for UNIX, VxVM 4.0 or later for Linux and AIX, or VxVM 3.1

or later for Windows. Also, volumes must be configured over the primary host’s disks. The VxVM FlashSnap or VVR license must also be installed.

■ User and group identification numbers (UIDs and GIDs) for the files to back up must be available to the primary client and the alternate client.

■ Alternate client backup on Windows does not support incremental backups that are based on archive bit. Instead, use incremental backups that are based on time-stamp.

See

“About incremental backup of mirror-based snapshots”

on page 82. for more information.

■ The primary client and alternate client must run the same version of

NetBackup. For example, the use of a later version of NetBackup on the primary client and an earlier version on the alternate client is not supported.

■ The primary client and alternate client must run the same operating system, volume manager, and file system. For each of these I/O system components, the alternate client must be at the same level as the primary client, or higher level.

Table 3-2

lists the supported configurations.

Table 3-2 Alternate client requirements

If primary client is:

Windows

Alternate client must be:

Windows, at same level as primary client or higher

Solaris

HP

AIX

Red Hat

SUSE

Solaris, at same level as primary client or higher

HP, at same level as primary client or higher

AIX, at same level as primary client or higher

Red Hat, at same level as primary client or higher

SUSE, at same level as primary client or higher

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Table 3-2 Alternate client requirements (continued)

If primary client is: Alternate client must be:

VxFS 3.4 or later (VxFS 3.3

for HP, VxFS 4.0 for AIX and Linux)

VxFS, at same level as primary client or higher

VxVM 3.2 or later (UNIX)

VxVM 3.1 or later

(Windows)

VxVM, at same level as primary client or higher.

Note: for VVR method, the alternate client must be at exactly the same level as primary client.

For VxVM on Windows, use VxVM 3.1 or later with all the latest VxVM service packs and updates.

See

“Configuring alternate client backup”

on page 78.

Configuring alternate client backup

For an alternate client backup policy, make the following selections. Some of the options depend on your hardware configuration and product licenses.

To configure a policy for alternate client backup

1 For Policy type, choose Standard, FlashBackup, FlashBackup-Windows,

MS-Windows, MS-Exchange-Server, MS-SQL-Server, DB2, SAP, or Oracle.

2 Click Perform snapshot backups.

3 Click Perform off-host backup.

4 Click Use alternate client and select the alternate client from the drop-down list or type it in.

5 Click Snapshot Client Options if you want to choose the snapshot method.

Snapshot method: You can select the auto method, or the following:

■ FlashSnap, for a disk group split configuration, with VxVM 3.2 or later with the FlashSnap feature.

■ VVR, for a UNIX replication host; requires VxVM 3.2 or later with VVR feature.

■ VSS, for snapshots using the Volume Shadow Copy Service of Windows

2003. This method is for Windows 2003 clients, where the client data is stored on a disk array such as EMC or Hitachi, or in a Symantec Storage

Foundation for Windows 4.1 or later volume. Supports Exchange.

■ The disk array-related snapshot methods.

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79

Before running the alternate client backup

Your volume configuration must be prepared and tested for the snapshot method you plan to use.

See the topics on software-based snapshot methods:

See

“Software-based snapshot methods”

on page 159.

Example alternate client backup configurations

Consider the following example configurations:

Table 3-3 Alternate client backup configurations

Configuration Description

Client data is on an EMC disk array in split-mirror mode

To run the backup on an alternate client: choose

Standard as the policy type, select Perform

snapshot backups, Perform off-host backup, and

Use alternate client. Then select the alternate client. On the Snapshot Options display, specify an EMC TimeFinder snapshot method.

If the data is in an Oracle database, select Oracle as the policy type.

Client data is replicated on a remote host

To run the backup on the replication host

(alternate client), choose: Standard as the policy type, select Perform snapshot backups, Perform

off-host backup, and Use alternate client. Then select the alternate client (the replication host).

On the Snapshot Options display, specify the

VVR snapshot method.

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Table 3-3 Alternate client backup configurations (continued)

Configuration Description

Client data is on a JBOD array in VxVM volumes with snapshot mirrors configured

To run the backup on the alternate client, choose:

Standard (for UNIX client) or MS-Windows

(Windows client) as the policy type and Perform

snapshot backups, Perform off-host backup, and

Use alternate client. Then select the alternate client. On the Snapshot Options display, specify the FlashSnap method.

If the client data consists of many files, or to do individual file restore from raw partition backups: select FlashBackup or FlashBackup-Windows as the policy type.

Note: Other combinations of policy type and snapshot method are possible, depending on many factors: your hardware configuration, file system and volume manager configuration, and installed

NetBackup product licenses.

Policy configuration tips

The following topics relate to policy creation.

Maximum pathname length

For snapshots, the maximum file list pathname length is approximately 1000 characters (1023 characters for the backups that do not use a snapshot method).

The reason is that the snapshot is created on a new mount point which is derived from the original Backup Selections list path name. If the new mount point plus the original file path exceeds the system-defined maximum path name length

(1023 characters on many systems): the backup fails with a status code 1, "the requested operation was partially successful."

Refer to the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume I, for other NetBackup file-path rules.

Snapshot tips

Note the following tips:

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81

■ In the Backup Selections list, be sure to specify absolute path names. Refer to the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume I for help specifying files in the Backup Selections list.

■ If an entry in the Backup Selections list is a symbolic (soft) link to another file, Snapshot Client backs up the link, not the file to which the link points.

This NetBackup behavior is standard. To back up the actual data, include the file path to the actual data.

■ On the other hand, a raw partition can be specified in its usual symbolic-link form (such as

/dev/rdsk/c0t1d0s1

). Do not specify the actual device name that

/dev/rdsk/c0t1d0s1 is pointing to. For raw partitions, Snapshot Client automatically resolves the symbolic link to the actual device.

■ The Cross mount points policy attribute is not available for the policies that are configured for snapshots. This option is not available because NetBackup does not cross file system boundaries during a backup of a snapshot. A backup of a high-level file system, such as

/

(root), does not back up files residing in lower-level file systems. Files in the lower-level file systems are backed up if they are specified as separate entries in the Backup Selections list. For instance, to back up

/usr and

/var

, both

/usr and

/var must be included as separate entries in the Backup Selections list.

For more information on Cross mount points, refer to the NetBackup

Administrator’s Guide, Volume I.

■ On Windows, the \ must be entered in the Backup Selections list after the drive letter (for example, D:\).

See

“Configuring a FlashBackup policy”

on page 89.

About the Policy Configuration Wizard

The Policy Configuration Wizard can be used to create Snapshot Client policies for on-host or off-host snapshots, for VMware and Hyper-V virtual machine backups, and for NDMP host backups.

If you used the Policy Configuration Wizard to configure a policy for NetBackup, please note the following:

■ If you chose Back up all local drives, the wizard placed the entry

ALL_LOCAL_DRIVES in the policy Backup Selections list. Snapshot Client does not support the ALL_LOCAL_DRIVES option (except for VMware virtual machine backup). Be sure to remove the ALL_LOCAL_DRIVES entry from the

Backup Selections list.

■ The wizard automatically sets your storage device to Any_available, which is correct for primary client (not off-host) backups. However, to use the

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Policy configuration tips

Third-Party Copy Device or NetBackup Media Server method, you must select a particular storage unit. Do not select Any_available.

■ Do not use the Policy Configuration Wizard or the Getting Started Wizard to configure a snapshot policy for Replication Director.

Multiple data streams

Multiplexing is not supported for the Third-Party Copy Device method. (Keep in mind that multiplexing is not the same as multiple data streams.)

Make sure that these settings allow the number of active streams to be equal to or greater than the number of streams in the Backup Selections list:

■ Policy attribute

Limit jobs per policy

■ Schedule setting

Media multiplexing

■ Storage unit setting

Maximum multiplexing per drive

■ System configuration setting

Maximum jobs per client

About incremental backup of mirror-based snapshots

For incremental backup of a mirror type snapshot, note the following issues.

Incremental backup options (Windows only)

NetBackup provides two incremental backup options for Windows clients:

■ Based on time-stamps

■ Based on archive bit (for Windows clients only)

These options are available in the NetBackup Administration Console under Host

Properties for the client. Right click the client and select Properties. The Client

Properties dialog box is displayed. Click Windows Client > Client Properties.

These options are described in the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume I.

If the snapshot is created on a mirror, such as a Volume Manager volume using

VxVM, archive bit incremental backups cannot be used. Archive bit incremental backups are incompatible with snapshots on mirrors. For incremental backups, select Based on time-stamps.

NetBackup client

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About disabling snapshots

83

Snapshot sequence and access time

After a mirror snapshot backup, the access time of the files in the snapshot is reset to the access time of the original (primary) disk data. The access time of the snapshot data continues to match that of the data on the primary until the mirror is resynchronized with the primary. This behavior is normal for Snapshot Client and applies to primary client backups as well as to off-host backups.

Figure 3-1 Simplified View of Snapshot Sequence And Access Time

Primary disk

4

Mirror disk with snapshot

The figure shows the following phases:

Phase

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

Phase 4

Snapshot sequence and access time description

Last file access on primary: 08/29/05 at 8:01 pm

Mirror was synchronized with primary and split at 8:24 pm.

Snapshot taken on mirror at 8:24 pm.

Backup of mirror was completed at 10:14 pm; file access time on mirror is reset to 8:01 pm.

About disabling snapshots

This section explains how to turn off the creation of snapshots for certain clients but to continue making non-snapshot backups of those clients.

Two different products in NetBackup perform snapshots: Snapshot Client

(described in this guide) and Windows Open File Backups (described in the

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About disabling snapshots

NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume I). These products operate independently of each other. Disabling one does not disable the other.

Disabling Open File Backups on Windows

Do the following steps in the NetBackup Administration Console.

To disable Open File Backup snapshots for individual clients

1 Click Host Properties > Master Servers > double-click master server > Client

Attributes.

2 Click the Windows Open File Backup tab.

3 Select a client that is enabled for open file backups.

4 Clear the checkbox for Enable Windows Open File Backups for this client.

5 Click Apply.

Disabling Snapshot Client snapshots

Use the following procedure to disable Snapshot Client snapshots.

Warning: All features of Snapshot Client depend on snapshots. Clearing the

Perform snapshot backups checkbox disables all features of Snapshot Client, such as off-host backup and Instant Recovery. Backups that depend on these features are disabled.

To disable Snapshot Client snapshots for individual clients

1 Determine which Snapshot Client policies are configured for the clients on which you want to turn off snapshots.

2 In the NetBackup Administration Console, click NetBackup Management >

Policies, and double-click a Snapshot Client policy.

3 In the Snapshot Client pane of the Attributes tab, clear the checkbox for

Perform block level incremental backups.

4 In the same pane, clear the checkbox for Perform snapshot backups.

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85

Note: Note the following regarding FlashBackup

If the policy type is FlashBackup-Windows, select a non-FlashBackup policy type, such as MS-Windows, which clears the Perform snapshot backups checkbox.

If the policy type is FlashBackup and the policy was configured to use the snapctl driver for Solaris clients or VxFS snap driver for HP clients (with CACHE= entries in the Backup Selections tab): select a non-FlashBackup policy type, such as

Standard. Otherwise, the policy continues to create snapshots even though the

Perform snapshot backups checkbox is cleared.

Backups of raw partitions using policy types other than FlashBackup or

FlashBackup-Windows do not allow individual file restore. Individual file restore from a raw partition backup is a feature of FlashBackup.

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About disabling snapshots