NetBackup client
■ When you install NetBackup 6.5 client on a cluster system, such as a clustered Exchange server or a clustered SQL server, you may encounter an error message (an access violation) stating that there is an exception that is not handled in the VCSAgDriver.exe executable. NetBackup is not a user of this driver.
According to http://entsupport.symantec.com/docs/247403, the Veritas Cluster Server Lanman resource is a user of VCSAgDriver.exe.
When using NetBackup, you can ignore the error message and continue to use the NetBackup Client features. However, for this release, NetBackup cannot warrant the operability of the Veritas Cluster Server.
■ CLIENT_NAME changes
UNIX initial NetBackup server installations now always have a
CLIENT_NAME entry in bp.conf (previously media servers did not). The CLIENT_NAME entry matches whatever the user entered for the local SERVER entry EXCEPT if a virtual name was entered. In that case, whatever the hostname command returns is what is used for the CLIENT_NAME.
(Previously, the master server CLIENT_NAME entry was equal to the hostname minus any domain name.)
For restores to work like one would expect, the client name specified in a backup policy must match the name specified by CLIENT_NAME.
Note: UNIX upgrade installations do not change an existing CLIENT_NAME entry.
NetBackup Documentation Notes
The following information should be considered as part of the NetBackup 6.5 documentation set.
■ An additional item needs to be added to the NetBackup catalog recovery procedures section within the NetBackup Troubleshooting Guide for UNIX, Windows, and Linux. The following text should be considered as an additional bulleted item and belongs with the bulleted list contained in the subsection, “Before starting”.
Freeze the cluster before stopping the services. Stopping the services causes a failover.
■ Additional error codes have been created for a NetBackup SharedDisk. For detailed information about these errors codes, refer to the following TechNote on the Symantec Support Web site.
http://entsupport.symantec.com/docs/288177
92 Operational Notes
NetBackup Documentation Notes
■ Changes to the Storage Lifecycle Manager
Two additional parameters were added in the LIFECYCLE_PARAMETERS file and were omitted from the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide. The following parameters enable a systems administrator to fine-tune how the Storage Lifecycle Manager (nbstserv) runs duplication jobs.
In addition, three other parameters were documented using the wrong units of measure. The following accurately describes the parameters and uses the proper units of measure.
Optional duplication job configuration
The NetBackup administrator can customize how the NetBackup Storage Lifecycle Manager (nbstserv) runs duplication jobs. The nbstserv default values work well for most environments. However, to change the values, the administrator must create a file named
LIFECYCLE_PARAMETERS and save it in the following location:
UNIX:
install_path\NetBackup\db\config Windows:
/usr/openv/netbackup/db/config
The following parameters can be included in the LIFECYCLE_PARAMETERS file:
■ DUPLICATION_SESSION_INTERVAL_MINUTES
This parameter indicates how frequently nbstserv starts a
duplication session. During a duplication session, NetBackup looks for completed backups on backup storage destinations and decides whether or not it is time to start a new duplication job. Default: 5 minutes. Minimum: 1 minute.
Syntax: DUPLICATION_SESSION_INTERVAL_MINUTES 5
■ IMAGE_EXTENDED_RETRY_PERIOD_IN_HOURS
All copies must be completed in a lifecycle. If necessary, NetBackup initially tries three times to duplicate an image to a duplication destination. This prevents NetBackup from retrying too frequently. If, after three tries, the copy is still unsuccessful, this parameter indicates how long NetBackup waits before an image copy is added to the next duplication job. (The frequency is determined by the
DUPLICATION_SESSION_INTERVAL_MINUTES parameter.) The NetBackup administrator may need more than two hours (the default) to solve the problem. Alternatively, the administrator can temporarily de-activate a lifecycle using nbstlutil. Default: 2 hours.
Minimum: 1 hour.
Syntax: IMAGE_EXTENDED_RETRY_PERIOD_IN_HOURS 2
93 Operational Notes NetBackup Documentation Notes
The following three parameters help the lifecycle to run duplication jobs as efficiently as possible. To prevent the lifecycle from running numerous small duplication jobs in frequent succession, NetBackup accumulates lists of similar images into a batch. Then, each batch of images is copied as a set in one duplication job, instead of one image at a time.
The NetBackup administrator can adjust how large the batch can become, or adjust how frequently batch jobs are requested.
■ MIN_KB_SIZE_PER_DUPLICATION_JOB
This parameter indicates the size that the batch of images should reach before one duplication job is run for the entire batch.
The lifecycle does not request a duplication job until either:
■ the aggregate size of the images in a batch reaches the minimum size as indicated by MIN_KB_SIZE_PER_DUPLICATION_JOB, or
■ the MAX_MINUTES_TIL_FORCE_SMALL_DUPLICATION_JOB time has passed. This parameter determines the maximum time between batch requests.
Default: 8192 kilobytes.
Syntax: MIN_KB_SIZE_PER_DUPLICATION_JOB 8192
■ MAX_KB_SIZE_PER_DUPLICATION_JOB
This parameter determines how large the batch of images is allowed to grow. When the size reaches the size as indicated by this parameter, no more images are added to the batch. Default: 25600 kilobytes.
Syntax: MAX_KB_SIZE_PER_DUPLICATION_JOB 25600
■ MAX_MINUTES_TIL_FORCE_SMALL_DUPLICATION_JOB
If the minimum batch size is not reached by the time indicated by this parameter, the lifecycle requests a duplication job, regardless of the size. Default: 30 minutes.
Syntax: MAX_MINUTES_TIL_FORCE_SMALL_DUPLICATION_JOB 30 These parameters will be included in the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide at the next major release.
■ The nbfirescan and the nbshareddisk commands in the NetBackup Commands documents (UNIX and Windows) and the man pages contain an incorrect paths. In addition, thenbshareddisk command The following changes should be noted for this release and will be incorporated into the next revision of the NetBackup documentation set and the online man page descriptions.
■ An incorrect path was given for the nbfirescan command in the online man page and the NetBackup Commands documents for UNIX and Windows.
94 Operational Notes
NetBackup Documentation Notes
■ The UNIX path should be,
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/nbfirescan instead of /usr/openv/bin/admincmd/firescan.
■ The Windows path should be,
%CommonProgramFiles%\Symantec Shared\VxFI\4\Bin instead of
install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\firescan.
■ An incorrect path was given for the nbshareddisk command in the online man page and the NetBackup Commands documents for UNIX and Windows.
■ The UNIX path should be,
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/nbshareddisk instead of /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/nbshareddisk.
■ The Windows path should be,
install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\nbshareddisk instead of install_path\NetBackup\bin\nbshareddisk.
■ The Name of the nbshareddisk command should state:
nbshareddisk - A utility that enumerates and formats array devices
■ The nbshareddisk format command description contains a few errors. The following is a corrected version of the nbshareddisk format command:
nbshareddisk format -udid UDID##nn#nn##nn | -udid_file UDID_FileName [-fstype native | vxfs]
[-novm] [-noPrompt]
Formats all specified devices to prepare them for use by SharedDisk.
The format operation unmasks, partitions, formats, mounts,
unmounts, then masks each device in the device(s). You can use format devices in a call to the nbdevconfig command to create a disk group.
The -udid option formats only device UDID##nn#nn##nn, whereas the -udid_file option formats all devices that are listed in filename.
The file must contain one or more UDIDs (unique device IDs) on separate lines. A valid line must contain a UDID## character string.
-fstype is optional. This option specifies the filesystem with which to format a disk, valid options are "native" and "vxfs". Default is native filesystem. Windows does not use the -fstype suboption. It formats the device in a simple partition.
-novm is optional. This option will ensure that file-system is created on raw partition. For file-system vxfs SharedDisk does not support this option.
-noPrompt is optional. This option will ensure that no confirmation is asked during format operation.
95 Operational Notes Internationalization and localization Notes
■ The following command should state the following:
online UDID##nn#nn##nn | -udid_file filename
Masks the LUN to grant it local host access, then detects the file system type and attempts to mount the file system.
Internationalization and localization Notes
■ After installing NetBackup (or any add-on products such as BMR) on UNIX and Linux systems, you must stop and start the NetBackup daemons (including daemons for any add-on products) in the native locale shell.
NetBackup installation starts some of the daemons in the C locale, which may not be the desired locale.
■ Starting with NetBackup 6.0, the following Internationalization support levels were provided.
■ Level 1: English support
NetBackup operates in English in native operating systems. The operating system runtime LC_CTYPE can be in one of the native encodings for NetBackup. Users can select English files and directory names for backup and restore, across all major platforms. The contents underneath the selected directories can be in any multibyte characters.
(All user inputs are English.)
■ Level 2: Homogeneous encoding support
NetBackup operates in one native encoding. The operating system runtime LC_CTYPE can be in one of the supported native encodings.
User inputs are in the same encoding of LC_CTYPE. (Limited support for this in this release.)
■ Level 2.1: UNIX Heterogeneous platform support - Level 2.1.1: File and directory name
NetBackup operates in one native encoding in native operating systems. File and directory names can be multi-byte characters in backup and restore selections, across UNIX heterogeneous platforms.
- Level 2.1.x: Other user inputs (NetBackup Entities / NetBackup Object Names)
This level is not supported in this release of NetBackup. NetBackup entity user inputs are limited to English at this release.
96 Operational Notes