To have BackupEDGE back up to an FTP server, you must:
1 Configure the FTP server with a directory (folder) prepared to accept FTP backups. 2 Configure a URL Resource on the server being backed up.
3 Test the FTP server connection. 4 Initialize the FTP backup resource.
5 Select the FTP backup resource from EDGEMENU or within a Schedule.
Initializing the FTP backup resource does NOT erase any data. If there are no current files in the backup directory, BackupEDGE will create a control file (named CTL) indicating that it is ready
to accept BackupEDGE archives. If BackupEDGE detects a control file, it will scan the directory for any current archives and re-build its index of available archives and their sizes. This may take a while on some FTP servers. FTP backups cannot commence until the FTP server directory has been initialized one time.
Preparing the FTP Server
Set up the FTP server correctly to allow access by BackupEDGE. This can be anonymous FTP, or it can use a username / password. You must also create a directory for BackupEDGE to write to. For proper management, only BackupEDGE should use or access this directory.
+ Edit Backup Schedule ---+ | Schedule Name: simple_job | | Time: [23:00 ] (14:58:46) Enabled: [X] | | Sequence: web2v.microlite.com:esequence/onsite | | Backup Domain: system | | Primary Resource: [Change] web2v.microlite.com:url!url0 | | | | +---+ January 2015 | | | Every Sunday of the week (None) | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | | | Every Monday of the week Master | M M 3 | | | Every Tuesday of the week Master | 4 M M M M M 10 | | | Every Wednesday of the week Master | 11 M M M M M 17 | | | Every Thursday of the week Master | 18 M M M M M 24 | | | Every Friday of the week Master | 25 M M M M M 31 | | | Every Saturday of the week (None) | | | +---+ | | | | Notify / Advanced: [Change] [Reset Dates] | | Mail Summary To: root Print Summary To: NONE | | Mail Failures To: NONE Print Failures To: NONE | |[Save] [Cancel]| +---+
NOTE: Do not place any other files in the BackupEDGE directory on the FTP server. Do not manually remove any BackupEDGE files. The only way to manipulate these files other than from within edgemenu without corrupting the control file database is by using the edge.segadm
The recommended directory structure for FTP backups is:
/backup_dir/hostname/schedule_name
where backup_dir is the home directory for FTP backups, hostname is the name of the system
being backed up, and schedule_name is the backup schedule being used (the default nightly
backup schedule named is: simple_job).
BackupEDGE must be allowed to create files, overwrite files, delete files, and read files in this
directory. This step does not involve BackupEDGE; you must configure your FTP server using whatever methods are appropriate. See “NAS Configuration Guide” on page 327 for instructions on configuring FTP backups to a variety of different commercial NAS devices. Any FTP server or NAS appliance will have similar configuration information.
Creating the URL Resource
Create the FTP resource in BackupEDGE. During installation, you may be asked if you want to create an URL (FTP) resource. After installation, use edgemenu:Admin->Define Resources to
do this. Select ‘[NEW]’, and use the down-arrow keys to change the resource type to
‘FTP Server (url)’. Press [Enter], give the Resource a name (or leave the default) and press
[Enter], then [Next].
The ‘Protocol’ field lets you select between FTP and two forms of FTPS (FTP over SSL).
FTP
Authenticate a standard un-encrypted FTP session. FTPS (FTP Data+Ctrl via SSL)
This is used to encrypt both the session authentication and the actual data transferred. FTPS (FTP Ctrl via SSL)
This is used to encrypt only session authentication information. The actual data is unencrypted. This may provide a performance benefit in situations where you are already encrypting the data with BackupEDGE encryption.
If you try to write to a resource that uses one of these combinations and the server does not support it, the backup operation will fail and produce an error.
For the ‘Machine’ field, you put the machine running the FTP server, such as such as
‘ftp.server.com’. Optionally you may specify a connection port other than the default by using
a colon at the end of the server name, as in ‘ftp.server.com:2000’
+ BackupEDGE Resource Information ---+ |- General Resource Information ---| |Resource Type URL Resource | |Resource Name [url0 ] Change as appropriate | |Description [FTP Resource ] | |Changer Assoc [Standalone Device] | |Interface [Other ] | | | |- URL Resource Information ---| |Protocol [FTP ] [Test URL] | |Machine [localhost ] [ ] Lazy Reclamation | |Directory [~ ] | |Username [ ] | |Password [ ] | |URL ftp://localhost/~ | |- Default Backup Properties ---| |Quota [0 ] [S] Compression Level [5] | |Edge Block Size [64 ] [Y] Double Buffering | |[Next] [Prev] [Cancel]| +---+
In the ‘Directory’ field, you put the directory BackupEDGE should use, as it appears in the
URL. This directory must start with a leading / or the results will be unpredictable.
The ‘Username’ and ‘Password’ fields are optional. If you don't fill them in, BackupEDGE will try
to use anonymous FTP. (Note that for many servers you can also use ‘ftp’ and whatever email
address you like for these fields.)
‘Lazy Reclmation’ controls the behavior of space reclamation (deleting archives) on the URL Resource. See “Space Reclamation” on page 88 for additional information. The default behaviour
is Enabled.
The ‘Quota’ field represents the storage quota, or total amount of space that BackupEDGE will
use for all archives stored on this FTP site. It MUST be specified, and may be specified in megabytes (type 4096M for example) or gigabytes (type 64G for example).
There is a separate limit for the amount of space that any single file created by BackupEDGE on this resource can consume that is not affected directly by the ‘Quota’. These files are called segments and BackupEDGE automatically creates them as necessary. (This setting is not
controllable from the Resource Manager screen. It defaults to a value that is slightly smaller than 1GB, which should be fine for most situations.)
Here is an example of the Resource screen with a typical FTP backup definition.
Note that as you select the protocol type and type in the machine name and directory name,
EDGEMENU formulates the URL line.
Testing the URL Resource
Test the FTP server connection from the machine with BackupEDGE installed. The [Test URL]
button uses the information on the URL Resource screen to create a connection with the FTP server and test transferring files back and forth to the appropriate directory. If a failure occurs, the reasons will be displayed on the screen to help with debugging. For reference, a copy of the most recent test failure log (if any) will be saved in the file /usr/lib/edge/tmp/testurl.log.
Initialize the URL Resource
When you press [Next] to save the resource, you will be asked if you want to ‘Initialize’ it. You
must let BackupEDGE initialize the resource. This tests the connection again and creates a control file named CTL in the destination directory. To initialize at a later time, use
edgemenu:Admin->Initialize Medium. Note that initializing the resource will not erase any
existing backups. If backups exist, the CTL file, which contains information about the individual
archive segments, will be re-calculated.
+ BackupEDGE Resource Information ---+ |- General Resource Information ---| |Resource Type URL Resource | |Resource Name [url0 ] Change as appropriate | |Description [FTP Resource ] | |Changer Assoc [Standalone Device] | |Interface [Other ] | | | |- URL Resource Information ---| |Protocol [FTP ] [Test URL] | |Machine [ds508.microlite.com ] [ ] Lazy Reclamation | |Directory [/backupedge/web2v/simple_job ] | |Username [backupedge ] | |Password [********** ] | |URL ftp://ds508.microlite.com/backupedge/web2v/simple_job | |- Default Backup Properties ---| |Quota [40G ] [S] Compression Level [5] | |Edge Block Size [64 ] [Y] Double Buffering | |[Next] [Prev] [Cancel]| +---+
Switching to Active Mode FTP
By default, BackupEDGE will use passive FTP. If you require active FTP, append ,p to the
machine field, such as ftp.server.com,p or ftp.server.com:2000,p. Many FTP connections
that go through a firewall will require this mode. If [Test URL] appears to hang, it may be
necessary to kill the edgemenu process, append ,p, and try again.
Re-startable FTP Backups
By default, BackupEDGE expects a reliable FTP connection. It streams backups and verifies live. For less reliable connections, a re-startable mode is provided. It breaks up the backup into 50MB segments, and transmits them sequentially. If the segment fails to transfer, it will automatically be re-sent. If you require re-startable FTP, append ,r to the machine field, such as
ftp.server.com,r or ftp.server.com:2000,r. This is also compatible with active mode FTP.
Use ftp.server.com,p,r or ftp.server.com:2000,p,r.
Selecting the URL Resource
Select the FTP resource as you would any other resource in EDGEMENU or in the Scheduler. When you set up a new schedule, it's a good idea to use
edgemenu:Verify->Show Archive Label to see how many archives are actually present after a
few days and check the amount of space used.