Veritas NetBackup™ Appliance Upgrade Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): Appliances (4.0)
Platform: NetBackup Appliance OS

VxUpdate repository management

The appliance VxUpdate commands control the VxUpdate package repository contents. Do not attempt to manually modify or update the repository without the use of the VxUpdate commands. If you populate the repository with all the client packages for all platforms, you need approximately 20 GB of space on the appliance master server. This amount does not include any engineering binaries or hotfixes. Note that this is the approximate amount of space that is required for all packages for all platforms for each NetBackup version.

The AddPkg option verifies and populates the repository with supported VxUpdate client and NetBackup EEB packages. Veritas signs the VxUpdate packages. Attempts to populate the repository with unofficial or unsigned packages fails. These packages are referenced in the deployment policies that install NetBackup on target hosts. When you use the AddPkg option to populate the repository, be mindful of the required disk space. The master server must have enough disk space to store packages for the NetBackup versions and platforms that are specified in deployment policies.

The package types you can load into the repository include:

  • VxUpdate client packages

    You can upgrade NetBackup clients to a newer version of NetBackup with VxUpdate. These packages are slightly different from standard NetBackup client packages. The packages include additional components to support the various VxUpdate operations.

  • Emergency binaries (EEBs) and hotfixes

    You can use VxUpdate to deploy emergency binaries and hotfixes to NetBackup 8.1.2 and later clients. You can obtain VxUpdate formatted EEBs from Support in the same way you obtain traditional EEBs. These EEBs are only for NetBackup version 8.1.2 and later. Any client hotfixes that Veritas creates for NetBackup 8.1.2 and later releases include VxUpdate formatted fixes.

VxUpdate formatted packages are available from the Veritas Support licensing portal. Emergency binaries and hotfixes are obtained from the standard locations. You should download the VxUpdate versions of these packages and place them in a location accessible to the master server. Once they are accessible to your master server, you can add them to the VxUpdate package repository.

Downloading Veritas approved NetBackup client packages

  1. Go to the Veritas Support licensing portal.
  2. Enter your user name and password.
  3. Select Licensing.
  4. Enter or select your account number.
  5. Select Apply Filters
  6. Select your account number from the resulting table.

    This action presents a listing of your entitlements. From here, you have the ability to download the associated software.

  7. Select Downloads
  8. Use the filter options to limit the results to the NetBackup product line and the appropriate product version.

    Add your filters and select Apply Filters.

  9. Under Actions, select the download icon
  10. In the resulting table, select the VxUpdate packages and then select Download.

    The client packages follow the naming convention shown: vxupdate_nbclient_version_operatingsystem_platform.sja

  11. Download the files to a local machine, then upload the files to /inst/patch/incoming on the appliance. Next, upload the files to the appliance as follows:

    • On the machine with the downloaded files, log in to the NetBackup Appliance Web Console and navigate to Manage > Software Updates.

    • Select the downloaded files and upload them to the appliance.

  12. Run the following command to verify that all packages have been downloaded and extracted:

    Main > Manage > Software > List Downloaded

  13. After you have verified that all of the downloaded and extracted packages are listed, add the packages to the NetBackup package repository.

    See Adding packages to the VxUpdate package repository.

Adding packages to the VxUpdate package repository

VxUpdate can only use the Veritas signed packages that you add to the VxUpdate package repository. Use the VxUpdate AddPkg option to add packages to the repository. This command also adds metadata to the EMM database and places the packages in the repository directory structure on the file system. You can use the Listpkgs option to list the contents of the package repository to verify that a package was added.

To add packages to the repository

  1. On the appliance master server, log in to the NetBackup Appliance Shell Menu as an administrator and navigate to the following menu:

    Main > Manage > Software > VxUpdate

  2. Run the AddPkg package_name option, where package_name is the client package name.

    Example: AddPkg vxupdate_nbclient_8.2_suse_ppc64le.sja

  3. To view the repository and verify that the package was added, run the ListPkgs option.
  4. To see the package details, run the ShowPkgDetails n option, where n is the package ID number.
Deleting packages from the VxUpdate package repository

You can delete packages from the repository either when they are no longer needed or to conserve disk space. For example, delete the NetBackup 8.1.2 packages once all of the clients are upgraded to that version. Use the DelPkg option to delete packages. To verify that a package was deleted, use the ListPkgs option to list all existing packages.

To delete packages from the repository

  1. On the appliance master server, log in to the NetBackup Appliance Shell Menu as an administrator and navigate to the following menu:

    Main > Manage > Software > VxUpdate

  2. To view a list of the packages in the repository, run the ListPkgs option and take note of the ID number that identifies each package.
  3. Run the DelPkg ID option to delete any unused packages.

    Example: DelPkg 1

For more information about VxUpdate command options, see the NetBackup Appliance Commands Reference Guide.