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Veritas NetBackup™ Upgrade Guide

Last Published: 2018-09-24

Product(s): NetBackup (8.1.2)

Repository management

With the introduction of VxUpdate, Veritas no longer supports LiveUpdate. As a result, Veritas no longer requires the user to set up an external repository to hold the NetBackup packages. This functionality is included with the NetBackup master server. With VxUpdate, the nbrepo command controls the package repository management. Do not attempt to manually modify or update the repository without the use of the nbrepo command. If you populate the repository with all the NetBackup 8.1.2 client packages for all platforms, you need approximately 8 GB of space on the master server. This amount does not include any engineering binaries or hotfixes. Please be aware this size is the approximate amount of space that is required for all packages for all client platforms for each NetBackup version.

The nbrepo command verifies and populates the repository with NetBackup packages. Veritas signs the VxUpdate packages. Attempts to populate the repository with unofficial or unsigned NetBackup packages fails. These packages are referenced in the deployment policies that install NetBackup on target hosts. When you use the nbrepo command 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 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.

Downloading Veritas NetBackup approved client packages

VxUpdate formatted packages are available from the myveritas.com 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 NetBackup package repository.

Go to the myveritas.com licensing portal.
Enter your user name and password.
Select Licensing.
Enter or select your account number.
Select Apply Filters
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.
Select Downloads
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.
Under Actions, select the download icon
In the resulting table, select the VxUpdate packages and then select Download.
The packages follow the naming convention shown: vxupdate_nbclient_version_operating_system_platform.sja
Download and extract the files to a temporary location on your computer.

When you finish downloading and extracting all the relevant packages to your computer, add the packages to the NetBackup package repository. More information about this topic is available.

See “Adding packages to the NetBackup package repository”.

Adding packages to the NetBackup package repository

VxUpdate can only use the Veritas signed packages that you added to the NetBackup package repository. Use the nbrepo command to add packages to the repository. This command adds metadata to the EMM database and places the packages in the repository directory structure on the file system. You can use the nbrepo command to list the contents of the package repository as well as the details about individual packages.

Navigate to the admincmd directory from a command prompt.
UNIX or Linux: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd
Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\
Use the nbrepo command with the -a option:
nbrepo -a package_path
Example: nbrepo -a C:\temp\nbclient_8.1.2_windows_x64.sja
Please be aware you cannot use a Universal Naming Convention file path for the package location.
After successfully verifying and adding the package to the repository, the command returns a success message.
More information about the nbrepo command is available.
NetBackup Commands Reference Guide
When there are packages in the repository that are no longer used, remove the packages. More information is available.
See “Removing packages from the NetBackup package repository”.

Removing packages from the NetBackup package repository

You can remove packages from the repository either when they are no longer needed or to conserve disk space. For example, remove the NetBackup 8.1.2 packages once all of the clients are upgraded to that version. Use the nbrepo command to remove packages. Use of the -pkgDetails option shows the package details, including the file system path and other package attributes. To verify that a package is removed, use the nbrepo command to list all packages. You can confirm that the package is no longer in the repository. You can also verify that the package is no longer located at the file system path.

Navigate to the admincmd directory from a command prompt.
UNIX or Linux: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd
Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\
Use the nbrepo command with the -l option to list all the packages and their identifiers.
nbrepo -l
Use the nbrepo command with the -d option to delete any unused packages.
nbrepo -d package_identifier
Example: nbrepo -d 6
More information about the nbrepo command is available.
NetBackup Commands Reference Guide