NetBackup™ for Hyper-V Administrator's Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): NetBackup (10.5)
  1. Introduction
    1.  
      About Hyper-V
    2.  
      NetBackup for Hyper-V environment
    3.  
      Hyper-V terminology related to backup
    4.  
      Basic phases in a NetBackup backup of a Hyper-V virtual machine
    5.  
      NetBackup administrator tasks for Hyper-V
    6.  
      Quick reference for troubleshooting
  2. Notes and prerequisites
    1.  
      NetBackup for Hyper-V prerequisites
    2.  
      NetBackup for Hyper-V notes and restrictions
    3.  
      NetBackup character restrictions for Hyper-V virtual machine display names
    4.  
      NetBackup character restrictions for vhd or vhdx names and the VM path when the Enable file recovery from VM backup option is used
    5.  
      Notes on Linux virtual machines
  3. Configure NetBackup communication with Hyper-V
    1.  
      Changing the NetBackup Legacy Network Service logon (vnetd.exe) to the domain user account
    2.  
      Setting global limits on the use of Hyper-V resources
  4. Configure NetBackup policies for Hyper-V
    1.  
      Creating a Hyper-V policy
    2.  
      Limit jobs per policy on the Attributes tab (for Hyper-V)
    3.  
      Virtual machine host names and display names should be unique if VMs are selected manually in the policy
    4. Backup options on the Hyper-V tab
      1.  
        Backup method (Hyper-V)
      2.  
        Optimization options (Hyper-V)
      3.  
        Primary VM identifier option (Hyper-V)
      4.  
        Enable offline backup of non-VSS VMs (Hyper-V with VSS)
      5.  
        Cluster shared volumes timeout (Hyper-V with VSS)
    5. Hyper-V - Advanced attributes
      1.  
        Provider type configuration parameter (VSS)
      2.  
        Snapshot attribute configuration parameter (VSS)
      3.  
        Virtual disk selection parameter (WMI)
      4.  
        Existing snapshot handling parameter (WMI)
      5.  
        Consistency level parameter (WMI)
      6.  
        About the exclude disk options for virtual disk selection
      7.  
        Virtual disk selection options: an example to avoid
      8.  
        Restoring data from the backups that excluded the boot disk or data disks
    6.  
      Browse for Hyper-V virtual machines
    7.  
      Prerequisites for alternate client backup of a virtual machine (VSS)
    8.  
      Configure an alternate client backup of virtual machines
    9.  
      Requirements for a NetBackup client inside the virtual machine
  5. Configure Hyper-V Intelligent Policies
    1.  
      About Hyper-V Intelligent Policy (automatic selection of virtual machines for backup)
    2.  
      The basics of a NetBackup query rule
    3.  
      Important notes on Hyper-V Intelligent Policy
    4.  
      NetBackup requirements for Hyper-V Intelligent Policy
    5.  
      Setting up Hyper-V Intelligent Policy: Task overview
    6.  
      Options for selecting Hyper-V virtual machines
    7.  
      Creating a Hyper-V policy for automatic virtual machine selection
    8.  
      Edit or remove a query in Basic mode
    9.  
      Using the Query Builder in Advanced mode
    10.  
      AND vs. OR in queries
    11.  
      Examples for the NetBackup Query Builder
    12.  
      The IsSet operator in queries
    13.  
      About selecting virtual machines by means of multiple policies
    14.  
      Order of operations in queries (precedence rules)
    15.  
      Parentheses in compound queries
    16.  
      Query rules for virtual machine Notes that contain a newline character
    17.  
      Query Builder field reference
    18.  
      Test Query screen for Hyper-V
    19.  
      Test Query: Failed virtual machines
    20.  
      Effect of Primary VM identifier parameter on Selection column in Test Query results
    21.  
      Effect of Primary VM identifier parameter on VM Name column in Test query results
    22.  
      Restoring a VM that was backed up with a Hyper-V Intelligent Policy and that has a pass-through disk
  6. NetBackup Hyper-V for SCVMM
    1.  
      About backup of virtual machines in an SCVMM environment
    2.  
      Notes on NetBackup for Hyper-V with SCVMM
    3.  
      Creating a query to back up VMs in a localized SCVMM environment
  7. Windows Server failover cluster support
    1.  
      About virtual machines on Windows failover clusters
    2.  
      Notes on CSV backup and restore
    3.  
      Creating a policy for virtual machines in a cluster
    4.  
      Location of the restored virtual machine in a cluster
    5. Virtual machine maintenance after a restore
      1.  
        Removal of cluster resources during restore
  8. Back up and restore Hyper-V
    1.  
      Backing up Hyper-V virtual machines
    2.  
      WMI backup method: State of the virtual machine before and after restore
    3.  
      Notes on individual file restore
    4.  
      Notes on full virtual machine restore
    5.  
      About restoring individual files
    6.  
      Restoring individual Hyper-V files to a host that has a NetBackup client
    7.  
      Restore options for restore of Hyper-V individual files (NetBackup web UI)
    8. Restoring individual Hyper-V files to a shared location on the virtual machine
      1.  
        Setting up NetBackup Client Service for restore to a shared location on the virtual machine
    9.  
      Restoring the full Hyper-V virtual machine
    10.  
      Restore Options
    11.  
      About restoring common files
    12.  
      The BAR interface may list Hyper-V snapshot files when you browse to restore Hyper-V VM files
  9. Use Accelerator to back up Hyper-V
    1.  
      About the NetBackup Accelerator for virtual machines
    2.  
      Accelerator: full vs. incremental schedules
    3.  
      How the NetBackup Accelerator works with virtual machines
    4.  
      Accelerator notes and requirements for virtual machines
    5.  
      Accelerator forced rescan for virtual machines (schedule attribute)
    6.  
      Accelerator requires the OptimizedImage attribute
    7.  
      Accelerator backups and the NetBackup catalog
    8.  
      Accelerator messages in the backup job details log
    9.  
      NetBackup logs for Accelerator with virtual machines
    10.  
      About reporting the amount of Accelerator backup data that was transferred over the network
    11.  
      Replacing the Accelerator image size with the network-transferred data in NetBackup command output
  10. Best practices and more information
    1.  
      Best practices
  11. Troubleshooting
    1. NetBackup logs for Hyper-V and how to create them
      1.  
        Enabling VxFI logging
      2.  
        Configuring VxMS and vhd logging
      3.  
        Format of the VxMS core.log and provider.log file names
    2. Errors during policy creation
      1.  
        NetBackup policy validation failed
    3. NetBackup status codes related to Hyper-V
      1.  
        Snapshot error encountered (status code 156)
    4.  
      Backup job hangs for multiple virtual machines
    5.  
      Viewing or resizing Windows NTFS shadow storage
    6.  
      The Hyper-V integration component is not installed
    7.  
      LDM volumes and status code 1
    8.  
      Hyper-V snapshots (avhd or avhdx files) and status code 1
    9.  
      When backing up the virtual machines that reside on the same CSV, Windows warning 1584 can be ignored
    10.  
      Problems with alternate client backup
    11.  
      Restored virtual machine fails to start
    12.  
      Problem with a restart of a restored virtual machine: Why did the computer shut down unexpectedly?
    13.  
      Problems with restore of individual files
    14.  
      Problems with restore of the full virtual machine
    15.  
      Increasing the WMI create disk time-out value
    16.  
      Linux VMs and persistent device naming
  12. Appendix A. VSS backup method: Hyper-V online and offline backups
    1.  
      About Hyper-V online and offline backups for VSS
    2.  
      Conditions that determine online vs. offline backup for VSS
    3.  
      Additional notes on offline backups with VSS
    4.  
      Hyper-V 2012 R2 virtual machines may be in the Off state when restored
  13. Appendix B. Hyper-V pass-through disks
    1.  
      About Hyper-V pass-through disks with NetBackup
    2.  
      Configurations for backing up pass-through disks
    3.  
      Requirements for backing up Hyper-V pass-through disks
    4.  
      Restrictions for Hyper-V pass-through disks
    5.  
      Configuring a local snapshot backup of Hyper-V pass-through disks
    6.  
      About alternate client backup of pass-through disks
    7.  
      Configuring an alternate client backup of Hyper-V pass-through disks
    8.  
      Important note on VSS and disk arrays
  14. Appendix C. NetBackup commands to back up and restore Hyper-V virtual machines
    1.  
      Using NetBackup commands to create a Hyper-V policy
    2.  
      Using NetBackup commands to create a Hyper-V Intelligent Policy
    3.  
      Notes on Hyper-V policy attributes when you use the NetBackup commands
    4.  
      The bpplinfo options for Hyper-V policies
    5. Examples of nbrestorevm for restoring VMs to Hyper-V
      1.  
        Hyper-V examples of restore to original location
      2.  
        Hyper-V examples of restore to alternate locations
    6.  
      The nbrestorevm -R rename file for Hyper-V
    7.  
      Notes on troubleshooting the nbrestorevm command for Hyper-V
    8.  
      Logs for troubleshooting the nbrestorevm command

Examples for the NetBackup Query Builder

The following table provides example query rules.

To use the Query Builder, you must click Select automatically through Hyper-V Intelligent Policy query on the Client tab.

Another topic is available on the difference between AND and OR in a query.

See AND vs. OR in queries.

Since the available Query Builder keywords depend on the Server Type that is selected on the policy Clients tab, the following examples are in two groups:

Table: Query Builder examples for server type Hyper-V Standalone/Cluster

Example query

Query result when backup job runs

No query rules specified (Query pane is empty)

All virtual machines are added to the backup list. Exceptions are those that do not have a host name, or that have invalid characters in the display name.

See Effect of Primary VM identifier parameter on Selection column in Test Query results.

Displayname Contains "prod"

All virtual machines with the display names that contain the string "prod" are added to the backup list.

See Effect of Primary VM identifier parameter on Selection column in Test Query results.

Displayname AnyOf "grayfox7","grayfox9"

The virtual machines named "grayfox7"and "grayfox9" are added to the backup list. Note that each value must be enclosed in its own quotes, with a comma in between.

powerstate Equal "poweredOn"

Any virtual machine that is turned on is added to the backup list.

powerstate Equal "poweredOn"

AND HypervServer Equal "HV_serv1"

Any virtual machine that is turned on and resides on Hyper-V server HV_serv1 is added to the backup list.

IsClustered Equal TRUE

Any virtual machine that is in a clustered Hyper-V server is added to the backup list.

Displayname Contains "pre-prod"

AND IsClustered Equal FALSE

Any virtual machine with a display name containing "pre-prod" and that is not in a clustered Hyper-V server is added to the backup list.

IsClustered Equal TRUE

AND Notes Contains "pre-prod"

Adds to the backup list any virtual machine in a clustered Hyper-V server if the virtual machine has "pre-prod" in its Notes field.

Displayname StartsWith "prod"

OR Notes Contains "prod"

Adds to the backup list any virtual machine with a display name starting with "prod" or with Notes that contain "prod."

ConfigurationVersion Greater "5"

Adds to the backup list any virtual machine that has a VM configuration version greater than 5.

Table: Query Builder examples for server type System Center Virtual Machine Manager

Example query

Query result when backup job runs

Name StartsWith "prod"

Adds to the backup list any VMs that have a display name that starts with "prod".

Note:

For VMs that reside under SCVMM, a Hyper-V Intelligent policy can back up VMs by their host name even if they are powered off. In this example: even if the policy's Primary VM identifier is set to VM hostname, VMs are added to the backup list whether they are powered on or powered off.

ComputerName Contains "VM"

Adds to the backup list any VMs that have a network host name that contains "VM".

See the note in this table for the example Name StartsWith "prod".

VMHost AnyOf "hv1","hv2"

AND Description Contains "pre-prod"

Adds to the backup list any VMs that reside on Hyper-V servers "hv1" or "hv2" if the VM has "pre-prod" in its Description field.

The SCVMM Description field is similar to the VM's Notes field in Hyper-V.

Generation Equal "2"

Adds to the backup list any VMs of Generation 2.

IsUndergoingLiveMigration Equal FALSE

Adds to the backup list any VM that is not in live migration.

VirtualMachineState Equal "Running"

Adds to the backup list any VM that is running.

Cloud Contains "cloud9"

AND HasSharedStorage Equal TRUE

Adds to the backup list any VM that meets the following: the VM is part of an SCVMM cloud that contains cloud9 in its name, if the VM is in a cluster that has shared storage.

IsHighlyAvailable Equal TRUE

AND IsFaultTolerant Equal FALSE

Adds to the backup list any VM that resides in a CSV cluster if the VM is not marked for fault tolerance.

VMConfigurationVersion Greater "5"

Adds to the backup list any virtual machine that has a VM configuration version greater than 5.

Click Advanced to see the query rule in Advanced Mode. Only Advanced Mode supports the use of parentheses for grouping sets of rules.