How to manually test VMware Instant Recovery NFS connections between media server and ESX host

Description

This article was created to verify if the ESX host can talk to the NFS server created by NetBackup. The NFS server is the server running the nbfsd process which is usually the media server that performed the backup.

On the NetBackup media server run the below command to open the NFS server connection:

1. Configure VERBOSE = 5 verbosity on the Media Server and created the nbfsd log:
   • Windows: install_path\NetBackup\logs\nbfsd
   • UNIX/Linux: /usr/openv/netbackup/logs/nbfsd
2. Perform the following operation from command line:
   • nbfsd -k -v 5 -p -j <job_id> -B <backup_id> -U IR_ESX -c <media_server> -O x/<esxhost_mastername>
     • Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\
     • UNIX/Linux: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/
   • Where the values are as described below:
     • "-j" is the job_id, you can specify any value.
     • "-B" is the backup_id of the VMware Backup you are trying to run.
     • "-c" is the media server that will be mounting the backup image.
     • "-O" This is a combination of the ESX host name and the media server name.
   • Example:
     • nbfsd.exe -k -v 5 -p -j 111 -B 2003VM1_1395167798 -U IR_ESX -c nbmaster2 -O x/esx1.lab.symc_nbmaster2
PORT=7394
CRED1=3C446C7CDC1CB372D46A53BEC3C6351AE40E966DFD0C0BD57041761C5C0F83BBF14A6DFBE0359FED2BC536D5B845CFC9A0A76DB05133992DEB49E9DFA0E5A653
CRED2=B62848C6773101E51A0EFEF25008C40C7480CBF46D0C688B49C3A17FD48E3BF018034C79BA585C6552D52B37B3C022773C7B3C82254311A01B6807EE6CE312B3
NBFSD STARTED 0
3. Perform the below command to mount the image onto the ESX host:
   • nbfs vmmount -cred <cred1> -server <media_server> -port 7394 -vmserver <virtual_center> -esxhost <esx_host> <new_name_of_NFS_data_store>
     • Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\
     • UNIX/Linux: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/
   • Where the values are as described below:
     • "-cred" this is the cred1 out from the previous nbfsd command.
     • "-server" this is the media server.
     • "-vmserver" this is the virtual center server or ESX host if no virtual center is available.
     • "-esxhost" this is the ESX host that is mounting the NFS.
     • "<new_name_of_NFS_data_store>" this will be the name of the NFS datastore after it is mounted.
   • Example:
     • nbfs.exe vmmount -cred 3C446C7CDC1CB372D46A53BEC3C6351AE40E966DFD0C0BD57041761C5C0F83BBF14A6DFBE0359FED2BC536D5B845CFC9A0A76DB05133992DEB49E9DFA0E5A653 -server nbmaster2 -port 7394 -vmserver vcenter1 -esxhost esx1.lab.symc NBU_IR_nbmaster2_esx1
EXIT_STATUS=0
4. This command can be used to show out the mount point on the Media Server:
   • nbfs showmount -server nbmaster2
Directories on nbmaster2:
/NBUFS_F_esx1.lab.symc_nbmaster2
EXIT_STATUS=0
5. To test network connectivity run the following on the Media Server to verify nbfsd is listening:
   • netstat -ano | findstr 7394
  TCP    0.0.0.0:7394           0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING       6908
  UDP    0.0.0.0:7394           *:*                                    6908
   • tasklist | findstr 6908
nbfsd.exe                     6908 RDP-Tcp#0                  2     16,572 K
   • Next on the ESX host try to connect to the nbfsd port on the media server:
     • # ssh -p 7394 nbmaster2
   • If it connects, no message is returned and it doesn't return to prompt.
   • Run the following from the media server to view the established connection:
     • netstat -ano | findstr 7394
  TCP    0.0.0.0:7394           0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING       6908
  TCP    192.168.2.38:7394      192.168.2.20:56662     ESTABLISHED     6908
  UDP    0.0.0.0:7394           *:*                                    6908
   • If it doesn't connect you will see messages like:
     • ssh: connect to host nbmaster2 port 7394: Connection refused
   • Either nbfsd is not listening on the Media Server or the connection is blocked between the ESX host and the Media Server.
   • Please open port 7394 for NFS connectivity, and port 902/443 for ESX communication.
6. Perform the following to unmount the NFS datastore.
   • From the Virtual Center, unmount the NFS datastore from ESX host using the ESX storage tab.
7. Unmount the NFS connection from the ESX host run the following from the media server:
   • nbfs vmunmount -f -cred <cred2> -server <media_server> -port 7394 -vmserver <virtual_center> -esxhost <esx_host> <name_of_NFS_data_store>
   • Where the values are as described below:
     • "-cred" this is the cred2 out from the previous nbfsd command.
     • "-server" this is the media server.
     • "-vmserver" this is the virtual center server or ESX host if no virtual center is available.
     • "-esxhost" this is the ESX host that is mounting the NFS.
     • "<name_of_NFS_data_store>" this will be the name of the NFS datastore from the previous command.
   • Example:
     • nbfs.exe vmunmount -f -cred B62848C6773101E51A0EFEF25008C40C7480CBF46D0C688B49C3A17FD48E3BF018034C79BA585C6552D52B37B3C022773C7B3C82254311A01B6807EE6CE312B3 -server nbmaster2 -port 7394 -vmserver vcenter1 -esxhost esx1.lab.symc NBU_IR_nbmaster2_esx1
EXIT_STATUS=0
8. Lastly, Control + C out of the nbfsd command ran in Step 1.
   • Then verify that the NFS is unmounted.
   • Example:
     • nbfs.exe showmount -server nbmaster2
Directories on nbmaster2:
EXIT_STATUS=0