Bare Metal Restore (BMR) recovery failing when creating/partioning disk(s) on the target server, which has virtual devices (virtual disk or CD/DVD) that are USB attached virtual devices

Problem

The BMR recovery ' Prepare to Restore ' is initiated using the ' Current ' configuration.  The ' Current ' configuration suggests the source and target client are the same system and the client/system being recovered has had no significant hardware or configuration changes, or the hardware which was replaced was like-for-like.
During the recovery the client console will display the BMR recovery screen, but when the point is reached where the the disk configuration is being performed, problems occur.

Please refer to article https://www.veritas.com/docs/000005449 ( 000005449 ), which describes when these problems can occur for a DELL servers with the DRAC (Dell Remote Access controller) adapter.

Error Message

BMRRST log ( /usr/openv/netbackup/logs/bmrrst/log.<date>  or  <installPath>Veritas\\NetBackup\logs\bmrrst\<date>.log )

4 DEBUG CWinPeLdmDiskRestoreWorker.cpp:createSystemVolume() Successfully formatted system volume.
4 DEBUG CWinPeDiskRestoreStrategy.cpp:step() Current step=Create Data Volumes
2 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:createVolume() No disks were found for volume.
2 DEBUG CWindowsLdmDiskRestoreWorker.cpp:createDataVolumes() Could not create volume, name=Volume8, rc=10005
3 DEBUG CWindowsRestoreStrategy.cpp:configureDisks() Disk configuration step failed.

Cause

The issues can be identified, in the BMRRST log.  The list of disks discovered ' Disk Name=\Device\Harddisk# ' (NB: # = the disk ID, for example, 0, 1, 2, etc), is greater than those discovered during the BMR save configuration, or if the ' Prepare to Discover ' has been performed on the server/client which is being recovered back to.

4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Device Type=7
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Media Type=0
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Disk Name=\Device\Harddisk4
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Device Type=7
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Media Type=0
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Disk Name=\Device\Harddisk3
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Device Type=7
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Media Type=11
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Disk Name=\Device\Harddisk2
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Device Type=7
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Media Type=12
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Disk Name=\Device\Harddisk1
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Device Type=7
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Media Type=12
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Disk Name=\Device\Harddisk0
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Device Type=2
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Disk Name=\Device\CdRom1
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Device Type=51
4 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:translateWindowsDisk() Disk Name=\Device\CdRom0
1 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:enumFileSystems() Cannot get the file system properties for a given removable Media.
1 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:enumFileSystems() Cannot get the file system properties for a given removable Media.
1 DEBUG CWindowsVdsFacade.cpp:enumFileSystems() Cannot get the file system properties for a given removable Media.

In the example BMRRST log above there are five disks (Harddisk0, Harddisk1, Harddisk2, Harddisk3, Harddisk4) discovered, and two CD/DVD ROMs discovered (CdRom0, CdRom1).  However, the BMRRST log confirms there are three lines suggesting there are three removable Media devices.  This suggests at least one of the disks discovered may not be a valid, and therefore, these devices are likely to be virtual devices (USB), which BMR assumes these are local physical disk devices.
 

To enable the recovery to complete successfully, either disable the 'Virtual Media' option in the BIOS ( see technote TECH125103 ), or perform a Dissimilar Disk Restore (DDR).

Solution

To determine the ' Current ' configuration of the client, either examin through the NetBackup Administration GUI ( Bare Metal Restore Management -> Hosts -> Bare Metal Restore Clients -> <CLIENT_NAME> ), or by running the commands below;

1)  The first command displays the ' Current ' configuration and ID for the specific client

bmrs -o list -res client -name <CLIENT_NAME>

NB: To see all configurations, bmrs -o list -res config

2)  To display all the client configurations saved

bmrs -o querytree -res database -table config -id #

- Disbale the 'Virtual Media' option in the BIOS ( see article 000005449 ); or....

- Copy the ' Current ' configuration to a new configuration which can be amended manually to define the disk and volume configurations ( see article HOWTO88766 ); or....

- Perform a ' Prepare to Discover ' on the target client/server, then use the discovered client disk configurations to create a new configuration for the client ( see article HOWTO88766 ); or...

- If the above options fail to help, force the DDR screen to appear during the client console during the recovery.  Use this DDR menu to reconfigure, map and unrestrict the disk conigurations to ensure the volumes are defined correctly before the recovery continues.  Please run the following 'bmrovradm' command on the master server before the 'Prepare to restore' is initiated.

     bmrovradm -enable "Force DDR" -client <CLIENT_NAME> -configuration <CONFIGURATION_NAME_FOR_EXAMPLE_CURRENT>

NB: The BMR commands ' bmrs ' and ' bmrovradm ' are available in the directories listed below;
     UNIX/Linux:-  /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/
     Windows:-     <installPath>\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\

Applies To

NetBackup 7.5, Bare Metal Restore (BMR), Windows