How to back up CIFS shares on Windows with NetBackup

Problem

NAS devices are commonly configured as CIFS shares in a Windows environment. The NetBackup client software cannot be installed on these devices and therefore cannot be considered NetBackup clients and backed up in the conventional manner. These are not be confused with NDMP hosts where the NDMP agent can be used.

Solution

For this to work, a backup host must be selected. The backup host can be any system with the NetBackup client software installed, including NetBackup servers. In most situations, the media server will be the best system to use as a client as it's directly connected to the storage unit. There are other instances where a different host may be ideal:

1. The media server does not have a fast connection to the share but another client does. In this situation, the fast connection between the client and share can be used to access the data for backup.
   • If the connection from client and media server is slow consider sending less data across that connection by using methods like client side compression or deduplication.
2. A SAN Client with a fast connection to the share can also be used. In this situation, traffic to the media server is sent over the SAN, avoiding the LAN.

Once a backup host (client) is selected, configure as follows:

1. Create a MS-Windows backup policy. Specify the backup host as the client. Specify the UNC path from the backup host to the CIFS share as the Backup Selection. Other options can be added if desired. Example: \\backupnas01\data\
2. On the backup host, create a service account within Active Directory (AD) that has both read and write permission to the NAS device.
   • Confirm the backup host has sufficient permissions on the share by logging into it with the service account and read and create files on the share.
   • Make sure the user has administrator access on the client to start the services in step D below.
3. When no backup or restore operations are in progress on the backup host, stop the NetBackup services with 'bpdown -f -v'. Confirm the services have been stopped with 'bpps'.
   • If services are still running, use 'bpdown -f -v' again, or stop them manually in the Services MMC.
4. In the Services MMC, change the Nbelow 3 services to run as the AD service account created and tested in step B above.
   • NetBackup Client Service
   • NetBackup Legacy Client Service
   • NetBackup Legacy Network Service
5. Restart the NetBackup services on the backup host with 'bpup -f -v'. Confirm the services are running with 'bpps'.
6. Initiate the backup. The client will access the CIFS share using the AD service account and read the data for backup. A restore will behave the same way in reverse.
   • If the backup job fails with a read failure such as 13, check to make sure the NetBackup Client Service started and is running with the AD service account as well as the account's access to the share.

Applies To

Common NAS manufacturers include BlueArc, Buffalo Technologies, Cisco, HP, Iomega, and many others. These devices are disk only devices with network interfaces that are configured as CIFS shares to share files. CIFS shares are not to be confused with NFS mount points which are used in Unix environments.