How to use the 7.6.0.1 policy attribute, "Enable optimized backup of Windows deduplicated volumes"

Description

In NetBackup 7.6.0.1 there is a new policy attribute called "Enable optimized backup of Windows deduplicated volumes". References to this feature can be found in the 7.6.0.1 NetBackup Administrators Guide Volume 1 as well as the NetBackup Release Notes for 7.6.0.1. This article is designed to complement the existing documentation.

The new policy attribute in 7.6.0.1:

Backing up Optimized NTFS backup data - what to know:

1. To backup a Microsoft Windows deduplicated file system correctly, ensure that the Windows deduplication store files are included in the backup policy. The Windows deduplication store files are located in the following directory of a disk drive:
   driveletter:\System Volume Information\dedup
   
   If you select an entire drive letter, the deduplication store files are included in the backup.
   
   If you select files and folders but not the entire drive letter, the deduplication store files are not included. You must also select the deduplication store files as the first Backup Selection in the Policy.
   
   If you do not include the deduplication store files in the backup, NetBackup cannot determine if the file system is deduplicated. Backups become larger than the actual amount of deduplicated data and the backup may be incomplete.
   
   If you do not include the deduplication store files in the backup as the first object on the list, the backup will complete. So will restores. But the restored data will be corrupt.
    
2. With current versions of NetBackup (8.x and newer) the Policy must be configured to use supported Disk Storage Units.   Any sort of Disk Storage supported by the Granular Backup feature is supported - i.e. Basic Disk, Advanced Disk, MSDP/PDDO, etc (see TN 100038019 for details).  Tape storage is not supported.
    
3. The client's NetBackup Client Service must run with a named Administrator account (not LocalSystem) (Granular Backup requirement)
4. The client must have Client for NFS installed (Granular Backup requirement)

Restoring Optimized NTFS backup data - what to know:

1. The data must be restored to an OS which supports NTFS Deduplication
2. The storage unit on which the image resides must be of a type supported by the Granular Backup feature (see TN 100038019)
3. Although the data does not need to be restored to an NTFS Deduplication enabled volume, it can not be restored to the C:\ drive or an REFS volume
4. On the client, the NetBackup Client Service must be changed from LocalSystem to a named account (see note above)
5. The service named Client for NFS must be installed and running on the destination client (see note above)
6. Images created using the "Enable optimized backup of Windows deduplicated volumes" policy attribute selected will only be visible in Backup Archive and Restore after switching the Select Restore Type to Optimized Backups

Example:
 

6. As indicated above, whether backing up using ALL_LOCAL_DRIVES or if backing up individual whole volumes, or if backing up partial volumes, for a successful optimized backup, the content under driveletter:\System Volume Information\Dedup should always be backed up. As such, should always display this same content in Backup Archive and Restore. Whether restoring the whole volume or individual files, under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should "driveletter:\System Volume Information\" ever be restored. Doing so could corrupt the NTFS Deduplication ChunkStore and Database.

Example: Uncheck System Volume Information before running a restore:

Known Limitation:  If the policy attribute Use Accelerator is used in combination with Enable optimized backup of Windows deduplicated volumes, restores of NTFS Deduplicated data may result in a failure to restore individual files, with error code "error: 8056530c" appearing in the client-side TAR log, for each deduplicated file restored. If you are encountering such a restore error, call Veritas Support for assistance.  The issue with Accelerator is resolved in 10.1.  If using Accelerator it is recommended to have NetBackup 10.1 or greater installed on the Primary, Media Server and Client.

Applies To

Select this attribute to enable the backup of deduplicated data as provided by certain Microsoft Windows operating system versions including Windows 2012 Server and Windows 2012 R2. If a client has a deduplicated file system configured, NetBackup backs up the deduplicated data. If the client is not set up for deduplication or does not support deduplication, then a normal file backup occurs.

Note: For easier management, Veritas recommends creating a separate policy to back up deduplicated volumes

Note: Only full backups are optimized. Incremental and user backups are backed up as normal files

*** See the NetBackup Administrator's Guide Volume 1 for detailed instructions on installing and configuring NFS for Granular processing ***

Note: The service named Server for NFS must be installed on the NetBackup Media Server doing the restore. It must be Stopped and Disabled. Without this service present, this message will be produced in Activity Monitor upon a restore attempt:

4/15/2014 5:48:36 PM - Info bpbrm(pid=5568) starting bptm
4/15/2014 5:48:43 PM - Error bpbrm(pid=5568) cannot start nbfsd on nbmedia01.vlab1.com
... (content removed for clarity) ...
4/15/2014 5:48:43 PM - begin reading
4/15/2014 5:48:43 PM - Error bptm(pid=5476) cannot write data to socket, 10053
4/15/2014 5:48:43 PM - Info tar32(pid=1388) done. status: 5
4/15/2014 5:48:43 PM - Error bptm(pid=5476) The following files/folders were not restored:
4/15/2014 5:48:44 PM - Info bptm(pid=4696) EXITING with status 24 <----------
4/15/2014 5:48:44 PM - Info tar32(pid=1388) done. status: 24: socket write failed
4/15/2014 5:48:44 PM - Error bpbrm(pid=5568) client restore EXIT STATUS 24: socket write failed
4/15/2014 5:48:44 PM - restored image nbclient3_1397230089 - (socket write failed(24)); restore time 0:00:12
4/15/2014 5:48:44 PM - Warning bprd(pid=5656) Restore must be resumed prior to first image expiration on 4/25/2014 11:28:09 AM
4/15/2014 5:48:44 PM - end Restore; elapsed time: 0:00:13
MS-Windows policy restore error (2808)

Note: The service named Client for NFS must be installed and running on the NetBackup Client. Without this service Installed and Running, this message will be produced in Activity Monitor upon a restore attempt:

4/15/2014 2:07:20 PM - Error bpbrm(pid=5936) from client nbclient3: ERR - Client for NFS service is either not installed or not running.
4/15/2014 2:07:20 PM - Info tar32(pid=2024) done. status 0
4/15/2014 2:07:20 PM - Info tar32(pid=2024) done. status: 5
4/15/2014 2:07:20 PM - Info bptm(pid=2228) completed reading backup image
4/15/2014 2:07:20 PM - Info bptm(pid=2228) EXITING with status 0 <----------
4/15/2014 2:07:20 PM - Info tar32(pid=2024) done. status: 5: the restore failed to recover the requested files
4/15/2014 2:07:20 PM - Error bpbrm(pid=5936) client restore EXIT STATUS 5: the restore failed to recover the requested files
4/15/2014 2:07:20 PM - restored image nbclient3_1397230089 - (the restore failed to recover the requested files(5)); restore time 0:00:11
4/15/2014 2:07:20 PM - Warning bprd(pid=6700) Restore must be resumed prior to first image expiration on 4/25/2014 11:28:09 AM
4/15/2014 2:07:20 PM - end Restore; elapsed time: 0:00:12
MS-Windows policy restore error (2808)

Note: The service named Client for NFS on the client must be configured to "Log On As" the account called "Network Service". Without this service configured accordingly, this message will be produced in Activity Monitor upon a restore attempt:

4/24/2014 12:15:45 PM - Error bpbrm(pid=5716) from client nbclient3: ERR - Unable to NFS mount the required file system.
4/24/2014 12:15:45 PM - Info tar32(pid=2800) done. status 0
4/24/2014 12:15:45 PM - Info tar32(pid=2800) done. status: 5
4/24/2014 12:15:45 PM - Info tar32(pid=2800) done. status: 5: the restore failed to recover the requested files
4/24/2014 12:15:45 PM - Error bpbrm(pid=5716) client restore EXIT STATUS 5: the restore failed to recover the requested files
4/24/2014 12:15:45 PM - restored image nbclient3_1398355746 - (the restore failed to recover the requested files(5)); restore time 0:01:13
4/24/2014 12:15:45 PM - Warning bprd(pid=4972) Restore must be resumed prior to first image expiration on 5/8/2014 12:09:06 PM
4/24/2014 12:15:46 PM - end Restore; elapsed time: 0:01:14
MS-Windows policy restore error (2808)

These errors are observed in the client side nbfsd log:

12:14:44.561 [628.3020] <8> _nbfs_mount_info_get_name: WNetOpenEnum() failed, error = 67
12:14:44.561 [628.3020] <8> _nbfs_mount_info_set: unable to determine last export name
12:14:44.561 [628.3020] <2> _nbfs_connect: adding connection for nbmaster.vlab1.com:/NBUFS_A_D719CB981BBA1D79_000
12:14:44.577 [628.3020] <16> _nbfs_connect: WNetAddConnection2() failed, error = 5
12:14:45.591 [628.3020] <16> _nbfs_connect: WNetAddConnection2() failed, error = 5

Note: The NetBackup Client Service, on the client must be changed from LocalSystem to an account which has Local Administrative permissions. This is most critical for restores. Without making this adjustment, this message will be produced in Activity Monitor upon a restore attempt:

Note: In some environments where the LocalSystem has account has undergone security hardening, it may also be necessary to adjust the NetBackup Legacy Client Service and NetBackup Legacy Network Service to run with an account which has full Local Administrative permissions

4/15/2014 11:02:46 AM - end reading; read time: 0:00:00
4/15/2014 11:02:46 AM - Error bpbrm(pid=6448) from client nbclient3: ERR - Process is running under LocalSystem account. This is not allowed for nbfsd activity. Please reconfigure the NetBackup Client Service to log on as a different account.
4/15/2014 11:02:46 AM - Info tar32(pid=4940) done. status 0
4/15/2014 11:02:46 AM - Info bptm(pid=6896) completed reading backup image
4/15/2014 11:02:46 AM - Info bptm(pid=6896) EXITING with status 0 <----------
4/15/2014 11:02:46 AM - Info tar32(pid=4940) done. status: 5
4/15/2014 11:02:46 AM - Info tar32(pid=4940) done. status: 5: the restore failed to recover the requested files
4/15/2014 11:02:46 AM - Error bpbrm(pid=6448) client restore EXIT STATUS 5: the restore failed to recover the requested files
4/15/2014 11:02:46 AM - restored image nbclient3_1397573269 - (the restore failed to recover the requested files(5)); restore time 0:00:11
4/15/2014 11:02:46 AM - Warning bprd(pid=7012) Restore must be resumed prior to first image expiration on 4/29/2014 10:47:49 AM
4/15/2014 11:02:47 AM - end Restore; elapsed time: 0:00:13
MS-Windows policy restore error (2808)

Note:  If restore of NTFS Deduplicated data works from one disk type (like Basic Disk) but not another (like MSDP), please open a case with Veritas Support to investigate further.