NetBackup™ for Greenplum Administrator's Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): NetBackup & Alta Data Protection (11.0)
  1. Introducing NetBackup for Greenplum
    1.  
      About NetBackup for Greenplum
    2.  
      NetBackup for Greenplum terminology
    3.  
      Features of NetBackup for Greenplum
    4.  
      NetBackup for Greenplum technical overview
    5.  
      Sequence of operation for NetBackup for Greenplum backups
  2. Installing NetBackup for Greenplum
    1.  
      Verifying the operating system and platform compatibility
    2.  
      NetBackup server and client requirements
    3.  
      Greenplum server software requirements
  3. Configuring NetBackup for Greenplum
    1.  
      About NetBackup for Greenplum configuration
    2. About configuring a backup policy for Greenplum
      1.  
        Adding a NetBackup for Greenplum policy
      2.  
        About policy attributes
      3.  
        Schedule properties
      4. NetBackup for Greenplum backup types
        1.  
          Configure an application backup schedule
        2.  
          Example application backup schedule
        3.  
          Configure automatic backup schedules
        4.  
          Example automatic backup schedule
      5.  
        Add clients to a policy
      6.  
        Adding NetBackup for Greenplum scripts to the backup selections list
    3. About the backup script for NetBackup for Greenplum
      1.  
        Modify the backup script for NetBackup for Greenplum
    4.  
      Best practices for Greenplum backups
    5.  
      Configuration options for backup jobs
    6.  
      Use of the --jobs option or backup streams and the effect on NetBackup jobs and throttling options
    7.  
      The nbgpbackup_config.yaml file
    8.  
      About permissions for NetBackup for Greenplum log files
    9.  
      Perform a manual backup
  4. Using NetBackup for Greenplum
    1.  
      About Greenplum database backups
    2.  
      Perform a user-directed backup for Greenplum
    3. About restoring a Greenplum database
      1.  
        Restore a Greenplum database
      2.  
        Redirect a restore to a different Greenplum configuration
  5. Troubleshooting NetBackup for Greenplum
    1. NetBackup debug logs and reports
      1.  
        Enabling the debug logs manually
      2.  
        About the bphdb directory on the database client
      3.  
        Setting the debug level
      4.  
        About NetBackup server reports
    2.  
      Minimizing time-out failures on large database restores
    3.  
      Troubleshooting of Greenplum backups that are canceled mid-backup
  6. Appendix A. Register authorized locations
    1.  
      Registering authorized locations used by a NetBackup database script-based policy

The nbgpbackup_config.yaml file

The backup and restore commands for Greenplum require the use of a plug-in configuration file in yaml format. The example script creates a plug-in configuration file when the backup policy runs.

An example yaml file is installed with the NetBackup for Greenplum plug-in at the following location:

/usr/openv/netbackup/ext/db_ext/greenplum/scripts/nbgpbackup_config.yaml

If you want to run gpbackup or gprestore from the command line you must create your own nbgpbackup_config.yaml file.

Note: Do not save custom scripts in the scripts directory. Subsequent NetBackup upgrades can overwrite your site's scripts.

Supported options for the nbgpbackup_config.yaml file

The following options are supported for the nbgpbackup_config.yaml file if you need to customize how backups or restores run or improve performance.

Table: Options in the nbgpbackup_config.yaml file

Option

Description

Backup option

Restore option

buffer_size

The size of the shared memory buffer to use, in bytes. It should be a multiple of 512 bytes.

The default is 512.

This setting also applies when you use the option incremental_optimize_restore.

Yes

Yes

coordinator

The host name of the coordinator host.

No

Yes

coordinator_hosts

A comma-separated list of host names. This list is used for a redirected restore to another client to find files at restore time.

No

Yes

end_image_timeout

The number of seconds for a NetBackup job to wait for another file before it ends the image.

The default is 15 seconds.

Yes

No

error_shutdown_timer

The number of seconds for a nbgpbackup worker process to stay alive without doing anything.

The default is 36000 seconds.

Yes

No

incremental_optimize_restore

Enables an optimized restore that creates a job per image. No disk cache is used.

The default is off.

When set to on, this option requires the coordinator option.

No

Yes

keyword

A keyword that can be associated with NetBackup images. Corresponds to NBBSA_KEYWORD.

Yes

No

number_of_buffers

The number of shared memory buffers to use per shared memory segment.

The default is 30.

This setting also applies when you use the option incremental_optimize_restore.

Yes

Yes

number_of_streams

The number of NetBackup backup streams to use per host.

See Best practices for Greenplum backups.

Yes

No

optimize_restore

Enables an optimized restore which caches entire images to disk so the subsequent file restores are faster.

Options are on or off. The default is off. Requires that optimized_restore_directory is also specified.

The NetBackup for Greenplum agent makes every attempt to clean up the cache directory. However, if there are errors during the restore you may have to manually clean up the cache directory on all segment hosts.

No

Yes

optimize_restore_directory

The parent directory to use for an optimized restore.

The directory that is specified is created if it doesn't exist. Any parent directories are not created.

For example, if /a/b/c is specified then nbgpbackup tries to create the c directory if it isn't present. It does not try to create /a/b.

The directory is deleted after a successful restore.

No

Yes

policy

The NetBackup policy to use for backup. This option is required for a backup. Corresponds to NBBSA_POLICY.

Yes

No

read_delay

The number of milliseconds to wait before NetBackup evaluates if a shared memory buffer is full.

The default is 10 milliseconds.

Yes

Yes

restore_timeout

The number of seconds for an incremental optimized restore to wait for an empty buffer.

The default is 300 seconds.

If you adjust the Client read timeout setting in the media server host properties, it is recommended that you also set the restore_timeout to the same value.

No

Yes

schedule

The NetBackup schedule to use for a backup. Required for a backup. Corresponds to NBBSA_SCHEDULE.

Yes

No

server

The NetBackup primary server to use. If not specified then the first server that is listed in the bp.conf is used. Corresponds to BSA_SERVICE_HOST.

Yes

Yes

segment_hosts

A comma-separated list of host names. This list is used for a redirected restore to another client to find files at restore time.

No

Yes

server_read_timeout

The number of seconds that bpbrm on the media server waits before it times out. This setting overrides the client_read_timeout value on the media server that is configured for bpbrm. The default value is 0 seconds, which instructs NetBackup to use the client_read_timeout value for the media server.

Yes

Yes

shutdown_process_timer

The number of seconds for any nbgpbackup worker processes to stay alive after they think all backup operations are complete.

The default is 2 seconds.

Yes

No

write_delay

The number of milliseconds to wait before NetBackup verifies that a shared memory buffer is empty.

The default is 15.

Yes

Yes