Veritas NetBackup™ Snapshot Client Administrator's Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): NetBackup (8.2)
  1. Introduction
    1.  
      Snapshot Client features at a glance
    2. Snapshot Client features
      1.  
        About snapshots
      2.  
        About snapshot methods
      3.  
        About snapshot providers
      4.  
        About off-host backup support
      5.  
        About Instant Recovery
      6.  
        About FlashBackup policies
      7.  
        About snapshot methods for disk arrays
      8.  
        About block level incremental backup
      9.  
        About Snapshot Client and NDMP
    3. About snapshot basics
      1.  
        About the copy-on-write snapshot type
      2.  
        About the mirror snapshot type
    4.  
      Benefits of copy-on-write versus mirror
    5.  
      About local backup of a snapshot
    6. Off-host backup overview
      1.  
        About file and volume mapping methods
    7. Off-host backup methods
      1. About alternate client backup
        1.  
          About data sharing between clients
        2.  
          Alternate client backup split mirror examples
        3.  
          Alternate client backup through data replication example (UNIX only)
      2.  
        FlashBackup and alternate client combination example
      3.  
        NetBackup media server data mover example (UNIX only)
      4.  
        About the NDMP data mover
    8. Snapshot Client requirements
      1.  
        Snapshot Client restrictions
    9.  
      Snapshot Client terminology
    10.  
      Snapshot Client assistance
    11.  
      About open file backups for Windows
  2. Installation
    1.  
      Installation prerequisites for Snapshot Client
    2.  
      Snapshot Client installation notes
    3.  
      About distributing Client Software in mixed-platform environments
    4.  
      About creating log directories
    5.  
      About the snapshot state file
  3. Policy configuration
    1.  
      Notes on Snapshot Client policies
    2.  
      Configuring a Snapshot Client policy
    3.  
      Backup Selections tab options when configuring a policy
    4.  
      Off-host backup configuration options
    5.  
      Automatic snapshot selection
    6. Selecting the snapshot method
      1.  
        Snapshot methods
      2. Configuration parameters for Snapshot Client
        1.  
          Cache device path parameter
        2.  
          Delay in seconds between disk group split retries parameter
        3.  
          IBC receive timeout parameter (seconds)
        4.  
          IBC send timeout parameter (seconds)
        5.  
          Keep snapshot after backup parameter
        6.  
          Maximum number of volumes to resynchronize concurrently parameter
        7.  
          Maximum Snapshots parameter (Instant Recovery only)
        8.  
          Number of times to retry disk group split parameter
        9.  
          Provider Type parameter
        10.  
          Resynchronize mirror in background parameter
        11.  
          Snapshot Attribute parameter
        12.  
          Sync I/O delay in milliseconds parameter (UNIX only)
        13.  
          Sync region size in MB parameter (UNIX only)
        14.  
          Wait for mirror sync completion parameter
        15.  
          Important note on VSS and disk arrays
        16.  
          Synchronize mirror before the backup parameter
      3.  
        Snapshot Resources
    7.  
      Configuring backup scripts
    8. About using alternate client backup
      1.  
        Alternate client backup requirements
    9. Configuring alternate client backup
      1.  
        Before running the alternate client backup
      2.  
        Example alternate client backup configurations
    10. Policy configuration tips
      1.  
        Maximum pathname length
      2.  
        Snapshot tips
      3.  
        Multiple data streams
      4. About incremental backup of mirror-based snapshots
        1.  
          Incremental backup options (Windows only)
        2.  
          Snapshot sequence and access time
    11. About disabling snapshots
      1.  
        Disabling Open File Backups on Windows
      2.  
        Disabling Snapshot Client snapshots
  4. FlashBackup configuration
    1.  
      About FlashBackup
    2. FlashBackup restrictions
      1.  
        Restores of Windows encrypted files and hard links
    3.  
      Configuring a FlashBackup policy
    4. Configuring FlashBackup policy for backward compatibility (UNIX only)
      1.  
        About the cache partition
      2.  
        Requirements for the cache partition
      3.  
        Directives for multiple data streams
  5. Instant Recovery configuration
    1.  
      About Instant Recovery capabilities
    2.  
      Instant Recovery requirements
    3.  
      Instant Recovery restrictions
    4.  
      Giving full server privileges to the media server
    5. About Instant Recovery
      1.  
        About snapshot and backup for Instant Recovery
      2.  
        About NetBackup catalog maintenance
      3. About snapshot management
        1.  
          About snapshot rotation
      4. Means of controlling snapshots
        1.  
          Snapshot Resources pane
        2.  
          Maximum Snapshots parameter
    6.  
      Configuring a policy for Instant Recovery
    7. About sizing the cache for Instant Recovery copy-on-write snapshots
      1.  
        Cache size during restore
      2.  
        Setting an adequate size for the snapshot cache
      3.  
        Large restores from an Instant Recovery snapshot
    8. About configuring VxVM
      1.  
        Creating a snapshot mirror
      2. About creating Instant Snapshots
        1.  
          Creating space-optimized snapshots
        2.  
          Creating full-sized snapshots
      3.  
        Using the VxVM 3.5 GUI to configure VxVM mirrors
    9.  
      Modifying the VxVM or FlashSnap resync options for point in time rollback
    10.  
      Instant Recovery for databases
    11. About storage lifecycle policies for snapshots
      1.  
        Configuring a storage lifecycle policy to manage snapshot-based backups for Instant Recovery
      2.  
        Storage lifecycle polices and Snapshot Client troubleshooting
  6. Network Attached Storage (NAS) snapshot configuration
    1.  
      About NAS snapshot overview
    2.  
      Notes on NAS_Snapshot
    3.  
      Logging on to the NetBackup Client Service as the Administrator
    4.  
      Setting up a policy for NAS snapshots
    5.  
      NAS snapshot naming scheme
  7. Configuration of software-based snapshot methods
    1. Software-based snapshot methods
      1.  
        About nbu_snap
      2. Cache device requirements
        1.  
          Determining a size for the cache partition
        2.  
          Entering the cache
      3. About VxFS_Checkpoint
        1.  
          VxFS multi-volume system
        2.  
          Storage Checkpoint disk usage
        3.  
          Checkpoint retention schedules
        4.  
          Block-Level restore
      4.  
        About VxFS_Snapshot
      5. About VxVM
        1.  
          Creating a snapshot mirror of the source
        2.  
          About VxVM instant snapshots
        3.  
          About NetBackup snapshot methods
        4.  
          Space-Optimized instant snapshots
      6. About FlashSnap
        1.  
          Testing volumes for FlashSnap
      7. About VVR
        1.  
          VVR volume replication configuration
        2.  
          VVR name registration
        3.  
          Primary and secondary disk group and volume names for VVR
        4.  
          Testing the replication setup with VVR
      8.  
        About NAS_Snapshot
      9. About VSS
        1.  
          Disk array reconfiguration steps
        2.  
          Configuration and testing of volumes with VSS
        3.  
          Notes and restrictions on VSS
  8. Support for Cluster Volume Manager Environments (CVM)
    1.  
      About support for CVM environments
    2.  
      Note on NetBackup and CVM
    3.  
      About enabling VxVM or FlashSnap snapshots in a CVM environment
    4.  
      About enabling the NetBackup client to execute VxVM commands on the CVM master node
  9. Configuration of snapshot methods for disk arrays
    1. About the new disk array snapshot methods
      1.  
        About array-specific methods vs array-independent methods
      2.  
        Advantages of the new array-specific methods
      3.  
        About types of disk array methods
      4.  
        Important disk array method notes and restrictions
      5.  
        Disk array methods at a glance
    2. Disk array configuration tasks
      1.  
        Configuration tasks for the array administrator
      2.  
        Configuration tasks for the NetBackup administrator
      3.  
        Disk array configuration tasks diagram
    3. OS-specific configuration tasks
      1.  
        About dynamic multi-pathing
      2. HBA configuration
        1.  
          HBA persistent target bindings
      3. About Solaris sd.conf file
        1.  
          Solaris sd.conf file (Hitachi arrays only)
      4.  
        Linux modprobe.conf file
      5.  
        Verifying NetBackup client access, zoning, and LUN masking
    4. About VSS configuration (Windows)
      1.  
        Note on NetBackup array credentials
      2. Initial configuration of certain arrays
        1.  
          Creating EMC disk groups for VSS differential snapshots that use EMC TimeFinder Snap
        2.  
          Verifying that VSS can make a snapshot
        3.  
          Testing the EMC TimeFinder Snap backup
    5. About EMC CLARiiON arrays
      1.  
        EMC CLARiiON software requirements for UNIX
      2.  
        Veritas support for VSS Snapshot and EMC CLARiiON
      3.  
        Diagram of installed software for EMC CLARiiON
      4.  
        Verifying connectivity from client to array
      5.  
        About resolving host names on the network
      6. Configuring NetBackup to access the CLARiiON array
        1.  
          About using a local scope CLARiiON administrator account
      7.  
        Adding clients to a CLARiiON storage group
      8.  
        Configuring for EMC_CLARiiON_SnapView_Clone
      9.  
        Creating a clone private LUN with the EMC Navisphere Web interface
      10.  
        Creating a clone group and select a LUN as source
      11.  
        Adding clone LUNs to the clone group
      12.  
        Obtaining the device identifier for each source and clone LUN
      13.  
        About configuration for EMC_CLARiiON_SnapView_Snapshot
      14.  
        Configuring a reserved LUN pool for the storage processors
      15. Configuring a NetBackup policy for a CLARiiON array method
        1.  
          Configuring a policy using EMC_CLARiiON_Snapview_Clone method
        2.  
          Configuring the EMC_CLARiiON_Snapview_Clone method
        3.  
          EMC_CLARiiON_Snapview_Snapshot method
      16.  
        Common CLARiiON array configuration problems
    6. About EMC Symmetrix arrays
      1.  
        EMC Symmetrix DMX software requirements
      2.  
        Clone emulation flag can cause snapshots to fail
      3.  
        EMC snapshot operation fails
      4.  
        Support for EMC Symmetrix with Volume Shadow Copy Service
      5.  
        Prerequisites for using EMC Symmetrix disk arrays
      6.  
        Configuring NetBackup clients to use EMC Symmetrix
      7.  
        About configuring NetBackup to access the Symmetrix array
      8. About configuration for EMC_TimeFinder_Mirror
        1.  
          Fully synchronizing STD/BCV mirror pairs
      9. About configuration for EMC_TimeFinder_Clone
        1.  
          Verifying that the clone is complete before doing a point in time rollback
      10.  
        About configuration for EMC_TimeFinder_Snap
      11.  
        Configuring a policy for EMC_TimeFinder methods
    7. About HP EVA arrays
      1.  
        Prerequisites for working with HP EVA arrays
      2.  
        HP EVA software requirements for UNIX
      3.  
        Diagram of installed software for HP EVA
      4.  
        Veritas support for VSS Snapshot and HP EVA
      5. Verifying connectivity from clients to array using SSSU 5.0
        1.  
          Troubleshooting the SSSU procedure
        2.  
          Policy validation failure for the SSSU command
      6.  
        Configuring NetBackup to access the EVA array
      7.  
        Configuring a NetBackup policy for an HP EVA array method
      8.  
        HP EVA restrictions
    8. About IBM DS6000 and DS8000 arrays
      1.  
        IBM DS6000 and DS8000 software requirements
      2.  
        Preconfiguration for IBM arrays
      3. Configuring NetBackup to access the IBM DS6000 or DS8000 array
        1.  
          Configuring array access for NetBackup hosts not named in a policy
      4.  
        Configuring the IBM array for NetBackup
      5.  
        Using DSCLI commands to obtain unique IBM identifiers
      6.  
        Configuring a NetBackup policy for IBM_DiskStorage_FlashCopy
      7.  
        For further reference on IBM arrays
    9. About IBM DS4000 array
      1.  
        Array preconfiguration tasks
      2.  
        IBM 4000 software requirements
      3.  
        Verifying NetBackup client access, zoning, and LUN masking
      4.  
        Configuring NetBackup to access the IBM DS4000 array
      5.  
        Configuring the IBM 4000 array for NetBackup
      6.  
        Configuring a NetBackup policy for IBM_StorageManager_FlashCopy
    10. About Hitachi SMS/WMS/AMS, USP/NSC, USP-V/VM
      1. Hitachi array software requirements
        1.  
          Determining the current RAID Manager version
      2.  
        Preconfiguration for Hitachi
      3.  
        About communication between NetBackup and the Hitachi array
      4.  
        Determining if the Hitachi command devices are visible
      5.  
        About configuring the Hitachi array for NetBackup
      6.  
        Obtaining the Hitachi array serial number and the unique device identifiers
      7.  
        Configuring a NetBackup policy for Hitachi_ShadowImage or Hitachi_CopyOnWrite
    11. About HP-XP arrays
      1.  
        HP-XP array software requirements
      2.  
        Preconfiguration for HP-XP
      3.  
        About communication between NetBackup and the HP-XP array
      4.  
        Determining if the HP-XP command devices are visible
      5.  
        About configuring the HP-XP array for NetBackup
      6.  
        Obtaining the array serial number and unique HP-XP identifiers
      7.  
        Configuring a NetBackup policy for HP_XP_BusinessCopy and HP_XP_Snapshot
    12. About array troubleshooting
      1. Troubleshooting issues pertaining to all arrays
        1.  
          Troubleshooting Solaris issues
        2.  
          Troubleshooting host OS type specification
      2.  
        Troubleshooting NetBackup and EMC CLARiiON arrays
      3.  
        Troubleshooting NetBackup and EMC Symmetrix arrays
      4.  
        Troubleshooting NetBackup and HP EVA arrays
      5. Troubleshooting IBM DS6000 and DS8000 arrays
        1.  
          Snapshot errors with IBM DS6000 and DS8000 arrays (NetBackup status code 156)
      6. Troubleshooting IBM4000 arrays
        1.  
          Snapshot errors encountered with IBM4000 arrays (NetBackup status code 156)
        2.  
          For further reference on IBM System Storage DS4000
      7. Troubleshooting Hitachi arrays
        1.  
          NetBackup policy validation fails with Hitachi arrays
        2.  
          Backup or restore or image expiration fails with Hitachi arrays
  10. Notes on Media Server and Third-Party Copy methods
    1.  
      Disk requirements for Media Server and Third-Party Copy methods
    2.  
      Directives for Media Server and Third-Party Copy methods
    3.  
      Storage units for Media Server and Third-Party Copy methods
    4.  
      Preventing multiplexing on a third-party copy backup
    5.  
      Raw partition backups
    6.  
      Increasing the client read timeout for all clients
    7.  
      Further information on off-host data mover backups
  11. Backup and restore procedures
    1.  
      About performing a backup
    2.  
      About performing a restore
    3. About restores from a FlashBackup backup
      1.  
        Notes for FlashBackup and UNIX client restore
      2.  
        Notes for FlashBackup and Windows client restore
    4.  
      Restoring a large number of files in a clustered file system (VxFS on UNIX Only)
    5. Instant Recovery restore features
      1. About Instant Recovery: block-level restore
        1.  
          Activating and deactivating block-level restore
      2. About Instant Recovery: file promotion
        1.  
          Notes on file promotion
        2.  
          About file promotion
      3. About Instant Recovery: Fast File Resync (Windows clients only)
        1.  
          Notes on Fast File Resync (FFR)
        2.  
          Notes on Fast File Resync (FFR) and the files to be restored
        3.  
          About using Fast File Resync
        4.  
          When NetBackup uses Fast File Resync
      4. About Instant Recovery: point in time rollback
        1.  
          Notes on rollback
        2.  
          Performing snapshot rollback
    6.  
      Notes for restoring individual files from an Instant Recovery snapshot
    7. About configurations for restore
      1.  
        About restoring over the LAN
      2.  
        About restoring over the SAN to a host acting as both client server and media server
      3.  
        About restoring directly from a snapshot
    8. About restoring from a disk snapshot
      1. About restoring on UNIX
        1.  
          Restoring individual files on UNIX
        2.  
          Restoring the entire snapshot on UNIX
      2. About restoring on Windows
        1.  
          Restoring individual files on Windows
        2.  
          Restoring the entire snapshot on Windows
  12. Troubleshooting
    1.  
      About gathering information and checking logs
    2. Logging directories for UNIX platforms
      1.  
        UNIX logging directories for backup
      2.  
        UNIX logging directories for restore
      3.  
        snapctl driver messages
    3. Logging folders for Windows platforms
      1.  
        Windows logging folders for backup
      2.  
        Windows logging folders for restore
      3.  
    4.  
      Customer support contact information
    5.  
      Latest patches and updates
    6.  
      Snapshot provider information
    7.  
      Important notes on Snapshot Client
    8.  
      Snapshot Client installation problems
    9. FlashBackup and status code 13
      1.  
        The FlashBackup cache partition may have run out of space
      2.  
        Removing stale snapshots (Solaris)
    10.  
      Single file restore from a FlashBackup Instant Recovery snapshot of a file protected by Windows VSS writer fails
    11.  
      Identifying and removing a left-over snapshot
    12.  
      Removing a VxVM volume clone
    13.  
      Alternate client restore and backup from a snapshot fails
    14.  
      Restore from a snapshot fails with status 2800
    15.  
      Raw Partition restore fails with the message 'FlashBackup-Windows policy restore error'
    16.  
      Snapshot creation fails with error 156
    17.  
      Snapshot fails with error 20
    18.  
      Snapshot job fails and the snapshot command does not recognize the volume name
    19.  
      Snapshot creation fails with error 4220
    20.  
      Snapshot creation fails when the same volume is mounted on multiple mount points of the same host
    21.  
      Snapshot-based backup and restore failure
    22.  
      Multiple snapshot jobs fail with code 156 or 1541.
    23.  
      FlashBackup policy fails, with multiple backup selections [Cache =]
    24.  
      Partial backup failure with 'Snapshot encountered error 156'
    25.  
      Backup of file system validation fails with error 223
    26.  
      Policy validation fails if the specified CIFS share path contains a forward slash
    27.  
      An NDMP snapshot policy for wildcard backup fails with error 4201
    28.  
      Troubleshooting with bpfis log
    29.  
      Limitations of using HP-UX 11.31
    30.  
      While configuring a policy for snapshot operations, the NetBackup Administration Console hangs
  13. Appendix A. Managing nbu_snap (Solaris)
    1. About managing nbu_snap
      1.  
        Cache for nbu_snap
      2.  
        About determining cache size
      3.  
        About terminating nbu_snap
      4. nbu_snap commands
        1.  
          snapon command
        2.  
          snaplist command
        3.  
          snapcachelist command
        4.  
          snapstat command
        5.  
          snapoff command
  14. Appendix B. Overview of snapshot operations
    1.  
      Introduction to snapshot operations
    2.  
      Pre and post snapshot creation operations
    3.  
      About quiescing the system
    4.  
      About quiescing the database application
    5.  
      About quiescing the stack
    6.  
      File system quiesce
    7.  
      Volume manager data caching
    8.  
      How copy-on-write works
  15. Appendix C. NetBackup integration with CloudPoint for snapshot managment
    1.  
      About NetBackup and CloudPoint integration for snapshot management
    2.  
      About configuring Snapshot Management server in NetBackup
    3.  
      Registering a CloudPoint server in NetBackup
    4.  
      Configuring CloudPoint plug-ins in NetBackup
    5.  
      Troubleshooting CloudPoint and NetBackup integration issues

About snapshot basics

The large active databases or file systems that must be available around-the-clock are difficult to back up without incurring a penalty. Often, the penalty takes one of the following forms:

  • To allow time for the backup, the entire database is taken offline or the file system is unmounted. The result is suspension of service and inconvenience to users.

  • The copy is made very quickly but produces an incomplete version of the data, since some transactions have failed to complete.

A solution to this problem is to create a snapshot of the data. A snapshot captures the data at a particular instant, without causing the client downtime. The resulting capture or snapshot can be backed up without affecting the performance or availability of the file system or database. Without a complete, up-to-date snapshot of the data, a correct backup cannot be made.

When a NetBackup media server or third-party copy device manages the backup, the data to back up must be contained in a snapshot. The backup agent can only access the data by means of the raw physical disk. Once the data is captured as a snapshot, the NetBackup client "maps" the logical representation of the data to its physical disk address. These disk addresses are sent to the backup agent over the LAN. The data is then read from the appropriate disk by the backup agent.

See Off-host backup overview.

Two types of snapshots are available, both supported by NetBackup: copy-on-write and mirror (or clone).

See About the copy-on-write snapshot type.

See About the mirror snapshot type.

More Information

Snapshot Client features

Benefits of copy-on-write versus mirror

About local backup of a snapshot

Off-host backup overview

Off-host backup methods

Snapshot Client requirements

Snapshot Client terminology

Snapshot Client assistance

About open file backups for Windows