Veritas NetBackup™ Administrator's Guide, Volume II

Last Published:
Product(s): NetBackup (8.1.1)
Platform: Linux,UNIX,Windows
  1. NetBackup licensing models and the nbdeployutil utility
    1.  
      Methods to gather and analyze licensing reporting
    2. About NetBackup licensing models
      1.  
        About the traditional licensing model
      2. About the capacity licensing model
        1.  
          How capacity licensing uses Front-end Terabytes
        2.  
          NetBackup for Exchange Agent
        3.  
          NetBackup for SQL Server Agent
        4.  
          NetBackup for Oracle server agent
        5.  
          NetBackup for VMware Agent
        6.  
          NetBackup for NDMP Agent
        7. File Systems (Windows and UNIX backups)
          1.  
            Windows backups
          2.  
            UNIX backups
        8.  
          BigData plug-ins for NetBackup
    3. nbdeployutil utility options
      1.  
        Scheduling capacity licensing reports
      2.  
        Generating licensing reports manually
    4. Creating and viewing the licensing report
      1.  
        Report tab descriptions
    5. After creating a traditional licensing report
      1.  
        Verify the Summary tab
      2.  
        Complete the Hosts tab
      3.  
        Resolve the NDMP tab
      4.  
        Update the Virtual Servers tab
      5.  
        Confirm the Drives tab
      6.  
        Final steps
    6. After creating a capacity licensing report
      1.  
        Verify the completeness of the inputs
      2.  
        Eliminate redundant data due to client aliases and multiple IP addresses
      3.  
        Examine the Itemization tab for flagged conditions in the Accuracy column
      4.  
        Verify correct grouping and summation of multistreamed backup images
      5.  
        Examine the CloudCatalyst (KB) column that displays the volume of data processed using NetBackup CloudCatalyst
      6.  
        Examine overlap detection by nbdeployutil
    7. Reconciling the capacity licensing report results
      1.  
        Locate full backups for clients
      2.  
        Review compressed image information
      3.  
        Eliminate redundant counting of clients
      4.  
        Determine the effect of multistreamed backups
      5.  
        Confirm the accuracy of any database backups
      6.  
        Locate full backups for snapshot images
  2. Additional configuration
    1.  
      About multiple NetBackup master servers
    2.  
      About multiple media servers with one master server
    3.  
      About direct I/O for backups on Windows
    4. About dynamic host name and IP addressing
      1.  
        About setting up dynamic IP addresses and host names
      2.  
        Configuring the NetBackup master server
      3.  
        bpclient commands that control client entries
      4.  
        Configuring dynamic NetBackup clients
    5. About busy file processing on UNIX clients
      1.  
        Configuring busy file processing on UNIX
      2.  
        Modifying bp.conf to configure busy file processing on UNIX
      3.  
        bp.conf file entries on UNIX
      4.  
        How NetBackup creates and uses action files on UNIX
      5.  
        About the logs directory on UNIX
      6.  
        Recommended changes for modifying bpend_notify_busy on UNIX
    6.  
      About specifying the locale of the NetBackup installation
    7. About the Shared Storage Option
      1.  
        About Shared Storage Option components
      2.  
        About reserving or releasing shared devices
      3.  
        How to share robotic libraries without using the Shared Storage Option
      4.  
        Shared Storage Option terms and concepts
      5.  
        About the Shared Storage Option license
      6.  
        About Shared Storage Option prerequisites
      7.  
        About hardware configuration guidelines
      8.  
        About installing and configuring drivers
      9.  
        Verifying the connectivity
      10. About configuring the Shared Storage Option in NetBackup
        1.  
          About configuring SSO in NetBackup
        2.  
          Configuring Shared Storage Option devices in NetBackup
        3.  
          About adding Shared Storage Option configuration options
        4.  
          About configuring NetBackup storage units and backup policies
      11.  
        Verifying your Shared Storage Option configuration
      12.  
        Device Monitor and Shared Storage Option
      13. Viewing SSO summary reports
        1.  
          Shared Storage Option summary reports
      14.  
        Operating system assistance
      15.  
        Common configuration issues with Shared Storage Option
      16.  
        Frequently asked questions about Shared Storage Option
    8. About the vm.conf configuration file
      1.  
        ACS_mediatype entry in vm.conf
      2.  
        ACS_SEL_SOCKET entry in vm.conf
      3.  
        ACS_CSI_HOSTPORT entry in vm.conf (on UNIX)
      4.  
        ACS_SSI_HOSTNAME entry in vm.conf
      5.  
        ACS_SSI_INET_PORT entry in vm.conf (on UNIX)
      6.  
        ACS_SSI_SOCKET entry in vm.conf
      7.  
        ACS_TCP_RPCSERVICE / ACS_UDP_RPCSERVICE entry in vm.conf (on UNIX)
      8.  
        ADJ_LSM entry in vm.conf
      9.  
        API_BARCODE_RULES entry in vm.conf
      10.  
        AUTHORIZATION_REQUIRED entry in vm.conf
      11.  
        AUTO_PATH_CORRECTION entry in vm.conf
      12.  
        AUTO_UPDATE_ROBOT entry in vm.conf
      13.  
        AVRD_PEND_DELAY entry in vm.conf
      14.  
        AVRD_SCAN_DELAY entry in vm.conf
      15.  
        CLEAN_REQUEST_TIMEOUT entry in vm.conf
      16.  
        CLIENT_PORT_WINDOW entry in vm.conf
      17.  
        CLUSTER_NAME entry in vm.conf
      18.  
        DAS_CLIENT entry in vm.conf
      19.  
        DAYS_TO_KEEP_LOGS entry in vm.conf
      20.  
        EMM_RETRY_COUNT entry in vm.conf
      21.  
        EMM_CONNECT_TIMOUT entry in vm.conf
      22.  
        EMM_REQUEST_TIMOUT entry in vm.conf
      23.  
        ENABLE_ROBOT_AUTH entry in vm.conf
      24.  
        INVENTORY_FILTER entry in vm.conf
      25.  
        MAP_ID entry in vm.conf
      26.  
        MAP_CONTINUE_TIMEOUT entry in vm.conf
      27.  
        MEDIA_ID_BARCODE_CHARS entry in vm.conf
      28.  
        MEDIA_ID_PREFIX entry in vm.conf
      29.  
        MM_SERVER_NAME entry in vm.conf
      30.  
        PREFERRED_GROUP entry in vm.conf
      31.  
        PREVENT_MEDIA_REMOVAL entry in vm.conf
      32.  
        RANDOM_PORTS entry in vm.conf
      33.  
        REQUIRED_INTERFACE entry in vm.conf
      34.  
        SERVER entry in vm.conf in NetBackup versions 8.0 and earlier
      35.  
        SSO_DA_REREGISTER_INTERVAL entry in vm.conf
      36.  
        SSO_DA_RETRY_TIMEOUT entry in vm.conf
      37.  
        SSO_HOST_NAME entry in vm.conf
      38.  
        TLH_mediatype entry in vm.conf
      39.  
        TLM_mediatype entry in vm.conf
      40.  
        VERBOSE entry in vm.conf
      41.  
        Example vm.conf file
      42.  
        How to access media and devices on other hosts
      43.  
        Host name precedence in the vm.conf file
  3. Holds Management
    1.  
      About Holds Management
    2.  
      Creating a hold
    3.  
      Viewing hold details
    4.  
      Adding a backup image to an existing hold
    5.  
      Releasing a hold
  4. Menu user interfaces on UNIX
    1.  
      About menu user interfaces
    2. About the tpconfig device configuration utility
      1.  
        About the tpconfig utility menu
      2.  
        Starting the tpconfig device configuration utility
      3.  
        Adding robots
      4.  
        Adding drives
      5.  
        Updating a robot configuration
      6.  
        Updating a drive configuration
      7.  
        Deleting a robot
      8.  
        Deleting a drive
      9.  
        Configuring drive paths
      10.  
        Configuring host credentials
      11.  
        Displaying and writing the device configuration
    3. About the NetBackup Disk Configuration Utility
      1.  
        Managing OpenStorage servers and disk pools
      2.  
        Managing global disk attributes
  5. Reference topics
    1. Host name rules
      1.  
        How NetBackup uses host names
      2.  
        Updating NetBackup after changing the host name
      3.  
        Special considerations for Domain Name Service (DNS)
    2. About reading backup images with nbtar or tar32.exe
      1.  
        Restoring files with non-NetBackup restore utilities (on UNIX)
      2.  
        Considerations for file restoration with non-NetBackup restore utilities (on UNIX)
      3.  
        About the files that restores generate
    3. Factors that affect backup time
      1.  
        Total amount of data to back up
      2.  
        Transfer rate
    4.  
      Methods for determining the NetBackup transfer rate
    5. NetBackup notify scripts
      1.  
        backup_notify script
      2.  
        backup_exit_notify script
      3.  
        bpstart_notify script (UNIX clients)
      4.  
        bpstart_notify.bat script (Windows clients)
      5.  
        bpend_notify script (UNIX clients)
      6.  
        bpend_notify.bat script (Windows clients)
      7.  
        bpend_notify_busy script (UNIX clients)
      8.  
        diskfull_notify script
      9.  
        drive_mount_notify script (on UNIX)
      10.  
        drive_unmount_notify script (on UNIX)
      11.  
        mail_dr_info script
      12.  
        media_deassign_notify script
      13.  
        nbmail.cmd script (on Windows)
      14.  
        parent_end_notify script
      15.  
        parent_start_notify script
      16.  
        pending_request_notify script
      17.  
        restore_notify script
      18.  
        session_notify script
      19.  
        session_start_notify script
      20.  
        shared_drive_notify script
      21.  
        userreq_notify script
    6. Media and device management best practices
      1.  
        Media management best practices
      2.  
        Device management best practices
      3.  
        Media and device performance and troubleshooting
    7. About TapeAlert
      1.  
        About TapeAlert cleaning (reactive cleaning)
      2.  
        About TapeAlert and frequency-based cleaning
      3.  
        About TapeAlert requirements
      4.  
        TapeAlert logs and codes
    8. About tape drive cleaning
      1.  
        About library-based cleaning
      2.  
        About frequency-based cleaning
      3.  
        About operator-initiated cleaning
      4.  
        About using a cleaning tape
    9.  
      How NetBackup selects drives
    10. How NetBackup reserves drives
      1. About SCSI persistent reserve
        1.  
          About SCSI persistent reserve commands
        2.  
          About SCSI persistent reserve conflicts
      2. About the SPC-2 SCSI reserve process
        1.  
          About SPC-2 SCSI reserve commands
        2.  
          About SCSI reservation conflicts
        3.  
          About forcing a release of an unavailable HBA's SPC-2 reservation
        4.  
          Breaking a reservation
      3.  
        About SCSI reserve requirements
      4.  
        About SCSI reserve limitations
      5.  
        About SCSI reservation logging
      6.  
        About SCSI reserve operating system limitations on Windows
      7. About checking for data loss
        1.  
          About possible data loss causes
      8. About checking for tape and driver configuration errors
        1.  
          About common configuration problems
      9.  
        About configuring SCSI reserve
    11. How NetBackup selects media
      1. About selecting media in robots
        1.  
          About spanning media with automatic media selection
      2. About selecting media in standalone drives
        1.  
          About selecting media by using standalone drive extensions
        2.  
          About disabling standalone drive extensions
        3.  
          About spanning media
        4.  
          About leaving standalone drives in the ready state
    12.  
      Volume pool and volume group examples
    13.  
      Media formats
    14.  
      Media and device management processes
    15. About Tape I/O commands on UNIX
      1.  
        About requesting tapes
      2.  
        About reading and writing tape files
      3.  
        About removing tape files

Scheduling capacity licensing reports

By default, NetBackup triggers nbdeployutil to run on a specified schedule to incrementally gather data, and to generate capacity licensing reports for the past 90 days.

Incremental reporting parameters

Incremental reporting uses the following four parameters:

  • FREQUENCY_IN_DAYS: The frequency at which nbdeployutil is run.

  • MASTER_SERVERS: A comma-separated list of the master servers.

  • PARENTDIR: The gather and report folder location.

  • PURGE_INTERVAL: The number of days that the folders retain the gathered data in the incremental directory.

To use the default values, See Use Case I: Use default values for parameters.

To use the custom values, See Use Case II: Use custom values for parameters.

The location where the data and reports are generated contains the following files:

  • The generated report for the latest nbdeployutil result.

  • Folders containing incrementally gathered data.

  • The archive folder that contains the older generated reports.

  • nbdeployutil log files.

The following directories contain the most current capacity licensing report:

On Windows: Install_Dir\NetBackup\var\global\incremental

On UNIX: /usr/openv/var/global/incremental

The older reports are placed in the archive folder. Veritas recommends that you retain at least 90 days of reporting data. Data can be kept longer than 90 days, depending on the requirements of your environment. Older reports can help to show how the capacity usage has changed over time. Delete the reports or the folder when they are no longer required.

Each time nbdeployutil is triggered, the information is gathered for the following duration: from the last successful run to the latest run of nbdeployutil. For the first run, the duration of the report is as per the frequency that is specified in the configuration file (default value is 7 days). The report duration is always for the last 90 days based on the availability of the gathered data. Any data older than 90 days is not considered in the report.

Figure: Generating incremental capacity licensing reports

Generating incremental capacity licensing reports
Use Case I: Use default values for parameters

The nbdeployutilconfig.txt file is not required when using the default parameters. nbdeployutil uses the following default values:

  • FREQUENCY_IN_DAYS=7

  • MASTER_SERVERS=local_server

  • PARENTDIR=folder_name

    • For Windows: Install_Dir\NetBackup\var\global\incremental

    • For UNIX: /usr/openv/var/global/incremental

  • PURGE_INTERVAL=180 (number of days).

Use Case II: Use custom values for parameters

Edit the nbdeployutilconfig.txt file.

To use custom values in the nbdeployutilconfig.txt file

  1. Copy the nbdeployutilconfig.txt file to the following location:

    For Windows: Install_Dir\NetBackup\var\global

    For UNIX: /usr/openv/var/global

  2. Open and edit nbdeployutilconfig.txt to change the parameters and then save the file.
    • FREQUENCY_IN_DAYS=number_of_days

      Based on the frequency that is indicated in this parameter, nbdeployutil gathers the data and generates the report.

      Minimum value: 1 day.

      By default, the frequency value is 7 days to capture optimum capacity usage data.

      • If no value is indicated, nbdeployutil uses the default value.

      • If the frequency indicated is 0, incremental reporting is disabled and no licensing information is captured.

      • If the parameter is deleted, nbdeployutil uses the default value.

    • MASTER_SERVERS=server_names

      nbdeployutil gathers the information for each master server that is listed and generates the report.

      • If there is no value in this parameter, nbdeployutil uses the default value.

      • If you delete the parameter, nbdeployutil uses the default value.

      Examples of server names:

      • MASTER_SERVERS=newserver,oldserver

      • MASTER_SERVERS=newserver,oldserver.domain.com

      • MASTER_SERVERS=myserver1.somedomain.com,newserver.domain.com

    • PARENTDIR=folder_name_with_path

      To change the gather and report location, edit this parameter.

      • If there is no value in this parameter, nbdeployutil uses the default value.

      • If the parameter is deleted, nbdeployutil uses the default value.

    • PURGE_INTERVAL=number_of_days

      Any gathered data that does not fit into the purge_interval value is deleted automatically.

      • If no value is indicated, nbdeployutil uses the default value.

      • If the parameter is deleted, nbdeployutil uses the default value.

      • If fewer than 90 days is indicated, nbdeployutil uses 90 days as the value. Data that is older than 180 days is purged.

        Data to be purged = current date - purge_interval.

        Minimum value = 90 days.

Troubleshooting failures for nbdeployutil and incremental reporting
  • If nbdeployutil fails to gather data and generate the report for your environment, refer to the logs to understand when the task failed and the reason for the failure.

  • Errors related to bpimagelist after running nbdeployutil.

    If the manual run of nbdeployutil fails and a bpimagelist error with status 37 is displayed, ensure to add master servers as additional servers.

    For more information, See Gathering information for multiple master servers.

  • For Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC), protected data size might get reported more than once because the size is reported for the node where data backup happens.

    If the backup operation is initiated from different nodes in the Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC), the capacity licensing report displays a separate row for every node.

  • After running nbdeployutil, the following error is displayed because of internal web service communication failures:

    Report for master server <SERVER-NAME> is generated using the backup image header method instead of accurate licensing method because of web service interruptions during the gather phase.

  • For MS SQL multistriped data backups, the Itemization tab in the capacity licensing report displays one backup ID from the multiple backup IDs for one selection in the backup policy. In the reports for NetBackup 8.0 or earlier, multiple was displayed instead of back ID.

Other points to consider when using nbdeployutil and incremental reporting

To change the directory of the gathered data and licensing report

  1. If you have older gathered data and licensing reports, copy the complete directory to the new location.
  2. Edit nbdeployutilconfig.txt and change the location of the gathered data and licensing report in the PARENTDIR=folder_name field.

To use the previously successful gathered data for generating a capacity licensing report

  1. Copy the gather folder that was generated after previous run of nbdeployutil to the following location:

    On Windows: Install_Dir\NetBackup\var\global\incremental

    On UNIX: /usr/openv/var/global/incremental

  2. Create the gather_end.json file inside the copied folder and add the following text:

    {"success":0}

    The next incremental run considers the data inside the copied folder to generate a capacity licensing report.

    Note:

    Delete any other gather folders inside the copied folder to avoid gaps for the period in which data is gathered. The missing data is automatically generated during the next incremental run.

To create a custom interval report using existing gathered data

  • To create a report for a time interval that is different than the default interval of 90 days, run the following command:

    On Windows:

    nbdeployutil.exe --capacity --incremental --report --inc-settings "<Install_Dir>\netbackup\var\global\nbdeployutilconfig.txt" --hoursago <custom-time-interval>

    On UNIX:

    nbdeployutil.exe --capacity --incremental --report --inc-settings "/usr/openv/var/global/nbdeployutilconfig.txt" --hoursago <custom-time-interval>

    The number of hours specified in --hoursago must be fewer than the purge-interval that is specified in the nbdeployutilconfig.txt file.

    Note:

    nbdeployutil uses existing gathered data to generate the custom interval report. You are not required to use the --gather option.