🛡️ NetWorker / PPDM

Python REST API clients, unified CLI, automation scripts, and a Claude Code skill for Dell EMC NetWorker, PowerProtect Data Manager, and Data Domain

Overview

A complete automation and expert-guidance toolkit for Dell EMC backup infrastructure. Covers backup/restore operations, Kubernetes protection, DDBoost, database agents, SLA reporting, and cloud tier management across PPDM, NetWorker, and Data Domain.

Python Library

pip install -r requirements.txt
cp .env.example .env   # fill in your host / user / pass

Both clients implement automatic retry with exponential backoff — transient failures (HTTP 429, 500, 502, 503, 504, connection errors) are retried up to 3 times with randomised jitter before raising. Non-retryable responses (4xx) surface immediately.

PPDMClient

from ppdm import PPDMClient

with PPDMClient.from_env() as ppdm:
    # List all failed Kubernetes backup jobs
    for job in ppdm.failed_activities(asset_type="KUBERNETES"):
        print(job["name"], job["startTime"])

    # Trigger on-demand backup
    policy = ppdm.get_policy_by_name("k8s-daily")
    result = ppdm.trigger_backup(policy["id"])

    # Restore a namespace to a new location
    copy = ppdm.latest_copy(asset_id)
    ppdm.restore_kubernetes_to_new_namespace(
        copy["id"], target_namespace="ns-restored", target_cluster_id="..."
    )

Available methods: list_assets · get_asset · list_copies · latest_copy · list_activities · failed_activities · running_activities · cancel_activity · list_policies · get_policy_by_name · create_policy · assign_assets · trigger_backup · create_protection_rule · list_inventory_sources · discover_inventory_source · list_storage_systems · restore · restore_kubernetes_to_new_namespace

NWClient

from networker import NWClient

with NWClient.from_env() as nw:
    savesets = nw.list_savesets_for_client("web01.example.com")
    latest   = nw.latest_full_backup("web01.example.com")
    nw.trigger_group_backup("Linux-Clients")

Available methods: list_clients · get_client · list_savesets · list_savesets_for_client · latest_full_backup · list_policies · list_workflows · list_protection_groups · trigger_group_backup · start_recover

DDClient

from datadomain import DDClient

with DDClient.from_env() as dd:
    dd.enable_ddboost()
    dd.create_storage_unit("ppdm-su-01", "ddboost-user", soft_limit_tib=10.0)
    print(dd.filesystem_stats())

Available methods: ddboost_status · enable_ddboost · disable_ddboost · list_storage_units · create_storage_unit · assign_user_to_storage_unit · system_info · filesystem_stats · list_users · create_user

Automation Scripts

Ready-to-run scripts — require .env with credentials set.

# Report all failed backup activities (exit 1 if failures found — CI-friendly)
python scripts/check_failed_jobs.py
python scripts/check_failed_jobs.py --asset-type KUBERNETES
python scripts/check_failed_jobs.py --json

# SLA compliance report
python scripts/sla_report.py
python scripts/sla_report.py --non-compliant-only

# Trigger on-demand backup (optionally poll until completion)
python scripts/ondemand_backup.py --asset "prod-namespace" --policy "k8s-daily"
python scripts/ondemand_backup.py --asset "prod-namespace" --policy "k8s-daily" --wait

Unified CLI

backupctl is a single operator-friendly entry point across PPDM, NetWorker, and Data Domain.

pip install -e .
backupctl doctor
backupctl inventory --format json
backupctl protect ppdm --target k8s-daily
backupctl protect networker --target Linux-Clients
backupctl dd status

# AI commands — require NVIDIA_API_KEY
backupctl ask "How do I restore a Kubernetes namespace from a PPDM copy?"
backupctl generate "Python script that lists all PPDM policies older than 30 days"

Command	Description
`backupctl doctor`	Cross-platform health check for PPDM, NetWorker, and Data Domain
`backupctl inventory`	Combined PPDM + NetWorker inventory output
`backupctl protect`	Trigger a PPDM policy or NetWorker protection group backup
`backupctl dd status`	Inspect Data Domain status and filesystem details
`backupctl ask`	Plain-English Q&A over SKILL.md — RAG-powered, answered by Nemotron 70B
`backupctl generate`	Generate NetWorker/PPDM automation scripts with Qwen2.5-Coder-32B

AI Features

Powered by NVIDIA NIM — runs against the hosted NIM API or your own self-hosted NIM endpoints.

`backupctl ask` — RAG over SKILL.md

Asks NetWorker/PPDM questions in plain English. The pipeline:

Chunks SKILL.md by H2 heading (rag/chunker.py)
Embeds each chunk with nvidia/llama-3.2-nemoretriever-300m-embed-v1 (rag/embedder.py)
Stores vectors in an in-memory cosine-similarity index, cached as .rag_index.json (rag/retriever.py)
Retrieves the top-K chunks for the user's question, then asks nvidia/llama-3.1-nemotron-70b-instruct to answer using only that context (rag/pipeline.py)

export NVIDIA_API_KEY=nvapi-...
backupctl ask "What's the safest way to cancel a stuck PPDM activity?"
backupctl ask "Show me the REST call to list failed Kubernetes jobs" --top-k 8
backupctl ask "..." --rebuild   # force rebuild of vector index

`backupctl generate` — Domain-Aware Script Generation

Generates production-ready Python or bash scripts targeting the NetWorker/PPDM REST APIs. Uses qwen/qwen2.5-coder-32b-instruct with a system prompt that constrains output to clean, error-handled, log-aware code (orchestrator/generate.py).

backupctl generate "Bash script that nightly reports DD storage units over 80% full"
backupctl generate "Python script that triggers PPDM backups for all K8s namespaces" -o backup_all_ns.py

Requirements for AI features: pip install openai>=1.0 and NVIDIA_API_KEY set in the environment. Hosted NIM endpoints work out of the box; self-hosted NIM containers work by overriding the base_url constant in rag/pipeline.py and orchestrator/generate.py.

Claude Code Plugin

Install as a plugin to get the skill, four slash commands, and a specialist agent inline in Claude Code:

/plugin install Moodswing9/networker-ppdm

Once installed, you get:

Component	What it does
`networker-ppdm` skill	Auto-activates when you ask about NetWorker, PPDM, Data Domain, or backup/restore operations.
`/ppdm-doctor`	Cross-product health check across PPDM + NetWorker + Data Domain.
`/ppdm-failed-jobs`	Reports failed PPDM activities with root-cause hints. CI-friendly exit code.
`/ppdm-sla`	SLA compliance report — surfaces non-compliant assets with remediation suggestions.
`/ppdm-backup`	Trigger on-demand PPDM backup, optionally polling until completion.
`backup-engineer` agent	Senior-level deep-dive agent for complex multi-product troubleshooting. Use via the Agent tool with `subagent_type: "backup-engineer"`.

Requirements: Claude Code 1.0.33+. Python 3.10+ on the machine running the slash commands (for the underlying scripts).

Coverage

Product	Areas
PPDM REST API	Assets · policies · protection rules · activities · restores · SLA compliance · alerts · credentials · RBAC · LDAP/AD · cloud tier · replication · copies · NAS · VMware · Kubernetes · database agents (Oracle / SQL Server / SAP HANA) · vProxy · diagnostics · upgrade
NetWorker REST API + CLI	Clients · savesets · backup/restore · policy/workflow/actions · clone · storage nodes · devices · volumes · directives · notifications · NDMP · bootstrap/DR · lockbox
Data Domain REST API + CLI	DDBoost · storage units · VTL · cloud tier · NFS/CIFS · encryption at rest · replication · dedup metrics · filesystem maintenance
CloudBoost	Appliance registration · AWS S3 / Azure Blob profiles · NetWorker device integration
Kubernetes	Full 10-step PPDM protection guide — CDI · VolumeSnapshot · RBAC · policy · restore · monitoring

Tests

Two suites — one for the Python library, one for the Claude Code skill.

Unit Tests

pip install -e ".[dev]"
python -m pytest tests/unit/          # 43 tests, fully mocked

Skill Validation Tests

pip install -r tests/requirements.txt
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

python tests/run_tests.py                          # all 105 tests
python tests/run_tests.py --category "Kubernetes"
python tests/run_tests.py --id ppdm_oracle_policy
python tests/run_tests.py --fail-fast
python tests/run_tests.py --verbose
python tests/run_tests.py --output results.json

Test Coverage — 105 cases across 44 categories

Area	Tests
PPDM Core · Policies · Credentials · SLA · Alerts · System · RBAC · LDAP · App Host	19
PPDM Database (Oracle · SQL Server · SAP HANA)	5
PPDM Replication · Cloud Tier · Copies · NAS · VMware · Reports · Config · Diagnostics	18
PPDM Tags · vProxy · DDBoost	4
Kubernetes	7
NetWorker Core · Policy · Clone · Directives · Storage · Client · NDMP	19
DDBoost · Data Domain · VTL · Cloud Tier · Encryption · Users · SNMP · Syslog · NFS · CIFS · Dedup	20
CloudBoost · Cross-Product · Troubleshooting · Best Practices	10
Total	105

Sample output

networker-ppdm skill test runner
Model  : claude-haiku-4-5-20251001
Tests  : 105

  ✓ [ppdm_auth]         How do I authenticate to the PPDM REST API...
  ✓ [ppdm_list_assets]  Show me the PPDM REST API call to list all assets...
  ✓ [k8s_prerequisites] What are the prerequisites before registering a Kubernetes cluster...

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  Total  : 105  ·  Passed : 104  ·  Failed : 1  ·  Score : 99.0%
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Adding tests

# tests/test_cases.yaml
- id: my_new_test
  category: PPDM Core
  prompt: "How do I do X in PPDM?"
  assertions:
    - "keyword1"
    - "endpoint/path"

License

No part of this software may be reproduced, distributed, or modified in any form or by any means without express written permission from the copyright holder.

Built by Moodswing9 · Portfolio

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 29 Commits
.claude-plugin		.claude-plugin
.github		.github
agents		agents
commands		commands
datadomain		datadomain
networker		networker
orchestrator		orchestrator
ppdm		ppdm
providers		providers
rag		rag
scripts		scripts
skills/networker-ppdm		skills/networker-ppdm
tests		tests
.env.example		.env.example
.gitignore		.gitignore
CLAUDE.md		CLAUDE.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
pyproject.toml		pyproject.toml
requirements.txt		requirements.txt

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🛡️ NetWorker / PPDM

Overview

Python Library

PPDMClient

NWClient

DDClient

Automation Scripts

Unified CLI

AI Features

`backupctl ask` — RAG over SKILL.md

`backupctl generate` — Domain-Aware Script Generation

Claude Code Plugin

Coverage

Tests

Unit Tests

Skill Validation Tests

Test Coverage — 105 cases across 44 categories

Sample output

Adding tests

License

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🛡️ NetWorker / PPDM

Overview

Python Library

PPDMClient

NWClient

DDClient

Automation Scripts

Unified CLI

AI Features

backupctl ask — RAG over SKILL.md

backupctl generate — Domain-Aware Script Generation

Claude Code Plugin

Coverage

Tests

Unit Tests

Skill Validation Tests

Test Coverage — 105 cases across 44 categories

Sample output

Adding tests

License

About

Topics

Resources

License

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Releases 9

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`backupctl ask` — RAG over SKILL.md

`backupctl generate` — Domain-Aware Script Generation

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