NetBackup™ AdvancedDisk

Storage Solutions Guide

UNIX, Windows, Linux

Release 10.5
NetBackup AdvancedDisk Storage Solutions Guide
Last updated: 2024-09-23

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 Contents

Chapter 1 Introducing AdvancedDisk ............................................... 7

About the AdvancedDisk storage option .............................................. 7

Chapter 2 Licensing AdvancedDisk ................................................... 9

About the AdvancedDisk license ....................................................... 9
Licensing AdvancedDisk ................................................................. 9

Chapter 3 Configuring AdvancedDisk ............................................. 11

Configuring the AdvancedDisk option ............................................... 12

About AdvancedDisk file system requirements ................................... 13
Configuring credentials for CIFS storage and disk storage units ............. 14
About AdvancedDisk storage servers ............................................... 15
About AdvancedDisk data movers ................................................... 16
About AdvancedDisk preferred or required read servers ....................... 16
About data encryption for AdvancedDisk storage ................................ 18
About key management for encryption of NetBackup AdvancedDisk
storage ................................................................................. 19
Configuring key management for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage
encryption ............................................................................. 21
Setting up the KMS database for NetBackup AdvancedDisk
storage encryption ............................................................ 21
Creating a KMS key group for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage
encryption ....................................................................... 23
Creating a KMS key for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage
encryption ....................................................................... 24
Saving a record of the KMS key names for NetBackup
AdvancedDisk storage encryption ........................................ 25
Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server ..................................... 27
AdvancedDisk storage server configuration options ....................... 38
About AdvancedDisk disk pools ....................................................... 39
Configuring a CIFS disk volume for AdvancedDisk encryption ............... 41
Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool ............................................ 42
NetBackup nbdevconfig command options for AdvancedDisk disk
pools ............................................................................. 51
 Contents 5

AdvancedDisk disk pool properties ............................................. 53

Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage unit ......................................... 55
AdvancedDisk storage unit properties ......................................... 57
About AdvancedDisk storage unit recommendations ...................... 58
About storage lifecycle policies ........................................................ 59
Creating a storage lifecycle policy .................................................... 60
Storage Lifecycle Policy dialog box settings ................................. 62
Creating a backup policy ................................................................ 64
Resilient network properties ............................................................ 65
Specify resilient connections for clients ............................................. 67

Chapter 4 Managing AdvancedDisk ................................................ 69

Managing AdvancedDisk storage servers .......................................... 69

Viewing AdvancedDisk storage servers ....................................... 70
Determining AdvancedDisk storage server state ........................... 70
Viewing AdvancedDisk storage server attributes ........................... 70
Removing AdvancedDisk storage server attributes ........................ 71
Removing an AdvancedDisk storage server from disk pool access
..................................................................................... 72
Deleting an AdvancedDisk storage server ................................... 72
Managing AdvancedDisk disk pools ................................................. 73
Viewing AdvancedDisk disk pools .............................................. 73
About changing the AdvancedDisk disk pool size .......................... 73
Adding volumes to an AdvancedDisk disk pool ............................. 74
Changing AdvancedDisk disk pool properties ............................... 74
Determining AdvancedDisk disk pool state .................................. 75
Determining AdvancedDisk disk volume state .............................. 76
Changing AdvancedDisk disk volume state .................................. 76
Merging AdvancedDisk disk pools ............................................. 77
Removing a volume from an AdvancedDisk disk pool .................... 78
Deleting an AdvancedDisk disk pool ........................................... 79
About monitoring AdvancedDisk storage capacity and usage ................ 79
Monitoring NetBackup disk activity ................................................... 80
Viewing AdvancedDisk disk reports .................................................. 81
Displaying detailed AdvancedDisk storage usage information ................ 82
NetBackup disk volume capacity and usage reference ................... 83
Displaying KMS key information for AdvancedDisk encryption ............... 85

Chapter 5 Troubleshooting AdvancedDisk .................................... 88

About unified logging ..................................................................... 88

About using the vxlogview command to view unified logs .............. 89
Examples of using vxlogview to view unified logs .......................... 91
 Contents 6

About legacy logging ..................................................................... 92

Creating NetBackup log file directories for AdvancedDisk ............... 93
NetBackup AdvancedDisk log files ................................................... 94
AdvancedDisk troubleshooting ........................................................ 96
Resolving an incorrect storage type problem ...................................... 96

Index .................................................................................................................... 98
 Chapter 1
Introducing AdvancedDisk
This chapter includes the following topics:

■ About the AdvancedDisk storage option

About the AdvancedDisk storage option

The NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage option lets you use the disk storage that is
exposed to NetBackup as a file system for backups. Storage can be direct attached
storage (DAS), network attached storage (NAS), or storage area network (SAN)
storage.
NetBackup requires exclusive access to the storage for capacity management and
load balancing.
Table 1-1 describes some of the benefits of AdvancedDisk storage.

Table 1-1 AdvancedDisk features and benefits

Feature Benefit

Easy to deploy and use NetBackup discovers the storage and uses NetBackup
storage units and backup policies to use the storage.

Simplified growth Lets you increase storage unit capacity by adding disks. Only
add the capacity required, then update the NetBackup disk
pools. Logical units of storage span physical boundaries, so
you do not have to create new NetBackup storage units or
change the backup policies.

Storage sharing Multiple storage units can share a disk pool. Space is
allocated dynamically as required. Automatic space allocation
reduces the risk of backup failure.
 Introducing AdvancedDisk 8
About the AdvancedDisk storage option

Table 1-1 AdvancedDisk features and benefits (continued)

Feature Benefit

Best fit selection NetBackup predicts the size of the backup and selects the
storage on which the backup fits best. The goal is to avoid
out-of-space conditions and disk spanning.

Load balancing Load balancing can occur at two levels, as follows:

■ Storage servers. If you have more than one storage

server, NetBackup chooses the least busy media server
for each backup. Load balancing increases the
performance and the success of backup jobs.
■ Storage unit groups. If you have more than one storage
unit, you can choose the storage unit group Load Balance
option. If the destination of each storage unit is a separate
disk pool, NetBackup chooses the least busy disk pool.

Intelligent capacity NetBackup expires backup images when the storage that is
management consumed reaches a threshold. The disk pool high water
mark applies to both individual disk volumes and to disk pools.

Storage lifecycle You can classify data based on its importance and manage
it differently throughout each stage of its life. After it has been
duplicated, data can be selectively expired based on the
relative importance to the business. you can ensure that
important backups are available for rapid restore for longer
periods, ensuring your recovery time objectives.

Figure 1-1 shows a media server and attached disks.

Figure 1-1 AdvancedDisk storage example

AdvDiskPool_Gold AdvDiskPool_Silver

Disk volumes Network file system

mounts

NetBackup media servers function as

both storage servers and data movers
 Chapter 2
Licensing AdvancedDisk
This chapter includes the following topics:

■ About the AdvancedDisk license

■ Licensing AdvancedDisk

About the AdvancedDisk license

AdvancedDisk is a feature that is licensed separately from base NetBackup.
See “Licensing AdvancedDisk” on page 9.
If you remove the license key or if it expires, the following restrictions apply:
■ You cannot create the disk pools or the storage units that reference
AdvancedDisk disk pools.
■ NetBackup jobs that attempt to use the disk pools or the storage units that are
based on disk pools fail. The error message indicates that the feature is not
licensed.
NetBackup does not delete the disk pools or the storage units that reference the
disk pools. You can use them again if you enter a valid license.

Licensing AdvancedDisk
No special installation is required for the NetBackup components of AdvancedDisk.
However, you must enter a license. If you installed the license when you installed
or upgraded NetBackup, you do not need to perform this procedure.
Enter the license on the NetBackup primary server. The following procedure
describes how to use the NetBackup Administration Console to enter the license.
 Licensing AdvancedDisk 10
Licensing AdvancedDisk

To license AdvancedDisk
1 On the Help menu of the NetBackup Administration Console on the
NetBackup primary server, select License Keys.
2 In the NetBackup License Keys dialog box, click New.
3 In the Add a New License Key dialog box, enter the license key and click Add
or OK.
4 In the NetBackup License Key dialog box, click Close.
5 Restart all the NetBackup services and daemons.
 Chapter 3
Configuring AdvancedDisk
This chapter includes the following topics:

■ Configuring the AdvancedDisk option

■ About AdvancedDisk file system requirements

■ Configuring credentials for CIFS storage and disk storage units

■ About AdvancedDisk storage servers

■ About AdvancedDisk data movers

■ About AdvancedDisk preferred or required read servers

■ About data encryption for AdvancedDisk storage

■ About key management for encryption of NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage

■ Configuring key management for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage encryption

■ Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server

■ About AdvancedDisk disk pools

■ Configuring a CIFS disk volume for AdvancedDisk encryption

■ Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool

■ Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage unit

■ About storage lifecycle policies

■ Creating a storage lifecycle policy

■ Creating a backup policy

■ Resilient network properties

 Configuring AdvancedDisk 12
Configuring the AdvancedDisk option

■ Specify resilient connections for clients

Configuring the AdvancedDisk option

This section provides an overview of how to configure the NetBackup AdvancedDisk
option.
Table 3-1 describes the configuration tasks.
To configure a base NetBackup environment, see the NetBackup Administrator's
Guide, Volume I:
http://www.veritas.com/docs/DOC5332

Table 3-1 AdvancedDisk configuration tasks

Step Task Section

Step 1 Learn about file system See “About AdvancedDisk file system
requirements requirements” on page 13.

Step 2 Learn about storage servers, See “About AdvancedDisk storage servers”
data movers, and disk pools on page 15.

See “About AdvancedDisk data movers”

on page 16.

See “About AdvancedDisk disk pools” on page 39.

Step 3 Optionally, configure the Key The Key Management Service is required if you
Management Service use data encryption for the AdvancedDisk storage.

See “About data encryption for AdvancedDisk

storage” on page 18.

See “About key management for encryption of

NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage” on page 19.

See “Configuring key management for NetBackup

AdvancedDisk storage encryption” on page 21.

Step 4 Configure a storage server See “Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server”

on page 27.

Step 5 Optionally, configure CIFS For the AdvancedDisk_crypt disk type, you must
disk volumes configure CIFS volumes before you can add them
to the disk pool.

See “Configuring a CIFS disk volume for

AdvancedDisk encryption” on page 41.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 13
About AdvancedDisk file system requirements

Table 3-1 AdvancedDisk configuration tasks (continued)

Step Task Section

Step 6 Configure a disk pool See “Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool”

on page 42.

Step 7 Configure a storage unit See “Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage unit”

on page 55.

Step 8 Create a storage lifecycle See “About storage lifecycle policies” on page 59.
policy
See “Creating a storage lifecycle policy”
on page 60.

Step 9 Create a backup policy See “Creating a backup policy” on page 64.

Step 10 Optionally, configure resilient See “Resilient network properties” on page 65.
network connections

About AdvancedDisk file system requirements

AdvancedDisk can read and write any nonshared file system that NetBackup
supports. However, AdvancedDisk is subject to any operating system or file system
requirements or limitations. Requirements and limitations may exist beyond those
mentioned in this topic.
For supported file systems, see the NetBackup operating system compatibility list
at the Veritas Support website, as follows:
http://www.netbackup.com/compatibility
The following are additional requirements and limitations for file systems:

CIFS Windows Common Internet File System (CIFS) requirements:

■ Ensure that the Windows disk shares are configured to reconnect on login.
■ Networked mapped devices are not visible to Windows services; therefore,
NetBackup cannot discover CIFS disk volumes. You must use the Windows
Universal Naming Convention (UNC) to specify the CIFS volumes that you
want to use for AdvancedDisk disk pools.
■ You must configure two Windows services to use the same credentials.
See “Configuring credentials for CIFS storage and disk storage units”
on page 14.
■ You cannot delete a disk pool that is created by specifying volumes (such as
for CIFS volumes). The disk pool exists until you delete its storage server.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 14
Configuring credentials for CIFS storage and disk storage units

NFS Network File System (NFS) requirements:

■ You must use manual mount points. Automatic mount and unmount can change
mount points, which may cause disk resources to be unavailable.
■ The NFS server that exports the mount points must be configured to allow
root access to the file systems.
■ NFS uses a file system paradigm to manage objects. Therefore, carefully
choose the volumes to include in the disk pool.
For example, NetBackup does not filter out common file system mount points,
such as / and /usr on UNIX and Linux systems. You should not use those
mount points for storage.
■ Veritas recommends that you do not span backup images across NFS volumes
in an AdvancedDisk disk pool. File system full conditions cannot be detected
adequately. Therefore, a disk pool based on NFS volumes should be comprised
of only one volume.

ZFS Veritas recommends that you do not span backup images across ZFS volumes
in an AdvancedDisk disk pool. File system full conditions cannot be detected
adequately. Therefore, a disk pool based on ZFS volumes should be comprised
of only one volume.

Disk pool configuration may affect how you configure your file systems.
See “Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool” on page 42.

Configuring credentials for CIFS storage and disk

storage units
For Common Internet File System (CIFS) storage with AdvancedDisk and BasicDisk
storage units, the following two NetBackup services on Windows computers require
matching account credentials:

NetBackup Client Service The NetBackup Client Service is either bpcd.exe or

bpinetd.exe, depending on NetBackup release level.
Regardless of the binary file name, the service requires the
credentials.

NetBackup Remote Manager The NetBackup Remote Manager and Monitor Service binary
and Monitor Service file name is nbrmms.exe.

The following items describe the requirements for the account and credentials:
■ Both of the services must run under the same Windows user account.
■ The account must be the same account that the Windows operating system
uses for read and write access to the CIFS share.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 15
About AdvancedDisk storage servers

■ Configure the account and the credentials on the media server or media servers
that have a file system mount on the CIFS storage. Then, configure Windows
so that the two aforementioned services use that account.
If account credentials are not configured properly, NetBackup marks all CIFS
AdvancedDisk and BasicDisk storage units that use the UNC naming convention
as DOWN.
To configure service credentials for CIFS storage and disk storage units
In Windows, configure both the NetBackup Client Service and the NetBackup
Remote Manager and Monitor Service so they meet the credential requirements.
Those requirements are described previously in this document.
See your Windows operating system documentation for the procedures. How
to configure Windows is beyond the scope of the NetBackup documentation.

About AdvancedDisk storage servers

A storage server is a NetBackup media server that mounts the disk storage and
writes data to and reads data from the disk storage.
For AdvancedDisk, NetBackup media servers function as both storage servers and
data movers.
See “About AdvancedDisk data movers” on page 16.
Multiple storage servers can exist. The storage servers share the storage equally.
If you configure more than one storage server, be aware of the following:
■ Each media server must mount the file systems of all the disk volumes within a
disk pool.
■ The mount points must be the same on each media server.
NetBackup does not validate mount points, so you must ensure that the mount
points are the same for each media server. You also must ensure that the mount
points are valid.
■ To obtain a consolidated list of disk volumes, NetBackup queries every media
server. For large sets of servers, queries may affect performance.
■ Disk volume status is monitored on a single media server. Which server monitors
the status can change. Therefore, a change in disk volume availability on one
media server may not be reflected in the disk volume status NetBackup reports.
An AdvancedDisk storage server can have the attributes that can help you manage
your restore and your duplication traffic.
See “About AdvancedDisk preferred or required read servers” on page 16.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 16
About AdvancedDisk data movers

Storage servers are either AdvancedDisk type or AdvancedDisk_crypt type.

See “About data encryption for AdvancedDisk storage” on page 18.
Whether or not you want to specify storage server attributes or use encryption
determines how you configure the storage servers.
See “Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server” on page 27.

About AdvancedDisk data movers

A data mover transfers data from primary storage (a NetBackup client) to secondary
storage during backups. It also can move data back to primary storage during
restores and from secondary storage to tertiary storage during duplication.
You do not configure data movers separately. For AdvancedDisk, NetBackup media
servers function as both storage servers and data movers. Data movers are
configured when you configure storage servers.

About AdvancedDisk preferred or required read

servers
When you configure a storage server, you can specify that you want it to be preferred
or required for restore jobs. You also can specify whether a server should be required
for the read side of duplication jobs. These attributes can help manage the restore
and the duplication traffic.
The following are the requirements to configure encryption:
■ You must use the nbdevconfig command to configure the storage servers and
the disk pools.
■ You must use the -setattribute option when you configure the storage servers
and the disk pools.
Table 3-2 describes the possible arguments for the -setattribute option.
See “Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server” on page 27.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 17
About AdvancedDisk preferred or required read servers

Table 3-2 Preferred or required read server descriptions

Argument Description

PrefRestore The server is preferred for the read side of restore operations. You can
configure more than one server as preferred for restore.

If you configure preferred for restore but not required for restore,
NetBackup considers preferred storage servers for jobs first. If none are
available, NetBackup considers any configured storage server.

Normal NetBackup load balancing occurs among all storage servers

marked PrefRestore.

ReqRestore The server is required for the read side of restore operations. You can
configure more than one server as required for restore.

If you configure required servers for restore but not preferred servers,
jobs queue until a required server is available to execute the job. Other
servers are never considered for restore jobs. Normal NetBackup rules
for job retry apply.

If you configure both preferred and required storage servers and a required
server is not available, NetBackup considers preferred servers for jobs.
If none are available, jobs queue until a required or preferred server is
available. Other servers are never considered for restore jobs.

Normal NetBackup load balancing occurs for all required servers. Load
balancing does not occur between the required and preferred servers.

ReqDuplicate The server is required for the read side of duplication operations. You
can configure more than one server as required for duplication.

If any server is configured as required for duplication, NetBackup considers

only required for duplication servers for jobs. If a required server is
unavailable, jobs queue until a required server is available to execute the
job. Normal NetBackup rules for job retry apply.

Required for duplication also applies to storage server allocation for

synthetic backup operations.

Only the media servers that are configured in the storage unit are considered for
jobs. Therefore, if you configure a subset of the disk pool media servers in a storage
unit, NetBackup selects from those servers only.
If you use the preferred or required restore or duplication attributes for a storage
server, the following may occur:
■ A restore operation uses a storage server that does not have a PrefRestore
or ReqRestore attribute. Reasons may be as follows:
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 18
About data encryption for AdvancedDisk storage

■ The destination disk pool does not include a storage server with a restore
or a duplication attribute.
■ A preferred or required storage server cannot be used because it is
unavailable (NetBackup considers it DOWN).

■ A restore or a duplication operation is queued.

The reason may be that a preferred or required storage server cannot be used
because it is unavailable (NetBackup considers it DOWN).
If you do not configure preferred or required restore servers, NetBackup uses normal
criteria to select a media server for restore or duplication. (That is, if you configure
more than one storage server.)
Information about how NetBackup balances storage unit and media server load is
available.
See “Maximum concurrent jobs” in the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume
I:
http://www.veritas.com/docs/DOC5332
You can use preferred or required restore servers rather than the Media host
override host property.
Information about the Media host override property is available.
See “General Server properties” in the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume
I:
http://www.veritas.com/docs/DOC5332

About data encryption for AdvancedDisk storage

You can encrypt your data on the storage that you use for AdvancedDisk. The
following are the requirements to configure encryption:
■ You must configure the NetBackup Key Management Service so that NetBackup
can manage the encryption keys. NetBackup uses KMS to manage encryption
keys. You must use NetBackup commands to configure both the Key
Management Service and the AdvancedDisk storage server.
See “About key management for encryption of NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage”
on page 19.
■ You must use the nbdevconfig command to configure the storage servers and
the disk pools.
■ You must use the AdvancedDisk_crypt type when you configure the storage
servers and the disk pools.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 19
About key management for encryption of NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage

After you configure KMS and AdvancedDisk_crypt storage servers and disk pools,
NetBackup uses encryption for backup jobs to those disk pools.

Note: NetBackup does not span volumes for the AdvancedDisk_crypt type of disk
pool.
See “About AdvancedDisk disk pools” on page 39.

AdvancedDisk encryption is supported on a subset of operating systems that

NetBackup supports. For supported systems, see the NetBackup compatibility lists
on the NetBackup support landing page.
http://www.netbackup.com/compatibility
More information about data-at-rest encryption and security is available.
See the NetBackup Security and Encryption Guide:
http://www.veritas.com/docs/DOC5332

About key management for encryption of

NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage
NetBackup uses the Key Management Service (KMS) to manage the keys for the
data encryption for disk storage. KMS is a NetBackup primary server-based
symmetric key management service. The service runs on the NetBackup primary
server. An additional license is not required to use the KMS functionality.
NetBackup uses KMS to manage the encryption keys for AdvancedDisk storage.
See “About data encryption for AdvancedDisk storage” on page 18.
The following table describes the encryption keys that are required for the KMS
database.

Table 3-3 Encryption keys required for the KMS database

Key Description

Host Master Key The Host Master Key protects the key database. The Host Master
Key requires a pass phrase and an ID. KMS uses the pass phrase
to generate the key.

Key Protection Key A Key Protection Key protects individual records in the key
database. The Key Protection Key requires a pass phrase and an
ID. KMS uses the pass phrase to generate the key.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 20
About key management for encryption of NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage

The following table describes the encryption keys that are required for each storage
server and volume combination.

Table 3-4 Encryption keys required for each storage server and volume
combination

Key Description

A key group A key group key protects the key group. Each storage server and volume combination requires
a key group, and each key group key requires a pass phrase. The key group name must use the
format for the storage type that is described as follows:
For AdvancedDisk storage, the format depends on the operating system type that hosts the
storage, as follows:

■ UNIX storage: storage_server_name:volume_name

The following items describe the requirements for the key group name components for
AdvancedDisk storage on UNIX:
■ storage_server_name : You must use the same name that you use for the storage
server. The name can be a fully-qualified domain name or a short name, but it must be
the same as the storage server.
■ The colon (:) is required after the storage_server_name.
■ volume_name : Use the last directory name in the storage path for the volume_name
. For example, use backups if the storage path is /mnt/disk/backups.
■ Windows storage: storage_server_name:
The following items describe the requirements for the key group name components for
AdvancedDisk storage on Windows:
■ storage_server_name : You must use the same name that you use for the storage
server. The name can be a fully-qualified domain name or a short name, but it must be
the same as the storage server.
■ The colon (:) is required after the storage_server_name.

A key record Each key group that you create requires a key record. A key record stores the actual key that
protects the data for the storage server and volume.

See “Configuring key management for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage encryption”

on page 21.
More information about KMS is available in the NetBackup Security and Encryption
Guide:
http://www.veritas.com/docs/DOC5332
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 21
Configuring key management for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage encryption

Configuring key management for NetBackup

AdvancedDisk storage encryption
For AdvancedDisk storage, encryption is optional. If you do not use encryption, you
do not have to configure key management. To use encryption, you must first
configure key management by using NetBackup commands. See Table 3-5.

Table 3-5 Configure key management by using NetBackup commands

Step Task Instructions

Step 1 Learn about NetBackup key See “About key management for encryption of
management NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage” on page 19.

Step 2 Set up the KMS database See “Setting up the KMS database for NetBackup
AdvancedDisk storage encryption” on page 21.

Step 3 Create the key groups Each storage server and volume combination
requires a key group.

See “Creating a KMS key group for NetBackup

AdvancedDisk storage encryption” on page 23.

Step 4 Create the key records Each key group requires a key record. The key
record contains the encryption key.

See “Creating a KMS key for NetBackup

AdvancedDisk storage encryption” on page 24.

Step 5 Save a record of the key The record of the key names lets you recreate the
names keys if they are lost.

See “Saving a record of the KMS key names for

NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage encryption”
on page 25.

Setting up the KMS database for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage

encryption
Setting up the KMS database is the first task in the process of configuring the
NetBackup Key Management Service by using NetBackup commands.
See “Configuring key management for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage encryption”
on page 21.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 22
Configuring key management for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage encryption

To set up the KMS database

1 On the NetBackup primary server, create the KMS database by running the
nbkms command with the -createemptydb option, as follows:

UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/nbkms -createemptydb

Windows: install_path\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\nbkms.exe
-createemptydb

The following prompt appears:

Enter the Host Master Key (HMK) passphrase (or hit ENTER to use a
randomly generated HMK). The passphrase will not be displayed on
the screen.
Enter passphrase :

2 Enter a pass phrase for the host master key (HMK) or press Enter to create a
randomly generated key.
After you enter the Host Master Key pass phrase, the following prompt appears:

An ID will be associated with the Host Master Key (HMK) just

created. The ID will assist you in determining the HMK associated
with any key store.
Enter HMK ID :

3 Enter an ID for the HMK. This ID can be anything descriptive that you want to
use to identify the HMK.
After you enter the Host Master Key ID, the following prompt appears:

Enter the Key Protection Key (KPK) passphrase (or hit ENTER to use a rando

4 Enter a pass phrase for the Key Protection Key or press Enter to create a
randomly generated key.
After you enter the Key Protection Key pass phrase, the following prompt
appears:

An ID will be associated with the Key Protection Key (KPK) just

created. The ID will assist you in determining the KPK associated with any
Enter KPK ID :

5 Enter an ID for the KPK. The ID can be anything descriptive that you want to
use to identify the KPK.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 23
Configuring key management for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage encryption

6 Start the NetBackup Key Management Service on the primary server. You can
do so in the Activity Monitor of the NetBackup Administration Console.
After you start the service, the initial database setup is complete.
7 After you set up the database, create key groups for the volumes in the disk
pool.
See “Creating a KMS key group for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage
encryption” on page 23.

Creating a KMS key group for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage

encryption
Creating a KMS key group is the second task in the process of configuring the
NetBackup Key Management Service manually.
See “Configuring key management for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage encryption”
on page 21.
A key group is a container for key records. Each storage server and volume
combination requires a key group in the following format:
■ UNIX storage: storage_server_name:volume_name
■ Windows storage: storage_server_name:
To create a KMS key group
1 On the NetBackup primary server, create a key group by using the nbkmsutil
command and the -createkg option. The format of the command depends on
the operating system of the host or hosts to which the storage is attached, as
follows:
Storage on UNIX:
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/nbkmsutil -createkg -kgname
storage_server_name:volume_name

Storage on Windows:
install_path\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\nbkmsutil -createkg
-kgname storage_server_name:

The following is the criteria for the key group name:

■ For the storage_server_name, you must use the same name that you use
for the storage server. The name can be a fully-qualified domain name or
a short name, but it must be the same as the storage server.
■ The colon (:) is required after the storage_server_name.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 24
Configuring key management for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage encryption

■ For the volume_name on UNIX host storage, specify the name of the last
directory in the storage path. For example, use backups if the storage path
is /mnt/disk/backups.
Storage hosted on windows servers does not require a volume_name.

2 After you create the key groups, create a key record for each group.
See “Creating a KMS key for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage encryption”
on page 24.

Creating a KMS key for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage encryption

Creating a KMS key is the third and the final task in the process of configuring the
NetBackup Key Management Service manually.
See “Configuring key management for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage encryption”
on page 21.
Each key group requires at least one key record. The key record contains the
encryption key itself and information about the key. The key is used to encrypt and
decrypt data.

Note: If you create more than one key for a key group, only the last key remains
active.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 25
Configuring key management for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage encryption

To create a KMS key

1 On the NetBackup primary server, create a key record by using the nbkmsutil
command and the -createkey option.
UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/nbkmsutil -createkey
-keyname keyname -kgname key_group_name -activate

Windows: install_path\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\nbkmsutil
-createkey -keyname keyname -kgname key_group_name -activate

Use the key group name that you configured when you created the key group.
See “Creating a KMS key group for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage
encryption” on page 23.
You are prompted to enter a pass phrase:
Enter a passphrase:

2 Enter and then re-enter a pass phrase; this pass phrase should differ from any
pass phrases that you entered already.
3 Save a record of the pass phrase.
See “Saving a record of the KMS key names for NetBackup AdvancedDisk
storage encryption” on page 25.

Saving a record of the KMS key names for NetBackup AdvancedDisk

storage encryption
Veritas recommends that you save a record of the encryption key names and tags.
The key tag is necessary if you need to recover or recreate the keys.
See “Configuring key management for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage encryption”
on page 21.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 26
Configuring key management for NetBackup AdvancedDisk storage encryption

To save a record of the key names

1 To determine the key group names, use the following command on the primary
server:
UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/nbkmsutil -listkgs
Windows: install_path\Program
Files\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\nbkmsutil.exe -listkgs

The following is example output:

Key Group Name : UX_Host.example.com:backups

Supported Cipher : AES_256
Number of Keys : 1
Has Active Key : Yes
Creation Time : Tues Oct 01 01:00:00 2013
Last Modification Time: Tues Oct 01 01:00:00 2013
Description : -
FIPS Approved Key : Yes

Key Group Name : Win_Host.example.com:

Supported Cipher : AES_256
Number of Keys : 1
Has Active Key : Yes
Creation Time : Tues Oct 01 01:05:00 2013
Last Modification Time: Tues Oct 01 01:05:00 2013
Description : -
FIPS Approved Key : Yes
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 27
Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server

2 For each key group, write all of the keys that belong to the group to a file. Run
the command on the primary server. The following is the command syntax:
UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/nbkmsutil -listkeys -kgname
key_group_name > filename.txt

Windows: install_path\Program
Files\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\nbkmsutil.exe -listkeys
-kgname key_group_name > filename.txt

The following is example output:

nbkmsutil.exe -listkeys -kgname UX_Host.example.com:backups >
encrypt_keys_UX_Host.example.com_backups.txt

Key Group Name : UX_Host.example.com:backups

Supported Cipher : AES_256
Number of Keys : 1
Has Active Key : Yes
Creation Time : Tues Oct 01 01:00:00 2013
Last Modification Time: Tues Oct 01 01:00:00 2013
Description : -
FIPS Approved Key : Yes

Key Tag : 867d710aa7f4c64dcdd2cec6...cce

d0c831c1812c510acd05
Key Name : AdvDisk_Key
Current State : ACTIVE
Creation Time : Tues Oct 01 01:05:00 2013
Last Modification Time: Tues Oct 01 01:05:00 2013
Description : -
FIPS Approved Key : Yes

Number of Keys: 1

3 Include in the file the pass phrase that you used to create the key record.
4 Store the file in a secure location.

Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server

Configure in this context means to configure as a storage server a NetBackup media
server that can mount the storage.
See “About AdvancedDisk storage servers” on page 15.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 28
Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server

How you configure an AdvancedDisk storage server depends on several factors,

as follows:

Encrypted storage If you want to encrypt the storage, you must use the NetBackup
nbdevconfig command.

For the AdvancedDisk_crypt type of storage server, you must

specify the -st option with a value of 5.

See “About data encryption for AdvancedDisk storage”

on page 18.

See “To configure an AdvancedDisk storage server by using

the command line” on page 29.

Storage server attributes If you want to specify preferred or required attributes for the
storage server, you must use the NetBackup nbdevconfig
command.

See “About AdvancedDisk preferred or required read servers”

on page 16.

See “To configure an AdvancedDisk storage server by using

the command line” on page 29.

No encryption or attributes Veritas recommends that you use the Storage Server
Configuration Wizard to configure the AdvancedDisk type
of storage server.

See “To configure an AdvancedDisk storage server by using

the wizard” on page 29.

You can configure multiple storage servers for the same storage. Doing so provides
load balancing and redundancy in case of a storage server failure. The following
procedures explain how to configure multiple storage servers.
When you configure an AdvancedDisk storage server, it also is configured as a
data mover.
See “About AdvancedDisk data movers” on page 16.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 29
Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server

To configure an AdvancedDisk storage server by using the command line

1 Run the following command on the NetBackup primary server or the media
server:
UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/nbdevconfig -creatests
-storage_server hostname -stype server_type -st 5 -media_server
hostname [-setattribute attribute]

Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\nbdevconfig -creatests

-storage_server hostname -stype server_type -st 5 -media_server
hostname [-setattribute attribute]

The arguments for the command options are in a different topic. The arguments
include those for encryption, for attributes, and so on.
See “AdvancedDisk storage server configuration options” on page 38.
2 To verify that the storage server was configured correctly, run the following
command:
UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/nbdevquery -liststs -u
Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\nbdevquery -liststs
-u

The following is an excerpt of the command output that shows the proper
storage type for AdvancedDisk (Formatted Disk, Direct Attached):

Storage Server : AdvDiskServer.example.com

Storage Server Type : AdvancedDisk_crypt
Storage Type : Formatted Disk, Direct Attached
State : UP

3 After the storage server is created, you can do the following.

■ To configure another storage server, go to step 1 and then repeat the steps
in this procedure.
■ If you have finished configuring storage servers, configure a disk pool.
See “Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool” on page 42.

To configure an AdvancedDisk storage server by using the wizard

1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, select either NetBackup
Management or Media and Device Management.
2 In the right pane, click Configure Disk Storage Servers.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 30
Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server

3 On the Welcome panel, the types of storage servers that you can configure
depend on the options for which you are licensed, as follows:

Select AdvancedDisk and then click Next. The behavior depends on whether
you have separate media servers in your environment, as follows:

A primary server but no media Storage Server Configuration Summary panel

servers appears.

Go to step 5.

Media servers are installed The Add Storage Server panel appears.

Continue to step 4.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 31
Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server

4 On the Add Storage Server panel, select the media server that you want to
configure as an AdvancedDisk storage server from the Media server drop-down
list. Then, click Next.
The following is an example of the wizard panel:

The Storage Server Configuration Summary panel appears.

 Configuring AdvancedDisk 32
Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server

5 On the Storage Server Configuration Summary panel, verify the selections.

If OK, click Next to configure the storage server.
The following is an example of the wizard panel:

The Storage Server Configuration Status panel appears.

 Configuring AdvancedDisk 33
Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server

6 The Storage Server Configuration Status wizard panel describes the status
of the operation, as follows:

After the storage server is created, you can do the following:

Configure another Click Close and then repeat the steps in this procedure.
storage server
Configure another storage server if you want to configure
multiple AdvancedDisk storage servers for the storage that
is allocated for the disk pool. When you configure the final
storage server, then continue and create the disk pool.

Configure a disk pool Ensure that Create a disk pool using the storage server
that you have just created is selected and then click Next.

Configure a disk pool if you have finished configuring the

storage servers that can access the disk pool.
Continue with the next step.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 34
Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server

7 The Volume Selection panel displays the volumes available on the storage
server. If you selected more than one storage server, volumes that are common
to all of them appear.
The following is an example of the wizard panel:

To specify a Common Internet File System (CIFS) disk volume, click Add New
Volume. In the Add New Volume dialog box, enter the Windows Universal
Naming Convention (UNC) pathname of the CIFS volume and then click
Validate and Add
Select the volumes to use for the disk pool. NetBackup does not filter out
common file system mount points, such as / and /usr. Therefore, carefully
choose the volumes to include in a disk pool.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 35
Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server

See “About AdvancedDisk file system requirements” on page 13.

Click Next. The Additional Disk Pool Information wizard panel appears.
8 On the Additional Disk Pool Information panel, enter the values for the disk
pool and then click Next.
See “AdvancedDisk disk pool properties” on page 53.
The following is an example of the wizard panel:

The Summary wizard panel appears after you click Next.

 Configuring AdvancedDisk 36
Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server

9 On the Summary panel, verify the selections. If OK, click Next.

The following is an example of the wizard panel:

The Status wizard panel appears after you click Next.

 Configuring AdvancedDisk 37
Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server

10 On the Status panel, monitor the progress of the operation.

The following is an example of the wizard panel:

After the disk pool is created, you can do the following:

Configure a storage Ensure that Create a storage unit using the disk pool that
unit you have just created is selected and then click Next. The
Storage Unit Creation wizard panel appears. Continue to the
next step.

Exit Click Close.

You can configure one or more storage units later.

See “Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool” on page 42.

 Configuring AdvancedDisk 38
Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server

11 Enter the appropriate information for the storage unit.

The following is an example of the wizard panel:

See “AdvancedDisk storage unit properties” on page 57.

Click Next to create the storage unit.
12 After NetBackup configures the storage unit, the Finished panel appears. Click
Finish to exit from the wizard.

AdvancedDisk storage server configuration options

The following are the nbdevconfig command options that are used to configure
storage servers.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 39
About AdvancedDisk disk pools

Table 3-6 Options to configure AdvancedDisk storage server

Option Description

-storage_server The name of the NetBackup media server that has a file system mount on the
storage_server storage.

-stype server_type For AdvancedDisk with encryption, use AdvancedDisk_crypt, otherwise use
AdvancedDisk.
Note: If you specify AdvancedDisk_crypt as the -stype, you must specify an
-st value of 5 on the command line.

-st storage_type A numeric value that specifies the storage server properties. For AdvancedDisk,
the default value is 5 (direct attached, formatted disk).
Note: For an AdvancedDisk_crypt -stype, you must specify -st 5 on the
command line.

-media_server hostname Use the same name as the storage server name.

-setattribute attribute An attribute to apply to the storage server for the read side of restore or duplication
operations. The following are the attributes:

■ PrefRestore. The storage server is preferred for the read side of restore
operations. More than one storage server can have the PrefRestore attribute.
■ ReqRestore. The storage server is required for the read side of restore
operations. More than one storage server can have the ReqRestore attribute.
■ ReqDuplicate. The storage server is required for the read side of duplication
operations. More than one storage server can have the ReqDuplicate
attribute.

See “About AdvancedDisk preferred or required read servers” on page 16.

About AdvancedDisk disk pools

A disk pool represents disk volumes on the underlying disk storage. NetBackup
aggregates the disk volumes into pools of storage you can use for backups. A disk
pool is the storage destination of a NetBackup storage unit.
Disk pools are either AdvancedDisk type or AdvancedDisk_crypt type.
See “About data encryption for AdvancedDisk storage” on page 18.
For the AdvancedDisk_crypt disk type on CIFS storage, you must configure the
disk volumes before you configure the disk pool.
See “Configuring a CIFS disk volume for AdvancedDisk encryption” on page 41.
See “Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool” on page 42.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 40
About AdvancedDisk disk pools

Veritas recommends that disk pool and disk volume names be unique across your
enterprise.
The following are disk pool and volume considerations for AdvancedDisk storage:

Capacity If an AdvancedDisk disk pool is a storage destination in a storage

management lifecycle policy, NetBackup capacity management applies. If you share
the volumes in an AdvancedDisk disk pool with other users, NetBackup
cannot manage disk pool capacity or storage lifecycle policies correctly.

Volume selection NetBackup selects disk volumes based on available capacity and
predicted size of the backup. NetBackup tries to write backup data to
a single volume.

Disk spanning If necessary, backup images span disk volumes in a disk pool.
(Exception: NetBackup does not span volumes for the
AdvancedDisk_crypt type of disk pool.) Backup images do not span
across multiple disk pools.

To reduce disk spanning, each volume in a disk pool should be larger

than your largest backup. NetBackup then can store your largest backup
on a single volume if that volume does not contain other backup images.
Note: Some file systems limitations can affect whether or not
NetBackup can detect file system capacity accurately. On those file
systems, Veritas recommends that you do not span backup images
across volumes.

See “About AdvancedDisk file system requirements” on page 13.

Disk size and NetBackup assumes that all disk volumes within a disk pool are similar
performance in size and performance characteristics. Although you can use dissimilar
disk volumes in a disk pool, performance may be unpredictable.

If you have the disk volumes that have significantly different

characteristics, group them into multiple disk pools. Each of those disk
pools should contain the volumes that have similar characteristics.

Disk contention NetBackup queues backup and restore jobs if insufficient resources
are available.

To limit the possibility of write contention between backup jobs (and

therefore job queuing), ensure that a disk pool contains a sufficient
number of volumes. The number of volumes should be equal to or
greater than: the total number of maximum concurrent jobs that are
allowed in all of the storage units that use a disk pool.

Volume managers The AdvancedDisk storage implementation presents mounted file

systems as disk volumes to NetBackup. Therefore, you can use
AdvancedDisk disk pools with the volume managers that work at a level
closer to the hardware than the file system.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 41
Configuring a CIFS disk volume for AdvancedDisk encryption

Configuring a CIFS disk volume for AdvancedDisk

encryption
AdvancedDisk_crypt and CIFS only.
For the AdvancedDisk_crypt disk type, you must use the NetBackup nbdevconfig
command to specify each CIFS disk volume for the disk pool. You must also use
the UNC notation to specify the volumes (NetBackup cannot discover Windows
Common Internet File System (CIFS) disk volumes).
See “About AdvancedDisk file system requirements” on page 13.
Veritas recommends that disk volume and disk pool names be unique across your
enterprise.
You must first configure storage servers.
See “Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server” on page 27.
To configure an AdvancedDisk disk volume by using the command line
1 On the NetBackup primary server, configure the volume by using the following
command:
nbdevconfig -createdv -storage_server hostname -stype server_type
-dv disk_volume_name -dp disk_pool_name

The following is the path to the nbdevconfig command:

■ UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd
■ Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd
The following describe the options:

-storage_server hostname The name of the NetBackup media server that has
a file system mount on the storage.

-stype server_type For AdvancedDisk with encryption, use

AdvancedDisk_crypt, otherwise use
AdvancedDisk.

-dv disk_volume_name The name of the disk volume; use UNC notation.

-dp disk_pool_name The name of the disk pool for the volume.

2 Repeat step 1 for each disk volume that you want to add.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 42
Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool

Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool

How you configure an AdvancedDisk disk pool depends on the type, as follows:

AdvancedDisk_crypt You must use the nbdevconfig command if you configured an

type AdvancedDisk_crypt type of storage server. NetBackup encrypts
the backup data on the AdvancedDisk_crypt type of disk pool.

See “To configure an AdvancedDisk disk pool by using the

nbdevconfig command” on page 43.

NetBackup cannot discover Windows Common Internet File

System (CIFS) disk volumes. For CIFS storage, you must use
the UNC notation to specify the volumes.

See “About AdvancedDisk file system requirements” on page 13.

See “Configuring a CIFS disk volume for AdvancedDisk

encryption” on page 41.

AdvancedDisk type Veritas recommends that you use the Disk Pool Configuration
Wizard to configure the AdvancedDisk type of disk pool.

When you configure a storage server, that wizard continues to

the Disk Pool Configuration Wizard. Therefore, you may not
need to invoke the disk pool wizard separately.

See “To configure an AdvancedDisk disk pool by using the wizard”

on page 44.

NetBackup cannot discover Windows Common Internet File

System (CIFS) disk volumes. For CIFS storage, you must use
the UNC notation to specify the volumes.

See “About AdvancedDisk file system requirements” on page 13.

Veritas recommends that disk volume and disk pool names be unique across your
enterprise.
You must first configure storage servers.
See “Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server” on page 27.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 43
Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool

To configure an AdvancedDisk disk pool by using the nbdevconfig command

1 On the host that has a file system mount on the storage, discover the volumes
that are available and write them to a text file. If you intend to use multiple
hosts to read to and write from the storage, use any of the hosts. The following
is the NetBackup command to use, depending on your operating system:
UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/nbdevconfig -previewdv
-storage_server hostname -stype server_type > filename

Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\nbdevconfig -previewdv

-storage_server hostname -stype server_type > filename

The following describe the options:

-storage_server hostname The name of the NetBackup media server that has
a file system mount on the storage.

-stype server_type For AdvancedDisk with encryption, use

AdvancedDisk_crypt, otherwise use
AdvancedDisk.

> filename The name of the file into which to write the volume
information. Veritas recommends that you use a
name that describes its purpose.

2 Copy the file that you created in step 1 to the primary server.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 44
Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool

3 In a text editor, delete the line for each volume that you do not want to be in
the disk pool. Do not delete the blank line at the end of the file.
Each volume that is listed in the file must be exposed to each AdvancedDisk
storage server on the same mount point.
4 Configure the disk pool by using the following command, depending on your
operating system:
UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/nbdevconfig -createdp -dp
disk_pool_name -stype server_type -storage_servers hostname...
-dvlist filename [-reason "string"] [-lwm low_watermark_percent]
[-max_io_streams n] [-comment comment] [-M primary_server]
[-reason "string"]

Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\nbdevconfig -createdp

-dp disk_pool_name -stype server_type -storage_servers hostname...
-dvlist filename [-reason "string"] [-lwm low_watermark_percent]
[-max_io_streams n] [-comment comment] [-M primary_server]
[-reason "string"]

The nbdevconfig command options are described in a different topic.

See “NetBackup nbdevconfig command options for AdvancedDisk disk pools”
on page 51.
To configure an AdvancedDisk disk pool by using the wizard
1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, select either NetBackup
Management or Media and Device Management.
2 From the list of wizards in the right pane, click Configure Disk Pool.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 45
Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool

3 On the Welcome panel, the types of disk pools that you can configure depend
on the options for which you are licensed.
The following is an example of the wizard panel:

Select AdvancedDisk and then click Next. The Storage Server Selection
wizard panel appears.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 46
Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool

4 On the Storage Server Selection panel, all NetBackup media servers that
you configured as AdvancedDisk storage servers appear.
The following is an example of the wizard panel:

Select the NetBackup media servers that you want to function as storage
servers for this disk pool and then click Next. The Volume Selection wizard
panel appears.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 47
Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool

5 The Volume Selection panel displays the volumes available on the storage
server. If you selected more than one storage server, volumes that are common
to all of them appear.
The following is an example of the wizard panel:

To specify a Common Internet File System (CIFS) disk volume, click Add New
Volume. In the Add New Volume dialog box, enter the Windows Universal
Naming Convention (UNC) pathname of the CIFS volume and then click
Validate and Add.
Select the volumes to use for the disk pool. NetBackup does not filter out
common file system mount points, such as / and /usr. Therefore, carefully
choose the volumes to include in a disk pool.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 48
Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool

See “About AdvancedDisk file system requirements” on page 13.

Click Next. The Additional Disk Pool Information wizard panel appears.
6 On the Additional Disk Pool Information panel, enter the values for the disk
pool and then click Next.
See “AdvancedDisk disk pool properties” on page 53.
The following is an example of the wizard panel:

The Summary wizard panel appears after you click Next.

 Configuring AdvancedDisk 49
Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool

7 On the Summary panel, verify the selections. If OK, click Next.

The following is an example of the wizard panel:
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 50
Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool

8 After NetBackup creates the disk pool, a wizard panel describes the successful
action.
The following is an example of the wizard panel:

After NetBackup creates the disk pool, you can do the following:

Configure a storage unit Ensure that Create a storage unit using the disk pool that
you have just created is selected and then click Next. The
Storage Unit Creation wizard panel appears. Continue to
the next step.

Exit Click Close.

You can configure one or more storage units later.

See “Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool” on page 42.

 Configuring AdvancedDisk 51
Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool

9 On Storage Unit Creation wizard panel, enter the appropriate information for
the storage unit.
The following is an example of the wizard panel:

See “AdvancedDisk storage unit properties” on page 57.

Click Next to create the storage unit.
10 After NetBackup configures the storage unit, the Finished panel appears. Click
Finish to exit from the wizard.

NetBackup nbdevconfig command options for AdvancedDisk disk

pools
Table 3-7 shows the options that you can use when you use the nbdevconfig
command to configure an AdvancedDisk disk pool
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 52
Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool

Table 3-7 nbdevconfig command options for AdvancedDisk disk pools

Option Description

-comment comment A comment that is associated with the disk pool.

-dp disk_pool_name The name of the disk pool. Use the same name that you used when you configured
the disk volumes.

-dvlist filename The name of the file that contains the information about the volumes for the disk
pool.

-hwm high_watermark The high_watermark setting is a threshold that triggers the following actions:

■ When an individual volume in the disk pool reaches the high_watermark

, NetBackup considers the volume full. NetBackup chooses a different volume
in the disk pool to write backup images to.
■ When all volumes in the disk pool reach the high_watermark , the disk
pool is considered full. NetBackup fails any backup jobs that are assigned to
a storage unit in which the disk pool is full. NetBackup also does not assign
new jobs to a storage unit in which the disk pool is full.
■ NetBackup begins image cleanup when a volume reaches the
high_watermark ; image cleanup expires the images that are no longer
valid. For a disk pool that is full, NetBackup again assigns jobs to the storage
unit when image cleanup reduces any disk volume's capacity to less than the
high_watermark .
If the storage unit for the disk pool is in a capacity-managed storage lifecycle
policy, other factors affect image cleanup.

The default is 98%.

-lwm low_watermark The Low water mark is a threshold at which NetBackup stops image cleanup.

The Low water mark setting cannot be greater than or equal to the High water
mark setting.

The default is 80%.

-M primary_server The name of the primary server.

 Configuring AdvancedDisk 53
Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool

Table 3-7 nbdevconfig command options for AdvancedDisk disk pools

(continued)

Option Description

-max_io_streams n Select this option to limit the number of read and write streams (that is, jobs) for
each volume in the disk pool. A job may read backup images or write backup
images. By default, there is no limit.

When the limit is reached, NetBackup chooses another volume, if available. If not
available, NetBackup queues jobs until a volume is available.

Too many jobs that read and write data may degrade disk performance because
of disk thrashing. (Disk thrashing is when the read and write heads move between
the cylinders excessively as they seek the data for competing jobs.)

Fewer streams may improve throughput, which may increase the number of jobs
that complete in a specific time period.

A starting point is to divide the Maximum concurrent jobs of all of the storage
units by the number of volumes in the disk pool.

-reason "string" The reason that you create the disk pool.

-storage_servers hostname The name of each storage server that has a file system mount on the storage.
Specify all NetBackup media servers that are storage servers for this disk pool.

-stype server_type For AdvancedDisk with encryption, use AdvancedDisk_crypt, otherwise use
AdvancedDisk.

AdvancedDisk disk pool properties

Table 3-8 describes the disk pool properties.

Table 3-8 AdvancedDisk disk pool properties

Property Description

Name The disk pool name.

Storage server The storage server or storage servers.

All NetBackup media servers that have a mount on the storage are listed. They share the
storage for read and write purposes.

Disk volumes The disk volumes that comprise the disk pool.

Total size The total amount of space available in the disk pool.

Total raw size The total raw, unformatted size of the storage in the disk pool.

Comment A comment that is associated with the disk pool.

 Configuring AdvancedDisk 54
Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool

Table 3-8 AdvancedDisk disk pool properties (continued)

Property Description

High water mark The High water mark setting is a threshold that triggers the following actions:

■ When an individual volume in the disk pool reaches the High water mark, NetBackup
considers the volume full. NetBackup chooses a different volume in the disk pool to write
backup images to.
■ When all volumes in the disk pool reach the High water mark, the disk pool is considered
full. NetBackup fails any backup jobs that are assigned to a storage unit in which the disk
pool is full. NetBackup also does not assign new jobs to a storage unit in which the disk
pool is full.
■ NetBackup begins image cleanup when a volume reaches the High water mark; image
cleanup expires the images that are no longer valid. For a disk pool that is full, NetBackup
again assigns jobs to the storage unit when image cleanup reduces any disk volume's
capacity to less than the High water mark.
If the storage unit for the disk pool is in a capacity-managed storage lifecycle policy, other
factors affect image cleanup.

The default is 98%.

Low water mark The Low water mark is a threshold at which NetBackup stops image cleanup.

The Low water mark setting cannot be greater than or equal to the High water mark setting.

The default is 80%.

Limit I/O streams Select this option to limit the number of read and write streams (that is, jobs) for each volume
in the disk pool. A job may read backup images or write backup images. By default, there is
no limit.

When the limit is reached, NetBackup chooses another volume, if available. If not available,
NetBackup queues jobs until a volume is available.

Too many jobs that read and write data may degrade disk performance because of disk
thrashing. (Disk thrashing is when the read and write heads move between the cylinders
excessively as they seek the data for competing jobs.)

Fewer streams may improve throughput, which may increase the number of jobs that complete
in a specific time period.

A starting point is to divide the Maximum concurrent jobs of all of the storage units by the
number of volumes in the disk pool.

per volume Select or enter the number of read and write streams to allow per volume.

Many factors affect the optimal number of streams. Factors include but are not limited to disk
speed, CPU speed, and the amount of memory.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 55
Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage unit

Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage unit

Create one or more storage units that reference the disk pool.
The Disk Pool Configuration Wizard lets you create a storage unit; therefore, you
may have created a storage unit when you created a disk pool. To determine if
storage units exist for the disk pool, see the NetBackup Management > Storage
> Storage Units window of the NetBackup Administration Console.
See “About AdvancedDisk storage unit recommendations” on page 58.
More information about storage units is available. See the NetBackup Administrator's
Guide, Volume I:
http://www.veritas.com/docs/DOC5332
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 56
Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage unit

To configure a storage unit from the Actions menu

1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, in the left pane, select NetBackup
Management > Storage > Storage Units.
2 Click Actions > New > Storage Unit.

3 Complete the fields and set the options in the New Storage Unit dialog box.
See “AdvancedDisk storage unit properties” on page 57.
4 Click OK.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 57
Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage unit

AdvancedDisk storage unit properties

The following are the configuration options for a disk pool storage unit.

Table 3-9 AdvancedDisk storage unit properties

Property Description

Storage unit name Enter a unique name for the new storage unit. The name can describe the type of storage.
The storage unit name is the name used to specify a storage unit for policies and schedules.
The storage unit name cannot be changed after creation.

Storage unit type Select Disk as the storage unit type.

Disk type Select AdvancedDisk for the disk type.

Disk pool Select the disk pool that contains the storage for this storage unit.

All disk pools of the specified Disk type appear in the Disk pool list. If no disk pools are
configured, no disk pools appear in the list.

Media server Specify the NetBackup media servers that can move data to and from the disk pool for this
storage unit. Only the media servers that are configured as storage servers appear in the
media servers list.
Specify the media server or servers as follows:

■ To allow any server in the media server list to access the disk storage (default), select
Use any available media server.
■ To restrict the media servers that can access the disk storage, select Only use the
following media servers. Then, select the media servers to allow. The selection list
includes only the media servers that are configured as storage servers for the disk pool.

NetBackup selects the media server to use when the policy runs.

Maximum concurrent Specify the maximum number of write jobs that NetBackup can send to a disk storage unit
jobs at one time. (Default: one job. The job count can range from 0 to 256.) This setting
corresponds to the Maximum concurrent write drives setting for a tape storage unit.

NetBackup queues jobs until the storage unit is available. If three backup jobs are scheduled
and Maximum concurrent jobs is set to two, NetBackup starts the first two jobs and
queues the third job. If a job contains multiple copies, each copy applies toward the
Maximum concurrent jobs count.
Maximum concurrent jobs controls the traffic for backup and duplication jobs but not
restore jobs. The count applies to all servers in the storage unit, not per server. If you select
multiple media servers in the storage unit and 1 for Maximum concurrent jobs, only one
job runs at a time.

The number to enter depends on the available disk space and the server's ability to run
multiple backup processes.
Warning: A Maximum concurrent jobs setting of 0 disables the storage unit.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 58
Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage unit

Table 3-9 AdvancedDisk storage unit properties (continued)

Property Description

Maximum fragment size Specify the largest fragment size that NetBackup can create to store backups.

The default maximum fragment size for a disk storage unit is 524,288 megabytes. To
specify a maximum fragment size other than the default, enter a value from 20 megabytes
to 524,288 megabytes.

Backups to disk are usually fragmented to ensure that the backup does not exceed the
maximum size that the file system allows.

If an error occurs in a backup, the entire backup is discarded. The backup restarts from
the beginning, not from the fragment where the error occurred. (An exception is for backups
for which checkpoint and restart are enabled. In that case, fragments before and including
the last checkpoint are retained; the fragments after the last checkpoint are discarded.)

About AdvancedDisk storage unit recommendations

You can use storage unit properties to control how NetBackup moves backup and
duplication data.
For example, you can configure a favorable client-to-server ratio for important clients
by using the storage unit Media server setting.
See “About AdvancedDisk storage unit recommendations” on page 58.
You also can use the storage unit Maximum concurrent jobs setting to control
the backup or the duplication traffic that is sent to the media servers.
See “About throttling traffic to the media servers” on page 59.

About configuring a favorable client-to-server ratio

For a favorable client-to-server ratio, you can use one disk pool and configure
multiple storage units to separate your backup traffic. Because all storage units use
the same disk pool, you do not have to partition the storage.
For example, assume that you have 100 important clients, 500 regular clients, and
four media servers. You can use two media servers to back up your most important
clients and two media servers to back up your regular clients.
The following example describes how to configure a favorable client-to-server ratio:
■ Configure the media servers for AdvancedDisk and configure the storage.
■ Configure a disk pool.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 59
About storage lifecycle policies

■ Configure a storage unit for your most important clients (such as STU-GOLD).
Select the disk pool. Select Only use the following media servers. Select two
media servers to use for your important backups.
■ Create a backup policy for the 100 important clients and select the STU-GOLD
storage unit. The media servers that are specified in the storage unit move the
client data to the storage server.
■ Configure another storage unit (such as STU-SILVER). Select the same disk
pool. Select Only use the following media servers. Select the other two media
servers.
■ Configure a backup policy for the 500 regular clients and select the STU-SILVER
storage unit. The media servers that are specified in the storage unit move the
client data to the storage server.
Backup traffic is routed to the wanted data movers by the storage unit settings.

Note: NetBackup uses storage units for media server selection for write activity
(backups and duplications) only. For restores, NetBackup chooses among all media
servers that can access the disk pool.

About throttling traffic to the media servers

You can use the Maximum concurrent jobs settings on disk pool storage units to
throttle the traffic to the media servers. Effectively, this setting also directs higher
loads to specific media servers when you use multiple storage units for the same
disk pool. A higher number of concurrent jobs means that the disk can be busier
than if the number is lower.
For example, two storage units use the same set of media servers. One of the
storage units (STU-GOLD) has a higher Maximum concurrent jobs setting than
the other (STU-SILVER). More client backups occur for the storage unit with the
higher Maximum concurrent jobs setting.

About storage lifecycle policies

Note: SLPs can be configured from the NetBackup web UI. To view the existing
SLPs or create a new one, on the left navigation pane, click Storage > Storage
Lifecycle Policies.

A storage lifecycle policy (SLP) is a storage plan for a set of backups. An SLP is
configured within the Storage Lifecycle Policies utility.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 60
Creating a storage lifecycle policy

An SLP contains instructions in the form of storage operations, to be applied to the

data that is backed up by a backup policy. Operations are added to the SLP that
determine how the data is stored, copied, replicated, and retained. NetBackup
retries the copies as necessary to ensure that all copies are created.
SLPs offer the opportunity for users to assign a classification to the data at the
policy level. A data classification represents a set of backup requirements, which
makes it easier to configure backups for data with different requirements. For
example, email data and financial data.
SLPs can be set up to provide staged backup behavior. They simplify data
management by applying a prescribed behavior to all the backup images that are
included in the SLP. This process allows the NetBackup administrator to leverage
the advantages of disk-based backups in the near term. It also preserves the
advantages of tape-based backups for long-term storage.
The SLP Parameters properties in the NetBackup web UI allow administrators to
customize how SLPs are maintained and how SLP jobs run.
Best-practice information about SLPs appears in the following document:
https://www.veritas.com/content/support/en_US/article.100009913

Creating a storage lifecycle policy

A storage lifecycle policy (SLP) is a storage plan for a set of backups. The operations
in an SLP are the backup instructions for the data. Use the following procedure to
create an SLP that contains multiple storage operations.
To add a storage operation to a storage lifecycle policy
1 In NetBackup web UI, select Storage > Storage lifecycle policies.
2 Click Add.
3 Enter the Storage lifecycle policy name.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 61
Creating a storage lifecycle policy

4 Add one or more operations to the SLP. The operations are the instructions
for the SLP to follow and apply to the data that is specified in the backup policy.
If this is the first operation added to the SLP, click Add.
To add a child operation, select an operation and then click Add child.

5 Select an Operation type. If you're creating a child operation, the SLP displays
only those operations that are valid based on the parent operation that you
selected.
6 Configure the properties for the operation.
7 The Window tab displays for the following operation types: Backup From
Snapshot, Duplication, Import, Index From Snapshot, and Replication. If
you'd like to control when the secondary operation runs, create a window for
the operation.
8 On the Properties tab, click Advanced. Choose if NetBackup should process
active images after the window closes.
9 Click Create to create the operation.
10 Add additional operations to the SLP as needed. (See step 4.)
11 Change the hierarchy of the operations in the SLP if necessary.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 62
Creating a storage lifecycle policy

12 Click Create to create the SLP. NetBackup validates the SLP when it is first
created and whenever it is changed.
13 Configure a backup policy and select a storage lifecycle policy as the Policy
storage.
See “Creating a backup policy” on page 64.

Storage Lifecycle Policy dialog box settings

The New Storage Lifecycle Policy dialog box and the Change Storage Lifecycle
Policy dialog box contain the following settings.

Note: The SLP options can be configured on the NetBackup web UI.

Figure 3-1 Storage Lifecycle Policy tab

Table 3-10 Storage Lifecycle Policy tab

Setting Description

Storage lifecycle The Storage lifecycle policy name describes the SLP. The name cannot be modified after
policy name the SLP is created.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 63
Creating a storage lifecycle policy

Table 3-10 Storage Lifecycle Policy tab (continued)

Setting Description

Data classification The Data classification defines the level or classification of data that the SLP is allowed
to process. The drop-down menu contains all of the defined classifications as well as the
Any classification, which is unique to SLPs.

The Any selection indicates to the SLP that it should preserve all images that are submitted,
regardless of their data classification. It is available for SLP configuration only and is not
available to configure a backup policy.

The Data classification is an optional setting.

One data classification can be assigned to each SLP and applies to all operations in the
SLP.

If a data classification is selected (other than Any), the SLP stores only those images from
the policies that are set up for that data classification. If no data classification is indicated,
the SLP accepts images of any classification or no classification.

The Data classification setting allows the NetBackup administrator to classify data based
on relative importance. A classification represents a set of backup requirements. When data
must meet different backup requirements, consider assigning different classifications.

For example, email backup data can be assigned to the silver data classification and financial
data backup may be assigned to the platinum classification.

A backup policy associates backup data with a data classification. Policy data can be stored
only in an SLP with the same data classification.

Once data is backed up in an SLP, the data is managed according to the SLP configuration.
The SLP defines what happens to the data from the initial backup until the last copy of the
image has expired.

Priority for secondary The Priority for secondary operations option is the priority that jobs from secondary
operations operations have in relationship to all other jobs. The priority applies to the jobs that result
from all operations except for Backup and Snapshot operations. Range: 0 (default) to
99999 (highest priority).

For example, you may want to set the Priority for secondary operations for a policy with
a gold data classification higher than for a policy with a silver data classification.

The priority of the backup job is set in the backup policy on the Attributes tab.

Operations Use the Add, Change, and Remove buttons to create a list of operations in the SLP. An
SLP must contain one or more operations. Multiple operations imply that multiple copies
are created.

The list also contains the columns that display information about each operation. Not all
columns display by default.

Arrows Use the arrows to indicate the indentation (or hierarchy) of the source for each copy. One
copy can be the source for many other copies.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 64
Creating a backup policy

Table 3-10 Storage Lifecycle Policy tab (continued)

Setting Description

Active The Active and Postponed options appear under State of Secondary Operation
Processing and refer to the processing of all duplication operations in the SLP.
and
Note: The Active and Postponed options apply to duplication operations that create
Postponed
tar-formatted images. For example, those created with bpduplicate. The Active and
Postponed options do not affect the images that are duplicated as a result of OpenStorage
optimized duplication, NDMP, or if one or more destination storage units are specified as
part of a storage unit group.

■ Enable Active to let secondary operations continue as soon as possible. When changed
from Postponed to Active, NetBackup continues to process the images, picking up
where it left off when secondary operations were made inactive.
■ Enable Postponed to postpone the secondary operations for the entire SLP. Postponed
does not postpone the creation of duplication jobs, it postpones the creation of images
instead. The duplication jobs continue to be created, but they are not run until secondary
operations are active again.
All secondary operations in the SLP are inactive indefinitely unless the administrator
selects Active or until the Until option is selected and an activation date is indicated.

Validate Across Click this button to see how changes to this SLP can affect the policies that are associated
Backup Policies button with this SLP. The button generates a report that displays on the Validation Report tab.

This button performs the same validation as the -conflict option performs when used
with the nbstl command.

Creating a backup policy

Use the following procedure to create a backup policy.
To create a policy
1 In the NetBackup web UI, select Protections > Policies.
2 Click Add.
3 Enter the policy name.
4 Configure the attributes, the schedules, the clients, and the backup selections
for the new policy.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 65
Resilient network properties

Resilient network properties

To access this setting, in the web UI select Hosts > Host properties. Select the
server or client. If necessary click Connect, then click Edit primary server, Edit
media server, or Edit client. Click Resilient network.
For media servers and clients, the Resilient network properties are read only.
When a job runs, the primary server updates the media server and the client with
the current properties.
The Resilient network properties let you configure NetBackup to use resilient
network connections for backups and restores. A resilient connection allows backup
and restore traffic between a client and a NetBackup media server to function
effectively in high-latency, low-bandwidth networks such as WANs. The data travels
across a wide area network (WAN) to media servers in a central datacenter.
NetBackup monitors the socket connections between the remote client and the
NetBackup media server. If possible, NetBackup re-establishes dropped connections
and resynchronizes the data stream. NetBackup also overcomes latency issues to
maintain an unbroken data stream. A resilient connection can survive network
interruptions of up to 80 seconds. A resilient connection may survive interruptions
longer than 80 seconds.
The NetBackup Remote Network Transport Service manages the connection
between the computers. The Remote Network Transport Service runs on the primary
server, the client, and the media server that processes the backup or restore job.
If the connection is interrupted or fails, the services attempt to re-establish a
connection and synchronize the data.
NetBackup protects only the network socket connections that the NetBackup Remote
Network Transport Service (nbrntd) creates. Examples of the connections that are
not supported are:
■ Clients that back up their own data (deduplication clients and SAN clients)
■ Granular Recovery Technology (GRT) for Exchange Server or SharePoint Server
■ NetBackup nbfsd process.
NetBackup protects connections only after they are established. If NetBackup cannot
create a connection because of network problems, there is nothing to protect.
Resilient connections apply between clients and NetBackup media servers, which
includes primary servers when they function as media servers. Resilient connections
do not apply to primary servers or media servers if they function as clients and back
up data to a media server.
Resilient connections can apply to all of the clients or to a subset of clients.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 66
Resilient network properties

Note: If a client is in a subdomain that is different from the server subdomain, add
the fully qualified domain name of the server to the client’s hosts file. For example,
india.veritas.org is a different subdomain than china.veritas.org.

When a backup or restore job for a client starts, NetBackup searches the Resilient
network list from top to bottom looking for the client. If NetBackup finds the client,
NetBackup updates the resilient network setting of the client and the media server
that runs the job. NetBackup then uses a resilient connection.

Table 3-11 Resilient network properties

Property Description

FQDN or IP address The full qualified domain name or IP address of the host. The
address can also be a range of IP addresses so you can
configure more than one client at once. You can mix IPv4
addresses and ranges with IPv6 addresses and subnets.

If you specify the host by name, it is recommended that you

use the fully qualified domain name.

Use the arrow buttons on the right side of the pane to move
up or move down an item in the list of resilient networks.

Resiliency Resiliency is either On or Off.

Note: The order is significant for the items in the list of resilient networks. If a client
is in the list more than once, the first match determines its resilient connection
status. For example, suppose you add a client and specify the client IP address
and specify On for Resiliency. Suppose also that you add a range of IP addresses
as Off, and the client IP address is within that range. If the client IP address appears
before the address range, the client connection is resilient. Conversely, if the IP
range appears first, the client connection is not resilient.

Other NetBackup properties control the order in which NetBackup uses network
addresses.
The NetBackup resilient connections use the SOCKS protocol version 5.
Resilient connection traffic is not encrypted. It is recommended that you encrypt
your backups. For deduplication backups, use the deduplication-based encryption.
For other backups, use policy-based encryption.
Resilient connections apply to backup connections. Therefore, no additional network
ports or firewall ports must be opened.
 Configuring AdvancedDisk 67
Specify resilient connections for clients

Note: If multiple backup streams run concurrently, the Remote Network Transport
Service writes a large amount of information to the log files. In such a scenario, it
is recommended that you set the logging level for the Remote Network Transport
Service to 2 or less. Instructions to configure unified logs are in a different guide.

Specify resilient connections for clients

Use the following procedure to specify resilient connections for NetBackup clients.
See “Resilient network properties” on page 65.
Alternatively, you can use the resilient_clients script to specify resilient
connections for clients:
■ Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\resilient_clients
■ UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/resilient_clients
To specify resilient connections for clients
1 Open the NetBackup web UI.
2 On the left, click Hosts > Host properties.
3 Select the primary server. If necessary, click Connect. Then click Edit primary
server.
4 Click Resilient network.
5 You can perform the following actions:

Add a To add a host or IP address setting

setting
1 Click Add.

2 Enter a client host name or an IP address.

If you specify the client host by name, it is recommended that you

use the fully qualified domain name.

3 Ensure that the On option is selected.

4 Click Add and add another.

5 Repeat until you have added each setting.

6 When you finish adding network settings, click Add.

 Configuring AdvancedDisk 68
Specify resilient connections for clients

Edit a To edit a host or IP address setting

setting
1 Locate the client host name or the IP address.

2 Click Actions > Edit.

3 Select the desired Resiliency setting.

4 Click Save.

Delete a Delete a host or IP address setting

setting
1 Locate the client host name or the IP address.

2 Click Actions > Delete.

Up arrow, Change the order of items

Down arrow
1 Select the client host name or the IP address.
2 Click the Up or Down button.

The order of the items in the list is significant.

See “Resilient network properties” on page 65.

The settings are propagated to the affected hosts through normal NetBackup
inter-host communication, which can take up to 15 minutes.
6 If you want to begin a backup immediately, restart the NetBackup services on
the primary server.
 Chapter 4
Managing AdvancedDisk
This chapter includes the following topics:

■ Managing AdvancedDisk storage servers

■ Managing AdvancedDisk disk pools

■ About monitoring AdvancedDisk storage capacity and usage

■ Monitoring NetBackup disk activity

■ Viewing AdvancedDisk disk reports

■ Displaying detailed AdvancedDisk storage usage information

■ Displaying KMS key information for AdvancedDisk encryption

Managing AdvancedDisk storage servers

After you configure AdvancedDisk, you can perform various tasks to manage storage
servers.
See “Viewing AdvancedDisk storage servers” on page 70.
See “Determining AdvancedDisk storage server state” on page 70.
See “Viewing AdvancedDisk storage server attributes” on page 70.
See “Removing AdvancedDisk storage server attributes” on page 71.
See “Removing an AdvancedDisk storage server from disk pool access” on page 72.
See “Deleting an AdvancedDisk storage server” on page 72.
 Managing AdvancedDisk 70
Managing AdvancedDisk storage servers

Viewing AdvancedDisk storage servers

Use the NetBackup Administration Console to view a list of storage servers
already configured.
To view AdvancedDisk storage servers
In the NetBackup Administration Console, in the left pane, expand Media
and Device Management > Credentials > Storage Server.
The right pane, labeled All Storage Servers, shows all configured storage
servers. AdvancedDisk storage servers show AdvancedDisk in the Server
Type column.

Determining AdvancedDisk storage server state

Use the NetBackup nbdevquery command to determine the state of an
AdvancedDisk storage server.
To determine AdvancedDisk storage server status
Run the following command:
UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/nbdevquery -liststs -stype
AdvancedDisk -storage_server server_name -U

Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\nbdevquery -liststs

-stype AdvancedDisk -storage_server server_name -U

The State field of the command output shows either UP or DOWN.

Viewing AdvancedDisk storage server attributes

Use the NetBackup nbdevquery command to view the storage server attributes.
The following is the path to the nbdevconfig command:
■ UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd
■ Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd
 Managing AdvancedDisk 71
Managing AdvancedDisk storage servers

To view AdvancedDisk storage server attributes

Run the following command on the NetBackup primary server or a storage
server:
nbdevquery -liststs -storage_server storage_server -stype
AdvancedDisk –U

The following is example output:

Storage Server : advdsk_server.example.com

Storage Server Type : AdvancedDisk
Storage Type : Formatted Disk, Direct Attached
State : UP
Flag : PrefRestore

This example output is shortened; more flags may appear in actual output.

Removing AdvancedDisk storage server attributes

Use the nbdevconfig command to remove the following storage server attributes:
■ Preferred restore server (PrefRestore)
■ Required restore server (ReqRestore)
■ Required duplication server (ReqDuplicate)
See “About AdvancedDisk preferred or required read servers” on page 16.
Attributes are added when you use the nbdevconfig command to configure a
storage server.
See “Configuring an AdvancedDisk storage server” on page 27.
The following is the path to the nbdevconfig command:
■ UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd
■ Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd
To remove AdvancedDisk storage server attributes
Run the following command on the NetBackup primary server or on a storage
server:
nbdevconfig -changests -storage_server storage_server -stype
AdvancedDisk -clearattribute attribute
 Managing AdvancedDisk 72
Managing AdvancedDisk storage servers

Removing an AdvancedDisk storage server from disk pool access

Use the nbdevconfig command to remove a storage server so that it no longer
can access a disk pool. If NetBackup jobs exist that use that storage server, you
cannot remove the storage server.

Warning: If you remove the only storage server, data may be lost. NetBackup
cannot access the disk pool and the backup images on the disk pool.

The following is the path to the nbdevconfig command:

■ UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd
■ Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd
To remove an AdvancedDisk storage server from disk pool access
1 For every storage unit that specifies the storage server (media server) in Use
one of the following media servers, clear the check box that specifies the
media server.
This step is not required if the storage unit is configured to use any available
media server.
2 If only one storage server exists, change the state of all disk pools on the array
to DOWN. To do so, use the following command:
nbdevconfig -changestate -stype AdvancedDisk -dp disk_pool_name
-state DOWN

3 Remove the storage server. The following is the command syntax:

nbdevconfig -changedp -stype AdvancedDisk -dp disk_pool_name
-del_storage_servers storage_server

Deleting an AdvancedDisk storage server

If you delete a storage server, NetBackup removes the storage server only from
your configuration.
The media server is not deleted from your configuration. To delete the media server,
use the NetBackup nbemmcmd command.
If a disk pool is configured from the disk volumes that the storage server manages,
you cannot delete the storage server.

Warning: Do not delete a storage server if its storage contains unexpired NetBackup
images. If you do, data loss may occur.
 Managing AdvancedDisk 73
Managing AdvancedDisk disk pools

To delete an AdvancedDisk storage server

1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, expand Media and Device
Management > Credentials > Storage Server.
2 On the Edit menu, select Delete.
3 Click Yes in the confirmation dialog box.

Managing AdvancedDisk disk pools

After you configure AdvancedDisk, you can perform various tasks to manage your
AdvancedDisk disk pools.
See “Viewing AdvancedDisk disk pools” on page 73.
See “About changing the AdvancedDisk disk pool size” on page 73.
See “Adding volumes to an AdvancedDisk disk pool” on page 74.
See “Changing AdvancedDisk disk pool properties” on page 74.
See “Determining AdvancedDisk disk pool state” on page 75.
See “Determining AdvancedDisk disk volume state” on page 76.
See “Changing AdvancedDisk disk volume state” on page 76.
See “Merging AdvancedDisk disk pools” on page 77.
See “Removing a volume from an AdvancedDisk disk pool” on page 78.
See “Deleting an AdvancedDisk disk pool” on page 79.

Viewing AdvancedDisk disk pools

Use the NetBackup Administration Console to view configured disk pools.
To view disk pools
In the NetBackup Administration Console tree, in the left pane, select Media
and Device Management > Devices > Disk Pools.
The list appears in the right pane.

About changing the AdvancedDisk disk pool size

Two methods exist to change the size of a disk pool, as follows:
■ If you use a logical volume manager, you can use it to change the size of a disk
volume by adding LUNs to it. If you do, you must inventory the disk pool so that
NetBackup reads the new size of the pool.
 Managing AdvancedDisk 74
Managing AdvancedDisk disk pools

■ If you do not use a logical volume manager, you can change the size by adding
or removing volumes from the disk pool.
See “Adding volumes to an AdvancedDisk disk pool” on page 74.
See “Removing a volume from an AdvancedDisk disk pool” on page 78.

Adding volumes to an AdvancedDisk disk pool

You can expand a disk pool’s capacity by adding disk volumes to the disk pool.
The names of the new volumes must differ from the names of the volumes in the
current disk pool.
The NetBackup storage units that use the disk pool use the additional storage
capacity automatically. You do not have to change the storage units.
(By default, NetBackup automatically increases disk pool capacity if the capacity
of the underlying disk volumes increases. Similarly, NetBackup decreases the
capacity of a disk pool if the underlying disk volume capacity decreases.)

Table 4-1 Add volumes process for an AdvancedDisk disk pool

Task Procedure

Create a disk pool from the new See “Configuring an AdvancedDisk disk pool”
disk volumes on the storage on page 42.
server.

Merge the disk pools. When you merge the disk pools, specify the original disk
pool as the primary one. NetBackup deletes the
secondary disk pool after the merge.

See “Merging AdvancedDisk disk pools” on page 77.

Changing AdvancedDisk disk pool properties

You can change the storage server for a disk pool and change the properties of a
disk pool.
To add volumes to a disk pool, you must use a different procedure.
See “Adding volumes to an AdvancedDisk disk pool” on page 74.
To change disk pool properties
1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, in the left pane, expand Media
and Device Management > Devices > Disk Pools.
2 In the right pane, select the disk pool that you want to change.
 Managing AdvancedDisk 75
Managing AdvancedDisk disk pools

3 Click Edit > Change.

4 In the Change Disk Pool dialog box, change storage servers or the properties.
See “AdvancedDisk disk pool properties” on page 53.
5 Click OK.

Determining AdvancedDisk disk pool state

Disk pool state is UP or DOWN.
 Managing AdvancedDisk 76
Managing AdvancedDisk disk pools

To determine AdvancedDisk disk pool state

1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, in the left pane, select Media
and Device Management > Device Monitor.
2 Select the Disk Pools tab.
3 The state is displayed in the Status column.

Determining AdvancedDisk disk volume state

Use the NetBackup nbdevquery command to determine the state of the volumes
in AdvancedDisk disk pools.
To determine AdvancedDisk disk volume state
Display the state of the volumes in a disk pool by using the following command:
UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/nbdevquery -listdv -U
-stype server_type -dp disk_pool_name

Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\nbdevquery -listdv

-U -stype server_type -dp disk_pool_name

The following items describe the arguments for the options:

-stype server_type For the server type, use one of the following types:

■ AdvancedDisk for nonencrypted storage.

■ AdvancedDisk_crypt for encrypted storage.

dp disk_pool_name The name of the disk pool.

To display the disk volumes in all disk pools of the specified

type, omit the -dp option.

The command displays all of the volumes in the disk pool. The state is either
UP or DOWN.
.

Changing AdvancedDisk disk volume state

Use the NetBackup nbdevconfig command to change disk volume state. The state
is UP or DOWN.
To change the state to DOWN, the disk pool in which the volume resides must not
be busy. If backup jobs are assigned to the disk pool, the state change fails. Cancel
the backup jobs or wait until the jobs complete.
 Managing AdvancedDisk 77
Managing AdvancedDisk disk pools

NetBackup jobs still read from and write to a disk pool that has a downed volume,
but the downed volume is unavailable.
To change the AdvancedDisk disk volume state
1 Determine the name of the disk volume.
See “Determining AdvancedDisk disk volume state” on page 76.
2 Change the disk volume state. The following is the command syntax:
UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/nbdevconfig -changestate
-stype server_type -dp disk_pool_name –dv vol_name -state state

Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\nbdevconfig
-changestate -stype server_type -dp disk_pool_name –dv vol_name
-state state

The following items describe the arguments for the options:

-stype server_type For the server type, use one of the following types:

■ AdvancedDisk for nonencrypted storage.

■ AdvancedDisk_crypt for encrypted storage.

-dp The name of the disk pool.

disk_pool_name

-dv vol_name The name of the disk volume.

-state state Specify UP or DOWN. RESET sets the internal state to UP,
sets committed_space to zero, and sets the precommitted
space to zero.

Merging AdvancedDisk disk pools

Use the NetBackup nbdevconfig command to merge existing disk pools.
NetBackup updates the catalog records to show the correct location of the backup
images in those disk pools.
If the secondary disk pool is referenced by storage units, you must first delete those
storage units.
The following is the path to the nbdevconfig command:
■ UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd
■ Windows: install_path\netbackup\bin\admincmd
 Managing AdvancedDisk 78
Managing AdvancedDisk disk pools

To merge AdvancedDisk disk pools

1 Change the state of each disk pool to DOWN.
If backup jobs are assigned to a disk pool, the state change fails. Cancel the
backup jobs or wait until the jobs complete.
2 Merge the disk pools. The following is the command syntax. The primary disk
pool is the one you want to retain; nbdevconfig deletes the secondary disk
pool after the merge.
nbdevconfig –mergedps –stype AdvancedDisk -primarydp
disk_pool_name -secondarydp disk_pool_name

3 Change the state of the primary disk pool to UP.

Removing a volume from an AdvancedDisk disk pool

Use the nbdevconfig command to remove a volume from a disk pool. The following
are the prerequisites:
■ NetBackup image fragments cannot exist on the disk volume.
■ NetBackup jobs cannot be active on the disk volume.
By default, NetBackup automatically decreases disk pool capacity if you remove a
disk volume.
The following is the path to the nbdevconfig command:
■ UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd
■ Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd
To remove a volume from an AdvancedDisk disk pool
1 Change the disk volume state to DOWN.
See “Changing AdvancedDisk disk volume state” on page 76.
2 Change the disk pool state to DOWN.

3 Remove the volume by using the nbdevconfig command. The following is the
command syntax:
nbdevconfig -deletedv -stype AdvancedDisk -dp disk_pool_name –dv
vol_name

4 Change the disk pool state to UP.

 Managing AdvancedDisk 79
About monitoring AdvancedDisk storage capacity and usage

Deleting an AdvancedDisk disk pool

If you delete a disk pool, NetBackup removes it from your configuration.
If a disk pool is the storage destination of a storage unit, you must first delete the
storage unit.

Warning: Do not delete a disk pool that contains unexpired NetBackup images; if
you do, data loss may occur.

To delete an AdvancedDisk disk pool

1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, in the left pane, select Media
and Device Management > Devices > Disk Pools.
2 Select a disk pool
3 Click Edit > Delete.
4 In the Delete Disk Pool dialog box, verify that the disk pool is the one you
want to delete and then click OK.

About monitoring AdvancedDisk storage capacity

and usage
Table 4-2 describes the ways that you can monitor storage capacity and usage.

Table 4-2 Monitor storage capacity and usage

What Description

The NetBackup The Disk Pools window displays a value that was stored
Administration Console Disk when NetBackup polled the disk pools. NetBackup polls every
Pools window 5 minutes; therefore, the value may not be as current as the
value that is displayed in the Storage Server window.

To display the window, select Media and Device

Management > Devices > Disk Pools.

The NetBackup Disk Pool See “Viewing AdvancedDisk disk reports” on page 81.
status report

NetBackup Administration The storage server view displays real-time values.

Console Storage Server
To display the window, select Media and Device
window
Management > Credentials > Storage Servers.
 Managing AdvancedDisk 80
Monitoring NetBackup disk activity

Table 4-2 Monitor storage capacity and usage (continued)

What Description

The nbdevquery command See “Displaying detailed AdvancedDisk storage usage

information” on page 82.

Monitoring NetBackup disk activity

You can monitor NetBackup disk-related activity and status by viewing the
NetBackup log files.
Some NetBackup commands or processes write messages to their own log files.
Other processes use Veritas Unified Logging (VxUL) log files. VxUL uses a
standardized name and file format for log files. An originator ID (OID) identifies the
process that writes the log messages.
Table 4-3 shows the NetBackup logs for disk-related activity.
The messages that begin with a sts_ prefix relate to the interaction with the storage
vendor software plug-in. Most interaction occurs on the NetBackup media servers.

Table 4-3 NetBackup logs

Activity VxUL OID Processes that use the ID

Backups and N/A Messages appear in the log files for the following
restores processes:

■ The bpbrm backup and restore manager

■ The bpdbm database manager
■ The bpdm disk manager
■ The bptm tape manager for I/O operations

Backups and 117 The nbjm job manager.

restores

Device 111 The nbemm process.

configuration

Device 178 The Disk Service Manager process that runs in the
configuration Enterprise Media Manager (EMM) process.

Device 202 The Storage Server Interface process that runs in the
configuration Remote Manager and Monitor Service. RMMS runs
on media servers.
 Managing AdvancedDisk 81
Viewing AdvancedDisk disk reports

Table 4-3 NetBackup logs (continued)

Activity VxUL OID Processes that use the ID

Device 230 The Remote Disk Service Manager interface (RDSM)

configuration that runs in the Remote Manager and Monitor Service.
RMMS runs on media servers.

To view and manage VxUL log files, you must use NetBackup log commands.
Information about how to use and manage logs on NetBackup servers is available.
See the NetBackup Logging Reference Guide:
http://www.veritas.com/docs/DOC5332

Viewing AdvancedDisk disk reports

The NetBackup disk reports include information about the disk pools, disk storage
units, disk logs, images that are stored on disk media, and storage capacity.
Table 4-4 describes the disk reports available.

Table 4-4 Disk reports

Report Description

Images on Disk The Images on Disk report generates the image list present on the
disk storage units that are connected to the media server. The
report is a subset of the Images on Media report; it shows only
disk-specific columns.

The report provides a summary of the storage unit contents. If a

disk becomes bad or if a media server crashes, this report can let
you know what data is lost.

Disk Logs The Disk Logs report displays the media errors or the informational
messages that are recorded in the NetBackup error catalog. The
report is a subset of the Media Logs report; it shows only
disk-specific columns.

Disk Storage Unit The Disk Storage Unit Status report displays the state of disk
Status storage units in the current NetBackup configuration.

For disk pool capacity, see the disk pools window in Media and
Device Management > Devices > Disk Pools.

Multiple storage units can point to the same disk pool. When the
report query is by storage unit, the report counts the capacity of
disk pool storage multiple times.
 Managing AdvancedDisk 82
Displaying detailed AdvancedDisk storage usage information

Table 4-4 Disk reports (continued)

Report Description

Disk Pool Status The Disk Pool Status report displays the state of disk pool storage
units. This report displays only when a license that enables
NetBackup disk features is installed.

To view disk reports

1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, in the left pane, expand
NetBackup Management > Reports > Disk Reports.
2 Select the name of a disk report.
3 In the right pane, select the report settings.
4 Click Run Report.

Displaying detailed AdvancedDisk storage usage

information
The NetBackup nbdevquery command lets you display detailed information about
the storage use of disk pools and disk volumes.
 Managing AdvancedDisk 83
Displaying detailed AdvancedDisk storage usage information

To determine the disk volume storage usage

1 Determine the names of all AdvancedDisk disk pools in your NetBackup domain:
nbdevquery -listdp -stype AdvancedDisk

V7.5 DiskPool-AdvDisk 1 201.00 201.00 3 98 80 -1 adv_server.example.com

The version is the I/O format not the NetBackup release level. The version may
differ on your system.
2 Determine disk volume names in the AdvancedDisk disk pool:
nbdevquery -listdv -stype AdvancedDisk -dp disk_pool_name

Replace disk_pool_name with the name of the disk pool for which you want to
determine the volume names.
The following is example output:

V7.5 DiskPool-AdvDisk AdvancedDisk /advdisk_disc1 @aaaak 0.00 0.00 100 1 0

V7.5 DiskPool-AdvDisk AdvancedDisk /advdisk_disc2 @aaaal 200.00 79.75 60 1
V7.5 DiskPool-AdvDisk AdvancedDisk /advdisk_disc3 @aaaam 1.00 1.00 0 1 0 1

3 Display the usage information for a specific AdvancedDisk disk volume:

nbdevquery -listdv -stype AdvancedDisk -dp disk_pool_name -dv
disk_volume_name -D

Replace disk_pool_name with the name of the disk pool for which you want to
determine the volume names. Replace disk_volume_name with the name of
the disk volume for which you want to display usage information.
The output from the command includes the following fields:

total_capacity : 214748364800
total_phys_capacity : 214748364800
free_space : 85625798656
free_phys_space : 85625798656
potential_free_space: 0
committed_space : 0
precommitted_space : 0

See “NetBackup disk volume capacity and usage reference” on page 83.

NetBackup disk volume capacity and usage reference

NetBackup determines the space available for backups on a volume by using the
following formula:
 Managing AdvancedDisk 84
Displaying detailed AdvancedDisk storage usage information

Available space equals free_space plus potential_free_space minus

committed_space.

The potential_free_space value is used only for a disk volume that is capacity
managed. A disk volume is capacity managed when its disk pool is capacity
managed. A disk pool is capacity managed when it is a destination in a storage
lifecycle policy and the Retention Type is Capacity managed.
Table 4-5 describes the capacity values that NetBackup uses for space calculations.

Table 4-5 Disk capacity values

Field Description

total_capacity The total size of the disk.

This value is derived from the file system and is updated at

1-minute intervals.

total_phys_capacity For the purposes of AdvancedDisk, total_capacity and

total_phys_capacity should have the same values.

free_space The amount of free space on the disk.

This value is derived from the file system and is updated at

1-minute intervals.

free_phys_space For the purposes of AdvancedDisk, free_space and

free_phys_space should have the same values.

potential_free_space The sum of all of the fragments on the disk that NetBackup
duplicated as part of a storage lifecycle policy and that are eligible
for expiration. A fragment becomes eligible for expiration when it
has been duplicated successfully.

NetBackup calculates potential_free_space a the end of

duplication sessions and expiration sessions.

The potential_free_space value may become stale between

computations. However, the next computation provides an accurate
value.
 Managing AdvancedDisk 85
Displaying KMS key information for AdvancedDisk encryption

Table 4-5 Disk capacity values (continued)

Field Description

committed_space The estimated size of all of the jobs-in-progress that write to the
volume, based on the following:

■ For an existing backup, NetBackup uses the size of the most

recent backup plus 20%.
■ For a new backup (including user backups), NetBackup uses
the capacity of the disk volume over the high-water mark. For
example, on a 2-TB volume that has a 98% high-water mark,
NetBackup uses 40 GBs.
■ For duplication jobs, NetBackup uses the size of the source
image.

precommitted_space The precommitted_space is a helper value for

committed_space. NetBackup decrements the value while a
backup job runs. Each time NetBackup updates the capacity and
free space information, NetBackup updates the value of
committed_space to the current value of
precommitted_space.

This process ensures that all capacity-related values are updated

at the same time to provide the most accurate usage description
for the disk volume.

Displaying KMS key information for AdvancedDisk

encryption
You can use the nbkmsutil command to list the following information about the
key groups and the key records:

Key groups See To display KMS key group information.

Keys See To display KMS key information.

Note: Veritas recommends that you keep a record key information. The key tag
that is listed in the output is necessary if you need to recover keys.
 Managing AdvancedDisk 86
Displaying KMS key information for AdvancedDisk encryption

To display KMS key group information

To list all of the key groups, use the nbkmsutil with the -listkgs option. The
following is the command format:
UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/nbkmsutil -listkgs
Windows: install_path\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\nbkmsutil
-listkgs

The following is example output on UNIX hosted storage. On Windows, the

volume name is not used.

Key Group Name : AdvDiskServer1.example.com:AdvDisk_Volume

Supported Cipher : AES_256
Number of Keys : 1
Has Active Key : Yes
Creation Time : Tues Jan 01 01:00:00 2013
Last Modification Time: Tues Jan 01 01:00:00 2013
Description : -
 Managing AdvancedDisk 87
Displaying KMS key information for AdvancedDisk encryption

To display KMS key information

To list all of the keys that belong to a key group name, use the nbkmsutil with
the -listkgs and -kgname options. The following is the command format:
UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/nbkmsutil -listkeys -kgname
AdvDiskServer1.example.com:AdvDisk_Volume

Windows: install_path\Veritas\NetBackup\bin\admincmd\nbkmsutil
-listkeys -kgname AdvDiskServer1.example.com:

The following is example output on UNIX hosted storage. On Windows, the

volume name is not used.

Key Group Name : AdvDiskServer1.example.com:AdvDisk_Volume

Supported Cipher : AES_256
Number of Keys : 1
Has Active Key : Yes
Creation Time : Wed Nov 30 16:53:48 2011
Last Modification Time: Wed Nov 30 16:53:48 2011
Description : -

Key Tag : 867d710aa7f4c64dcdd2cec6...cced0c831c1812c510acd05

Key Name : dp-key
Current State : ACTIVE
Creation Time : Tues Jan 01 01:00:00 2013
Last Modification Time: Tues Jan 01 01:00:00 2013
Description : -

Number of Keys: 1
 Chapter 5
Troubleshooting
AdvancedDisk
This chapter includes the following topics:

■ About unified logging

■ About legacy logging

■ NetBackup AdvancedDisk log files

■ AdvancedDisk troubleshooting

■ Resolving an incorrect storage type problem

About unified logging

Unified logging creates log file names and messages in a format that is standardized
across Veritas products. Only the vxlogview command can assemble and display
the log information correctly. Server processes and client processes use unified
logging.
Log files for originator IDs are written to a subdirectory with the name specified in
the log configuration file. All unified logs are written to subdirectories in the following
directory:

Windows install_path\NetBackup\logs

UNIX /usr/openv/logs

Note: Only the following types of users can access the logs: root and service users
in Linux systems, and users present in the administrators group of Windows systems.
 Troubleshooting AdvancedDisk 89
About unified logging

You can access logging controls in Logging host properties. You can also manage
unified logging with the following commands:

vxlogcfg Modifies the unified logging configuration settings.

vxlogmgr Manages the log files that the products that support unified logging
generate.

vxlogview Displays the logs that unified logging generates.

See “Examples of using vxlogview to view unified logs” on page 91.

About using the vxlogview command to view unified logs

Only the vxlogview command can assemble and display the unified logging
information correctly. The unified logging files are in binary format and some of the
information is contained in an associated resource file. These logs are stored in
the following directory. You can display vxlogview results faster by restricting the
search to the files of a specific process.

UNIX /usr/openv/logs

Windows install_path\NetBackup\logs

Table 5-1 Fields in vxlogview query strings

Field name Type Description Example

PRODID Integer or string Provide the product ID or the PRODID = 51216

abbreviated name of product.
PRODID = 'NBU'

ORGID Integer or string Provide the originator ID or the ORGID = 116

abbreviated name of the component.
ORGID = 'nbpem'

PID Long Integer Provide the process ID PID = 1234567

TID Long Integer Provide the thread ID TID = 2874950

STDATE Long Integer or string Provide the start date in seconds or STDATE = 98736352
in the locale-specific short date and
STDATE = '4/26/11 11:01:00
time format. For example, a locale
AM'
can have the format 'mm/dd/yy
hh:mm:ss AM/PM'
 Troubleshooting AdvancedDisk 90
About unified logging

Table 5-1 Fields in vxlogview query strings (continued)

Field name Type Description Example

ENDATE Long Integer or string Provide the end date in seconds or ENDATE = 99736352
in the locale-specific short date and
ENDATE = '04/27/11 10:01:00
time format. For example, a locale
AM'
can have the format 'mm/dd/yy
hh:mm:ss AM/PM'

PREVTIME String Provide the hours in 'hh:mm:ss' PREVTIME = '2:34:00'

format. This field should be used
only with operators =, <, >, >=, and
<=

SEV Integer Provide one of the following possible SEV = 0

severity types:
SEV = INFO
0 = INFO

1 = WARNING

2 = ERR

3 = CRIT

4 = EMERG

MSGTYPE Integer Provide one of the following possible MSGTYPE = 1

message types:
MSGTYPE = DIAG
0 = DEBUG (debug messages)

1 = DIAG (diagnostic messages)

2 = APP (application messages)

3 = CTX (context messages)

4 = AUDIT (audit messages)

CTX Integer or string Provide the context token as string CTX = 78

identifier or 'ALL' to get all the
CTX = 'ALL'
context instances to be displayed.
This field should be used only with
the operators = and !=.
 Troubleshooting AdvancedDisk 91
About unified logging

Table 5-2 Examples of query strings with dates

Example Description

(PRODID == 51216) && ((PID == 178964)|| ((STDATE == Retrieves the log file message for the
'2/5/15 09:00:00 AM') && (ENDATE == '2/5/15 NetBackup product ID 51216 between
12:00:00 PM')) 9AM and 12PM on 2015-05-02.

((prodid = 'NBU') && ((stdate >= ‘11/18/14 Retrieves the log messages for the
00:00:00 AM’) && (endate <= ‘12/13/14 12:00:00 PM’))) || NetBackup product NBU between
((prodid = 'BENT') && ((stdate >= ‘12/12/14 00:00:00 2014-18-11 and 2014-13-12 and the log
AM’) && (endate <= ‘12/25/14 12:00:00 PM’))) messages for the NetBackup product
BENT between 2014-12-12 and
2014-25-12.

(STDATE <= ‘04/05/15 0:0:0 AM’) Retrieves the log messages that were
logged on or before 2015-05-04 for all
of the installed Veritas products.

Examples of using vxlogview to view unified logs

The following examples demonstrate how to use the vxlogview command to view
unified logs.

Note: Only the following types of users can access the logs: root and service users
in Linux systems, and users present in the administrators group of Windows systems.

Table 5-3 Example uses of the vxlogview command

Item Example

Display all the vxlogview -p 51216 -d all

attributes of the log
messages

Display specific Display the log messages for NetBackup (51216) that show only the date, time, message
attributes of the log type, and message text:
messages
vxlogview --prodid 51216 --display D,T,m,x

Display the latest log Display the log messages for originator 116 (nbpem) that were issued during the last 20
messages minutes. Note that you can specify -o nbpem instead of -o 116:

# vxlogview -o 116 -t 00:20:00

 Troubleshooting AdvancedDisk 92
About legacy logging

Table 5-3 Example uses of the vxlogview command (continued)

Item Example

Display the log Display the log messages for nbpem that were issued during the specified time period:
messages from a
specific time period # vxlogview -o nbpem -b "05/03/15 06:51:48 AM"
-e "05/03/15 06:52:48 AM"

Display results faster You can use the -i option to specify an originator for a process:

# vxlogview -i nbpem

The vxlogview -i option searches only the log files that the specified process (nbpem)
creates. By limiting the log files that it has to search, vxlogview returns a result faster. By
comparison, the vxlogview -o option searches all unified log files for the messages that
the specified process has logged.
Note: If you use the -i option with a process that is not a service, vxlogview returns the
message "No log files found." A process that is not a service has no originator ID in the file
name. In this case, use the -o option instead of the -i option.

The -i option displays entries for all OIDs that are part of that process including libraries (137,
156, 309, etc.).

Search for a job ID You can search the logs for a particular job ID:

# vxlogview -i nbpem | grep "jobid=job_ID"

The jobid= search key should contain no spaces and must be lowercase.

When searching for a job ID, you can use any vxlogview command option. This example
uses the -i option with the name of the process (nbpem). The command returns only the
log entries that contain the job ID. It misses related entries for the job that do not explicitly
contain the jobid=job_ID.

About legacy logging

In NetBackup legacy debug logging, a process creates log files of debug activity in
its own logging directory. By default, NetBackup creates only a subset of logging
directories, in the following locations:

Windows install_path\NetBackup\logs
install_path\Volmgr\debug

UNIX /usr/openv/netbackup/logs
/usr/openv/volmgr/debug
 Troubleshooting AdvancedDisk 93
About legacy logging

To use legacy logging, a log file directory must exist for a process. If the directory
is not created by default, you can use the Logging Assistant or the mklogdir batch
files to create the directories. Or, you can manually create the directories. When
logging is enabled for a process, a log file is created when the process begins.
Each log file grows to a certain size before the NetBackup process closes it and
creates a new log file.

Note: It is recommended to always use the mklogdir utility present in Windows

and Linux to create the legacy log directories for each platform, in order to have
appropriate permissions on them.

You can use the following batch files to create all of the log directories:
■ Windows: install_path\NetBackup\Logs\mklogdir.bat
■ UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/logs/mklogdir
Follow these recommendations when you create and use legacy log folders:
■ Do not use symbolic links or hard links inside legacy log folders.
■ If any process runs for a non-root or non-admin user and there is no logging
that occurs in the legacy log folders, use the mklogdir command to create a
folder for the required user.
■ To run a command line for a non-root or non-admin user (troubleshooting when
the NetBackup services are not running), create user folders for the specific
command line. Create the folders either with the mklogdir command or manually
with the non-root or non-admin user privileges.

Creating NetBackup log file directories for AdvancedDisk

Before you configure your NetBackup feature, create the directories into which the
NetBackup commands write log files. Create the directories on the primary server
and on each media server that you use for your feature. The log files reside in the
following directories:
■ UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/logs/
■ Windows:install_path\NetBackup\logs\
More information about NetBackup logging is available in the NetBackup Logging
Reference Guide, available through the following URL:
http://www.veritas.com/docs/DOC5332
 Troubleshooting AdvancedDisk 94
NetBackup AdvancedDisk log files

To create log directories for NetBackup commands

Depending on the operating system, run one of the following scripts:
UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/logs/mklogdir
Windows: install_path\NetBackup\logs\mklogdir.bat
To create the tpconfig command log directory
Depending on the operating system, create the debug directory and the
tpcommand directory (by default, the debug directory and the tpcommand directory
do not exist). The pathnames of the directories are as follows:
UNIX: /usr/openv/volmgr/debug/tpcommand
Windows: install_path\Veritas\Volmgr\debug\tpcommand

NetBackup AdvancedDisk log files

You can monitor NetBackup AdvancedDisk activity and status by viewing the
NetBackup log files.
Some NetBackup commands or processes write messages to their own log files.
For those commands and processes, the log directories must exist so that the utility
can write log messages.
See “Creating NetBackup log file directories for AdvancedDisk” on page 93.
Other processes use Veritas Unified Logging (VxUL) files. Each process has a
corresponding VxUL originator ID. VxUL uses a standardized name and file format
for log files. To view VxUL log files, you must use the NetBackup vxlogview
command.
More information about how to view and manage VxUL log files is available. See
the NetBackup Logging Reference Guide:
http://www.veritas.com/docs/DOC5332
The following are the component identifiers for log messages:
■ An sts_ prefix relates to the interaction with the plug-in that writes to and reads
from the storage.
■ An encrypt prefix relates to interaction with the encryption plug-in.
■ A KMSCLIB prefix relates to interaction with the NetBackup Key Management
Service.
Most interaction occurs on the NetBackup media servers. Therefore, the log files
on the media servers that you use for disk operations are of most interest.
 Troubleshooting AdvancedDisk 95
NetBackup AdvancedDisk log files

Warning: The higher the log level, the greater the affect on NetBackup performance.
Use a log level of 5 (the highest) only when directed to do so by a Veritas
representative. A log level of 5 is for troubleshooting only.
Specify the NetBackup log levels in the Logging host properties on the NetBackup
primary server. The log levels for some processes specific to certain options are
set in configuration files as described in Table 5-4.

Table 5-4 describes the logs.

Table 5-4 NetBackup logs

Activity OID Processes

Backups and N/A Messages appear in the log files for the following processes:
restores
■ The bpbrm backup and restore manager.
■ The bpdbm database manager.
■ The bpdm disk manager.
■ The bptm tape manager for I/O operations.
The log files reside in the following directories:

■ UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/logs/
■ Windows: install_path\NetBackup\logs\

Backups and 117 The nbjm Job Manager.

restores

Image cleanup, N/A The bpdbm database manager log files.

verification, import,
The log files reside in the following directories:
and duplication
■ UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/logs/bpdbm
■ Windows: install_path\NetBackup\logs\bpdbm

Device 111 The nbemm process.

configuration

Device 178 The Disk Service Manager process that runs in the Enterprise Media Manager (EMM)
configuration process.

Device 202 The Storage Server Interface process that runs in the Remote Manager and Monitor
configuration Service. RMMS runs on media servers.

Device 230 The Remote Disk Service Manager interface (RDSM) that runs in the Remote Manager
configuration and Monitor Service. RMMS runs on media servers.
 Troubleshooting AdvancedDisk 96
AdvancedDisk troubleshooting

AdvancedDisk troubleshooting
The following may help you troubleshoot AdvancedDisk:

Table 5-5 AdvancedDisk troubleshooting

Problem Solution

Unable to access storage If NetBackup cannot access the storage, one possible cause is that the storage server
was created with the incorrect nbdevconfig storage type (-st) value. An
AdvancedDisk storage server -st value is 5 (formatted disk, directly attached); values
other than 5 are incorrect.

More procedural information is available about resolving this problem.

See “Resolving an incorrect storage type problem” on page 96.

Multiple storage servers on AdvancedDisk does not support Common Internet File System (CIFS). If you try to
Windows configure multiple storage servers, NetBackup returns the following message:

DSM does not support to use multiple Windows Storage Servers

for server type: AdvancedDisk.

Volume state changes to If a volume becomes unmounted, NetBackup changes the volume state to DOWN.
DOWN when volume is NetBackup jobs that require that volume fail.
unmounted
To change the volume state to UP, mount the file system

Disk failure - AdvancedDisk If recovery mechanisms do not protect a disk that fails, the backup images on that disk
are lost. Operating system read and write errors may occur for the volume that
represents the disk. NetBackup cannot use that volume because of the errors, and
NetBackup jobs may fail.

To prevent NetBackup from trying to read from or write to the disk, you must change
the volume state to DOWN in NetBackup. If the volume represents other disks that still
function, those disks are not available because the volume state is DOWN. You may
be able to read from the volume by mounting it manually. If so, you may be able to
recover image fragments from any disks that did not fail.

If you replace a failed disk, you can use the same mount point for the replacement
disk. Change the volume state to UP, and NetBackup uses that volume again.

Any valid backup images on that volume are available for restores.

Resolving an incorrect storage type problem

First determine the storage server value to verify that the storage server was created
with the incorrect nbdevconfig storage type value. Then proceed to resolving the
problem if necessary.
 Troubleshooting AdvancedDisk 97
Resolving an incorrect storage type problem

To determine the storage server value

Invoke the following command on the primary server or a media server that
functions as a storage server:
The following output shows an incorrect value for AdvancedDisk:

Storage Server : halo

Storage Server Type : AdvancedDisk
Storage Type : Formatted Disk, Network Attached

To resolve an incorrect storage type problem

1 Delete all disk pools that use the storage server.
2 Delete the storage server.
3 Reconfigure the storage server.
4 Recreate the disk pools.
5 If necessary, specify the new disk pools in the storage units.
If you recreated the disk pools with the same names as the ones you deleted,
this step is not necessary.
See “AdvancedDisk troubleshooting” on page 96.
 Index

A N
AdvancedDisk NBRMMS (NetBackup Remote Management and
CIFS requirements 13 Monitor Service) 14
license key for 9
load balancing 8 T
NFS requirements 14
troubleshooting
volume managers 40
AdvancedDisk disk failure 96
AdvancedDisk disk storage units 14
AdvancedDisk volume state changes to DOWN
when volume is unmounted 96
B multiple AdvancedDisk storage servers on
BasicDisk storage units Windows 96
credentials for CIFS 14 unable to access AdvancedDisk storage 96
bpcd client process 14
bpinetd client process 14 U
UNC path
C with CIFS and AdvancedDisk storage units 15
CIFS with CIFS and BasicDisk storage units 15
configuring for AdvancedDisk encryption 41 unified logging 88
credentials for disk storage units 14 format of files 89
for AdvancedDisk 34, 47
for AdvancedDisk encryption 41–42 V
volume managers with AdvancedDisk 40
E vxlogview command 89
encryption with job ID option 92
see also 19

J
job ID search in unified logs 92

L
legacy logging 92
license key
for AdvancedDisk 9
logging
legacy 92

M
Media server storage unit setting 57
mklogdir.bat 92