Forum Discussion

buryjg's avatar
buryjg
Level 2
5 days ago

Catalog Backup & Decomissioning NetBackup Servers

We have an old Netbackup 7.1.0.4 master server and 2 media servers. The last backup and catalog backup performed using these servers was in late 2023. The hardware is EOL and needs to be decommissioned.

How do we preserve the Netbackup catalog and databases just in case we would ever to need to recover data from previous databases without keeping the servers around. Is there a best practice or suggestions on how to accomplish this?

Is it possible to copy off the catalog/databases to a storage array for use later in case a recovery is needed? Any thoughts or suggestions on keeping the data without keeping  the servers around would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks - John

3 Replies

  • StefanosM's avatar
    StefanosM
    Level 6
    4 days ago

    First, you must preserve the library — there is no alternative to that.

    For the master server, you need to perform a catalog backup to a specific tape and mark it as Catalog. Additionally, document important details and keep that information physically with the tape.

    The document should include:

    • Master server name
    • Domain
    • IP address
    • Whether NetBackup is installed in the default location or if /usr/openv is a symbolic link to another file system.

    If you are using KMS (I don’t remember if KMS was included in version 7.1), you must back up the KMS database to a non-encrypted tape. If you are using an external KMS, you must ensure that the KMS itself is preserved.

    On top of that — and if you want to make your life easier — you can create a tar and zip archive of the /usr/openv directory. 
    This gives you the option to restore NetBackup more quickly by following these steps:

    1. Install the same OS.
    2. Install the same NetBackup version.
    3. Extract (untar) the /usr/openv archive.
    4. Done
  • StefanosM's avatar
    StefanosM
    Level 6
    5 days ago

    netbackup master is windows or linux?
    the data are backed up on disks or on tapes?

    • buryjg's avatar
      buryjg
      Level 2
      5 days ago

      The NetBackup servers are running Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 6.8 (Santiago) and the data is backed up to LTO tape.  NetBackup version is 7.1.0.4.  Thanks!