Forum Discussion

KeirL's avatar
KeirL
Level 6
16 years ago

cp_to_client for upgrading clients

Hi everyone
 
I found the below white paper which says it's possible to install version 5.0 or 5.1 clients by running the cp_to_client script as an alternative method to pushing out clients. I tried this with version 6.0 client binaries as a way to upgrade from version 5.1 to 6.0 and it seemed to work - backups and restores work fine and it reports as being 6.0 when accessed from the Master server.

Does anyone know if there are any gotcha's with doing this?
I know there are other ways to push out clients, but this particular method very much suits my environment.

Thanks
K

Details of what I found on the Symantec Website follows:

Manual: Installation Guide for VERITAS NetBackup (tm) 5.0 and 5.1 for UNIX

Page: 69 for version 5.0 and page 71 for version 5.1

Modification Type: Addition

Modification: The following method may work as an alternative for installing client binaries on systems that do not have a local CD-ROM and cannot be pushed from the master server.

1. Mount the CD-ROM on a system that is local but has network connectivity to the client that needs to be installed
2. Change directory to <mount_point>/<netbackup_directory>/NBClients/anb/Clients/usr/openv/netbackup/client/<client_type>/<client_os_level>.
For <client_type>, use Solaris, RS600, HP9000-800, Linux, INTEL, etc.
For <client_os_level>, use the appropriate client OS, such as Solaris7, RedHat2.4, HP-UX11.11, etc.
3. Run the following:
./cp_to_client <server_hostname> <client_hostname>
For <server_hostname> use the master server name
For <client_hostname> use the client server name
Use caution when running this command. It has been reported in several cases that the local client has been overwritten when the <server_hostname> and <client_hostname> parameters have been swapped around. As a precaution, after the completion of the installation, cat the /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/version file on the local machine to make sure that the client binaries have not been overwritten.
7.1.x and Earlier
Backup and Recovery
Configuring
Installing
Linux
NetBackup
Tip-How to
Upgrade
  • CRZ's avatar
    CRZ
    16 years ago
    To achieve this I used the client name for both switches eg cp_to_client <clientname> <clientname> as I've assumed that this is necessary to determine the source and destination of the client binaries.

    <servername> is actually used to generate a SERVER entry in the bp.conf if it doesn't exist already, so I don't think you'd want to replace that with your client's hostname.  If it's a pre-existing client, I don't know if it actually gets used at all, though - might want to check your bp.conf on the upgraded client for any spurious/wrong entries to be safe.

    I THINK that's all it's used for.  (I didn't spend a lot of time scanning through that script but that's how it looked to me.)
  • DavidParker's avatar
    DavidParker
    Level 6
    16 years ago
    Keir,
    I used a similar method (ssh_to_client) prior to going to 6.5 and it was very successful.
    Just be aware that it will always push out to the client whatever version you have on your master server.

    With 6.5, you can setup a LiveUpdate server (can be a network fileshare OR an HTTP server) and update clients (they have to be on 6.5 with the LiveUpdate Option installed and configured first) in large batches from the Admin Console.

    You should be fine with cp_to_client.
  • KeirL's avatar
    KeirL
    Level 6
    16 years ago
    Thanks for the fast reply.

    And as you say ..... Because I need different client versions deployed (long story!) I've made a slight adaptation to the published method  I've actually copied the appropriate version of client binaries to the actual netbackup clients and then run the cp_to_client <servername> <clientname>  script. To achieve this I used the client name for both switches eg cp_to_client <clientname> <clientname> as I've assumed that this is necessary to determine the source and destination of the client binaries. This seems successful and as this is an upgrade from a previous NBU client version I didn't get any issues with Master server name etc and it also seems to maintain the exclude lists (I guess these files don't get overwritten).

    Do you think my adaptation is a safe one?

    thanks
    Keir

     
  • CRZ's avatar
    CRZ
    Level 6
    16 years ago
    To achieve this I used the client name for both switches eg cp_to_client <clientname> <clientname> as I've assumed that this is necessary to determine the source and destination of the client binaries.

    <servername> is actually used to generate a SERVER entry in the bp.conf if it doesn't exist already, so I don't think you'd want to replace that with your client's hostname.  If it's a pre-existing client, I don't know if it actually gets used at all, though - might want to check your bp.conf on the upgraded client for any spurious/wrong entries to be safe.

    I THINK that's all it's used for.  (I didn't spend a lot of time scanning through that script but that's how it looked to me.)
  • DavidParker's avatar
    DavidParker
    Level 6
    16 years ago
    Excellent point from CRZ :)
    The client updates shouldn't delete any existing files (exclude_list, etc), but it might modify the bp.conf (side note: the current version of the Windows install loves to put the client's name into the 'allowed servers' list, which would be the same thing as having an entry in bp.conf).

    If you need a different version for clients, there are other options as well.
    If your security/network allows it, you could setup a shared folder somewhere that has all the install files for each version you need.
    Then you could just mount that share from each client and install whatever version you need.
    It might be a little more work, but it would be a little less 'repurposing/manipulating' the default scripts, if that makes sense.

    $0.02
  • KeirL's avatar
    KeirL
    Level 6
    16 years ago
    I'll check the bp.conf in the morning - thanks for the help.

    This is just a test environment at the moment so I can afford to experiment a little. Other than that I'm hopeful that it's copying all the necessary files to upgrade the client fully and as all the services etc are already in place it should run without error.

    Plus I'm also going to be applying appropriate maintenance packs anyway so that should help too.

    KR
    Keir