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aktrout's avatar
aktrout
Level 3
12 years ago

NetBackup 7.5.0.5 Master/Media Server Hardware Refresh

Good afternoon,

We are currently running NetBackup 7.5.0.5 on our Master/Media Server, which in running Windows Server 2003 R2, x64. The hardware is EOL and we want to migrate to a new HP Proliant G7 that is running Windows 2008, R2. After reading up on this it seems pretty clear that the IP address and hostname of the new Master/Media Server should remain the same so that is my intention. All installation paths will remain the same. We have a Quantum i500 Physical Tape Library as well as a Quantum Dxi setup with NAS shares.

My plan is as follows:

Build up the new server (install OS, etc.)

Run a Full Catalog Backup on the current NBU Master Server and turn off all NBU services after the Full Backup completes. Assign a new IP address to the current Master Server and rename the server. Shutdown the server.

Join new server to domain and rename it so that it matches the name of the current master server. Set IP so it is identical to the original IP address of the Master Server.

Move all Fibre cards from the old Master Server to the new and ensure that they are visible and usable at the OS level.

Install NetBackup 7.5.0.5 on the new server as that matches the old server.

Run Device Configuration Wizard to re-add devices in NBU.

Verify Storage Units

Perform a Catalog Recovery. I am a little uncertain about the steps here so I have more reading to do.

Test backup jobs

I had read that the best time to perform this task might be before the next Full Backups run as doing it before then would result in the incremental backups running as Full Backups so I guess I am also taking that into consideration.

Does it appear as though I am missing anything? I would appreciate any input or advice from others who have done a hardware refresh of the NBU Master Server or are just familiar with the process.

Thanks in advance.

 

Martin P.

  • If you use tapes for catalog backup, you need to add catalog backup tapes before performing catalog recovery. Or, if you use BasicDisk storage unit for catalog backup, copy image files to new server with same path.

    Catalog recovery is not so complicated if you keep Disaster Recovery Information files. Place it on new server and specify when asked.

    After catalog recovery, be sure to restart NetBackup and run device configuration wizard again. Devoce configuration may be replaced by that in old master servrr.

  • Yasuhisa is right - catalog recovery will restore the device config of original master server.

    So, delete all devices that were restored, and re-run device config.

    Also confirm as per Yasuhisa's post that BasicDisk STU is mounted to same drive letter/path on new master.

    The 'Incrementals running as full' issue applies to NBU 6.5 only. See http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH77447

     

  • Your plan sounds good and you have had some excellent advice from the others on this forum - but I would like to add a few extra points to make things go smoothly. 1. Even though you are going to move the basic disk area across to the new server you would need to import it all into the new system to be able to do the catalog restore - so i would advise that you do that final catalog backup to tape to make life far simpler 2. Make a note of all settings in the Master Servers Host Properties - many of these get written to the registry and will not get migrated across during the catalog restore 3. Make a note of your barcode and media id generation rules and add them in before doing the catalog restore to make sure all media ids are correct on the new system 4. Make a note of your master servers name in NetBackup (the one shown at the top of the Admin Console) as NetBackup has a habit of using the FQDN when being installed on 2008 and the names mastersrv is not the same as mastersrv.domain.com - so make sure when you install NetBackup on the new server it uses the same naming convention as the original when you get to that last installation screen. 5. Make a note of your last job ID (or take a copy of the \Program Files\Veritas\NetBackup\db\jobs\jobid file) so that your system does not start from job 1 again. 6. Do not get tempted to install NetBackup before the new server is renamed as it will write entries into locations that will cause you issues in the future Hope all this helps
  • the Image Catalog was moved to the E volume.at some point

    There are at least 3 methods that this could have been done; one of them obsolete. Which method did you use?
    There was the registry method (obsolete), the ALTPATH touch file method, and the hard links method (not usually done on Windows).

     

    If the registry method was used, since it is no longer supported, so for the new server you would not be able to do the same anyway.
    In this case, I would recommend undoing the registry method on the source server (i.e., putting everything back to the default path, probably C:), do a fresh Catalog backup, then migrate to the destination server normally using Catalog Recovery and the rest of the migration procedures.

    If undoing the registry method is not possible for some reason - such as not having enough space on the default drive/path - then you may need to call support and quote this post. I don't think anyone on the forum other than Symantec would be able to give you a solid answer about the implications of doing a Catalog Recovery when the image db was moved elsewhere using a no-longer-supported method.

     

    If the ALTPATH method was used, then having the same E: drive on the destination server should do.
    http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH192528

     

    If hard links were used, then just recreate them at the right source and destination paths either before or after the Catalog Recovery.