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ArsalanAlli's avatar
ArsalanAlli
Level 3
6 years ago

Recovery Without import (very awkward situation)

Hello,

I have run into very awkward sitaution here, our client is running Netbackup 6.0 (i know its EOL) on solaris and they recently purchased Netbackup 8.1.2. 

So they want to import all the Backup info(all client and their backups) from old server into this new server so that if any request of old restore comes, it will be served from this new server. Is it even possible to achieve this!!!?

I have been reading about the "Recovery without import" white paper and it says somthing about cat_export and cat_import step. but the problem is there is no Cat_export command on source (NB 6.0) server. I have done the step where it sas to copy the contents of /usr/openv/netbackup/db/images to the destination server. 

I cant brows the backup of any client of old server as there isn't any info about them in NBU GUI (BAR window). 

i do have the backup tape of catalog of old server.

Waiting for your kind response.

6.0
8.1.2
NBU
Recovery
recovery without import
  • Marianne's avatar
    Marianne
    6 years ago

    So, the 6.0 images (with header files) are now lying in <client-name> folders under /usr/openv/netbackup/db/images, right? 

    Do you have a list of the 6.0 client names? 

    You can try to do cat_import for one client name as a test:
    Examine contents of /usr/openv/netbackup/db/images<client-name> to identify header files.
    Run 
      cat_import -client <client-name>
    or a specific image: 
      cat_import -backupid <backupid>

    When done, see if the header files are gone from images folder and if you can browse for this client's backup.
    If successful, do the same for all client names.

    cat_import -all 
    is another option, but I won't recommend that without knowing how many clients and amount of images. 

    Command Reference for cat_import : 
    https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/doc/15263389-127350397-0/v62313450-127350397

     

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  • Marianne's avatar
    Marianne
    Level 6
    6 years ago

    So, the 6.0 images (with header files) are now lying in <client-name> folders under /usr/openv/netbackup/db/images, right? 

    Do you have a list of the 6.0 client names? 

    You can try to do cat_import for one client name as a test:
    Examine contents of /usr/openv/netbackup/db/images<client-name> to identify header files.
    Run 
      cat_import -client <client-name>
    or a specific image: 
      cat_import -backupid <backupid>

    When done, see if the header files are gone from images folder and if you can browse for this client's backup.
    If successful, do the same for all client names.

    cat_import -all 
    is another option, but I won't recommend that without knowing how many clients and amount of images. 

    Command Reference for cat_import : 
    https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/doc/15263389-127350397-0/v62313450-127350397

     

    • ArsalanAlli's avatar
      ArsalanAlli
      Level 3
      6 years ago

      Thanks for the response Marianne,

      Yes all the client images are present in /usr/openv/netbackup/db/images in their respective client folders. 

      When i ran the command cat_import it gave this error.

      cat_import : </usr/openv/netbackup/db.export/images/bedbm31> does not exist
      no entity was found

      do i have to plcae the files in db.export ? there is no db.export directory under netbackup and here are contents of one of the client:

      #ls

      1197000000  1199000000  1200000000  1202000000  1203000000  1204000000  1213000000

      where is the header file in here ?

      • Marianne's avatar
        Marianne
        Level 6
        6 years ago

        I have to say that I have never actually tried this. 

        My recommendation would be to perform any further tests in a lab environment to prevent the risk of damaging your new production environment. 

        The error message seems to indicate that the command is expecting the headers in the db.export folder.
        I wonder what will happen if you move the 6.0 folders into a db.export folder with the same path as per the error message. 

        The header files are in the <date_stamp> folders (e.g. 1197000000) .
        They have the same name as the .f files, just without any extention. 

        Seems you will need to emulate the NBU 7.5 Upgrade process that performs the header migration.
        I have tried to locate an online version of 7.5 Ugrade Guide, but have had any luck. 

        I found a forum post that seems to contain extracts from this manual with manual steps/commands:
        https://vox.veritas.com/t5/NetBackup/Is-it-Necessary-to-Use-Image-Meta-Data-Process-when-upgrading/m-p/525474#M124082

        I am hesitant to tell you to try any of these commands in your production environment...