Installing Linux Remote Agent for BE 12.5 on Ubuntu 9.10 server

[SystemsAdminAS]

Looking for some help installing the linux remote agent on our Ubuntu 9.10 samba server for use with BE 12.5.  As of March 2009, the ACL indicates compatibility with Debian, so should this mean that the agent is compatible with ALL debian-based distributions?

In any case, attempting to execute the installralus script from the 12.5 installation CD gives the root account a permission denied error - installing from the RALUSx86 subdirectory (which ostensibly contains scripts specific to x86 distros, which we are using, does not seem to have this problem, but quits out with the 'Not Implemented Yet' message that seems to be indicative of an OS version / level check - is it looking specifically for a vanilla Debian installation and failing?

AFAIK, folks have gotten the agent working with previous Ubuntu versions, so I figure I'm missing soemthign right in front of my face - any ideas?

[pkh]

According to the BE 12.5 SCL, Ubuntu is not supported.  This means that if you cannot get it to work, then you are on your own.

[SystemsAdminAS]

Well, granted that Ubuntu is not specifically called out here in the compatibility list:

ftp://exftpp.symantec.com/pub/support/products/Backup_Exec_for_WindowsNT/307063.pdf

But given that it's a DEBIAN distribution, there's no reason why an app compatible with Debian 4 (specifically the plain agent, not the media agent) should not work with Ubuntu.  This guy:

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/forums/problem-backing-ubuntu-hardy-backup-exec-125

apparently got the agent to install and run at the very least on an ubuntu server 8.04 - 3 versions older, so the possibility is there.  Frankly I don't care if Symantec doesn't officially support it yet, but if I don't have to take the long way around the bend to get it operational I won't - I'd rather not do a total reinstall of a file / web server in plain Debian just because Symantec is dragging its heels in testing what it should have done years ago given that Debian and Ubuntu are very close to being identical products, and there is a significant user base associated with both.

[SystemsAdminAS]

<Bump>

Any Ubuntu (or debian) users out there had a similar issue at all?  Anyone got it working?

[SystemsAdminAS]

OK,

Got it to install OK using the installralus script - problem I was having was a noob Ubuntu issue - by default Ubuntu mounts cdrom's with the NoExec otion so you can't actually execute directly - remounting the drive allows for normal installation.

After setting up the initial options and pointing the agent at my BE server, I can now see the Linux machine's netbios name under the available unix/linux agent devices.  However, though I associated root and a few other accounts with the beoper group, I cannot seem to authenticate to the machine so I can see the folder structure yet.  There might still be a port I need to open or some other tweak I have to do yet..

In any case, as far as the BE 12.5 linux agent being compatible with Ubuntu server 9.10, it installed as expected from the debian-based install instructions on the disc.

[SystemsAdminAS]

OK,

So I have the RALUS agent installed on Ubuntu 9.10, via the installralus script.  I confirm that the service is running.  On the BE 12.5 server, I have one license for Linux/Unix agents installed (this is the only linux box we have).  I was able to successfully point BE at the Linux box (netbios name is simply 'server'), and 'server' appears in the list of Linux/Unix Servers under 'Favorite resources' in an existing selection list.

My current issue is that clicking on it to expand the folder tree results in a logon failure.  I'm attempting to do so using the server's root account.  root is a member of the created 'beoper' group on the linux box as per the installation instructions.

This Ubuntu server is running as a file server, with Samba 3.x - I'm mainly looking to back up the samba shares, but if I can get to the entire linux filesystem for backup, that's a bonus.  I'm wondering if I have to create a certificate on the Linux end for the p/w to authenticate, perhaps open another port besides 10000?  I turned on BE's option to accept requests from dynamic port ranges, no change in behavior from having the option off.

I should add that the BE server (Win 2K3 R2 x86) is an Active Directory member of our local domain (acnet.local,for LAN only, not a FQDN), and the Ubuntu server is not - it is acting as a backup DC under a workgroup rather than being a domain member.  Its OS level is such that it is subordinate to any Windows servers as far as being the master browser is concerned.  I'm using the root login w/o any AD-type instantiation (i.e. username is 'root', rather than 'root@acnet' or 'acnet/root'.  Not sure if this scenario is playing a factor here.

Any1 have a clue as to what I'm missing?

[SystemsAdminAS]

Anyone out there, in the course of installing / using RALUS agents had the issue of being able to see the server from Backup Exec but not being able to authenticate to it?  I could really use a hand getting this going as we have 300+ gigs of data in these working shares that I'd like to get backed up to tape regularly and put to bed...

Thanks in advance!

[SystemsAdminAS]

Folks,

Looks like the crux here was due to my creating the beoper user and group manually before the RALUS agent install.  Uninstalled the agent, removed the user and group, and reinstalled, allowing the install script create them.  I can now see the folder tree and am running a backup of the shares overnight.  Will report results next week...

[SystemsAdminAS · Accepted solution]

Folks,

1st backup went more or less fine - backup technically failed due to a few file / folder permissions not being accessible to root, but out of 430+ GB of data, 429 and change backed up without issue from the Ubuntu 9.10 samba shares.

The second backup did not go as well, however as the ralus agent service stopped for some reason on the Ubuntu box and subsequently BE was not able to connect.  So, I figured it was time to try updating the agent, which unfortunately you can't do using the bulk updater, so here goes:

Found 6 RALUS patches for x86, rest of patches in the results are for x64 distros or Service Packs that apply to the BE server (my BE 12.5 server is running on Windows Server 2003 R2 x86, fully updated) (http://www.symantec.com/business/support/downloads.jsp?pid=15047 - change version to 12.5, Platform to Linux):

312844
326004
327966
328485
Fix for 328485
336087

I installed each of these patches in chronogical order (as above).  However, the install script for each is meant for Red Hat's rpm command, which does not exist in Debian-based distros, so in each of the above patches, which includes a installraluspatch.sh installer script, you have to change a line of code from the rpm command to the equivalent in Debian:

RALUSINSTALLED=`rpm -q -a | grep VRTSralus | wc -l`

can be replaced by

RALUSINSTALLED=`dpkg-query -s VRTSralus`

This allows the script to execute properly.  There may be a slicker way to do this in the end, but it worked for me.  I confirm that BE can still see the Ubuntu shares and I can still access the selection lists properly.  Will report back results after next few backups to see if the service-cancelling issue is cleared up.

[SystemsAdminAS]

Folks,

Backup is working better since updates were installed, service has not dropped on the Linux side yet, so I think at this point I'm satisfied.  However, this was only one server - not sure how many of your out there are running multiple Ubuntu boxes needing RALUS agents.

[ronin2307]

I dont mean to hijack this thread, but I am trying to install the agent on Ubuntu x64 server 9.10 and am having similar issues as people here.
I have managed to install the agent without issues or errors, but i cannot start it.
/etc/init.d/VRTSralus.init start eventually returns with FAILED. but no details whatsoever.
does anybody know where i can find a log file or something that gives me more insight into this? I am running this as root
thx

[jbauer5]

I start the program from /opt/VRTSralus/ 

In that directory you can run ./beremote --log-console and you can try to make some sense of your error.

I found all my startup errors to be missing libraries.

[ronin2307]

that was the ticket. i apparently installed the 32bit version of the libstdc++ lib. I was fairly certain that i installed x64 but oh well. now i have to find the x64 version and figure out how to remove the x32 one and see where that takes me.

[SystemsAdminAS]

ronin,

I had your problem in part due to an initial mishandling of updates - I didn't post it, but I attempted to manually unzip the files into the directories w/o actually editing and running the installraluspatch scripts properly - uninstalled and reinstalled the agent, applied the updates and that fixed the service not being able to start for me - did your install of the agent go smoothly from the script alone?

[ronin2307]

i didnt have to edit anything. the install happend fine, i just screwed up with the x32 vs x64 versions of the C++ lib.
i fixed that now and the agent is running. i have set a backup job to include this server so i will see tomorrow what happend. no patience to wait for it now :)