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NDMP backup selection list

AS902
Level 4

I have Backup Exec 2012 SP2 installed. I purchased and installed the NDMP license. I'm trying to backup some directories from ISILON (6.5.1.8).

I added the NDMP storage to Backup Exec. Now when I go to the backup selction list, I only see the volume. It does not display directories under it. All it displays is "NONE" on expanding the volume.

However If I completely select the volume the backup does run. But I do not want to run a backup of the complete volume. There are around 70 directories and I just want to select some 20 to 25 directories.

Please help.

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

stanger18
Level 2

So it's day one with your new Isilon cluster and you go to backup the unit using NDMP as you would a NetApp. Your hoping to select the device and start browsing through subdirectories and select any file or folder you wish, as you would with a NetApp...well...no so fast. For some reason Backup Exec only lets you select the root volume and nothing else. An Isilon cluster by design will only have a single root volume that continues to grow as you add more nodes, so selecting the root volume of 400TB to backup when you're only looking for a subfolder with 20GB's is unacceptable.

I cannot speak for the nightmare Symantec calls Backup Exec 2012, but in 2010 R3 I finally figured out how to back up individual folders using NDMP on an EMC Isilon unit. Here's a quick tutorial for all of those users out there that are just as frustrated as I was. I'll explain how I'm currently backup individual directories and files along with using wildcard searches and exclusions. This may or may not work in your environment but I figured I'd post this out here since there isn't much documentation found on the topic.

Backup up individual folders/files via NDMP on an Isilon Cluster

My Isilon looks like so, I've got a root /ifs/ volume with 4 main sub directory shares for each department in my organization. I want to backup 2 folders underneath the Processing directory called "Folder A" and "Folder B".

/ifs/

|____>/Engineering/

|____>/HR/

|____>/Processing/

|____>/Sales/

When I go to browse the NDMP selection list in Backup Exec I see the following

Capture3.JPGWhat you must do is right click the root volume and select "Include/Exclude Files..."

When the Include/Exclude Selections windows appears make sure the following items are checked.

Resource Type = NDMP

NDMP Type = Other

Type = Include

Volume = this will be filled out automatically to your root volume

Select an NDMP provider = Isilon

When the Isilon submenu appears under Variable Name select the Value under FILES and put in the following syntax based on your directory path. REMEMBER Isilon is Linux based, so if you have folders or files with spaces in the name you must put a "\" before every space in the name. Each new subdirectory you wish to backup needs to be separated with a space like I have below.

/Processing/Folder\ A /Processing/Folder\ B 

Capture1.JPG

If you want to backup an individual file you would simply use the same syntax above however this time adding the file name to the end of the path. e.g /Processing/Folder\ A/log.txt

If you only want to backup certain file types in a particular folder then put the full folder path under Path and in the files field insert *.bmp *.txt

Capture4.JPG

If you want to exclude files/folders from your backups it must be done in 2 steps.

1) First select your include directory(s) as we have done above and hit apply. You've now got a FILESYSTEM selection list backing up a directory or multiple directories.

2) Browse back into the NDMP selection and right click on root volume and choose "Include/Exclude Files..." only this time select Exclude on the right under Type. In the Value field under Exclude put any file/folder/extension you wish to exclude, remembering to put in "\" for any spaces in the name, and also separate each exclusion with a space.e.g *testdirecotry *.txt *.bmp /Procesing/Folder\ A/test.log

In the above example I've said to exclude any directory called "testdirectory, along with any .txt and .bmp files as well as exclude a test.log file found in /Processing/Folder\ A/.

Capture5.JPG

What you should now see in the selection list is a FILESYSTEM selection and an EXCLUDE selection.

Capture6.JPG

I hope this helps.

View solution in original post

9 REPLIES 9

pkh
Moderator
Moderator
   VIP    Certified

When you backup a device using NDMP, you cannot select specific directories.  You got to backup the entire volume.

If you want to backup specific directories, then you need to use CIFS.

AS902
Level 4

Figure 12 in http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH48957

shows that I can actually make selections among directories.

 

We also have a NETAPP storage where we are able to perform backup of individual directory backups.

AS902
Level 4

Also the above article states:

"Note: Backup Exec allows you to browse to the individual file level ; however individual files cannot be selected for backup, only folder level selection is available but during restore file level selection is available."

CraigV
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited

AS902
Level 4

Yes I did check that article. I followed it. The article says that "

  • The NDMP Option supports Backup selections from the directory level"

 

But I don't see any directories listed. Under the volume it shows "None". I can backup the whole volume by checking it, I do not want to backup the entire volume.

Larry_Fine
Moderator
Moderator
   VIP   

In the BE GUI, for your NDMP selections, click the "selection details" tab.  I think you can type in the folders to include or exclude there.  It may depend upon your NDMP provider.

stanger18
Level 2

So it's day one with your new Isilon cluster and you go to backup the unit using NDMP as you would a NetApp. Your hoping to select the device and start browsing through subdirectories and select any file or folder you wish, as you would with a NetApp...well...no so fast. For some reason Backup Exec only lets you select the root volume and nothing else. An Isilon cluster by design will only have a single root volume that continues to grow as you add more nodes, so selecting the root volume of 400TB to backup when you're only looking for a subfolder with 20GB's is unacceptable.

I cannot speak for the nightmare Symantec calls Backup Exec 2012, but in 2010 R3 I finally figured out how to back up individual folders using NDMP on an EMC Isilon unit. Here's a quick tutorial for all of those users out there that are just as frustrated as I was. I'll explain how I'm currently backup individual directories and files along with using wildcard searches and exclusions. This may or may not work in your environment but I figured I'd post this out here since there isn't much documentation found on the topic.

Backup up individual folders/files via NDMP on an Isilon Cluster

My Isilon looks like so, I've got a root /ifs/ volume with 4 main sub directory shares for each department in my organization. I want to backup 2 folders underneath the Processing directory called "Folder A" and "Folder B".

/ifs/

|____>/Engineering/

|____>/HR/

|____>/Processing/

|____>/Sales/

When I go to browse the NDMP selection list in Backup Exec I see the following

Capture3.JPGWhat you must do is right click the root volume and select "Include/Exclude Files..."

When the Include/Exclude Selections windows appears make sure the following items are checked.

Resource Type = NDMP

NDMP Type = Other

Type = Include

Volume = this will be filled out automatically to your root volume

Select an NDMP provider = Isilon

When the Isilon submenu appears under Variable Name select the Value under FILES and put in the following syntax based on your directory path. REMEMBER Isilon is Linux based, so if you have folders or files with spaces in the name you must put a "\" before every space in the name. Each new subdirectory you wish to backup needs to be separated with a space like I have below.

/Processing/Folder\ A /Processing/Folder\ B 

Capture1.JPG

If you want to backup an individual file you would simply use the same syntax above however this time adding the file name to the end of the path. e.g /Processing/Folder\ A/log.txt

If you only want to backup certain file types in a particular folder then put the full folder path under Path and in the files field insert *.bmp *.txt

Capture4.JPG

If you want to exclude files/folders from your backups it must be done in 2 steps.

1) First select your include directory(s) as we have done above and hit apply. You've now got a FILESYSTEM selection list backing up a directory or multiple directories.

2) Browse back into the NDMP selection and right click on root volume and choose "Include/Exclude Files..." only this time select Exclude on the right under Type. In the Value field under Exclude put any file/folder/extension you wish to exclude, remembering to put in "\" for any spaces in the name, and also separate each exclusion with a space.e.g *testdirecotry *.txt *.bmp /Procesing/Folder\ A/test.log

In the above example I've said to exclude any directory called "testdirectory, along with any .txt and .bmp files as well as exclude a test.log file found in /Processing/Folder\ A/.

Capture5.JPG

What you should now see in the selection list is a FILESYSTEM selection and an EXCLUDE selection.

Capture6.JPG

I hope this helps.

TTcirka
Level 3

@stanger18 Thanks for sharing! I backup from isilon using ndmp and I couldn't figure out how to exclude folders properly. Thanks for the thorough explanation!

AS902
Level 4

Thanks a ton.