Backing up and restoring file archive placeholders

[Reece_Scarley]

Can anyone please give some advice on the correct process to follow for the following scenario - we are upgrading a server which has archived files as placeholders on it so we want to get all these placeholders onto the new server so they are functional. So we used backup exec to back them up and then restore them to the new server. FIle placeholder service is installed on new server. Although the restored files appear to be restored (the have the modified icon to represent placeholders) their size indicates that something is wrong because the 'size on disk' is their full file size rather than 4k which it should be for a placeholder. None of the archived files on the new server will open.

Thanks in advance

[John_Dare]

There are additional backup requirements for file servers to backup the placeholder rather than the archived file (recalling this file from the vault to the file server then to tape).

The file server must be put into backup mode before backing up.
This allows the placeholders to be backed up only.

This should be a normal procedure for your regular file server backups anyway.

1. To set the file server into backup mode use the EV command:
EVFSABackupmode.exe backup

2. Run the backup.

3. To return the server to normal working mode.
EVFSABackupmode.exe normal

The EVFSABackupmode.exe file is located at \C$ \program files\enterprise vault\EVFSABackupmode.exe assuming C$ is where KVS was installed.

Note: that while the file server is in backup mode, access to archived files via the placeholder is unavailable.

Therefore the restore process would only restore the placeholders.

Hope this helps.

[John_Dare]

Another thought is that the backup software you use may be capable of using offline files mode.

If not, you may be able to use Robocopy (included in the Windows resource kit).

[Leonard_Walsh]

What version of EV is it you're running? Not sure if you've checked the below, but there are some points to note:

- Check the support matrix to see if you need to enable backup mode with the version of backup software you use. I used Veritas NetBackup 5 and 6 and all is OK
- When you restore placeholders to another server, you should rename this server to match the original name that the placeholders came from. You also need to keep the placeholders in the same directory as before otherwise they will not recall from the Vault Store
- With regards to the file size on disk, have you set the "FileSizeEmulation" within the Registry? It's found under HKLM->software->kvs->Enterprise Vault->FSA-Placeholder. Give it a value of '0' which shows the placeholders actual size as opposed to the size of the archived file.

Hope that helps...