Copying placeholders to a file server with a new name

[PaulRuth]

Hi all EV v8 SP3 Due to lack of confidence with an existing file server we need to copy all of the data to a new file server with a different name \ ip address and run the two in tandem for a short while. Does anyone have a good way of ensuring the users do not lose access to any of the archived files once the placeholders are copied ? Should we be copying the placeholders anyway ? Is there a best practice method of doing this ? I've had a look at the document about copying placeholders to a server with the same name but can't find an article about moving to a file server with a different name. Thanks in advance Paul

[TonySterling · Accepted solution]

Here is the technote to move to a new server.


http://support.veritas.com/docs/320911

How to move Placeholders from one Server to a new Server

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Details:

The process below can be used to move Placeholders to a new File Server due to a hardware change. The data on the File Server (including the Placeholders) can be backed up and then restored onto the new File Server and all archived files will open correctly as long as the File System Archiving (FSA) agent is installed again and the new server retains the same name as the old. Not all Backup software can properly backup Placeholders and the use of the FSAUtility to recreate Placeholders may be necessary. The command to recreate Placeholders would be as followed

FSAUtility -c -s \\unc_path_name\folder_name

In the event that a new server needs to be brought online and the NetBIOS name changed then the fsautility will have to be used to correctly move the Placeholders from the old File Server to the new File Server. Perform the following steps to properly move the Placeholders between servers.

1. Setup a new File Server (FS) and install the Operating System (OS).

2. Setup a new Directory Structure on the FS for shares and give the Vault Service Account full access via NTFS permissions and share rights.

3. Configure Enterprise Vault (EV) for the new FS and install the FSA agent on File Server.

4. Setup the Volume and Archive Points on the EV Server and perform an Initial Archiving Run (the Placeholder move will not function correctly unless a Archiving run has been performed).

5. Use the fsautility to move placeholders from old server to new.

a. This Utility can only be run on a sub-folder basis (ie..\\unc_path\subfolder\). It cannot be run against a base volume (ie..\\unc_path) and the Destination Folder must already exist as it will not get created by the FSAUtility.

b. Open Command Prompt Window

c. cd to Program Files\Enterprise Vault\

d. type FSAUtility -m -s \\unc_path_source -d \\unc_path_destination

This will be all that is necessary to get this done. As stated above if keeping the same name it will be much easier to Backup the data and Placeholder (if possible) and then restore back onto the new server.

[PaulRuth]

Hi Tony

Thanks for that but the file server will be called something different unfortunately ............

[PaulRuth]

Hi Tony

Sorry, didnt read your article correctly

Would you recommend not copying the placeholders and then using FSAUtil to do the move ?

If so, what is the placeholder file extension so we can exclude it in the copy script ?

Thanks for your help so far

[TonySterling]

Yes, use FSAUtility.  As for the copy bit, if you can exclude offline files when you copy that would be the easiest.

[PaulRuth]

Really appreciate the prompt reply Tony, thank you so much

One more question, will the FSA utility parse through all the subfolders under a specified share ?

[PaulRuth]

If we copied the plaeholders and we renamed the server back to the original name after the data copy was complete and integrity checked would we be able to bypass the FSAUtil steps ?

[TonySterling]

Hi Paul,

As long as the backup software can restore the placeholders correctly.  See the technote above:

The data on the File Server (including the Placeholders) can be backed up and then restored onto the new File Server and all archived files will open correctly as long as the File System Archiving (FSA) agent is installed again and the new server retains the same name as the old. Not all Backup software can properly backup Placeholders and the use of the FSAUtility to recreate Placeholders may be necessary.

[PaulRuth]

Hi Tony

Thanks so much for all the info. I was just a little worried about the interim step of calling the new file server something different  - doing the restores and THEN renaming the file server back to its original name after the restores have been completed.

I'm hoping this will work without using FSAUtil as am pressed for time.

Thanks for the advice

Paul