Catalog Migration from One NBU Domain to another

[Abhijit_Srivast]

We have one NBU Master on 7.0.X version and we are building another on 7.5.X . We need to merge the catalog of 7.0.X into the new Catalog Data Base of 7.5.X .

Clients from 7.0.X will be moving to the 7.5.X Master and until the last client is not migrated both the masters will be in active active configuration . Hence both will be having active images . We need to merge the catalogs as the 7.0.X will be decommisioned as that is lying with the incumbent and we will get the older catalog of images to restore the historical data . [ Only objective of 7.0.x Data to be bought is to keep historical data intact as they have large number of long retention backups which will be having active images for a longer duration ]

Now challenges :

1) Both the servers will have different names so do we need to keep the same names while merging the catalog ?

2) IP's Should be the same or not ? I feel IP's can be dynamic .

3) Recovery without Import is another procedure but I am not sure will it help me or not [ No clue how it is performed ]

4) Last resort to get Support from Symantec Consulting to get this done ;)

TIA

Abby !

[Mark_Solutions]

Easiest and cheapest would be to just build you nice new master, install 7.0.x having the same name as the original and do a catalog restore - then upgrade to 7.5 (or 7.6?)

Otherwise if you run 2 in parellel they will have to have different names and at some point you will need them both to be the same version so that you can have a specialist come in and do the catalog merge for you

I would just go for a new master straight off to be honest - i have done this many times without an issue

[Abhijit_Srivast]

Thanks Mark .

We are taking over from one service provider and building our new DC so new Master is in process .

Now "  install 7.0.x having the same name as the original and do a catalog restore - then upgrade to 7.5 (or 7.6?) " this is like a DR on the secondry site .

situation in my case is different where there is 9 month gap for complete transition . So that means both the masters will run parallely for some duration until this transition duration is not signed off completely .

Service Provision Wise both the master servers need to work as the " Migration of Servers will happen in phases " and we cannot risk the client servers but turning the source master off and keeping these servers under risk for this " transition duration " .

[RonCaplinger]

As Mark indicated, merging two different NBU catalogs will REQUIRE the services of a certified NBU consultant.  If your project requires that both catalogs must be merged, I would suggest working with Symantec to find a certified partner to help with this.  Merging catalogs is not supported by symantec unless a certified partner has performed the tasks.

Mark's suggestion would probalby be preferable.  If you are transitioning in phases, moving different clients from one NBU domain to another over the next 9 months, you can just remove the affected client names from the old domain's policies, change the client's defined master server to the new one, and add the client to the new policies.  Leave the old backup images in the old NBU catalog until they expire naturally.  If you have images that will not expire before the old domain is ready for decommissioning, you could leave the old master available, but powered down, until all old images expire.

[Marianne]

I totally agree with Mark and Ron.

If you really need to merge the 2 environments, you can either import all media from source domain over time on the new master, or get a trained Catalog Manipulation consultant to merge the 2 environments.

See: 

How to migrate the NetBackup catalog information from one platform to another (UNIX to Windows or vice versa), rename a Master Server, cluster an existing Master Server, or merge multiple NetBackup domains.
http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH31385

[Mark_Solutions · Accepted solution]

If you have to run the two in parallel then i guess you have little choice but to do the following: 1. Install a new Master at the new site and use that for clients being migrated 2. Upgrade the existing Master to be the same version as the new Master 3. When you are ready to retire the old Master get the specialists in to do the catalog merge for you so that the new Master has all of your backup data. A few things to be careful of as you go along: 1. Make sure any tape library at the new site sees tape barcodes the same as the current site (i.e. all 8 didgits or just 6 digits) 2. Make sure the barcode rules are the same 3. Do not use any new media on the new site that has the same mediaid as used on the current site 4. When you move clients across keep their names in policies the same (so if it is server.domian.com on the old site dont have it as just server on the new site) Just the stuff that makes the catalog merge a little easier / possible without running up against any conflicts that make life difficult Hope this helps

[Abhijit_Srivast]

Thanks Marianne and Ron .

The plan as of now is to get in touch with the sales department to get a NBU Consultant to Merge the Catalogs as importing the whole mediaDB into the new domain by doing in phase imports will take a huge time .

Thanks for the tips Mark , we will surely follow these tips .

Ron as you say "  Leave the old backup images in the old NBU catalog until they expire naturally.  If you have images that will not expire before the old domain is ready for decommissioning, you could leave the old master available, but powered down, until all old images expire "  was feasible if we would have been the owner of the old environment . We are taking the infra from the incumbent and the old inra is the proprietary of Incumbent . We will not have access to the machines .

So i thought that Consulting with Symantec will help majorly than the Importing so many number of tapes but what about Recovery without Import Option ? Will that help or not ?

[Marianne]

Recovery without Import is an excellent idea, but in all honesty, I have no idea how it will work when 7.0 images are copied to a 7.5 installation where the image headers are part of the EMM database. 

I guess additional steps will be needed to convert or cat_import these headers, but I have not seen any such documentation. Maybe someone else has?

This should ideally be tested in a lab environment.

[Abhijit_Srivast]

We will be following the suite to make the new master upto the current environment and post the transition we will upgrade it to 7.5 . I hope it should help both the procedures whether it is Recovery without Import or Catalog merging [ I am guessing as i am clueless about both procedures ] .

I read the symantec document recovery without import but its all theoritical . Nothing about " How to Perform " is mentioned . Hopefully we get a reply here :)

[Marianne]

It will be ideal if the new master can be 7.0 or even 7.1.

The 'original' Recovery without Import can then be used.

In short, the procedure is to copy all images from source domain to the target domain.

Media from source domain need to be kept separate and preferably write-protected to prevent accidental overwrite in new domain.
When media needs to be added to robot for restores, they should be added to a separate, non-backup pool (e.g. OLD-DOMAIN).
Recommendation from my side is to save a copy of Media Written report (with Verbose option) on Source domain to see when tapes will expire. Media can then be 'un-protected' and added to Scratch or backup pools.

The original 3-page Recovery Without Import doc: 

http://eval.symantec.com/mktginfo/products/White_Papers/Data_Protection/nbu_wp_replicatingbucatalogs...

[Abhijit_Srivast]

We have got a partner aligned to get the merger done . Incumbent has agreed to Upgrade the NBU to 7.5.X and then we will merge the catalogs .