Folders in NetBackup 6.5.6 exclude list for Windows 2008 client are being backed up

[Glo]

Hi All,

With NetBackup 6.5.6 on a Solaris 9 master and media server and a Windows 2008 client, some folders are being backed up despite my wish to exclude them. Besides having created a complicated config, what have I done wrong?

First some background.

There are two NetBackup client names for the Windows host, whose collection of exclude lists contains 375 entries affecting 18 policies. This is an attempt to create smaller backup images than what we would get, for example, by dedicating one volume per policy.

The Windows client is not part of a cluster.

Now I'll show two policies and their exclude lists. The same client name is each in policy.

1.  The policy DLWorkDDL1DL has this backup selection list:

/D/DigitalLibrary/DigitalLibrary1/Digital Library/*

The policy's exclude list looks like this (I wish to exclude any file or folder named "zoomify"):

Exclude = CLASS:DLWorkDDL1DL
Exclude = LOADED_*
Exclude = DELETED_*
Exclude = System Volume Information\
Exclude = _gsdata_\
Exclude = _submaster*
Exclude = masters.bak
Exclude = zoomify                                 <== but subfolders named zoomify are being backed up by this policy
Exclude = .DS_Store
Exclude = .TemporaryItems
Exclude = _.TemporaryItems
Exclude = *.mdb
Exclude = no_backup
Exclude = pagefile.sys
Exclude = *recycle*
Exclude = temp
Exclude = trash
Exclude = ~*

In the latest full backup for this policy, bplist shows over 140,000 paths with the name "zoomify" . Here is one example:

/D/DigitalLibrary/DigitalLibrary1/Digital Library/zoomify/ethiopic/done2/21198-zz0009nn2s-1-master/ImageProperties.xml

2.  It gets worse when I look at a related policy, DLWorkDDL1, which has this backup selection list:

D:\DigitalLibrary\DigitalLibrary1\             <== two levels up from the previous policy, but different syntax

and this exclude list (I wish to exclude two folders belonging to other policies, but both are being backed up by this policy):

Exclude = CLASS:DLWorkDDL1
Exclude = D:\DigitalLibrary\DigitalLibrary1\Digital Audio\          <== you haven't seen the policy for this folder
Exclude = D:\DigitalLibrary\DigitalLibrary1\Digital Library\        <== belongs to previous policy, but different syntax
Exclude = LOADED_*
Exclude = DELETED_*
Exclude = System Volume Information\
Exclude = _gsdata_\
Exclude = _submaster*
Exclude = masters.bak
Exclude = zoomify                                                               <== no surprise that this is also not excluded
Exclude = .DS_Store
Exclude = .TemporaryItems
Exclude = _.TemporaryItems
Exclude = *.mdb
Exclude = no_backup
Exclude = pagefile.sys
Exclude = *recycle*
Exclude = temp
Exclude = trash
Exclude = ~*

Summary: Why are the zoomify folders being backed up by both policies? Why are the first two folders in the second policy's exclude list being backed up by that policy?

Thanks,

Glo

[watsons]

You meant to say it's only NOT excluding "zoomify", didn't you?  What about "temp"?

First is to check whether the exclude list works consistently across all your "excluded" entries, because if it's not working for one, it should not work for the other.

Some exceptions I can think of:

1) Was checkbox "Use case sensitive exclude list" checked?

2) Any entry in your "Exceptions to exclude list"?

3) What happen if you use "zoomify*" instead of "zoomify"?

[watsons]

There is a bug but I am not sure if it fits into your scenario, check this out:

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH144007

If this issue comes out only after 6.5.6, might probably be it...

[Glo]

That bug description refers to Windows Cluster, which, alas, we are not running.

[Glo]

I should have said that some of the entries in the exclude list were being ignored -- now I can claim that ALL of the ones that I've showed you are being ignored, but some that I haven't shown you are not ignored. The ignored entries are associated with one client name, and the others are associated with another client name. Coincidence?

1) No, the "Use case sensitive exclude list" box is not checked.

2) No, there are no entries in the "Exceptions to exclude list".

3) Because similar entries ("_submaster*"_ are being ignored, I expect "zoomify*" would also be ignored.

I'm thinking about deleting the ignored entries, waiting a day, then adding one entry per day until it breaks or not.

[J_H_Is_gone]

As it has not appeared clear in the above posts.

You seem to have more than one policy.

And you want to backup different things in each policy.

When you made your exclude list and include list did you name them for each policy or are you using the default ALL Policies?

I just want to make sure on the client server you have a exclude list Named for each policy as well as the include list.

[Glo]

Yes, multiple policies, each with its own exclude list on the client, visible in the admin GUI and with bpgetconfig, using either of the client's names.

[Glo]

Here is a better way to describe my question.

On the Master server, there are three alternate names for a Windows client. Let's call them A, B and C. The files in /usr/openv/netbackup/db/altnames look like this:

-rw-r--r--   3 root     other          0 Oct 21  2010 A
-rw-r--r--   3 root     other          0 Oct 21  2010 B
-rw-r--r--   3 root     other          0 Oct 21  2010 C

Multiple policies refer to one or another alternate name. Each policy has its own exclude list. There are no exceptions to the exclude lists.

On the Windows client, "A" has been entered as the NetBackup Client Name.

If a policy refers to the A name, then its exclude list works as expected. But if a policy refers to the B or C name, then its exclude list and the general exclude list (the one not associated with a policy name) are both ignored, and all items that I wish to exclude are backed up.

Besides abandoning the alternate names, what can I do to get those exclude lists to work? Everything else about the policies seems okay.

Thanks,

Glo

[J_H_Is_gone]

You mentioned the exclude list "not associated with a policy name".

From my experience if you have an exclude list that has a policy name in it - THAT IS THE ONLY ONE APPLIED TO THE BACKUP.

The "generic" exclude list is not applied.  You have to copy all the items form the generic exclude list to your specific policy exclude list.

the "generic" exclude list appears to only be used when the policy backing up the server does not have a specific 'policy' exclude list.

[Glo]

You are correct. In our case, each policy has its own exclude list, so the "generic" exclude list applies to no policies, and its only purpose is to help us create an exclude list for a new policy.

[J_H_Is_gone]

I have not used alternate names but I don't think that would make a difference here.

So it seems you have 3 different names for a physical server ( still just 1 physical server)

And you have 3 different policies ( not sure why you have this but ok)

On that one physical server you would have 3 different exclude list one for each policy.

So using the gui you would open the properties of the client and add an exclude list for each policy name.

backupPolicy1  exclude ALL the things you don't want to be backed up

backupPolicy2 exclude ALL the things you don't want to be backed up

backupPolicy3 exclude ALL the things you don't want to be backed up

(the generic exclude list will not be read so if you want all the items in the generic exclude list also excluded you will have to ADD them to each of the backupPolicy# exclude lists)

Is this how you currently have it set up?

[Glo · Accepted solution]

Yes, that's how it was set up until just now. I changed the client name in all policies to match the client name on the client, and the things that we want excluded are now being excluded.

We misunderstood the purpose of alternate names. We thought they provided a way to move files from one server to another without NetBackup needing to make a new full backup. (In our case, because the files are on shared storage, they aren't actually moved anywhere, just presented to a different server.) We thought they gave us a way to run concurrent backups on a client without stumbling through the logical thicket of max jobs per client, max data streams and limit jobs per policy. We thought that being able to use the alternate names with the admin GUI, bpsetconfig and bpgetconfig to modify and view the exclude lists meant that the backup process would also use the alternate names.

Perhaps my experience will help somebody else avoid my problem. If you have alternate names and exclude lists, make sure the client name in the policy matches the client name on the client.

Thank you for helping me think this through.

--Glo