How to recover NetBackup Catalog from Media Server

[Abu_Hamzah]

Hi,

We have one Master and Media Server both running on Winows 2008 and Netbackup Version is 6.5.6

EMM Databse resides on Media Server, now Master Server is down due to a SAN issue and currently we are recovering SAN.

In case if we lose data on Master Server we may need to restore catalog but currently I do not know which Catalog tapes are used as mail notification was not working.

I need help, How can I get Catalog Tape information from Media Server which is running now and also any way I can browse images from Media Server?

And in case if I need to install Netbackup where can I get Netbackup 6.5.6 binaries for windows2008?

Please help how can I get information from Media Server when Master is down, any temp files from where I can get catalog tape information?

Thanks,

Abu Hamzah

[Yasuhisa_Ishika]

EMM Databse resides on Media Server

Really? EMM database must be installed on the master server of some NetBackup domain, and master server in one domain can not configured as media server of other domain. I doubt if it is true.

BTW, once master server become downed, you can not query any information about this NetBackup domain. you should configure Catalog backup so as to DR file is stored into NFS or CIFS. Any useful clie may be logged in unified logs, but this way is last resort.

[Marianne]

I agree with Yasuhisa - highly unlikely that EMM database is running on the media server.
If you run 'bpps' from cmd on the media server, what do you see in the output?

Can you remember where the DR-file is written? If you can and the file is accessible, it will tell you which tape was used for last catalog backup.

If not, you are in a real bad situation... You will have to manually do phase I import of all tapes to find out which one contains catalog backups.

Important lessons to learn from your current predicament:

1. You need to keep NBU maintenance up to date so that you have access to latest NBU version and Symantec Support. (NBU 6.x ran out of support in 2012.)

2. Know where DR-file is stored - preferably on CIFS or NFS share as per Yasuhisa's post.

3. Set up email notification. It tells you which media id was used, contains DR-file as attachment, and contains step-by-step recovery instructions.

[Abu_Hamzah]

Many Thanks for your response,

Yes EMM resides on Media Server I think this is common practise , EMM can reside on Media Server also.

Cureently EMM DB is not up and cannot execute any commands related to that.

Still SAN reconstruction is in progress so Master Server is still not available.

I have tapes which are ejected day before this issue happened and tehy are only 5 tapes, I can do initial import to find Catalog tape from that and I am sure we had successful cataliog backup on that day.

Can we convert currently running Media Server as Master Server? What are the stesps for it and any document avaialble for that.

In case if we lose Master Server we will rebuild it install netbackup and restore catalog, will exclude EMM from catalog restore as EMM is I belive is in good shape on Media Server.

What are the generic steps to follow when master has to be rebuilt but Media Server is avaialble with EMM.?

Thanks,

Abu Hamzah.

Any

[Yasuhisa_Ishika · Accepted solution]

It is not possible to promote media server to master server.

To recover catalog excluding EMM database, follow the steps shown as "Recovering the catalog image file" in Troubleshooting Guide.

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH52829

I recommend you not to recover catalog partially. If Catalog Backup is well planned(e.g automatic imcremental backup after backup session), recoverying entire catalog is simple and best option.

BTW, as above I doubt EMM database had run on media server. Please review your configuration by bpgetconfig, registry checking nbemm process or so before you start reinstalling master server.

[Yasuhisa_Ishika]

To recover catalog without DR info, check these docs for reference. These may work on 6.5(but I'm not sure).

http://www.symantec.com/docs/HOWTO33934

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH28722

[Marianne]

Yes EMM resides on Media Server I think this is common practise 

This is not common practise.
I have not seen anyone doing this in my 15 years of supporting lots of NBU installations.
And never heard of anyone on this forum who have done it...

It is common practise for the Master server to be pure master only and have separate media server(s), but all databases (including EMM) still reside on the master.

Your only hope to restore NBU catalog (even if only partial recovery) is to find the catalog tape.
If you do not know where the DR-file is stored, you will need to import all media one-by-one.

[mtaormina]

I believe with version 7.6.x, you no longer have a choice and must install the EMM on the Master server.

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH206478 

[Abu_Hamzah]

Many Thanks for you help, fortunately we did not have to recover Master Server as SAN reconstruction went well and everything was good.

I am sorry it's been long time I worked on Netbackup so I might have forgot something.

Yes EMM is residing on Master Server , I did not check it carefully.

I wasasked to help on it as I knew Netbackup but it's been long time I worked on it.

But still I remeber in some setup's I have seen EMM residing on Media Server but I may be wrong.

And again Thanks for your help.

Thanks,

Abu Hamzah

[Marianne]

Seems you were extremely lucky this time.

Please have a look at the Hot Catalog backup policy as a matter of urgency:

1. Ensure that email notify is configured and then check that it is working.
2. Check location of DR-file. Best to have it on a CIFS share.
3. Ensure that the catalog backup runs successfully at least once a day.

Your second priority should be to upgrade NBU.
NBU 6.x reached EOSL in 2012. You will have no support should something serious go wrong.

[Abu_Hamzah]

Thanks Marianne,

Yes I already noted those things and will push Mangement for upgrade.

I do not think we need to purchase new licence for upgrade and we just need to upgrade our licence or do we need to purchase?

And another thing is we are using VCB here to take backup of VM's and we are using vSphere 4, not sure what options we will have to backup VM's if we upgrade Netbackup as I know VCB is no more in use but Vmware has something for it's repalcement.

Thanks,

Abu Hamzah.

[Marianne]

You have 2 choices as far as maintenance is concerned:

• Renew your licenses
• Purchase new licenses

If renewing your licenses, you have to pay for a reinstatement fee, calculated from the date of expiration of your support contract.

Best to discuss renewal options with your local reseller.

About VMware backups - vStorage is the new method.
Much more efficient and do not need full volume copy. Backups are done directly from datastores.
(Lots of blogs on this forum by Abdul Rasheed and detailed info in NBU for VMware guides).
vStorage is supported as from ESX 3.5 update 2, or VirtualCenter 2.5 update 1.

[Abu_Hamzah]

Many Thanks Marianne,

I will check that.

Thanks,

Abu Hamzah