cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Migrating Netbackup from Solaris to Linux

Ram_EUHR
Level 4

Hello,

I am relatively new to the Netbackup world and I am working on migrating our Netbackup infra from Solaris (v10) to Linux (RHEL7). We were running Netbackup v7.6.0.2 before and I upgraded it to the latest version v7.7.3.

I had few questions before I proceed with the migration. I looked around for answers probably couldn’t find the exact answers for the below questions (or probably I didn’t search enough L).

We have 90TB of JBODs available to our media server (for staging the data written to tapes) and 14TB in our master server (for the catalog).

- Currently we use ZFS as a local filesystem and the data disks are in ZFS pool.

   So, in RHEL7 world what would be the recommended:

         - Local filesystem? (I believe XFS). I am thinking of creating local partitions in XFS.

         - Preferred software RAID (MDRAID or Megaraid or anything else)? I am planning to go with RAID 1.

- I will take a full Catalog backup before I start the migration and then attempt a restore after installing Netbackup 7.7.3 in Linux. Is that the right approach or is there a better way out for the migration?

Also, I believe this full catalog backup will hold a complete copy of my Policies/Storage Groups/Media pools/Tape Drive configuration etc. Right?

- [Little out of scope from Netbackup] After I migrate the servers to Linux, should I re-configure the tape drives as devices from the OS perspective?

Thanks for the help.

-Ram

 

7 REPLIES 7

Mike_Gavrilov
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited Certified

> Local filesystem? (I believe XFS). I am thinking of creating local partitions in XFS.

It's totally up to you 

>Preferred software RAID (MDRAID or Megaraid or anything else)? I am planning to go with RAID 1.

You can use standard  LVM or md or whatever you like.

> I will take a full Catalog backup before I start the migration and then attempt a restore after installing Netbackup 7.7.3 in Linux. Is that the right approach or is there a better way out for the migration?

Yes, this is the right way

>Also, I believe this full catalog backup will hold a complete copy of my Policies/Storage Groups/Media pools/Tape Drive configuration etc. Right?

Yes

>After I migrate the servers to Linux, should I re-configure the tape drives as devices from the OS perspective?

Yes, if you had configured tape drive on Solaris server

Marianne
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited Certified
You need to plan the master and media server separately.
Master server migration can be done using this TN: http://www.veritas.com/docs/000041077

For the media server - best to ensure that all disk images are duplicated to tape and then expire everything on disk.
Your choice of filesystem is not something I can give an opinion about.
My personal preference would be Veritas Volume manager and Filesystem.
Start with new DSU on new media server.
See this TN for guidelines: http://www.veritas.com/docs/000041204

Thanks for the response Mike.

>> > Local filesystem? (I believe XFS). I am thinking of creating local partitions in XFS.

>> It's totally up to you 

I will go ahead with XFS.

>> >Preferred software RAID (MDRAID or Megaraid or anything else)? I am planning to go with RAID 1.

>> You can use standard  LVM or md or whatever you like.

Okay, let me read through a bit more to get more clarity on this.

>> > I will take a full Catalog backup before I start the migration and then attempt a restore after installing Netbackup 7.7.3 in Linux. Is that the right approach or is there a better way out for the migration?

>> Yes, this is the right way

Perfect thanks.

>> >Also, I believe this full catalog backup will hold a complete copy of my Policies/Storage Groups/Media pools/Tape Drive configuration etc. Right?

>> Yes

Thanks for the confirmation.

>> >After I migrate the servers to Linux, should I re-configure the tape drives as devices from the OS perspective?

>> Yes, if you had configured tape drive on Solaris server

Yes, I am looking for some information on how to do this on RHEL boxes. I am checking online for any documentation on this , in the meanwhile, please let me know if you have any insights.

Thanks for the response Marianne.

I did go through that link for the master server upgrade before. I am yet to go through that Disaster Recovery doc for the procedure for the restoral.

I did skim through that doc for the Media server upgrade and it does look straight forward, thanks J.

And the handy netbackup links is also good, thanks J.

Mike_Gavrilov
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited Certified

>Yes, I am looking for some information on how to do this on RHEL boxes. I am checking online for any documentation on this , in the meanwhile, please let me know if you have any insights.

It's easier that on Solaris because you don't have to re-build st.conf file and NetBackup is able to see all tape drive just after installation. The only thing you might have to do is to delete drives (or paths if you use SSO) with Solaris path and run Device Configuration wizard or add all those drives from CLI.

Okay thanks, let me check on that.

Marianne
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited Certified

A bit more from my side:

http://www.veritas.com/docs/000041077 does not include this vital info:
NBU MUST be installed on the new server to exact same path.

So, you need to carefully check installation path on the existing server - including the catalog volume.
Prepare the same mount points on Linux server or else create symbolic links before installation that point to same paths as Solaris master. 

About devices on master and media server - I agree. 
After Catalog recovery, delete existing robot and tape drives and re-run Device Config wizard.

To ensure that devices are seen at OS-level before you run Device Config Wizard, go through the Linux chapter in NetBackup Device Configuration Guide