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Netbackup Upgrade Questions

AndrewPilgrim
Level 4
Partner

Hi,

I've been given the task of upgrading a clients environment from 7.0.1 to 7.5.0.7. Never touched upgrades before so been digging round and reading various documents and getting totally confused with it all. So thought would post a question here and see if anyone could offer some assistance with a couple of things.

One of my main issues is identifying the difference between an actual Media server and Enterprise Client server (Think thats the right name)? There are several hosts in the Host Properties -> Media Server section of the GUI but i understand that doesnt actually mean they are all media servers? So is there an easy way to do that? I read something about using nbemmcmd but given my general lack of netbackup knowledge i am not comfortable in trying to interperate command output unless its blindingly obvious? And i guess if you do have multiple media server do you need to do them all or can you run them on different versions as long as they are not on a newer version than the master server?

When you upgrade a Master or Media server is there any post upgrade migration work that needs to be done. the 7.5 Upgrade guide suggest a load of post upgrade migration work of images but is that an internal netbackup process because we are not changing of the actual infrastructure, just the software versions.

Think those are the 2 most pressing issues im trying to get to the bottom of at this moment. So if anyone could offer any insight/advice to help stop me wanting to declare war on all things Netbackup related it would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

2 ACCEPTED SOLUTIONS

Accepted Solutions

RiaanBadenhorst
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited Certified

Hi,

 

Easiest why to figure out who is a MS or an EC is to look at the storage units (either in the GUI or CLI - bpstulist). If its in the list it is either MS/EC and it requires the server software to be used when upgrading it.

 

If you want to go further and determine which ones are EC then you'll need to check the policies. EC can only back themselves up, so the client would match the storage unit (hopefully your naming indicates the host). The client would also be the only one listed in the policy.

 

Yes you can do it in a phased manner. OpsCenter first, then master, then media server/enterprise clients, and clients as and where needed.

 

The post upgrade stuff like image conversions only runs with the master server upgrade.

 

hope that helps.

 

View solution in original post

LucSkywalker195
Level 4
Certified

If you are to do the master and media server, use Syamtec's SORT tool. This tool will ask you a series of detailed questions about your environment and generate a decent upgrade plan/checklist. The more information and detail you put into it the better the checklist will be.

View solution in original post

7 REPLIES 7

RiaanBadenhorst
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited Certified

Hi,

 

Easiest why to figure out who is a MS or an EC is to look at the storage units (either in the GUI or CLI - bpstulist). If its in the list it is either MS/EC and it requires the server software to be used when upgrading it.

 

If you want to go further and determine which ones are EC then you'll need to check the policies. EC can only back themselves up, so the client would match the storage unit (hopefully your naming indicates the host). The client would also be the only one listed in the policy.

 

Yes you can do it in a phased manner. OpsCenter first, then master, then media server/enterprise clients, and clients as and where needed.

 

The post upgrade stuff like image conversions only runs with the master server upgrade.

 

hope that helps.

 

LucSkywalker195
Level 4
Certified

You're not upgrading a Netbackup master or media server correct? Just the server clients that get backed up, right? ツ

LucSkywalker195
Level 4
Certified

Easiest way to identify what the master and media servers are:

Windows: Open a CMD prompt as Administrator and run regedt

Go to HKLM/SOFTWARE/Veritas/NetBackup/CurrentVersion/Config and see what the contents of the "SERVER" and "MEDIA_SERVER" key values are.

Unix: cat /usr/openv/netbackup/bp.conf |egrep "SERVER|MEDIA_SERVER"

Unless you plan to upgrade the master and media servers, do not modify these servers without the requisite Netbackup and System Administrator knowledge for those platforms.

If you are to upgrade these platforms, then you need to engage your Data Protection/Backup Adminitrators and possibly Symantec Contracted Services for assistance.

Now for your clients, you need to review the install guide that is online.

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=DOC5138

Going from 7.0 to 7.5.0.7 you have to install the base 7.5 package first and then apply the 7.5.0.7 patch.

Stage the necessary software in a repository you can reach from all the clients. (Note there are 32 and 64 bit versions depending on your OS platform)

(Usually a CIFS share for Windows that you can map to or a NFS share you can mount in Unix or a server you can sftp to within your environment.)

Check for adequate space on local disk.

Put the install binaries you need in a temp directory such as c:\tmp or /usr/tmp

Unzip or untar the packages

In Windows run "Setup" as Administrator or in Unix run the install script for 7.5 base package or NB_update.install as root user and follow the on screen prompts as indicated in the install guide also.

Items of note:

Make sure you can resolve both forward and reverse DNS lookups--if your environment doesn't use DNS, then you'll have to manipulate your hosts files or whatever process your organization uses.

When installing Windows clients I find it easier to only populate the master server hostname initially and then modify the registry key values for other media servers after the install is complete. Placing the master as well as media servers in the servers field in the install setup grants master server priviledges to all your media servers. (Same goes for the Unix installs. I like to populate the media servers in /usr/openv/netbackup/bp.conf files after the install with MEDIA_SERVER = <hostname> entries.)

Test your connectivity from the master and mediia server using the  /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bptestbpcd command or from the client using the /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/bpclntcmd command to each media server. (If an older working client is already on there, this probably won't be needed or an issue)

Make sure you clean up when your done and don't leave old install packages behind taking up disk space.

LucSkywalker195
Level 4
Certified

Your Netbackup versions on your clients and media server must never exceed the Netbackup version on the master server!

LucSkywalker195
Level 4
Certified

If you are to do the master and media server, use Syamtec's SORT tool. This tool will ask you a series of detailed questions about your environment and generate a decent upgrade plan/checklist. The more information and detail you put into it the better the checklist will be.

AndrewPilgrim
Level 4
Partner

Thanks Riaan.Badenhorst' and LucSkywalker1957. Given me some good ideas ther and i will go investigate this SORT tool.

Marianne
Moderator
Moderator
Partner    VIP    Accredited Certified

Probably the most important manual to read when you upgrade to 7.5:

NetBackup 7.5 Upgrade Guide http://www.symantec.com/docs/DOC5198