Size of Catalog Backup dramatically reduced after migrating NetBackup 7.5 to Windows 2008 64bit

[data_guy]

Hi Folks

I need a little help and expert opinion on NetBackup 7.5 catalog backup.

I upgraded NetBackup 6.5 to NetBackup 7.5 on a Windows 2003 32-bit server. Size of full catalog backup use to be around 35GB. Then I migrated NetBackup 7.5 server to a new machine which is Windows 2008 64-bit. I did this migration by restoring catalog backup to new server. Now when I take catalog backup, it completes very quickly and total size of a full catalog backups are now reduced to 1.5GB. I also noticed that catalog backups are no more stored at the path which I defined for DR file in the wizard; but it is now created on an automatically created hot-catalog folder (previously catalog backup files were created on same location which I define for DR file in Catalog Backup wizard. We take daily full backup of catalog on disk. No incrementals.)

I am suspicious about the credibility of these new catalog backup files due to their unexpectedly small size (as compared to the size it previously use to have). Can some expert please advice is it normal? How can I check credibility of catalog backups.

Thanks in advance for expert opinions.

[Marianne]

How exactly did you migrate to new server? Did you first upgrade old server and then migrate? Or installed same NBU version on new hardware, in same path , recover catalog and then upgrade? Did you follow recommendation to not start NBU after the upgrade and first install patch 7.5.0.3 or later? Something is wrong - seems migration was not 100% successful . Catalog should not be that small.

[sksujeet]

As Marianne already pointed. The catalog didn't change much from 6.5 to 7.5 which could make a 35 GB catalog to 1.5 GB. Have you checked your restores? Are you able to see the data and restore it?

I also noticed that catalog backups are no more stored at the path which I defined for DR file in the wizard; but it is now created on an automatically created hot-catalog folder (previously catalog backup files were created on same location which I define for DR

DR file has nothing to do with catalog backup location, this is the file you can send via email and can store at the location where you want. Though you can create a STU at the same location and point your catalogs at the same location but you have to conifgure it and not by default in NBU. I guess you were using offline catalog before from 7 onwards we have only hot catalog

[data_guy]

Thanks Marianne and Sazz for replying.

Previoulsy we were running NBU 6.5 on Windows 2003 (32-bit). I did upgrade and migration in following order.

1. I upgraded NBU from version 6.5 to version 7.5 on the same machine (Windows 2003 32-bit).

2. Prepared a new machine with Windows 2008 64-bit and fresh installed NBU 7.5 on it.

3. I took catalog backup from production server NBU 7.5 (Win 2003 32-bit), and restored catalog to Windows 2008 64-bit machine where I fresh installed NBU 7.5

We have following questions.

- What should we look at to find if there are any issues. (as I mention catalog backup completes successfully but with a very small size)

- Is there a way to verify that "is the catalog backup good?".

- What difference does it make with new hot-only catalog backup in 7.5

- Do I need to fix anything? Which thing and how?

Regards

[Marianne]

Seems you did not upgrade to 7.5.0.3 or 4 directly after 7.5 upgrade? Before image header migration?

See this extract from NBU 7.x Upgrade Portal:

4.  NetBackup 7.5 Maintenance Release 4 (7.5.0.4) should be applied immediately after the 7.5 installation has been completed. 

......

Please Review the full list of known issues on:

7.5 Late Breaking News http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH178334 

Some catalog problems were experienced with unpatched 7.5 and only fixed in 7.5.0.3 and later.

Do you perhaps have catalog folders moved to ALTPATH on the original server?

Did you check that old backups were visible in BAR GUI after the upgrade on old server?
Or performed any sort of health-check after the upgrade, before you migrated?

Do you still have access to the old server? Can you compare contents of a couple of client folders under images?
The 'bulk' of images files remain the same across versions, only the header files in 7.5 are moved to EMM database.

[mph999]

I suspect you are missing the .f files:

eg

...netbackup\db\images\<client>\<ctime>

There should be files in here called :

<policy name>_<ctime>.f

These files make up the biggest part of the catalog.

Martin

[Wiriadi_Wangsa]

Hi Data_guy, You can try running bpimagelist -idonly and count how many images you have on the new master. If the number is significantly smaller than original master then something is wrong. You might want to contact support and discuss POA. It will be nice if you have netbackup\bin\support\nbcc.exe output ready as well. bpdbm -consistency > output.txt can also be used to verify your image catalog. All the best.

[data_guy]

Hi All. Thanks a bunch for insightful comments and suggestions. We have updated to patch level 7.5.0.4 earlier. We had to restore catalog again and now it creates catalog backup of normal size (i.e. approx 35GB).