how to add decomissioned Media Server to new Master without uninstall/reinstall/reboot

[D_Flood]

Hello Everyone,

I have a Windows File and Print Domain Controller that's also a Media Server that I need to re-home from one Master to another Master.

It's a Media Server because, at one time, we were using the attached tape drive.  But all of those images are long expired.  And there's no other images or records assciated with it.

We just stood up a MSDP Media Server at the same location but it's command and control is from a different NetBackup Domain.  And it does back up the old Media Server just fine...as long as I have client-side dedup disabled...  So I'd like to rehome this one so everything at that site is under the same Master.

I know I can run NBDECOMISSION (yes, I have the EEB for 7.6.1.2) to take it off of the old Master but I can't reboot or uninstall software from the box (which would be the easy way to add it to the other domain) because of its real functions.

So...is there an old KB out there someplace that gives the steps to manually do the steps to add a Media Server to a Windows Master?  I know I'll have to add it to EMM but are there any other steps?

The alternative, I guess, is to decomission it and then turn off any non-client services and just back it up as a client.  But there still will be registry entries...and I've found that client-side dedup just doesn't work worth a drat unless everything is set up 100% correctly on the client...

[Marianne · Accepted solution]

So, the new master has a Server entry on the F&P server but not registered as Master? Can you select it as Client in Host Properties and confirm Server entries? Once you can do this, select new master and click Make Master. When this is done, add F&P server as Server in Host Properties. Restart NBU on Master. Restart NBU on media server. Run nbemmcmd -listhosts -verbose on the master. Is F&P server listed? Run nbemmcmd -getemmserver on master. You should see old master listed. Run nbemmcmd -setemmserver -emmservername 'new-master' -newemmservername 'new-master' on the new master to update Emmserver entry on all Servers in the environment. You should now be able to config devices on F&P server from new master.

[Marianne]

Oh! I would personally uninstall and reinstall. It should not need a reboot.

[D_Flood]

It has 7.6.1.2 on it.  If I uninstall that back to 7.6.1.1, the uninstall entry for 1.1 won't show up until after a reboot.  Then it will take another reboot at the end of uninstall of 1.1 for the version previous to that to show up...and so on...until I run out of previous versions...

Then, when I reinstall 7.6.1.1 and then 7.6.1.2, it will take a post-install reboot for VSS and everything else to work.

While Veritas doesn't say anything about it, Windows systems REQUIRE a post-install reboot for backups of things like VSS, Client-Side-Dedup, and Shadow Copies to work.  Otherwise all you get is a lot of random error codes that don't mean anything other than "you forgot to reboot before first backup, didn't you?"

[Marianne]

It was old VSP (Veritas Snapshot Provider) in pre-5.x days that needed reboot. VSP was a driver that required a reboot. Bear in mind that VSS belongs to Microsoft. So NBU Installation does not need a reboot for VSS to work. I haven't needed a reboot after installation for many years. I cannot comment on the uninstall - haven't needed to for many years. I may just have time to test it today... Seems you are so annoyed with my reinstall suggestion that you don't even want to consider my 1st post?

[revarooo]

Marianne is right, go for a reinstall, you will be saving yourself potential headaches by doing so.

[D_Flood]

Marianne,

I am planning on trying the nbemmcmd approach this Weekend as Plan A.  I just wish, like so much else about NetBackup, that more of the manual steps were fully documented.

As for the rest, I guess I've been massively unlucky with client installs that I now make it a requirement (for Windows systems) that a final reboot be done before I let NetBackup even think about trying to back it up.  Or it's related to how our Windows Admins have set up the evils that are Active Directory and/or DFS....I'm not sure which.

In any case I'll let everyone know if Plan A works or if I have to schedule time to jump through all the politics of multiple reboots of a box that isn't "owned" by me but uses my software...

[D_Flood]

Well...good thing I didn't wait until Saturday and tried it Friday....

The updated NBDECOMMISSION seems to fix the credentials bug but has a nasty but work-aroundable bug of its own.  The media server I was decommissioning had (as I mentioned) a tape drive. 

The decommission command "found" that tape drive referenced by every single SLP and started deactivating them, one at a time...until it hit one that had active AIR going on at which point it confessed that it couldn't continue and errored out.  I was able to reactivate the SLPs that had been deactivated without any issues.

After several emails back and forth with Tech Support today I deleted the tape drive and storage unit from NetBackup using the GUI and the decommission command finished normally.

Now on to trying to get it recognized by the other Domain!

[D_Flood · Accepted solution]

I got "lucky"....since I had already re-homed the server list in client settings over to the new Master and other servers a few days ago, I didn't have to bounce any services there.  Their periodic internal refresh took care of that.

All I needed to do was run NBEMMCMD to add the machine as a Media Server on the new Master and then, when I ran the "configure drives and robots" wizard, it updated the EMM settings on the Media Server.  So now everything is happy.