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to move existing NBU 7.7.3 to new hardware

mad_about_you
Level 4

existing master/media server on RHEL 6.3, NBU 7.7.3

target OS is solaris 11.

i've checked SORT and the target OS for the master/media server is supported. my question is how do i transfer the catalog? can i just do an rsync after NBU is installed in solaris?

will it be readily usable or would need some tuning?

at the end of the day, we should be able to still do restores of previous backup jobs done from the Redhat installation.

20 REPLIES 20

Alexis_Jeldrez
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Using catalog backup and recovery to transfer NetBackup catalogs between UNIX or Linux master servers as part of a hardware refresh
https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.000041077

Just restore the NetBackup catalog. Make sure the new server has the same hostname as the old one and it's using the same version of NetBackup. You will lose some logs that are being recycled anyway but you should retain the configuration, the ability to restore old backups (as long as you have access to the repositories) and the policies.

As for tuning, yes, you will want to look back at the old server so don't decomission it until you're sure you're not missing anything. You will certainly need to reconfigure tapes, and basic & advanced disk. Not sure what to do if the server had MSDP though.


@Alexis_Jeldrez wrote:

Using catalog backup and recovery to transfer NetBackup catalogs between UNIX or Linux master servers as part of a hardware refresh
https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.000041077

Just restore the NetBackup catalog. Make sure the new server has the same hostname as the old one and it's using the same version of NetBackup. You will lose some logs that are being recycled anyway but you should retain the configuration, the ability to restore old backups (as long as you have access to the repositories) and the policies.

As for tuning, yes, you will want to look back at the old server so don't decomission it until you're sure you're not missing anything. You will certainly need to reconfigure tapes, and basic & advanced disk. Not sure what to do if the server had MSDP though.


thanks for the link.

i just have a few questions:

  1. what is meant by "have access to the repositories"?
  2. my master server is also a media server and i use PD. there is a mount point where NBU stores all the images prior to dedup. is that same mount point is what being referred to in the above link as "same storage server name"?

 

Marianne
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@mad_about_you wrote:

thanks for the link.

i just have a few questions:

  1. what is meant by "have access to the repositories"?
  2. my master server is also a media server and i use PD. there is a mount point where NBU stores all the images prior to dedup. is that same mount point is what being referred to in the above link as "same storage server name"?

 


1. Respositories are the physical storage locations. Tape, disk, etc.

2. What does this mean? 
" there is a mount point where NBU stores all the images prior to dedup."
NBU does not work like that. If you have MSDP configured on the master or media server, then NBU does inline dedupe. 


@Marianne wrote:

@mad_about_you wrote:

thanks for the link.

i just have a few questions:

  1. what is meant by "have access to the repositories"?
  2. my master server is also a media server and i use PD. there is a mount point where NBU stores all the images prior to dedup. is that same mount point is what being referred to in the above link as "same storage server name"?

 


1. Respositories are the physical storage locations. Tape, disk, etc.

2. What does this mean? 
" there is a mount point where NBU stores all the images prior to dedup."
NBU does not work like that. If you have MSDP configured on the master or media server, then NBU does inline dedupe. 


  1. what is MSDP?
  2. what is meant by "inline dedupe"?

sorry not familiar, yet, with the terminologies.

Marianne
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MSDP = Media Server Deduplication

Please read through the intro pages of NetBackup Deduplication Guide 

Links to most versions of NBU manuals in 'Handy NBU Links' in my signature. 

Alexis_Jeldrez
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Since you have two separate servers you can try some simulations of migrations without putting offline the original old server, that way you can check if your operation will work, how long it will take and any additional steps you would require.


@Alexis_Jeldrez wrote:

Since you have two separate servers you can try some simulations of migrations without putting offline the original old server, that way you can check if your operation will work, how long it will take and any additional steps you would require.


yes we want the old server still working while we install/configure/fine tune the new server to take over. how does one do this simulations?

is it like install same NBU versions on new server and restore the catalog?

mad_about_you
Level 4

i would like to stretch the question further, can't i just install a fresh 8.1.2 server on solaris 11 and then restore the catalog on the new server? i'll keep the same hostname no problem and the keep the same folder name (PureDisk) used for storage in the old server.

i can still do restores from the old tape media on this new 8.1.2 server right?

Firstly, NO you cannot install 8.1.2 and recover a 7.7.3 catalog - it just won't work. You need to start on the new server with the same version of NetBackup (7.7.3). After you recover the catalog as per the article Alexis provided earlier you can then upgrade to a newer version. 

One complication is the fact you are using the master as a media server also.  What storage unit types are in use (e.g. tape, basic disk, advanced disk, or PureDisk/MSDP)? For all disk storage units except MSDP you should simply be able to copy the contents (i.e. backup images) to the new master using the same storage path and the new master server will recognise the backup images. I'm not 100% sure if you can simply copy an MSDP pool from a RHEL system to a Solaris system and expect it to work - there is no harm trying this approach (just don't go destroying anything on your original master until you know things work on the new master).

[In an ideal world you would separate the function of master and media server. If you  have this option, create a new media server and begin the process by migrating the backups (duplicate disk based backups) to the new media server. Have a look at this article which decribes this process https://www.veritas.com/content/support/en_US/article.100022702.html]

 

the problem is i don't want to stop the old server while i configure and restore catalog backup to the new server.

the guidelines provided mentions to do full catalog backup of old server and to shut it down. why? it is still working.

it also requires the storage disk (PureDisk) used by the old server to be online with the new server. why can't i use a new one instead? keeping the same path or name.

so with that, i'm thinking now to

  1. install old NBU version on new solaris server
  2. create new storage disk with same name and path as old server's
  3. do full catalog backup from old server
  4. restore catalog backup to new server

once done, to do test backup on new server all the while keeping the old server up and running until the new server is certified to have same configuration as old server.

Marianne
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@mad_about_you  This post is so old that it seems you forgot or overlooked @Alexis_Jeldrez 's post dated 12-03-2018 08:38 PM. 

Using catalog backup and recovery to transfer NetBackup catalogs between UNIX or Linux master servers as part of a hardware refresh
https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.000041077

Just restore the NetBackup catalog. Make sure the new server has the same hostname as the old one and it's using the same version of NetBackup

Marianne
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You can simply not have 2 master servers with the same hostname up and running in the same environment. 

You need to stop using the old master when you take the last catalog backup.

If you carry on using the old master while restoring the catalog on the new master, there will be changes and updates that the new master is unaware of. Catalogs will by out of sync. 

You will need another catalog backup on the old server and recover on the new server.

DO NOT create new storage on the new server. You need to physically disconnect the MSDP drive from the old server and attach to new server. 
The catalog restore will only restore catalogs, not actual data on MSDP drive.

Marianne
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@mad_about_you 

I am curious to know why you want to migrate from Linux to Solaris.

ALL new development of NBU is done using Linux. 
Most functionality also exists on Solaris, but not all. 
For example - having large MSDP pool using multiple volumes is only supported on Linux (and now on Windows), not on Solaris. 

If you are NOT using Veritas Infoscale (Storage Foundation), you will not be able to simply connect existing MSDP pool to Solaris server and mount it. 
And, as @davidmoline said: 
'I'm not 100% sure if you can simply copy an MSDP pool from a RHEL system to a Solaris system and expect it to work '

My advice: Stick to Linux. If you need to migrate to new hardware, install RHEL on new server. 

 


@Marianne wrote:

@mad_about_you 

I am curious to know why you want to migrate from Linux to Solaris.

ALL new development of NBU is done using Linux. 
Most functionality also exists on Solaris, but not all. 
For example - having large MSDP pool using multiple volumes is only supported on Linux (and now on Windows), not on Solaris. 

If you are NOT using Veritas Infoscale (Storage Foundation), you will not be able to simply connect existing MSDP pool to Solaris server and mount it. 
And, as @davidmoline said: 
'I'm not 100% sure if you can simply copy an MSDP pool from a RHEL system to a Solaris system and expect it to work '

My advice: Stick to Linux. If you need to migrate to new hardware, install RHEL on new server. 

 


Infoscale? i don't think we have. are you saying that's why I can't see the new MSDP pool? like i have this new 14TB zfs partition to be used and mounted as /newstorage (let's assume old MSDP pool is named a such) and because i don't have InforScale it won't work?

i'm using solaris because we have license for it. RHEL license is only for version 6.x

in the long run, is using Linux better compared to Solaris?


@Marianne wrote:

You can simply not have 2 master servers with the same hostname up and running in the same environment. 

You need to stop using the old master when you take the last catalog backup.

If you carry on using the old master while restoring the catalog on the new master, there will be changes and updates that the new master is unaware of. Catalogs will by out of sync. 

You will need another catalog backup on the old server and recover on the new server.

DO NOT create new storage on the new server. You need to physically disconnect the MSDP drive from the old server and attach to new server. 
The catalog restore will only restore catalogs, not actual data on MSDP drive.


 

yes i'm aware of two similarly named hosts and the problem they pose. my two NBU servers uses hosts file and not DNS. also from clients, they will still be referring to the old NBU server (with the old IP address) while i do a restore on the new one.

as for the MSDP drive/partition, it's on XFS filesystem which i hope solaris supports.


@Marianne wrote:

@mad_about_you 

I am curious to know why you want to migrate from Linux to Solaris.

ALL new development of NBU is done using Linux. 
Most functionality also exists on Solaris, but not all. 
For example - having large MSDP pool using multiple volumes is only supported on Linux (and now on Windows), not on Solaris. 

If you are NOT using Veritas Infoscale (Storage Foundation), you will not be able to simply connect existing MSDP pool to Solaris server and mount it. 
And, as @davidmoline said: 
'I'm not 100% sure if you can simply copy an MSDP pool from a RHEL system to a Solaris system and expect it to work '

My advice: Stick to Linux. If you need to migrate to new hardware, install RHEL on new server. 

 


initially, i have a 9TB msdp(?) partition where backup images are written during backup prior to deduplication. it's on xfs. the way this whole server was configured doesn't allow me to expand the 9TB so i replaced it with a larger one but still on xfs.

now assuming solaris 11 supports xfs, are you saying i can't unmount it from RHEL and mount it on solaris? to be used by NBU.

I'm reasonabley sure Solaris doesn't support XFS (at least not natively).

That said, rather than RHEL, why not use Centos - basically the same, but free.
I agree with Marianne, stick to Lunix. 
Also as far as I understand there is no long term future for Solaris - I wouldn't be surprised if Oracle dropped support for it entirely.

David


@davidmoline wrote:

I'm reasonabley sure Solaris doesn't support XFS (at least not natively).

That said, rather than RHEL, why not use Centos - basically the same, but free.
I agree with Marianne, stick to Lunix. 
Also as far as I understand there is no long term future for Solaris - I wouldn't be surprised if Oracle dropped support for it entirely.

David


i was looking at CentOS but sort mentions it not being supported for master server. will check again.

how can i get an official statement from Veritas regarding going for linux instead of solaris?

Marianne
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@mad_about_you 

You cannot mount XFS filesystem on Solaris. 

If you had Veritas Infoscale Storage, you would be able to. 
Infoscale uses the same volume manager (VxVM) and same filesystem (VxFS) on all supported OS's. The Cross-Platform Data Sharing (CDS) feature makes it possible to 'port' volumes between OS's.


@mad_about_you wrote:


initially, i have a 9TB msdp(?) partition where backup images are written during backup prior to deduplication. it's on xfs. the way this whole server was configured doesn't allow me to expand the 9TB so i replaced it with a larger one but still on xfs.

 


You are misunderstanding the whole concept of MSDP. There is no such thing as 'backups are written prior to deduplication'. MSDP does inline dedupe. (I have previously referred you to the NBU Dedupe manual)