Drive not appearing on Target server

[Gilly-Bhoy]

Hi All,

Trying to test the Restore Anywhere option.

Took my image on a Compaq. Trying to restore it to a Dell.

When I boot with the CD I get to the point where I locate my Recovery Point file (on connected USB drive) but when it prompts me to choose the drive to which I want to recover, it only sees the USB drive and it appears as the "C" drive???

Any ideas? I loaded the driver for the SCSI controller (F6 option when the Disk is loading) but it may no difference.

Thanks

Gilly

[Bill_Felt]

Hello,

What version of Backup Exec System Recovery (BESR) are you using?  If you are using version 6.0x or 6.5x then try sending an email to nic_drivers@symantec.com explaining your problem.  Include the make/model of the mass storage controller in the target Dell system (best case scenario would be to attach the last drivers for the controller to the email).

They can create a new SRD with the needed drivers built-in.

BESR 7.0 now includes a new feature called "Customizable SRD" that will allow you to create your own custom SRD with additional drivers built-in, without the need to contact Symantec.

Thanks.

[Gilly-Bhoy]

OK. Here's where the fun starts.

I tried it with 6.5 without hitting F6 to load the Storage Driver and it worked.

I could see my drive and did a successful recovery.

I tried it with Version 7.0 and it will not see the drive!!!

Any ideas?

The F6 option is gone from the version 7.0 Loading screen but there is an option to "load a driver" in the setup screen. Did this and it makes no difference.

Can you tell me more about the SRD stuff?

Cheers

Gilly

[Gilly-Bhoy]

According to the supported devices list the server I am trying to recover to is supported yet I am not seeing it.

I have read the document on creating the Customizable SRD but i'm not 100% sure I understand it?!?

[Bill_Felt]

One of the biggest changes in the SRD from versions 6.5 to 7.0 is that the 6.5 SRD was based on WinPE 1.6 and the 7.0 SRD is based on WinPE 2.0.

If you have have access to the mass storage controller drivers in .INF/.SYS format, then simply run the Customizable SRD wizard (when you run BESR 7.0 in Windows, at the top left click "File" and then "Create Recovery Disk") and go through the pages there.

If you are ever given the option to choose "Exit Wiard" or "Custom", choose "Custom".

At the next screen, click "Add" and browse to the folder containing the mass storage controller driver.

You can then create a new SRD with the right drivers built-in.  Hopefully this will solve your problem.

Thanks.

[Gilly-Bhoy]

Thanks Bill. Got sorted.

Another question.

I want to recover a DC. Anything special I need to do here?

I was NEVER able to recover a DC sucessfully with IDR.

I used to install my OS and recover over it which worked.

Has SR gotten over the DC hurdle?

Cheers

Gilly

[Bill_Felt]

Hello,

It depends a bit on whether we are talking about Windows 2003 DC's or Windows 2000 DC's.

Windows 2003 DC's are supported "out of the box" in BESR 7.0.  Windows 2000 DC's are also supported, but because Windows 2000 does not support VSS, the system state needs to be backed up at the time you take a recovery point.  This allows the AD database, registry, etc to quiesce properly for us (i.e. be put into a "ready for backup" state).  Here's some additional information on Windows 2000 AD DC's:

Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery (BESR) supports backing up and restoring Windows 2000 Active Directory Domain Controllers.  This document describes best practices and procedures for preparing an Active Directory database to be backed up using BESR, and proper procedures after the backup has been restored to ensure the domain controller is healthy.

Microsoft specifically states that there are two methods for an Active Directory aware application to backup a domain controller:

1.       Use the legacy API’s (i.e. Ntbackup)

2.       Use the VSS API’s to flag the active directory as a backup copy, causing it to request a new invocation ID upon restoration

We recommend using method one when using Backup Exec System Recovery to backup a Windows 2000 Active Directory Domain Controller, as Windows 2000 is not VSS-aware.

When creating a backup job for the Windows 2000 Active Directory Domain Controller, keep in mind that under Windows 2000, the Active Directory database (and other system state objects) should be backed up by Microsoft’s Ntbackup tool before the backup is created.  To do this within a BESR backup job, create a batch file to run Ntbackup at the beginning of the backup operation.  For example, the batch file might be called ntbackup.bat.  Place the batch file in the command files directory, which by default is “C:\Program Files\Symantec\Backup Exec System Recovery\Agent\CommandFiles”. The batch file should contain the following line:

ntbackup backup systemstate /f c:\systemstate.bkf

At the “Command Files” section of the backup job wizard, select the batch file you created (for example, ntbackup.bat) to execute the Ntbackup process in the “Before data capture” field, which designates the batch file to run before the volume snapshots are taken.

[Gilly-Bhoy]

Hi Bill,

Can you clarify something for me?

In relation to using Ntbackup  while imaging the server.

Is this essential to the recovery or is it simply to ensure you have the most up to date copy of the DB?

Cheers

Gilly