NB Master Server migration to the new HW

[Tomas_Pospichal]

Hello,

I would like to migrate my current NB Master Server 10.1.1 running on Windows 2012 R2 (VMware) to the brand new server running on Windows 2022 (VMware), whole env. includes over 20 Dell DataDomains as target storages and over 20 Media Servers.

Are there any general recommendations? Do you have any experience with similar migration?

I found following migration tool https://www.veritas.com/content/support/en_US/downloads/update.UPD162444 but I could not find any real cases how it works and so on.

Other way how to do it would be catalog recovery but that would take too much time which I cannot afford at the moment.

Or does it make a sense to build a new NB Master Server, do the re-configuration there of the storages, Media servers, policies etc. and leaving the old NB Master Server running behind till the backed-up data reach expiration point? Or is there any way how to export the configurations? How does it work with the certificates? Is it possible to have same token on both old and new NB Master Servers?

Thank you.
T.

[StefanosM]

For me, the time and effort to create a new primary server and reconfigure your backup environment is not worth it. You will have huge problem to deal with, with the media server as they belong to only one netbackup domain and with old backups at the datadomains.

There is another way you can move your server if you cannot afford the time to do a catalogue recovery. I have used it many times to migrate net backups from one server to another. Not for 10.1.1, but I do not see why it will not work.

Use an "rsync tool" to start copying the veritas folder from your server to the new server without stopping netbackup. Use a destination folder other that the original location but at the same drive as netbackup installation (eg not the c:\program files\veritas but c:\veritas_temp)
When the first run finish, run it again and again until the data transfer time is acceptable.

Then

Stop the netbackup primary server. Check that all processes are stopped and run the "rsync tool" ones more.
Remove the server from the domain (if the server belongs to a domain) and change the IP of the server.
Add the old primary IP to the new server.
Rename the new server with the same name as the old server and add the server to the domain.
Install the netbackup primary server using the same netbackup version and netbackup name (sort or FQDN).
When you finish with the installation, stop netbackup.
Rename the c:\program files\veritas to c:\program files\ veritas_new
Move the c:\veritas_temp to c:\program files\veritas.
Copy from the old server registry the server list and any other variables you may have changed.
Start netbackup.

I suggest you to first test it in a test environment

[Tomas_Pospichal]

@StefanosM That suggested scenario seems to be very good. However by rsync you mean robocopy's mirroring?
Thank you very much.

[Nicolai]

Yes, Rsync is for Linux what robocopy is for Windows.

[StefanosM]

robocopy is good. I was and still use synctoy.  A very old, not supported any more tool from microsoft.

[davidmoline]

Hi Guys

While rsync or robocopy was a good tool for this purpose some time ago, it becomes more complex these days with the web services, certificates and getting permissions correct. 

The NB Server Migrator tool does it all for you (migrate from one server to new with the same name) in a controlled manner, and all permission and certificate issues are covered - just read the fine documentation. 

I have used this with a couple of customers already without trouble, and until the time of the final migration, the original primary server can stay online and continue to run backups. 

The final warning is that performing a manual robocopy/rsync would not be supported, so if you do run into issues you would most likely be on your own. The NB Server Migrator tool is a supported method to perform a migration (and as a bonus you can also migrate to different platforms e.g Windows -> Linux). 

I think as a community we should be providing supported methods as solutions.

Cheers
David

[X2]

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@davidmoline wrote:

I think as a community we should be providing supported methods as solutions.

I agree with that @davidmoline However, the NetBackup Server migrator tool being a relatively new tool, people using NetBackup for a long time eg. @StefanosM already had their own methods to perform the migration.

Another example is our setup: we have NetBackup installed on a separate mount point (SAN), so when migrating to new server, we install NetBackup on the new server and configure the same way as old (IP/network/SAN/FQDN) and then unmount the disk from old and mount on new. This has worked for user flawlessly. I will definitely look at the tool during our upcoming hardware refresh though. If it is easier and reliable, I will prefer it as it is supported.