If you have a windows machine handy, you could install the media
server software on it to get the VSP disable tool. You don’t actually
have to do backups with it. Of course there are licensing considerations, but
that should work.
Since I don’t yet have a 6.5.6 installation, I can only
guess that your silent install will still work as it has in the past. But only
actually trying it will tell. Maybe someone with 6.5.6 can provide some
experience….
I agree with the previously expressed “VSP is evil!”
George Herbert
Basline Storage Engineer - Backup
SunTrust Banks, Inc.
From:
veritas-bu-bounces AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu
[mailto:veritas-bu-bounces AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu] On Behalf Of William
Brown
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 5:59 AM
To: Veritas
Subject: Re: [Veritas-bu] VSP versus VSS
I was reading that section of the 6.5.6 release notes and I just
couldn’t quite understand it. It seems to say that as of 6.5.6
Symantec have caused VSP to be automatically installed. Previously we
have always disabled it – we do Windows installs using silentclient.cmd,
and that has an entry you can edit to stop it installing VSP. So it seems
to read that as a new feature in 6.5.6 you cannot stop it installing VSP?
It then goes on to say that at NetBackup 7.0 VSP is not
supported….
Am I
reading this right…6.5.6 will install VSP whether you like it or not, and
so if you want to get back to the ‘status quo’ at e.g. 6.5.4 of not
installing it, you must use this new VSP disable tool, or suddenly VSP is going
to start running on all the 6.5.6 clients, in place of VSS? There is a
table on page 50/51 of the 6.5.6 document updates that shows the behaviour of
Windows – it says “The following table describes the backup behavior
based on the Windows Open
File
Backup setting for the client and whether or not VSS is available on the
client.” – and in none of the cases is VSP run.
I’m guessing that they meant to say that the table applies *after the
VSP disable tool is run* and that makes it really confusing.
Does anyone know what actually needs to be done after upgrading
to 6.5.6 on Windows 2003, to make sure VSP is not going to run?
Also…the VSP Disable tool can be run “from a Windows
master server or media server” – we
don’t use those, all our Master & Media are UNIX. So what do we
do?
From:
veritas-bu-bounces AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu
[mailto:veritas-bu-bounces AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu] On Behalf Of Herbert.George
Sent: 01 June 2010 21:18
To: Spencer O'Donnell; Ed Wilts; pranav batra
Cc: Veritas
Subject: Re: [Veritas-bu] VSP versus VSS
From a recent case with Symantec support:
… in the NB_6.5.6 readme, might be something to
consider.
===================
NetBackup 6.5.6 automatically installs the Veritas volume
snapshot Provider
(VSP) method for Open File Backups. VSP is the default Open
File Backup method in this release.
NetBackup 6.5.6 includes the VSP disable tool
(bpvspdisable.exe) for
administrators to use to disable VSP on clients if it is not
needed. The tool deletes the VSP cache files from the disk of the client
system. All future VSP requests on those clients are redirected to use
Microsoft native Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS).
The VSP method for Open File Backups is not supported in
NetBackup 7.0. Having run the VSP disable tool does not affect upgrading to
NetBackup 7.0.
The VSP disable tool can be used on the following operating
systems:
■ Windows Server 2000
■ Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 (x86 and IA64)
■ Windows XP 32-bit and 64-bit (x86 and IA64)
========================
George Herbert
Basline Storage Engineer - Backup
SunTrust Banks, Inc.
From:
veritas-bu-bounces AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu
[mailto:veritas-bu-bounces AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu] On Behalf Of Spencer
O'Donnell
Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2010 1:14 PM
To: Ed Wilts; pranav batra
Cc: Veritas
Subject: Re: [Veritas-bu] VSP versus VSS
May as well convert to VSS now. It is no longer there in 7.0. I
swapped all my 2003 and 2008 clients and things have never work3ed better, no
more status code 156 errors. There is a good vss enabler script on the Symantec
Forums.
From:
veritas-bu-bounces AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu
[mailto:veritas-bu-bounces AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu] On Behalf Of Ed Wilts
Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2010 11:49 AM
To: pranav batra
Cc: Veritas
Subject: Re: [Veritas-bu] VSP versus VSS
On Tue, Jun 1, 2010 at 10:12 AM, pranav batra <pranav_venture AT hotmail DOT com>
wrote:
I have a small question on VSP/VSS.
As symantec recommends VSS for 2003 clients over VSP then
why it is the defauly snap-shot provider option ?
It's historical and is no longer the default in NetBackup 7.0.
Any specific reason for this recommendation as i can't find
any tech note specifying why VSS:
They all just explain that VSS is for 2003 and VSP for 2000.
Windows 2000 did not have a snapshot service provided by the operating system
so Veritas had to write their own. Microsoft added it in Windows 2003.
VSS has a HUGE advantage for the backup administrator because snapshots are now
the responsibility of the server administrator, not the backup
administrator. If snapshots fail, it's usually because the server
administrator doesn't have something configured correctly or the admins have
neglected to install patches to VSS (there are some but some Windows admins
seem to install ONLY security patches and ignore all reliability/functionality
fixes).
What happened two weeks ago:-There are our two cluster
server and both got hung while getting backed up.
We are still looking for the root cause but couldn't find
yet...The thing we suspect is that they were using VSP and when we changed
snapshot provider to VSS( As they are 2003) ,backups and server both running
fine from 2 weeks and didn't hung once.
Does VSP plays some part in making the server hung?
What could be the possible reasons?
Does VSP plays some part in making the CPU utilisation high?
VSP is evil. Don't try and debug it - just quit using it.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER
The information transmitted is intended solely for the individual or entity to
which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material.
Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of or taking action in
reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended
recipient is prohibited. If you have received this email in error please
contact the sender and delete the material from any computer.
SunTrust is a federally registered service mark of SunTrust Banks, Inc. Live
Solid. Bank Solid. is a service mark of SunTrust Banks, Inc.
[ST:XCL]
-----------------------------------------------------------
This e-mail was sent by GlaxoSmithKline Services Unlimited
(registered in England and Wales No. 1047315), which is a
member of the GlaxoSmithKline group of companies. The
registered address of GlaxoSmithKline Services Unlimited
is 980 Great West Road, Brentford, Middlesex TW8 9GS.
-----------------------------------------------------------