Re: [Networker] How to set up for VMware master server backups

Hi

A new version of
http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vcb_partner_integration_guide.pdf was
posted just a few days ago, FYI.

tl


-----Original Message-----
From: EMC NetWorker discussion [mailto:NETWORKER AT LISTSERV.TEMPLE DOT EDU] On
Behalf Of Rutherford, Rodney
Sent: Friday, October 03, 2008 11:58 AM
To: NETWORKER AT LISTSERV.TEMPLE DOT EDU
Subject: Re: [Networker] How to set up for VMware master server backups

Stan,

You need to grab the Virtual Machine Backup Guide and read through that.

The "proxy" is a Windows host that VMware Consolidated Backup is
installed on, along
with the NetWorker client, and the VMware Integration Module to Legato
Networker .
That host also must be SAN attached and have access to all of the ESX
host(s) SAN volumes.
Couple of gotcha's with that as well:

        - LUN numbers for the SAN volumes must be the same on the ESX
hosts and VCB Proxy
          (I just looked at the release notes on VCB 1.1 and this is not
necessary in
           certain cases now.)
        - The windows auto drive letter assignment must be disabled on
the proxy
        - You cannot use powerpath, multipathing, etc.  Just use a
single FC connection
          from the proxy to the SAN.
        - The proxy needs to have a dedicated volume large enough to
hold all of
          the guests that will be backed up at one time.  I usually
assign a single
          large san volume for that.

The save_vcb.bat command actually lives on the proxy.

A rough overview of the backup process is:

        - NetWorker kicks off the backup
        - Contacts the networker client on the proxy
        - the proxy gets the list of vm guests to backup from the
saveset list
        - the save_vcb.bat script and related configs define the local
tmp
          space, the virtualcenter host, etc.  This info is passed off
to VCB.
        - VCB contacts virtualcenter, verifies guests
        - VCB snapshots the guests
        - VCB mounts the san volumes hosting the guest data
        - VCB copies the guest data to a tmp space
        - NetWorker then backs up each guest from the tmp space
        - VCB unmounts the san volumes hosting the guest data

Note that this does NOT backup the actual ESX host.  For that, you need
the
Service Console Backup Enablers for NetWorker installed on the ESX host,
which provides the necessary dependencies to install the NetWorker
client
on it.  You then backup the ESX host (NOT guests), as a standard Linux
client.

Rodney

> -----Original Message-----
> From: EMC NetWorker discussion [mailto:NETWORKER AT LISTSERV.TEMPLE DOT EDU]
> On Behalf Of Stan Horwitz
> Sent: Friday, October 03, 2008 10:19 AM
> To: NETWORKER AT LISTSERV.TEMPLE DOT EDU
> Subject: [Networker] How to set up for Vmware master server backups
>
> Greetings everyone:
>
> A colleague who has a Vmware ESX server and I are trying to figure out
> how
> to back it up and the VMs it hosts (and their storage out on our SAN).
> I
> have been searching PowerLink for help, this list's web site, and
> Vmware's
> web site, but I don't see anything that actually tells me how to do
> this.
>
> The closest I can find is page 77 on the NetWorker Administrator's
> Guide. I
> am using NetWorker 7.4.1 on Solaris 10 to backup a Vmware server
that's
> hosted on a Windows 2003 box.
>
> On page 77, it references a VMware proxy server, but there is no
> explanation
> as to what that is. Could someone please explain? I am assuming its my
> NetWorker server, but maybe not.
>
> I am also confused as to what I put into the saveset field? I have
> tried
> numerous strings, but nothing works. My colleague who set up this
> Vmware
> server also installed the Consolidated Backup framework on it, and it
> seems
> to bring with it the NetWorker Remote Service, which is running. Do I
> also
> need to install the NetWorker base client?
>
> When I try doing a backup, I get something like the following save
> group
> report:
>
> NetWorker savegroup: (alert) test7 completed, Total 1 client(s), 1
> Failed.
> Please see group completion details for more information.
>
> Failed: vmanage2.temple
>
> Start time:   Fri Oct  3 11:05:04 2008
> End time:     Fri Oct  3 11:05:05 2008
>
>
> --- Unsuccessful Save Sets ---
>
> * vmanage2.temple:c\:*ALLVMFS* 1 retry attempted
> * vmanage2.temple:c\:*ALLVMFS* save_vcb.bat: Command not found
> See the file /nsr/tmp/sg/test7/sso.vmanage2.temple.MraivL for details.
> This
> file may be removed after Fri Oct 10 11:05:04 2008.
>
> I put in that save_vcb.bat command in the applications field and I
even
> put
> in a path to  it in the executable path field, but I still get the
same
> results.
>
> What am I doing wrong? Is there actually any documentation that has
> some
> specific examples of how to set this up? If so, where can I download
it
> from?
>
> To sign off this list, send email to listserv AT listserv.temple DOT edu and
> type "signoff networker" in the body of the email. Please write to
> networker-request AT listserv.temple DOT edu if you have any problems with
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