vRanger 7.8 - User Guide

Managing Transport Failover options

Replication transport actions occur through HotAdd — LAN-free or network. If one transport method is not available, vRanger attempts to perform the replication task using one of the other transport methods. The order in which you should sort the transport options depends on what type of host you have. The VA-based Network option is the slowest of the three, and should be configured last. For VMware® ESXi™ hosts, configure the transport order to VA-based HotAdd > VA-based Network.

To manage transport failover settings:

1	On the Main toolbar, click Tools > Options.

2	Under the My Jobs node, click Transport Failover.

3	Select the transport options available in your environment.

4	To change the order of the transport options, click an option to select it, and use the up or down arrows to move the item higher or lower in the order.

Configuring the number of times a backup process tries to run

By default, a backup job that fails tries to run again. The default for the maximum number of times that a job is automatically run again is three. If vRanger appears to run a failing job repeatedly, check the configuration file to ensure that the default is three. Configuration information is maintained in the configuration file for the Quest vRanger Service, Vizioncore.vRanger.Service.exe.config. This file is located in the vRanger installation directory. By default this location is: C:\Program Files\Quest\vRanger.

 

CAUTION: Open and update this file only when necessary. Change only the values listed in the following procedure unless directed otherwise by Quest Support.

To open the file and view the applicable information:

1	Locate the Vizioncore.vRanger.Service.exe.config file, and use a text editor to open it.

There are two keys that limit the number of retries:

<add key="BackupRestoreMaxTries" value="3"/>

<add key="BackupMaxTriesOnVMotion" value="3"/>

2	Verify that these keys are set to 3.

▪	If so, close the file without changes.

▪	If the value is different or blank, for example, value-" ", update the entry, save the file, and restart the Quest vRanger Service. For more information on restarting the service, see Restarting the Quest vRanger Service.

Supplemental instructions: additional repository types

The main procedures describe the process for adding a CIFS repository. To add one of the other types, see the applicable topic:

•	Adding an NFS repository

•	Adding a NetVault SmartDisk repository

•	Adding an EMC Data Domain Boost (DD Boost) repository

•	Adding a Quest Rapid Data Access (RDA) repository

 

NOTE: Quest RDA and EMC DDB repositories support repository replication. For more information on configuring repository replication, see Managing repository replication.

Adding an NFS repository

The following configurations are required for adding an NFS repository:

•	vRanger supports the NFS3 protocol, which does not provide for authentication. vRanger uses the NFSNobody account to connect to the repository.

•	The NFSNobody account must have R,W, X permissions for the target directory.

•

Your /etc/exports file must contain the export directory and a list of the IPs that can connect to the repository. You may list each — the vRanger machine and any VMware® ESXi™ hosts using direct-to-target — or use a wildcard *. The export directory should be shared with read/write asynchronous access. For an export directory of /backups, this entry would look like:

[root@NFSServer etc]# cat exports

/backups *{rw, async}

To add an NFS repository:

1	In the My Repositories pane, right-click anywhere, and click Add > NFS.

2	In the Add Network File Share Repository dialog box, complete the following fields:

▪	Repository Name: Enter a descriptive name for the repository.

▪	Description: [Optional] Enter a long-form description for the repository.

▪	DNS Name or IP: Enter the IP or FQDN for the repository.

▪	Export Directory: Specify the Export directory, which is similar in concept to a network share. You need to create a target subdirectory in the export directory.

▪	Target Directory: Enter a subdirectory of the NFS Export directory. This subdirectory is the location to which savepoints are written.

 

CAUTION: If you use the Encrypt all backups to this repository feature, make certain to retain the password you enter. There is no back-door or administrator-level password. If the password is unknown, the backups are not usable.

3	If you want these backups password-protected, select Encrypt all backups to this repository, enter a Password for the encrypted repository, and then confirm the password by re-entering it.

4

Click OK.

The connection to the repository is tested and the repository is added to the My Repositories pane and the Repository Information dialog box.

vRanger checks the configured repository location for existing manifest data to identify existing savepoints.

5	If vRanger finds existing savepoints, click the applicable button:

▪	Import as Read-Only: To import all savepoint data into the vRanger database, but only for restores, click this button. You cannot back up data to this repository.

▪	Import: To import all savepoint data into the vRanger database, click this button. vRanger is able to use the repository for backups and restores. vRanger requires read and write access to the directory.

▪	Overwrite: To retain the savepoint data on the disk and not import it into vRanger, click this button. vRanger ignores the existence of the existing savepoint data and treats the repository as new.