NetVault 12.4 - Installation Guide


	NOTE: In large environments, we recommend that you select 500GB or 1TB disks with RAID 10 or RAID 5 configurations. The disks must support high Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS). Therefore, Solid State Drives (SSD) or 10k and 15k Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) drives are recommended.

Database subdirectories

The database directory contains the following subdirectories:

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install: This directory contains the modules file, which includes a list of NetVault Backup modules installed on the server and client machines. The install directory is small in size.

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bkl: This directory contains the license key files for the NetVault Backup products. The bkl directory is small in size.

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MediaDatabase: This directory stores the media records and backup indexes. The MediaDatabase directory grows to be rather large as you use the NetVault Backup system. To estimate space requirements for the MediaDatabase directory, see Database size calculation.

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pgsql: This directory stores the backup and restore job records. The space requirement for this directory depends on the content of the jobs. When calculating space requirement for the NetVault Database, consider adding 10 percent of the MediaDatabase size for this directory.

Database size calculation

For estimating space requirements for the MediaDatabase, consider the following:

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Approximate number of files and directories backed up per machine: Each file or directory that is included in a backup requires an average number of bytes for an index entry in the NetVault Database. This average is based on a formula of 71 bytes plus the average number of characters contained in the filenames of the files that make up a target file system.

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Number of generations of each backup retained: Each generation is a separate instance of a file or directory backup. For example, if the same file is backed up seven times using the default backup settings, there are seven generations of the file stored on the media and indexed in the NetVault Database.

Based on this information, you can use the following formula to calculate space requirement for the MediaDatabase directory:


Approximate number of files and directories backed up per machine	Multiplied by	Approximate number of generations retained	Multiplied by	Number of machines backed up	Multiplied by	(71 bytes + average filename length)

Example

With an average file or directory name of eight characters for a target file system, if you back up 200,000 files and 15,000 directories once, indexing uses 17.5MB. If you back up the same files and directories three times, indexing uses 52.5MB. If you back up the same files and directories five times, indexing uses 87.5MB, and so on.

Determine NetVault Backup name and password

During installation, the NetVault Backup Server and Client machines are assigned a name and password:

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NetVault Backup machine name: The NetVault Backup machine name is used to identify the server and client machines in a NetVault Backup Domain.

By default, NetVault Backup uses the OS-assigned name of the machine. If the name includes any illegal characters, NetVault Backup replaces those characters with underscores (“_”).

The NetVault Database is tied to the NetVault Backup Server through its name. While relocating a server, a backup of the NetVault Database is used to recover the system after installing the NetVault Backup software on the new machine. Therefore, we recommend that you do not use the OS-assigned name for the NetVault Backup Server.

The NetVault Backup machine name can contain a maximum of 63 characters. If the machine name is longer than 63 characters, the NetVault Backup Service may fail to start. The NetVault Backup machine names can include uppercase letters (A–Z), lowercase letters (a–z), numbers (0–9), hyphens (“-”), underscores (“_”), and periods (“.”).

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NetVault Backup machine passwords: The NetVault Backup machine password is used while adding a client to the server. The machine password can contain a maximum of 100 characters. It cannot contain the characters: \ and spaces.


	NOTE: While installing NetVault Backup in GUI mode or Text mode, in the Machine Password or PostgreSQL Database Superuser Password, do not escape any special character. However, while using the CLI options like nvpassword or nvpgdbpasswd, escape the special characters such that the desired password is properly received by the CLI. For example, if the password is <>&#\|/"':.-`()[]{}$@? then, enter it as the following: On Linux shell: \<\>\&#\\|/\"\':\.-\`[]{}\$@? On Windows command prompt: "<>&#\|/""':*.-`()[]{}$@?".

Determine NetVault Backup PostgreSQL Linux user account

In NetVault Backup, run PostgreSQL under a separate user account. This user account must only own the data that is managed by the server, and must not be shared with other daemons.

Sometimes, due to policy restrictions on your system, the NetVault Backup server installer on Linux operating system is unable to create new PostgreSQL Linux user account automatically.

While installing NetVault Backup Server version 11.2 or later, you can select any of the following options for PostgreSQL Linux user account:

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Allow NetVault Backup to create PostgreSQL Linux user: The default option to allow NetVault Backup to create PostgreSQL Linux user account automatically (default value: netvault-pgsql on Linux).

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Linux user name: Create a new Linux user account by referring to the corresponding operating system guide. Ensure that the specified PostgreSQL Linux user belongs to the group <user name>. Create the group with the same name as of the Linux user name and add the user into the same group.


	NOTE: While creating a PostgreSQL Linux user account, do not use ‘root’ user in the field ‘Linux user name’. In NetVault Backup, PostgreSQL cannot run by a ‘root’ user due to restrictions from PostgreSQL.

Reviewing pre-installation requirements

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General requirements

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Platform-specific requirements

General requirements

Before you start the installation procedure, verify that the following requirements are met:

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Review the release notes and compatibility guide: Before you start the installation procedure, review the Release Notes thoroughly. The Release Notes may contain important information regarding the installation and use of NetVault Backup.

You must also review the Quest NetVault Backup Compatibility Guide, which contains information about the supported platforms, operating system versions, devices, and application versions. You can download this guide from https://support.quest.com/technical-documents.

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Review the OS requirements for NetVault Backup Server and Client: The NetVault Backup Server can be installed on Linux and Windows. The NetVault Backup Client can be installed on AIX, FreeBSD, HP-UX, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, and Windows.

For information about supported operating system versions, see the Quest NetVault Backup Compatibility Guide available at https://support.quest.com/technical-documents.

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Review the NetVault Backup Server Sizing Guide: This guide provides information about system requirements for the NetVault Backup Server. You can download this guide from https://support.quest.com/technical-documents.

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Select the correct installation package on Linux and Windows: NetVault Backup offers separate client‑only and server-only installation packages for Linux- and Windows-based systems. Both the server and the client packages are available in hybrid and pure 64-bit versions:

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Hybrid server and client packages: The hybrid packages are intended for users who do not have a pure 64-bit-only requirement.

These packages let you upgrade from pure 32-bit as well as hybrid installations of NetVault Backup. The hybrid packages retain binary compatibility with all previous versions of 32-bit and 64-bit plug-ins. These packages also work on 32-bit systems that do not have 64-bit capability.

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Pure 64-bit server and client packages: The pure 64-bit packages are intended for pure 64-bit operating systems. If you have a specific reason that you cannot use any 32-bit components (for example, you are using a Linux distribution that does not run 32-bit code), use these packages.

The pure 64-bit packages cannot be used to upgrade existing pure 32-bit or hybrid NetVault Backup installations. You must remove the existing pure 32-bit or hybrid version and install the pure 64-bit version separately. To reduce confusion, warning messages have been added to both the upgrade and installation packages to ensure that you understand that they are incompatible.

Depending on your OS type, make sure that you select the correct installation package to install the NetVault Backup Server software:

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netvault-<RYYYYMMMDD>-vx.x.x.x-Server-{LinuxX86Hybrid|WindowsX86Hybrid}: Use this package to install or upgrade NetVault Backup Server on 32-bit or 64-bit systems.

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netvault-<RYYYYMMMDD>-vx.x.x.x-Server-{LinuxX86Pure64|WindowsX86Pure64}: Use this package to install or upgrade NetVault Backup Server on pure 64-bit systems.

For client installations, make sure that you select the appropriate package based on your system.


	IMPORTANT: Before installing the hybrid package of NetVault Backup on 64-bit Linux machines, make sure that all the required 32-bit libraries are installed on the system. For more information about the requirements, see Platform-specific requirements. The installation process may fail silently if the installer is unable to find the required libraries on the system.

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Set OS permissions: Set appropriate OS permissions on the target machines to allow users to install software components.

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Set the executable permission to the Linux and UNIX installers: On Linux and UNIX platforms, set the executable permission to the installers.

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Select multiuser runlevel on Linux and UNIX: On Linux and UNIX platforms, boot into multiuser mode.

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Set user permission (umask) on Linux and UNIX: On Linux and UNIX platforms, do not change the default umask value for the root user. The default value is 022. Setting umask to a value other than 022 (for example, 077) can cause job failures if the plug-in users are unable to access the NetVault Backup files.

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Verify the SELinux (Security-Enhanced Linux) policy: If SELinux is enabled using the default “targeted” policy, NetVault Backup processes do not cause any Access Vector Cache (AVC) denial problems. If a strict or custom policy is implemented, ensure that NetVault Backup processes can run in unconfined mode.

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Disable the anti-virus software: We recommend that you disable the anti-virus software before installing or upgrading NetVault Backup. If you do not disable the anti-virus software, the installation process may conflict with the anti-virus software and various NetVault Backup operations may fail to function properly after installation.

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Verify TCP/IP connectivity: NetVault Backup requires good TCP/IP connectivity between the server and client machines. To use name resolution, a host name must resolve to a unique IP address.

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Check storage device connections: Verify that the storage devices are properly connected and functional. You can check the device connections using any native OS tool for minimal backup operations on the device.

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Configure “ulimit” variables on Linux and UNIX: On Linux and UNIX, the default size limitation for various variables may conflict with the NetVault Backup installation. For example, the default setting for the file size (blocks) and virtual memory (kbytes) variables may be too low for NetVault Backup.

If you do not increase these values, installation may fail and a “core dump” error may be reported. To avoid this problem, we recommend that you use the “unlimited” setting for variables.

Table 1. Variable settings on Linux and UNIX
core file size (blocks)	32768
data seg size (kbytes)	unlimited
file size (blocks)	unlimited
open files	64
pipe size (512 bytes)	10
stack size (kbytes)	unlimited
cpu time (seconds)	unlimited
max user processes	400
virtual memory (kbytes)	unlimited

To change the variable settings:

Start a terminal session. To view the current settings, type:

ulimit -a

If the file size (blocks) variable is not set to “unlimited,” type:

ulimit unlimited

If the virtual memory (kbytes) variable is not set to “unlimited”, type:

ulimit -v unlimited

To re-list the statistics and verify the new settings, type:

ulimit -a

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Load the SCSI Generic (sg) driver on Linux-based machines: On Linux-based systems, NetVault Backup uses the sg driver to connect to the tape devices. On machines with locally attached tape devices, either manually load the sg driver or edit the kernel configuration file to automatically load this driver at boot time.

To manually load the driver, type:

modprobe sg

You must run this command every time the system is restarted.

To ensure that the driver is automatically loaded at boot time, you can include an entry for the driver in the kernel configuration file. For more information about loading a kernel module at boot time, consult the relevant OS documentation.

If this driver is not loaded, NetVault Backup fails to recognize any locally attached tape devices.