Date: 08/06
Affected NV Version: 7.4.x
OS Version: VMWare ESX
Plugin version: N/A
Application version: N/A
Description:
It is possible to backup an ESX server without using the VMware plugin, and without using VCB.
However, the following points must be taken into consideration:
Client/SmartClient Use Only - NetVault can only be used as a NetVault Client or SmartClient within VMware guest operating environments.
SCSI Drive Limitation - ESX Server and Virtual SmartClients should be configured with SCSI tape drives only
SCSI IDs Must Match - The virtual SCSI ID must match the physical SCSI ID of the tape device. If using a tape drive library (versus using a standard stand-alone tape drive), the library must be multi-target, and not multi-LUN.
Robotic Arm Configuration Requirement - The Robotic Arm should only be configured through non-virtual systems such as the backup server or service console server
Smart Client Performance - Performance with SmartClients is less than when using standard non- VM configurations
Restoring “vmdk” Files Directly into the VMFS - This is only supported to existing directories. Creating non-existent directory structures within this file system through the recovery job is not supported
Only Adaptec HBAs are Supported
VMWare firewall must be disabled
To properly configure the ESX Server as a NetVault Client:
Populate the “/etc/mtab” file - In order to make the /vmfs directory
visible through the NetVault Backup management interface, you must
update the list of mounted file systems (e.g., “/etc/mtab”) on the Service
Console with the current list in /proc/mounts.
a. Log into the Service Console as root.
b. Run the following command:
grep vmfs /proc/mounts >> /etc/mtab
The “/vmfs” tree will now be visible through the NetVault Backup
management interface.
2. The following is a list of modifications that must be conducted in order to properly configure a Virtual Client as a NetVault SmartClient:
a. Configure the SCSI Device Access as Pass-Through for Virtual Client
b. Configure the Virtual SCSI ID the same as Physical SCSI ID
c. Do Not Use Dynamic Drive Sharing
d. Only SCSI Devices are Supported (i.e., fibre-attached tape devices are
not supported).
