NetVault Plug-in for NDMP 11.4 - Application Notes for EMC NAS

Restoring data using the plug-in Restoring Incremental Backups Renaming or relocating data Restoring data to an alternate filer Searching for files in savesets Viewing media list

Troubleshooting

Common errors

About Backup Dump Levels

The Plug‑in for NDMP supports both Full and Incremental Backups. The backup type is determined by the Dump Level that can be set to Level 0 for a Full Backup or Levels 1 through 9 for Incremental Backups:

•

Level 0 or Full Backup: A Full Backup provides a backup of all the data in the selected path.

•

Level 1 through 9 or Incremental Backup: The Incremental Backups base themselves on the most recent lower‑level Incremental Backup, and include any data that has changed or is new since the last Full or Incremental Backup.

Examples:

•

Level 1 Incremental Backup includes any data that has changed or is new since the last Level 0 or Full Backup.

•

Level 2 Incremental Backup includes any data that has changed or is new since the last Level 1 Incremental Backup, and so on, up to dump level 9.

Important notes

•

If a directory is included in a dump level 0 backup, it is included in all future dumps even if no changes have occurred. In this instance, the directory is empty and does not contain content. However, it does not negatively affect the recovery of data.

•

Only one dump level is maintained for each selected set of data. For example, after performing Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 Incremental Backups, if you perform a Full Backup, the dump level is reset to 0. The next instance of the Incremental Backup is based on the Full Backup.

•

If an Incremental Backup fails, the subsequent backup is based on the most recent backup of a lower level. For example, if dump level 1 is completed successfully, but dump level 2 fails, dump level 3 is based on dump level 1. The failure of an Incremental Backup is noted in the NetVault Backup logs.

Backing up volumes

In the Navigation pane, click Create Backup Job.

— or —

In the Navigation pane, click Guided Configuration, and then on the NetVault Configuration Wizard page, click Create Backup Jobs.

In Job Name, specify a name for the job.

Assign a descriptive name that lets you easily identify the job for monitoring its progress or restoring data. The job name can contain alphanumeric and nonalphanumeric characters, but it cannot contain non-Latin characters. There is no length restriction. However, a maximum of 40 characters is recommended on all platforms.

In the Selections list, select an existing Backup Selection Set, or complete the following steps to create a set.

Next to the Selections list, click Create New.

On the NetVault Backup Selections page, open the NetVault Backup Server, and then open NDMP Client.

To display the Volumes node, open the applicable filer in the list of added servers.

Select the data that you want to back up:

•

Back up all volumes: Select the Volumes node.

•

Back up individual volumes: Open the Volumes node, and select the volumes that you want to back up.

Click Save, and in the Create New Set dialog box, type a name for the set.


	NOTE: A set name can contain alphanumeric and nonalphanumeric characters, but it cannot contain non‑Latin characters. On Linux OS, the names can have a maximum of 200 characters. On Windows OS, there is no length restriction. However, a maximum of 40 characters is recommended on all platforms.

To close the dialog box, click Save.

In the Plugin Options list, select an existing Backup Options Set, or complete the following steps to create a set.

Next to the Plugin Options list, click Create New.

Under NDMP Backup Options, configure the following settings.

Table 1. NDMP Backup Options
Option	Description
Dump Level	Select the type of backup that you want to perform. For a Full Backup, type or select 0. For an Incremental Backup, type or select any level from 1 to 9, based on the previous dump level.
Update /etc/dumpdates	The file “/etc/dumpdates” keeps a record of the backup, including the backup name, backup level, and snapshot time. Leave this check box selected if your backup strategy includes Incremental Backups. The information in this file is used to determine what data must be included in an Incremental Backup.
Do Direct Backup if Possible	To use DAR during restores, leave this check box selected. DAR enables precise tape positioning, which allows quick recovery of individual or a small set of files. Without DAR, the backup saveset is read sequentially to restore files. DAR requires Data ONTAP 6.x or later.
Save File Information	This option allows you to browse individual files and directories while selecting data during restore. You cannot restore individual files and directories if you clear this check box. Quest recommends that you leave this check box selected.
SnapSure	To back up a snapshot, select this check box. This feature is only supported on DART/VNX File 5.5 and later. The SnapSure functionality must be enabled on the EMC Celerra/VNX system to use this feature.
Volume Based Backup	To use the EMC Celerra/VNX NDMP Volume Backup feature for performing backups, select this check box. This feature is only supported on DART/VNX File 5.5 and later. The SnapSure functionality must be enabled on Celerra/VNX to use this feature.
Allow Single File Backup	To back up an individual file, leave this check box selected.
EMC Directory Filter 1 EMC Directory Filter 2 ... EMC Directory Filter 5	You can use these boxes to specify the directories that you want to exclude from the backup. Type the full path, starting with a forward slash (“/”). Each box can contain one entry. Thus, you can specify a maximum of five entries in the filter boxes. You can use the wildcard characters “?” and “x” to specify the directory names. Wildcard characters can only be used at the first or the last place in the directory name. For example, if you enter “/dir1/tmp*” in filter box, the plug-in excludes all directories starting with the letters “tmp” in the directory /dir1. Directory names are case-sensitive for NFS shares and case-insensitive for CIFS shares.
EMC File Filter 1 EMC File Filter 2 ... EMC File Filter 5	You can use these boxes to specify the files that you want to exclude from the backup. Type the full path, starting with a forward slash (“/”). Each box can contain one entry. Thus, you can specify a maximum of five entries in the filter boxes. You can use the wildcard characters “?” and “x” to specify the filenames. Wildcard characters can only be used at the last place in the filename. For example, if you enter “/dir1/tmp*” in filter box, the plug-in excludes all files starting with the letters “tmp” in the directory /dir1. Filenames are case-sensitive for NFS shares and case-insensitive for CIFS shares.

Under Sub Jobs, configure the following settings.

Table 2. Sub Jobs
Option	Description
Number of Backups to Run in Parallel	Type or select the number of jobs that can run concurrently. The default value is zero. With the default setting, all jobs in parallel, limited only by the availability of drives, network bandwidth, and other resources. To achieve the required result, set the same value for each job.
Delete Auto Generated Backup Jobs on Completion	The plug-in creates individual subjobs for each volume included in a backup. If this check box is not selected, all subjobs are listed on the Job Status page. This display can create confusion when you try to view the details of the parent job. To include only a single entry for the parent job, leave this check box selected.

Click Save, and in the Create New Set dialog box, type a name for the set.

To close the dialog box, click Save.

Select or create the Schedule Set, Target Set, and Advanced Options Set. For more information about these sets, see the Quest NetVault Backup Administrator’s Guide.

To submit the job for scheduling, click Save & Submit. You can monitor the job progress from the Job Status page and view the logs from the View Logs page.

To save the job definition without scheduling it, click Save. You can view, edit, or run this job from the Manage Job Definitions page. This job is not displayed on the Job Status page until you submit it.

For more information about Job Status, View Logs, and Manage Job Definitions, see the Quest NetVault Backup Administrator’s Guide.