vRanger 7.7.1 - User Guide

Checking the list of prerequisites

Checking the list of prerequisites

This document assumes that both vRanger and NetVault Backup have been installed and configured, and does not cover the installation or the configuration of these applications. For guidance on proper installation and configuration of the items identified in the following list, see the applicable documentation for NetVault Backup and vRanger.

•	vRanger installed and properly configured.

•	Location to store the vRanger repository, accessible by both vRanger and NetVault Backup.

•	NetVault Backup installed and properly configured with a tape device or library.

•	Blank tapes with enough storage to contain the vRanger repository.

Supported devices

Most existing tape libraries and tape formats are supported by NetVault Backup, including stand-alone and library-based tape devices in SAN or shared-SCSI environments. In addition to the line of approved Quest PowerVault tape devices, visit our Supported Devices page for a complete list of supported devices.

Preparing the systems

Preparing the systems

The following changes need to be made to a default configuration to prepare for the vRanger sweep-to-tape process:

•	Enable remote scripts in vRanger PowerShell Console.

•	Create a vRanger repository dedicated to sweep-to-tape.

•	Download the required vRanger PowerShell scripts from: https://support.quest.com/netvault-backup/kb/141112

•	Copy the vRanger PowerShell scripts to the NetVault Backup folder.

Preparing for vRanger sweep-to-tape using NetVault Backup

Preparing for vRanger sweep-to-tape using NetVault Backup

The vRanger sweep-to-tape process supports two possible installation scenarios. While both options are similar, the instructions in this documentation are designed for the first scenario and can be adapted to fit scenario 2.

Scenario 1: vRanger and NetVault Backup are on the same server:

•	vRanger resides on the NetVault Backup Server.

•	A local repository shared by vRanger and NetVault Backup.

•	Windows PowerShell® — PowerShell and vRanger must always be installed on the same server.

•	A PowerShell script that finds and starts the vRanger on-demand job.

•	A .bat file designed to start the PowerShell script from NetVault Backup Server.

 

NOTE: When installing vRanger and NetVault Backup on the same server, do not install the Quest NetVault Backup Plug-in for VMware®.

Scenario 2: vRanger and NetVault Backup are running on different servers:

NetVault Backup is installed on its own server. All other components reside on the vRanger server.

•	Server 1-NetVault Backup:

▪	NetVault Backup is installed and configured on a supported operating system.

•	Server 2-vRanger/PowerShell:

▪	NetVault Backup agent that can run a PRE command script. The agent runs the PowerShell script contained in a .bat file called by using the PRE command option.

▪	vRanger resides on its own server.

▪	A local repository on the vRanger server, and shared by vRanger and NetVault Backup.

▪	Windows PowerShell.

▪	A PowerShell script that finds and starts the vRanger on-demand job.

▪	A command-file script that contains the PowerShell script.

To prepare your environment for vRanger Sweep-to-Tape using NetVault Backup as described in Scenario 1, complete the following tasks:

•	Enabling execution of PowerShell scripts

•	Using vRanger sweep-to-tape scripts

•	Creating a sweep-to-tape vRanger repository

Enabling execution of PowerShell scripts

Windows PowerShell® contains an execution policy that determines whether scripts are allowed to run, and whether they must be digitally signed before they can run. While the default policy is set to block the execution of such scripts, the following topic details the process for enabling this option.

Complete the steps in the following procedure to enable execution of PowerShell scripts.

To enable execution of PowerShell scripts:

1	Click Start > All Programs > Quest > vRanger Backup & Replication > vRanger Console.

This step opens a PowerShell console ready to accept commands. You should expect to see an error message, which can be remedied by enabling remote scripts.

2	Type the following, and then press Enter:

Set-executionpolicy remotesigned

3	To accept the change, type Y and press Enter.

4	To close the vRanger Console, type Exit and press Enter.

5	Reopen the vRanger Console and confirm the proper configuration.

The window scheme changes from red text on a black background to white text on a blue background, and a welcome message appears.

Using vRanger sweep-to-tape scripts

To facilitate starting the vRanger job, Quest has designed scripts that start the vRanger on-demand job from within NetVault Backup.

To use vRanger Sweep-to-Tape scripts:

1	Download the vranger_sweep_to_tape.zip file from: https://support.quest.com/netvault-backup/kb/141112

2	Extract the contents of the zip file to the following folder on your NetVault Backup Server:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Quest\NetVault Backup\scripts

NetVault Backup only runs scripts located in this folder.

Creating a sweep-to-tape vRanger repository

For this scenario, you must create a specific vRanger repository to be captured by the NetVault Backup job. This repository should reside in a shared location where both vRanger and NetVault Backup can access the backups. This repository should be used only for vRanger backups that are expected to be swept-to-tape with NetVault Backup.

To create a Sweep-to-Tape vRanger repository:

1	Click Start > All Programs > Quest > vRanger Backup & Replication > vRanger Backup & Replication.

2	In the navigation pane on the left, click My Repositories.

3	Right-click your preferred target, select Add, and then click the type of storage you want to add.

4	Enter a name for the repository, and then provide the required information and credentials to let vRanger to create and access the repository on this target.

5

Click OK.

vRanger immediately attempts to validate the connection.

Performing backup operations

Performing backup operations

To sweep backed up data to tape, you need to create both a backup job for vRanger and a backup job for NetVault Backup.

To perform backup operations, complete the following tasks:

•	Creating an on-demand vRanger backup job

•	Creating a NetVault Backup job with pre-command scripts

Creating an on-demand vRanger backup job

You need to create a vRanger backup job that captures a complete backup of the machines you want to sweep to tape.

To create an on-demand vRanger backup job:

1	In the navigation pane on the left, select My Inventory, and then locate the machine or machines you want to include in the backup.

2	Right-click the computer name, and select Backup <machine name> on the context menu.

The Backup Wizard opens.

3	Under Job Name, give the job a name that ends in ‑Tape; for example, vRanger-Sweep-to-Tape, and then click Next.

 

NOTE: The provided script is designed to automatically start any vRanger job where the job name ends with ‑Tape. Use this naming convention to enable Sweep-to-Tape.

4	On the Virtual Machine Hard Disk Inclusion page, select the disks in the machine to include in the backup job, and then click Next.

5	On the repository Selection page, select the target repository created in Creating a sweep-to-tape vRanger repository, and then click Next.

6	If the vRanger Transport Selection page appears, select whether to use Automatic transport or to customize the transport method, and then click Next.

vRanger Transport determines how backup data is sent and where the restore processing activity occurs. The default transport method is Automatic; however, if the server you are backing up is a VMware® VM, you can customize the method as appropriate on the Transport Selection page.

7	On the Options Selection page, select your preferred backup options, and then click Next.

8	On the Retention Policy Selection page, determine how many savepoints to keep, and whether to capture Full, Incremental, or Differential backups; click Next.

 

NOTE: Selecting more savepoints provides additional points-in-time to which you can recover the machine. For more information, see Understanding retention policies and space-saving technologies.

9	On the Recurrence Schedule Selection page, select This will be an on demand job, and click Next.

On-demand jobs are scheduled tasks that are not set to start from a recurring schedule. Because a sweep-to-tape backup job is initiated by script from the NetVault Backup task, you must this job on demand. Doing so saves the job settings but lets the NetVault Backup integration start the job on-demand.

10	On the Email Notifications Selection page, specify who to notify when the job has finished running by entering one or more names and email addresses to be notified, and click Next.

11	On the Summary page, review the Summary window to make sure that your configuration is correct, and then do the following:

▪	Leave the option to Run the job after Finish is clicked cleared.

▪	Click Finish to save the job and close the Backup Wizard.

12	To view or access the job, click My Jobs in the left-pane, and then select On Demand jobs under My Jobs.

Creating a NetVault Backup job with pre-command scripts

Complete the steps in the following procedure to create a NetVault Backup job with pre-command scripts. In the following scenario, most of the default settings are used so that the job captures a full backup each time the job runs. For more information on customizing the available NetVault Backup options, see the Quest NetVault Backup Administrator’s Guide.

To create a NetVault Backup job with pre-command scripts:

1	Ensure that NetVault Backup is properly installed, and your tape drive or library is installed and visible to NetVault Backup.

2	Start the NetVault Backup WebUI, and click Create Backup Job.

3	In Job Name, specify a name for the job; for example, vRanger_Sweep_to_Tape.

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

4	In the Selections list, click Create New, select the preferred NetVault Backup machine from the list of servers, and then double-click it to see a list of identified source devices for this server.

5	Navigate to the vRanger repository, and select the files and folders to include in the archive.

 

NOTE: NetVault Backup supports a wide array of sources from which to capture data, including NAS, CIFS, RAW devices, and local devices.

6	In the Plugin Options list, select an existing Backup Options Set, or click Create New, and configure the options that you want to use.

7	In the Schedule list, select an existing Schedule Set, or click Create New, and configure the schedule type and schedule method.

NetVault Backup provides scheduling options such as immediate, one-time, and triggered.

8	In the Target Storage list, click Create New, and then do the following:

a	On the Create Target Set page, click Device Selection.

b	Select Specify Device for a list of available devices.

c	Select the preferred device in the list to tell NetVault Backup to use this device in the backup.

 

NOTE: Selecting multiple devices lets NetVault Backup use additional devices as required.

d	Select the preferred device in the list to tell NetVault Backup to use this device in the backup.

e	Click Set to save the settings and close the dialog box.

9	On the Create Target Set page, click Media Options, and configure the settings to set specific policies to target specific media, label blank media, or specify whether to reuse media with existing data.

10	Next to the Advanced Options list, Create New, and configure the options that you want to use.

You can select options to customize the backup process; for example, how long to maintain the archive, encryption, and deduplication options; network compression. In this example most of the options remain with their defaults, except for a Pre Script that runs the vRanger On Demand backup.

11	On the Advanced Options page, click Pre & Post Scripts, and select Pre Script, and then enter the following in the entry field:

vranger_sweep.bat

This process initiates the vRanger backup and waits for the job to complete. After the job is finished, NetVault Backup continues and archives the vRanger repository to tape.

12	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.

 

NOTE: A job that uses the Schedule type of Triggered is only scheduled when you run the script.

This job runs the backup script, which in turn communicates with vRanger and starts the Backup_and_Sweep-Tape job. You can switch back to vRanger to watch the job start and run. After vRanger has finished, NetVault Backup completes the job by capturing the updated repository to tape.