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NetVault Plug-in for NDMP 12.2 - Application Notes for Isilon

Backing up data

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About backup dump levels
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Backing up data using the plug-in

About backup dump levels

Backup dump levels indicate the type of backup that you want to perform.

OneFS supports the following dump levels:

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Level 0: Level 0 indicates a Full Backup. A Full Backup backs up all the data in the specified path.
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Level 1 to 9: Level 1 to 9 indicate Incremental Backups. Incremental Backups are based 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.
For instance, Level 1 Incremental Backup includes any data that has changed or is new since the last Level 0 or Full Backup. Similarly, 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.
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Level 10: Level 10 indicates “unlimited” Incremental Backups. A Level 10 Incremental Backup includes any data that has change since the last Incremental Backup (Level 1 to 10).
 
* 
IMPORTANT: Level 10 Incremental Backups are only supported in OneFS 7.1 and later.
Important notes
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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.
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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.
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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 data using the plug-in

1
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.
2
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.
3
Next to the Selections list, click Create New.
4
On the NetVault Backup Selections page, open the NetVault Backup Server, and then open NDMP Client.
5
Click the applicable filer, and select Enter Backup Path from the context menu.
6
In the NDMP Backup Request dialog box, configure the following settings.
 
Option
Description

Directory

Type the complete path to the directory that you want to back up. Use the following format to specify the backup path:

/ifs/data/<named directory>

The plug-in does not support back up of individual files.

Dump Level

The dump level indicates the type of backup that you want to perform. OneFS supports the following dump levels:

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Level 0: Performs a Full Backup.
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Level 1 to 9: Performs an Incremental Backup at the specified level.
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Level 10: Performs unlimited Incremental Backups.
Level 10 Incremental Backups are only supported in OneFS 7.1 and later.

Update Incremental backup database

If you do not want to record dump dates in the NetVault Database, select this check box.

For example, after completing Level 0, 1, and 2 backups for the directory /ifs/data/test, you want to perform a Full Backup of the directory while retaining the Incremental Backups, select this check box. This step tells the system to create a Level 0 Backup, and then perform a Level 3 later to pick up files that have changed since Level 2.

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.

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.

To use this feature, the OS version running on the filer must support DAR.

Exclude

This option allows you to pass an exclusion list to a backup job. The list can contain any number of filenames or patterns, but the total length must not exceed 1024 characters. The values must be separated by white-space characters. For more information, see Exclude and Include patterns.

Include

This option allows you to pass an inclusion list to a backup job. The list can contain any number of filenames or patterns, but the total length must not exceed 1024 characters. The values must be separated by white-space characters. For more information, see Exclude and Include patterns.

Backup Mode

By default, the Backup Mode option is set to TIMESTAMP. In this mode, a directory is scanned during Incremental Backups to identify the files that must be backed up.

To enable snapshot-based Incremental Backups, set the Backup Mode option to SNAPSHOT. Snapshot-based backups improve backup speed by quickly identifying the changed data. In this mode, the snapshot taken for a backup is retained until a new backup of the same or lower level is performed. During an Incremental Backup, the previous and current snapshots are compared, and all the data that has changed is backed up.

7
To save the settings, click OK.
8
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.
9
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.

Exclude and Include patterns

When specifying exclude and include patterns, review the following notes:

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The Exclude and Include options are only available in OneFS 6.x and later versions. The Exclude option works only in OneFS 6.5.3 and later versions.
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All patterns are relative to the <FILESYSTEM>/ root directory. For example, “tmpdir work/project1” in Exclude, excludes all the items in the “<FILESYSTEM>/tmpdir” and “<FILESYSTEM>/ work/project1” directories.
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To specify a white-space character in the name or pattern, use a backslash (“\”). For example, enter “new\ file” to exclude or include a file named “new file”.
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A pattern can contain wildcard characters and range expressions.
Examples:
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?: Matches zero or one character.
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*: Matches any number of characters.
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[a-z]: Matches the letters a through z.
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[abc]: Matches the letters a, b, or c.
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Consecutive slash characters (“//”) are resolved to a single slash character (“/”). For example, the pattern “ab//cd///ef” is resolved to “ab/cd/ef”.
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Consecutive asterisk characters (“**”) are resolved to a single asterisk (“*”)'. For example, the pattern “a***b” is resolved to “a*b”
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The path references “.” and “..” are resolved to actual paths. For example, “a/b/../c” is resolved to “a/c” and “a/b/./c” is resolved to “a/b/c”.
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The path reference “..” at the beginning is ignored. For example, “../home/usr1” is resolved to “/home/usr1” and “/../home/usr2” resolved to “/home/usr2”.
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The “.” and “..” characters in filenames are not changed.

 

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