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NetVault Plug-in for VMware 11.4.5 - User Guide

Introducing NetVault Backup Plug-in for VMware Installing the plug-in Configuring the plug-in Defining a backup strategy Using the image-level backup method Using the file-level backup method Restoring image-level backups Restoring file-level backups Troubleshooting

Additional notes

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When you select a container node (for example, Datacenter, Resource Pool, or ESXi Server), any new virtual machine that is added to the host after a job has been defined is automatically included in the backup. Similarly, when you remove a virtual machine from the host, it is automatically excluded from the backup. You do not have to modify the job definition each time a virtual machine is added to or removed from the host.
•
If a selected virtual machine is moved to a different host using Storage vMotion after a backup job has been defined, it is backed up as part of that job only if the following requirements are met:
•
A vCenter Server has been added to the plug-in, and the access to the virtual machine is being authenticated through the vCenter Server.
•
The ESXi Server Host to which the selected virtual machine has been moved to is also controlled by the same vCenter Server.
If these requirements are not met, the plug-in fails to back up the virtual machine that has been moved.
•
When backing up virtual machines that are protected using VMware vSphere Fault Tolerance (vSphere FT), note the following:
•
The vSphere FT group must be managed under a vCenter Server by VMware ESXi hosts that use version 6.0 build number 4192238 or later.
•
You can only select the primary virtual machines in an FT group for backups. The plug-in does not let you select the secondary virtual machines.
•
The plug-in displays the primary virtual machine in an FT group for selection only when they are protected using vSphere FT. If the virtual machine is protected using legacy fault tolerance, you cannot select it.
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For container-level selections, only primary virtual machines in an FT group are backed up
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Secondary virtual machines are excluded from the backup. If one is encountered, the plug-in generates the following log message:
Virtual machine ‘<VM_name>’ with secondary role
in its fault tolerance group will not be backed up.
•
Primary virtual machines using Legacy FT are also not backed up. If one is encountered, the plug-in generates the following log message and completes with a Warning: Cannot back up virtual machine while legacy fault tolerance is enabled.
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If a backup job includes an FT machine and a failover occurs, the job automatically protects the new primary virtual machine the next time the job runs.
•
If a failover occurs while a backup job is running, the backup job might fail because the backup snapshot cannot be created. VADP prevents the creation of snapshots during failover of a virtual machine with fault tolerance enabled. The log displays the following message:
Task to create VM snapshot failed with reason
'The operation is not allowed in the current state.'
If this issue occurs, run the backup job again after the failover process is finished.
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Because VMware does not support CBT for virtual machines with FT enabled, all sectors on the disks are always backed up for such a virtual machine even if Enable CBT… is selected. This behavior is true for both Full and Incremental Backup jobs.
•
When you restore a virtual machine that had FT enabled, the plug-in does not configure FT for the machine after recovery. You must enable FT on the restored machine after recovery is completed. The plug-in generates the following log message and completes the restore job with a Warning: Fault tolerance was configured for the virtual machine at backup time; to continue using the feature, please re-configure it after recovery.
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VMware does not support file-level mounting for virtual machines with FT enabled.
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Although the plug-in does not support file-level (.vmdk) restores of virtual machines that have FT enabled, you can restore files at the guest filesystem level.
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You can select virtual machines that are part of a Virtual Application (vApp) along with the other virtual machines. Currently, the selection tree does not provide any indicators to distinguish between such virtual machines from other virtual machines that are not part of a vApp.
If you select a vApp node, only the virtual machines contained in the vApp are backed up. The metadata for the vApp is not included in the backup.
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If you add a new virtual machine to the Backup Selection Set — or to an ESXi Server that is included in the Backup Selection Set — after the initial Full Backup or any subsequent Incremental or Differential Backup, the plug-in does the following:
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Creates a Full Backup of the new virtual machine if you run Incremental or Differential Backup.
•
Creates a non-CBT Full Backup, unless CBT is already enabled for the virtual machine or you have selected the Enable Change Block Tracking for VM check box for the Incremental or Differential Backup.
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Runs subsequent Incremental Backups of the new virtual machine as Incremental if CBT is enabled and a CBT-based Full Backup has been performed for the virtual machine.
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Runs subsequent Differential Backups of the new virtual machine as Full Backups because these backups are based on the last Full Backup created for that Backup Selection Set.
Example:
1
Select any one virtual machine, for example, MyVM1, and create a Backup Selection Set, for example, MySelectionSet.
2
Perform a CBT-enabled Full Backup using MySelectionSet.
3
Modify MySelectionSet, and add a virtual machine, for example, MyVM2.
4
Perform CBT-enabled Incremental and Differential Backup using MySelectionSet.
5
Perform another CBT-enabled Incremental and Differential Backup using MySelectionSet.
Result:
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When you select Incremental Backup, the plug-in creates a Full Backup of MyVM2 in Step 4 and an Incremental Backup of that virtual machine in Step 5.
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When you select Differential Backup, the plug-in creates a Full Backup of MyVM2 in Step 4 and Step 5 because these backups are based on the last Full Backup created in Step 2.
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When using CBT for backups, virtual machine migration using Storage vMotion or VMware vSphere Storage DRS is not recommended. For more information, see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2048201.
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If you perform a Full Backup of a Thick Provisioned Lazy Zeroed disk without enabling CBT, the empty sectors are converted to actual zeros during backup. When you restore the backup, the disk type is changed to Eager Zeroed.
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After backing up the data, the plug-in writes the backup index to the NetVault Database. If an error occurs during this step, for example, if there is a file transfer error or the server runs out of disk space, the plug-in reports the following error:
Log message: Failed to write index of backup to the database.
Log context: The index for this backup may be retrieved and added to the database by scanning the backup media.
In such cases, you can scan the backup media to recover the index. However, before importing the index, you must review the log messages to verify that no other errors were reported during the backup.

Backup selection tree icons

 
Table 5. Backup selection tree icons
Icon
Description

vCenter Server

Datacenter Server

ESXi Server Cluster

Closed folder

Open folder

ESXi Server

ESXi Server in maintenance mode

Inaccessible ESXi Server

Virtual Appliance (vApp)

Resource pool

Virtual machine (turned on)

Inaccessible virtual machine

Mounted virtual machine

Suspended virtual machine

Turned off virtual machine

Virtual machine (turned on, CBT enabled)

Inaccessible virtual machine (CBT enabled)

Mounted virtual machine (CBT enabled)

Suspended virtual machine (CBT enabled)

Turned off virtual machine (CBT enabled)

Primary virtual machine (turned on) in a Fault Tolerant group

Inaccessible primary virtual machine

Suspended primary virtual machine

Turned off primary virtual machine

Secondary virtual machine in a Fault Tolerant group

Inaccessible secondary virtual machine

Suspended secondary virtual machine

Turned off secondary virtual machine

Restarting a backup job

The plug-in includes the option to restart a job to back up only those virtual machines that failed previously. To use this method, you must configure the backup option Enable Restartable backups for the job. For more information about this option, see Performing image-level backups. When a restartable backup completes with some failed virtual machines, the plug-in generates a backup index for the completed virtual machines and sets the job status to Job Stopped. You can restart this job from the Job Status page.

 
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NOTE: The Restart method does not work if you select multiple jobs simultaneously.
To restart a job:
1
In the Navigation pane, click Job Status.
2
In the list of jobs, select the job, and click Restart.
When you restart a job, the plug-in runs an Incremental Backup job to back up the failed virtual machines. The restarted instance does not back up virtual machines that are added to the host after the initial job is run.
All restarted instances are displayed as a single saveset on the Create Restore Job — Choose Saveset page.
 
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IMPORTANT: You can restart the job more than once; however, if you try to restart an instance after running the subsequent Full or Incremental Backup for that backup sequence, the job reports an index conflict error.

Resetting CBT on a virtual machine

During Incremental or Differential backups, if the plug-in is unable to determine the changed disk sectors for a virtual machine, it reports an error — “Failed to determine disk areas to back up” — and backs up the entire disk. When this error occurs, use the following procedure to reset change block tracking for the virtual machine. Before proceeding, delete any existing snapshots of the target virtual machine.

1
Start the Backup Job Wizard, and click Create New next to the Selections list.
2
Open the NetVault Backup Client on which plug-in is installed, and then open VMware Plugin.
3
Open the ESXi or vCenter Server and the other applicable container nodes — for example, Datacenter, Cluster, Resource Pool, and other nodes — to display the target virtual machine.
4
Select the target virtual machine, and in the Actions list, click Reset Change Block Tracking.
This option is available to only those virtual machines on which CBT is enabled.
5
After the virtual machine is reconfigured and a message is displayed, click OK to close the dialog box.
Important notes
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When CBT is being reset, no snapshots should exist for the virtual machine. Otherwise, the reset operation fails.
•
If CBT is reset for a virtual machine that is turned off, Quest recommends that you turn on the virtual machine before running a CBT-enabled backup for that virtual machine. If you perform a CBT-enabled backup in the turned off state, the backup may report the following error and fail:
Log message: Failed to determine disk areas to back up.
Log context: A specified parameter was not correct. deviceKey.
•
After CBT is reset for a virtual machine, the next Incremental Backup backs up all blocks for that virtual machine. Subsequent Incremental Backups only back up the disk sectors that have changed.
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If an error message is displayed while CBT is being reset, check the “Recent Tasks” window on the vSphere Client for any messages that explain why the request failed.
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