NetVault Bare Metal Recovery 12.0 - User Guide for Plug-ins

Prerequisites for booting the target NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Client for use with Plug-in Live Client for Linux

Ensure the following have taken place before attempting to boot the NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Client:

NOTE: In most circumstances, the 10666 port is available for use. Circumstances under which it is not available include if a system administrator had assigned it for use to a different application or if you have a firewall set up on a different port.

Reconfiguring the communication port for the target NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Client for use with Plug-in Live Client for Linux (optional)

The Plug-in Live Client for Linux listens on port 10666 by default. If you have a firewall configured, you may need to change the communication port to perform a recovery; for example, you want use port 12345 instead. Perform the following steps:

Boot procedure for the target NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Client for use with Plug-in Live Client for Linux

To boot the Linux NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Client, perform the following steps.

IMPORTANT: If the target Linux NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Client includes any Raw format disks, a specific boot procedure must be followed to preserve any data that currently exists on those disks. You must use this procedure because the Plug-in Live Client for Linux does not support the backup and restore of Raw format disks. For more information, see Accommodating for Raw disks for use with Plug-in Live Client for Linux.

NOTE: The System Installation for Linux application offers several utilities that can be used to customize a DR recovery. However, the use of all these utilities is not covered in this guide. Only the tools required to perform a standard recovery operation are covered here.

IMPORTANT: While Quest strongly recommends that only the utilities required to perform a standard DR recovery be used with this plug-in, the System Installation for Linux application contains a built-in help system that offers brief instructions on its use. This help system can be accessed on a per screen basis by using the F1 key.

IMPORTANT: Use of the Gateway field is optional. If Plug-in Server and Plug-in Live Client are in the same network segment, ensure that this field remains blank. Only include a gateway value if Server and Client exist in a different segment.

IMPORTANT: For this process to start successfully, the applicable recovery job must have already been set up and started from the NetVault Backup Server, as outlined in Restoring data using a DR image with Plug-in Live Client for Linux.

IMPORTANT: If you are using Storix, restoring to the same client or a different client of the same disk size — either of which is configured as part of a logical group and volume — causes the following message to appear: “The following non-fatal errors must be corrected before continuing: Disk sdb: This disk is not large enough for the partitions as they are currently defined. You must reduce the space requirements on this disk by at least 7MB by removing the partitions or reducing their sizes.” To work around this issue, use the View/Change Installation Settings feature in Storix to adjust the partition sizes. To allow the recovery process to re-create a striped logical volume across multiple disks, manually change the stripe size. From the Main Menu in Storix, select View/Change Installation Settings > Logical Volume Management > Add or Change Logical Volume. Select the applicable volume, and press Enter. Change the Stripe Size from 0 to the size that was originally configured.

Accommodating for Raw disks for use with Plug-in Live Client for Linux

Multiple topics have noted that the Plug-in Live Client for Linux does not support the backup and restore of Raw format disks. However, after the standard boot routine discussed in the previous topic is fully followed, any Raw format disks are automatically initialized, and the restore of data starts. As a result, any data that exists on these raw format disks is lost. To boot a target Linux NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Client that contains any Raw format disks to omit them from the restore, perform the following steps:

CAUTION: This procedure must be followed to ensure that data items on any existing raw formatted disks are preserved. Quest cannot be held liable if this procedure is not followed to boot a machine containing raw disks and data is lost.

IMPORTANT: The process described in Restoring data using a DR image with Plug-in Live Client for Linux must be followed before attempting this configuration. If the DR backup job has not been initially queued up to run, it is not possible to complete this process; that is, this configuration must be performed after the job has been started in the NetVault Backup WebUI.

IMPORTANT: Before selecting the DO NOT RESTORE This Disk Backup Data option for a drive, ensure that the selected drive is the one to omit. After the drive has been omitted from the restore, it cannot be added back in; that is, the only way to change the configuration is to reboot the Linux NetVault Bare Metal Recovery Client, and restart this entire process.