InfoScale™ 9.0 Storage Foundation Quick Recovery Solutions Guide for Microsoft SQL Server - Windows

To create the snapshot set from the VEA console

1. From the VEA console, navigate to the system where the production volumes and snapshots mirrors are located.

2. Expand the SQLServerWriter node.
3. Expand the system node, the Storage Agent node, and the Applications node. If the SQL node is not shown, start the SQL Server VSS Writer service and then select the Storage Agent node and refresh the VEA display (Actions > Refresh).
4. Expand the SQL node.
5. Right-click the instance and click VSS Snapshot.
6. In the wizard, review the Welcome page and click Next.
7. Specify the snapshot set parameters as follows and then click Next:
   

   Select Component for snapshot operation	Select the database for the snapshot set.
   Directory	The wizard creates the snapshot set metadata XML file. The XML metadata file is stored by default in the directory shown on the screen. Note: The XML file for the snapshot must be stored separately from the volumes that are included in the snapshots, otherwise a restore will fail. There are two ways to change the XML file location. First, edit the directory path in the Directory field for this wizard screen. Second, change the XML file location. Use a text editor to create a text file named redirect.txt. This text file should contain a single text line specifying the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path to the location of the XML file, for example, \\ServerName\SharedFolderName. Save the redirect.txt file in the default directory C:\Program Files\Veritas\Veritas Volume Manager\VSSXML. If the product is installed on the D drive, then the path will be the same as above, but on the D drive. Note: You must not use the volume name or volume path in the redirect.txt file that is involved in the snapshot. If the volume name or path for the snapshot is used, then a restore will fail.
   Snapshot set	Enter a name for the snapshot set, for example, billing or accept the default name. The wizard generates a default snapshot set name that includes the term "SnapshotSet", component name, date, and time.
   Select snapshot type	Select the snapshot type. You can specify that snapshots be created as either a Full backup or Copy backup type. Either type can be used to restore a database. However, if you want to replay logs in SQL Server as part of restoring a database, a Full backup needs to have been created earlier. When replaying logs, you can replay from the time of the last Full backup. A Copy backup does not affect this sequence of log replay and therefore is often used as an "out of band" copy for purposes such as testing or data mining.

8. In the Change Attributes panel, optionally change the attributes for the snapshot volumes and click Next:

   Volume Name	Displays the name of the volume.
   Snapshot Volume Label	Displays the read-only label for the snapshot volume.
   Drive Letter	Optionally, click a drive letter and select a new choice from the drop-down menu.
   Plex	Optionally, click a plex and select a new choice from the drop-down menu.

9. On the Synchronized Snapshot panel (Volume Replicator only), select the secondary hosts for which you want to create synchronized snapshots. Either double-click on the host name or click the Add option to move the host into the Selected Secondary Hosts pane. To select all the available hosts, click the Add All option. The VSS wizard creates synchronized snapshots on all the selected secondary hosts.

   This panel is displayed only in an environment using Volume Replicator (Volume Replicator). Otherwise, you will be directly taken to the Schedule Information panel.

   See Volume Replicator Administrator's Guide.

10. Review the specifications of the snapshot set and click Finish.

To create the snapshot set from the command line

• Type the command, as in the following example:

  > vxsnap -x billing_DB.xml create
      source=L:/Newvol=billing_data
      source=M:/Newvol=billing_log
      writer=SQLServerWriter component=billing_DB
      backuptype=full

  where billing_DB.xml is a name you assign the metadata file that is used to reattach the snapshot set or to recover using that snapshot set.

  The complete syntax of the vxsnap create command is:

  vxsnap -x filename create [-gDynamicDiskGroupName]
  source=Volume [/DriveLetter=DriveLetter]
  [/DrivePath=DrivePath] [/Newvol=NewVolName][/Plex=PlexName]...
      writer=WriterName component=ComponentName
      [server=ServerName] [instance=InstanceName]
      [backuptype=FULL|COPY][-O]

  The WriterName and ComponentName are required. The component name is the name of the SQL database. The option to assign drive letters or mount points is useful for tracking volumes and for scripting purposes. You can use either a Full backup or Copy backup for restoring from a snapshot (recovery). However, if you want to replay logs in SQL Server as part of restoring a database, a Full backup needs to have been created earlier. When replaying logs, you can replay from the time of the last Full backup. A Copy backup does not affect this sequence of log replay and therefore is often used as an "out of band" copy for purposes such as testing or data mining.

  Note:

  Any text string that contains spaces must be enclosed in quotation marks.