Veritas NetBackup™ Virtual Appliance Getting Started Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): Appliances (5.1.1)
Platform: NetBackup Virtual Appliance
  1. Product overview
    1. NetBackup Virtual Appliance product description
      1.  
        About the NetBackup Virtual Appliance primary server role
      2.  
        About the NetBackup Virtual Appliance combined primary and media server role
      3.  
        About the NetBackup Virtual Appliance media server role
    2.  
      NetBackup Virtual Appliance supported features
    3.  
      About the NetBackup Virtual Appliance documentation
    4.  
      NetBackup Virtual Appliance 5.1.1 new features, enhancements, and changes
    5.  
      Known limitations of the NetBackup Virtual Appliance 5.1.1 release
    6.  
      Operational Notes for the NetBackup Virtual Appliance 5.1.1 release
  2. Preparing the initial deployment
    1.  
      NetBackup Virtual Appliance product files (OVF templates)
    2.  
      NetBackup Virtual Appliance deployment methods
    3. NetBackup Virtual Appliance deployment guidelines
      1.  
        Configuration overview for NetBackup Virtual Appliance MSDP cloud applications
      2.  
        NetBackup Virtual Appliance initial deployment checklist
  3. Deploying and configuring the appliance
    1. How to deploy and configure a NetBackup Virtual Appliance combined primary and media server
      1.  
        Using the vSphere Client to deploy a combined primary and media server appliance
      2.  
        Using the OVF Tool to deploy a combined primary and media server appliance
      3.  
        Performing the initial configuration on a NetBackup Virtual Appliance combined primary and media server
    2. How to deploy and configure a NetBackup Virtual Appliance media server
      1.  
        Using the vSphere Client to deploy a media server appliance
      2.  
        Using the OVF Tool to deploy a media server appliance
      3.  
        Configuring a primary server to communicate with an appliance media server
      4.  
        Performing the initial configuration on a NetBackup Virtual Appliance media server
    3. How to deploy and configure a NetBackup Virtual Appliance primary server
      1.  
        Using the vSphere Client to deploy a NetBackup Virtual Appliance primary server
      2.  
        Using the OVF Tool to deploy a primary server
      3.  
        Performing the initial configuration on a NetBackup Virtual Appliance primary server
    4.  
      Troubleshooting NetBackup Virtual Appliance deployment or initial configuration issues
  4. Post initial configuration procedures
    1.  
      About modifying the NetBackup Virtual Appliance settings
    2.  
      Adding a permanent license key if an evaluation license key expires
    3.  
      Managing license keys on the NetBackup Virtual Appliance
  5. Introduction to the NetBackup Virtual Appliance Shell Menu
    1.  
      Using the NetBackup Virtual Appliance Shell Menu
    2.  
      About the NetBackup Virtual Appliance Shell Menu command views

NetBackup Virtual Appliance deployment guidelines

Use the following configuration guidelines when you deploy a new NetBackup Virtual Appliance:

Table: Appliance deployment guidelines

Parameter

Description

Deployment requirements

To deploy a NetBackup Virtual Appliance, you need a VMware vCenter Server user account and access to the VSphere Client or vSphere Web Client. The appliance supports vSphere versions 7.0.0, 7.0.1, and 7.0.2. Your vCenter Server account must have at least the minimum privileges required to deploy an OVF template.

For how to deploy an OVF package directly on an ESXi host, see the following technical article.

https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.100038949

Refer to the VMware documentation for more information.

Connectivity during deployment

When you perform the appliance deployment, Veritas recommends that you take precautions to avoid loss of connectivity. Any loss of connectivity during deployment results in failure.

The computer that you use to deploy the appliance should be set up to avoid the following events:

  • Conditions that cause the computer to go to sleep

  • Conditions that cause the computer to shut down or to lose power

  • Conditions that cause the computer to lose its network connection

Environment requirements

The appliance uses 16 GB of memory and 8 virtual CPUs (vCPUs).

Make sure that both the CPU and memory requirements are met before you deploy the appliance.

Performance

Veritas recommends that you adhere to the following best practices:

  • Do not overcommit the vCPUs on the ESX host. The number of vCPUs that are assigned to all virtual machines on the host should be equal to or less than the number of cores on that host.

  • Set a memory reservation to provide the appliance with full utilization of the available memory.

  • Do not overcommit the memory on the ESX host. The amount of memory that is assigned to all virtual machines on the host should be equal to or less than the amount of memory on that host.

  • Use thick provisioning for the appliance virtual disks.

  • The NetBackup Virtual Appliance has a heavy I/O workload, so it should be isolated from shared storage as much as possible. At a minimum, make sure that the appliance uses a different datastore than other virtual machines with a heavy I/O workload.

  • NetBackup Virtual Appliance supports hyper-threading and usually performs better when hyper-threading is enabled.

    VMware vSphere recommends that you enable hyper-threading as a performance best practice. VMware vSphere 6.5 and later enable hyper-threading by default to increase hypervisor performance. Note that hyper-threading performance improvements are highly application-dependent, and some applications might see performance degradation. Additionally, there are various microprocessor flaws that may introduce security vulnerabilities when hyper-threading is enabled. Consult your hardware vendor documentation to learn about hyper-threading and possible security vulnerabilities.

Required names and addresses

Before the initial deployment, gather the following information:

  • Data center and storage details

  • Appliance host name and IP address

  • Netmask and Gateway IP address

  • DNS information

  • Names for AdvancedDisk and MSDP disk pools and storage units

    Note:

    You do not need to provide the storage details for a primary server appliance.

  • New passwords for the admin and maintenance accounts

    New password for the nbasecadmin account (primary server and combined primary and media server only)

    Note:

    You cannot access the NetBackup web UI until you have changed the nbasecadmin user password.

    The default password for all default accounts is P@ssw0rd.

See NetBackup Virtual Appliance initial deployment checklist.

Licenses

The NetBackup Virtual Appliance combined primary and media server and the NetBackup Virtual Appliance primary server come with a not for resale (NFR) license key that expires after a specific period of time. The appliance does not provide a warning message that this license key is about to expire. Therefore, Veritas recommends that you change this key to a permanent key after you deploy the appliance. This requirement does not apply to the NetBackup Virtual Appliance media server.

Make sure that you replace the NFR key with a permanent key before it expires.

Warning:

If the correct license key is not installed, the appliance services stop functioning after the evaluation key expires. Make sure that the NetBackup license you add includes support for NetBackup Virtual Appliance.

Review the initial deployment checklist and make sure that you have all of the necessary information to complete the deployment procedure.

See NetBackup Virtual Appliance initial deployment checklist.