NetBackup™ Snapshot Manager Install and Upgrade Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): NetBackup & Alta Data Protection (10.1)
  1. Introduction
    1.  
      About the deployment approach
    2.  
      Deciding where to run Snapshot Manager
    3.  
      About deploying Snapshot Manager in the cloud
  2. Section I. NetBackup Snapshot Manager installation and configuration
    1. Preparing for NetBackup Snapshot Manager installation
      1.  
        Meeting system requirements
      2.  
        Snapshot Manager host sizing recommendations
      3.  
        Snapshot Manager extension sizing recommendations
      4.  
        Creating an instance or preparing the host to install Snapshot Manager
      5.  
        Installing container platform (Docker, Podman)
      6.  
        Creating and mounting a volume to store Snapshot Manager data
      7.  
        Verifying that specific ports are open on the instance or physical host
      8.  
        Preparing Snapshot Manager for backup from snapshot jobs
    2. Deploying NetBackup Snapshot Manager using container images
      1.  
        Before you begin installing Snapshot Manager
      2.  
        Installing Snapshot Manager in the Docker/Podman environment
      3.  
        Verifying that Snapshot Manager is installed successfully
      4.  
        Restarting Snapshot Manager
    3. Deploying NetBackup Snapshot Manager extensions
      1.  
        Before you begin installing Snapshot Manager extensions
      2.  
        Downloading the Snapshot Manager extension
      3. Installing the Snapshot Manager extension on a VM
        1.  
          Prerequisites to install the extension on VM
        2.  
          Installing the extension on a VM
      4. Installing the Snapshot Manager extension on a managed Kubernetes cluster (AKS) in Azure
        1.  
          Prerequisites to install the extension on a managed Kubernetes cluster in Azure
        2.  
          Installing the extension on Azure (AKS)
      5. Installing the Snapshot Manager extension on a managed Kubernetes cluster (EKS) in AWS
        1.  
          Prerequisites to install the extension on a managed Kubernetes cluster in AWS
        2. Installing the extension on AWS (EKS)
          1.  
            Install extension using the extension script
      6. Installing the Snapshot Manager extension on a managed Kubernetes cluster (GKE) in GCP
        1.  
          Prerequisites to install the extension on a managed Kubernetes cluster in GCP
        2.  
          Installing the extension on GCP (GKE)
      7.  
        Install extension using the Kustomize and CR YAMLs
      8.  
        Managing the extensions
    4. NetBackup Snapshot Manager cloud plug-ins
      1.  
        How to configure the Snapshot Manager cloud plug-ins?
      2. AWS plug-in configuration notes
        1.  
          Prerequisites for configuring the AWS plug-in
        2.  
          Configuring AWS permissions for Snapshot Manager
        3.  
          AWS permissions required by Snapshot Manager
        4.  
          Before you create a cross account configuration
      3. Google Cloud Platform plug-in configuration notes
        1.  
          Google Cloud Platform permissions required by Snapshot Manager
        2.  
          Configuring a GCP service account for Snapshot Manager
        3.  
          Preparing the GCP service account for plug-in configuration
      4. Microsoft Azure plug-in configuration notes
        1.  
          Configuring permissions on Microsoft Azure
        2.  
          About Azure snapshots
      5. Microsoft Azure Stack Hub plug-in configuration notes
        1.  
          Configuring permissions on Microsoft Azure Stack Hub
        2.  
          Configuring staging location for Azure Stack Hub VMs to restore from backup
    5. NetBackup Snapshot Manager application agents and plug-ins
      1.  
        About the installation and configuration process
      2. Installing and configuring Snapshot Manager agent
        1.  
          Downloading and installing the Snapshot Manager agent
        2. Linux-based agent
          1.  
            Preparing to install the Linux-based agent
          2.  
            Registering the Linux-based agent
        3. Windows-based agent
          1.  
            Preparing to install the Windows-based agent
          2.  
            Registering the Windows-based agent
      3. Configuring the Snapshot Manager application plug-in
        1.  
          Configuring an application plug-in
        2. Microsoft SQL plug-in
          1.  
            Microsoft SQL plug-in configuration requirements
          2.  
            Restore requirements and limitations for Microsoft SQL Server
          3.  
            Steps required before restoring SQL AG databases
          4.  
            Additional steps required after restoring SQL AG databases
          5. Additional steps required after a SQL Server instance snapshot restore
            1.  
              Steps required after a SQL Server host-level restore
            2.  
              Steps required after a SQL Server instance disk-level snapshot restore to new location
        3. Oracle plug-in
          1. Oracle plug-in configuration requirements
            1.  
              Optimizing your Oracle database data and metadata files
          2.  
            Restore requirements and limitations for Oracle
          3.  
            Additional steps required after an Oracle snapshot restore
      4. NetBackup protection plan
        1.  
          Creating a NetBackup protection plan for cloud assets
        2.  
          Subscribing cloud assets to a NetBackup protection plan
      5.  
        Configuring VSS to store shadow copies on the originating drive
      6.  
        Additional steps required after restoring an AWS RDS database instance
    6. Protecting assets with NetBackup Snapshot Manager's agentless feature
      1.  
        About the agentless feature
      2. Prerequisites for the agentless configuration
        1.  
          Configuring SMB for Windows (Optional)
        2.  
          Configuring WMI security for Windows (optional)
      3.  
        Configuring the agentless feature
      4.  
        Configuring the agentless feature after upgrading Snapshot Manager
    7. Volume Encryption in NetBackup Snapshot Manager
      1.  
        About volume encryption support in Snapshot Manager
      2.  
        Volume encryption for Azure
      3.  
        Volume encryption for GCP
      4.  
        Volume encryption for AWS
    8. NetBackup Snapshot Manager security
      1.  
        Configuring security for Azure Stack
      2.  
        Configuring the cloud connector for Azure Stack
      3.  
        CA configuration for Azure Stack
      4.  
        Securing the connection to Snapshot Manager
  3. Section II. NetBackup Snapshot Manager maintenance
    1. NetBackup Snapshot Manager logging
      1.  
        About Snapshot Manager logging mechanism
      2. How Fluentd-based Snapshot Manager logging works
        1.  
          About the Snapshot Manager fluentd configuration file
        2.  
          Modifying the fluentd configuration file
      3.  
        Snapshot Manager logs
      4.  
        Agentless logs
      5.  
        Troubleshooting Snapshot Manager logging
    2. Upgrading NetBackup Snapshot Manager
      1.  
        About Snapshot Manager upgrades
      2.  
        Supported upgrade path
      3.  
        Upgrade scenarios
      4.  
        Preparing to upgrade Snapshot Manager
      5.  
        Upgrading Snapshot Manager
      6.  
        Upgrading Snapshot Manager using patch or hotfix
      7. Migrating and upgrading Snapshot Manager
        1.  
          Before you begin migrating Snapshot Manager
        2.  
          Migrate and upgrade Snapshot Manager on RHEL 8.6 or 8.4
      8. Post-upgrade tasks
        1.  
          Upgrading Snapshot Manager extensions
      9.  
        Post-migration tasks
    3. Uninstalling NetBackup Snapshot Manager
      1.  
        Preparing to uninstall Snapshot Manager
      2.  
        Backing up Snapshot Manager
      3.  
        Unconfiguring Snapshot Manager plug-ins
      4.  
        Unconfiguring Snapshot Manager agents
      5.  
        Removing the Snapshot Manager agents
      6.  
        Removing Snapshot Manager from a standalone Docker host environment
      7.  
        Removing Snapshot Manager extensions - VM-based or managed Kubernetes cluster-based
      8.  
        Restoring Snapshot Manager
    4. Troubleshooting NetBackup Snapshot Manager
      1.  
        Troubleshooting Snapshot Manager
      2.  
        SQL snapshot or restore and granular restore operations fail if the Windows instance loses connectivity with the Snapshot Manager host
      3.  
        Disk-level snapshot restore fails if the original disk is detached from the instance
      4.  
        Discovery is not working even after assigning system managed identity to the control node pool
      5.  
        Performance issue with GCP backup from snapshot
      6.  
        Post migration on host agents fail with an error message
      7.  
        File restore job fails with an error message

Deciding where to run Snapshot Manager

You can deploy Snapshot Manager in the following ways:

  • Deploy Snapshot Manager in a cloud and manage assets in that cloud.

  • Deploy Snapshot Manager in a cloud and manage assets in multiple clouds.

Veritas recommends that you deploy Snapshot Manager on cloud to protect your cloud assets. If you wish to protect assets in a cloud, deploy the Snapshot Manager host instance in the same cloud environment.

Similarly, if you wish to protect on-premise assets, deploy the Snapshot Manager host in the same on-premise environment. For detailed information about the on-premise content, refer to the NetBackup Snapshot Manager for Data Center Administrator's Guide.

You can deploy Snapshot Manager in a NetBackup media server, but not in a NetBackup primary server.

If you install Snapshot Manager on multiple hosts, we strongly recommend that each Snapshot Manager instance manage separate resources. For example, two Snapshot Manager instances should not manage the same AWS account or the same Azure subscription. The following scenario illustrates why having two Snapshot Manager instances manage the same resources creates problems:

  • Snapshot Manager instance A and Snapshot Manager instance B both manage the assets of the same AWS account.

  • On Snapshot Manager instance A, the administrator takes a snapshot of an AWS virtual machine. The database on Snapshot Manager instance A stores the virtual machine's metadata. This metadata includes the virtual machine's storage size and its disk configuration.

  • Later, on Snapshot Manager instance B, the administrator restores the virtual machine snapshot. Snapshot Manager instance B does not have access to the virtual machine's metadata. It restores the snapshot, but it does not know the virtual machine's specific configuration. Instead, it substitutes default values for the storage size configuration. The result is a restored virtual machine that does not match the original.

If you host the Snapshot Manager and media server in the same host, do the following for proper functioning of the backup from snapshot jobs:

  • Assign distinct IPs and NBU client names to the Snapshot Manager and the media server so that they can obtain different NetBackup Certificates. This is required so as have different NetBackup host ID certificates for communication. Use the following configuration:

    • Configure host with two network adapters

    • Edit the /etc/hosts file and make entry as mentioned in the example below:

      <IP Address MediaServer Host1>  < MediaServer Host1>
<IP Address Snapshot Manager Host2>  <Snapshot Manager Host2>

    • Provide the MediaServer Host1 which is mentioned in the/etc/hosts file during the Media server installation for Media server name.

    • Similarly select the Snapshot Manager Host 2 from the /etc/hosts file during the Snapshot Manager installation with non-default port other than 443.

    • Start Snapshot Manager and Media services and register it with NetBackup primary server.

  • Once the Snapshot Manager is registered, ensure that it has a different HOST DB entry.

  • Before performing the backup from snapshot jobs, perform the following optimization: DISABLE SHM and NOSHM. See: https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.100016170

This will ensure that NetBackup does not use shared memory for communicating between NetBackup data mover processes.