NetBackup™ Snapshot Manager Install and Upgrade Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): NetBackup (10.2)
  1. Introduction
    1.  
      About the deployment approach
    2.  
      Deciding where to run NetBackup Snapshot Manager
    3.  
      About deploying NetBackup 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.  
        NetBackup Snapshot Manager host sizing recommendations
      3.  
        NetBackup Snapshot Manager extension sizing recommendations
      4.  
        Creating an instance or preparing the host to install NetBackup Snapshot Manager
      5.  
        Installing container platform (Docker, Podman)
      6.  
        Creating and mounting a volume to store NetBackup Snapshot Manager data
      7.  
        Verifying that specific ports are open on the instance or physical host
      8.  
        Preparing NetBackup Snapshot Manager for backup from snapshot jobs
    2. Deploying NetBackup Snapshot Manager using container images
      1.  
        Before you begin installing NetBackup Snapshot Manager
      2.  
        Installing NetBackup Snapshot Manager in the Docker/Podman environment
      3.  
        Verifying that NetBackup Snapshot Manager is installed successfully
      4.  
        Restarting NetBackup Snapshot Manager
    3. Deploying NetBackup Snapshot Manager extensions
      1.  
        Before you begin installing NetBackup Snapshot Manager extensions
      2.  
        Downloading the NetBackup Snapshot Manager extension
      3. Installing the NetBackup Snapshot Manager extension on a VM
        1.  
          Prerequisites to install the extension on VM
        2.  
          Installing the extension on a VM
      4. Installing the NetBackup 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 NetBackup 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 NetBackup 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 providers
      1.  
        Why to configure the NetBackup Snapshot Manager cloud providers?
      2. AWS plug-in configuration notes
        1.  
          Prerequisites for configuring the AWS plug-in
        2.  
          Configuring AWS permissions for NetBackup Snapshot Manager
        3.  
          AWS permissions required by NetBackup 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 NetBackup Snapshot Manager
        2.  
          Configuring a GCP service account for NetBackup Snapshot Manager
        3.  
          Preparing the GCP service account for plug-in configuration
        4.  
          GCP cross-project restore 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. Configuration for protecting assets on cloud hosts/VM
      1.  
        Deciding which feature (on-host agent or agentless) of NetBackup Snapshot Manager is to be used for protecting the assets
      2. Protecting assets with NetBackup Snapshot Manager's on-host agent feature
        1. Installing and configuring NetBackup Snapshot Manager agent
          1.  
            Downloading and installing the NetBackup 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
        2. Configuring the NetBackup 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
      3. Protecting assets with NetBackup Snapshot Manager's agentless feature
        1. Prerequisites for the agentless configuration
          1.  
            Configuring SMB for Windows (Optional)
          2.  
            Configuring WMI security for Windows (optional)
        2.  
          Configuring the agentless feature
        3.  
          Configuring the agentless feature after upgrading NetBackup Snapshot Manager
    6. NetBackup Snapshot Manager assets protection
      1. NetBackup protection plan
        1.  
          Creating a NetBackup protection plan for cloud assets
        2.  
          Subscribing cloud assets to a NetBackup protection plan
      2.  
        Configuring VSS to store shadow copies on the originating drive
      3.  
        Additional steps required after restoring an AWS RDS database instance
    7. Volume Encryption in NetBackup Snapshot Manager
      1.  
        About volume encryption support in NetBackup 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 NetBackup Snapshot Manager
  3. Section II. NetBackup Snapshot Manager maintenance
    1. NetBackup Snapshot Manager logging
      1.  
        About NetBackup Snapshot Manager logging mechanism
      2. How Fluentd-based NetBackup Snapshot Manager logging works
        1.  
          About the NetBackup Snapshot Manager fluentd configuration file
        2.  
          Modifying the fluentd configuration file
      3.  
        NetBackup Snapshot Manager logs
      4.  
        Agentless logs
      5.  
        Troubleshooting NetBackup Snapshot Manager logging
    2. Upgrading NetBackup Snapshot Manager
      1.  
        About NetBackup Snapshot Manager upgrades
      2.  
        Supported upgrade path
      3.  
        Upgrade scenarios
      4.  
        Preparing to upgrade NetBackup Snapshot Manager
      5.  
        Upgrading NetBackup Snapshot Manager
      6.  
        Upgrading NetBackup Snapshot Manager using patch or hotfix
      7. Migrating and upgrading NetBackup Snapshot Manager
        1.  
          Before you begin migrating NetBackup Snapshot Manager
        2.  
          Migrate and upgrade NetBackup Snapshot Manager on RHEL 8.6 or 8.4
      8.  
        GCP configuration for migration from zone to region
      9. Post-upgrade tasks
        1.  
          Upgrading NetBackup Snapshot Manager extensions
      10.  
        Post-migration tasks
    3. Uninstalling NetBackup Snapshot Manager
      1.  
        Preparing to uninstall NetBackup Snapshot Manager
      2.  
        Backing up NetBackup Snapshot Manager
      3.  
        Unconfiguring NetBackup Snapshot Manager plug-ins
      4.  
        Unconfiguring NetBackup Snapshot Manager agents
      5.  
        Removing the NetBackup Snapshot Manager agents
      6.  
        Removing NetBackup Snapshot Manager from a standalone Docker host environment
      7.  
        Removing NetBackup Snapshot Manager extensions - VM-based or managed Kubernetes cluster-based
      8.  
        Restoring NetBackup Snapshot Manager
    4. Troubleshooting NetBackup Snapshot Manager
      1.  
        Troubleshooting NetBackup Snapshot Manager
      2.  
        SQL snapshot or restore and granular restore operations fail if the Windows instance loses connectivity with the NetBackup 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
      8.  
        Acknowledgment not received for datamover
      9.  
        Upgrade of extension on AWS (EKS) fails when upgrading through script
      10.  
        Backup from snapshot job fails with timeout error

Deciding which feature (on-host agent or agentless) of NetBackup Snapshot Manager is to be used for protecting the assets

For NetBackup to discover and protect assets on a host for single file restore or filesystem/application consistency, then install the agent on the host.

(For Microsoft Azure cloud provider) To use Azure recovery points for the snapshots to be application consistent, refer to the following table to connect and configure the VM's in Azure cloud:

For Windows

For Linux

No need to connect and configure the VM's

  • For Linux: By default the snapshots would be filesystem consistent in Azure.

  • For Oracle on Linux:

The agent installs necessary plugins for performing the required operations for protecting the assets on the host.

One of the following approach can be used to install agents on their hosts that must be protected:

  • On-host agent

  • Agentless

In both the above approaches, the same plug-ins are installed on the host to perform the operations. However the difference in the above two approaches are as follows:

On-host agent

Agentless

User must manually install the agent on the host and register it to the Snapshot Manager host

The agent can be installed on the host using the NetBackup Web UI, by connecting/configuring the VM.

User must not share the Host credentials to the Snapshot Manager, as the user would install it manually on the host.

The Host/VM credentials must be stored in NetBackup credential manager, so that Snapshot Manager can connect to the host and install the agent and necessary plugins.

Connection is permanently setup over RabbitMQ port 5671 to the host VM from the Snapshot Manager to collect and send data.

Each time when an operation (as follows) must be performed on the host, then the Snapshot Manager temporarily connects to the VM using SSH port for Linux, WMI and SMB port for windows and installs the agent:

  • quiescing filesystems/applications for consistency

  • Single file restore

This then pushes the plugins to performs necessary operations and uninstall itself. The data is however transferred.

The agent once installed manually always remains on the host unless it is uninstalled, hence the name on-host agent feature.

As the agent is not always present on the host hence, the name agentless feature.

As connectivity is established once and remains until the agent is unregistered and uninstalled. This approach is faster compared to agentless feature while performing the operations on the host.

As connectivity has to be established each time an operation has to be performed on the host, and agents/plugins would have to be installed for each connection. This approach is time consuming in comparison to on-host agent feature.

Upgrades have to be manually performed on the on-host agent when NetBackup Snapshot Manager would be upgraded.

When NetBackup Snapshot Manager is upgraded the upgrades are automatically pushed to the host from NetBackup Snapshot Manager.

More Information

Protecting assets with NetBackup Snapshot Manager's on-host agent feature

Protecting assets with NetBackup Snapshot Manager's agentless feature