NetBackup™ Deployment Guide for Kubernetes Clusters

Last Published:
Product(s): NetBackup & Alta Data Protection (10.5)
  1. Introduction
    1. About Cloud Scale deployment
      1.  
        Decoupling of NetBackup web services from primary server
      2.  
        Decoupling of NetBackup Policy and Job Management from primary server
      3.  
        Logging strategy (fluentbit) in Cloud Scale
    2.  
      About NetBackup Snapshot Manager
    3.  
      About MSDP Scaleout
    4.  
      Required terminology
    5.  
      User roles and permissions
  2. Section I. Configurations
    1. Prerequisites
      1.  
        Preparing the environment for NetBackup installation on Kubernetes cluster
      2.  
        Prerequisites for MSDP Scaleout and Snapshot Manager (AKS/EKS)
      3. Prerequistes for Kubernetes cluster configuration
        1.  
          Config-Checker utility
        2.  
          Data-Migration for AKS
        3.  
          Webhooks validation for EKS
      4. Prerequisites for Cloud Scale configuration
        1.  
          Cluster specific settings
        2.  
          Cloud specific settings
      5.  
        Prerequisites for deploying environment operators
    2. Recommendations and Limitations
      1.  
        Recommendations of NetBackup deployment on Kubernetes cluster
      2.  
        Limitations of NetBackup deployment on Kubernetes cluster
      3.  
        Recommendations and limitations for Cloud Scale deployment
      4.  
        Limitations in MSDP Scaleout
    3. Configurations
      1.  
        Contents of the TAR file
      2.  
        Initial configurations
      3.  
        Configuring the environment.yaml file
      4. Loading docker images
        1.  
          Installing the docker images for NetBackup
        2.  
          Installing the docker images for Snapshot Manager
        3.  
          Installing the docker images and binaries for MSDP Scaleout
      5.  
        Configuring NetBackup IT Analytics for NetBackup deployment
      6. Configuring NetBackup
        1. Primary and media server CR
          1.  
            After installing primary server CR
          2.  
            After Installing the media server CR
        2.  
          Elastic media server
    4. Configuration of key parameters in Cloud Scale deployments
      1.  
        Tuning touch files
      2.  
        Setting maximum jobs per client
      3.  
        Setting maximum jobs per media server
      4.  
        Enabling intelligent catalog archiving
      5.  
        Enabling security settings
      6.  
        Configuring email server
      7.  
        Reducing catalog storage management
      8.  
        Configuring zone redundancy
      9.  
        Enabling client-side deduplication capabilities
      10.  
        Parameters for logging strategy (fluentbit)
  3. Section II. Deployment
    1. Deploying operators
      1.  
        Deploying the operators
    2. Deploying fluentbit for logging strategy
      1.  
        Deploying fluentbit for logging strategy
    3. Deploying Postgres
      1.  
        Deploying Postgres
      2.  
        Enable request logging, update configuration, and copying files from/to PostgreSQL pod
    4. Deploying Cloud Scale
      1.  
        Installing Cloud Scale
      2. Single node Cloud Scale Technology deployment
        1.  
          Steps to deploy Cloud Scale in single node
      3.  
        Restarting Cloud Scale Technology services
    5. Deploying MSDP Scaleout
      1. MSDP Scaleout configuration
        1.  
          Initializing the MSDP operator
        2.  
          Configuring MSDP Scaleout
        3.  
          Configuring the MSDP cloud in MSDP Scaleout
        4.  
          Using MSDP Scaleout as a single storage pool in NetBackup
        5.  
          Using S3 service in MSDP Scaleout
        6.  
          Enabling MSDP S3 service after MSDP Scaleout is deployed
      2.  
        Deploying MSDP Scaleout
    6. Verifying Cloud Scale deployment
      1.  
        Verifying Cloud Scale deployment
  4. Section III. Monitoring and Management
    1. Monitoring NetBackup
      1.  
        Monitoring the application health
      2.  
        Telemetry reporting
      3.  
        About NetBackup operator logs
      4.  
        Monitoring Primary/Media server CRs
      5.  
        Expanding storage volumes
      6. Allocating static PV for Primary and Media pods
        1.  
          Expanding log volumes for primary pods
        2.  
          Recommendation for media server volume expansion
        3.  
          (AKS-specific) Allocating static PV for Primary and Media pods
        4.  
          (EKS-specific) Allocating static PV for Primary and Media pods
    2. Monitoring Snapshot Manager
      1.  
        Overview
      2.  
        Configuration parameters
    3. Monitoring fluentbit
      1.  
        Monitoring fluentbit for logging strategy
    4. Monitoring MSDP Scaleout
      1.  
        About MSDP Scaleout status and events
      2.  
        Monitoring with Amazon CloudWatch
      3.  
        Monitoring with Azure Container insights
      4.  
        The Kubernetes resources for MSDP Scaleout and MSDP operator
    5. Managing NetBackup
      1.  
        Managing NetBackup deployment using VxUpdate
      2.  
        Updating the Primary/Media server CRs
      3.  
        Migrating the cloud node for primary or media servers
    6. Managing the Load Balancer service
      1.  
        About the Load Balancer service
      2.  
        Notes for Load Balancer service
      3.  
        Opening the ports from the Load Balancer service
    7. Managing PostrgreSQL DBaaS
      1.  
        Changing database server password in DBaaS
      2.  
        Updating database certificate in DBaaS
    8. Managing fluentbit
      1.  
        Managing fluentbit for logging strategy
    9. Performing catalog backup and recovery
      1.  
        Backing up a catalog
      2. Restoring a catalog
        1.  
          Primary server corrupted
        2.  
          MSDP-X corrupted
        3.  
          MSDP-X and Primary server corrupted
    10. Managing MSDP Scaleout
      1.  
        Adding MSDP engines
      2.  
        Adding data volumes
      3. Expanding existing data or catalog volumes
        1.  
          Manual storage expansion
      4.  
        MSDP Scaleout scaling recommendations
      5. MSDP Cloud backup and disaster recovery
        1.  
          About the reserved storage space
        2. Cloud LSU disaster recovery
          1.  
            Recovering MSDP S3 IAM configurations from cloud LSU
      6.  
        MSDP multi-domain support
      7.  
        Configuring Auto Image Replication
      8. About MSDP Scaleout logging and troubleshooting
        1.  
          Collecting the logs and the inspection information
  5. Section IV. Maintenance
    1. MSDP Scaleout Maintenance
      1.  
        Pausing the MSDP Scaleout operator for maintenance
      2.  
        Logging in to the pods
      3.  
        Reinstalling MSDP Scaleout operator
      4.  
        Migrating the MSDP Scaleout to another node pool
    2. PostgreSQL DBaaS Maintenance
      1.  
        Configuring maintenance window for PostgreSQL database in AWS
      2.  
        Setting up alarms for PostgreSQL DBaaS instance
    3. Patching mechanism for primary, media servers, fluentbit pods, and postgres pods
      1.  
        Overview
      2.  
        Patching of containers
    4. Upgrading
      1. Upgrading Cloud Scale Technology
        1.  
          Upgrading Cloud Scale deployment for Postgres using Helm charts
        2.  
          Upgrading Cloud Scale deployment for logging strategy (fluentbit)
    5. Cloud Scale Disaster Recovery
      1.  
        Cluster backup
      2.  
        Environment backup
      3.  
        Cluster recovery
      4.  
        Cloud Scale recovery
      5.  
        Environment Disaster Recovery
      6.  
        DBaaS Disaster Recovery
    6. Uninstalling
      1.  
        Uninstalling NetBackup environment and the operators
      2.  
        Uninstalling Postgres using Helm charts
      3.  
        Uninstalling Snapshot Manager from Kubernetes cluster
      4. Uninstalling MSDP Scalout from Kubernetes cluster
        1.  
          Cleaning up MSDP Scaleout
        2.  
          Cleaning up the MSDP Scaleout operator
    7. Troubleshooting
      1. Troubleshooting AKS and EKS issues
        1.  
          View the list of operator resources
        2.  
          View the list of product resources
        3.  
          View operator logs
        4.  
          View primary logs
        5.  
          Socket connection failure
        6.  
          Resolving an issue where external IP address is not assigned to a NetBackup server's load balancer services
        7.  
          Resolving the issue where the NetBackup server pod is not scheduled for long time
        8.  
          Resolving an issue where the Storage class does not exist
        9.  
          Resolving an issue where the primary server or media server deployment does not proceed
        10.  
          Resolving an issue of failed probes
        11.  
          Resolving token issues
        12.  
          Resolving an issue related to insufficient storage
        13.  
          Resolving an issue related to invalid nodepool
        14.  
          Resolving a token expiry issue
        15.  
          Resolve an issue related to KMS database
        16.  
          Resolve an issue related to pulling an image from the container registry
        17.  
          Resolving an issue related to recovery of data
        18.  
          Check primary server status
        19.  
          Pod status field shows as pending
        20.  
          Ensure that the container is running the patched image
        21.  
          Getting EEB information from an image, a running container, or persistent data
        22.  
          Resolving the certificate error issue in NetBackup operator pod logs
        23.  
          Pod restart failure due to liveness probe time-out
        24.  
          NetBackup messaging queue broker take more time to start
        25.  
          Host mapping conflict in NetBackup
        26.  
          Issue with capacity licensing reporting which takes longer time
        27.  
          Local connection is getting treated as insecure connection
        28.  
          Primary pod is in pending state for a long duration
        29.  
          Backing up data from Primary server's /mnt/nbdata/ directory fails with primary server as a client
        30.  
          Storage server not supporting Instant Access capability on Web UI after upgrading NetBackup
        31.  
          Taint, Toleration, and Node affinity related issues in cpServer
        32.  
          Operations performed on cpServer in environment.yaml file are not reflected
        33.  
          Elastic media server related issues
        34.  
          Failed to register Snapshot Manager with NetBackup
        35.  
          Post Kubernetes cluster restart, flexsnap-listener pod went into CrashLoopBackoff state or pods were unable to connect to flexsnap-rabbitmq
        36.  
          Post Kubernetes cluster restart, issues observed in case of containerized Postgres deployment
        37.  
          Request router logs
        38.  
          Issues with NBPEM/NBJM
        39.  
          Issues with logging strategy for Cloud Scale
      2. Troubleshooting AKS-specific issues
        1.  
          Data migration unsuccessful even after changing the storage class through the storage yaml file
        2.  
          Host validation failed on the target host
        3.  
          Primary pod goes in non-ready state
      3. Troubleshooting EKS-specific issues
        1.  
          Resolving the primary server connection issue
        2.  
          NetBackup Snapshot Manager deployment on EKS fails
        3.  
          Wrong EFS ID is provided in environment.yaml file
        4.  
          Primary pod is in ContainerCreating state
        5.  
          Webhook displays an error for PV not found
      4.  
        Troubleshooting issue for bootstrapper pod
  6. Appendix A. CR template
    1.  
      Secret
    2. MSDP Scaleout CR
      1.  
        MSDP Scaleout CR template for AKS
      2.  
        MSDP Scaleout CR template for EKS

Parameters for logging strategy (fluentbit)

The logging strategy is introduced in NetBackup 10.5 to to consolidate log files that have been distributed during the process of running NetBackup in a scale-out environment. To configure the fluentbit, ensure that the following prerequisites are met:

Prerequisites for logging strategy (fluentbit)

Ensure that the following system requirements and prerequisites are met before proceeding with the deployment:

  • System requirements: Cloud Scale deployment environment only

  • Application requirements: Cloud Scale fluentbit pods and containers:

    • Fluentbit collector pod and containers

    • Fluentbit DaemonSet sender pods and containers

    • Fluentbit sidecar sender containers

To view the current values, execute the command:

helm get values fluentbit -n <netbackup namespace>

To apply the new values of fluentbit, execute the command:

helm upgrade --install fluentbit <fluentbit .tgz> -f new-values.yaml -n <netbackup namespace>

Table: Fluentbit collector configuration variables

Configuration value

Description

fluentbit.volume.pvcStorage

This is the size of the PVC created for the fluentbit collector to store logs.

collectorNodeSelector

This is how you can set the node selector for the fluentbit collector pod.

Table: Log Cleanup configuration variables

Configuration value

Description

fluentbit.volume.pvcStorage

This parameter describes the size of the PVC created for the fluentbit collector to store logs.

fluentbit.cleanup.retentionDays

(number of days) - Number of days to retain logs before cleaning them up.

For example1 would mean 1 day which would mean that if the logs were created the day before they are to be kept that 1 day and no cleanup would occur. The next day the logs are 2 days old and with a setting of 1 they would be cleaned up.

Default: retentionDays: 7

fluentbit.cleanup.retentionCleanupTime

(hh:mm) - Time of day to cleanup the logs. This is based on the local Kubernetes time zone. The retention cleanup occurs once daily.

Default: retentionCleanupTime: 04:00

fluentbit.cleanup.utilizationCleanupFrequency

(number of minutes) - Number of minutes to wait between subsequent utilization cleanups. This is based on start time of the previous cleanup, not when the cleanup finishes.

Default: utilizationCleanupFrequency: 60

fluentbit.cleanup.highWatermark

(number percent) - This is the percentage of storage utilization that the utilization cleanup will start cleaning up data. It will continue until it reaches the low watermark or only the current days logs remain. It will not cleanup current day logs.

Default: highWatermark: 90

fluentbit.cleanup.lowWatermark

(number percent) - This is the percentage of storage utilization that the utilization cleanup will stop cleaning up data once it gets below.

Default: lowWatermark: 60

Table: Fluentbit DaemonSet configuration variables

Configuration value

Description

tolerations

This is where you can set the tolerations of the daemonset pods to help determine which nodes they should be scheduled to.