Veritas NetBackup™ for Microsoft SQL Server Administrator's Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): NetBackup (8.1.1)
  1. Introducing NetBackup for SQL Server
    1.  
      Overview of NetBackup for SQL Server
    2.  
      Features of NetBackup for SQL Server
    3.  
      NetBackup for SQL Server terminology
    4.  
      Help for the NetBackup MS SQL Client
  2. Installing NetBackup for SQL Server
    1.  
      Planning the installation of NetBackup for SQL Server
    2.  
      Verifying the operating system and platform compatibility
    3.  
      NetBackup server and client requirements
    4.  
      Requirements for using NetBackup for SQL Server in a NetBackup cluster
    5.  
      About the license for NetBackup for SQL Server
  3. Instance Management for SQL Server Intelligent Policies
    1.  
      About Instance management for a SQL Server Intelligent Policy
    2.  
      About credentials used with SQL Server Intelligent Policy
    3.  
      Configuring the NetBackup services for SQL Server backups and restores
    4.  
      Configuring local security privileges for SQL Server
    5.  
      About the NetBackup Discovery Service
    6. Viewing the SQL Server instances and instance groups in instance management
      1.  
        About instance actions
      2.  
        About instance group actions
    7. About registering SQL Server instances
      1.  
        Registering a SQL Server instance
      2. Registering instances with an instance group
        1.  
          Adding an instance to an instance group
        2.  
          Registering instances automatically
        3.  
          Validating instance group credentials
      3.  
        Authorizing a DBA to register instances with the nbsqladm command
    8.  
      Manually adding a SQL Server instance in instance management
  4. Configuring SQL Server backups with SQL Server Intelligent Policy
    1.  
      About SQL Server Intelligent Policies
    2.  
      About configuring SQL Server backups with SQL Server Intelligent Policy
    3.  
      Adding a new SQL Server Intelligent Policy
    4.  
      About policy attributes
    5.  
      About schedule properties
    6.  
      Schedule backup types for SQL Server Intelligent Policies
    7.  
      Adding instances to a policy
    8.  
      Adding databases to a policy
    9.  
      Instance properties
    10.  
      Backup Selections tab
    11.  
      Adding filegroups or files to the backup selections list
    12.  
      Manually adding files or filegroups to the backup selections list
    13.  
      Adding instance groups to a backup policy
    14.  
      About tuning parameters for SQL Server backups
    15.  
      Backing up read-only filegroups
    16.  
      Backing up read-write filegroups
  5. Configuring NetBackup for SQL Server
    1.  
      Configuring mappings for restores of a distributed application, cluster, or virtual machine
    2.  
      Reviewing the auto-discovered mappings in Host Management
    3.  
      About NetBackup for SQL performance factors
    4.  
      Configuring the number of jobs allowed for backup operations
    5.  
      Configuring the Maximum jobs per client setting
    6.  
      Configuring multistriped backups of SQL Server
    7.  
      Performing a manual backup
  6. Performing restores of SQL Server
    1.  
      Starting the NetBackup MS SQL Client for the first time
    2.  
      Selecting the SQL Server host and instance
    3.  
      Browsing for SQL Server backup images
    4.  
      Options for NetBackup for SQL Server restores
    5.  
      Restoring a SQL Server database backup
    6.  
      Staging a full SQL Server database recovery
    7.  
      Restoring SQL Server filegroup backups
    8.  
      Recovering a SQL Server database from read-write filegroup backups
    9.  
      Restoring SQL Server read-only filegroups
    10.  
      Restoring SQL Server database files
    11.  
      Restoring a SQL Server transaction log image without staging a full recovery
    12.  
      Performing a SQL Server database move
    13.  
      About performing a SQL Server page-level restore
    14.  
      Configuring permissions for redirected restores
    15. Redirecting a SQL Server database to a different host
      1.  
        About selecting a master server
    16.  
      Performing a restore of a remote SQL Server installation
    17.  
      About restores of a database that contain full-text catalog
    18. Restoring multistreamed SQL Server backups
      1.  
        About conventional backups using multiple streams
      2.  
        About snapshot backup methods using multiple streams
      3.  
        Restoring a multistreamed SQL Server backup with fewer devices than it was backed up with
  7. Protecting SQL Server data with VMware backups
    1. About protecting SQL Server data with VMware backups
      1.  
        About the Veritas VSS provider for vSphere
      2.  
        Limitations of using a VMware policy to protect SQL Server
    2.  
      About configuring NetBackup for VMware backups that protect SQL Server
    3.  
      Using NetBackup Accelerator to increase speed of full VMware backups
    4.  
      Installing the Veritas VSS provider for vSphere
    5.  
      Configuring the NetBackup services for VMware backups that protect SQL Server
    6.  
      Configuring a VMware backup policy to protect SQL Server
    7.  
      Configuring a VMware policy to protect SQL Server using Replication Director to manage snapshot replication
    8.  
      About truncating logs with a VMware backup that protects SQL Server
    9.  
      Restoring SQL Server databases from a VMware backup
  8. Using NetBackup for SQL Server with Snapshot Client
    1.  
      About NetBackup Snapshot Client for SQL Server
    2.  
      How SQL Server operations use Snapshot Client
    3.  
      Configuration requirements for SQL Server snapshot and Instant Recovery backups
    4.  
      Configuring a snapshot policy for SQL Server
    5.  
      Configuring a policy for Instant Recovery backups of SQL Server
    6. Using copy-only snapshot backups to affect how differentials are based
      1.  
        Sample backup schedule using copy-only backups
      2.  
        Creating a copy-only backup (legacy SQL Server policies)
      3.  
        Creating an Instant Recovery backup that is not copy-only (legacy SQL Server policies)
    7. About SQL Server agent grouped backups (legacy SQL Server policies)
      1.  
        Requirements for a grouped backup
      2.  
        Viewing the progress of a grouped backup
      3.  
        Restoring a database backed up in a group
  9. Protecting SQL Server in high availability (HA) environments
    1.  
      About SQL Server high availability (HA) environments
    2. About using NetBackup to protect SQL Server availability groups
      1.  
        Limitations of backups of availability groups
      2. About protecting the preferred replica in a SQL Server availability group (legacy backup policies)
        1.  
          Configuring an automatic backup policy for preferred replica of a SQL Server availability group (legacy SQL Server policies)
        2.  
          Creating batch files for the policy that protects the preferred replica
        3.  
          Adding the batch files to the policy that protects the preferred replica
      3. About protecting a specific node in a SQL Server availability group
        1.  
          Configuring an automatic backup policy for a specific node of a SQL Server availability group
        2.  
          Creating a batch file for the policy that protects a specific node in an availability group
        3.  
          Adding the batch files to the policy that protects a specific node in the availability group
      4.  
        Configuring SQL Server backups when an availability group crosses NetBackup domains
      5.  
        Restoring a SQL Server availability group database to the primary and the secondary replicas
      6.  
        Restoring a SQL Server availability group database to a secondary replica
      7.  
        Restoring an availability group database when an availability group crosses NetBackup domains
    3.  
      Configuring backups of clustered SQL Server instances (SQL Server Intelligent Policy)
    4.  
      Configuring backups of clustered SQL Server instances (legacy SQL Server policies)
    5.  
      Performing a restore of a virtual SQL Server instance
    6. About NetBackup for SQL Server with database mirroring
      1.  
        Configuring NetBackup to support database mirroring
      2.  
        Performing simultaneous backups for mirrored partners
      3.  
        Restoring a mirrored database backup image
    7.  
      Configuring NetBackup to support database log-shipping
    8.  
      Backing up SQL Server in an environment with log shipping
  10. Backup and recovery concepts
    1. Overview of SQL Server backup and recovery concepts
      1.  
        About SQL Server system database types
      2.  
        About SQL Server database backups
      3.  
        About SQL Server filegroup backups
      4.  
        About SQL Server differential backups
    2.  
      What are the components of NetBackup for SQL Server?
    3.  
      How does NetBackup resolve SQL Server host and instance names?
    4.  
      How does NetBackup for SQL Server back up a database?
    5.  
      How does NetBackup for SQL Server recover a database?
    6.  
      Protecting SQL Server files and filegroups
    7.  
      About recovery considerations for SQL Server files and filegroups
    8.  
      Reducing backup size and time by using read-only filegroups
    9.  
      What factors affect the data transfer rate during a SQL Server backup or restore operation?
    10. About recovery factors for SQL Server
      1.  
        About SQL Server transaction logs
      2.  
        About recovery strategies
      3.  
        About backing up the transaction log
      4.  
        About differential backups
      5.  
        About file and filegroup backups
      6.  
        About database recovery
      7.  
        About staging recovery
  11. Using NetBackup for SQL Server with multiple NICs
    1.  
      About configuration of SQL Server backups with multiple NICs
    2.  
      Configuring the NetBackup client with the private interface name
    3.  
      Configuring backups of SQL Server when you have multiple NICs (SQL Server Intelligent Policies)
    4.  
      Configuring backups for SQL Server when you have multiple NICs (legacy SQL Server policies)
    5.  
      Performing restores of SQL Server when you have multiple NICs
    6.  
      Configuring backups of a SQL Server cluster when you have multiple NICs (SQL Server Intelligent Policies)
    7.  
      Configuring backups of a SQL Server cluster when you have multiple NICs (legacy SQL Server policies)
    8.  
      Creating a batch file for backups of a SQL Server cluster when you have multiple NICs (legacy SQL Server policies)
    9.  
      Performing restores of a SQL Server cluster when you have multiple NICs
  12. Configuring backups with legacy SQL Server policies using clients and batch files
    1.  
      About legacy SQL Server policies
    2.  
      About configuring backups with legacy SQL Server policies
    3.  
      Configuring the NetBackup services for SQL Server backups and restores
    4.  
      About SQL Server security with NetBackup legacy backup policies
    5. About using batch files with NetBackup for SQL Server
      1.  
        Keywords and values used in batch files
      2.  
        Creating a batch file
      3.  
        Running batch files
    6.  
      Adding a new SQL Server legacy policy
    7. About schedule properties
      1.  
        Legacy policy backup types
      2.  
        Converting differential backups to full backups
      3.  
        Configuring an application backup schedule
      4.  
        Example application backup schedule
      5.  
        Configuring automatic backup schedules
      6.  
        Example automatic backup schedule
    8.  
      Adding clients to a policy
    9.  
      Adding batch files to the backup selections list
    10.  
      Selecting the SQL Server host and instance
    11.  
      Options for SQL Server backup operations
    12.  
      About viewing the properties of the objects selected for backup
    13.  
      Performing user-directed backups of SQL Server databases
    14.  
      Backing up SQL Server transaction logs
    15.  
      Backing up SQL Server database filegroups
    16. Backing up read-only filegroups
      1.  
        Viewing SQL Server read-only backup sets
    17.  
      Backing up read-write filegroups
    18.  
      Backing up SQL Server database files
    19.  
      Performing partial database backups
    20.  
      Performing a backup of a remote SQL Server installation
    21.  
      About file checkpointing with NetBackup for SQL Server
    22.  
      About automatic retry of unsuccessful SQL Server backups
  13. Performing user-directed operations with dbbackex
    1.  
      Using dbbackex to perform user-directed operations for SQL Server
    2.  
      Using client-based schedulers with dbbackex
  14. Using bplist to retrieve a list of SQL Server backups
    1.  
      About using bplist to retrieve SQL Server backups
    2.  
      About NetBackup for SQL Server backup names
  15. SQL Server backups and restores in an SAP environment (legacy SQL Server policies)
    1. About SQL Server backups and restores in an SAP environment
      1. Creating batch files for automatic backups in for SQL Server in an SAP environment
        1.  
          Creating a batch file for database backups
        2.  
          Creating a batch file for transaction log backups
      2.  
        Monitoring backups on SQL Server
      3. Restoring the R/3 database
        1.  
          About including differential backups in a restore operation
        2.  
          Restoring the R/3 database after a disk crash
        3.  
          Restoring the database backups and transaction log backups
    2.  
      About manual backups of SQL Server in an SAP environment
    3.  
      About policy configuration for SQL Server in an SAP environment
  16. Troubleshooting
    1.  
      About monitoring NetBackup for SQL Server operations
    2.  
      About NetBackup reports for SQL Server troubleshooting
    3. About debug logging for SQL Server troubleshooting
      1.  
        Creating all NetBackup debug logs for SQL Server troubleshooting
      2.  
        About backup operation debug logging for SQL Server
      3.  
        About restore operation debug logging for SQL Server
      4.  
        Setting the debug level
      5.  
        Veritas VSS provider logs
    4.  
      Setting the maximum trace level for NetBackup for SQL Server
    5.  
      Troubleshooting credential validation with instance management
    6.  
      About minimizing timeout failures on large SQL Server database restores
    7.  
      Troubleshooting VMware backups and restores of SQL Server
    8.  
      Delays in completion of backup jobs
    9.  
      SQL Server log truncation failure during VMware backups of SQL Server
    10.  
      SQL Server restore fails when you restore a SQL Server compressed backup image as a single stripe or with multiple stripes
    11.  
      Incorrect backup images are displayed for availability group clusters
    12.  
      A restore of a SQL Server database fails with Status Code 5, or Error (-1), when the host name of the SQL Server or the SQL Server database name has trailing spaces
    13.  
      A move operation fails with Status Code 5, or Error (-1), when the SQL Server host name, the database name, or the database logical name has trailing spaces
  17. Disaster recovery of a SQL Server
    1.  
      About disaster recovery of SQL Server
    2.  
      Preparing for disaster recovery of SQL Server
    3.  
      Recovering SQL Server databases after disaster recovery
  18. Appendix A. Sample batch files
    1. About sample backup batch files for legacy SQL Server policies
      1.  
        Script to back up a database
      2.  
        Script to perform a striped database backup and allow multiple internal buffers per stripe
      3.  
        Script to perform an operation and specify the user ID and password to use to SQL Server
      4.  
        Script to perform multiple operations in sequence
      5.  
        Script to perform a set of operations in parallel
      6.  
        Script to specify the maximum transfer size and block size for a backup
      7.  
        Script that uses environment variables to exclude instances and databases from backup
    2. About sample restore batch files
      1.  
        Script to restore a database
      2.  
        Script to restore a database from multiple stripes
      3.  
        Script to stage a database restore from a filegroup backup, several file backups, and transaction log backups
      4.  
        Script to restore a database transaction log up to a point in time
      5.  
        Script to stage a database restore from a database backup, a differential backup, and a series of transaction backups
  19. Appendix B. Multiplexed backups
    1.  
      Configuring multiplexed backups of SQL Server
    2.  
      Restoring a multiplexed SQL Server backup
  20. Appendix C. Register authorized locations
    1.  
      Registering authorized locations used by a NetBackup database script-based policy

Schedule backup types for SQL Server Intelligent Policies

The Type of backup attribute specifies the type of backup that the schedule controls.

Refer to the following guidelines when you configure schedules:

  • If you require a 24-hour schedule for transaction log backups, create a separate policy for the transaction log backup schedule.

    See Configuring high-frequency transaction log backups.

  • The backup operation is skipped for a specific database if the database recovery model is not supported for the selected backup type. See Schedules and unsupported recovery models.

  • If a differential backup runs and a full backup does not already exist for the database or filegroup, NetBackup can convert the backup to a full backup. Similarly, NetBackup can convert transaction log backups if a full backup does not already exist for the database. Enable this behavior with the options Convert differential backups to full (when no full exists) or Convert log backups to full (when no full exists).

    For snapshot backup policies, you must create a Full Backup schedule for NetBackup to successfully convert differential backups to full backups.

    See About tuning parameters for SQL Server backups.

  • If you have read-only filegroups, follow the instructions for backing up read-only and read-write filegroups separately.

    See Reducing backup size and time by using read-only filegroups.

Table: Schedule backup types for SQL Server Intelligent Policies shows the backup types you can specify.

Table: Schedule backup types for SQL Server Intelligent Policies

Backup type

Description

Full Backup

A complete backup of the database that contains all of the data files and the log file. (Note that a full backup does not truncate the transaction log.)

Differential Incremental Backup

A backup of the changed blocks since the last full backup. If you configure a differential incremental backup, you must also configure a full backup.

Transaction Log backup

A backup of the active and the inactive portion of the transaction log. By default, the inactive portion is truncated after a successful backup. A transaction log backup can only be performed against a database that is configured to run in the full recovery model.

You can choose to turn off truncation in the Microsoft SQL Server tab. See Configuring high-frequency transaction log backups. If you want to configure transaction log backups to run at a high-frequency, review the recommendations. See Configuring the number of jobs allowed for backup operations.

Configuring high-frequency transaction log backups

Consider the following when you configure transaction log backups:

Schedules and unsupported recovery models

NetBackup skips database backups in certain situations. The first case is if the database recovery model for a database does not support the selected backup type. For example, the simple recovery model does not allow transaction log backups. The second case is for the master database, which is skipped for any backups other than full database backups. To back up the master database, you must have a full backup schedule and select Whole database in the backup selections. Specifically, the master database is skipped for the following types of backups: differential, filegroup, filegroup differential, file, and transaction log.

In these cases, NetBackup skips the backup of the database, but continues with the backup of the other databases that are protected by the policy. The backup completes with a status 0 and the job details indicate that the database was skipped.

Example backup schedules for a policy

Table: Examples of backup schedules shows an example of the schedules you can create for a single SQL Server Intelligent Policy.

Table: Examples of backup schedules

Schedule

Frequency

Backup window

Full Backup

Weekly

Sunday

12 hours

Differential Incremental Backup

Daily

Monday - Saturday

2 hours in the evening

Transaction Log backup

Per your RTO and RPO

Sunday - Saturday

24 hours

Note:

When the full or the differential schedule for the policy runs, the transaction log backup does not run until that schedule completes.