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Veritas™ System Recovery 18 Service Pack 3 Management Solution Administrator's Guide

Last Published: 2019-04-15

Product(s): System Recovery (18.0.3)

About running command files during a backup

You can use command files (.exe programs with no user interface, .cmd, .bat) and configure them to run during all phases of a backup. You can use command files to integrate with any backup routines that you may run on the client computer or to integrate with the applications that may use a drive on the client computer.

Note:

You cannot run the command files that include a graphical user interface, such as notepad.exe. Running such command files causes the backup job to fail.

You can run a command file during any of the following stages during the creation of a recovery point:

Run before snapshot creation
Run after snapshot creation
Run after recovery point creation

Table: Command Files Settings options

Option	Description
Use command file package to deliver command files to the local machine	Indicates if you intend to deploy the Veritas System Recovery command file package that is stored on the Notification Server computer. See Deploying the command files package to client computers for use during a backup. When you deselect this option, you can specify a folder on a network share where the command files are stored for deployment.
Command files folder	Lets you specify the location of command files if you want them to be located in a place other than the default location. You can also specify a location on a per-job basis, as well as specify a location that can be shared among several computers. If you specify a network location, you are prompted for network credentials.
User name	Lets you specify the user name to a command file folder that is located in a network path.
Password	Lets you specify the password to a command file folder that is located in a network path.
Confirm password	Lets you retype the password to a command file folder that is located in a network path.
Run before snapshot creation	Lets you run a command file after a backup has started and before a recovery point is created. You can run a command during this stage to prepare for the recovery point creation process. For example, you can close any open applications that use the drive. Note: If you use this option, be sure that the command file has an error recovery mechanism built into it. If the computer has one or more services that must be stopped at this stage (such as stopping a non-VSS aware database or a resource-intensive application), and the command file does not contain any form of error recovery, one or more of the stopped services may not be restarted. An error in the command file can cause the recovery point creation process to stop immediately. No other command files can run.
Run after snapshot creation	Lets you run a command file after a snapshot is created. Running a command during this stage is a safe point for allowing services to resume normal activity on the drive while continuing the recovery point creation. Because the snapshot takes only a few seconds to create, the database is in the backup state momentarily. A minimal number of log files are created.
Run after recovery point creation	Lets you run a command file after the recovery point file is created. You can run a command during this stage to act on the recovery point itself. For example, you can copy it to an offline location.
Timeout (applies to each stage)	Lets you specify the amount of time (in seconds) that a command file is allowed to run.

When you use command files (.exe, .cmd, .bat) during a backup, stop and restart non-VSS-aware databases (Windows 2000) that you want to back up with Veritas System Recovery.

See About backing up non-VSS-aware databases.

Any command files that you specify in the Command File Settings panel can be deployed using one of two different methods. You can choose to deploy command files as a software delivery policy to a resource target. Or, you can specify a UNC path to a folder on a network share where the command files reside. You need to specify the user name and password to access the folder location with create, read, and write privileges.

See Deploying the command files package to client computers for use during a backup.

When you deploy the backup policy to client computers, any command files that you specified are also assigned to the backup. Ensure that you have the necessary rights to run each command file.

To use a Visual Basic script file (.vbs) during a backup, you can create a batch file (.bat) that runs the script. For example, you can create a batch file that is called stop.bat that contains the following syntax:

Cscript script_filename.vbs

Make sure that Cscript precedes the Visual Basic script file name.

Warning:

The command files that you install and use (such as an .exe) cannot depend on any user interaction or have a visible user interface while they run during a backup. You should test all of the command files you intend to use, outside of Veritas System Recovery, before you use them during a backup.

Veritas System Recovery runs any script using a high privilege account. When the command files are to be located at a place other than the default location, the Command Files folder specifies the location of these files.

Note:

Veritas recommends that only high privilege users or an administrator have the permission to modify a backup script and access the Command Files folder.

When the backup begins, the command file is run during the specified stage. The backup is stopped if an error occurs while a command file is running. Or, the backup is stopped if the command file does not finish in the time you specified (regardless of the stage). In either case, the command file is terminated (if necessary), and the error information is logged and displayed.

See Creating an advanced backup policy.