Veritas NetBackup™ Flex Scale Installation and Configuration Guide

To configure the NetBackup Flex Scale cluster

1. Open a web browser and connect to the NetBackup Flex Scale node to which you had assigned a public IP address earlier.

   Enter the following URL in the address bar:

   https://nodepublicIP:8443

   If you are using IPv6 addresses, use the following URL syntax:

   https://[nodepublicIP]:8443

   Here, nodepublicIP is the public IP address that you assigned to the eth1 management interface or bonded interface of the node earlier.

   Note:

   You can use this URL to connect to the node and launch the cluster configuration wizard only until the time the node is not part of the cluster. After the cluster is configured, the node is no longer accessible using this URL.

2. Sign in to the node using the root user account.

   Do the following on the sign in page:

   • Enter the following user credentials:

     User: root

     Password: P@ssw0rd

     Note:

     The root user account is used only during the cluster configuration. This account is blocked after the cluster is configured successfully.

     While viewing the cluster configuration status, if your session is terminated and you cannot login using the root and P@ssw0rd credentials, this mostly means the cluster configuration is successful. You can confirm by accessing the management infrastructure GUI using https://managmentConsoleIP:14161. If configuration has failed or is in progress, you will be able to log in to the configuration GUI using the root and P@ssw0rd credentials.

   • Click Sign in.

   
3. On the Welcome screen, select the deployment option. To configure both a NetBackup primary server and media servers in the cluster, select the Configure as a new domain with primary and media services option. To configure only media servers in the cluster, select the Configure as a scale-out media server for an existing NetBackup domain option. Review the information displayed on the Welcome screen, select I agree to the terms and conditions of End User License Agreement, and then click Get started.
   
4. On the Cluster Setup panel, you are presented with a set of configuration options. To configure the cluster, you can either click through each of these options and provide the required configuration details manually in the setup wizard or you can import a YML configuration file. The YML file contains the configuration settings in form of name-value pairs, which correspond to all the parameters that are displayed in the setup wizard.

   As a part of the cluster configuration, you can choose to install Emergency Engineering Binaries (EEBs), which provide critical fixes that are not included as part of the ISO image that is pre-installed on the NetBackup Flex Scale node. Ensure that all the required EEBs are installed before the cluster configuration. To install EEBs:

   • On the Cluster Setup panel, click Install add-ons and vendor packages.

   • Select and upload the EEBs that you want to install. On the Install add-ons tab, click Choose add-ons, select the EEBs, and then click Upload file.

     The uploaded EEBs are displayed and their status is shown as Available. The EEBs are installed in the order in which they are displayed. If the EEBs are required to be installed in a specific sequence, click the arrows in the Reorder column to change the installation sequence. If you want to delete the uploaded EEBs, select the EEBs and click Remove. You cannot delete EEBs after they are installed.

   • Install the EEBs. Select the EEBs and click Install.

     The selected EEBs are installed on all the nodes. If the EEBs are installed successfully on all the nodes, a notifications is displayed on the top of the page and the status is shown as Installed. If the installation fails on one of the nodes, the EEB is rolled back on all the nodes and the EEB status is shown as Available. If one of the selected EEBs fails to install and multiple EEBs are selected, the successive EEBs are not installed. You can continue with cluster configuration irrespective of the failure.

   To provide configuration inputs and begin with the cluster configuration, in the Select nodes box, click Start.

   
5. If you want to use a configuration file for providing the configuration details, on the Select Nodes panel click Import configuration file, select the YML configuration file, and then click Save. To continue with the cluster configuration go to step 11.

   If you want to provide the configuration details manually in the setup wizard, go to step 6.

6. On the Select Nodes panel, review the cluster settings and the names of the nodes that you want to configure in the cluster.

   Cluster settings:

   • Click Edit names and on the Edit name dialog box, specify the required parameters:

     Parameter	Description
     Cluster name	Specify a name for the NetBackup Flex Scale cluster. The following criteria apply: The cluster name can contain the following characters: a-z, 0-9, - The cluster name must start with a lowercase letter. The cluster name must not contain uppercase letters. The cluster name must include a minimum of 3 characters and can contain a maximum of 63 characters.
     Domain name	Specify the name of the domain that the nodes will be a part of. The name must be a fully qualified name. For example, mycompany.mydomain.com.

     The cluster name serves as a prefix for the node names. The serial number of the nodes is displayed, which helps you to identify the nodes and assign the node names accordingly. You can modify the node names if required. The following conditions are applicable:

     Which host name is assigned to which node

     • In the node name, the hostname can contain a maximum of 63 characters.

     • The host names need not be resolvable.

     • The Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of the node can contain a maximum of 253 characters, including all the dots used in the name.

       Node name FQDN (253 characters) = hostname (63 characters) + domain name (190 characters, including dots)

     • Ensure that the FQDN corresponding to the node names are unique in the domain. Node names can be the same as management interface name of that node but it can't be same as the hostname of any other FQDN.

   • Click Confirm.

   Nodes:

   A minimum of 4 healthy nodes are required to form a cluster. You can deploy a maximum of 16 nodes. The available nodes are discovered automatically. To rediscover the nodes, click Rescan.

   Note:

   Ensure that you click Rescan before you proceed.

   The panel displays the following details about each node:

   Label	Description
   Node name	Displays the auto-generated name for the node. The names are numerically sequenced based on the specified cluster name and domain.
   Status	Displays the current status of the node. A healthy status indicates that the node is ready to be part of the cluster. Note: You cannot add unhealthy nodes to the cluster.
   Size	Displays the maximum storage capacity available on the node.
   Model	Displays the appliance model number.
   Revision	Displays the model revision number.
   Serial number	Displays the unique serial number of the node.
   Primary Data(eth5)	Displays the MAC address of network interface eth5 on the node. This interface is used for the data network traffic.
   Management(eth1)	Displays the MAC address of network interface eth1 on the node. This interface is used for the cluster management network traffic.

   Download configuration file template or export configuration:

   • Click Generate configuration template if you want to download the default YML configuration file template (config.yml).

     The wizard prompts you whether you wish to specify an IP range for the required IP addresses.

     • Click Yes if you want NetBackup Flex Scale to automatically assign IP addresses based on the IP range that you specify.

     • Click No if you wish to manually specify all the required IP addresses.

     Based on your response, the YML configuration file that gets generated includes the IP address parameter in the appropriate syntax.

     You can manually edit the config.yml template file to add the necessary cluster parameter values, and then import that YML file again.

   • Click Export inventory CSV if you want to save the displayed node details as a comma separate values (csv) file for reference.

   Click Save to confirm the cluster and node settings.

   Note:

   Ensure that you select at least 4 healthy nodes. The driver node from where you launched the cluster configuration workflow is selected by default. You cannot select unhealthy nodes to be a part of the cluster as these are disabled for selection.

7. Configure the network settings for the data network, the management network, and the IPMI network for the cluster.

   To begin, in the Configure network box, click Start and then specify the following details:

   Data Network

   Specify the networking details for the data network. All the NetBackup operational data traffic, including communications with external hosts and services, is routed on this network. A data network is required to set up the cluster.

   Note:

   If you configure a DNS for the cluster, ensure that you use the same FQDN or the short name for the IP addresses for which there are entries in the DNS. The IP address and FQDNs which do not have an entry in DNS can still be used for configuration.

   • Routing settings

     Specify the network routing settings for the data network.

     Parameter	Description
     IPv4 | IPv6	Click IPv4 or IPv6 depending on the IP addressing that you wish to configure in the cluster.
     Subnet Mask	If using IPv4 public addresses, specify the subnet mask of the data network.
     Gateway	If using IPv4 public addresses, specify the IP address of the gateway server in your network.
     Prefix Length	If using IPv6 public addresses, specify the IPv6 prefix length.
     Router	If using IPv6 public addresses, specify the router address.

     Note:

     If you switch from IPv4 to IPv6 (or vice versa) after specifying the parameter inputs, then all the inputs entered until that point will be lost and you will have to enter them again.

   • Domain Name System (DNS)

     To specify the DNS server settings for the data network, select Enable DNS and specify the following details.

     Parameter	Description
     Domain name	Displays the domain name you specified in the cluster settings panel earlier. To modify this parameter, save and close this dialog box and go back to the Select nodes panel to edit the domain name.
     DNS server	Specify the IP address of the DNS server for the management and the data network.
     Search Domains	Specify the search domains for resolving host names and IP addresses. Use commas to separate multiple values.

   • Advanced network options

     Parameter	Description
     Interface Bonding	If you wish to use NIC bonding for high availability of the network interfaces, select Interface Bonding and then choose the bonding type from the drop-down list. Refer to the NetBackup Flex Scale Administrator's Guide for more details about NIC bonding support.
     VLAN ID	If you wish to use a pre-configured virtual LAN, specify the VLAN ID. The ID can be any value between 1 and 4095.

   • Media servers

     Specify a public IP address and either a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) or a short host name for the media server service for each node.

     Note:

     The name and the serial number is displayed for each node, so you can identify the nodes to which the media server IP addresses will be assigned.

     Parameter	Description
     Automatic | Custom	Choose how you wish to assign IP addresses to the media server service on each node. Click Automatic if you want NetBackup Flex Scale to automatically assign IP addresses from the IP range that you specify. FQDN is automatically resolved with DNS lookup if the Automatic option is selected. Click Custom if you want to specify the IP addresses manually.
     IP address	If using the Automatic option, specify an IP address range. Ensure that the IP range includes a sufficient number of IP addresses to assign, depending on the number of nodes. You can specify the IP address range separated by a dash. For example, 10.xx.xxx.192-10.xx.xxx.208. You can specify the IP address range in the CIDR format. For example, 10.xx.xxx.192/30. If you don't have an IP address range but want to avoid specifying FQDNs, you can specify comma-separated individual IP addresses. For example, 10.100.10.101,10.100.10.143,10.100.10.201,10.100.10.212
     FQDN | Short host Name	If using the Custom option, specify the FQDN or the short host name for the media server service on each node. The FQDN or the short host name that you specify can contain a maximum of 64 characters. The FQDN must resolve to a single IP address.
     IPv4 address	If using the Custom option, specify the IP address for the media server service on each node.

     Note:

     If you switch between Automatic and Custom after specifying the parameter inputs, then all the inputs entered until that point will be lost and you will have to enter them again.

   • MSDP engines

     Specify a public IP address and either a FQDN or a short host name for the MSDP engine service for each node.

     Note:

     The name and the serial number is displayed for each node, so you can identify the nodes to which the msdp engine IP addresses will be assigned.

     Parameter	Description
     Automatic | Custom	Choose how you wish to assign IP addresses to the MSDP engine service on each node. Click Automatic if you want NetBackup Flex Scale to automatically assign IP addresses from the IP range that you specify. FQDN is automatically resolved with DNS lookup if the Automatic option is selected. Click Custom if you want to specify the IP addresses manually.
     IP address	If using the Automatic option, specify an IP address range. Ensure that the IP range includes a sufficient number of IP addresses to assign, depending on the number of nodes. You can specify the IP address range separated by a dash. For example, 10.xx.xxx.192-10.xx.xxx.208. You can specify the IP address range in the CIDR format. For example, 10.xx.xxx.192/30. If you don't have an IP address range but want to avoid specifying FQDNs, you can specify comma-separated individual IP addresses. For example, 10.100.10.101,10.100.10.143,10.100.10.201,10.100.10.212
     FQDN | Short host name	If using the Custom option, specify the FQDN or the short host name for the MSDP engine service on each node. The FQDN or the short host name that you specify can contain a maximum of 64 characters. The FQDN must resolve to a single IP address.
     IPv4 address	If using the Custom option, specify the IP address for the MSDP engine service on each node.

     Note:

     If you switch between Automatic and Custom after specifying the parameter inputs, then all the inputs entered until that point will be lost and you will have to enter them again.

   • Click Next.

   Management Network

   Specify the networking details for the management network.

   • Routing settings

     Select Configure a separate management network and then specify the network routing settings for the management network.

     Configuring a separate network for the management traffic is optional. If you skip this step, all the cluster management traffic is automatically routed over the data network.

     Parameter	Description
     IPv4 | IPv6	Click IPv4 or IPv6 depending on the IP addressing that you wish to configure in the cluster.
     Subnet Mask	If using IPv4 public addresses, specify the subnet mask of the management network.
     Gateway	If using IPv4 public addresses, specify the IP address of the gateway server in your network.
     Prefix length	If using IPv6 public addresses, specify the IPv6 prefix length.
     Router	If using IPv6 public addresses, specify the router address.

   • Domain Name System (DNS)

     To specify the DNS server settings for the management network, select Enable DNS and specify the following details:

     Parameter	Description
     Domain name	Displays the domain name you specified in the cluster settings panel earlier. To modify this parameter, save and close this dialog box and go back to the Select nodes panel to edit the domain name.
     DNS server	Specify the IP address of the DNS server for the management network.
     Search Domains	Specify the search domains for resolving host names and IP addresses. Use commas to separate multiple values.

   • Advanced network options

     Parameter	Description
     Interface Bonding	If you wish to use NIC bonding for high availability of the management network interfaces (eth1 and eth2), select Interface Bonding and then choose the bonding type from the drop-down list.
     VLAN ID	If you wish to use a pre-configured virtual LAN, specify the VLAN ID. The ID can be any value between 1 and 4095.

   • Management Interfaces

     Specify the public IP address to be assigned to the designated management network interface on each node.

     The node names are displayed automatically.

     Note:

     The name and the serial number is displayed for each node, so you can identify the nodes to which the management interface IP addresses will be assigned.

     Parameter	Description
     Automatic | Custom	Choose how you wish to assign IP addresses to the management interfaces on each node. Click Automatic if you want NetBackup Flex Scale to automatically assign IP addresses from the IP range that you specify. Click Custom if you want to specify the IP addresses manually.
     IP address	If using the Automatic option, specify an IP address range. Ensure that the IP range includes a sufficient number of IP addresses to assign, depending on the number of nodes. You can specify the IP address range separated by a dash. For example, 10.xx.xxx.192-10.xx.xxx.208. You can specify the IP address range in the CIDR format. For example, 10.xx.xxx.192/30. If you don't have an IP address range but want to avoid specifying FQDNs, you can specify comma-separated individual IP addresses. For example, 10.100.10.101,10.100.10.143,10.100.10.201,10.100.10.212
     FQDN	If using the Custom option, specify the FQDN for the management interface on each node. The FQDN must resolve to a single IP address.
     IPv4 address	If using the Custom option, specify the IP address for the management interface on each node.

   • Click Next.

   IPMI Network

   Specify network details for the IPMI network. An IPMI network is used for system monitoring and management by directly connecting to the system hardware. It is independent of the host CPU, firmware, and operating system.

   This is an optional step. You can configure the IPMI network at any time after the cluster configuration.

   Select Configure a separate IPMI network and then specify the following details:

   • IPMI interfaces

     Specify a public IP address to be assigned to the designated IPMI network interface on each node.

     Parameter	Description
     Automatic | Custom	Choose how you wish to assign IP addresses to the IPMI interfaces on each node. Click Automatic if you want NetBackup Flex Scale to automatically assign IP addresses from the IP range that you specify. Click Custom if you want to specify the IP addresses manually.
     IP address	If using the Automatic option, specify an IP address range. Ensure that the IP range includes a sufficient number of IP addresses to assign, depending on the number of nodes. You can specify the IP address range separated by a dash. For example, 10.xx.xxx.192-10.xx.xxx.208. You can specify the IP address range in the CIDR format. For example, 10.xx.xxx.192/30.
     IPv4 address | IPv6 address	If using the Custom option, specify the IP address for the IPMI interface on each node.

   • Routing settings

     Specify the network routing settings for the IPMI network.

     Parameter	Description
     IPv4 | IPv6	Click IPv4 or IPv6 depending on the IP addressing that you wish to configure for the IPMI network.
     Subnet mask	If using IPv4 public addresses, specify the subnet mask of the IPMI network.
     Gateway	If using IPv4 public addresses, specify the IP address of the gateway server in your network.
     Prefix length	If using IPv6 public addresses, specify the IPv6 prefix length.
     Router	If using IPv6 public addresses, specify the router address.

   • Click Next.

   Custom hosts

   Configure a custom hosts file to map host names and domain to IP addresses so that it helps the system to resolve addresses quickly without querying the DNS.

   This is an optional step. You can create a custom hosts file at any time after the cluster configuration.

   • Select Configure a custom hosts file and then review the list of the host and IP mapping entries that are auto-generated based on the configuration inputs that you have provided so far.

   • You can add any additional host names as required.

     To add an entry, specify the IP address and FQDN in the respective fields and then click the plus icon that appears on the right side of the panel.

     You can specify both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses for the additional host entries.

   • Click Next.

   Summary

   • Review the network configuration settings that you have specified so far. To modify any settings, click the Edit button.

   • Click Save to confirm the network configuration settings.

8. Specify the network settings for the NetBackup Flex Scale infrastructure management UI, the NetBackup primary server, and the management server.

   To begin, in the Configure Cluster box, click Start and then specify the following details:

   Network

   • Infrastructure Management

     Parameter	Description
     Cluster name	Displays the cluster name you specified in the cluster settings panel earlier. To modify this parameter, save and close this dialog box and go back to the Select nodes panel to edit the cluster name.
     Console IPv4 | Console IPv6	Specify a public IP address for the NetBackup Flex Scale infrastructure management UI. The type of IP address, whether IPv4 or IPv6, depends on the IP addressing you specified for the management network's routing settings. This IP is used to access the NetBackup Flex Scale infrastructure management UI.
     Management Server FQDN	If you chose to deploy both the NetBackup primary server and media servers, specify a resolvable short host name or FQDN for the NetBackup Flex Scale management and API server. If the cluster is deployed with only media servers, NetBackup Flex Scale management and API server is not supported and the console IPv4 or IPv6 address is used to access the UI. The short host name or the FQDN that you specify can contain a maximum of 64 characters. Note: This is the internal management server of the NetBackup Flex Scale cluster. Do not specify the name of your public network gateway server here.
     Management Server IPv4 | Management Server IPv6	If you chose to deploy both the NetBackup primary server and media servers, specify a public IP address for the NetBackup Flex Scale management server. The type of IP address, whether IPv4 or IPv6, depends on the IP addressing you specified for the management network's routing settings. Note: This is the internal management gateway of the NetBackup Flex Scale cluster. Do not specify the IP address of your public network gateway server here. If a media server only cluster is deployed, the NetBackup Flex Scale management server is not supported and the console IPv4 or IPv6 address is used to access the UI.

   • NetBackup Primary Settings

     Specify the settings described in the table below if you opted for new NetBackup domain with both primary and media server deployment:

     Parameter	Description
     Host Name	Specify a resolvable short host name or FQDN for the NetBackup primary server service. The primary server service is configured as a highly available failover service and runs on any one of the cluster nodes. The short host name or the FQDN that you specify can contain a maximum of 64 characters. The FQDN for the primary server must belong to the same domain as that of the cluster nodes and the FQDN for the media server and MSDP engine services that you specified earlier.
     IPv4 | IPv6	Specify a public IP address for the NetBackup primary server service. The type of IP address, whether IPv4 or IPv6, depends on the IP addressing you specified for the data network's routing settings.

     Specify the following details if you opted for the media server only deployment option:

     Parameter	Description
     Primary server host name	Specify the FQDN or the short name of the NetBackup primary server that the cluster will connect to. The primary server is external to the cluster and must be already configured in an existing NetBackup domain. The FQDN can contain a maximum of 253 characters and the short host name can contain a maximum of 64 characters. The FQDN for the primary server must belong to the same domain as that of the cluster nodes and the FQDN for the media server and MSDP engine services that you specified earlier.
     API key	Specify the NetBackup API key, which is a pre-authenticated token that identifies a NetBackup user to NetBackup RESTful APIs. The user can use the API key in an API request header when a NetBackup API requires authentication. API keys can be created for authenticated NetBackup users. A specific API key is only created one time and cannot be recreated. Each API key has a unique key value and API key tag. Note: Only one API key can be associated with a specific user at a time. If you create a new key for a user that already has an API key, the existing key becomes invalid, leading to issues in cases where the key was used previously for configuring a cluster or used by users for accessing APIs.
     Media server gateway name	Specify a name that the primary server can use to identify all the media servers in the cluster. This name is used by the primary server to map and access all the media servers in the cluster.

   • Private IP Settings

     Parameter	Description
     Private IPv4	If using IPv4 addresses, specify a private subnet IP to be used for internal communication between the cluster nodes. For example, you can specify the IP as 172.16.0.1.
     Subnet Mask	Specify the subnet mask for the IP address that you specified earlier. The default supported private network subnet mask is 255.255.224.0. You must use a subnet that is equal or larger than 255.255.224.0.
     Private IPv6	If using IPv6 addresses, specify a private subnet IP to be used for internal communication between the cluster nodes.
     Prefix Length	If using IPv6 addresses, specify the IPv6 prefix length. The prefix length must be greater than or equal to 115.

     Note:

     The private network supports IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. You can specify both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses simultaneously.

   • Click Next.

   Cluster setting

   • MSDP engine account

     Specify a user account that can be used to access the MSDP engine containers. This account will have the permissions to manage all the storage on the NetBackup Flex Scale cluster nodes. This account is also used to set up NetBackup Auto Image Replication (AIR).

     Parameter	Description
     Username	Specify the name for the user account that can be used to access the NetBackup MSDP engine containers.
     Password	Specify the password for the user account that you specified earlier.
     Confirm password	Confirm the password for the user account that you specified earlier.

     The following are the rules for the credentials:

     • The user name and the password can be up to 62 characters in length. The user name and the password cannot be empty and cannot contain spaces and tabs.

     • You can use characters in the printable ASCII range (0x20-0x7E) except for the following characters:

       • Asterisk (*)

       • Forward slash (/)

       • Ampersand (&)

       • Dollar sign ($)

       • Percent sign (%)

       • Caret sign (^)

       • Angular brackets (<>)

       • Quotation mark (")

       • Comma (,)

       • Parentheses (())

       • Square brackets ([])

       • Single quotation mark (')

       • Curly brackets ({})

       • backtick or grave accent (`)

   • Region Settings

     Parameter	Description
     Timezone	From the drop-down list, select a time zone that you want to apply to the cluster nodes.
     NTP server	Specify an NTP server that you want to use to set and synchronize the system clocks on the cluster nodes. You can specify an IP address or an FQDN. The type of IP address depends on the data network routing settings that you specified earlier. If the data network is configured to use IPv4 addresses, the NTP server IP address must be an IPv4 address. Conversely, if the data network uses IPv6 addresses, the NTP server IP must be an IPv6 address. For example, time.google.com.

   • Disaster recovery

     Specify the settings described in the table below if you opted to deploy both NetBackup primary and media servers:

     Parameter	Description
     Passphrase	Enter the disaster recovery passphrase for the cluster.
     Confirm passphrase	Enter the passphrase again to confirm it.

   • Click Next.

   Security settings

   Lockdown modes provide additional levels of security for your data. With lockdown mode, you can create Write Once Read Many (WORM) storage and protect WORM data from being modified or deleted. You can also specify a retention period, which specifies the duration for which you want to protect the data.

   • Select lockdown mode

     You can choose from the following lockdown modes:

     • Normal: This mode is the default mode of the cluster. Normal mode does not support WORM storage and data retention capabilities.

     • Enterprise: In this mode, you can create WORM storage and define the duration for which you want to retain the data. In this mode, a user with Appliance administrator role can remove the retention lock and expire data but cannot reduce the retention period. Retention lock can be removed using only the MSDP Restrict Shell. A user with NetBackup administrator role can increase the retention period.

     • Compliance: In this mode, you can create WORM storage and define the duration for which you want to retain the data. However, you cannot expire data before the defined retention period. A user with NetBackup administrator role can increase the retention period.

     Note:

     After the initial configuration is complete, you have the option to change the lockdown mode. You can change the lockdown mode from normal to enterprise or compliance mode, or from enterprise to compliance mode.

     If you select enterprise or compliance mode, you can restrict remote access to the node by selecting the Restrict remote management access checkbox. This option is not available for normal lockdown mode. Restricting remote management access to nodes provides an additional level of data security and limits the privileges and operations that you can perform. You can view and perform limited operations in the IPMI web GUI but cannot  open the remote console. Physical access to the system is required to log on to the console. After you enable this restriction, a sysadmin user with IPMI role on an HPE platform has only Login and Virtual Power and Reset privileges. With these privileges, the user can only view settings in iLO and perform power-related operations.

     Ensure that the sysadmin user account with default password P@ssw0rd is present on all the nodes and that the sysadmin user account has full administrative privileges before you enable this restriction.

     Note:

     After you enable restricted remote access, you can disable this option if the appliance is in enterprise lockdown mode. If the lockdown mode is set to compliance, you cannot disable the remote access restriction. You can also choose to enable or disable remote access after the initial configuration is complete.

   • Storage settings

     Set the minimum and maximum retention time in hours, days, months, or years. The minimum retention time specifies the minimum duration for which the data cannot be modified or deleted if the cluster is in enterprise or compliance mode. Minimum retention period is one hour. The maximum retention time specifies the maximum duration for which data must be retained before it can modified or deleted.

     The maximum retention time is 30 years.

   • Click Next.

   Licenses

   Add the desired storage and NetBackup licenses to the cluster. You can add both the NetBackup and the storage license during the initial configuration.

   This step is optional. If you do not add a license at this stage, the cluster is automatically configured with a trial license. However, to maintain a working cluster, after the cluster configuration is complete, you must add a valid storage license using the NetBackup Flex Scale infrastructure management UI. To add a NetBackup license post cluster configuration, you must use the NetBackup Java Console UI.

   Parameter	Description
   Storage licenses	Click Add license to add one or more storage licenses to the cluster configuration. A valid storage license is required to maintain a working cluster.
   NetBackup licenses	Click Add a license to add a NetBackup license to the cluster configuration. A valid license is necessary to maintain a working cluster. NetBackup license is not required for cluster configuration if you opted for the media server only deployment option. Note: You can use the NetBackup Java Console UI to manage the NetBackup licenses that are added to the cluster.

   Summary

   • Review the network, cluster, security, and licensing settings that you have specified so far. To modify any settings, click the Edit button.

   • Click Save to confirm all the settings.

9. Add administrative user accounts to the cluster.

   If you opted to deploy the cluster with both NetBackup primary and media servers, assign NetBackup Flex Scale cluster management and NetBackup roles. If you opted to deploy the cluster with only media servers, assign NetBackup Flex Scale cluster management role.

   To begin, in the Add administrators box, click Start and specify the following details:

   Add users

   If you opted to deploy the cluster with both NetBackup primary and media servers, you must add at least one administrator account with the Appliance administrator and NetBackup administrator role to manage the NetBackup Flex Scale cluster system and NetBackup. If you opted to deploy the cluster with only media servers, you must add at least one administrator account with the Appliance administrator role to manage the NetBackup Flex Scale cluster system. You cannot assign the NetBackup administrator role to the account.

   Ensure that you do not add any of the default users that already exist such as the maintenance user, and do not specify a dictionary word as the password.

   Do the following:

   • Click Add Appliance and NetBackup Administrator.

   • On the Add default administrator dialog, specify the required parameters:

     Parameter	Description
     Username	Specify the name for the admin user account.
     Password	Specify the password for the admin user account.
     Confirm password	Confirm the password for the admin user account. The password must be at least 8 characters long and must fulfill the following requirements: Must contain at least one lowercase letter, one uppercase character, and a numeric digit Must contain one of the following special characters: !@#$%^&~ Must not be a dictionary word
     Appliance Administrator	Select this option to assign the NetBackup Flex Scale cluster administrator role to this user account. The cluster admin user account has the permissions to manage all the infrastructure components in the cluster such as the cluster nodes, cluster settings, and the cluster operations.
     NetBackup Administrator	Select this option to assign the NetBackup administrator role to this user account. This role has the permissions to manage the NetBackup services and operations in the cluster. Note: This role is applicable only if the cluster is deployed with both NetBackup primary and media servers.

   • Click Add to add the specified user account.

     Repeat this process to add additional user accounts as required. You can add up to 10 admin users.

     To edit or remove an existing user account, in the table row, click the action button that appears on the right and then select Edit or Remove.

   Change default passwords

   For increased security, password changes are enforced to ensure that known default passwords do not exist on the system. You must change the default password for the maintenance user and the sysadmin user before you configure the cluster. The maintenance user account with Maintenance User role is a default account that is present on all the nodes. Veritas recommends that you create a sysadmin user account with IPMI User role and default password P@ssw0rd on all the nodes that you want to add to the cluster. The sysadmin user account with IPMI role must be present on all the nodes to enforce password change. To change the password for the maintenance and sysadmin user accounts, click Set password. Specify the password and click Save.

   The password for the maintenance user must be at least eight characters in length and must include at least one uppercase, lowercase, numeric, and special character. The permitted special characters are: !@#$%^&~

   Dictionary words are not allowed.

   The password for the sysadmin user can be a maximum of 16 characters and cannot include white spaces and the special characters backslash (\) and exclamation point (!).

   Summary

   • Review the admin user accounts that you have added so far. To modify any settings, click the Edit button.

   • Click Save to confirm the user accounts.

10. Configure the Veritas Autosupport service.

    The AutoSupport service allows for proactive monitoring, management, and support of the cluster's health and performance. It identifies the probable risks and issues in the environment and provides alerts to admin users and service engineers. This mechanism allows you to manage such issues before they have an adverse effect on your production environment.

    Note:

    Veritas recommends that you configure AutoSupport for improved customer support experience and reduced downtime in case of failures.

    This step is optional. You can configure the Autosupport service at any time after the cluster configuration.

    To begin, in the Configure Autosupport box, click Start and then provide the following details:

    • Email service configuration

      Configure an SMTP email server to enable email-based alerts and notifications.

      Specify the following parameters:

      Parameter	Description
      Notification interval	Specify the notification interval, in minutes, for email-based alerts. Enter a value in multiples of 15 minutes.
      SMTP server	Enter the FQDN or the IP address (IPv4 or IPv6) of the SMTP server.
      Server port	Specify the port number to use for communicating with the SMTP server.
      Software administrator email	Specify the email address of the admin users who will be the recipients of software-related email alerts. Use commas to separate multiple entries.
      Hardware administrator email	Specify the email address of the admin users who will be the recipients of hardware-related email alerts. Use commas to separate multiple entries.
      Sender email	Specify the sender email address. The sender email is used as a source address for sending all email-based communications.
      SMTP account	Enter the SMTP server user account.
      Password	Enter the password of the SMTP server user account specified earlier.
      Encryption enabled	Select this option to enable encrypted communication.

    • SNMP service configuration

      Configure the SNMP service if you want to remotely monitor the cluster nodes using the SNMP protocol.

      • Click to expand the SNMP service configuration section and then click Enable SNMP to enable it.

      • Specify the following parameters:

        Parameter	Description
        SNMP server	Enter the FQDN or IP address (IPv4 or IPv6) of the SNMP server in your network.
        SNMP port	Specify the SNMP port. For example, 161.
        Community	Enter the community string to be used to authenticate the SNMP requests.

    • Call home and proxy settings

      Configure the Call Home and proxy settings to enable communication with the Veritas Call Home server for uploading system software and hardware diagnostics information.

      • Click Enable Call Home transmission to enable the option.

      • Click Enable proxy server to enable proxy server communication option and then specify the following parameters:

        Parameter	Description
        Proxy server	Enter the IP address or the FQDN of the proxy server in your network. If you use an IPv6 cluster, ensure that you specify an IP address for the proxy server.
        Proxy Port	Specify the port number to use for communicating with the proxy server.

      • Click Enable proxy tunneling to enable a secure communication channel with the Veritas Call Home server.

      • Select Authenticate proxy server and then specify the following parameters:

        Parameter	Description
        Proxy username	Specify the user account to use for authenticating communication requests to the proxy server.
        Proxy password	Enter the password of the user account specified earlier.

    • Click Save to confirm the specified settings.

11. The Cluster Setup panel is displayed. A green tick mark in the configuration options box indicates that all the required parameters have been specified.

    If you had opted to use the configuration file, the configuration settings that you specified in the configuration file as name-value pairs are displayed in the corresponding parameters in the setup wizard.

    

    To proceed, do the following:

    • Click Download Configuration if you want to save all the specified cluster configuration settings locally in a YML file. The YML file serves as a reference and can be used to import the settings if you want to reconfigure the cluster.

    • Click Review and configure. A summary page is displayed, which shows a summary of the all specified details for all the options.

      To validate the specified configuration details before you start with the cluster configuration, click Run precheck. This step is optional. However, running cluster configuration precheck helps you to identify issues earlier in the cycle. You can fix these issues before you start the configuration, which can help reduce the deployment time.

      

      When you click Run precheck, a list of tasks is displayed, which shows the type of checks that are performed. The page also displays the total number of errors and warnings, if any. If any of the tasks fail, click the task to view details about the error. After the precheck is complete, you can go back to the Cluster configuration summary page by clicking Back to summary or you can download the logs for further analysis by clicking Download logs. On the Cluster configuration summary page, click Edit and make the required changes to fix the issues. To view the result of the previous precheck, click View precheck results. To run the precheck again after fixing the issues, click View precheck results > Run precheck again.

      If you opt not to run the precheck, you can also review the details by clicking Edit for each of the options on the Cluster configuration summary page.

      To start the NetBackup Flex Scale cluster configuration process click Configure.

      If you choose not to run the precheck and click Configure, a message mentioning that you are configuring the cluster without running the precheck is displayed. If the precheck fails and you still continue with the cluster configuration, a message specifying that you are continuing with configuration while there are precheck errors is displayed.

      The Configuration Status page displays the progress of the cluster configuration.

      The following figure shows the Configuration Status page that is displayed when both the NetBackup primary and media servers are configured in the cluster:

      

      The setup wizard performs the following tasks:

      • Prepares all the cluster nodes and configures the cluster services.

      • Configures the data, management, and IPMI networks and sets up the infrastructure management console.

      • Configures all the components and services including the NetBackup primary server, media server, and MSDP engine services if both the NetBackup primary and media servers are deployed.

        Configures all the components and services including the media server and MSDP engine services if only media servers are deployed.

      • Changes the known default passwords for maintenance and sysadmin user accounts.

      • Configures AutoSupport services and performs basic validation tests.

      • Starts all the cluster and NetBackup services.

    Click View Details if you want to see the detailed list of tasks performed and their status.

    Note:

    If the NTP server was not set before the initial configuration then the timestamp of the tasks may not be consistent.

12. Wait for the Configuration Status page to confirm that the cluster is configured successfully. A confirmation message indicates that the cluster configuration process is complete.

    The following figure is an example of the status that is displayed after the cluster is configured successfully:

    

    If the configuration fails during the initial phase of preparing the nodes and configuring the cluster services, an error message is displayed and you are prompted to reconfigure the cluster. To restart the configuration process, on the Configuration Status page click Reconfigure. You are taken back to the Welcome screen where you can restart the cluster configuration process.

    If the configuration fails in a later phase while configuring NetBackup services, you are required to factory reset the nodes and then restart the configuration process. At this stage, on the Configuration Status page, you can click Download Logs to download the logs for analyzing the issues. To reset all the nodes to their default factory settings, click Factory reset. After the factory reset is complete, you are redirected to the https://nodepublicIP:8433 URL where you need to sign in with root and P@ssw0rd credentials to start the configuration process again.

13. If both primary and media servers are configured in the cluster, you can now proceed to the NetBackup Flex Scale web UI to configure protection plans and start protecting workloads. You can use the NetBackup Flex Scale web UI to manage both NetBackup and NetBackup Flex Scale infrastructure. On the Configuration Status page, click Continue to login to launch the NetBackup Flex Scale in a new browser window. On the sign in page, specify the user account that has both the Appliance administrator and the NetBackup Administrator role, which you created during the cluster configuration (refer to step 9 earlier), enter the password for the user account, and then click Sign in. Note that the URL to access the NetBackup Flex Scale is the IP address or the FQDN of the NetBackup Flex Scale management server that you specified during the cluster configuration (refer to step 8 earlier).

    https://ManagementServerIPorFQDN/webui

    

    To view the cluster infrastructure, click Cluster Management > Infrastructure.

    
    

    At this stage, you can also sign in to the NetBackup Flex Scale infrastructure management UI to view all the details about the cluster, nodes, storage, and services.

    Open a web browser and type the following URL in the address bar:

    https://ManagementServerIPorFQDN:14161

    If you are using IPv6 addresses, use the following URL syntax:

    https://[ManagementServerIP]:14161

    Here, ManagementServerIPorFQDN is the public IP address or FQDN that you specified for the NetBackup Flex Scale management server and API gateway during the cluster configuration.

    On the sign in page, specify the NetBackup Flex Scale administrator user account with the Appliance administrator role that you created during the cluster configuration, enter the password for the user account, and then click Sign in.

    

    For more information on the NetBackup Flex Scale web UI and how to use it to manage your NetBackup Flex Scale cluster, refer to the Veritas NetBackup Flex Scale Administrator's Guide .

14. If only media servers are configured in the cluster, you can sign in to the NetBackup Flex Scale infrastructure management UI to view all the details about the cluster, nodes, storage, and services. On the Configuration Status page, click Continue to login to launch the NetBackup Flex Scale infrastructure management UI using https://consoleIP:14161where consoleIP is the public IP address that you specified for the infrastructure management UI during the cluster configuration.

    On the sign in page, specify the NetBackup Flex Scale administrator user account and password that you created during the cluster configuration (refer to step 9 earlier) and then click Sign in.

    

    For more information on the NetBackup Flex Scale infrastructure management UI and how to use it to manage your NetBackup Flex Scale cluster, refer to the Veritas NetBackup Flex Scale Administrator's Guide .