NetBackup™ Deployment Guide for Kubernetes Clusters

Last Published:
Product(s): NetBackup & Alta Data Protection (10.4.0.1)
  1. Introduction
    1.  
      About Cloud Scale deployment
    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.  
        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
      3.  
        Enabling intelligent catalog archiving
      4.  
        Enabling security settings
      5.  
        Configuring email server
      6.  
        Reducing catalog storage management
      7.  
        Configuring zone redundancy
      8.  
        Enabling client-side deduplication capabilities
  3. Section II. Deployment
    1. Deploying operators
      1.  
        Deploying the operators
    2. Deploying Postgres
      1.  
        Deploying Postgres
      2.  
        Enable request logging, update configuration, and copying files from/to PostgreSQL pod
    3. Deploying Cloud Scale
      1.  
        Installing Cloud Scale
    4. 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
    5. 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.  
          Recommendation for media server volume expansion
        2.  
          (AKS-specific) Allocating static PV for Primary and Media pods
        3.  
          (EKS-specific) Allocating static PV for Primary and Media pods
    2. Monitoring Snapshot Manager
      1.  
        Overview
      2.  
        Logs of Snapshot Manager
      3.  
        Configuration parameters
    3. 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
    4. 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
    5. 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
    6. Managing PostrgreSQL DBaaS
      1.  
        Changing database server password in DBaaS
      2.  
        Updating database certificate in DBaaS
    7. 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
    8. 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 and Media servers
      1.  
        Overview
      2.  
        Patching of containers
    4. Upgrading
      1.  
        Upgrading Cloud Scale deployment for Postgres using Helm charts
      2. Upgrading NetBackup individual components
        1.  
          Upgrading NetBackup operator
        2. Upgrading NetBackup application
          1.  
            Upgrade NetBackup from previous versions
          2.  
            Procedure to rollback when upgrade of NetBackup fails
        3.  
          Upgrading MSDP Scaleout
        4. Upgrading Snapshot Manager
          1.  
            Post-migration tasks
    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
      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
  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

Elastic media server

All the replicas for the media server are always up and running which incurs unnecessary cost to customers. The basic media server pod power management (Elastic media server) feature provides Auto scaling of media server replicas based on the CPU and memory usage to reduce the cost.

Enabling/disabling the auto scaling feature

For enabling/disabling the auto scaling feature, following media server CR inputs are required:

  • replicas: Describes the maximum number of replicas that the media server can scale up to.

  • minimumReplicas: Describes the minimum number of replicas of the media server running. This is an optional field. If not specified, the value for minimumReplicas field will be set to the default value of 1.

To enable the elasticity of media server, the value of replicas must be more than value of minimumReplicas.

To disable the autoscaling feature of media server, ensure that the value of replicas is equal to the value of minimumReplicas.

Note:

The values of minimumReplicas and replicas must be greater than 0 to enable the elasticity of media server.

Status attributes of elastic media server CR

Following table describes the ElasticityAttributes that describes the attributes associated with the media server autoscaler. These attributes are only applicable if autoscaler is running.

Fields

Description

ExpectedReplicas

Indicates the ideal number of replicas computed by media server autoscaler that must be running. Default value is 0. It will be 0 if media server autoscaler is disabled.

Note:

If autoscaler is enabled (after that autscaler is tuned off) the value would be set to the value of minimumReplicas. It will be minimumReplicas even if media server autoscaler is disabled.

ActiveReplicas

Indicates the actual number of replicas that must be running to complete the ongoing operations on the media servers. Default value is 0. It will be 0 if media server autoscaler is disabled.

Note:

If autoscaler is enabled (after that autscaler is tuned off) the value would be set to the value of minimumReplicas. It will be minimumReplicas even if media server autoscaler is disabled.

NextIterationTime

Indicates the next iteration time of the media server autoscaler that is, the media server autoscaler will run after NextIterationTime only. Default value is empty.

NextCertificateRenewalTime

Next time to scale up all registered media servers for certificate renewal.

Configuration parameters

  • ConfigMap

    A new ConfigMap with name nbu-media-autoscaler-configmap is created during deployment and the key-value pairs would be consumed for tuning the media server autoscaler. This ConfigMap is common to all the media server CR objects and supports the following keys:

    Parameters

    Description

    memory-low-watermark-in-percent

    Low watermark for memory usage.

    memory-high-watermark-in-percent

    High watermark for memory usage.

    cpu-low-watermark-in-percent

    Low watermark for CPU usage.

    cpu-high-watermark-in-percent

    High watermark for CPU usage.

    scaling-interval-in-seconds

    Interval after which media server autoscaler should run.

    stabilitywindow-time-in-seconds

    CPU and memory usage is calculated between two time intervals. This key indicates the time interval to be considered for collecting usage.

    stability-count

    CPU and memory usages are calculated by averaging out on multiple readings. This key indicates the number of readings to be considered.

    graceful-shutdown-interval-in-seconds

    The time interval after which the media server autoscaler should run incase it is not able to scale in due to running jobs on media server pods.

    delayed-scalein-notifications-interval-in-minutes

    The time interval between two successive notifications in the event that a scale in does not occur.

  • Media server scaling

    Parameters

    Description

    Scale-out

    If the CPU or memory consumption is above the specified value provided in configMap but if any existing media server is idle that is, no jobs are running on it, then scale-out will not be performed. If all the existing media servers which are ready have jobs running on them, media server autoscaler will scale out a media server pod.

    Scale-in

    If the CPU and memory consumption is below the specified values provided in configMap, media server autoscaler will scale in the media server pods. Ensure that the running jobs are completed.

    Note:

    Media server autoscaler scales out single pod at a time but can scale in multiple pods at a time.

    Note:

    If the scale-in does not happen due to background processes running on the media server, a notification would be sent on NetBackup Web UI after regular time interval as configured in the autoscaler ConfigMap. For more details, see the following section:

    The time taken for media server scale depends on the value of scaling-interval-in-seconds configuration parameter. During this interval, the jobs would be served by existing media server replicas based on NetBackup throttling parameters. For example, Maximum concurrent jobs in storage unit, Number of jobs per client, and so on.

Cluster's native autoscaler takes some time as per scale-down-unneeded-time attribute, which decides on the time a node should be unneeded before it is eligible to be scaled down. By default this is 10 minutes. To change this parameter, edit the cluster-autoscaler's current deployment settings using the following commands and then edit the existing value:

  • AKS: az aks update -g $RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME -n

  • EKS: kubectl -n kube-system edit deployment cluster-autoscaler

Note the following:

  • For scaled in media servers, certain resources and configurations are retained to avoid reconfiguration during subsequent scale out.

    • Kubernetes services, persistent volume claims and persistent volumes are not deleted for scaled in media servers.

    • Host entries for scaled in media servers are not removed from NetBackup primary server. Hence scaled in media server entries will be displayed on Web UI / API.

  • For scaled down media servers, the deleted media servers are also displayed on Web UI/API during the credential validation for database servers.

Certificate renewal scheduling

In order to ensure that the certificates are renewed on the media server replicas for which the pods were scaled in by media server autoscaler for longer duration, the NetBackup operator would scale out all the media server replicas once in a month for which certificate was issued. The scaled-out media server replicas would be then scaled in as per media server autoscaler.

More Information

Troubleshooting AKS and EKS issues