Install the Agent - Non-Microsoft Clustered Environment on Windows - Virtual Server

This procedure covers agent installation for both VERITAS and HP Scalable NAS/PolyServe Clustered environments. To verify which platform is supported for the agent you are installing, see Clustering Support - Support.

Verify that all of the computers to which software will be installed satisfy the minimum requirements specified in System Requirements - Microsoft Windows File System iDataAgent for a cluster.

The following procedure describes the steps involved in installing the application agent and the Windows File System iDataAgent. If you choose to install additional components simultaneously, refer to the appropriate procedures for installation requirements and steps specific to the component. Note that when you install multiple components, the sequence of the install steps may vary.

Prepare for the virtual machine install as follows:

To trigger detection that the agent is being installed on a virtual node in a non-Microsoft cluster, it is mandatory that you create the bIgnoreClusterVMCheck registry key with a value of 1 on any node that is currently being installed.

For installs on a VERITAS cluster, locate the active node that is hosting the cluster resources (i.e., that has access to the shared disk) and perform the installation from this node to the virtual server.

For installs on a HP Scalable NAS/PolyServe Cluster,

• In the PolyServe Matrix Server, create a virtual host resource name that has an assigned TCP/IP address in the network. Provide a virtual host name (e.g., VirtualPolyServe.acme.com) and an Application name (e.g., VirtualPolyServe). Select all network Interfaces that will be available as hosts for the backup software services and click OK.
• From the Virtual Hosts tab in the PolyServe Matrix Server dialog box, locate the primary node for the virtual server you are installing, and perform the installation from the active (primary) host to the virtual server. An installation will also be required for each inactive node available to the vhost. You will be asked to provide the name of the active host for each inactive host installation.
• During installation, the list of disk groups on the Virtual Server Selection dialog box will appear blank and will need to be manually populated. For the diskgroup, provide the host name of the Virtual Host created for backup; e.g., VirtualPolyServe. For the Communication Interface Name, provide the fully qualified domain name of that host; e.g., VirtualPolyServe.acme.com
• Preferred nodes are equivalent to eligible hosts and the current owner node is always the active primary host.
• The client name should be equivalent to the vhost name and the interface name equals the vhosts fully qualified domain name.
• Passive installs are required for all inactive hosts and require you type in the name of the primary active host.

Review the following Install Requirements before installing the software:

General

• Agents should be installed only after the CommServe and at least one MediaAgent have been. Also, keep in mind that the CommServe^® software and MediaAgent must be installed and running (but not necessarily on the same computer), before you can install the Agent.
• This software should be installed in a CommCell component with current versions of the CommServe Server and MediaAgent software.
• Close all applications and disable any programs that run automatically, including anti-virus, screen savers and operating system utilities. Some of the programs, including many anti-virus programs, may be running as a service. Stop and disable such services before you begin. You can re-enable them after the installation.
• Ensure there is an available license on the CommServe software for the Agent.
• Verify that you have the software installation disc that is appropriate to the destination computer’s operating system.
  Make sure that you have the latest software installation disc before you start to install the software. If you are not sure, contact your software provider.

Firewall

• If the CommServe^® Server, MediaAgent and/or Clients communicate across two-way firewall(s):
  • Ensure port 8400 is allowed connections through the firewall.
  • In addition a range of bi-directional ports (consecutive or discrete) must also be allowed connections through the firewall.

   For information on configuring the range of ports, see Port Requirements for Two-way Firewall.

• If the CommServe Server, MediaAgent and/or Clients communicate across one-way firewall(s):
  • Identify a range of outbound ports (consecutive or discrete) for use by the software.

   For information on configuring the range of ports, see Port Requirements for One-way Firewall.

• If the MediaAgent/Client communicates with the CommServe Server across a one-way firewall, you must add the MediaAgent/Client host name (or the IP address) in the CommServe computer before installing the necessary software on the MediaAgent/Client computer.

Cluster

• Check the following on the cluster computer in which you wish to install the software:
  • Cluster software is installed and running.
  • Active and passive nodes are available.
  • Disk array devices configured with access to the shared array.
  • Public Network Interface Card is bound first, before the private Network Interface Card. (Does not apply to NetWare Cluster.)

• To trigger detection that the agent is being installed on a virtual node in a non-Microsoft cluster, it is mandatory that you create the bIgnoreClusterVMCheck registry key with a value of 1 on the node that is currently being installed.

Data Classification Enabler

In a clustered environment, Data Classification is installed only on the physical nodes. The Data Classification software itself will run just on the physical nodes and keep the metafile information for each volume on the same volume. By installing the Data Classification Enabler on the physical nodes of the cluster, Data Classification will be automatically enabled on the virtual node(s). See Install Data Classification for installing the software in a clustered environment.

• Log on to the active node as the Domain User with administrative privileges to all nodes on the cluster.

Getting Started

Cluster Selection

Select Components for Installation

Firewall Configuration

Configuration of Other Installation Options

SQL Instance Name

Storage Policy Selection

Client Group Selection

Content Indexing Engine Option

Exchange Database and Mailbox Options

This section is applicable if you are installing Exchange Database and/or Exchange Mailbox iDataAgents.

Exchange Offline Mining Tool Options

This section is applicable if you are installing Exchange Database Mining Tools.

Download and Install Latest Packs

Verify Summary of Install Options

Schedule Automatic Update

Setup Complete

General

• Install post-release updates or Service Packs that may have been released after the release of the software. If you are installing a Service Pack, verify and ensure that it is the same version as the one installed in the CommServe Server. Alternatively, you can enable Automatic Updates for quick and easy installation of updates in the CommCell component.
• After installing the Agent, you may want to configure the Agent before running a data protection operation. The following list includes some of the most common features that can be configured:
  • Configure your subclients - see Subclients for more information.
  • Schedule your data protection operations - see Scheduling for more information.
  • Configure Alerts - See Alerts and Monitoring for more information.
  • Schedule Reports - See Reports for more information.

The software provides many more features that you will find useful. See the Index for a complete list of supported features.

Agent Specific

• The following configuration tasks are required before performing an Archive Operation using this DataArchiver Agent:

  • Create a Subclient - see Subclients - Migration Archiver Agents for more information.

  • Archiving Rules are initially disabled by default. You must clear the Disable All Rules option in the Subclient Properties (Archiving Rules) or (Rules) tab and configure the archiving rules before conducting rules-based Archive Operations.

• After the installation, you must use the system to add an instance for the iDataAgent so that you can back up the SQL databases. To add an instance, see Add a SQL Server Instance for step-by-step instructions. Instances are automatically discovered if enabled during installation or in the agent Properties dialog box. For more information, see Automatically Discovered Instances.

• Several configuration tasks are required before you schedule or run content indexing operations on the data. See Configuration - Content Indexing and Search page for more information.

• Certain configuration tasks must be performed prior to using the Exchange Offline Mining Tools. For more information, see Configuration.

Disaster Recovery Considerations

• Before you use your agent, be sure to review and understand the associated full system restore (or disaster recovery) procedure. The procedure for some agents may require that you plan specific actions or consider certain items before an emergency occurs.  See Disaster Recovery for more information regarding your agent.

Cluster

• If the passive node was not available while installing/upgrading the software, you must manually install/upgrade the software on the passive node now. (See Manually Installing the Software on a Passive Node for step-by-step instructions.)
• By default, a failure of MediaAgent or Agent software on the active node in a Windows, Veritas, or HP Scalable NAS/PolyServe Cluster will not cause a failover to be initiated. For information on how to change this default behavior, see Clustering Support - Failovers.

• Configuring VERITAS Cluster Resources

  In case of VERITAS Cluster you must manually install/upgrade the software on all the available Nodes.

  For installs/upgrades on the VERITAS Cluster, complete the following procedures for the agent. These procedures can be completed using the VERITAS Cluster Administrator.

  Create the Cluster Resources for Services

  Once the physical nodes and the virtual machine are installed/upgraded, services should be added as generic services. Also, you may want to designate the services as "critical" if you want to cause the virtual machine to fail over if the associated service stops.

  1. In Windows Services, locate the services for each installed/upgraded cluster (e.g., Bull Calypso Cluster Plugin (penodevn1_netwo) (instance001)) right-click and select Properties, and locate the service name in the General tab (e.g., GxClusPlugin (penodevn1_netwo) (Instance001))

     The service name is case- and space-sensitive, so record it exactly as it appears.

  2. In Cluster Administrator, navigate to the appropriate Cluster group. Create a generic service resource for the cluster plugin service.
  3. If you want an automatic failover to occur, mark the resource as Critical and Enabled.
  4. Repeat this procedure for each client installed on the cluster.

  Create Service Dependencies

  1. In Cluster Administrator, click Resources.
  2. Click Link and make the Cluster plugin resource dependent upon the Mount resource and the Lanman service.

  Associate Services with the Current Active Node

  1. In Cluster Administrator, navigate to the appropriate GenericService group.
  2. Right-click the cluster plugin resource. From the short-cut menu, click Online and the name of the current active node.

  Important Considerations

  • Windows File System:

    Backups of local physical node volumes from virtual nodes are not recommended. Set the virtual node default subclient content to the shared disk resource(s) instead of using auto detection (/), or create a subclient to use for backups with the shared disk resource(s).

  • Image Level

    For Non-MicroSoft cluster, create the file <JobResults Directory>\CVClusterVolumes.txt with a list of drives in it. For example, the file can contain "D: E: F:".

• Configuring HP Scalable NAS/PolyServe Cluster Resources

  For installs/upgrades on the HP Scalable NAS/PolyServe Cluster, complete the following procedures for the agent.

  Create and Use Scripts to Administer Virtual Machine Services

  You should create and use three scripts to administer virtual machine services:

  • Probe script is used to reveal the state of the specified services. This is done using the GxSCMCmd.exe utility.
  • Start script is used to start services.
  • Stop script is used to stop services.

  Create a probe script to have the status of both the Bull Calypso Communications Service (GxCVD) and the Bull Calypso Event Manager Service (GxEvMgrC) checked. In the probe script, include the GxSCMCmd.exe utility by name in the appropriate command. (This utility is available from the Resource Pack. See Tools and Utilities for more information.) Create a folder (e.g., m:\GxSCMCmd) on a shared disk that the virtual host you created has access to. Copy the GxSCMCmd.exe utility and the script files you created (probe.bat, start.bat, stop.bat) to this folder. The utility will return the state of the specified services: '0' if the services are running or '1' if services are stopped. For an error condition, '-1' is returned. Note that the service name includes the name of the client and the name of the instance. To avoid error in providing the vhost name and instance name in the path of scripts, copy the key name from here: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\GXClusPlugIn (vhostname) (Instance00x)

  These examples provide sample script names, locations and virtual host name as suggested names not requirements.

  The command syntax is:

  GxSCMCmd.exe -IsRunning <list of service name>

  For example, your probe script (e.g., m:\GxSCMCmd\gxprobe.bat) may appear as follows:

  @echo off

  if'%MX_ACTIVE_STATE%'='INACTIVE' exit 0

  m:\GxSCMCmd\GxSCMCmd.exe -IsRunning "GxClusPlugIn (virtualpolyserve) (Instance001)"

  if ERRORLEVEL 0 exit 0

  exit 1

  Be sure to copy the GxSCMCmd.exe utility to the shared disk resource. Also, be sure to include the probe script on the shared disk.

  The stop and start scripts must also contain the registry entry for the virtual machine service names. Your start script (e.g., m:\GxSCMCmd\gxstart.bat) may appear as follows:

  @echo off

  C:\WINDOWS\system32\net.exe start "GxClusPlugIn (virtualpolyserve) (Instance001)"

  exit 0

  Your stop script (e.g., m:\GxSCMCmd\gxstart.bat) may appear as follows:

  @echo off

  C:\WINDOWS\system32\net.exe stop GxClusPlugIn (virtualpolyserve) (Instance001)

  exit 0

  Add the Customer Service Monitor

  Add the custom service monitor to the virtual host configuration in the PolyServe Matrix Server console.

  1. Ensure that the virtual host name <virtualpolyserve> is online.
  2. From the Services MMC snap-in, verify or manually start the cluster plugin service, "Bull Calypso Cluster Plugin (virtualpolyserve) (Instance00x)", on the active primary node for the Vhost virtualpolyserve
  3. From the PolyServe Matrix Server, click the Virtual Hosts tab.
  4. Right click Virtual Host <virtualpolyserve> and then Add Service Monitor.
  5. For the Monitor Type field in the Add Service Monitor dialog box, click CUSTOM.
  6. Assign a name to the service monitor by typing the name in the Name field.
  7. In the User probe script field, type the path to the probe script that calls the GxSCMCmd.exe command (on the share disk)
  8. Click Advanced.
  9. From the Advanced Service Configuration dialog box, click the Scripts tab.
  10. In the Script pathname: Start field, type the path to the start script (shared disk). In the corresponding Timeout (seconds) field, type a timeout value greater than 60 seconds.
  11. In the Script pathname: Stop field, type the path to the stop script (shared disk). In the corresponding Timeout (seconds) field, type a timeout value greater than 60 seconds.
  12. Click OK once, then again.

  The monitor should now start, and the primary node should now be active. Failover will occur if services are disabled on the primary node, and services in such a case will move to a secondary node.