To Capture
Metadata Records from the Source Client(s):Topics | How To | Support | Related Topics
CommCell Migration provides the facility to migrate the metadata records from one CommCell to another CommCell, either temporarily or permanently. CommCell migration can be used in the following situations:
When two or more CommCells have to be merged for the sake of operational convenience.
Use the steps described in Capturing Metadata Records to capture the metadata records from the source CommCell. Merge these records in the destination CommCell as described in Merging Metadata Records.
When computers are relocated, or for the purpose of load-balancing some Clients may have to be attached to another CommCell, requiring permanent migration of the metadata records associated with these Clients.
Use the steps described in Capturing Metadata Records to capture the metadata records associated with the Clients that you wish to permanently migrate. Make sure to specify only the names of Clients that you wish to migrate during the capture. Merge these records in the destination CommCell as described in Merging Metadata Records.
When a copy of the Client(s) in the CommCell are maintained in another site. In this case, the Client continues to remain in the original CommServe, but the metadata records associated with the Client is restored to another computer in another CommCell, using the cross-server restore operation.
Use the steps described in Capturing Metadata Records to capture the metadata records associated with the Clients that you wish to migrate temporarily. Make sure to specify only the names of Clients that you wish to migrate during the capture. Merge these records in the destination CommCell as described in Merging Metadata Records.
You can migrate a client from a CommCell in the current version to a CommCell in the immediate previous version. This type of migration is useful when you operate multiple versions of CommCell. Also, it provides a fallback mechanism while upgrading the CommCell to the next version.
See Migrate Clients to a CommCell in a Different Version for step-by-step instructions.
Client computers, including all Agents installed on the Client can be migrated to another CommCell. (See Support Information - CommCell Migration for information on component not supported.)
CommServe and MediaAgents cannot be migrated. In the case of multi-platform computers (e.g., computers with MediaAgent and Client software, or CommServe, MediaAgent and Client software) only the Client and the metadata records associated with the Client are migrated. If you need to migrate the MediaAgents or hardware devices, they must be freshly installed and configured in the destination CommCell.
The following components associated with a Client are migrated:
The following components associated with a Client are not migrated:
CommCell migration is a two step process:
This feature requires a Feature License to be available in the CommServe® Server.
Review general license requirements included in License Administration. Also, View All Licenses provides step-by-step instructions on how to view the license information.
Consider the following before you capture the necessary metadata records associated with the clients that you wish to migrate to another CommCell:
Also note that only data secured using a Permanent license for the CommServe will be migrated. All data secured using an Evaluation license will not be migrated.
The following metadata records will NOT be migrated:
Use the following procedure to capture the information associated with Client(s) that you wish to migrate to another CommCell.
Required Capability: Capabilities and Permitted Actions
To Capture
Metadata Records from the Source Client(s):
Usage:
qoperation capture -c client -dfn dumpfile [-dbn databasename] [-afn answerfile] [-st starttime] [-et endtime] [-u username] [-p password] [-rp alternate database path][-af argsfile] [-h]
Description:
This command captures information from a single client or multiple clients and stores the information in the form of a database on the CommServe. An answer file is also created which can be edited by an user during the merge operation. This answer file can be created either on the CommServe or on the local client machine. If the database file path is an UNC path, then the command line operation will prompt the user for impersonation details. On successful completion, qoperation capture displays the message Capture Successful in the console.
In case of an error, an error code and the error description are displayed in the following format:
capture: Error errorcode: errordescription
Options:
Command Line
| -c | Name of the client to capture |
| -dfn | Full path and the dump file name on the CommServe |
| -dbn | Name of the database from which you wish to capture data.
(This is useful when you want to capture data from a database other than the current CommServe.) |
| -afn | Full path and the answer file name on the local Client |
| -st | The start date and time from which data will be captured. The Start date and time must be in Unix time format. |
| -et | The end date and time until which data must be captured. The end date and time must be in Unix time format. |
| -u | User name, if database location is an UNC path |
| -p | Password, if database location is an UNC path |
| -rp | Alternative database restore path. This option is useful when migrating clients in the clustered environment. In a cluster, the CommServe binaries are installed on the physical server and the database is located on the shared disk resource. As the capture and merge operations are executed on the physical server that hosts the binaries, the -rp option provides a way to specify the path to the shared disk resource in which the database resides. (if this option is not specified, the command will by default look for the database in the same drive in which the binaries reside and the operation will fail.) |
| -af | Reads arguments from a file |
| -h | Displays help |
| Dependent jobs of any of the jobs within the specified time range (-st and -et) will also be captured, irrespective of whether they fall in the range or not. |
Argument File
| clients | [list] List of clients to capture |
| dumpfilename | [string] Full path and the dump file name on the CommServe |
| databasename | [string] Name of the database from which you wish
to capture data. (This is useful when you want to capture data from a database other than the current CommServe) |
| answerfile | [string] Full path and the answer file name on the local Client |
| startime | [time] Start date and time from which data will be captured |
| endtime | [time] End date and time until which data must be captured |
| user | [string] User name, if database location is an UNC path |
| password | [string] Password, if database location is an UNC path |
Diagnostics:
Possible exit status values are:
0 - Successful completion.
1 - CLI usage failures, due to the use of an unsupported option or missing
argument.
2 - Any other failure.
Example:
Capture a client with the name client1, save the information in a dump
file at c:\capturedb on the CommServe computer, and save the answer file
at C:\afile on the local client.
E:\commandline>qoperation capture -c client1 -dfn c:\capturedb
-dbn db -afn c:\afile
|
WARNING As a precaution, mark media (tape and optical media) associated with the source CommCell as READ ONLY before performing a data recovery operation in the destination CommCell. |
For information on how to obtain the media list, see Obtain the List of Media Associated with the Migrated Clients.
A copy of this folder(s) must be available in the MediaAgent computer in the destination CommCell, when you perform the merge operation.
You can now merge the metadata records in the destination CommCell.
Consider the following before you merge the information in the destination CommCell:
In the case of Clients that are permanently migrated, ensure that sufficient licenses associated with the Agents installed on the Client are available in the destination CommCell.
|
WARNING As a precaution, mark media (tape and optical media) associated with the source CommCell as READ ONLY before performing a data recovery operation in the destination CommCell. |
The folder containing the capture information must have read-write access.
Use the following procedure to merge the information associated with the clients that you wish to migrate in the new CommCell:
Required Capability: Capabilities and Permitted Actions
To Merge
the Metadata Records in the Destination CommCell:
Once you have reviewed the Pre-Merge Considerations, you are ready to merge the metadata records from the source CommCell from the command line using the qoperation merge command, as described below:
Usage:
qoperation merge -dfn dumpfile [-afn answerfile] [-u username] [-p password] [-cl y|n] [-rt y|n] [-rp alternate database path] [-af argsfile] [-h]
Description:
This command merges a given captured database into a target CommCell. The database should reside on the CommServe and the user should supply the database name and the location.
This command also supports an option to read the answer file for the merge configuration. If the database file path is an UNC path, then the command line prompts the user to enter the impersonation details. You can specify whether or not to consume a license during this merge.
Upon successful completion, qoperation merge displays the message "Merge Successful" in the console.
In case of an error, an error code and the error description are displayed in the following format: "merge: Error errorcode: errordescription"
Options:
Command Line
| -dfn | Path and Dump file name on the CommServe |
| -afn | Answer file name (with the path) on the client that was generated during capture |
| -u | User name, if database location is an UNC path |
| -p | Password, if database location is an UNC path |
| -cl | y or n - This option determines whether a licenses is consumed or not for the merged client. |
| -rt | y or n - This option determines whether or not to mark the media as
reusable in the new CommCell.
|
| -rp | Alternative database restore path. This option is useful when migrating clients in the clustered environment. In a cluster, the CommServe binaries are installed on the physical server and the database is located on the shared disk resource. As the capture and merge operations are executed on the physical server that hosts the binaries, the -rp option provides a way to specify the path to the shared disk resource in which the database resides. (if this option is not specified, the command will by default look for the database in the same drive in which the binaries reside and the operation will fail.) |
| -af | Reads arguments from a file |
| -h | Displays help |
Argument File
| dumpfilename | [string] Path and Dump file name on the CommServe |
| answerfile | [string] Answer file name (with the path) on the client that was generated during capture |
| consumelicense | [y|n] This option determines whether a licenses is consumed or not for the merged client. |
| reusetapes | [y|n] This option determines
whether or not to mark the media as reusable in the new CommCell.
|
| user | [string] User name |
| password | [string] Password |
Diagnostics:
Possible exit status values are:
0 - Successful completion.
1 - CLI usage failures, due to the use of an unsupported option or missing
argument.
2 - Any other failure.
Example:
Merge using dump file c:\capturedump.dmp on the CommServe,
and read the answer file at C:\test.xml on the local client.
E:\commandline>qoperation merge -dfn c:\capturedump.dmp
-afn c:\test.xml
|
WARNING As a precaution, mark media (tape and optical media) associated with the source CommCell as READ ONLY before performing a data recovery operation in the destination CommCell. |
Consider the following:
The CV_MAGNETIC folder must have read-write access in the destination CommCell. For example, if you make copies of the CV_MAGNETIC folder using a disc (e.g., CD-ROM), ensure that the contents are copied to a computer, so that it can be accessed during a restore operation.
Mount path specified in the answer file is considered only when the data from a source CommCell is being merged into the destination CommCell for the very first time. For subsequent merges from the same source CommCell to the same destination CommCell, as the data from the source has already been merged into the destination once before, the previously merged mount path is used, ignoring the mount path specified in the answer file. Also, this is applicable when a client is migrated back to its original CommCell, after a temporary migration.
Review the following merge scenarios:
This can be done by changing the CommServe name for the Client computer in the original CommCell. (See Informing Clients of CommServe Name Change for more information.)
Note, however, that you cannot change the name of the Client that is also a CommServe computer. In such a situation, uninstall and then re-install the Agent software in the destination CommCell.
Configure the libraries attached to the MediaAgent.
This can be done by performing a Browse and Restore, or a Restore Operation from the source Client in the CommCell Console. During this operation, the Destination Computer (in the Browse Options dialog box) should point to the Client to which you wish to restore the data.
When one or more Clients are migrated to a new CommCell, duplicate Job IDs may be displayed in the history information. The following section describes the impact of duplicate Job IDs on some of the features associated with a job.
| Although the Jobs IDs appear as duplicates, they are only done for display purposes; internally the system can differentiate between the jobs. |
When the events associated with a job (that has a duplicate as a result of the merge operation) is viewed in the CommCell Console, the events associated with the native Client is displayed in the Job IDs associated with both the native and the source Client. Hence, a job associated with a migrated Client, will wrongly display the events associated with the native Client.
Example:
Viewing events on Job 10 associated with Client CC1 (native Client) will correctly display events 810 to 814 associated with the job.
Viewing events on Job 10 associated with Client CC2 (migrated Client) will wrongly display events 810 to 814 associated with Job 10 from Client CC1.
When the logs associated with jobs are viewed, jobs (that have a duplicate) associated with the migrated Client may display information about the wrong job.
Perform one of the following steps to perform Data Recovery operations from backup data migrated from the source CommCell, if the storage policies are mapped to a library with incompatible drive types in the destination CommCell:
For jobs associated with a merged client the Backup file list and Unsuccessful Backup Files (which can be viewed from the Data Protection Job History window) will not be available.
When you migrate a client from one CommCell to another, all the protected/archive data associated with that client needs to be re-content indexed. For more information on content indexing protected/archive data, see Offline Content Indexing.
After CommCell migration, the deduplication store operates in the read-only mode on the destination CommCell. The migrated (deduplication enabled) storage policies on the destination CommCell can be used to restore the deduplicated data migrated from the source CommCell and perform auxiliary copy jobs with the migrated data as the source. However, the migrated storage policies on the destination CommCell cannot be used to perform new deduplication backup jobs.