Media Explorer for Lotus Notes Database - How To
Topics |
How To
Determine Required Archive Files for Data Recovery
Catalog the Media
Recover Lotus Notes Data
Lotus Domino Server Disaster
Recovery (for Domino Server versions 5.0.3 and above)
Recover Lotus Notes iDataAgent Archive
Files using Media Explorer
Determine Required Archive Files for Data Recovery
Required Capability: none
To determine
which archive files are needed to complete a data recovery:
- Determine the time for which you want to recover the data. This is based
on your decision to recover either the latest set of data as in the case of
a hardware failure or to a earlier time as in the case of a database or software
corruption that was captured by more recent data protection operations.
- Once you have determined the recovery time, determine the number of subclients
that will be required in the recovery.
If the data being recovered is of File System type and only part of the data
is required or the entire Database application was secured by a data protection
operation of the default subclient, then the number of subclients required can
be as few as one.
If the entire File System is required or the data being recovered is a database
application, then most likely all subclients that contained any part
of this application will be required.
|
This identification process is greatly facilitated
if you had run Media Information and CommCell Configuration reports
while the CommServe was still available, and have those reports available
as reference materials. |
- Catalog all the required media using Media Explorer, and view the archive
files in the Archive File Catalog
Database pane. To determine the number of subclients that exist, sort by
clients and examine the number of unique application IDs per client.
- Once you have determined the time of the recovery and the number of subclients
that are required, using the Backup Time column, select the first Full data
protection operation prior to the desired recovery time.
- Continue selecting each non-full data protection operation for that subclient
until:
- you reach the desired recovery time
- you reach the next Full
- there are no more archive files
(At which option your stop is dependent upon your particular recovery scenario.)
- Step 5 needs to be executed for each subclient that was determined to be
part of this client's recovery.
- Repeat for each client.
Catalog the Media
Before You Begin
- Install Media Explorer from the installer.
- Make sure no other applications or services are attempting to access the
library.
- Have your encryption pass-phrases available, if applicable.
- Have your Media Information and CommCell Configuration reports at hand to
facilitate your identification and location of media archive files.
|
Regularly running the above reports prior to the
need for a disaster recovery will facilitate your identification and
location of media archive files. |
To Catalog the Media
using Media Explorer:
- From whichever folder you installed Media Explorer, run the
MediaExplorer.exe. The
Current database file path is created and defaults
to the DrCatalogDb.dat as indicated in
the Media Explorer window.
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It is possible to perform a recovery using only
the default archive database. However, if recovering large numbers of
or many types of archive files makes locating files cumbersome, you
can create additional database file paths using the New button.
The New and Open buttons can be used to start cataloging
to a new catalog or to open an existing catalog database. This is useful
in situations where you would like to use Media Explorer over multiple
sessions and not overwrite previous catalog operations.
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- Detecting the Media - Selecting the tape or magnetic/optical media option.
Use
the Media Information and CommCell Configuration reports to assist you in determining
from which media it will be necessary to restore. If you do not have any reports
saved, you will have to manually determine the required media. This involves
finding the correct (latest) archive file(s) for backups you want to restore.
For a locally-attached tape drive/library:
- manually load the media into the drive
- select the Tape option
- click Drive Detect to populate the tape mount paths in this field
(i.e., tape0, tape1, tape2, etc., depending on your SCSI settings). The
drive shown matches the SCSI ID setting for the device.
- select the drive on which it is loaded
- identify the Media Type by selecting from the list
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A full DLT 7000 tape will take approximately two
hours to catalog. Be certain you have enough disc space on your local
computer to accommodate the files. |
For a magnetic volume:
- Select the Magnetic/optical option
- Browse to or type the drive path for the magnetic volume path. (i.e.,
F:\, where F
is the drive which holds the magnetic volume)
- Directly beneath CV_magnetic folder,
select the volume folder in which the archive files (AF_nnn)
reside, and click OK to continue.
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The CV_MAGNETIC
folder structure represents the top level of the magnetic mount path.
The V_nn folder represents a volume
which is equivalent to a storage policy copy.
The AF_nnn folders represent the
individual archive files within a volume. Each backup creates one or
more archive files, depending on the
iDataAgent.
|
- If the magnetic volume to be cataloged belongs to a de-duplicated
library, check the De-Duplicated Data checkbox.
For an optical volume:
- Select the Magnetic/optical option.
- Provide the root drive of the optical media in the volume path.
- Click Catalog Jobs. The catalog operation reads the media for archive
file information and displays it in the
Archive File Catalog Database
pane.
- You may be asked to provide a media password. Type the password and click
OK. If you do not know the media password, contact your software provider
for assistance.
- If data was encrypted using a pass-phrase, you are prompted to enter the
pass-phrase used at the time of the data protection operation.
- The status bar reflects the cataloging process as it is occurring. A message
appears when cataloging is complete. Click OK. You can check for details
in the DrRecovery.log located in the local Media
Explorer folder.
|
An archive file will sometimes span across several
tapes during the course of normal backups. In this case when a catalog
operation is run on the first media, the information on the second media
may not appear to have been cataloged. However, when you perform a recovery
from the first tape, Media Explorer asks you to load the second tape
manually to continue the recovery. |
- For multiple tapes, return to Step 2 and continue cataloging all media to
be used in the restore.
Post Catalog Check
Recovering Data that Span Media
In some cases, a data protection operation will start on one media and complete
on another. This we refer to as a spanned job . At most there can be one spanned
job per any given media.
If after cataloging a media you see an archive file for which the
Catalog column does not display
Found All and the Catalog
State column displays Partial, this indicates
the archive file is spanned to another media. In this case, you need to locate that
other media and catalog it as well. Once the last media that contains the spanned
archive has been reached, you will be prompted to reinsert all the media (starting
with the first) necessary to finish the cataloging process for the spanned job.
Once all media has been successfully cataloged, the
Catalog column should display Found All and
the Catalog State column should display
Complete, and the recovery may take place like any
other recovery. During the recovery of this archive file, you will be prompted to
insert the media as required to complete the recovery.
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Media Explorer stores cataloged media information in
its database on your local hard drive for future reference. Once your files
have been cataloged, you can go back and obtain this information without
running the catalog operation again. To have the information available on
another computer, however, you would need to run a catalog on that computer. |
Using the Chunk Details Window
You can click View Chunks from the File menu to display the Chunk Details window. This window
provides Media Explorer database details that may be helpful to you.
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The procedures in this section are for recovering Notes
databases only. If your Domino Server software is lost or damaged, you must
reinstall it or recover it from a File System backup. |
Before You Begin
- Catalog your media.
- Ensure that no other applications or services are attempting to access the
library.
- Note that for a normal restore (i.e., when the active extent exists in the
transaction log directory), there is no difference between older and newer versions
of Domino Server.
- A disaster recovery requires the use of the TRANSLOG_RECREATE_LOGCTRL
parameter in the notes.ini file. Because this
parameter is not recognized by versions of Domino Server prior to 5.0.3, Media
Explorer cannot be used with older versions of Domino Server.
- Follow the instructions in the next sections.
This procedure is a prerequisite in a disaster recovery scenario.
- If Domino Server is configured to run as a service with the
Automatic option, change the Domino Server service
property to Manual .
- This procedure requires a clean Notes API environment to complete successfully.
To ensure that there is a clean environment, restart the Domino Server computer.
Do not start the Domino Server application. Do not start any other applications
that use the Lotus Notes API (e.g., the Notes Document
iDataAgent, NotesPeek). Do not use any
features of the Notes Database iDataAgent
other than restore until this procedure is complete.
- If there is software currently running on the
server that may attempt to access Notes databases, such as Virus Scan, disable
it at this time.
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The steps that follow must be performed separately
for each Domino Server partition that you want to recover. |
- Add the following line to the notes.ini
file of the partition that you want to restore:
TRANSLOG_RECREATE_LOGCTRL=1
If you add this line at the end of the notes.ini
file, be sure to add a new line (i.e., press Enter ) after this line.
Note that the value of this parameter is reset to 0 automatically after the
disaster recovery process completes. It is not necessary to delete this from
the .ini file.
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The Lotus Notes client software has its own
notes.ini file, as does each Domino
Server partition. There may be multiple notes.ini
files on the computer to which you are recovering. Make sure that you
are modifying the notes.ini file of
the partition that you want to restore. |
- Make sure that the transaction log directory is clean. (You can find the
path to the log directory by checking the TRANSLOG_Path
parameter in the partition's notes.ini file.
If this is a relative path, it must be appended to the path listed in the
Directory parameter.) Delete any remaining log
files and the log control file. Alternately, you can delete the log directory
altogether. In this case, the disaster recovery process creates a new log directory.
- This concludes the prerequisite procedure for a disaster recovery scenario.
Continue on to
Recover Lotus Notes iDataAgent Archive
Files using Media Explorer.
- From the Display data corresponding to list,
select Lotus Notes DB. This filters the data
in the table to show only the desired archive files, and instructs Media Explorer
which application's rules to enforce.
- Select the desired archive file entries based on the scenario in which you
find yourself.
|
The Lotus Notes client software has its own
notes.ini file, as does each Domino
Server partition. There may be multiple notes.ini
files on the computer to which you are recovering. Make sure that you
are modifying the notes.ini file of
the partition that you want to restore. |
Notes Database Normal Restore Scenario
For a Notes Database normal restore scenario, for each partition in turn,
select the latest database archive file entries for each subclient within the
partition.
Lotus Notes Database Disaster Recovery Scenario
(Disaster Recovery: when you have lost the active log extent)
Archive file entries must be recovered in a particular order.
For each partition in turn, select:
- the latest transaction log archive file entry (lndb) for the partition,
and
- the latest database archive file entries (lndb) for each subclient within
a partition which together constitute a snapshot of the last pre-catastrophe
data secured by data protection operations.
- From the File menu, click Recover Data. If data was encrypted using a pass-phrase, you
are prompted to enter the pass-phrase used at the time of the data protection
operation.
- While the data recovery operation is in progress, if the data crosses to
a new tape, you may see the message Insert volume with
BarCode number and then click OK to continue.
- You may be prompted to type the media password. Enter the password and click
OK .If you do not know the media password, contact your software provider
for assistance.
- Verify the data that was recovered by opening the application server.
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A file space shortage will cause the data recovery
operation to fail. For information on the failure, you can go to the
DrRecovery log file which is located
where you installed the DrRestoreGUI.exe
. After fixing your space problem, you can simply start over. You do
not have to clear the environment. |
- When the data recovery is done, click OK to the
Restore completed successfully message, and
return to Step 2 to recover the next partition.
When you have restored the final partition, you have completed the Media Explorer
data recovery procedure.
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