Media Explorer for NetWare Server - How To
Topics |
How To
Determine Required Archive Files for Data Recovery
Catalog the Media
Determine the Access
Path of the Tape Drive
Use Media
Explorer to Recover NetWare File System Data
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
|
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.
|
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.
|
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.
One of the inputs needed to recover NetWare files using Media Explorer is the
access path of the tape drive attached to the NetWare server. The
CvTstsc.nlm tool is used to determine this access
path. The following procedure explains how to load this tool and use it to determine
the access path.
Before You Begin
- Ensure that you have installed Media Explorer on NetWare platforms.
- Ensure that the appropriate HAM driver is loaded for the SCSI adapter to
which the drive is connected.
To determine
the access path of the tape drive
- If necessary, issue the following commands from the NetWare server console:
SCAN FOR NEW DEVICES
LIST DEVICES
Ensure that the tape drive can be seen by the NetWare operating system. If
NWTAPE.CDM is loaded, unload it before continuing.
- Issue the UNLOAD GALAXY command to
ensure that GALAXY.NLM is not loaded.
- From the NetWare server console, issue the following commands:
LOAD MEDIAEXP
LOAD CVTSTSC
From the several CvTstsc tool options that
are displayed, select the option to perform either a quick bus scan or an extensive
bus scan. Either option will detect the available devices.
- To determine which devices are tape drives, select the option to select
a device for testing. Then select a device from the list displayed.
- From the menu of options, select the option to send an
INQUIRY command. Check the displayed
information for the device to determine if the device is a tape drive. If the
detection fails to detect any SCSI devices, ensure that the NetWare operating
system can see these devices.
- Repeat the preceding two steps for each device.
- Once all the drives are detected and identified, select the option to return
to the list of devices. All the SCSI devices that were detected are displayed
along with all the access paths used by Media Explorer. An example of an access
path is scsidev@0_456:2.0.0.
- Note the access path of the tape device that you will use for the recovery.
- Select the option to return to the previous menu and then the option to
exit the CVTstsc tool.
Before You Begin
- Ensure that you have the following information at hand before starting the
recovery
- Ensure that no other applications or services are attempting to access the
library.
To recover NetWare-based
archive files using Media Explorer
- Go to the NetWare server console.
- Enter UNLOAD CVTSTSC to unload the
CVTESTSC.NLM.
- Enter LOAD MEDIAEXP to ensure that
MEDIAEXP is still loaded.
- Enter LOAD CVRESTUT to load the
CVRESTUT.NLM restore utility.
- In the text-based interface that is displayed, enter the following information:
- NetWare user name and password with administrator rights
- Tape drive/media access path
- Media type
- For the tape, starting and ending filemarkers for the data to be recovered
Note the default values for all the other options displayed.
- Verify that the values in the previous step are correct for your recovery
(e.g., if the product version is not the same as the version on the tape containing
the data, the recovery will not work).
- Place the correct media into the device and select the appropriate option
to start the recovery.
Once the recovery is completed, you are prompted regarding whether you need to
restore data from another tape. For non-spanned tapes, do one of the following,
as appropriate:
- Select Y and enter the correct starting and ending filemarker numbers
for the additional restore
- Select Y, replace the current tape with another affected tape, and
provide the filemarker numbers
- Select N and quit Media Explorer
If you have a spanned tape, select Y, replace the current tape with the
tape containing the rest of the data and enter the appropriate filemarker numbers.
For either tape type, be sure to complete the trailing steps in the preceding
procedure as appropriate.
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