Discover and Migrate

perform a Discovery

Once External Data Connector is installed on the NetBackup Server, information about each NetBackup client can be incorporated into your CommCell by performing a discovery operation. The discovery process collects information from the NetBackup master server and transfers this information to the CommServe database. Once complete, the CommServe creates CommCell entities that correspond to the original NetBackup entities. Discovery is performed at the subclient level and can be run on-demand or scheduled to run at a specified time.

  • Discovery operations may fail if the NetBackup master server database password is entered incorrectly or NetBackup services are not running. To determine which failure occurred, right-click the failed discovery job in the Job Controller window and select Job Details. The Description field will display the job failure reason.
  • If installing External Data Connector manually using the software installation discs, the client computer name and host name must be the same for discovery operations to complete successfully. This is not required if installing External Data Connector using the CommCell Console's Install Software feature.

run A discovery immediately

When run for the first time, the discovery process is performed in full, collecting information on every NetBackup client as well as the operations and settings associated with them. Subsequent discovery operations can later be performed incrementally, collecting only new or changed information.

1. From the CommCell Console, right-click on the External Data Connector node, select New Instance, and select the desired instance type.
If the Advanced Option was used to install the External Data Connector, you will not have to create an instance.
2. From the General tab of the External Data Connector dialog box, enter the following information:
  • The NetBackup database name.
  • The User Credentials of the master server.
Click OK.

An instance, default backup set, and subclient are now created and ready for the discovery process.
3. Right-click the subclient for which you want to discover NetBackup data and click Discover.
4. From the Job Initiation tab of the Discovery Options dialog box, select Immediate.
5. Click OK.

You can track the progress of the backup job from the Job Controller window. When the backup has completed, the Job Controller displays Completed.

  

schedule A discovery

1. From the CommCell Console, right-click on the External Data Connector node, select New Instance, and select the desired instance type.
2. From the General tab of the External Data Connector dialog box, enter the following information:
  • The NetBackup database name.
  • The User Credentials of the master server.
Click OK.

An instance, default backup set, and subclient are now created and ready for the discovery process.
3. Right-click the subclient for which you want to discover NetBackup data and click Discover.
4. From the Job Initiation tab of the Discovery Options dialog box, select Schedule.
5. From the Schedule Details dialog box that appears, select the appropriate scheduling options.
6. Click Options to view the Advanced Schedule Options dialog box.

Specify the following options:

  • Range of recurrence: Specify the date on which you want this schedule to take effect.
  • Repeat: Select the value for which you want to run the job repeatedly on the day in which the job is scheduled to run.
  • Time Zone: Select a specific time zone from which the job schedule time will be based.

You can also confirm and/or edit (where applicable) your choices from the Job Summary tab. For a monthly or yearly schedule, you can select either a standard calendar or a custom calendar.

Click OK once all the desired options have been configured.
7. Click OK.

Your discovery operation will execute according to the specified schedule. You can track the progress of the backup job from the Job Controller window. When the backup has completed, the Job Controller displays Completed.

  

How Discovery Works

The discovery process occurs in two phases:

  1. Query of NetBackup client information
  2. Merge of information to the CommCell

During the Query phase, information about the vendor's backup jobs, policies, and associated clients, schedules, libraries, and media are compiled in the form of .xml files for the data type selected during installation. This data is then transferred to the CommServe computer. Discovery jobs may be restarted from the beginning of the transfer phase if necessary.

During the Merge phase, External Data Connector maps each NetBackup component, such as client computers, backup schedules, and media, to the appropriate CommCell entity. In cases where there is no direct match between a NetBackup component and CommCell component, External Data Connector will incorporate as much information as possible into a CommCell entity that most closely resembles the original NetBackup entity.

perform your First Migration

Once a discovery job has been run, you can migrate NetBackup clients to the CommCell by installing the desired CommCell software components, such as the File System, Exchange, or SQL iDataAgents. After the software installation, the CommCell Console creates a new set of entities, such as backup sets, for the client computer which can be configured to perform future data protection operations. Once migrated, you can perform data protection and recovery operations for the client computer.

The migration process consists of the following phases:

  1. Install CommCell Components onto the NetBackup client computers.
  2. Associate a Storage Policy, which is the storage policy selected during the software installation.
  3. Enable Data Protection and Recovery for the client computer.
  4. Enable Schedules and Schedule Policies to activate the original schedules associated with the client's NetBackup jobs.

Once these phases are complete, you are ready to run backups and restores for the client computer. Refer to the documentation for your components for detailed information on protecting and recovering data.

Prior to running backups, ensure that the subclients created do not contain any duplicate content.

Install CommCell Components

The first step in migrating NetBackup clients to a CommCell is to install CommCell components on the NetBackup client computer. These installations can occur in two ways:

Refer to the Installation documentation for complete details on installing CommCell components.

By default, all discovered NetBackup client computers migrate in a disabled state. This means that no CommCell licenses are consumed during the discovery process. When installing CommCell components onto the discovered client computers, the appropriate component license will be consumed during the installation process.

Associate a Storage Policy

Next, you must associate the storage policy you designated during the software installation to the appropriate subclient. To do so:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the subclient whose associated storage policy you want to change, then click Properties from the shortcut menu.
  2. Click the Storage Device tab of the Subclient Properties dialog box.
  3. From the Storage Policy list of the Data Storage Policy tab, select a data storage policy to associate with this subclient. If necessary, click the Create Storage Policy button to create a new storage policy to which the subclient can then be associated.
  4. From the Changing a Storage Policy window select the next type of backup operation. Click OK.
  5. If applicable for your agent, you can change the number of data streams from the Number of Data/Database Backup Streams field.
  6. If applicable for your agent, click the Log Storage Policy tab and select a storage policy to associate with this transaction log subclient from the Transaction Log Storage Policy list. Also, you can set the Number of Transaction Log Backup Streams from this tab.
  7. Click OK to save your changes and close the Subclient Properties Storage Device tab.

Enable data protection and recovery

Next, data protection and recovery must be enabled for the client computer to begin running jobs. To do so:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the CommServe, client computer group, client computer, agent, or subclient, and then click Properties from the short-cut menu.
  2. From the Activity Control tab of the associated Properties dialog box, select or clear option(s), as desired.
  3. Click OK.

Enable Schedules and Schedule Policies

Finally, enable schedules and schedule policies if they are not currently enabled for your client.

Viewing Job Information

Once you have migrated your NetBackup clients to the CommCell and have run your first backups, you may want to view specific historical information about the jobs, such as the following:

This information can be viewed in the Job History window, which is accessible at the client computer, iDataAgent, instance, or subclient level in the CommCell Console.

The history depends on the entity from which the job history is viewed. For example, viewing job history from the subclient level will yield information for only the jobs performed in that subclient. Conversely, viewing job history from the backup set level will yield information for jobs run from all subclients within the backup set.

To view job history:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the entity (client computer, iDataAgent, backup set or subclient) whose backup history you want to view, click View, and then click View History.
  2. From the Job History filter window select the filter options, if any, that you want to apply, and then click OK. The system displays the Job History window.

    Once you have chosen your filter options, they are displayed in the Job History window.

    To view the additional options discussed above, right-click the desired job choose the appropriate option.

  3. Click OK to exit the Job History window.

you have now finished your first discovery and migration

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