Understanding the CommCell Console
Configuring Rules for Archiving
Configuring Post Archiving Options
Replacing Archived Files with Stubs
Setting up Stub Retention Rules
Configuring a Secondary FPolicy Instance for Recalls
Filtering Files from Archiving
Configuring Exclusion to Filters
Creating a Subclient to Backup Stubs
Protecting Stubs Using Incremental Backups
Setting up On Demand Archiving
Creating an On Demand Archive Set
Adding Files and Folders with Unicode Characters to Content Files
Configuring the Maximum Number of Simultaneous Stub Recalls (Recall Throttling)
Configuring for NetApp File Servers On ONTAP 7.0
Modifying an Instance, Archive Set or Subclient
Modifying a Client, Instance or Subclient Using the Command Line
Deleting an Agent, Instance, Archive Set or Subclient
In order to perform archiving operations, you need to initially configure archiving rules. Archiving rules specify the criteria for the type of data to be archived. The basic archving criteria is the maximum file size in a particular scanned volume/directory. Files that meet this criteria are rendered available for archiving if they satisfy any or all the archiving rules.
You can set rules to archive files based on the last accessed date of each file within the volume or folder/directory. Files older than the specified date will be archived.
You can also set rules to archive file based on the last modified time. Files that were modified earlier than the specified time will be archived.
You can also set archiving rules to archive files depending on the file size. This can be done by specifying a file size range such as files greater than 5 KB but less than 20 KB should be archived. If a file size within a scanned volume or folder/directory is in between the specified size limit, it will get stubbed.
You can also archive the files that have the Read Only attribute set on them.
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The configuration to delete the files after they have been archived can be modified to stub the original file after archiving. This can be done by following the steps mentioned below.
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You can choose to delete the files from your computer after an archiving operation in order to reclaim storage space.
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By default, the stubs are pruned in 90 days from the day of stubbing. However, you can set the number of days after which the stubs will be pruned by following the steps given below.
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You can configure a secondary FPolicy instance for recalling data in case the primary FPolicy instance is unavailable. The secondary instance for recalling data has to be configured on a client computer other than the one with the primary FPolicy instance. Once configured it will automatically take over the recalling process if the client computer with the primary instance is unavailable. Follow the steps give below to configure the FPolicy secondary instance:
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Prior to archiving the files, you can set filters to prevent specific type of files from being archived. Filters can also be used to exclude certain system-related files and database application files which consistently fail during a archive operation and are not integral to the operation of the system or application.
You can manually set filters on selected file types, folders or files to be excluded from archiving. For example if you specify *.txt in the filters then all the text files will be excluded from being archived.
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When excluding files from archiving, you can also provide exceptions to the data that you are excluding. For example, if you want to exclude all the files in the My Documents folder except the Downloads sub-folder, you can add a subclient filter to exclude the My Documents directory from being archived and also add a corresponding subclient filter to allow the Downloads sub-folder to be archived.
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Filters can be deleted, when not in use. These does not included the default filters but only include the filters that were added manually. Whenever you delete a filter from the exclusion list, the system automatically deletes any exceptions that are part of the deleted exclusion filter.
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Protecting stubs is useful for recovery operations. For example, if there is a disk failure, the data can be restored along with the stubs.
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By default the stubs are not included in Incremental Backups. Therefore stubs created after the most recent full backup may be lost if the operating system or file structure where the stubs reside is rendered unusable before the next full backup is run. Follow the steps give below to configure for stubs to be backed up during incremental backups.
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On Demand archiving allows for content to be specified as an external input at the time of initiating an archiving operation. Whereas traditional archiving is performed using subclients, which contain fixed content configured prior to performing the operation. On Demand Archiving allows you to specify content each time you perform an archive job.
Content for On Demand Archiving is defined through:
Once these entities are defined, an On Demand Archive Set is then created. Archives run from this Archive Set will provide the facility to select the Content Files to be included.
Content File entries should be in the following format with no filters, wildcards, regular expressions or paths to the FAT partition:
c:\data\datafile.txt
c:\data\wordfile.doc
d:\my documents\webdoc.html
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If the path or the filename contains Unicode characters, the Content File must be converted to a format that can be used by the data protection operation. The Unicode Conversion utility must be used to convert the Content File to a format that can be provided as input.
cvconvertunicode <source file> <destination file>
Where:
<source file> is the full path and name of the file created in Step 1.
<destination file> is the full path and name of the destination file. The file will automatically be created by the utility.
On Demand Archive explicitly archives the files listed in the Content File. If the Content File contains two entries for a file, the file will be backed up twice.
For example:
c:\data
c:\data\files
In this scenario, an archiving operation will archive the contents of all data residing in the files folder twice as the Content File has already called for the entirety of the parent folder to be archived. It is recommended that Content Files not include such duplicate entries.
However, if it is not feasible to monitor a Content File for such duplicate entries, the OnDemand_AutoExpandDir registry key can be created on the computer in which the Content File is located. This key prevents the scan phase of an archive job from expanding through all subfolders within a path listed in the Content File.
In the case of the above example, only the root contents of the files will be included in the archiving operation. The subfolders will not be included to prevent duplicate data.
To create this key, perform the following steps:
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The maximum number of simultaneous stub recalls can be limited to a specified amount of time. This will not only optimize performance but can also prevent the inadvertent recovery of a large number of files.
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For the examples below, we will assume that the recovery administrator has established the following recall throttling parameters:
example description |
user action |
result |
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Maximum Limit is Not Exceeded (with no additional recall requests). | A user submits 4 stub recovery requests at the same time on a given client, and no other stub recovery requests are submitted on that client during the 30 second interval that follows. | As each stub recovery request is received,
it will begin processing immediately and the 30 second interval
countdown will begin where the system will wait to see if any more stub
recovery requests are submitted.
There is no cool-down period since the limit was not reached, and all 4 files will be recovered. |
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Maximum Limit is Exceeded (with no additional recall requests). | A user submits 20 stub recovery requests at the same time on a given client, and no other stub recovery requests are submitted on that client during the 30 second interval that follows. | The first 9 stub
recoveries will begin immediately, the 30 second waiting interval does not apply
here since the limit has been reached, and the 60 second cool-down period begins
where no other stub recovery requests will be accepted.
The first 9 files will be recovered, and depending on the agent the user will see one of the following results for the 11 stub recovery requests that were over the limit. Assuming they were text files, 11 blank Notepad sessions appear on the desktop. |
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Maximum Limit is Not Exceeded (with additional recall requests received within the Interval). | A user submits 4 stub recovery requests at the same time on a given client, and 4 other stub recovery requests are submitted on that client by another user during the 30 second interval that follows. | As each stub recovery request is received
from the user, it will begin processing immediately and the 30 second
interval countdown will begin where the system will wait to see if any
more stub recovery requests are submitted.
After 20 seconds have elapsed, the 4 additional stub recovery requests are received so the 30 second interval countdown will begin again (i.e., the count is initialized to zero) to allow one more request to be submitted. Since the limit has not been reached, the cool-down period does not apply, and all 8 files will be recovered on a first-in first-out basis. |
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Maximum Limit is Not Exceeded (with additional recall requests received outside the Interval). | A user submits 4 stub recovery requests at the same time on a given client, and 8 additional stub recovery requests are submitted on that client by another user 35 seconds later. | As each stub recovery request is received
from the user, it will begin processing immediately and the 30 second
interval countdown will begin where the system will wait to see if any
more stub recovery requests are submitted.
After 35 seconds have elapsed, 8 additional stub recovery requests are received and the 30 second interval countdown will begin again (i.e., the count is initialized to zero) to allow one more request to be submitted. Since the limit was never reached during the first or second interval, the cool-down period does not apply, and all 12 files will be recovered on a first-in first-out basis. |
In order to be able to archive and restore data for NetApp file servers running on ONTAP 7.0 ensure that the following are configured:
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By default when a stub is recalled but no changes are made to its content, it is re-stubbed during the next archiving cycle. During restubbing, the stubs are replaced by the existing copies of the stub available in the stub cache. However for Windows 2008 the following registry key should be created in the computer with NetApp File Archiver agent installed for successful restubbing.
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The following table describes the properties that can configured from the agent, instance, archive set, and subclient levels.
Option | Description | Related topics |
Configure Activity Control |
You can enable backup and restore operations from the agent and subclient level.
However, you can enable recovery operations only from the agent level. Agent Level:
Subclient Level:
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Refer to Activity Control. |
Release License | You can release a license for client, MediaAgent and
agent. If releasing a license is successful, the tree element is dimmed
and available for deletion.
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Change Storage Policies | You can modify the storage policies in any of the
following situations.
You can change the storage policies from the subclient level.
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Refer to Storage Policies. |
Rename Instance | You can rename an existing Instance.
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Rename Archive Set | You can rename an existing Archive Set.
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Rename a Subclient | You can rename an existing subclient.
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Configure Data Transfer Options |
You can efficiently configure the available resources for transferring data secured
by data protection operations from the subclient level. This includes the following:
You can configure the data transfer options.
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Refer to Data Compression and Network Bandwidth Throttling. |
View Data Paths |
You can view the data paths associated with the primary
storage policy copy of the selected storage policy or incremental storage
policy. You can also modify the data paths including their priority from
the subclient level.
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Configure account for Pre/Post Processing of Data Protection |
You can add, modify or view Pre/Post processes for the
subclient. These are batch files or shell scripts that you can run before
or after certain job phases.
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Refer to Pre/Post Processes. |
Configure User Security |
You can configure user security from the agent, backup set/archive set or subclient
levels.
You can perform the following functions:
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Refer to User Administration and Security. |
Enable/Disable Data Encryption |
You must export the pass-phrase to the local computer before performing
a stub recovery operation of encrypted data.
You can enable data encryption from the subclient level. Encryption must be enabled at the client level prior to configuring any
instances residing on that client.
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Refer to Data Encryption. |
View Software Version and Installed Updates |
The Version tab, at the Agent level displays the
software version and post-release service packs and updates installed for
the component.
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CommCell Configuration Report |
The CommCell Configuration Report provides the properties of the
CommServe, MediaAgents, clients, agents, SRM agents, subclients, and
storage policies within the CommCell based on the selected filter
criteria.
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Refer to CommCell Configuration. |
Archive Job Summary Report |
The Archive Job Summary Report provides the detailed archive information
such as the start and end time (or current phase), the total size of the
archive job, the elapsed time, the transfer time, the throughput, the
number of objects archived, the amount of data, the failed folders and
files, content indexing usage and failures (if any), and the filters
used for the archive.
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Refer to Archive/Compliance Archive Job Summary Report |
The GXHSMUtility provides additional options that can be set on the client. These options can be set from the command line and are not available from the Client Properties dialog in the CommCell Console.
Usage: The following table lists the command line options and their description.
Option | Description |
RestubOn [x] | Enables restub logic in the recall phase |
RestubOff | Disables restub logic in the recall phase |
OffLineAtOn [x] | Enable setting offline attribute for NAS sub clients |
OffLineAOff | Disable setting offline attribute for NAS sub clients |
CheckAlwaysOn | Enable recall logic to ALWAYS check sub client recall property |
SetExtPropStr | Set the extended property name. |
GetExtPropStr | Retrieve the extended property name. |
SetExtPropNum | Set the extended property number. |
GetExtPropNum | Retrieve the extended property number. |
CheckAlwaysOff [x] | Disable recall logic to check sub client recall property |
You can use the GXHSMutility to set additional options on the instance from the command line.
Usage:
Option | Description |
SetExtPropStr | Set the extended property name. |
GetExtPropStr | Retrieve the extended property name. |
SetExtPropNum | Set the extended property number. |
GetExtPropNum | Retrieve the extended property number. |
You can use the GXHSMUtility to set additional options on subclients. These options are not available from the subclient properties dialog box in the CommCell Console. When using these additional options, make sure to specify the subclient name along with the setting. If the subclient name is not specified, the setting is applied to all the subclients.
Usage:
Option | Description |
SysHid | Enables sub-client to migrate system and hidden files |
SysHidOff | Disallow migration of system or hidden files |
ModCreate | Maintain file modification and creation time on migration |
AccessTimeM | Maintain file access time on migration [requires ModCreate] |
AccTimeMOff | Disables access time preservation during migration |
AccessTimeR | Maintain file access time on recall [requires ModCreate] |
AccTimeROff | Disables access time preservation during recall |
KeepTimeOff | Disables ALL time preservation during migration |
SparseOn | Enable sparse; Enabled by default for local; For fpolicy, this option is only supported on OnTap 7.3 & higher, and it's enabled by default for supported versions |
SparseOff | Disable sparse |
RestubOn | Enables restub logic on migration per subclient |
RestubOff | Disables restub logic on migration per subclient. Client level RestubOff needs to be used with subclient level restub options. The client level restub option is used in the recall phase, and applies to all sub-clients. |
IgnreSparse | Ignore sparse attribute when migrating files; This is commonly used for fpolicy. |
IgnrSprsOff | Turn off IgnreSparse option |
DontStubOn | Do not stub file in stub phase, and do not delete; Only archive |
nDontStubOff | Turn off DontStubOn option |
NasSparse | When recalling NAS files, remove sparse |
NasSprsOff | Turn off NasSparse option |
DisableAcls | Disables restoring ACLs during recall |
EnableAcls | Turn off DisableAcls option |
StageRecall | Enable recalls to use staging folder (gxhsmcache) |
StageOff | Disables StageRecall |
RmtErrMsg | Remote error message handling on. When this is set, a popup message is sent to remote users when recall error occurs. |
SetExtPropStr | Set the extended property name. |
GetExtPropStr | Retrieve the extended property name. |
SetExtPropNum | Set the extended property number. |
GetExtPropNum | Retrieve the extended property number. |
RmtErrMsgOf | Disables RmtErrMsg |
The following sections describe the steps involved in deleting an agent, archive set or subclient.
When you delete an instance or backupset, the associated data is logically deleted and you can no longer access the corresponding data from CommCell Console for recovery purposes. Refer to the troubleshooting article on Recovering Data Associated with Deleted Clients and Storage Policies for information on how to recover data if you accidentally delete an entity. |
You need to uninstall or DeConfigure the agent software from the client computer before deleting from CommCell Browser. After you delete the client software, you can either leave the corresponding data intact for appropriate action or you can remove the data immediately. If you choose to remove the data immediately, you must delete the agent from the CommCell Browser. If you delete the agent, all of the agent's data is irretrievably lost.
This operation will permanently delete the data backed up from this level and it cannot be restored.
Consider the following before deconfiguring an instance:
Consider the following before deleting an instance:
Consider the following before deleting a Backup Set:
Click No to cancel the deletion and retain the Backupset, or click Yes to continue the deletion.
Consider the following before deleting a subclient:
Click No to cancel the deletion and retain the subclient, or click Yes to continue the deletion.