Advanced Configuration - File Archiver

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. You can configure these rules on a requirement basis.

File Access Time

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.

From the CommCell Console, right-click the Subclient and click Properties.
Select Rules tab.
Select Enable All Rules.
Enter the number of days elapsed since the file was last accessed Archive file access time older than n Days.
Select Any one of the file selection rules are satisfied.
Click OK.

Managing File Access Time when Unix File System iDataAgent is also installed

Archiving files based on file access times has special considerations. Ordinarily the action of backing up a file using the File System backup agent will cause the file access time to change to the time of the backup. This action may have an undesired effect on the archiver agent if you want to archive files based on access time.

To workaround this situation, you should either use Classic File Scan with the Preserve File Access Time option selected as the scan method OR a software snapshot (VSS or Qsnap) to accomplish the backup. If the software snapshot fails (i.e. VSS service unavailable or unable to quiesce the volume), you can use the Open Files Failure Actions dialog box to select the desired action to be performed.

File Modified Time

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.

From the CommCell Console, right-click the Subclient and click Properties.
Select Rules tab.
Select Enable All Rules.
Enter the number of days elapsed since the file was last modified Archive file modified time older than n Days.
Select Any one of the file selection rules are satisfied.
Click OK.

File Size

You can also set archiving rules to archive files depending on the file size. If a file size within a scanned volume or folder/directory is in between the specified size limit, it will get stubbed.

From the CommCell Console, right-click the Subclient and click Properties.
Select Rules tab.
Select Enable All Rules.
Enter the minimum file size in Archive file if size is greater than n KB.
Enter the maximum file size in Maximum file size.

These options can be used individually or in combination to specify a range.

Select All of the file selection rules are satisfied.
Click OK.

For example:

To archive files more than 5KB but less than 20KB:

Enter 5 KB in Archive file if size is greater than n KB.
Enter 20 KB in Maximum file size.

File System Size

The backed up files can be stubbed based on the available free space on the volume. Volumes are periodically checked for available space. If the free space is lesser than the specified low watermark value, the archiving operation begins. The stubbing process stops once it reaches the specified high watermark value.

From the CommCell Console, right-click the Subclient and click Properties.
Select Rules tab.
Select Enable All Rules.
Enter the low watermark value for the volume in Begin scan for file selection when free volume is less than n%.
Enter the high watermark value for the volume in End scan if volume is freed to n%.

Select All of the file selection rules are satisfied.
Click OK.

By default files that are less than or equal to the file system block size are skipped from archiving. To archive all the files follow the steps given below:

From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers.
Right-click the <Client> and then click Properties.
Click the Registry Key Settings tab.
Click Add.
In the Name field, type sCXHSM_SKIP_FILES_SMALLER_THAN_FSBLOCK.
In the Location list, type or select UnixFsDataMigrator.
In the Type list, select Value.
In the Value field, type N to archive files that are less than or equal to the file system block size.
Click OK.

Managing Archived Files

For an archiving operation, you can set certain stub rules to manage the archived files.

Delete the File after Archiving

You can choose to delete the file after an archiving operation.

From the CommCell Console, right-click the Subclient and click Properties.
Select Rules tab.
Select Stub Rule tab.
Select Delete the File.
Click OK.

Replace File With a Stub After Archiving

By default, during an archive operation, the file is replaced with a stub. However, if required, you can also set this manually from the Subclient Properties window.

From the CommCell Console, right-click the Subclient and click Properties.
Select Rules tab.
Select Stub Rule tab.
Select Replace File with a Stub.
Click OK.

Prune the Archived Files (Storage Reclamation)

By default, the stubs are pruned along with the media. However, you can set the number of days after which the stubs will be pruned.

From the CommCell Console, right-click the Subclient and click Properties.
Select Rules tab.
Select Stub Rules.
Select Replace File with a Stub.
Select Prune Stubs Only After <n> days.
Enter the number of days after which the stubs will be pruned.
Click OK.

Configuring for Optimized Stub Recall

Extend the Persistent Pipeline Timeout

It is recommended to leave the persistent pipeline open for longer periods of time to cache important information for subsequent recall attempts. By default this timeout is set to 24 hours.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the client computer that has Unix Archiver Agent installed.
Click Properties.
Select Registry Key Settings.
Click Add.
Enter nDMRSIDLETIMEOUT in the Name field.
Enter EventManager in the Location field.
From the Type list, select REG_DWORD.
Enter the number of seconds after which the pipeline will close. The valid range is 0 to 2147483647 seconds.
Click OK.

Once this key is activated, services must be restarted on the client computer.

Limit the Number of Persistent Pipeline Threads During Recoveries

You can increase the number of persistent pipeline threads allowed for recoveries, thereby potentially improving stub recall speed. The recommended number of threads would be the number of Media Agents, which could possibly be used for recoveries. By default two threads will be used. Therefore if more than two Media Agents are potential targets for stub recalls increase the number of threads accordingly as follows:

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the client computer that has Unix Archiver Agent installed.
Click Properties.
Select Registry Key Settings.
Click Add.
Enter nDMRMaxRestoreThreads in the Name field.
Enter EventManager in the Location field.
From the Type list, select REG_DWORD.
Enter the number of persistent pipelines to be allowed.
Click OK.

Once this key is activated, services must be restarted on the client computer.

Stub Recall from Any Available Data Copy

By default if the primary copy of the data is unavailable the stub recall will fail. However you can configure to trigger stub recall from an alternate data copy as follows:

In the Comcell Browser double-click the Control Panel.
Click the Browse/Search/Recovery option.
Select the Automatically switch copy to read data from any copy option.
Click Ok.

Filtering Files From Archiving

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.

Files Excluded from Archiving

Files with extensions *.a, *.ksh, *.csh, *.sh, *.lib, and *.so are automatically filtered out of subclient content by default. Similarly, files in the following directories are also skipped from archiving on all Unix platforms.

/usr/**
/bin/**
/lib/**
/boot/**
/dev/**
/etc/**
/var/**
/tmp/**
/sbin/**
/lib64/**
/opt/**
/sys/**
/kernel/**
/devices/**
/proc/**
/selinux/**
/stand/**

Manually Filtering Files from Archiving

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.

Client Computers | <Client> | File Archiver | Instance | ArchiveSet.
In the right pane right-click the Subclient and click Properties.
Click the Filters tab.
Click Add from the Exclude these files/folders/patterns group.
Enter the complete path of the file, folder, or directory that you want to exclude from the archiving operations
or

Click the Browse and expand the file system of the client computer. Click the file, folder, or directory that you want to exclude from the archiving operations and then click Add.
Click OK to save your changes.

Manually Including Files for Archiving

When excluding files from archiving, you can also provide exceptions to the data that you are excluding. For example, if you want to exclude from your migration archive operation all the files in the /Ops directory except the Maintenance file, you can add a subclient filter to exclude the /Ops directory from being archived and also add a corresponding subclient filter to allow the Maintenance file to be archived.

Client Computers | <Client> | File Archiver | Instance | ArchiveSet.
In the right pane right-click the Subclient and click Properties.
Click the Filters tab.
Click Add from the Include these files/folder/patters: group.
Enter the complete path of the file, folder, or directory that you want to be included in the archiving operation.
or

Click the Browse and expand the file system of the client computer. Click the file, folder, or directory that you want to be included in the archiving operation. and then click Add.
Click OK.

Configuring the Maximum Number of Simultaneous Stub Recalls (Recall Throttling)

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.

From the CommCell Console, navigate to Client Computers | <Client>.
Right-click File Archiver.
Select Properties.
Click Stub Recovery Parameters.
In the Maximum Stub Recovery box select a value.
In the Time between recall to count as successive in seconds box select a value.
In the Time to wait after maximum successive recalls limit is reached in seconds box select a value.
Click OK.
It might take some time for the changes to take effect. Restart the File Archiver services for it to take effect immediately.

Configuring Archiving for X9000 IBRIX

For X9000 IBRIX , by default the stubs are recalled during the data tiering process, which moves the files and the data stubs from one storage tier to another based on pre determined parameters. However you can configure the sTranProcName registry key to seamlessly migrate data stubs from one storage tier to another without triggering a stub recall. The steps to configure the key are as follows:

From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers.
Right-click the <Client> and then click Properties.
Click the Registry Key Settings tab.
Click Add.
In the Name field, type sTranProcName
In the Location list, type or select UnixFsDataMigrator.
In the Type list, select Value.
In the Value field, type the process name used migrate stubs from one storage tier to another.
Example migrator_daemon
On specifying this value the stubs will not be recalled during the data tiering process.
Click OK.

Configuring Archiving for Lustre File System

Perform the following to configure archiving for Lustre file system:

Mount the Lustre file system on all the nodes. By default the File Locks are not enabled for Lustre.
In order to archive the files using the archiver agent, mount the file system with -o flock or localflock option.

For example [root@LustreClient01 ~]# mount –t lustre –o flock lustre192.168.0.10@tcp0:/lustre /mnt/lustre
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to <Client> | File System | Default Backup Set.
Right-click Default Backup Set | All Tasks
Click New Subclient.
In the General tab enter Subclient Name.
Click the Content tab.
Click Add Paths to add the mount point created in Step 1 as the subclient content.
Click the Storage Device tab.
Select the Storage Policy from the drop down list.
Click OK.
Repeat the above mentioned procedure for all the nodes of the clustered file system.

Setting Up Stub Cache

After recalling the files, you can re-archive the recalled files by preserving them in a stub cache. The recalled file will be re-archived from the cache if the file meets the archiving rules and has not been modified after the recall. The following registry keys allow you to set the stub cache and re-stub the recalled files from the cache memory.

nUSE_STUB_CACHE	This key allows a file to be re-stubbed after recall by preserving it in cache memory.
dSTUB_CACHE_ROOT	By default the stubs are cached under , /opt/calypso/stubcache folder. Use this key to specify a different location of the root folder for the File Archiver stub cache.

Modifying an ArchiveSet or Subclient

The following table describes the properties that can configured from the agent, backup set/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: From the CommCell browser, right-click the File Archiver Agent. Click Properties. Click Activity Control, select or clear Enable Archive and Enable recovery options. Click OK. Subclient Level: From the CommCell browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Activity Control, select or clear Enable Archive option. Click OK.	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. From the CommCell browser, right-click the File Archiver Agent. Click All Tasks and select Release License. Click OK to continue. Click Yes to continue with the deconfiguration or No to abort.
Change Storage Policies	You can modify the storage policies in any of the following situations. To include a different media for the backup operation. To use a storage policy with a different retention criteria. You can change the storage policies from the subclient level. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Storage Device tab. Click Data Storage Policy tab and select a data storage policy to associate with this subclient. Click OK to save your settings.	Refer to Storage Policies.
Rename Backup Set/Archive Set	You can rename an existing Backup Set/Archive Set. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the Backup Set/Archive Set. Click Properties. Click General tab and type the new name in the Backup Set field. Click OK to save your settings.
Rename a Subclient	You can rename an existing subclient. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click General tab and type the new name in the Subclient Name field Click OK to save your settings.
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: Enable or disable Data Compression either on the client or the MediaAgent. Configure the transfer of data in the network using the options for Network Bandwidth Throttling and Network Agents. You can configure the data transfer options. From the CommCell Browser,right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Storage Device. Click Data Transfer Option tab. Choose the appropriate software compression option for this subclient. Select Throttle Network Bandwidth and set the required bandwidth. Click OK.	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. From the CommCell browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Storage Device. Select Storage Policy from the drop-down menu. Click Data Paths.
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. From the CommCell browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Pre/Post Process. Click one of the following phases and type the full path of the process that you want to execute during that phase. Alternatively, click Browse to locate the process (applicable only for paths that do not contain any spaces). PreBackup Process PostBackup Process Click OK. Select Run Post Scan Process for all attempts to run a post scan process for all attempts . Select Run Post Backup Process for all attempts to run a post backup process for all attempts. For subclients on Windows platforms, Run As displays Not Selected. If you want to change the account that has permission to run these commands, click Change. In the User Account dialog box, select Use Local System Account, or select Impersonate User and enter the user name and password. Click OK. If you selected Local System Account, click OK to the message advising you that commands using this account have rights to access all data on the client computer.	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: Identify the user groups to which this CommCell object is associated. Associate this object with a user group. Disassociate this object from a user group. From the CommCell browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Security. Select the appropriate user groups to which you want to associate to the CommCell object from the Available Groups pane, and then move the user group to the Associated Groups pane. Click OK.	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. From the CommCell browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Encryption. Select the desired encryption. Click OK.	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. From the CommCell browser, right-click the agent. Click Properties. Click Version. Click OK.
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. From the CommCell browser, click Reports icon. Select CommCell Configuration. Click Run.	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. From the CommCell browser, click Reports icon. Select Job Summary. Click General and select Archive/Compliance Archive. Click Run.	Refer to Archive/Compliance Archive Job Summary Report

Deleting an Agent, ArchiveSet or Subclient

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.

Deleting an Agent

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.

You cannot delete an agent while operations for that agent are running.

From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client>.
Right-click the <Agent>, and then click Delete.
A confirmation message is displayed with the following message:
This operation will permanently delete the data backed up from this level and it cannot be restored.
Click OK to continue with the deletion operation., or click No to abort the deletion.

Deleting a BackupSET/ArchiveSet

Consider the following before deleting a Backup Set:

You cannot delete a default Backup Set.
Schedules associated with the Backup Set are also automatically deleted.

From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | <Agent>.
Right-click the <Backup Set>, and then click Delete.
A confirmation message is displayed, asking if you want to delete the Backup Set.
Click No to cancel the deletion and retain the Backupset, or click Yes to continue the deletion.

Deleting a Subclient

Consider the following before deleting a subclient:

You cannot delete a default subclient.
Schedules associated with the subclient are also automatically deleted.

From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | <Agent> | <Backup Set>.
Right-click the <subclient> that you want to delete, and then click Delete.
A confirmation message is displayed, asking if you want to delete the subclient.
Click No to cancel the deletion and retain the subclient, or click Yes to continue the deletion.

Advanced Configuration - File Archiver

Table Of Contents

Prune the Archived Files (Storage Reclamation)

Configuring the Maximum Number of Simultaneous Stub Recalls (Recall Throttling)