On Demand backups allow content to be specified as an external input at the time of initiating a backup. Whereas traditional backups are performed using subclients, which contain fixed content configured prior to performing the operation, On Demand backups allow you to specify content each time you perform a backup.
Content for On Demand backups is defined through two entities:
Once these entities are defined, an On Demand Backup Set is then created. Backups run from this Backup Set will provide the facility to select the Content and Directive Files to be included.
Content File entries should be in the following format with no filters, wildcards, or regular expressions included:
\\client1\shares\ondemand_content\test1.txt
/usr/datafile
/usr/textfile
/etc/docfile
Similarly, Directive File entries should be in the following format with no filters, wildcards, regular expressions, or blank lines:
/usr/ContentFile1
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.
For example, consider a Content File that lists the following entries:
/usr/
/usr/textfile
In this scenario, a backup operation will back up the contents of all data residing in the textfile folder twice as the Content File already has the entry for the parent folder to be backed up.
It is recommended that Content Files do not include such duplicate entries. If you are not able to avoid duplicate entries, use the following steps to prevent the duplication of data.
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You can create user-defined subclients to protect specific portions of the client data. For example, you may need to frequently backup a specific directory or a set of directories. You can create a subclient for such directories and schedule frequent backups for that subclient.
By default, the content of the Default Subclient contains
the entire file system. When you create a user-defined Subclient, the contents of the user-defined Subclient will be excluded from the Default Subclient. |
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A symbolic link is a file that points to another file. By default, the symbolic link file will be included in the subclient content. However, use the following procedure to expand and backup the path in the symbolic link.
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Backup of content pointed by the symbolic links can be enabled at the subclient level.
Use the following steps to follow the symbolic links under a subclient and include the content pointed by these links for backup:
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Symbolic links are backed up by default when they are part of subclient content. In addition to symbolic links, you can enable back up of data pointed by symbolic links that are present under the subclient content path but reside outside the content path.
For example, consider a subclient with content as /home/user having symbolic links under this directory:
/home/user/lib->/usr/lib/
/home/user/commonProfile.rc->/etc/commonProfile.rc
When you enable the option, symbolic links as well as the data they are pointing to will be backed up, i.e., the data content of the directories, /user/lib and /etc/commonProfile.rc is backed up.
Note that data will be backed up unless there is another subclient with content covering the path the symbolic link is pointing to; if the other subclient is not scheduled for backup, loss of data due to user error will occur.
Use the following steps to enable backup of data pointed by symbolic links:
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You can use QSnap to enable backup of mandatory locked files. Before you enable this option, install QSnap on the client.
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Use the following steps to backup the Apple Double formatted Macintosh files as a single file:
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The registry key will be listed, click OK.
To backup and restore files containing non-ASCII (international) characters appropriate locale has to be configured in the server. Once configured, these settings enable you to:
The following steps use the example of KOI-8R character encoding scheme to store the files with Russian names.
1. | Logon to the client as root and stop the Services. | Calypso stop |
2. | Run the locale command (with no options) to determine which locale is currently set on the server. A sample output is shown in the example. |
Example: LANG=en_US.iso885915 LC_CTYPE="en_US.iso885915" LC_NUMERIC="en_US.iso885915" LC_TIME="en_US.iso885915" LC_COLLATE="en_US.iso885915" LC_MONETARY="en_US.iso885915" LC_MESSAGES="en_US.iso885915" LC_ALL= This output shows that the en_US.iso885915 locale for the LANG environment variable is currently set. |
3. | Use the LC_CTYPE environment variable to set the desired locale. |
Example: LC_CTYPE=ru.koi8-r |
4. | Export the locale. | export LC_CTYPE |
5. | Run the locale command. A sample output is shown in the example. |
Example: LANG= en_US.iso885915 LC_CTYPE="ru.koi8-r" LC_NUMERIC="ru.koi8-r" LC_TIME="ru.koi8-r" LC_COLLATE="ru.koi8-r" LC_MONETARY="ru.koi8-r" LC_MESSAGES="ru.koi8-r" LC_ALL= |
6. | Start the Services | Calypso start |
A properly configured system will have the correct locale set in one of the operating system startup scripts (e.g., /etc/profile). In case you do not want to change the locale for the entire system, you may make the changes to the Calypso startup scripts by editing the /opt/calypso/galaxy_vm file
Example:
LC_CTYPE=ru.koi8-r
export LC_CTYPE
To update the CRC consistency checking, include the following command as root from the Base directory:
/updatecrc32 galaxy/Base/Galaxy
Restart the server to allow the iDataAgent to start with the correct locale settings.
By default, the following file systems are automatically skipped during backups:
By default, the default subclient includes all the data in the client. However, the above mentioned file systems are not included in the backups. Use the following steps to include the skipped file systems in the default subclient.
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You can set filters to prevent specific data from being backed up. Typically, you can use filters to exclude certain system-related files and database application files which consistently fail during a backup operation.
Subclient-level backup filters are available for the File System iDataAgent to exclude specified directories and files from being backed up. Follow the steps given below to configure filters on a subclient:
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Once you set the filters, you can also provide exceptions for the filters. The files or folders added to the exception list will be included in the backup operations. For example, if you want to exclude from your back up 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 backed up and also provide an exception to allow the Maintenance file to be backed up.
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By default Classic File Scan is selected as the method for scanning files to determine which files have changed and/or have been backed up. However, you can also select Data Classification Enabler as the preferred method of scanning files. If you want to use Data Classification Enabler , see Data Classification.
Classic File Scan is always used when files or file level wildcards are used in the subclient content. |
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The File System iDataAgent uses the operating system's kernel resources, such as shared memory, semaphores, etc., to perform data protection and recovery operations. If you are using an earlier version of the operating system, you can optimize the usage of these resources by setting the kernel parameter values.
The following table displays the possible range of values for each parameter:
If "*" appears
after the parameter name, this indicates that you can increment the
value of the parameter based on the number of desired streams by using
the formula parameter value = 64 * number of desired streams as long as the "high-end" value of the range for the parameter is not exceeded. |
Parameters | Description | Possible Range of Values |
SEMMSL* | Defines the minimum recommended semaphore value. | 1 – 2147483647 [MAXINT] |
SEMMNS* | Defines the maximum semaphores in the system. | 1 – 2147483647 [MAXINT] |
SEMOPM | Defines the maximum number of operations for each semaphore call. | 100 |
SEMMNI* | Defines the maximum number of semaphore sets in the entire system. | 1 – 65535 |
SHMMNI* | Defines the maximum number of shared memory segments in the entire system. | 1 – 2147483647 [MAXINT] |
SHMMAX | Defines the maximum allowable size of one shared memory segment. | 0 – 2147483648 [2 GB] (the high-end value is the recommended value) |
SHMALL | Defines the maximum total shared memory system-wide. | 2097152 |
Use the following steps to modify the kernel parameters:
1. | From the unix prompt, log on to the client as root. | |
2. | Navigate to the /proc/sys/kernel. | cd /proc/sys/kernel |
3. |
View the current values of the parameters in the sem
file. For example, view the values of all semaphore parameters. The output provides the current value for the following parameters in the order listed: SEMMSL, SEMMNS, SEMOPM, and SEMMNI. |
Example: cat sem 250 32000 32 128 In this example, SEMMSL=250, SEMMNS=32000, SEMOPM=32, and SEMMNI=128 |
4. |
Modify the required parameter. For example, modify the semmns parameter.
Use the following formula to calculate the value for the parameter: parameter value = current value + (64 * number of desired streams)
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sysctl -w kernel.<parameter>="value" For example: sysctl -w kernel.semmns="2147483647" |
5. | Restart the computer to allow the changes to take effect. |
On a redhat linux computer, you can permanently modify the parameters using the following steps:
1. | From the unix prompt, log on to the client as root. | |
2. | Open the /etc/sysctl.conf file. | vi /etc/sysctl.conf |
3. |
Modify the required parameters. For example, modify the sem parameters.
Use the following formula to calculate the value for the parameter: parameter value = current value + (64 * number of desired streams)
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sysctl -w
kernel.<parameter>="value1 value2 value3 value4". For Example: sysctl -w kernel.sem="4096 512000 1600 9005"
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3. | Save the sysctl.conf file. |
Press the Esc key. Type :wq |
4. | Run the command to allow the changes to take effect. | sysctl -p |
Note that, you do not have to enable multi-streaming if you have multiple mount points pointing to the same physical drive. Do not use multiple streams if you have added UNC paths to the subclient content.
Before enabling multi streaming, ensure that you can use multi-streaming when you restore the data and create an auxiliary copy.
Follow the steps given below to configure multi-streaming.
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This option accelerates Full or On Demand backups and is enabled by default. Subsequently, when you perform a browse and restore operation, the default browse displays data up to the most recent full backup. To browse and restore older data you have to use the options to browse before or between specific dates.
When disabled, Full or On Demand backups may be slower. However, the default browse displays all data in the entire retention period; not just one full backup cycle.
Use the following steps to configure this option for all subclients. This option can also be set for the individual backups when initiating the job.
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Incremental and differential backups can be configured depending on the changed time. The changed time can include ctime (changes in the file properties) or mtime (changes to the data in the file). You can use ctime to include the files with their properties changed since last backup/last full backup. Similarly, you can use mtime to include the files with their data changed since last backup/last full backup.
The ctime and mtime will be applicable only for the volumes which are scanned by the Classic File Scan. When the Data Classification is used for scanning the volumes, ctime and mtime will not be taken into account.
Follow the steps given below to configure an incremental backup using ctime and mtime options.
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A Save As Script file can also be run as a pre/post process, if you include the absolute path of the associated input file in the script file.
The first line of the script must execute a command that is designed to call in the pre/post program. Ensure that you have included the appropriate command in the first line of the script.
The following is an example of a typical pre/post script:
#!/bin/bash base='basename $0' echo $0, 'date' > /extra/aah/RESULTS/$base.out exit 0
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Use the following steps to run a post process even if the scan or backup operation did not complete successfully. For example, this may be useful to bring a database online or release a snapshot.
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The sparse files are restored by default as flat files, wherein the holes are restored as data. This will increase the disk usage. Use the following steps to restore the holes as genuine holes which will considerably reduce the disk usage.
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You can add, modify or delete several configurable properties for the File System iDataAgent from command line.
Command line configuration enables you to:
The following sections describe the available command line configurations:
To run command line operations you must first login to the CommServe as follows:
qlogin -cs <commserve name> -u <user name>
qlogin -cs server1 -u user1
qoperation execute -af create_subclient_template.xml -appName 'File System' -clientName xxxxx -backupsetName xxxxx -subclientName xxxxx -contentOperationType ADD -content/path 'xxxxx'
qoperation execute -af get_subclient_properties_template.xml -appName 'File System' -clientName xxxxx -backupsetName xxxxx -subclientName xxxxx
qoperation execute -af update_subclient_add_template.xml -appName 'File System' -clientName xxxxx -backupsetName xxxxx -subclientName xxxxx -contentOperationType xxxxx -content/path 'xxxxx'
qoperation execute -af update_subclient_add_template.xml -appName 'File System' -clientName xxxxx -backupSetName xxxxx -subclientName xxxxx -newName xxxxx
qoperation execute -af delete_subclient_template.xml -appName 'File System' -clientName xxxxx -backupsetName xxxxx -subclientName xxxxx
The following table displays all the parameters you can use with the commands mentioned in the above sections. To add a parameter to your command, use the following syntax: (Some examples are provided at the end of the table.)
qoperation execute -af <template XML file> -<parameter name> <value>
Parameter | Description of Parameter values |
clientName | Name of the client computer. |
backupsetname | Name of the backup set. If the backup set name is not specified in the command query, the default backup set is used by default. |
appName | Name of the application. In this case it would be 'File System'. |
subclientname | Name of the subclient. |
newName | New name of the subclient. |
enableBackup | Option to enable/disable backup. Valid values are True/False. |
encryptionFlag | Option to set the encryption points during
backups. Valid values are:
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networkAgents | Number of Network Agents. |
softwareCompression | Option to enable compression on the
Client or MediaAgent computer. Valid values are:
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throttleNetworkBandwidth | Enhancing backup performance by reducing network
bandwidth overhead. Valid values are 0/1. |
enableDeduplication | Option to enable deduplication on subclient. Valid values are True/False. |
generateSignature | A component of deduplication performed on the
client or MediaAgent computer. Valid values are:
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storagePolicyName | Name of the Storage Policy to be associated for backup. |
useGlobalFilters | Option to enable the use of global filters. Valid values are:
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useVSS | Option to enable/disable VSS for backing up the
file system
data. Valid values are True/False. |
useVSSForSystemState | Option to enable/disable VSS for backing up the
system state. Valid values are True/False. |
backupSystemState | Option to enable/disable back up of the system
state. Valid values are True/False. |
postBackupCommand | Path to the post process script that will be run after the backup. |
postScanCommand | Path to the post process script that will be run after the scan phase |
preBackupCommand | Path to the pre process script that will be run before the backup. |
preScanCommand | Path to the pre process script that will be run before the scan phase |
runAs | Option to specify the user name who has permissions to run the pre/post
process scripts. Valid values are:
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content/path | Location of the content to be backed up. This
parameter must be used along with the contentOperationType parameter, for example: -contentOperationType <value> -content/path '<path value>' |
content/excludepath | Location of the content to be excluded from
backup. This parameter must be used along with the contentOperationType
parameter, for example: -contentOperationType <value> -content/excludepath '<path value>' |
content/includepath | Location of the content to be included
in the backup from the excluded list. This parameter must be used
along with the contentOperationType parameter, for example: -contentOperationType <value> -content/includepath '<path value>' |
contentOperationType | Modification type. Valid values are
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The following examples show how to add a parameter for a command:
Adding Content |
To update the location for the subclient content, add the 'path'
parameter to the following command: qoperation execute -af update_subclient_add_template.xml -appName 'File System' -clientName client1 -backupSetName backupset1 -subclientName subclient1 -contentOperationType ADD -content/path '/etc' |
Setting a Storage Policy |
To assign a storage policy to a subclient, add the 'storagePolicyName'
parameter to the following command: qoperation execute -af update_subclient_add_template.xml -appName 'File System' -clientName client1 -backupSetName backupset1 -subclientName subclient1 -storagePolicyName sp1 |
For detailed information on the Subclient parameters see Subclient Properties.
qoperation execute –af sched_policy_association_template.xml –taskName mypolicy
Parameter | Description of Parameter Values |
taskName | Name of the Schedule Policy to be associated. |
You can use the Show Folder Size option to get a graphical representation of the space used by backed up data on a client. This can be done for each subclient for a given client. The graph gets refreshed every time a backup is run for the change in data. To use this option, you must enable SRM for a given client and run a Full Backup.
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The following table describes the properties that can be configured from the agent, backup set and subclient levels.
Option | Description | Related topics |
Preserving the File Access Time |
This option allows you to prevent the file access
time from being changed as a result of running data protection
operations on the client. When this option is selected, the file access
time will be preserved.
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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 a Backup Set or Subclient |
You can rename backup sets and subclients. Renaming BackupSet:
Renaming subclient:
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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 Activity Control |
You can enable backup and restore operations from the agent and subclient level.
However, you can enable restore operations only from the agent level.
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Refer to Activity Control. |
Configure User Security |
You can configure user security from the agent or subclient
level.
You can perform the following functions:
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Refer to User Administration and Security. |
Enable/Disable Data Encryption |
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. |
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 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.
Apple Double Encoded Support, Classic Scan, Ctime, Hard Links, Hole, Locale for Non-ASCII character, Locked File, NFS Mount, mount point, Mtime, Raw device, Sparse File, Symbolic Link