Veritas NetBackup for Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV) Administrator's Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): NetBackup (8.1)
  1. Introduction to NetBackup for Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV)
    1.  
      Protect AHV using NetBackup
    2.  
      NetBackup terminology related to the AHV backup
    3.  
      NetBackup for AHV environment
    4.  
      Tasks to protect the AHV
  2. Prerequisites, notes, and restrictions
    1.  
      Prerequisites
    2. Notes and restrictions
      1.  
        NetBackup character restrictions for virtual machine names
  3. Download and install the Nutanix plug-in
    1.  
      Plan the installation for Nutanix AHV
    2.  
      Verify the operating system and platform compatibility
    3.  
      NetBackup server and client requirements
    4.  
      License requirements for the Nutanix AHV
    5.  
      Download the Nutanix AHV plug-in binaries
    6.  
      Install the Nutanix AHV plug-in
  4. Configure NetBackup communication with AHV
    1.  
      Establish communication between components
    2. Add a backup host to the NetBackup master server
      1.  
        Add a backup host to the NetBackup master access list
      2.  
        Configure a NetBackup Appliance as a backup host
    3.  
      Add a backup host to the Acropolis Cluster access list
    4.  
      Add the Nutanix Acropolis Cluster credentials for NetBackup
    5. Manage SSL certificates
      1.  
        Manage SSL certificates on NetBackup Appliance
    6.  
      About the nb_nutanix-ahv configuration file
  5. Configure NetBackup policies for AHV
    1.  
      About the BigData policy type
    2.  
      Create a BigData policy using the NetBackup Policies utility
    3.  
      Create a BigData policy using the Backup Policy Configuration Wizard
    4.  
      Create a BigData policy using the NetBackup Command Line Interface
  6. Backup and restore
    1. Back up the Nutanix AHV virtual machines
      1.  
        Basic phases in a NetBackup backup of an AHV
    2.  
      Restore the Nutanix AHV virtual machines
  7. Troubleshoot issues
    1.  
      Troubleshoot issues related to AHV backup
    2.  
      NetBackup logs
    3.  
      Error during policy creation and validation
    4.  
      NetBackup status codes
  8. Appendix A. NetBackup commands to backup and restore Nutanix AHV virtual machines
    1.  
      NetBackup commands for protecting the AHV

Restore the Nutanix AHV virtual machines

NetBackup lets you restore your Nutanix AHV virtual machines with the help of the restored disk files from Backup, Archive, and Restore console and the restore virtual machine utility.

Restore process includes the following high-level steps:

  • Restore the disk files of the VM from the Backup, Archive, and Restore console to the Nutanix container on the whitelisted backup host. This step restores the VM disk data on the Nutanix container.

    For more information on whitelisting the backup host, See Add a backup host to the Acropolis Cluster access list.

    Note:

    To restore the disk files to a Nutanix container, you must mount the container on the backup host using the NFS and restore the files on the mount point.

    After the disk files are restored, you must unmount the container from the Backup host. If you do not unmount the container, the subsequent backups of the VMs on the mounted containers might fail.

  • Run the utility from the command line on the backup host and verify the status of the restore process from the Nutanix Prism. This step creates the VM on the Acropolis cluster.

Figure: Overview of the Nutanix VM restore process

Overview of the Nutanix VM restore process
About the metadata.json file

The metadata.json file contains the details of the VM such as metadata of the VM, allocated memory, network details, and the disks that are present. The metadata.json file is created for each VM during a back up. You can update the metadata.json file if you want to restore the VM with a different configuration.

Few important options in the metadata.json file

Description

vm_uuid

UUID of the virtual machine.

memory_mb

Memory to be allocated to the VM in MBs.

name

VM name.

num_cores_per_vcpu

Number of the cores that are allocated per CPU for the VM.

num_vcpus

Number of CPUs allocated to the VM.

storage_container_name

Storage container name where the VM is restored.

mac_address

MAC address of the VM.

Warning:

Be sure to consider the consequences before you change the values in metadata.json file.

Scenarios during a restore

Refer to the following table to understand the scenarios where you must modify the metadata.json file:

Table: Restore scenarios

Scenario

Required Action

Restore a VM to the same cluster or a different cluster and the cluster does not contain a VM with the same vm_uuid or mac_address value.

Do not modify metadata.json.

Restore a VM to the same cluster or different cluster and the cluster already contains a VM with the same vm_uuid, mac_address, or the name value.

Note:

This scenario is useful if you want to test the restore process without disturbing the existing VM.

Modify the metadata.json file to update the values for vm_uuid, mac_address, and name.

Restore a VM with a modified configuration to the same cluster or different cluster. For example, if you restore the disk files from the Backup, Archive, and Restore console to a new, container, change the vm_disk:storage_container_name value.

Modify the metadata.json file.

To restore a virtual machine:

Before you continue the restore process:

  • If you want to restore a VM to the Nutanix Acropolis cluster or container that you have deleted, you must recreate the cluster or container before you start the restore process.

  • Identify the Nutanix containers that the VM disks belong to, create directories for those containers on the backup host, and mount the containers as an NFS path.

    If you plan to create the directory at the root level, ensure that the directory name in the root directory is different than the container name. If you create the directory at the root level with a name that matches the container name, ensure that you delete the directories after a restore.

  • Ensure that a /.restore folder is available in each of the mounted container.

  1. From the NetBackup Administration Console, select Backup, Archive, and Restore.
  2. Select the Restore Files tab and click Specify the machines to use and policy type for the backup or restore.
  3. In the Specify the machines to use and policy type for the backup or restore dialog box, enter the following values and then click OK.

    Option

    Value

    Server to use for backup and restores

    Host name of the master server

    Source client for restores

    Nutanix VM name that you want to restore

    Destination client for restores

    The Backup host that you selected in the BigData Policy

    Policy type for restores

    BigData

  4. Select Restore type as Normal Backups.
  5. In the Browse Directory field, enter / to view the backed up Nutanix VM data that you can restore.
  6. In the Directory Structure navigation pane, select / to display the storage containers of the VM and the metadata.json file in the Contents of the selected directory pane on the right side.
  7. Select the individual VM disk files and the associated metadata.json file and click Restore.
  8. Select Restore individual directories and files to different locations.
  9. Select the disk file or metadata.json file, and for each file entry, click Change Selected Destination(s) and complete the following steps:

    • For the metadata.json file, restore the file to any location on the backup host.

    • For the disk file, enter the path of the mounted Nutanix container in the following format:

      /<path_to_mounted_Nutanix_container>/.restore/<restore_disk_file_ID>

      Ensure that the /.restore directory is present.

      For example, if a Nutanix container named Container1 is mounted at /mnt/Container1, the destination path is:

      /mnt/Container1/.restore/<restore_disk_file_ID>

  10. Click Start Restore.
  11. After the restore successfully completes, open the following location on the backup host:

    /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/goodies

  12. Run the restore VM utility using the following command:

    nbaapi_ahv_vm_restore --metadata_file_path <metadata_restore_location> --username <Nutanix_username> --password <Nutanix_password> --cluster_name <cluster_name> --cluster_port <port_number>

    Here,

    • metadata_file_path is the path where the metadata.json file resides

    • username is the user name of the Nutanix Acropolis Cluster

    • password is the password of the Nutanix Acropolis Cluster

    • cluster_name is the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of the Nutanix Acropolis Cluster

    • cluster_port is the port number of the Nutanix Acropolis Cluster

    Note:

    If a VM with the same UUID exists, then the restore utility fails. You can restore virtual machines so that they have same names but different UUIDs. The UUIDs are displayed using the vm_uuid option on the metadata.json or VM ID in the Prism Console. If you recreate a VM with the same name and UUID, then the utility runs but the Prism task fails.

    For more information, refer to .

  13. Use the task UUID to track the progress of the virtual machine restoration process from the Nutanix Prism Console's View All Tasks menu.
  14. After the restore is complete, the VM is in a turned off state. You must turn on the virtual machine manually.
  15. Delete the disk files from the storage container's restore directory and unmount the container from the backup host.