Veritas CloudPoint Administrator's Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): CloudPoint (2.2)
Platform: Linux
  1. Getting started with CloudPoint
    1.  
      About CloudPoint
    2.  
      What kinds of assets can you protect?
    3.  
      Understanding your CloudPoint license
  2. Section I. Installing and configuring CloudPoint
    1. Preparing for installation
      1.  
        About the deployment approach
      2.  
        Deciding where to run CloudPoint
      3.  
        Meeting system requirements
      4.  
        CloudPoint host sizing recommendations
      5.  
        Creating an instance or preparing the physical host to install CloudPoint
      6.  
        Installing Docker
      7.  
        Creating and mounting a volume to store CloudPoint data
      8.  
        Verifying that specific ports are open on the instance or physical host
    2. Deploying CloudPoint
      1.  
        About deploying CloudPoint in a non-interactive mode
      2.  
        Installing CloudPoint
      3.  
        Configuring CloudPoint from your browser and signing in
      4.  
        Verifying that CloudPoint installed successfully
      5.  
        Configuring AWS KMS in CloudPoint
    3. Deploying CloudPoint in the AWS cloud
      1.  
        About CloudPoint deployment in the AWS cloud
      2.  
        About CloudPoint integration with AWS KMS
      3. About CloudPoint support for AWS IAM roles
        1.  
          About source account and cross-account configurations
        2.  
          How to configure CloudPoint to use IAM roles
        3.  
          CloudPoint IAM role configuration limitations
      4. About the CloudPoint AWS CloudFormation template
        1.  
          Resources created by the CloudPoint template
        2.  
          CloudPoint EC2 instance configuration details
        3.  
          Instance failures and Auto Scaling Group behavior
      5.  
        Prerequisites for using the CloudPoint template
      6.  
        Launching a CloudPoint CloudFormation stack
    4. Using plug-ins to discover assets
      1.  
        About plug-ins
      2.  
        Determining the types of plug-ins and agents to install
    5. Configuring off-host plug-ins
      1. AWS plug-in configuration notes
        1.  
          Prerequisites for configuring the AWS plug-in
        2.  
          Configuring AWS permissions for CloudPoint
        3.  
          AWS permissions required by CloudPoint
        4.  
          Before you create a cross account configuration
      2. Google Cloud Platform plug-in configuration notes
        1.  
          Google Cloud Platform permissions required by CloudPoint
        2.  
          Configuring a GCP service account for CloudPoint
        3.  
          Preparing the GCP service account for plug-in configuration
      3. Microsoft Azure plug-in configuration notes
        1.  
          Configuring permissions on Microsoft Azure
      4.  
        Dell EMC Unity array plug-in configuration notes
      5.  
        Pure Storage FlashArray plug-in configuration notes
      6. HPE RMC plug-in configuration notes
        1.  
          RMC plug-in configuration parameters
        2.  
          Supported HPE storage systems
        3.  
          Supported CloudPoint operations on HPE storage arrays
      7. NetApp plug-in configuration notes
        1.  
          NetApp plug-in configuration parameters
        2.  
          Supported NetApp arrays
        3.  
          Supported CloudPoint operations on NetApp storage
      8.  
        Configuring an off-host plug-in
      9. About CloudPoint plug-ins and assets discovery
        1.  
          Plug-in discovery interval requirements and limitations
        2.  
          Viewing the assets discovery interval setting
    6. Configuring the on-host agents and plug-ins
      1.  
        About agents
      2. Oracle plug-in configuration notes
        1.  
          Optimizing your Oracle database data and metadata files
      3.  
        MongoDB plug-in configuration notes
      4.  
        Microsoft SQL plug-in configuration notes
      5.  
        About the installation and configuration process
      6.  
        Preparing to install the Linux-based on-host agent
      7.  
        Preparing to install the Windows-based on-host agent
      8.  
        Downloading and installing the on-host agent
      9.  
        Configuring the Linux-based on-host agent
      10.  
        Configuring the Windows-based on-host agent
      11.  
        Configuring the on-host plug-in
      12.  
        Configuring VSS to store shadow copies on the originating drive
    7. Protecting assets with CloudPoint's agentless feature
      1.  
        About the agentless feature
      2. Prerequisites for the agentless configuration
        1.  
          Granting password-less sudo access to host user account
      3.  
        Configuring the agentless feature
  3. Section II. Configuring users
    1. Setting up email and adding users
      1.  
        Configuring the CloudPoint sender email address
      2.  
        About adding users to CloudPoint
      3.  
        Adding AD users to CloudPoint using LDAP
      4.  
        Adding users to CloudPoint manually
      5.  
        Deleting a user from CloudPoint
    2. Assigning roles to users for greater efficiency
      1.  
        About role-based access control
      2.  
        Displaying role information
      3.  
        Creating a role
      4.  
        Editing a role
      5.  
        Deleting a role
  4. Section III. Protecting and managing data
    1. User interface basics
      1.  
        Signing in to CloudPoint
      2.  
        Focusing on an asset type
      3.  
        Navigating to your assets
      4.  
        Using the action icons
    2. Indexing and classifying your assets
      1.  
        About indexing and classifying snapshots
      2.  
        Configuring classification settings using VIC
      3.  
        Indexing and classifying snapshots
      4.  
        Indexing and classification statuses
    3. Protecting your assets with policies
      1.  
        About policies
      2.  
        How a CloudPoint protection policy works
      3.  
        Creating a policy
      4.  
        Assigning a policy to an asset
      5.  
        Listing policies and displaying policy details
      6.  
        Editing a policy
      7.  
        Deleting a policy
    4. Tag-based asset protection
      1.  
        About tag-based asset protection
      2.  
        How to use tag-based asset protection feature
      3.  
        Tag-based asset protection support
      4.  
        Tag-based asset protection considerations and limitations
    5. Replicating snapshots for added protection
      1.  
        About snapshot replication
      2.  
        About cross-account snapshot replication in the AWS cloud
      3.  
        Requirements for replicating snapshots
      4.  
        Cross-account snapshot replication support matrix
      5.  
        Cross-account snapshot replication limitations
      6.  
        Configuring replication rules
      7.  
        Editing a replication rule
      8.  
        Deleting a replication rule
    6. Managing your assets
      1.  
        Creating a snapshot manually
      2.  
        Displaying asset snapshots
      3.  
        Replicating a snapshot manually
      4. About snapshot restore
        1.  
          Restore requirements and limitations for Microsoft SQL Server
        2.  
          Restore requirements and limitations for Oracle
        3.  
          Restore requirements and limitations for MongoDB
      5.  
        About single file restore (granular restore)
      6. Single file restore requirements and limitations
        1.  
          Single file restore support on Linux
        2.  
          Single file restore limitations on Linux
        3.  
          Single file restore support on Windows
        4.  
          Single file restore limitations on Windows
      7.  
        Restoring a snapshot
      8. Additional steps required after a SQL Server snapshot restore
        1.  
          Steps required after a SQL Server host-level restore
        2.  
          Steps required after a SQL Server disk-level snapshot restore to new location
      9.  
        Additional steps required after an Oracle snapshot restore
      10.  
        Additional steps required after a MongoDB snapshot restore
      11.  
        Additional steps required after restoring an AWS RDS database instance
      12.  
        Restoring individual files within a snapshot
      13.  
        Deleting a snapshot
    7. Monitoring activities with notifications and the job log
      1.  
        About CloudPoint notifications
      2.  
        Viewing notifications in the CloudPoint UI
      3.  
        CloudPoint notification methods
      4.  
        CloudPoint notification limitations
      5.  
        Configuring email-based CloudPoint notifications
      6.  
        Configuring AWS SNS-based CloudPoint notifications
      7.  
        Using the Job Log
    8. Protection and disaster recovery
      1.  
        About protection and disaster recovery
      2.  
        Backing up CloudPoint
      3.  
        Restoring CloudPoint
  5. Section IV. Maintaining CloudPoint
    1. CloudPoint logging
      1.  
        About CloudPoint logging mechanism
      2. How fluentd-based CloudPoint logging works
        1.  
          About the CloudPoint fluentd configuration file
        2.  
          Modifying the fluentd configuration file
        3.  
          Fluentd-based logging requirements and considerations
      3.  
        Viewing CloudPoint logs
    2. Troubleshooting CloudPoint
      1.  
        Restarting CloudPoint
      2.  
        Docker may fail to start due to a lack of space
      3.  
        CloudPoint installation fails if rootfs is not mounted in a shared mode
      4.  
        Some CloudPoint features do not appear in the user interface
      5.  
        Off-host plug-in deletion does not automatically remove file system and application assets
      6.  
        Disk-level snapshot restore fails if the original disk is detached from the instance
      7.  
        Snapshot restore for encrypted AWS assets may fail
      8.  
        Error while adding users to CloudPoint
      9.  
        CloudPoint fails to revert restored snapshots if indexing, classification, or restore operations fail
      10.  
        SQL snapshot or restore and SFR operations fail if the Windows instance loses connectivity with the CloudPoint host
      11.  
        Troubleshooting CloudPoint logging
    3. Working with your CloudPoint license
      1.  
        Displaying CloudPoint license and protection information
      2.  
        Upgrading your CloudPoint license
    4. Upgrading CloudPoint
      1. About CloudPoint upgrades
        1.  
          Supported upgrade path
      2. Preparing to upgrade CloudPoint
        1.  
          Removing CloudPoint plug-in configuration
      3.  
        Upgrading CloudPoint
    5. Uninstalling CloudPoint
      1.  
        Preparing to uninstall CloudPoint
      2.  
        Removing the CloudPoint on-host agents
      3.  
        Removing CloudPoint from a standalone Docker host environment
  6. Section V. Reference
    1. Storage array support
      1. Dell EMC Unity arrays
        1.  
          Dell EMC Unity array plug-in configuration parameters
        2.  
          Supported Dell EMC Unity arrays
        3.  
          Supported CloudPoint operations on Dell EMC Unity arrays
      2. Pure Storage FlashArray
        1.  
          Pure Storage FlashArray plug-in configuration parameters
        2.  
          Supported Pure Storage FlashArray models
        3.  
          Supported CloudPoint operations on Pure Storage FlashArray models
    2. Working with CloudPoint using APIs
      1.  
        Accessing the Swagger-based API documentation

CloudPoint host sizing recommendations

The CloudPoint host configuration depends primarily on the number of workloads and also the type of workloads that you wish to protect. It is also dependent on the maximum number of simultaneous operations running on the CloudPoint server at its peak performance capacity.

Another factor that affects performance is how you use CloudPoint for protecting your assets. If you use the CloudPoint agentless option to discover and protect your assets, then the performance will differ depending on the type of workload.

With agentless, CloudPoint transfers the plugin data to the application host, performs the discovery and configuration tasks, and then removes the plugin package from the application host. Therefore, database applications such as Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server will require a higher capacity configuration, as compared to other assets.

Veritas recommends the following configurations for the CloudPoint host:

Table: Typical CloudPoint host configuration

Workload metric

CloudPoint host configuration

Up to 16 concurrent operational tasks

CPU: 2 CPUs

Memory: 16 GB

For example, in the AWS cloud, the CloudPoint host specifications should be an equivalent of a t2.xlarge instance.

Up to 32 concurrent operational tasks

CPU: 4 - 8 CPUs

Memory: 32 GB or more

For example, in the AWS cloud, the CloudPoint host specifications should be an equivalent of a t2.2xlarge or a higher type of instance.

General considerations and guidelines:

Consider the following points while choosing a configuration for the CloudPoint host:

  • To achieve better performance in a high workload environment, Veritas recommends that you deploy the CloudPoint host in the same location as that of the application hosts.

  • If you are using the agentless option, Veritas recommends that you allocate enough space to the /tmp directory on the application host. CloudPoint uses this directory for extracting the plugin configuration files.

  • Depending on the number of workloads, the amount of plugin data that is transmitted from the CloudPoint host can get really large in size. The network latency also plays a key role in such a case. You might see a difference in the overall performance depending on these factors.

  • If you wish to configure multiple workloads using the agentless option, then the performance will be dependent on factors such as the network bandwidth and the location of the CloudPoint host with respect to the application workload instances. You can, if desired, bump up the CloudPoint host's CPU, memory, and network configuration to achieve a performance improvement in parallel configurations of agentless application hosts.

  • In cases where the number of concurrent operations is higher than what the CloudPoint host configuration capacity can handle, CloudPoint automatically puts the operations in a job queue. The queued jobs are picked up only after the running operations are completed.