Veritas NetBackup™ Virtual Appliance Getting Started Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): Appliances (3.1.1)
  1. Product overview
    1. NetBackup Virtual Appliance product description
      1.  
        About the NetBackup Virtual Appliance combined master and media server role
      2.  
        About the NetBackup Virtual Appliance media server role
    2.  
      NetBackup Virtual Appliance supported features
    3.  
      About the NetBackup Virtual Appliance documentation
  2. Preparing the initial deployment
    1.  
      NetBackup Virtual Appliance product files (OVF templates)
    2.  
      NetBackup Virtual Appliance deployment methods
    3. NetBackup Virtual Appliance deployment guidelines
      1.  
        NetBackup Virtual Appliance initial deployment checklist
    4.  
      Troubleshooting NetBackup Virtual Appliance initial deployment issues
  3. Deploying and configuring the appliance
    1. How to deploy and configure a NetBackup Virtual Appliance combined master and media server
      1.  
        Using the vSphere Client to deploy a combined master and media server appliance
      2.  
        Using the OVF Tool to deploy a combined master and media server appliance
      3.  
        Performing the initial configuration on a NetBackup Virtual Appliance combined master and media server
      4.  
        Completing the initial configuration of the NetBackup Virtual Appliance combined master and media server
    2. How to deploy and configure a NetBackup Virtual Appliance media server
      1.  
        Using the vSphere Client to deploy a media server appliance
      2.  
        Using the OVF Tool to deploy a media server appliance
      3.  
        Configuring a master server to communicate with an appliance media server
      4.  
        Performing the initial configuration on a NetBackup Virtual Appliance media server
  4. Post initial configuration procedures
    1.  
      About modifying the NetBackup Virtual Appliance settings
    2.  
      Adding a permanent license key if an evaluation license key expires
    3.  
      Managing license keys on the NetBackup Virtual Appliance
  5. Introduction to the NetBackup Virtual Appliance Shell Menu
    1.  
      Using the NetBackup Virtual Appliance Shell Menu
    2.  
      About the NetBackup Virtual Appliance Shell Menu command views
  6. Appendix A. Limitations and Operational Notes
    1.  
      Known limitations of the NetBackup Virtual Appliance 3.1.1 release
    2.  
      Operational Notes for the NetBackup Virtual Appliance 3.1.1 release
  7. Appendix B. New features, enhancements, and changes
    1.  
      NetBackup Virtual Appliance 3.1.1 new features, enhancements, and changes

NetBackup Virtual Appliance deployment guidelines

Use the following configuration guidelines when you deploy a new NetBackup Virtual Appliance:

Table: Appliance deployment guidelines

Parameter

Description

Deployment requirements

To deploy a NetBackup Virtual Appliance, you need a VMware vCenter Server user account and access to the vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client. The appliance supports vSphere versions 5.5, 6.0 and 6.5. Your vCenter Server account must have at least the minimum privileges required to deploy an OVF template.

For how to deploy an OVF package directly on an ESXi host, see the following technical article.

https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.100038949

Refer to the VMware documentation for more information.

Connectivity during deployment

When you perform the appliance deployment, Veritas recommends that you take precautions to avoid loss of connectivity. Any loss of connectivity during deployment results in failure.

The computer that you use to deploy the appliance should be set up to avoid the following events:

  • Conditions that cause the computer to go to sleep

  • Conditions that cause the computer to shut down or to lose power

  • Conditions that cause the computer to lose its network connection

Environment requirements

Depending on the product file (OVF template) you use, the appliance can use one of the following CPU and memory combination.

  • 16 GB of memory and 8 virtual CPUs (vCPUs)

  • 8 GB of memory and 4 vCPUs

See NetBackup Virtual Appliance product files (OVF templates).

Make sure that both the CPU and memory requirements are met before you deploy the appliance.

Performance

Veritas recommends that you adhere to the following best practices:

  • Do not overcommit the vCPUs on the ESX host. The number of vCPUs that are assigned to all virtual machines on the host should be equal to or less than the number of cores on that host.

  • Set a memory reservation to provide the appliance with full utilization of the available memory.

  • Do not overcommit the memory on the ESX host. The amount of memory that is assigned to all virtual machines on the host should be equal to or less than the amount of memory on that host.

  • Do not enable hyper-threading.

  • Use thick provisioning for the appliance virtual disks.

  • The NetBackup Virtual Appliance has a heavy I/O workload, so it should be isolated from shared storage as much as possible. At a minimum, make sure that the appliance uses a different datastore than other virtual machines with a heavy I/O workload.

Required names and addresses

Before the initial deployment, gather the following information:

  • Data center and storage details

  • Appliance host name and IP address

  • Netmask and Gateway IP address

  • DNS information

  • Names for AdvancedDisk and MSDP disk pools and storage units

    Note:

    You do not need to provide the storage details for a master server appliance or a CloudCatalyst appliance.

  • New passwords for the admin and maintenance accounts

    Note:

    The default password for appliance access is P@ssw0rd.

See NetBackup Virtual Appliance initial deployment checklist.

Licenses

The appliance comes with a not for resale (NFR) license key that expires after a specific period of time. The appliance does not provide a warning message that this license key is about to expire. Therefore, Veritas recommends that you change this key to a permanent key after you deploy the appliance.

Make sure that you replace the NFR key with a permanent key before it expires.

Warning:

The NetBackup Virtual Appliance has a specific license key, and if the correct key is not installed, the appliance services stop functioning after the evaluation key expires. Make sure that the permanent license key that you add is correct for NetBackup Virtual Appliance.

See Managing license keys on the NetBackup Virtual Appliance.

Review the initial deployment checklist and make sure that you have all of the necessary information to complete the deployment procedure.

See NetBackup Virtual Appliance initial deployment checklist.