Veritas NetBackup for MongoDB Administrator's Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): NetBackup (8.2)
  1. Overview of protecting MongoDB using NetBackup
    1.  
      About protecting a sharded, replica set, or standalone MongoDB cluster using NetBackup
    2.  
      Protecting MongoDB data using NetBackup
    3.  
      NetBackup for MongoDB terminologies
    4.  
      Limitations
    5.  
      Prerequisites and the best practices for protecting MongoDB
  2. Installing and deploying MongoDB plug-in for NetBackup
    1.  
      Deploying the MongoDB plug-in
    2.  
      Operating system and platform compatibility
    3.  
      Downloading the plug-in
    4.  
      Installing the MongoDB plug-in and the required EEBs
    5.  
      Prerequisites and the best practices for deploying the MongoDB plug-in
    6.  
      Post installation procedures
    7.  
      Verifying the installation of the MongoDB plug-in
  3. Configuring NetBackup for MongoDB
    1.  
      About the MongoDB configuration tool
    2.  
      Prerequisites for manually creating the mongodb.conf file
    3. Configuring backup options for MongoDB using the mongodb.conf file
      1.  
        Whitelisting the configuration file path on NetBackup master server
    4.  
      Obtaining the RSA key of the MongoDB nodes
    5. Adding MongoDB credentials in NetBackup
      1.  
        About the credential configuration file
      2.  
        How to add the MongoDB credentials in NetBackup
      3.  
        About the MongoDB roles for protecting the data
    6.  
      Using a non-root user as a host user
    7. Managing backup hosts
      1.  
        Whitelisting a NetBackup client on NetBackup master server
  4. Backing up MongoDB using NetBackup
    1. Backing up MongoDB data
      1.  
        Backing up a MongoDB cluster
    2.  
      Prerequisites for backing up a MongoDB cluster
    3. Configuring NetBackup policies for MongoDB plug-in
      1.  
        Creating a BigData backup policy
      2.  
        Creating BigData policy using the NetBackup Administration Console
      3.  
        Using the Policy Configuration Wizard to create a BigData policy for MongoDB clusters
      4.  
        Using the NetBackup Policies utility to create a BigData policy for MongoDB clusters
      5.  
        Using NetBackup Command Line Interface (CLI) to create a BigData policy for MongoDB clusters
  5. Restoring or recovering MongoDB data using NetBackup
    1.  
      Restoring MongoDB data
    2.  
      Prerequisites for MongoDB restore and recovery
    3. About the restore scenarios for MongoDB database from the BAR interface
      1.  
        High-level steps involved in the Restore and Recovery process
    4.  
      Using the BAR interface to restore the MongoDB data on the same cluster
    5.  
      Using the BAR interface to restore the MongoDB data on an alternate cluster
    6.  
      About restoring MongoDB data in a high availability setup on an alternate client
    7. Recovering a MongoDB database using the command line
      1.  
        Creating or modifying the rename file
      2.  
        Using the command line to recover a MongoDB database
    8.  
      Manual steps after the recovery process
  6. Troubleshooting
    1.  
      About NetBackup for MongoDB debug logging
    2.  
      Known limitations for MongoDB protection using NetBackup
  7. Appendix A. Additional information
    1.  
      Contents of the MongoDB plug-in installer package file
    2.  
      Sample MongodB configuration utility workflow to add and update MongodB credentials

Backing up MongoDB data

MongoDB data is backed up in parallel streams wherein MongoDB data nodes stream data blocks simultaneously to multiple backup hosts.

The following diagram provides an overview of the backup flow:

Figure: Backup flow

Backup flow

As illustrated in the above diagram:

  1. A scheduled backup job is triggered from the master server.

  2. Backup job for MongoDB data is a compound job. When the backup job is triggered, first a discovery job runs.

  3. During discovery, the backup host deploys a transient thin client (mdbserver) on the configuration server and obtains the details of the shards in the MongoDB cluster. The thin client also stops the balancing across the nodes in a replica set.

  4. After receiving the information about the cluster, the backup host deploys a thin client on the secondary node of a replica set in the MongoDB cluster.

  5. The thin client discovers the database paths dynamically, quiesces the secondary nodes, and takes snapshots for full backups and captures oplog for incremental backups.

  6. Individual child jobs run for each backup stream and data is backed up.

  7. Data blocks are streamed simultaneously from different secondary nodes to multiple backup hosts.

Once the backup operation is completed, the thin client is removed from the servers.

The compound backup job is not completed until all the child jobs are completed. After the child jobs are completed, NetBackup cleans all the snapshots from the secondary nodes. Only after the cleanup activity is completed, the compound backup job is completed.