Veritas NetBackup™ Administrator's Guide, Volume I

To duplicate backup images

1. In the NetBackup Administration Console, in the left pane, expand NetBackup Management > Catalog.
2. In the right pane, set up the search criteria for the image you want to duplicate. Click Search Now.
3. Right-click the image(s) you want to duplicate and select Duplicate from the shortcut menu.

   If you duplicate an online, hot catalog backup, select all child jobs that were used to create the catalog backup. All jobs must be duplicated to duplicate the catalog backup.

   
4. Specify the number of copies you want to create. NetBackup can create up to 10 copies of unexpired backups.
   

   If enough drives are available, the copies are created simultaneously. Otherwise, the system may require operator intervention if four copies are to be created using only two drives, for example.

5. The primary copy is the copy from which restores are done. Normally, the original backup is the primary copy.

   If you want one of the duplicated copies to become the primary copy, check the appropriate check box, otherwise leave the fields blank.

   When the primary expires, a different copy automatically becomes primary. (The copy that is chosen is the one with the smallest copy number. If the primary is copy 1, copy 2 becomes primary when it expires. If the primary is copy 5, copy 1 becomes primary when it expires.)

6. Specify the storage unit where each copy is stored. If a storage unit has multiple drives, it can be used for both the source and destination.

   All storage units must meet the criteria for creating multiple copies.

   See About configuring multiple copies.

7. Specify the volume pool where each copy is stored.

   The following volume pool selections are based on the policy type setting that was used for the query.

   If the Policy type is set to All Policy Types (default).	Specifies that all volume pools are included in the drop-down list. Both catalog and non-catalog volume pools are included.
   If the Policy type is set to NBU-Catalog.	Specifies that only catalog volume pools are included in the drop-down list.
   If the Policy type is set to a policy type other than NBU-Catalog or All Policy Types.	Specifies that only non-catalog volume pools are included in the drop-down list.

   NetBackup does not verify that the media ID selected for the duplicate copy is different from the media ID that contains the original backup. Because of this potential deadlock, specify a different volume pool to ensure that a different volume is used.

8. Select the retention level for the copy, or select No change.

   The duplicate copy shares many attributes of the primary copy, including backup ID. Other attributes apply only to the primary. (For example, elapsed time.) NetBackup uses the primary copy to satisfy restore requests.

   Consider the following items when selecting the retention level:

   • If No Change is selected for the retention period, the expiration date is the same for the duplicate and the source copies. You can use the bpexpdate command to change the expiration date of the duplicate.

   • If a retention period is indicated, the expiration date for the copy is the backup date plus the retention period. For example, if a backup was created on November 14, 2010 and its retention period is one week, the new copy's expiration date is November 21, 2010.

9. Specify whether the remaining copies should continue or fail if the specified copy fails.
10. Specify who should own the media onto which you duplicate images.

    Select one of the following:

    Any	Specifies that NetBackup chooses the media owner, either a media server or server group.
    None	Specifies the media server that writes to the media owns the media. No media server is specified explicitly, but you want a media server to own the media.
    A server group	Specifies that only those media servers in the group are allowed to write to the media on which backup images for this policy are written. All of the media server groups that are configured in your NetBackup environment appear in the drop-down list.

11. If the selection includes multiplexed backups and the backups are to remain multiplexed in the duplicate, check Preserve Multiplexing. If you do not duplicate all the backups in a multiplexed group, the duplicate contains a different layout of fragments. (A multiplexed group is a set of backups that were multiplexed together during a single session.)

    By default, duplication is done serially and attempts to minimize media mounts and positioning time. Only one backup is processed at a time. If Preserved Multiplexing is enabled, NetBackup first duplicates all backups that cannot be multiplex duplicated before the multiplexed backups are duplicated.

    The Preserve Multiplexing setting does not apply when the destination is a disk storage unit. However, if the source is a tape and the destination is a disk storage unit, select Preserve Multiplexing to ensure that the tape is read in one pass.

12. Click OK to start duplicating.
13. Click the Results tab, then select the duplication job to view the job results.

    See Viewing job results.

    See Multiplexed duplication considerations.