Veritas NetBackup™ Logging Reference Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): NetBackup (8.1.1, 8.1)
  1. Using logs
    1.  
      About logs
    2.  
      About UNIX system logs
    3.  
      About log retention in NetBackup
    4.  
      About limiting the size of unified and legacy logs
    5. About unified logging
      1.  
        Gathering unified logs for NetBackup
      2.  
        Types of unified logging messages
      3.  
        File name format for unified logging
      4.  
        Originator IDs for the entities that use unified logging
      5.  
        About changing the location of unified log files
      6.  
        About rolling over unified log files
      7.  
        About recycling unified log files
      8.  
        About using the vxlogview command to view unified logs
      9.  
        About query strings used with the vxlogview command
      10.  
        Examples of using vxlogview to view unified logs
      11.  
        Examples of using vxlogmgr to manage unified logs
      12.  
        Examples of using vxlogcfg to configure unified logs
    6. About legacy logging
      1.  
        UNIX client processes that use legacy logging
      2.  
        PC client processes that use legacy logging
      3.  
        File name format for legacy logging
      4.  
        Directory names for legacy debug logs for servers
      5.  
        Directory names for legacy debug logs for media and device management
      6.  
        How to control the amount of information written to legacy logging files
      7.  
        About limiting the size and the retention of legacy logs
      8.  
        Configuring the legacy log rotation
    7. About global logging levels
      1.  
        Changing the logging level
      2.  
        Changing the logging level on Windows clients
      3.  
        Setting Media Manager debug logging to a higher level
    8.  
      Setting retention limits for logs on clients
    9.  
      Logging options with the Windows Event Viewer
    10. Troubleshooting error messages in the NetBackup Administration Console
      1.  
        About extra disk space required for logs and temporary files
      2.  
        Enabling detailed debug logging
  2. Backup process and logging
    1.  
      Backup process
    2. NetBackup process descriptions
      1.  
        Backup and restore startup process
      2.  
        Backup and archive processes
      3.  
        Backups and archives - UNIX clients
      4.  
        Multiplexed backup process
    3.  
      About backup logging
    4.  
      Sending backup logs to Veritas Technical Support
  3. Media and device processes and logging
    1.  
      Media and device management startup process
    2.  
      Media and device management process
    3.  
      Shared Storage Option management process
    4.  
      Barcode operations
    5.  
      Media and device management components
  4. Restore process and logging
    1.  
      Restore process
    2.  
      UNIX client restore
    3.  
      Windows client restore
    4.  
      About restore logging
    5.  
      Sending restore logs to Veritas Technical Support
  5. Advanced Backup and Restore Features
    1.  
      SAN Client Fiber Transport backup
    2.  
      SAN Client Fiber Transport restore
    3.  
      Hot catalog backup
    4.  
      Hot catalog restore
    5. Synthetic backups
      1.  
        Creating legacy log directories to accompany problem reports for synthetic backup
      2.  
        Logs to accompany problem reports for synthetic backups
  6. Storage logging
    1.  
      NDMP backup logging
    2.  
      NDMP restore logging
  7. NetBackup Deduplication logging
    1.  
      Deduplication backup process to the Media Server Deduplication Pool (MSDP)
    2.  
      Client deduplication logging
    3.  
      Deduplication configuration logs
    4.  
      Media server deduplication/pdplugin logging
    5.  
      Disk monitoring logging
    6.  
      Logging keywords
  8. OpenStorage Technology (OST) logging
    1.  
      OpenStorage Technology (OST) backup logging
    2.  
      OpenStorage Technology (OST) configuration and management
  9. Storage lifecycle policy (SLP) and Auto Image Replication (A.I.R.) logging
    1.  
      About storage lifecycle policies (SLPs) and Auto Image Replication (A.I.R.)
    2.  
      Storage lifecycle policy (SLP) duplication process flow
    3.  
      Automatic Image Replication (A.I.R.) process flow logging
    4.  
      Import process flow
    5.  
      SLP and A.I.R. logging
    6.  
      SLP configuration and management
  10. Snapshot technologies
    1.  
      Snapshot Client backup
    2.  
      VMware backup
    3.  
      Snapshot backup and Windows open file backups
  11. Locating logs
    1.  
      acsssi logging
    2.  
      bpbackup logging
    3.  
      bpbkar logging
    4.  
      bpbrm logging
    5.  
      bpcd logging
    6.  
      bpcompatd logging
    7.  
      bpdbm logging
    8.  
      bpjobd logging
    9.  
      bprd logging
    10.  
      bprestore logging
    11.  
      bptm logging
    12.  
      daemon logging
    13.  
      ltid logging
    14.  
      nbemm logging
    15.  
      nbjm logging
    16.  
      nbpem logging
    17.  
      nbproxy logging
    18.  
      nbrb logging
    19.  
      NetBackup web services logging
    20.  
      NetBackup web server certificate logging
    21.  
      PBX logging
    22.  
      reqlib logging
    23.  
      robots logging
    24.  
      tar logging
    25.  
      txxd and txxcd logging
    26.  
      vnetd logging
  12. Java-based administration console logging
    1.  
      About the Java-based administration console logging
    2.  
      Java-based administration console logging process flow
    3.  
      Setting up a secure channel between the Java-based administration console and bpjava-*
    4.  
      Setting up a secure channel between the Java-based administration console and either nbsl or nbvault
    5.  
      Java-based administration console logging configuration on NetBackup servers and clients
    6.  
      Java-based remote administration console logging on a Windows computer where NetBackup is not installed
    7.  
      Configuring and gathering logs when troubleshooting Java GUI issues
    8.  
      Undo logging

VMware backup

The following shows a VMware backup process.

The basic processing steps for a VMware backup operation are the following:

VMware backup procedure

  1. The Policy Execution Manager (nbpem) triggers a backup job when the policy, schedule, and virtual machine are due and the backup window is open. The nbpem process, the Job Manager (nbjm), the Resource Broker (nbrb), and the Enterprise Media Manager (nbemm) together identify the resources (media server, storage unit, etc.) for the backup operation.
  2. For a VMware Intelligent Policy (VIP), you can throttle the VMware resources that are used in the vSphere environment. For example, you can limit the resources to four concurrent backup jobs running from a vSphere datastore. This level of control tunes the number of backups to minimally influence the user and application experience on the vSphere platform.
  3. nbpem uses nbjm to contact the selected media server and to start the Backup and Restore Manager (bpbrm) on it. A snapshot job (also referred to as the parent job) goes active in the Activity Monitor.
  4. nbjm starts an instance of bpbrm through the client service (bpcd) on the media server. bpbrm starts the Frozen Image Snapshot (bpfis) through the client service (bpcd) on the VMware backup host. bpfis creates a snapshot of the VM data by using vCenter or ESX host depending on the configured credential servers.

    bpfis armed with vADP contacts the vSphere host (vCenter) or the ESX/ESXi host for which credentials are stored in the NetBackup database and initiates the snapshot for the VM. For multiple VMs, bpbrm starts bpfis for each VM so that the snapshot operations occur in parallel. As in step 2, you can control the number of concurrent snapshots for a VIP by setting VMware resource limits in NetBackup. bpfis contacts the vSphere host by using the standard SSL port (the default is 443).

  5. bpfis contacts the Request Manager (bprd) to request transfer of bpfis state files from the VMware Backup Host to the master server.
  6. bprd requests bpcd on the VMware Backup Host to send a list of bpfis state files. bprd copies each state file from the VMware Backup Host to the master server.
  7. bpfis sends snapshot information and completion status to bpbrm. bpbrm reports the snapshot information and status to nbjm. nbjm relays the information and status to nbpem.
  8. nbpem submits a child job for the backup to nbjm, with a file list derived from the snapshot information. nbjm starts bpbrm to back up the snapshot.
  9. bpbrm uses bpcd to start bpbkar on the VMware Backup Host.
  10. The backup and archive manager (bpbkar) loads the Veritas Mapping Services (VxMS) which loads the VMware Disk Development Kit (VDDK) APIs. The APIs are used for reading from the vSphere datastore. VxMS maps the stream during run-time and identifies the contents of the vmdk file. bpbkar uses VxMS to send the file catalog information to bpbrm, which relays it to the database manager bpdbm on the master server.
  11. bpbrm also starts the process bptm (parent) on the media server.

    The following shows the operation of the Veritas V-Ray within VxMS:

    • Veritas V-Ray within VxMS generates the catalog of all the files inside the VMDK from both Windows and Linux VMs. The operation occurs while backup data is being streamed. bpbrm on the media server sends this catalog information to the master server.

    • The file system inode level also identifies unused and deleted blocks. For example, if the application on VM allocates 1 TB of space for a file, of which only 100 GB is currently used, the backup stream includes only that 100 GB. Similarly, if you delete a 1 TB file that was fully allocated in the past, VxMS skips the deleted blocks (unless the blocks are now allocated for a new file) from the backup stream. This optimization not only speeds up the backup stream, but reduces needed storage even when deduplication is not enabled.

    • If the source side deduplication feature is enabled, the VMware backup host does the deduplication. The NetBackup deduplication plug-in using the mapping information that VxMS generates and sees the actual files in the file system within the VMDK. This V-Ray vision is established by the NetBackup deduplication plug-in that loads a dedicated stream handler that understands the VxMS mapping info.

    • Because these operations occur on the VMware backup host, the ESX resources and the VM resources are not used. This setup is true off-host backup with no burden on the production vSphere. Even the source side deduplication occurs in an off-host system.

  12. If the media server is the VMware Backup Host, bpbkar stores the snapshot-based image block-by-block in shared memory on the media server. If the media server is backing up a separate VMware Backup Host that is not the media server, the bptm process on the server creates a child process of itself. The child uses socket communications to receive the snapshot-based image from the VMware Backup Host and stores the image block-by-block in shared memory.
  13. The original tape manager (bptm) process takes the backup image from shared memory and sends it to the storage device (disk or tape).
  14. bptm sends backup completion status to bpbrm, which passes it to nbjm and nbpem.
  15. nbpem tells nbjm to delete the snapshot. nbjm starts a new instance of bpbrm on the media server, and bpbrm starts a new instance of bpfis on the VMware Backup Host. bpfis deletes the snapshot on the vSphere environment. bpfis and bpbrm report their status and exit.