If you offload backup workloads to a vStorage backup server
in a vSphere environment, set up the data mover nodes to run the operation
and move the data to the Tivoli® Storage
Manager server.
Before you begin
In a standard
Data Protection for VMware environment, a
separate
dsm.opt file (Windows) or
dsm.sys file stanza (Linux) is used for
each
data mover node. When multiple data mover
nodes on a vStorage Backup Server are used for data deduplication, and these nodes have authority to
move data for the same
datacenter node, then
each
dsm.opt file or
dsm.sys file stanza must include a
different value for the
dedupcachepath option. For best results, specify a
different
schedlogname and
errorlogname option for each
dsm.opt file or
dsm.sys file stanza. The minimum set of
required options is provided in Step 2.
A data mover node
typically uses the SAN to back up and restore data. If you configure the data mover node to directly
access the storage volumes, turn off automatic drive letter assignment. If you do not turn off
letter assignments, the client on the data mover node might corrupt the Raw Data Mapping (RDM) of
the virtual disks. If the RDM of the virtual disks is corrupted, backups fail. Consider the
following conditions for restore configurations:
- The data mover node is on a Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 system:
- If you plan to use the SAN to restore data, you must set the Windows SAN policy to OnlineAll. Run
diskpart.exe and type the following commands to turn off automatic drive letter
assignment and set the SAN policy to
OnlineAll:
diskpart
automount disable
automount scrub
san policy OnlineAll
exit
- The backup-archive client is installed in a virtual machine on a Windows Server 2008 or Windows
Server 2008 R2 system:
- If you plan to use the hotadd transport to restore data from dynamically added
disks, the SAN policy on that system must also be set to OnlineAll.
Whether the
client uses the SAN or
hotadd transport, the Windows SAN policy must be set to
OnlineAll. If the SAN policy is not set to
OnlineAll, restore operations fail, and the following message is
returned:
ANS9365E VMware vStoragee API error.
TSM function name: vddksdk Write
TSM file : vmvddkdsk.cpp (2271)
API return code : 1
API error message : Unknown error
ANS0361I DIAG: ANS1111I VmRestoreExtent(): VixDiskLib_Write
FAILURE startSector=512 sectorSize=512 byteOffset=262144,
rc=-1
Restriction: Data Protection for VMware does not support scheduling the vStorage Backup
Server (that is used as the data mover) to back up itself. Make sure that the vStorage Backup Server
is excluded from its own schedules. Use a different vStorage Backup Server to perform the backup of
a VM that contains a vStorage Backup Server.
About this task
Tip: All steps in this procedure are completed on the vStorage Backup Server.
Procedure
- Update the backup-archive client options file with these settings:
- Specify these options in the dsm.opt options
file.
- Specify these options in the dsm.sys file, in the
stanza for the data mover node.
- NODENAME
- Specify the name of a previously defined data mover node. Tivoli Storage
Manager schedules are associated with the data mover
node.
- PASSWORDACCESS
- Specify GENERATE so that the password is generated automatically (instead of a user
prompt).
- VMCHOST
- Specify the host name of the vCenter (or ESX server) where the off-host backup commands are
directed.
- VMBACKUPTYPE
- Specify FULLVM. This setting designates that a full VM backup is run. This value is necessary to
run full VM and full VM incremental backups.
- MANAGEDSERVICES
- Specify this option to direct the client acceptor to manage both the web client and the
scheduler (schedule webclient).
- TCPSERVERADDRESS
- Specify the TCP/IP address for the Tivoli Storage
Manager
server.
- TCPPORT
- Specify the TCP/IP port address for the Tivoli Storage
Manager server.
- COMMMETHOD
- Specify the communication method to be used by the Tivoli Storage
Manager server. For data mover nodes, you must specify
TCP/IP as the communication method. If another method is specified, operations fail.
- HTTPPORT
- This option specifies a TCP/IP port address and is required only when more than one client
acceptor service is used. For example, if two data mover nodes (and two client acceptor services)
are used, then the option file for each data mover node must specify a different
HTTPPORT value.
An example dsm.dm.opt file with these settings is provided
here:NODename MY_DMNODE
PASSWORDAccess generate
VMCHost vcenter.storage.usca.example.com
VMBACKUPType FUllvm
MANAGEDServices schedule webclient
TCPServeraddress tsmserver.mycompany.xyz.com
TCPPort 1500
COMMMethod tcpip
HTTPPORT 1583
For instant access, instant restore, or mount (file restore) operations, make
sure to add VMISCSISERVERADDRESS to the backup-archive client options file.
Specify the iSCSI server IP address of the network card on the vStorage Backup Server that is used
for the iSCSI data transfer during instant operations. The physical network interface card (NIC)
that is bound to the iSCSI device on the ESX host must be on the same subnet as the NIC on the
vStorage Backup Server that is used for the iSCSI transfer.
- Issue this command to set the VMware vCenter user and password for the data mover node:
dsmc set password -type=vm vcenter.mycompany.xyz.com <administrator> <password1>
- Start a backup-archive client command-line session with the
-asnodename and -optfile command-line parameters:
dsmc -asnodename=VC1_DC1 -optfile=dsm_DM1.opt
Make sure that after your initial sign-on, you are not prompted for your password.
Attention: To prevent the Tivoli Storage
Manager scheduler from failing, make sure that the
asnodename option is not set in the dsm.opt file (Windows) or dsm.sys file stanza (Linux). The scheduler queries the Tivoli Storage
Manager server for schedules associated with
nodename (data mover node), not asnodename (datacenter node). If asnodename is
set in dsm.opt or dsm.sys, schedules associated with
asnodename (and not nodename) are queried. As a result, scheduling
operations fail.
Complete these tasks:
- Verify the connection to the Tivoli Storage
Manager server
by issuing this command:
dsmc query session
This command shows information about your session, including the current node name, when the
session was established, server information, and server connection information.
- Verify you can back up a VM by issuing this command:
dsmc backup vm vm1
In Steps 3b and 3d, vm1 is the name of the VM.
- Verify that the backup completed successfully by issuing this command:
dsmc query vm "*"
- Verify that the VM can be restored by issuing this command:
dsmc restore vm vm1 -vmname=vm1-restore
- Set up the client acceptor service and backup-archive scheduler service by completing the
following tasks:
- Verify that the client acceptor and agent are set up correctly:
- Log on to a remote system.
- Use a web browser to connect to the HOST1 system by using this address and
port:
http://HOST1.xyz.yourcompany.com:1581
Tip: When the IP address changes on the system where the
Data Protection for VMware vSphere GUI is installed, you must complete the following:
- Complete the tasks described in Troubleshooting.
- Set up the client acceptor again (Step 3) so that the Data Protection for VMware vSphere GUI becomes enabled for operations.
Otherwise, the Plug-in Manager shows the Data Protection for VMware vSphere GUI status as
disabled.
What to do next
After successfully setting up the data mover nodes, the next manual configuration task is to
configure the VMCLI profile as described in Configuring the Data Protection for VMware command-line interface in a vSphere environment.