IBM Support

File indexing and restore requirements: IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.13

Preventive Service Planning


Abstract

This document details the file indexing and restores requirements for IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.13.

Content

This document is divided into linked sections. Use the following links to go to the section of the document that you require.



 

General

  • IBM Spectrum Protect Plus support for third-party operating systems, applications, services, and hardware depend on the respective vendor. If a third-party product or version moves into extended support, self-service support, or end-of-life, IBM Spectrum Protect Plus supports the product or version at the same level as the vendor. See also IBM Support General Guidelines and Limitations - IBM support for software on unsupported operating systems
  • For hypervisor operations, IBM Spectrum Protect Plus supports only the operating systems that are available to your hypervisors. For information about supported operating systems, review the hypervisor documentation.
  • IBM Spectrum Protect Plus can protect and restore virtual machines (VMs) with file systems that are not listed in this documentation, but only the listed file systems are eligible for file indexing and restore operations.
  • Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) disks that are directly mapped to the guest operating system are not indexed. Supported volumes include virtual machine disk (VMDK) volumes that are mounted as specified by the configuration of the associated VM.
  • The maximum number of files that can be indexed per IBM Spectrum Protect Plus server is 2147483647.
  • The amount of free space that is required for the metadata in the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus server file catalog depends on the total number of files in the environment. To catalog 1 million files, the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus server file catalog requires roughly 350 MB of free space per retained version.
    Example: 2 virtual machines that each contain 10 million files are backed up daily with a retention of 30 days. The resulting number of catalog entries is 2 * 10 million * 30 days for a total of 600 million entries. Therefore, the approximate space needed is 600 * 350 MB, which is 210 GB. 
    The space that is used by file indexing metadata is reclaimed when the corresponding backup instances expire.
  • During file indexing, results are temporarily stored in /data2 directory before is saved in the catalog. If there are several jobs running concurrently, the size of /data2 directory might need to be increased from the default size.
  • The JVM heap maximum used by Virgo need to be adjusted when the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus server memory is increased. For systems that are using file indexing, a minimum of 128GB of memory need to be assigned to the system, with 38% of this memory reserved for the JVM heap. For more information, see in System requirements: IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.13.
  • File indexing and file restore operations are not supported from restore points that were copied to cloud resources or repository servers.
  • A file can be restored to an alternative location only if credentials were established for the alternative VM by using the Guest OS username and password option in the backup job definition.



 

VMware requirements

  • Ensure that the most recent version of VMware Tools is installed on VMware VMs.
  • In the VM settings under Advanced Configuration, the disk.EnableUUID parameter must be set to true.
  • File indexing and restore operations support Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) disks in a VMware environment: Only volumes on SCSI disks are eligible for file cataloging and file restore operations.



 

Hyper-V requirements

  • Ensure that the most recent version of Hyper-V Integration Services is installed on your Hyper-V VMs.
  • File indexing and restore operations support Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) disks in a Hyper-V environment:
    • Only volumes on SCSI disks are eligible for file cataloging and file restore operations.
    • Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) disks are not supported.



 

Windows requirements

Configuration

Table 1. Coverage matrix for Microsoft Windows 64-bit operating systems
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2*(1) Microsoft Windows Server
2012 R2 and 2012 R2 core*(1)		 Microsoft Windows Server
2016 and 2016 core*(1)		 Microsoft Windows Server
2019 and 2019 core*(1)		 Microsoft Windows Server
2022 and 2022 core*(1)
10.1.0 ✔ ✔ ✔ -- --
10.1.1 ✔ ✔ ✔ -- --
10.1.2 ✔ ✔ ✔ -- --
10.1.3 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔(2) --
10.1.4 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ --
10.1.5 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ --
10.1.6 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ --
10.1.7 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ --
10.1.8 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ --
10.1.9 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ --
10.1.10 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
10.1.11 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
10.1.12 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
10.1.13 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

* The base release and later maintenance levels are supported. Windows Server core refers to Windows Server with the Server Core option.
(1) Microsoft Windows Server supported editions: Standard and Datacenter editions
(2) Windows Server 2019 core only


 

Table 2. Coverage matrix for supported file systems and disk storage types
Supported file systems Supported disk storage types
  • New Technology file system (NTFS)
  • Resilient file system (ReFS)
  • File Allocation Table (FAT)
 Basic disks with the following partitions:
  • MBR (Master Boot Record)
  • GPT (GUID Partition Table)
Restriction: You cannot back up or restore files on dynamic disks.

 

Restrictions

  • When files are indexed in a Windows environment, the following directories on the resource are skipped:
    \Drivers
    \Program Files
    \Program Files (x86)
    \Windows
    \winnt
    Files within these directories are not added to the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus inventory and are not available for file recovery.
  • Encrypted Windows file systems are not supported for file cataloging or file restore.
  • When you restore files in a ReFS environment, restore jobs from newer versions of Windows Server to earlier versions are not supported. For example, you cannot restore a file from Windows Server 2016 to Windows Server 2012.
  • If a nondefault local administrator ID is entered as the Guest OS username when you define a backup job, the file cataloging, backup, application point-in-time restores, and other operations that start the Windows agent fail. A nondefault local administrator is any user ID created in the guest operating system and assigned the administrator role.
    This failure occurs if the registry key LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System is set to 0 or not set. If the parameter is set to 0 or not set, a local nondefault administrator cannot interact with WinRM. WinRM is the protocol that IBM Spectrum Protect Plus uses to install the Windows agent for file cataloging, send commands to this agent, and get results from it.
    Set the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy registry key to 1 on the Windows guest that is being backed up with catalog file metadata enabled. If the key does not exist, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System and add a DWord Registry key named LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy with a value of 1.


 

Disk space

  • The C:\ drive must have sufficient temporary space to save the file indexing results.
  • When file systems are indexed, temporary metadata files are generated under the C:\ProgramData\SPP directory and are deleted when the indexing is complete. For more information about free space, see the section General


 

Software

  • File indexing and file restore operations for a Windows VM require that the Windows PowerShell binary path is set in the %PATH% environment variable.
  • Ensure that the 64-bit Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package or later 64-bit Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package is installed on the VM guest machine before you start restore operation from a backup image.
  • Install a supported version of a Windows 64-bit operating system in your environment. Ensure that the most recent fixes and updates are installed.
  • Ensure that the Microsoft Storage Spaces SMP service is enabled and running.
  • Anti-virus software can interfere with the operations of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus. Exclude the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus agent folders C:\ProgramData\SPP and C:\Program Files\IBM from anti-virus scans.


 

Connectivity

Ensure that your system environment meets the following connectivity requirements:

  • The hostname of the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus server needs to be resolvable from the Windows VM.
  • The Internet Protocol (IP) address of the VM that is selected for indexing must be visible to the vSphere client or Hyper-V Manager.
  • The network adapter that is used for the connection must be configured as a client for Microsoft Networks.
  • The Microsoft® Windows Remote Management (WinRM) service must be running.
  • Firewalls must be configured to enable IBM Spectrum Protect Plus to connect to the server by using WinRM.
  • Firewalls must be configured to enable Windows guest machine to communicate with the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus server by using Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) through port 443.
  • The IP address of the machine that you register must be reachable from the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus server and from the vSnap server. The Windows guest machine must have a WinRM service that is listening on the same port as the global preference in IBM Spectrum Protect Plus for WinRM port. This port must be the port 5985 for WinRM by using the HTTP protocol or the port 5986 for WinRM by using the HTTPS protocol.
  • All servers, proxies, applications, and hypervisors that are added to the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus environment must be registered by using a Domain Name System (DNS) name or Internet Protocol (IP) address.
  • If DNS names are used, they must be resolvable over the network by the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus server and from the vSnap server. All IBM Spectrum Protect Plus components must also be resolvable by their DNS names.
  • If DNS is not available, you must add the server to the /etc/hosts file on the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus server by using the command line.
     


 

Authentication and privileges

The credentials that are specified for a VM must include a user with the following privileges:

  • The system login credentials must have the permissions of the local administrator.
  • The user identity must have the "Log on as a service" right, which is assigned through the Administrative Tools control panel on the local server (Local Security Policy > Local policies > User Rights Assignment > Log on as a service).
    For more information about the "Log on as a service" right, see Add the Log on as a service right to an account
  • If the virtual machine is attached to a domain, the default security policy uses the Windows Challenge and Response (NTLM) protocol, and the user identity follows the default domain\Name format. If the user is a local administrator, the format local_administrator is used. Credentials must be established for the associated VM by using the Guest OS user name and Guest OS password option within the associated backup job definition.



 

Linux® requirements

Configuration

Table 3. Coverage matrix for supported Linux® x86_64 operating systems
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus RHEL 6.4* RHEL 7.0* RHEL 8.0* CentOS 6.4* CentOS 7.0* CentOS 8.0* SLES 12.0* SLES 15.0*
10.1.0 ✔ ✔ -- ✔ ✔ -- ✔ --
10.1.1 ✔ ✔ -- ✔ ✔ -- ✔ --
10.1.2 ✔ ✔ -- ✔ ✔ -- ✔ --
10.1.3 ✔ ✔ -- ✔ ✔ -- ✔ --
10.1.4 ✔ ✔ -- ✔ ✔ -- ✔ --
10.1.5 ✔ ✔ -- ✔ ✔ -- ✔ --
10.1.6 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
10.1.7 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
10.1.8 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
10.1.9 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
10.1.10 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
10.1.11 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
10.1.12 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
10.1.13 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

* The base release and later maintenance levels are supported.

Note: CentOS Linux 8 reached end of life (EOL) on 31 December 2021, see  CentOS Linux EOL. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is not supported on the next CentOS version (CentOS Stream 8).


 

Table 4. Coverage matrix for supported file systems
Supported file systems
  • ext2
  • ext3
  • ext4
  • XFS


 

Restrictions

  • A file system that was created on a newer kernel version might not be mountable on a system with a previous kernel version. In this case, restoring files from the newer to the previous system is not supported.
  • The /etc/mtab file lists the currently mounted file systems. Every file system in this list that not starts with /dev is skipped.
  • When files are indexed in a Linux environment, the following directories on the resource are skipped:
    /tmp
    /usr/bin
    /bin
    /sbin
  • Files in virtual file systems like /proc, /sys, and /dev are also skipped. Files within these directories are not added to the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus inventory and are not available for file recovery.


 

Disk space

  • The system disk must have sufficient temporary space to save the file indexing results.
  • A minimum of 100 MB under /tmp and 200 MB under /opt is required for product installation.
  • When file systems are indexed, temporary metadata files are generated under the /tmp directory and are deleted when the indexing is complete. For more information about free space, see the section General


 

Software

  • The bash and sudo packages must be installed. Sudo must be at version 1.7.6p2 or later. Run sudo -V to check the version.
    Note: The required bash and sudo packages are included in the supported Linux x86_64 operating system installation packages.
  • Ensure that the supported version of Linux x86_64 is installed. Ensure that the most recent fixes and updates are installed.
  • The International Components for Unicode (libicu) RPM-package must be installed for the corresponding version of your operating system.
  • In a Linux environment, depending on your version or distribution, ensure that the Linux utility package util-linux-ng or util-linux package is current.
  • RHEL and CentOS 6 users: To ensure that the util-linux-ng or util-linux package is current, run the following command: 
        yum update package_name
    Where package_name is the name of the Linux utility package.
  • If data stays on Logical Volume Manager (LVM) volumes, ensure that the LVM version is 2.0.2.118 or later.
    Run the lvm version command to check the version and run the yum update lvm2 to update the package if necessary.
  • If data stays on LVM volumes, the lvm2-lvmetad service must be disabled, as it can interfere with the ability of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus to mount and resignature volume group snapshots and clones. To disable the service, complete the following steps:
    1. Run the following commands: 
          systemctl stop lvm2-lvmetad  
systemctl disable lvm2-lvmetad
    2. Edit the /etc/lvm/lvm.conf file and specify the following setting: 
          use_lvmetad = 0
      For more information, see The metadata daemon (lvmetad)
       
    Note: LVM2 levels with deprecated the lvmetad service, do not need to explicitly disable the service in /etc/lvm/lvm.conf.
  • If data stays on XFS file systems and the version of the xfsprogs package is between 3.2.0 and 4.1.9, the file restore operation can fail. This behavior is a known issue in the xfsprogs package that causes corruption of a clone or snapshot file system when its Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) is modified. To resolve this issue, update the xfsprogs package to version 4.2.0 or later. For more information, see Debian Bug report logs


 

Connectivity

Ensure that your system environment meets the following connectivity requirements:

  • The secure file transfer protocol (SFTP) subsystem for SSH is enabled.
  • The SSH service is running on port 22 on the proxy host server.
    Note: During registration, either ChallengeResponseAuthentication option must be set to no or LoginGraceTime parameter must greater than 0. If one of those conditions is not met, the public key retrieval hangs.
  • The SSH host key must be one of the following algorithms: ssh-dsa, ssh-rsa, ecdsa-sha2-nistp256, ecdsa-sha2-nistp384, or ecdsa-sha2-nistp521.
  • Firewalls are configured to allow IBM Spectrum Protect Plus to connect to the proxy host server by using SSH.
  • IBM Spectrum Protect Plus uses the Network File System (NFS) protocol to mount storage volumes for backup and restore operations. Ensure that the Linux NFS client is installed on the proxy host server.
  • All servers, proxies, applications, and hypervisors that are added to the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus environment can be registered by using a Domain Name System (DNS) name or Internet Protocol (IP) address.
  • If DNS names are used, they must be resolvable over the network by the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus server and from the vSnap server. All IBM Spectrum Protect Plus components must also be resolvable by their DNS names.
  • If DNS is not available, you must add the server to the /etc/hosts file on the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus server by using the command line.


 

Authentication and privileges

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus requires root privileges by using the sudo program for various tasks such as discovering storage layouts, mounting and unmounting disks, and managing databases. The credentials for the VM must specify a user with the following sudo privileges:

  • The sudoers configuration must allow the user to run commands without a password.
  • The !requiretty setting must be specified.

The proposed approach is to create a dedicated IBM Spectrum Protect Plus agent user with the privileges that are shown in the sample configuration:

  • Create the user by using the command: 
        useradd -m sppagent
    Where sppagent specifies the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus agent user.
  • Set a password by using the command: 
        passwd sppagent_password
    Where sppagent_password specifies the agent password.
  • To enable superuser privileges for the agent user, set the !requiretty setting. At the end of the /etc/sudoers configuration file, add the following lines: 
        Defaults: sppagent !requiretty  
sppagent ALL=(root) NOPASSWD:ALL
    If your sudoers file is configured to import configurations from another directory, for example /etc/sudoers.d, you can add the lines in the appropriate file in that directory.



 

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Document Information

Modified date:
09 December 2022

UID

ibm16837847

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