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neil_murphy
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

using vcbMounter on console with SAN

Does anyone know definitively if the "-m san" switch is supported when running vcbMounter on the console?

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acr
Champion
Champion

run vcbMounter -? from the command line you get this... Notice the

:= -M (0|1) -F (0|1)

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neil_murphy
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I saw that but when I ran it with -m san it said something along lines of the operation not being supported. When I changed it to -m cos it ran OK but very slowly.

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acr
Champion
Champion

Well the fact its in does mean its support neil..

I guess the next question is why you had the problem you did..

Would need to know more..

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neil_murphy
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Not necessarily.

Here's the output:

\[root@esxdemo01 drvolume1]# vcbMounter -h 10.0.1.193 -u administrator -p password -a ipaddr:10.0.1.195 -r /vmfs/volumes/drvolume1/drserver -t fullvm -m san -M 1 -F 1

\[2006-12-12 10:08:44.539 'App' 3076444288 info] Current working directory: /vmfs/volumes/457858bd-71fbe7fb-1a3b-0013216bc0eb

\[2006-12-12 10:08:44.584 'BaseLibs' 13102000 warning] \[Vmdb_Unset] Unsetting unknown path: /vmomi/

Copying "\[Raid5-VMFS-Volume] vm-2k3-srv2/vm-2k3-srv2.vmx":

0%=====================50%=====================100%

**************************************************

Copying "\[Raid5-VMFS-Volume] vm-2k3-srv2/vm-2k3-srv2.nvram":

0%=====================50%=====================100%

**************************************************

Copying "\[Raid5-VMFS-Volume] vm-2k3-srv2//vmware-1.log":

0%=====================50%=====================100%

**************************************************

Copying "\[Raid5-VMFS-Volume] vm-2k3-srv2//vmware-2.log":

0%=====================50%=====================100%

**************************************************

Copying "\[Raid5-VMFS-Volume] vm-2k3-srv2//vmware-3.log":

0%=====================50%=====================100%

**************************************************

Copying "\[Raid5-VMFS-Volume] vm-2k3-srv2//vmware-4.log":

0%=====================50%=====================100%

**************************************************

Copying "\[Raid5-VMFS-Volume] vm-2k3-srv2//vmware.log":

0%=====================50%=====================100%

**************************************************

\[2006-12-12 10:08:52.246 'vcbMounter' 3076444288 error] Error: Failed to open the disk: The specified feature isn't supported by this version.

\[2006-12-12 10:08:52.246 'vcbMounter' 3076444288 error] An error occured, cleaning up...

Now if I replace "-m san" with"-m cos" I get:

\[root@esxdemo01 root]# vcbMounter -h 10.0.1.193 -u administrator -p password -a ipaddr:10.0.1.195 -r /vmfs/volumes/drvolume1/drserver -t fullvm -m cos -M 1 -F 1

\[2006-12-07 18:25:17.633 'App' 3076460672 info] Current working directory: /root

\[2006-12-07 18:25:17.657 'BaseLibs' 7793584 warning] \[Vmdb_Unset] Unsetting unknown path: /vmomi/

Copying "\[Raid5-VMFS-Volume] vm-2k3-srv2/vm-2k3-srv2.vmx":

0%=====================50%=====================100%

**************************************************

Copying "\[Raid5-VMFS-Volume] vm-2k3-srv2/vm-2k3-srv2.nvram":

0%=====================50%=====================100%

**************************************************

Copying "\[Raid5-VMFS-Volume] vm-2k3-srv2//vmware-1.log":

0%=====================50%=====================100%

**************************************************

Copying "\[Raid5-VMFS-Volume] vm-2k3-srv2//vmware-2.log":

0%=====================50%=====================100%

**************************************************

Copying "\[Raid5-VMFS-Volume] vm-2k3-srv2//vmware-3.log":

0%=====================50%=====================100%

**************************************************

Copying "\[Raid5-VMFS-Volume] vm-2k3-srv2//vmware-4.log":

0%=====================50%=====================100%

**************************************************

Copying "\[Raid5-VMFS-Volume] vm-2k3-srv2//vmware.log":

0%=====================50%=====================100%

**************************************************

Converting "/vmfs/volumes/drvolume1/drserver/scsi0-0-0-vm-2k3-srv2.vmdk" (flat file):

0%=====================50%=====================100%

**********************************************************************************

Notice that all I've changed is the -m switch. Also notice the words "the specified feature isn't supported by this version".

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

The examples at the bottom of the vcbMounter help text imply that the switch is used. I guess -m san would try and do a san volume-san volume copy without using the SC network, -m cos would do the export via the SC, not sure what the -m NAS would do; however in practice they don't seem to make any difference! Information is scarce to say the least, I'd just leave the -m switch off.

Examples:

+) Do a full VM style backup of vm "foo.bar.com" across the SAN,

talk to ESX/VC host "wisdom.bar.com" as user "vc" with

password "foobar". - Export will go to "d:\backups":

vcbMounter -h wisdom.bar.com -u vc -p foobar -a ipaddr:foo.bar.com \

-r d:\backups\foo-fullVM -t fullvm -m san

Full VM backups export an entire virtual machine into a set of

files within a directory. Backing up this file set allows for the

entire virtual machine to be restored later on.

+) Same as above, but do a file-level mount and assume that the

VM's disk files are on a datastore that is a NAS share that is

mounted on the proxy as described in the datastore catalog

"datastores.lst":

vcbMounter -h wisdom.bar.com -u vc -p foobar -a ipaddr:foo.bar.com \

-r d:\backup\foo-files -t file -m nas \

-C datastores.lst

File level mounts allow access to the data contained within the

virtual machine's disk images.

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neil_murphy
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Yes, but the example is for vcbMounter running on a proxy server, not on the console. The reason I am interested in the -m san switch is that it gives very fast backups when run on the proxy and I would like to be able to do the same from the console of a DR ESX server.

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benjamin_mampae
Contributor
Contributor

Amazing. I had exactly the same problem, so I didn' specify the "-m san" switch, and it worked.

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neil_murphy
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

It really helps to check your old messages. Thanks Benjamin. I'd almost given up on this one!

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

vcbMounter, yuck, I've gone right off it since we last talked on this thread, it's all about the snapshot/vmkfstools combo. Smiley Wink

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BlueDragon
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

yup, i'v got to check but like you said :

-m cos => send data stream using the Service Console port group

-m san => using the Fiber Channel connection

-m nas => using the VMKernel port group

For windows boxes with VCB, i use -m san switch even it's a Datastore on SAN or ISCSI, and it works great. Don't think that -nas or -cos would work, cause i think this is only a Service Console switch...

all of this are supositions Smiley Happy

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