Arcserv 15 - VMware Vsphere 4.1 : How to make this work ?

[RaphaelK2011101]

Hello guys,

I'm trying to make arcserv V15 backuping my ESX 4.1 hosts. What I would like is to make backup of VM, not at the operating system level. My environnement is quite simple : 3 Hosts ESX 4.1 (essential licence pack), No SAN, only local datastore + Arcserv 15.

I try to find  some documentation, but I failed to find something really clear. As far as I know, my Arcserv server is "vstorage api" and "vcb" enabled. I cant find out how to link all this together.

If someone has some feedback to provide me on this.

regards,

Raphael.

[jamesbowling]

I have never used Arcserv for VMware but I found this document from CA regarding the agent:  https://support.ca.com/cadocs/0/c013161e.pdf

[Martin83]

Hi Raphael,

follow these instructions:

1. Install VMware VDDK on your backupserver
2. This step is only necessary for 64-bit-OS. Browse to the directory C:\System\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit\bin. Here you can find a vddk64.zip which you have to extract manually. The path have to look like ..\bin\vddk64\bin\vmware-vdiskmanager.exe for example. ( I don't know if this happens now automatic in the newest ARCserve release, so preventively make it manually )
3. Install ARCserve r15 SP1. ( you also have to install the "Client Agent for Virtual Machines" on your backupserver! )
4. Change the proxy.xml of the vcenter-server. You find the instructions in AB_VM_W_ENU.PDF on page 143 which is located at the ARCserve-DVD in the directory Doc\ENU.
5. Open the backup-agent, at the top choose "CA ARCserve Backup Agent for Virtual Machines" and press the configurations button. Fill out the fields and press execute. After a couple of seconds the agent should list how many VMs you have on your enviroment.
6. Install on every VM the "Client Agent for Windows" an "Client Agent for Virtual Machines". Open the backup-agent in every VM, at the top choose "CA ARCserve Backup Agent for Virtual Machines" and press the configurations button. Fill in the IP or DNS-Name of your backupserver. ( With the agent inside of every VM, you can restore single files directly from your VDDK-Backup )
7. Now it is possible to select your VMs in your Job under "Source" - "VMware Systems"

Keep in mind that your backup runs over LAN and the performance depends on your hardware.

Hope this helps. Tell me if you need more informations.

Martin

[RaphaelK2011101]

James, thx for your answer

Martin, special thx for your detailed answer ! I gonna try this and come back to you !

I leave the thread opened until I make the stuff working !

[RaphaelK2011101]

Hi Martin,

here my update :

- I followed yours points, now I can see the VMs in Arcserv \o/

I did nt understand what I need to do on the proxy.xml file, on the vcenter server. I missed something as the backup failed each time I launched it. This must come from there. I red the PDF but without real succes.

Last question, how the VVDDK is link with arcserv / vcenter. Is it because I uncompress it => arcserv find and is able to use it ? I thought it would be used on the vcenter server ... ?!!

Thx for your time / help !

Raphael.

[Martin83]

Hi Raphael,

open your proxy.xml on your vcenter. here you can find a segment like that:

<e id="5">
<_type>vim.ProxyService.LocalServiceSpec</_type>
<accessMode>httpsWithRedirect</accessMode>
<port>8085</port>
<serverNamespace>/sdk</serverNamespace>
</e>

You have to change httpsWithRedirect to httpAndHttps, then it looks like:

<e id="5">
<_type>vim.ProxyService.LocalServiceSpec</_type>
<accessMode>httpAndHttps</accessMode>
<port>8085</port>
<serverNamespace>/sdk</serverNamespace>
</e>

After that you have to restart your vcenter-services on your vcenter server.

You had to uncompress it, because in the first r15 release, ARCserve didn't uncompress it automatically, so it wasn't able to find VDDK on 64bit os. Maybe they fixed it in the newest release, i haven't tried it yet, so its better to do it manually before you have to reinstall the vm-agent :). ARCserve uses VDDK to connect to your virtual center.

If you are interested in further details about VDDK you can read the guides at VMware:
http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vddk/

Witch error do you get in ARCserve when you start your backup ?

Martin

[RaphaelK2011101]

Hey Martin !

Please find below the CA_CVBpopulateDB.log from the vcenter server :

7/06/11 10:44:46  [1969.44] -------------------------------------------------
7/06/11 10:44:46  [1969.44] JobID: 1969 Session#: 44  VMName: SERVER
7/06/11 10:44:46  [1969.44] FindESXServerForVM operation in progress ...
7/06/11 10:44:46  [1969.44] -------------------------------------------------
7/06/11 10:44:46  [1969.44] Failed to get protocal registry name value pair
7/06/11 10:44:46  [1969.44] CheckForCustomPort : Checking for custom VIHTTPSPort port...
7/06/11 10:44:46  [1969.44] CheckForCustomPort : Registry lookup set to KEY_WOW64_64KEY
7/06/11 10:44:46  [1969.44] CheckForCustomPort : Custom VIHTTPSPort port not availabe or 0. Url is VCENTER
7/06/11 10:44:50  [1969.44] Trying to connect Host https://SERVER/sdk ...
7/06/11 10:44:50  Failed to query value SSLCertificateVerify.
7/06/11 10:45:15  [1969.44] CheckForCustomPort : Checking for custom VIHTTPPort port...
7/06/11 10:45:15  [1969.44] CheckForCustomPort : Registry lookup set to KEY_WOW64_64KEY
7/06/11 10:45:15  [1969.44] CheckForCustomPort : Custom VIHTTPPort port not availabe or 0. Url is VCENTER
7/06/11 10:45:15  [1969.44] Trying to reconnect Host http://SERVER/sdk ...
7/06/11 10:45:16  Err_code: -100 Make_Connection: Exception Raised - System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: Impossible d
7/06/11 10:45:16  [1969.44] FindESXServerForVM: Exception raised - failed to make connection with the server
7/06/11 10:45:16  [1969.44] End of FindESXServerForVM operation

VCENTER & SERVER replace the real server names

As far as I can understand, the issue seem to come from the acces to http(s)://SERVER/sdk : If I try to connect ut from the browser, I 've got a 404 error.

Please find below the proxy.xml content :

<config>
  <EndpointList>
    <_length>15</_length>
    <_type>vim.ProxyService.EndpointSpec[]</_type>
    <e id="0">
      <_type>vim.ProxyService.NamedPipeServiceSpec</_type>
      <accessMode>httpsWithRedirect</accessMode>
      <pipeName>\\.\pipe\vmware-vpxd-webserver-pipe</pipeName>
      <serverNamespace>/</serverNamespace>
    </e>
    <e id="1">
      <_type>vim.ProxyService.RedirectSpec</_type>
      <accessMode>httpOnly</accessMode>
      <port>8080</port>
      <redirectType>found</redirectType>
      <serverNamespace>/Query</serverNamespace>
    </e>
    <e id="10">
      <_type>vim.ProxyService.NamedPipeServiceSpec</_type>
      <accessMode>httpsWithRedirect</accessMode>
      <pipeName>\\.\pipe\vmware-vpxd-webserver-pipe</pipeName>
      <serverNamespace>/vpxdhealth</serverNamespace>
    </e>
    <e id="11">
      <_type>vim.ProxyService.RedirectSpec</_type>
      <accessMode>httpAndHttps</accessMode>
      <port>8080</port>
      <redirectType>found</redirectType>
      <serverNamespace>/vws</serverNamespace>
    </e>
    <e id="12">
      <_type>vim.ProxyService.LocalTunnelSpec</_type>
      <accessMode>httpOnly</accessMode>
      <port>8089</port>
      <serverNamespace>IP OF THE VCENTER SERVER:8089</serverNamespace>
    </e>
    <e id="13">
      <_type>vim.ProxyService.LocalTunnelSpec</_type>
      <accessMode>httpOnly</accessMode>
      <port>8089</port>
      <serverNamespace>sdkTunnel:8089</serverNamespace>
    </e>
    <e id="14">
      <_type>vim.ProxyService.LocalTunnelSpec</_type>
      <accessMode>httpOnly</accessMode>
      <port>8089</port>
      <serverNamespace>FQDN OF THE VCENTER SERVER:8089</serverNamespace>
    </e>
    <e id="2">
      <_type>vim.ProxyService.NamedPipeServiceSpec</_type>
      <accessMode>httpAndHttps</accessMode>
      <pipeName>\\.\pipe\vmware-vpxd-webserver-pipe</pipeName>
      <serverNamespace>/client/clients.xml</serverNamespace>
    </e>
    <e id="3">
      <_type>vim.ProxyService.NamedPipeServiceSpec</_type>
      <accessMode>httpsWithRedirect</accessMode>
      <pipeName>\\.\pipe\vmware-vpxd-mob-pipe</pipeName>
      <serverNamespace>/mob</serverNamespace>
    </e>
    <e id="4">
      <_type>vim.ProxyService.NamedPipeServiceSpec</_type>
      <accessMode>httpAndHttps</accessMode>
      <pipeName>\\.\pipe\vmware-vpxd-webserver-pipe</pipeName>
      <serverNamespace>/nfc</serverNamespace>
    </e>
    <e id="5">
      <_type>vim.ProxyService.LocalServiceSpec</_type>
      <accessMode>httpAndHttps</accessMode>
      <port>8085</port>
      <serverNamespace>/sdk</serverNamespace>
    </e>
    <e id="6">
      <_type>vim.ProxyService.LocalTunnelSpec</_type>
      <accessMode>httpOnly</accessMode>
      <port>8089</port>
      <serverNamespace>/sdkTunnel</serverNamespace>
    </e>
    <e id="7">
      <_type>vim.ProxyService.LocalServiceSpec</_type>
      <accessMode>httpsWithRedirect</accessMode>
      <port>8080</port>
      <serverNamespace>/sms</serverNamespace>
    </e>
    <e id="8">
      <_type>vim.ProxyService.LocalServiceSpec</_type>
      <accessMode>httpsWithRedirect</accessMode>
      <port>8080</port>
      <serverNamespace>/ui</serverNamespace>
    </e>
    <e id="9">
      <_type>vim.ProxyService.NamedPipeServiceSpec</_type>
      <accessMode>httpsWithRedirect</accessMode>
      <pipeName>\\.\pipe\vmware-vpxd-webserver-pipe</pipeName>
      <serverNamespace>/vod</serverNamespace>
    </e>
  </EndpointList>
</config>

Thx for your help

/raphael.

[Martin83]

Hi Raphael,

you don't get a response in a web browser if you are connect to https://virtualcenter/sdk. There should come the certificate message for https and if you go further you get the 404. Do you get the certification warning at first ?

Your proxy.xml is correct. Did you restart your vcenter services after editing the proxy.xml ?

At step 5 of my first post, did you use https or http to connect to your vcenter ? If you used https, did you get a certificate message where you could click yes or no ? If you used http, please try it again with https.

Martin

[RaphaelK2011101]

Hi Martin !

I get the certficate popup windows if I try to connect with a browser. It is a self signed certificate ; the root ca is not trusted at the moment.

I recheck the option used in 5/ : I ticked https ; I changed to http, re execute the connection between vcenter server and arcserv to update the VM database, and try to make the backup : same error ;

By looking at the log file, I got the log from the agent VM population. The http://VCENTER/sdk url seem to work ...

7/06/11 16:08:57  [0.0] CheckForCustomPort : Checking for custom VIHTTPPort port...
7/06/11 16:08:57  [0.0] CheckForCustomPort : Registry lookup set to KEY_WOW64_64KEY
7/06/11 16:08:57  [0.0] CheckForCustomPort : Custom VIHTTPPort port not availabe or 0. Url is VCENTER
7/06/11 16:08:57 
7/06/11 16:08:57 
7/06/11 16:08:57  -------------------------------------------------
7/06/11 16:08:57  Browse operation in progress
7/06/11 16:08:57  -------------------------------------------------
7/06/11 16:08:57  Trying to connect Host http://VCENTER/sdk ...
7/06/11 16:09:00  Connected successfully to the Host http://VCENTER/sdk ...
7/06/11 16:09:00  Calling EnumerateVM module ...
7/06/11 16:09:03  Enumeration successfull ...
7/06/11 16:09:03  Trying to get each VM details ...
7/06/11 16:09:03  Retrieved all VM details
7/06/11 16:09:03  Trying to disconnect from Host http://VCENTER/sdk ...
7/06/11 16:09:03  Successfully disconnected from Host http://VCENTER/sdk ...
7/06/11 16:09:03  Printing Enumerated VM list ...
7/06/11 16:09:03  VM Index : 0
7/06/11 16:09:03  VMName = MYSQL MASTER
7/06/11 16:09:03  UUid = 421dd7ce-2d4f-a9a9-1b5d-41994d7cceeb

But the backup display the same error in the log file as previously ...

=/

[Martin83]

Now its getting harder to figure out the problem without seeing it :(.

Do you use FQDN or only the netbios name ?

Can you try IP adresses instead of server names ?

Do you use the domainadmin for your backupjobs or did you create a own user for that ( if yes, is it a domainadmin ? ) ?

Is your backupserver inside the same domain as your vcenter ?

I think you have to put ARCserve into debug mode for more detailed informations. Do you have maintenance on your ARCserve ?

[RaphaelK2011101]

I'm getting desperated too 😕

I use an AD domain ; all server are members of it. FQDN or short name are resolvable.

The account I use to use arcserv is local admin of the server. I use the caroot user in arcserv to launch the job.

I pay a annual maintenance for arcserv ; I will check if I can have direct support of them.

What I will try now is to trust the seft signed certificated from Vcenter. Maybe this could make me move on ; I have this message in the log file during the backup :

7/07/11 14:28:14  Failed to query value SSLCertificateVerify.

Then it try to use http without success ....

I would like to thx you for your time spent on this topic !

I will put updated information, if I have

[RaphaelK2011101]

Martin !

The FQDN path was the one !!!

I red info about the SDK on http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vc-sdk/

it says that the /sdk url should be used with fqdn of the vcenter server; As I got error from the client with short name, I get back to the agent configuration, where I put the FQDN of both server, and relauch the populate script ; Then, from the arcserv, I got 2 entries fron the vcenter server: one with short name, and one with FQDN ; I try to backup a VM from the FQDN entries and now ... it works :smileygrin:

Before that, I import the root ca in the trusted root certificate, but I'm not sure that this had an impact ...

The VM has been successully backed up : 15min for 20Go .... I dont know how good / bad this rate it is ... All my disk are thin provisionned ...

Before I close this thread, do you have some best practice regarding the way to improve the traffic (dedicated network, etc ...) and regarding the way to restore the VM ?

regards

Raphael.

[Martin83]

Hi Raphael,

great to hear it's working now :).

1,3 GB per minute is not the best throughput, but it depends on your hardware ( quantity and witch kind of hdds, raidcontroller, switches, etc ) and configuration. Is your iscsi-lan separated from your production-lan ? The best configuration is to see iscsi like fibrechannel. seperate switches, not connected to your production-lan and a own nic for your backupserver to connect to your iscsi-lan.

My experience for vddk iscsi backup is around 2,5 up to 3 GB per minute. With fibrechannel  we have between 6 and 14 GB per minute. These are environments like up to 5 ESX and SAN with Fujitsu or Netapp. Unfortunately I have no experience values for VDDK without SAN.

With best regards
Martin