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lpenrod
Contributor
Contributor

Which ESX box?

I am trying to configure CommVault to backup a VM. To do so, I have to run a command line script to kick off a snapshot which I finally figured out.

vmware-cmd /vmfs/volumes/451015e4-9ba28e36-182b-000f20d0fd83/CommVault\Test/CommVault\ Test.vmx createsnapshot prebackupsnap prebackupsnap 1 1

If I understand things correctly, I have to issue that command on the ESX box that the VM is running on (I get a "VMControl error -11: No such virtual machine" error if I run it anywhere else).

I am running DRS and don't know what ESX box it is running on. How do I deal with that?

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stevenm
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Try using the vcbSnapShot command, making sure you point the command at VirtualCenter. This allows the snapshot to be created regardless of which ESX host the VM is currently on.

Are you using VCB for the backup, or a CommVault agent in the Service Console?

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lpenrod
Contributor
Contributor

Agent in the Service Console.

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lpenrod
Contributor
Contributor

I hate to ask this...

Where is vcbSnapShot?

I downloaded the Consolidated Backup Framework and installed it. That put an EXE on my workstation.

All the references I am finding point to /usr/sbin

I am confused...

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stevenm
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

vcbSnapshot is available in the service console on an ESX host.

Try the following document from CommVault - http://www.commvault.com/pdf/CommVault_VCBCertificationKit.pdf

specifically the section titled "Back up a VMware ESX Server 3.x Virtual Machine's Disk Image from the Service Console with the Linux File System IDA" on page 17.

It runs through some examples of using both vcbMounter and vcbSnapshot from the Service Console. Note that you don't need to have a VCB Proxy setup..... and you don' t need the VCB framework installed anywhere.

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lpenrod
Contributor
Contributor

The part I am stuggling with is at the bottom of page 22 it says "1. The prescan.sh script will execute on the ESX Server, esxserver.mydomain.com, invoking the VMware vcbSnapshot utility, which quiesces the Virtual Machine and creates a snapshot of its datastore.".

I can't find vcbSnapshot on the ESX box and I can't figure out where to get the software to install it.

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lpenrod
Contributor
Contributor

Anyone?

I can't find vcbSnapshot on the ESX box and I can't figure out where to get the software to install it.

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stevenm
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

You should find all of the vcb* backup utilities in the /usr/sbin directory on the ESX server.

ie /usr/sbin/vcbSnapshot

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lpenrod
Contributor
Contributor

Sure enough...

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arisaperstein
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

We run into the same issue. DRS juggles VM's around so you never know where a VM is at the time of backup. Although we are not using CommVault, we are using an agent on the COS to backup the guest sessions (VMDK). We are using a wrapper perl script that hooks into the SDK. The perl script frist forms a list of all powered on VM's on a particular host. We then snapshot those VM's. Then we create a backup job, initiated from the COS, that includes the VM's that were just snapped. The product we are using, Avamar, allows us to create a job from the client side and then have the server execute the job. Not all backup software have this functionality but its a good starting place. VCB has a whole set of requirements and requires a lot of work to do a backup and even more work to perform a restore. I played with it in our lab but found it way too combersome, IMHO.

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lpenrod
Contributor
Contributor

OK, I have my pre and post backup scripts working. Now I am looking for what files to backup. I am looking at a folder that contains a VM and there are:

*.hlog

*.vswp

*.vmdk

*.nvram

*.vmsd

*.vmx

*.vmxf

*.log

files. I am guessing I don't have to back up the entire folder. Do I just backup certain files?

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stevenm
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

We backup the entire folder. I am fairly certain that a vcbRestore requires all files to be present for the restore to work.

Also, having all files allows you to restore the VM with all of its state information.

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andrea_annoe1
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

I have try to backup in this mode but the file *.vswp it's impossible to copy by Service Console ->

cp: cannot open `virtual-machine-to-backup-4fab59f1.vswp' for reading: Device or resource busy

Can you explain me a work around for copy this file from ServiceConsole?

Thank you

Andrea.

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