Full VMDK Backups with VCB, Issues

[Raymond]

Hi All,

I have VCB 1.03 working with iSCSI and BackupExec 11d, I was able to do file level backups. I am trying to do full vmdk file backups.

I am running into the following.

1. Under BackupExec 11d how do I know that i am telling it to do a full backup of the vmdk file. I can explore my /mnt and see the drive letter and folders,etc

2. Once I get this working and I have a full backup of my vmdk file I want to restore it locally and then FastSCP the vmdk onto another VI3 server. Is there a best way to do a restore?

Here are my pre/post commands

PRE cmd /c "C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Consolidated Backup Framework\backupexec\browse-start.bat" vcb-test-job vcb-test

POST cmd /c "C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Consolidated Backup Framework\backupexec\browse-end.bat" vcb-test-job

Thanks All.

[kix1979]

For the restore, most people either SCP like you said or use something like Converter or a 3rd party tool to do the backup/restore like Ranger with VCB. As for the full backup you have to specify to use FullVM for the backup type and not File.

[Raymond]

Hi there,

Under Selection List name I have the following

C:\mnt\vcb-test-FullVM

I ran the job and it looks like it did backup the full vmdk file. If this is the case then how do i do a restore. Can I restore to a folder on my VCB proxy and will it show up as a .vmdk file that I can SCP over? I am going to do a restore now just to see what happens.

Thanks

[kix1979]

Yup, you SCP/Converter it back to the host and import it. Converter is a better way (it's free), it will be integrated into the next version of VCB and most importantly it can import the VMDK directly to VMFS and register it, change the name, etc... vs. you doing all that manually and doing a vcbRestore.

[Raymond]

Ok small problem I ran into.

I just did the restore back onto a another drive on my proxy and i see the following.

Restore Folder/mnt/vcb-test/

Then I see the Digits and letters folder.

To me this does not look like a full VM backup??

I also installed Converter and tried to point to the restore folder and cant select anything due to this folder layout,etc.

Thanks

[kix1979]

When you do a VMDK export you will only get the vmx, log files and VMDK files. There should be no file structure beyond that. If you do it is exporting a file level backup, not image. You may need to edit that script and change it to -t fullvm, right now it is probably -t file.

[Raymond]

Hi there,

What script do i edit and where is it found? Will I also need to edit any of my pre/post commands?

Thanks

[kix1979]

The pre is probably the one you need to edit. It should have vcbmounter.exe etc... in that batch file. Change the -t part from above.

[Raymond]

Hi there,

I found my isssue with the batch files from reading another post. When I was doing the full VMDK backup i was not using the pre-backup.bat and post-backup.bat files. I changed my job to use them and I can see it is now backing up the vmdk files, log files and vmx and nvram files.

I will do a restore back and then use converter to put this vmdk file onto another VI3 server.

Thanks so much for your help.

The -FullVM option must use pre-backup.bat and post-backup.bat i.e.

Pre

"C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Consolidated Backup Framework\backupexec\pre-backup.bat"

[kix1979 · Accepted solution]

Glad things are looking better now. If any of my posts were helpful/helped answer please award points.

[Raymond]

Done,

It looks like you went up a level