VCB trouble?

[jcorreia]

I've been playing around with VCB for the last day or so and had managed to get it working with Netbackup 6.0

My environment is as follows:

-EMC CX300

-Brocade SAN

-HP DL360 server running Netbackup + VCB

-(2) IBM 346s for ESX in HA configuration

The first thing I did after installing Netbackup, VCB, and the integration scripts was to add my Netbackup server into the Storage Group on the CX300 containing my VMware servers. This effectively gives it access to the same LUNs required for VCB backup. I ran some tests and after a few small misqueues got the backup process working nicely.

Then I decided to place the Netbackup server in it's own Storage Group so I could also give it an additional LUN for extra storage for the MNT folder.

After this change VCB stopped working

I've checked the LUN id's by looking in VC and then comparing these to what Windows is reporting and all LOOKS ok..however something went awry because it stopped working.

When I run the policy from Netbackup I get a status 73 (BPSTART_NOTIFY failed)

When I try to run bpbrowse-start it fails and this is the log:

\[2007-08-27 17:07:26.987 'App' 3772 info] Current working directory: C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Consolidated Backup Framework\netbackup

\[2007-08-27 17:07:29.380 'BaseLibs' 3912 warning] \[Vmdb_Unset] Unsetting unknown path: /vmomi/

\[2007-08-27 17:07:38.398 'vcbMounter' 3772 error] Error: Error while opening disk blklst://snapshot-2407\[vmfssan1] dsilab-dc/dsilab-dc.vmdk@dsippw03a.daymarksi.com:902?xxxx/xxxx: A virtual disk could not be opened. -- An invalid field name was used in a query string (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80040204)

\[2007-08-27 17:07:38.398 'vcbMounter' 3772 error] An error occured, cleaning up...

failed to prepare dsilab-dc for backup, PrepareForBackup() returned error 1

External command failed. See error above.

Exit Code: 1

Here is the output from an attempt with vcbMounter.exe:

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Consolidated Backup Framework>vcbMounter -h dsipp

w03a.daymarksi.com -u jcorreia -p 243ch@rles -a ipaddr:dsilab-dc.daymarksilab.co

m -r z:\mnt\dsilab-dc.daymarksilab.com-FullVM -t fullvm -m san

\[2007-08-27 17:35:16.724 'App' 3960 info] Current working directory: C:\Program

Files\VMware\VMware Consolidated Backup Framework

\[2007-08-27 17:35:18.890 'BaseLibs' 2320 warning] \[Vmdb_Unset] Unsetting unknown

path: /vmomi/

Copying "\[vmfssan1] dsilab-dc/dsilab-dc.vmx":

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

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

Copying "\[vmfssan1] dsilab-dc/dsilab-dc.nvram":

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

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

Copying "\[vmfssan1] dsilab-dc//vmware-204.log":

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

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

Copying "\[vmfssan1] dsilab-dc//vmware-205.log":

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

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

Copying "\[vmfssan1] dsilab-dc//vmware-206.log":

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

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

Copying "\[vmfssan1] dsilab-dc//vmware-207.log":

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

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

Copying "\[vmfssan1] dsilab-dc//vmware-208.log":

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

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

Copying "\[vmfssan1] dsilab-dc//vmware-203.log":

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

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

Copying "\[vmfssan1] dsilab-dc//vmware.log":

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

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

\[2007-08-27 17:35:34.693 'BaseLibs' 3636 warning] \[Vmdb_Unset] Unsetting unknown

path: /vmomi/

\[2007-08-27 17:35:35.603 'BlockList' 3960 warning] Could not log out (dsippw03a.

daymarksi.com:jcorreia)

\[2007-08-27 17:35:35.603 'vcbMounter' 3960 error] Error: Failed to open the disk

: One LUN could not be opened

\[2007-08-27 17:35:35.619 'vcbMounter' 3960 error] An error occured, cleaning up.

..

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Consolidated Backup Framework>

I've run out of ideas and could use some help.

[jcorreia]

Wow....lots of views and not a single reply.

Well I was able to figure this out thankfully today.

Basically I found the LUN ID information I was seeking within the properties of the Storage Group on the CX300.

In fact it was right under my nose, all I had to do was use Navishpere Manager to view the properties of the Storage Group being used for my VMware environment. On the LUNs tab it shows the HOSTID assigned to each LUN for the servers within that Storage Group.

Then I created a new Storage Group for my VCB Proxy and when I added the LUNs already participating in my VMware storage group I just edited the HOSTID field so they matched.

Hopefully this information might save someone else some time while using or evaluating VCB.