Backupexec Snapshot Trouble

[bdora]

Help

I have had to free space to get my server running, and not am stuck with too many snapshots.

I am afraid that  I do not have enoough space to Delete All

Can anyone tell me, VMware Support said I do, But I still have my doubts.

My full backup is 1 TB and I have 500 GB free

The snapshot size says 1.2TB

The Capacity is 1.8TB and the  free space is 498 GB

The snapshots are attached...

Please give me some ideas

Message was edited by: bdora In the end I had to down the VM and use the migration wizard to move the VM to another LUN with adequate space, 2TB free. It took approx. 8 hours and when I started the new VM, it was fast and no one in the office knew. I will say, everything else in IIS ran 4 times faster. So deleting snapshots is a good Best Practice. Last night my DC with Exchange had 1 snapshot 60 gig from a year ago. I left the VM  Running and did a Delete all.... It was stuck at 95% for 12 hours but finally cleaned up at 100%. And gave back the 80 Gig... ALL IS WELL AGAIN.

[a_p_]

According to the list of files you posted, there's enough free disk space to consolidate all snapshots to the 2 base disks. Since the base disks are thin provisioned, their size could (although very unlikely) grow up to their current size + the sum of the related snapshot files.

So if - and this is very important - you run at least ESX(i) 4.0 Update 2 on the hosts, you can use "Delete All" to delete the snapshots. If you run an earlier version, you may run out of disk space!

Since the "Delete All" process may take a few hours (please be patient), make sure BackupExec does not try to backup (create a new snapshot) the VM during this time!

André

[bdora]

I am running VSphere 4.1

So you think it will be ok?

This is a live, critical server , and I was hoping I could delete older snapshots first.

What is the purpose

of the Delete button if you have to use the Delete all?

Thanks for your help

[a_p_ · Accepted solution]

So you think it will be ok?

Yes, I think so.

This is a live, critical server , and I was hoping I could delete older snapshots first.

You could, if the snapshots show up in the Snapshot Manager. However, must backup applications don't maintain the snapshot chain in the .vmsd file, which contains the graphical representation of the snapshots in the Snapshot Manager.

What is the purpose of the Delete button if you have to use the Delete all?

With the "Delete" button you can delete/consolidate a single snapshot into it's parent. The "Delete All" button consolidates all snapshots into the base disk, no matter whether they show up in the Snapshot Manger or not.

As mentioned before, make sure nothing interrupts the deletion process (e.g. BackupExec), then you should have no issues.

André

[bdora]

I am still backing up in case of a disaster, the backup comes out to 966 GB.

I am hoping Delete all doesnt fill up the drive and leave me in trouble restoring 1 TB of data.

Thank you again.

[bdora]

Andre

I read in version 5 it does not use disk space.

But I also wondered 4,1 will not let me extend the LUN above two TB, but if I could I would feel better about not fillinf up the server and crashing it.

Is there a way to do this? Or can I delete older snapshots in Snapshot manager and not crash or lose data?

This is an IIS server with lots of forms and photos on the drive E;

I cannot run the risk of the server running out of space. And it looks like the snapshots total way over 500GB

I apologize for all the doubt with this design.

[a_p_]

I read in version 5 it does not use disk space.

Not quite sure what are referring to. If you have a thin provisioned disk and consolidate snapshots it may grow the same way as in earlier versions.

But I also  wondered 4,1 will not let me extend the LUN above two TB, but if I could  I would feel better about not fillinf up the server and crashing it. Is there a way to do this?

No, unfortunately larger LUNs/datastores are only supported with ESXi 5.0

Or can I delete older snapshots in Snapshot manager and not crash or lose data?

If the snapshots show up in the Snapshot Manager, you may be able to delete the snapshots 1-by-1. However, since most backup applications don't maintain the .vmsd file which contains the data for the Snapshot Manager, you may be out of luck here. Except this file would be edited manually by finding out the correct snapshot chain.

If the Snapshot Manager shows any snapshots, then download the .vmsd file from the VM's datastore folder and attach it to your next post.

I cannot run the risk of the server running out of space. And it looks like the snapshots total way over 500GB

To be sure about the sizes of all virtual disks, can you please connect to an ESXi host via SSH, run ls -lisa in the VM's folder and attach a text file with the output to your next post?

André

[a_p_]

I went through the screen shots you provided another time and put together the file sizes. You are right, it's risky to run the "Delete All". According to the screen shots you may need something in between 450 and 600GB of temporary additional disk space.

Your current options are:

• take the risk (I would NOT do it)
• rebuild the .vmsd file and delete the snapshots 1-by-1 (latest vmware.log file required)
• increase the datastore to 1.99TB (not more!) which will give you the additional free disk space you need
• clone the second disk to another datastore with sufficient free disk space.

André

[bdora]

Thank you! Thats what I thought.

If I could just delete a couple snapshots I could then do a delete all.

I may try to increase the size, but I think its maxed out. ( for 4.1)

Or find the time to migrate the server to a new LUN.

Thanks again

Bill

[a_p_]

Do you see the 11 snapshots in the Snapshot Manager? If yes, start deleting the snapshots starting with the oldest snapshots (the one next to the base disk). This will merge the data in the snapshot files to the base disks. If the snapshots don't show up, post (attach) the latest vmware.log as well as the .vmsd file to your next post to see whether the .vmsd file can be recreated to be able to delete individual snapshots.

André

[bdora]

Thanks Andre

I have another SAN and I was thinking of adding it and extending the LUN

Vmware said I could?

What do you think?

Also if I delete the oldest first, Do I need to modify the vmsd file, or is that only if I have a problem?

Also , do you mean start at the top of the snapshot list and hit the delete button?

Bill

[a_p_]

I have another SAN and I was thinking of adding it and extending the LUN

Vmware said I could? What do you think?

Afaik it's only supported to add extents from the same storage!? Don't you have some free disk space on your current storage to grow the existing LUN to 1.99TB? This would give you ~650GB of free disk space on the datatore which would be sufficient even if the thin provisioned (the large one) would grow to its maximum size.

Also if I delete the oldest first, Do I need to modify the vmsd file, or is that only if I have a problem?

If you can see the snapshots in the Snaphot Manager, you don't need to do anything manually. VMware will take care of this.

Also , do you mean start at the top of the snapshot list and hit the delete button?

Deleting a single snapshot will merge the datat from the snapshot .vmdk  file into its direct parent disk in the snapshot chain. Deleting a  snapshot other than the oldest one would not make much sense, as the  data is not merged into the base disk.

André