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WH
ITE PAPER
: DELL M
AN
AG
EMEN
T CO
NSO
LE TRIG
GER
S NETB
AC
KU
P 7 JOB
S
White Paper:
Dell Management Console
Integrates with NetBackup 7
March 2010
Third-party information brought to you courtesy of Dell.
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Revision History
Last Updated Author
March 18, 2010 Ed Casmer
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Contents
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 4
ENVIRONMENTAL PRE‐REQUISITES ................................................................................................................................ 4
STEPS FOR INTEGRATING DMC AND NETBACKUP ............................................................................................................ 5
Build the Client bpbackup Task ......................................................................................................................... 6
Build the Master Server bpbackup Task ......................................................................................................... 13
Build the Alert Rule for automated backup responses to hardware alerts ..................................................... 17
IMPORTING THE PROVIDED PRE‐BUILT TASKS AND ALERT RULE ........................................................................................ 23
Import the NetBackup Task ............................................................................................................................ 24
Import the Alert Rule ...................................................................................................................................... 25
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................... 27
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Introduction
IT Administrators are often asked to wear many different “hats” within their organization. A
server administrator can easily be responsible for all systems management functions as well
as data protection needs and security concerns.
Dell Management Console provides administrators the best possible management of their
Dell hardware including such features as: warranty reporting, detailed hardware inventory,
BIOS/firmware/driver updating, and hardware health & performance monitoring.
Symantec’s NetBackup 7 is a best‐in‐class solution for enterprise data protection. Given both
of these applications’ popularity and diverse customer responsibilities, there have been many
requests asking for some examples of integration between NetBackup and Dell Management
Console (DMC).
This paper demonstrates how organizations can utilize the strengths of DMC in conjunction
with NetBackup. For example, DMC’s robust hardware health monitoring and alerting can be
used to trigger NetBackup functions. This allows for some interesting and helpful automation
scenarios where the health of the physical server can be used to drive backup tasks.
Protecting against hardware failure is one of the key reasons organizations backup their
information, but predicting those failures can be difficult if not impossible. A backup
schedule ensures data is protected at regular intervals but, depending on the size of the
backup window, considerable amounts of data are still at risk. The chance that a server will
fail immediately prior to a scheduled backup is low indeed. Using the hardware health
monitoring and automation capabilities of DMC to trigger NetBackup jobs, customers can
reduce the amount of data lost due to hardware failures.
Environmental Pre-requisites
For purposes of this paper we’ll assume DMC and NetBackup are already installed and
operational. The checklist below overviews the configuration details in place for our
scenarios to work properly.
DMC Checklist
o DMC installed
Other DMC plug‐ins such as Altiris Server Mgmt. Suite or Symantec
Workflow Solution are not required to enable NetBackup integration
(but they can be helpful to extend integration beyond the scope of
this paper)
o DMC agent pushed to NBU Master Server
o DMC agent pushed to NBU Client machines
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NetBackup Checklist
o NetBackup (NBU) Master/Media Server installed
o NetBackup Client Agent installed on protected machines
o NBU Backup Policy created in which the protected machine is a member
o User Backup Schedule defined in the specified Backup Policy
This is mandatory if planning to execute the backup from the client
This is optional if you only plan to execute the backup from the
Master Server
Steps for Integrating DMC and NetBackup
NetBackup has an extensive Command‐line Interface (CLI) supported by a 669 page
document that walks through all of the possible options this CLI provides. You can download
this CLI reference here: http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/340137.htm.
While there are a number of integration possibilities, this white paper focuses on one
particular command: bpbackup. This command enables DMC to trigger a backup process
from the protected machine (client) or the Master Server (where the NBU software is
installed). Many other commands are available for a similar type of implementation.
Dell Management Console includes a “Run Script” task type as an available option for
creating Tasks and Jobs. The Run Script task allows the system administrator to execute calls
to 3rd party CLIs via DOS command scripts, JavaScript, Perl, PowerShell, Python, UNIX Shell
scripts, VBScript or AppletScript. These calls can be executed either on a managed device or
on the DMC server itself. DMC has other task types and mechanisms to execute 3rd party
calls such as ability to call web services, run SQL queries, and remotely start/stop/change
service configurations.
Note: Consult the DMC Integration Options white paper for more information on DMC’s
many integration points (Download this paper at: http://en.community.dell.com/
groups/dell_management_console/media/p/19671033.aspx)
For our example, we’ll use a DMC Run Script task to execute the NetBackup bpbackup
command in response to a DMC hardware health alert. The next section will outline the
steps to create each task.
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Build the Client bpbackup Task
As stated earlier, a backup of the protected machine can be triggered from either the Client
or the Master Server. The main difference is in what parameters are required on the
command line. We simply need to create a Run Script task that calls the proper command
line for invoking a backup at the client machine.
Step 1: From the DMC console navigate to the Jobs and Tasks portal by selecting Manage
(top most menu) Jobs and Tasks
This will open the Jobs and Tasks Portal as seen below.
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Step 2: Create a “NetBackup Tasks” folder underneath the Jobs and Tasks folder so you have
easy access to the new Tasks you are creating. Right‐click the Jobs and Tasks folder and
select NewFolder
Specify “NetBackup Tasks” as the folder name and click the OK button.
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You should now see your new folder in the tree structure.
Step 3: Create the new Task by right‐clicking the NetBackup Tasks folder and selecting
NewTask
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You will be presented with the Create New Task screen as seen here:
Scroll down to the bottom of the left hand pane to see the Run Script task. Note that all the
tasks listed on the left side are available for automating a response to a DMC alert. As you
add plug‐ins to DMC even more options will be added to this list.
Most tasks can be configured using simple checkboxes or other elements of the user
interface. Our task is executing a custom command so we’ll have to enter the text for calling
that command.
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When you select Run Script you should see the following:
Step 4: Enter needed details into the right pane.
Name: Name the task something useful to you such as: NetBackup bpbackup client
command
Script Type: Leave the Script Type as “command script” as we will be running this as
a dos command.
Tokens: Leave as is. We will not be using tokens for this particular task, but Tokens
are a way for you to dynamically replace values with property information from the
devices you are executing the task against.
Command Line Setup: In the large text box enter your command‐line text as follows:
The bpbackup command can be found in the “c:\program
files\veritas\netbackup\bin” directory so the first thing we have to do is
switch to that directory.
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The bpbackup command can execute with a number of different parameters.
We will explicitly specify the name of a pre‐defined NBU Policy in the
command line. This is an optional parameter but if it is not provided the
backup process will use the first NetBackup policy it finds (which may not be
what we intend…so we’ll reference one we’ve created). When executing this
command from a client you will need to specify the target folders to be
backed up. Even though our command call will reference a specific policy the
folders that policy will reference must be defined.
For additional details on calling this command please refer to the
NBU documentation on Commands which can be found from this
page: http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/340137.htm
Enter the CLI call as follows:
cd C:\Program Files\VERITAS\NetBackup\bin
bpbackup -p <backup policy> –s <user backup schedule> -S <master
server> <some directory list>
Step 5: Click the OK button to save your Task
You are done! You have just created the first integration task with NetBackup.
Call to NetBackup bpbackup command
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Once created, the tasks will display in DMC as follows:
Note your new Task shows up under the newly created NetBackup Tasks folder. Other tasks
can also be created and saved there.
Test Your Task
Test your new task by clicking Quick Run in the lower Task Status section and selecting a
client (which meets the pre‐reqs as specified above) and clicking Run
Wait a minute for the task to complete. You will see the task status just below the Quick Run
button. You may have to click the refresh icon for the status to be updated. Upon
successful complete the Task Status area should look as follows:
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The job status will also appear in the NetBackup console and can be seen in the Activity
Monitor area as follows:
The little “blue man” with his arms up in triumph shows the backup was performed
successfully.
Build the Master Server bpbackup Task
The process for building the Master Server Task is exactly the same with the exception of the
command line properties used. The properties are different when executing from the Master
Server as opposed to the client. The easiest way to create this task is to clone our existing
task and just change the pieces that we need to.
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Step 1: Clone your bpbackup client command by right‐clicking the task and selecting Clone
as seen here
Step 2: Rename the task to bpbackup master server command and click the OK button
You should now see the following under your NetBackup Tasks folder:
Step 3: Modify the command line parameters
Command Line Setup:
When executing from the Master Server we no longer know which client we
need to backup so we will have to add the “‐h” option to specify which client
to backup.
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We will also want to specify the “‐i” option to execute the backup
immediately.
Because we are executing the backup from the Master Server it will back up
the client based on the Policy information and therefore we do not need to
specify the folders to backup. We also need to add the “‐t 13” option to
specify we are doing a windows backup. That number could change
depending on what type of backup you are performing.
So the client command which looked as follows:
cd C:\Program Files\VERITAS\NetBackup\bin
bpbackup -p <backup policy> –s <user backup schedule> -S <master
server> <some directory list>
Now looks as follows for the Master Server command:
cd C:\Program Files\VERITAS\NetBackup\bin
bpbackup -p <backup policy> -i -h <client machine> -S <master
server> -t <backup type>
Note: Everywhere there is a <>, one could use tokens. If you structure the Job properly you
could set this task up to dynamically work across many machines at one time. Please look to
your DMC and Symantec Management Platform documentation on how to use Tokens
(http://www.altiris.com/upload/smplat_user_gde12909.pdf )
Step 4: Click the Save Changes button to ensure your work is saved (located middle of screen
on the left hand side of the right panel)
Step 5: Test your new task by clicking Quick Run in the lower Task Status section and
selecting a Master Server and clicking Run as seen here
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Wait a minute for the task to complete. You will see the task status just below the Quick Run
button. You may have to click the refresh icon for the status to be updated. Upon
successful complete the Task Status area should look as follows:
The job status will also appear in the NetBackup console and can be seen in the Activity
Monitor area as follows:
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The little “blue man” with his arms up in triumph shows the backup was performed
successfully.
Build the Alert Rule for automated backup responses to hardware alerts
Now that you have created functioning tasks, you need to link them with DMC’s hardware
alerting capabilities to create automated data protection rules. Follow these steps to create
an alert rule that will trigger a NetBackup backup for any server that sends a critical hardware
alert to DMC.
Step 1: From the DMC console navigate to the Monitoring and Alerting portal by selecting
Home (top most menu) Monitoring and Alerting as seen here
This will open the Monitoring and Alerting portal as seen below.
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Step 2: Open the Alert Rules area by selecting Event ConsoleAlert Rule Settings from the
left hand folder tree view
Step 3: Open the Task Rules area by selecting the Task Rules tab in the right pane.
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Step 4: Click the +Add button just below the tabs to start creating a new Alert Rule
Note that the new rule will be highlighted and named Task Rule 1 and disabled by default.
Step 5: Rename the rule simply by clicking on the name in the right panel and typing your
new name into the field. Hit the Enter button to save the name
Step 6: Enable the rule by clicking the red off button (looks like a stop light) and switching it
to On. Note the Status bar should change colors to green.
Step 7: Add the Rule condition based off of the Perc Predictive Failure
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In the Rule sub‐section click the +Add button and select Alert Definition
Set the Comparison value to Equals and the Value to percPredictiveFailure (Note that all
the values published in this dropdown box are pulled from Dell MIBs defined in the
system. You can import 3rd party MIBs too for working with non‐Dell hardware. Consult
the DMC Integration Options white paper for more information on importing MIBs into to
DMC: http://en.community.dell.com/groups/dell_management_console/media/p/
19671033.aspx)
Step 8: Add the Task functionality that will be the response to receiving the alert
In the Task sub‐section click the +Add Existing button to launch the Select Task
window.
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The Select Task window will display as follows:
Note that if we were building a Task from scratch rather than selecting one of the
tasks we previously created, we would click the *New button and complete similar
steps to what we did in the previous sections.
Expand the NetBackup Tasks folder and select the bpbackup client command task to
see the following
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Click the OK button to save your selection and the Task sub‐section should look as
follows
Note you could specify a Target to apply this rule to. Leave it as the default as this
will apply it to all monitored devices.
Step 9: Click the Save button to save your Alert Rule and the screen should look as follows
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There are a number of tools you can use to test this Alert Rule. One option is to use a trap
generator and send a percPredictiveFailure trap from your protected machine to the DMC
server and then verify the NetBackup job completed successfully in the NetBackup
Administration Console.
Importing the Provided Pre-Built Tasks and Alert Rule
DMC Tasks, Alert Rules, Reports and other items can be exported in XML format so they can
be shared between consoles. The Tasks and Alert Rules created in this paper can be
downloaded here and imported into your test DMC console:
http://dell.symantec.com/files/3/DMC‐NetBackup‐Tasks.zip.
To import the provided files simply follow the steps below:
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Import the NetBackup Task
Step 1: From the DMC console navigate to the Jobs and Tasks portal by selecting Manage
(top most menu) Jobs and Tasks
This will open the Jobs and Tasks Portal as seen below.
Step 2: Right‐click on the Jobs and Tasks root folder in the left panel and select Import
Note that you do not need to create the NetBackup Tasks folder ahead of time as was done
in the previous steps. The package was exported at that folder level and therefore will
import with that folder structure intact.
Step 3: Browse to the DMC‐NetBackup‐Tasks.xml file you downloaded and click Open
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The import will occur and the NetBackup Tasks folder will appear as follows. You are
now ready to use or modify the tasks as we did in the previous steps.
Import the Alert Rule
Step 1: From the DMC console navigate to the Monitoring and Alerting portal by selecting
Home (top most menu) Monitoring and Alerting as seen here
This will open the Monitoring and Alerting portal
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Step 2: Open the Alert Rules area by selecting Event ConsoleAlert Rule Settings from the
left hand folder tree view
Step 3: Open the Task Rules area by selecting the Task Rules tab in the right panel and you
should see the following
Step 4: Right‐click on any of the existing Task Rules and select Import
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Step 5: Browse to the Trigger‐NetBackup‐from‐Perc‐Predictive‐Failure.xml file and click
Open
The import will occur and the Trigger NetBackup from Perc Predictive Failure Alert Rule will
appear as follows. You are now ready to use or modify this Alert Rule as we did in the
previous steps.
Conclusion
Integrating Dell Management Console and NetBackup 7 is a straightforward process. Our
example focused on only one command (out of a possible 152). There are many other
commands you can implement. Also note that the integration documented in this white
paper is possible with the free Dell Management Console product. Additional options for
NetBackup integration ‐ such as using a comprehensive NetBackup Monitor Pack, triggering
NetBackup jobs based on MS Exchange or software level alerts, remotely distributing the
NetBackup client software, etc. – are available with the for‐charge Altiris Server
Management plug‐in for DMC.
More options are also available via custom “content tiles” and “link and launch” applications
as described by the Dell Integration Options paper (http://en.community.dell.com/
groups/dell_management_console/media/p/19671033.aspx). You can easily plug‐in the
Symantec OpsCenter Analytics application for viewing critical reports or launching the
application itself within context of the Dell Management Console. The following report is an
example of what could be pulled into the console in a content tile.
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For more information on Symantec OpsCenter Analytics, an advanced reporting tool which
provides enhanced visibility and control into your backup environment and operations,
please visit http://www.symantec.com/business/opscenter‐analytics.
Also note that while this paper has focused on integration between DMC and NetBackup,
numerous integration points also exist between DMC and BackupExec, BackupExec System
Recovery (http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/power/ps4q09‐20100119‐
SymantecMS.pdf) and many other Symantec products (dell.symantec.com/dmc‐plugins)
DMC & Symantec’s integration points provide customers tremendous flexibility to “wire”
together tools and business processes into single convenient location for managing an entire
IT environment. It’s one of many ways that Dell Management Console delivers on Dell’s and
Symantec’s objective to simplify IT for our joint customers.
__________________________________
The information contained in this document, including all instructions, cautions, and regulatory approvals and certifications, is provided by Symantec and has not been independently verified or tested by Dell. Dell cannot be responsible for damage caused as a result of either following or failing to follow these instructions. All statements or claims regarding the properties, capabilities, speeds or qualifications of the part referenced in this document are made by Symantec and not by Dell. Dell specifically disclaims knowledge of the accuracy, completeness or substantiation for any such statements. All questions or comments relating to such statements or claims should be directed to Symantec. Visit www.dell.com for more information.
