Backing up and recovering a VxVM volume using NetBackup

To enable NetBackup to backup objects on a VxVM volume, use the following procedure. This procedure enables an Instant Recovery (IR) using a VxVM volume.

To back up objects in a VxVM volume using NetBackup

  1. Create a VxVM disk group with six disks. The number of disks may vary depending on the volume size, disk size, volume layout, and snapshot method.

    If the system this test is running on is a clustered system, create a shared disk group using the -s option.

    # vxdg -s init database_dg disk1 disk2 disk3 \
    disk4 disk5 disk6
  2. Create a "mirror-striped" VxVM volume with a size of 10 Gbytes or the maximum size of the disk, whichever is larger.
    # vxassist -g database_dg make vol_name 10G \
    layout=mirror-stripe init=active
    # vxvol -g database_dg set fastresync=on vol_name
    # vxassist -g database_dg snapstart nmirror=1 vol_name

    Note:

    There are three types of snapshot: mirror, full-size instant, and space-optimized instant shanpshots. The example uses an Instant Recovery (IR) snapshot. For snapshot creation details:

    See pages 104-107 of the NetBackup Snapshot Client Administrator's Guide for 7.6.

    See https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.DOC6459

  3. Make the file system on the volume.
  4. Mount a VxFS file system on the volume.

    If the VxVM volume is a clustered volume, mount the VxFS file system with the "-o cluster" option.

  5. Fill up the VxFS file system up to the desired level. For example, you can fill to 95% full, or to whatever level is appropriate for your file system.
  6. Store the cksum(1) for these files.
  7. Un-mount the VxFS file system.
  8. Enable the following Advanced Client option:
    • Perform Snapshot Backup.

    • Set Advanced Snapshot Options to vxvm.

    • Enable Retain snapshots for instant recovery.

  9. Back up the VxVM volume with the NetBackup policy.

    See NetBackup Snapshot Client Administrator's Guide for 7.6.

    See https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.DOC6459