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PowerProtect Data Manager

PowerProtect Data Manager

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
112 views

PowerProtect Data Manager

PowerProtect Data Manager

Uploaded by

shyco007
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PowerProtect Data Manager

Version 19.2

Administration and User Guide


REV 03
October 2019
Copyright © 2016-2019 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved.

Dell believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice.

THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED “AS-IS.” DELL MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND
WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. USE, COPYING, AND DISTRIBUTION OF ANY DELL SOFTWARE DESCRIBED
IN THIS PUBLICATION REQUIRES AN APPLICABLE SOFTWARE LICENSE.

Dell Technologies, Dell, EMC, Dell EMC and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be the property
of their respective owners. Published in the USA.

Dell EMC
Hopkinton, Massachusetts 01748-9103
1-508-435-1000 In North America 1-866-464-7381
www.DellEMC.com

2 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


CONTENTS

Preface 9

Chapter 1 Getting Started 13


Introducing PowerProtect Data Manager software........................................... 14
Accessing the PowerProtect Data Manager UI..................................................14
Replacing the default PowerProtect Data Manager certificate ............15
Getting Started.................................................................................... 16
UI tools and options ............................................................................. 16

Chapter 2 Managing Users 19


Managing user roles and privileges ...................................................................20
Managing users....................................................................................20
Default admin user............................................................................... 22
Roles.................................................................................................... 22
Privileges............................................................................................. 25
Resetting system-generated VM Direct credentials..........................................30
Managing LDAP or AD groups...........................................................................30
Managing keychains.......................................................................................... 31
Add credentials..................................................................................... 31
LDAP or AD authentication................................................................................31
Configuring LDAP or AD authorities and assigning roles....................... 31
Example: Configuring an AD authority .................................................35
Example: Configuring an LDAP authority............................................. 36
Troubleshooting LDAP configuration issues......................................... 37

Chapter 3 Managing Storage 39


Add protection storage .................................................................................... 40
Overview of PowerProtect Data Manager cloud tier......................................... 41
Add Data Domain cloud protection storage...........................................41
Overview of PowerProtect Data Manager Cloud Disaster Recovery..................41

Chapter 4 Enabling the Microsoft Application Agent for SQL 43


About the Microsoft application agent for SQL.................................................44
Microsoft SQL Server data protection and replication requirements................ 44
Protecting a stand-alone SQL Server................................................................44
Protecting SQL Server clustered environments................................................45
Install and configure the Microsoft application agent for SQL Server............... 46
Prerequisites ....................................................................................... 46
Install the Microsoft application agent................................................. 46
Upgrade the Microsoft application agent............................................. 48
Uninstall the Microsoft application agent with the setup file................48
Required privileges for backup and recovery of a stand-alone server...49
Required privileges for backup and recovery of an Always On availability
group................................................................................................... 49
Required privileges for backup and recovery of a Failover Cluster
Instance or Always On Failover Cluster Instance..................................50

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 3


Contents

Stagger SQL discovery jobs in host scale-out environments................50


Manage the Microsoft application agent for SQL............................................. 50
Support for existing SQL agent backups with PowerProtect Data Manager......51
Supporting existing SQL agent backups with PowerProtect................ 52
Use the backup discovery tool for PowerProtect Data Manager
management of existing backups......................................................... 53

Chapter 5 Enabling the Oracle RMAN Agent 55


About the Oracle RMAN agent......................................................................... 56
Review Oracle data protection and replication requirements............................ 56
Prerequisites........................................................................................56
Protecting a stand-alone Oracle server.............................................................57
Protecting Oracle RAC environments............................................................... 57
Install and configure the Oracle RMAN agent................................................... 58
Install the Oracle RMAN agent.............................................................58
Upgrade the Oracle RMAN agent.........................................................60
Uninstall the Oracle RMAN agent........................................................ 62
Integration with PowerProtect Data Manager software.......................64
Install the PowerProtect Data Manager agent..................................... 65
Uninstall the PowerProtect Data Manager agent................................. 67
How the Oracle RMAN agent communicates with PowerProtect Data
Manager...............................................................................................67
Verify the connectivity from ddbmcon..................................................71
Discover the storage units....................................................................74
Add or manage the Oracle application agent..................................................... 74
Supporting existing Oracle RMAN agent backups with PowerProtect Data
Manager............................................................................................................75
Support existing Oracle RMAN agent backups with PowerProtect Data
Manager...............................................................................................76

Chapter 6 Enabling the File System Agent 79


About the File System agent.............................................................................80
File System agent prerequisites........................................................................ 80
Roadmap for protection with the File System agent..........................................81
Installing and configuring File System agent..................................................... 82
Install the File System agent on Linux.................................................. 82
Install the File System agent on Windows ........................................... 82
Silent installation of File System agent.................................................83
Uninstalling the File System agent ...................................................... 83
Upgrade the File System agent............................................................ 84
Manage the File System agent..........................................................................84

Chapter 7 Enabling the Storage Direct Agent 87


About the Storage Direct agent........................................................................ 88
Storage Direct agent prerequisites................................................................... 88
Additional setup and configuration file requirements for existing Storage Direct
users................................................................................................................. 89
Roadmap for protection with the Storage Direct agent (new users)................. 91
Roadmap for protection with the Storage Direct agent (existing Storage Direct
users)............................................................................................................... 93
Installing or Upgrading Storage Direct.............................................................. 94
Install the Storage Direct agent on Linux............................................. 94
Upgrade the Storage Direct agent on Linux......................................... 95
Install or Upgrade the Storage Direct agent on Windows .................... 97

4 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Contents

Silent installation of the Storage Direct agent......................................98


Uninstall the Storage Direct agent on Linux......................................... 98
Uninstall the Storage Direct agent on Windows................................... 98
Manage the Storage Direct agent..................................................................... 98

Chapter 8 Managing Assets 101


About asset sources, assets, and storage........................................................ 102
Prerequisites for discovering asset sources.....................................................102
Adding a vCenter Server asset source.............................................................102
Add a VMware vCenter Server........................................................... 102
Virtual asset discovery........................................................................104
Creating a dedicated vCenter user account and assigning the role in vCenter.105
Specify the required privileges for a dedicated vCenter user account ....
105
VM Direct protection engine overview............................................................ 108
Add a VM Direct appliance..................................................................108
Additional VM Direct actions.............................................................. 109
Discovering an application or File System host ................................................110
Discover an Oracle or SQL application host......................................... 111
Discover a File System Host.................................................................111
Discover a Storage Direct agent host.................................................. 112
Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent...................... 113

Chapter 9 Managing Protection Policies 115


Protection policies........................................................................................... 116
Policy retention time considerations................................................... 116
Data Domain protection considerations............................................... 116
Before you a create protection policy.............................................................. 118
Add a protection policy for virtual machine protection..................................... 118
On-demand backups of virtual machines............................................. 121
Additional options for managing virtual machine backups................... 122
Add a protection policy for SQL database protection...................................... 122
Add a protection policy for Oracle database protection...................................125
Add a protection policy for File System protection.......................................... 129
Add a protection policy for Storage Direct protection..................................... 132
Add a Cloud Tier protection policy...................................................................136
Edit a protection policy.................................................................................... 137
Add or remove assets in a protection policy.....................................................137
Removing expired backup copies..................................................................... 138
Export protection ........................................................................................... 139
Delete a protection policy................................................................................139
Add a Service Level Agreement....................................................................... 140
Export Asset Compliance.................................................................................142
Dynamic filters ................................................................................................143
Creating virtual machine tags in the vSphere Client............................143
Add a dynamic filter............................................................................ 144
Manually run a dynamic filter.............................................................. 145
Edit or delete a dynamic filter ............................................................ 146
Change the priority of the existing dynamic filter .............................. 146

Chapter 10 Restoring Data and Assets 147


View copies..................................................................................................... 148
Restore a virtual machine or VMDK................................................................. 148
Prerequisites to restore a virtual machine...........................................149

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 5


Contents

Restore to original virtual machine......................................................149


Restore individual virtual disks............................................................ 151
Restore to new....................................................................................151
Restore an instant access virtual machine.......................................... 153
File level restore................................................................................. 156
Direct Restore to ESXi....................................................................... 158
Restore an application-aware virtual machine backup..................................... 159
Performing centralized restore of a File System host...................................... 159
Centralized restore of File Systems in PowerProtect Data Manager.. 159
Restore of Storage Direct backups in PowerProtect Data Manager.................161
Restore the PowerProtect Data Manager server ............................................162
Restore operations for cloud tier..................................................................... 163
Restore from cloud tier.......................................................................163

Chapter 11 Performing Self-service Backup and Restore of Application and File


System Agents 165
Performing self-service backups of Microsoft SQL databases........................ 166
Performing self-service backups of Oracle databases..................................... 166
Performing self-service backups of File Systems.............................................167
Performing self-service backups of Microsoft SQL databases........................ 168
Restore a SQL application host....................................................................... 168
Restore an Oracle application host.................................................................. 168
Performing self-service restore of a File System host..................................... 169
Using the ddfsadmin utility for File Systems....................................... 169
Self-service image-level restore of File Systems................................ 170
Self-service file-level restore of File Systems......................................171

Chapter 12 Preparing for and Recovering from a Disaster 173


Managing system backups............................................................................... 174
Manage PowerProtect Data Manager backups for disaster recovery.............. 174
Prepare the Data Domain recovery target....................................................... 175
Configure backups for disaster recovery......................................................... 175
Configure PowerProtect Data Manager server disaster recovery backups...... 176
Record settings for disaster recovery..............................................................176
Restore PowerProtect Data Manager from an external Data Domain system.. 177

Chapter 13 Managing Alerts, Jobs, and Tasks 179


Configure Alert Notifications........................................................................... 180
View and manage System Alerts......................................................................180
View and manage System Alerts...................................................................... 181
Monitoring and viewing jobs............................................................................. 181
Monitor and view tasks....................................................................................182
Restart a job or task........................................................................................ 182
Cancel a job or task......................................................................................... 183
Export logs for a job or task.............................................................................184

Chapter 14 Upgrading the PowerProtect Data Manager Software 185


Upgrade the software from PowerProtect Data Manager version 19.1............ 186
Upgrade PowerProtect Data Manager from version 19.2 and later.................. 187
Managing certificates after upgrading from versions earlier than PowerProtect
Data Manager version 19.1............................................................................... 188

6 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Contents

Chapter 15 Best Practices and Troubleshooting 191


Compatibility information................................................................................ 192
Power off the PowerProtect Data Manager OVA............................................ 192
Creating a dedicated vCenter user account and assigning the role in vCenter.192
Specify the required privileges for a dedicated vCenter user account ....
192
Best practices with the VM Direct appliance................................................... 195
Software and hardware requirements.................................................196
PowerProtect Data Manager resource requirements on VMware
environment........................................................................................197
Configuration checklist for common issues.........................................197
VM Direct appliance performance and scalability................................198
Increasing the number of instant access sessions...............................199
Enabling or disabling Changed Block Tracking.................................... 199
Configure a backup to support vSAN datastores............................... 200
Disable SSL certification on the vCenter Server................................ 200
Troubleshooting backup configuration issues..................................................200
Troubleshooting virtual machine backup issues............................................... 201
VM Direct limitations and unsupported features................................. 201
Managing command execution for VM Direct Agent operations on Linux
.......................................................................................................... 203
SQL Server application-consistent backups fail with error "Unable to
find VSS metadata files in directory"................................................. 203
Failed to lock Virtual Machine for backup: Another EMC VM Direct
operation 'Backup' is active on VM ................................................... 203
vMotion operations are not allowed during active backup operations.203
Backups fail if certain characters are used in the virtual machine name,
datastore, folder, or datacenter names.............................................. 203
Lock placed on virtual machine during backup and recovery operations
continues for 24 hours if VM Direct appliance fails............................ 204
Trailing spaces not supported in SQL database names.......................204
SQL databases skipped during virtual machine transaction log backup....
204
Accessing Knowledge Base Articles................................................... 205
Recover a failed PowerProtect Data Manager backup....................................205
Troubleshooting virtual machine restore issues...............................................205
Troubleshooting instant access restore failures................................. 207
FLR Agent for virtual machine file-level restore................................. 208
Supported platform versions for file-level restore..............................209
File-level restore and SQL restore limitations..................................... 210
Troubleshoot recovery of PowerProtect Data Manager.................................. 212
Application agent and File System agent co-existence.................................... 212
Microsoft application agent for SQL Server application-aware protection...... 214
Troubleshooting Microsoft Application Agent discoveries on Windows 2008 and
Application Direct............................................................................................ 216
Supporting more than 50 database clients...................................................... 216
File System agent limitations........................................................................... 216
Storage Direct agent limitations...................................................................... 218
Time synchronization required between PowerProtect Data Manager and the
systems it interfaces with................................................................................221
PowerProtect Data Manager allows completion of protection policy when
storage unit on the Data Domain cannot be created........................................ 221
Viewing the DD Boost storage unit password.................................................. 221

Chapter 16 Modifying the System Settings 223

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 7


Contents

System settings.............................................................................................. 224


Modify the network settings.............................................................. 224
Modify the appliance time zone..........................................................224
Change the system root user password............................................. 224
Enable replication encryption............................................................. 225
License types..................................................................................... 225
PowerProtect Data Manager licenses................................................ 226
System Support.............................................................................................. 227
Register the Secure Remote Services gateway..................................227
Callhome ........................................................................................... 228
Set up the email server...................................................................... 230
Add Auto Support............................................................................... 231
Enable automatic upgrade package downloads................................... 231
Add a log bundle................................................................................. 231
Monitor system state and system health............................................232
Configure PowerProtect Central reporting........................................ 234
Modifying the PowerProtect Data Manager virtual machine disk settings...... 235
Modify the virtual machine memory configuration............................. 235
Modify the data disk size................................................................... 235
Modify the system disk size............................................................... 237
Configure the Data Domain system................................................................. 237

Chapter 17 PowerProtect plug-in within the vSphere Client 239


Overview of the PowerProtect plug-in within the vSphere Client................... 240
Prerequisites to using the PowerProtect plug-in within the vSphere Client.....241
Monitor virtual machine protection copies...................................................... 242
Restore a virtual machine protection copy in the vSphere Client.................... 242

Chapter 18 VMware Cloud on Amazon Web Services (AWS) Support 245


PowerProtect Data Manager image backup and recovery for VMware Cloud on
AWS................................................................................................................246
Configure the VMware Cloud on AWS web portal console.............................. 246
Amazon AWS web portal requirements........................................................... 247
Interoperability with VMware Cloud on AWS product features....................... 247
vCenter server inventory requirements...........................................................248
VMware Cloud on AWS configuration best practices...................................... 248
Add a VM Direct appliance.............................................................................. 248
Protection and recovery operations................................................................ 249
Interoperability with VMware Cloud on AWS product features....................... 250
Unsupported operations in VMware Cloud on AWS ....................................... 250
Troubleshooting VMware Cloud on AWS ....................................................... 250

8 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Preface

As part of an effort to improve product lines, periodic revisions of software and hardware are
released. Therefore, all versions of the software or hardware currently in use might not support
some functions that are described in this document. The product release notes provide the most
up-to-date information on product features.
If a product does not function correctly or does not function as described in this document,
contact a technical support professional.
Note: This document was accurate at publication time. To ensure that you are using the latest
version of this document, go to the Support website https://www.dell.com/support.
Note: References to Data Domain systems in this documentation, in the UI, and elsewhere in
the product include Data Domain systems and the new PowerProtect DD systems.
Purpose
This document describes how to install, configure, and administer PowerProtect Data Manager
software.
Audience
This document is intended for the host system administrator who is involved in managing,
protecting, and reusing data across the enterprise by deploying PowerProtect Data Manager.
Revision history
The following table presents the revision history of this document.
Table 1 Revision history

Revision Date Description

03 October 29, 2019 This revision includes the following updates:


l File System agent limitations updates,
including exclusions when performing
block-based backups.
l Add a protection policy for File System
protection updates.

02 September 27, 2019 Post GA updates.

01 September 24, 2019 Initial release of this document for


PowerProtect Data Manager 19.2.

Related documentation
The following publications provide additional information:
l PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide
Describes how to configure the software.
l PowerProtect Data Manager Release Notes
Contains information on new features, known limitations, environment, and system
requirements for the software.
l PowerProtect Data Manager Security Configuration Guide
Contains security information.

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 9


Preface

l PowerProtect Data Manager Cloud Disaster Recovery Administration and User Guide
Describes how to deploy Cloud DR, protect VMs in the AWS cloud, and run recovery
operations.
l PowerProtect Data Manager for Cyber Recovery User Guide
Describes how to install, upgrade, patch, and uninstall the Dell EMC PowerProtect Cyber
Recovery software.
l PowerProtect Data Manager API documentation: https://developer.dellemc.com
Contains the PowerProtect Data Manager APIs and includes tutorials to guide to you in their
use.
You can use the following resources to find more information about this product, obtain support,
and provide feedback.
Special notice conventions that are used in this document
The following conventions are used for special notices:
NOTICE Identifies content that warns of potential business or data loss.

Note: Contains information that is incidental, but not essential, to the topic.

Typographical conventions
The following type style conventions are used in this document:

Table 2 Style conventions

Bold Used for interface elements that a user specifically selects or clicks,
for example, names of buttons, fields, tab names, and menu paths.
Also used for the name of a dialog box, page, pane, screen area with
title, table label, and window.

Italic Used for full titles of publications that are referenced in text.
Monospace Used for:
l System code
l System output, such as an error message or script
l Pathnames, file names, file name extensions, prompts, and
syntax
l Commands and options

Monospace italic Used for variables.


Monospace bold Used for user input.

[] Square brackets enclose optional values.

| Vertical line indicates alternate selections. The vertical line means or


for the alternate selections.

{} Braces enclose content that the user must specify, such as x, y, or z.

... Ellipses indicate non-essential information that is omitted from the


example.

You can use the following resources to find more information about this product, obtain support,
and provide feedback.

10 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Preface

Where to find product documentation


l https://www.dell.com/support
l https://community.emc.com
Where to get support
The Support website https://www.dell.com/support provides access to product licensing,
documentation, advisories, downloads, and how-to and troubleshooting information. The
information can enable you to resolve a product issue before you contact Support.
To access a product-specific page:
1. Go to https://www.dell.com/support.
2. In the search box, type a product name, and then from the list that appears, select the
product.
Knowledgebase
The Knowledgebase contains applicable solutions that you can search for either by solution
number (for example, KB000xxxxxx) or by keyword.
To search the Knowledgebase:
1. Go to https://www.dell.com/support.
2. On the Support tab, click Knowledge Base.
3. In the search box, type either the solution number or keywords. Optionally, you can limit the
search to specific products by typing a product name in the search box, and then selecting the
product from the list that appears.
Live chat
To participate in a live interactive chat with a support agent:
1. Go to https://www.dell.com/support.
2. On the Support tab, click Contact Support.
3. On the Contact Information page, click the relevant support, and then proceed.
Service requests
To obtain in-depth help from Licensing, submit a service request. To submit a service request:
1. Go to https://www.dell.com/support.
2. On the Support tab, click Service Requests.
Note: To create a service request, you must have a valid support agreement. For details about
either an account or obtaining a valid support agreement, contact a sales representative. To
find the details of a service request, in the Service Request Number field, type the
service request number, and then click the right arrow.
To review an open service request:
1. Go to https://www.dell.com/support.
2. On the Support tab, click Service Requests.
3. On the Service Requests page, under Manage Your Service Requests, click View All Dell
Service Requests.
Online communities
For peer contacts, conversations, and content on product support and solutions, go to the
Community Network https://community.emc.com. Interactively engage with customers, partners,
and certified professionals online.

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 11


Preface

How to provide feedback


Feedback helps to improve the accuracy, organization, and overall quality of publications. You can
send feedback to [email protected].

12 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


CHAPTER 1
Getting Started

This section includes the following topics:

l Introducing PowerProtect Data Manager software................................................................14


l Accessing the PowerProtect Data Manager UI...................................................................... 14

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 13


Getting Started

Introducing PowerProtect Data Manager software


PowerProtect Data Manager software is an enterprise solution that provides software-defined
data protection, deduplication, operational agility, self-service, and IT governance.
PowerProtect Data Manager enables the transformation from traditional centralized protection to
an IT-as-a-service model, based on a self-service design. This design ensures that you can enforce
compliance and other business rules, even when backup responsibilities are decentralized to
individual database administrators and application administrators.
PowerProtect Data Manager key features include:
l Software-defined data protection with integrated deduplication, replication, and reuse
l Data backup and recovery self-service operations from native applications that are combined
with central IT governance
l Multi-cloud optimization with integrated cloud tiering
l SaaS-based management, compliance, and predictive analytics
l Modern services-based architecture for ease of deployment, scaling, and upgrading
PowerProtect Data Manager integrates multiple data protection products within the Dell EMC
Data Protection portfolio to enable data protection as a service, providing the following benefits:
l The data protection team can create data paths with provisioning, automation, and scheduling
to embed protection engines into the infrastructure for high-performance backup and
recovery.
l For large-scale environments, backup administrators can schedule Microsoft SQL and Oracle
backups from a central location on the PowerProtect Data Manager server.
l PowerProtect Data Manager uses an agent-based approach to discover the protected and
unprotected databases on an application server.
l PowerProtect Data Manager enables governed self-service and centralized protection by
providing the ability to monitor and enforce Service Level Objectives (SLOs), identify
violations of Recovery Point Objectives (RPO), and apply retention locks on backups created
using the Microsoft application agent and the Oracle RMAN agent.
l PowerProtect Data Manager supports deploying an external VM Direct appliance for data
movement with the VM Direct Engine. The PowerProtect Data Manager software comes pre-
bundled with an embedded VM Direct appliance, which is automatically used as a fallback proxy
for performing backup and restore operations when the added external proxies fail or are
disabled. Dell EMC recommends that you always deploy external proxies because the
embedded proxy has limited capacity for performing parallel backups.
l PowerProtect Data Manager supports integration of Cloud Disaster Recovery (Cloud DR),
including workflows for Cloud DR deployment, protection, and recovery operations in the AWS
cloud.

Accessing the PowerProtect Data Manager UI


PowerProtect Data Manager provides a stand-alone UI that you can use to manage and monitor
system behavior.
Procedure
1. From a host that has network access to the virtual appliance, use Google Chrome to
connect to the appliance:
https://appliance_hostname

14 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Getting Started

Note: You can specify the hostname or the IP address of the appliance.

2. Log in with your user name and password.


If you receive an unsigned certificate warning, see Replacing the default PowerProtect Data
Manager certificate on page 15 for instructions.
The Getting Started page appears.
l The left pane provides links to the available menu items. Expand a menu item for more
options.
l The icons in the PowerProtect Data Manager banner provide additional options.

Replacing the default PowerProtect Data Manager certificate


Use this procedure to replace the PowerProtect Data Manager UI and public API facing
certificates with new self-signed or CA signed certificates.
Before you begin
You must have the following keys and certificates in place:
l /etc/ssl/certificates/customer/customerkey.pem
l /etc/ssl/certificates/customer/customer.pem
l /etc/ssl/certificates/customer/customer.keystore
l /etc/ssl/certificates/customca/customca.truststore
Procedure
1. Log in to the PowerProtect Data Manager system as the root user.
Note: PowerProtect Data Manager does not support using the ssh command with the
root account. To use ssh to connect to the system and change the password for the
root account, log in to ssh with the admin account, and then use the su command to
change to the root account.

2. Run the following Unix commands:


cd /usr/local/brs/lib/ecdm-ui/app

ln -s /etc/ssl/certificates/customer/customer.pem cert.pem

ln -s /etc/ssl/certificates/customer/customerkey.pem private-key.pem

sudo systemctl restart nginx

3. Update the /usr/local/brs/lib/zuul/conf/application.yml file with following


parameters:
key-store: Specify the file path where your key-store certificate is kept. For
example: /etc/ssl/certificates/customer/customer.keystore

key-store-password: Specify a key-store password.


key-password: Specify a key password.
key-alias: Specify a key alias.
trust-store: Specify the file path where your trust-store certificate is kept. For
example: /etc/ssl/certificates/customca/customca.truststore

trust-store-password: Specify a trust-store password.

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 15


Getting Started

4. Carry out the command: zuul restart


5. Log in to the https://ecdm.customer.com instance.
6. When prompted, accept the certificate.
7. Login to https://ecdm.customer.com:8443.
All external requests are now using your installed certificates.

Getting Started
The Getting Started page provides configuration options that are required when the system is
first deployed.
The Getting Started page appears upon first deployment of PowerProtect Data Manager and
opens to this page by default until you click Skip This.
You can access the Getting Started page at any time by selecting System Settings > Getting
Started.

Table 3 PowerProtect Data Manager Getting Started menu items

Options Description

Support View and configure Secure Remote Services (SRS), Email Setup, Auto
Support, Logs, System Health.

Disaster Recovery Configure and manage backups for disaster recovery.


Backup

VMware vCenter Opens the Infrastructure > Asset Sources page where you can add a
vCenter instance as an asset source so that it can be added to a
protection policy.

Protect Assets Opens the Protection Policies page where you can manage Protection
Life Cycle workflows for all asset types.

UI tools and options


Learn about the available tools in the UI.
PowerProtect Data Manager UI tools

Table 4 PowerProtect Data Manager tools

Menu item Description

Provides a high-level view of the overall state the PowerProtect Data


Manager system and includes the following information:
Dashboard l Alerts—System alerts
l Protection—Details about protection policies
l Jobs—Status of all Jobs filtered by a selected time frame or
status type. Select the status in the Jobs pane to open the Jobs
window, where you can manage jobs, search, and view details.
l Policy—Details include number of successes, failures, and
excluded assets for each asset type
l Protection Storage—Protection storage usage statistics

16 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Getting Started

Table 4 PowerProtect Data Manager tools (continued)

Menu item Description

l Recovery—Recovery statistics
l Health—Details about the health of the system, including
services, licenses, support, protection engines, server backups,
and uptime.
PowerProtect Data Manager refreshes the data hourly unless you run
an ad-hoc discovery.

Click Infrastructure to perform the following tasks:


l View and manage Virtual Machine, SQL Database, Oracle
Infrastructure Database, and File System assets
l Add vCenter and Application and File System Host asset sources
l View and manage Integrated Storage
l Add a VM Direct appliance with the VM Direct protection engine
for virtual machine data protection
l Manage registration of RMAN Agent, Microsoft Application Agent,
and File System Agent
l View and manage Cloud disaster recovery

Click Protection to perform the following tasks:


l Add protection policy groups to SQL and Oracle databases, File
Protection Systems, and Virtual Machines
l Manage SLA
l Add, edit, and delete Dynamic Groups to SQL and Oracle
databases, File Systems, and Virtual Machines

Click Recovery to perform the following tasks:


l View asset copy location details and initiate a Restore operation
Recovery
l Manage Instant Access Sessions

Click Alerts to perform the following tasks:


l View and acknowledge alerts and events.
Alerts
l View and drill down to Audit Logs.
l Export audit logs to CSV files.
l Set audit log boundaries.

Click Administration to perform the following tasks:


l Configure users and roles
Administration
l Set password credentials and manage key chains
l Configure alert notifications
l Add LDAP Identity Sources

Click Jobs to manage jobs, view by completed or running, filter, and


view details.

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 17


Getting Started

Table 4 PowerProtect Data Manager tools (continued)

Menu item Description

Jobs

Click Reporting to log in to PowerProtect Central.

Reporting

Additional UI options
The following table describes the icons located in the PowerProtect Data Manager banner.

Table 5 Additional options

Option Description

Click to enter search criteria to find assets, jobs, logs, and alerts.

Click to see recent alerts.

Click to configure and manage PowerProtect Data Manager system


network, time zone, and NTP settings, DR backups, security, licenses,
upgrades, authentication, agent downloads, and support, and to
access the Getting Started page.

Click to log out and log in as a different user.

Click to see PowerProtect Data Manager version information.

Click to obtain more information about PowerProtect Data Manager


and how it can help you manage your backup copies.

18 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


CHAPTER 2
Managing Users

This section includes the following topics:

l Managing user roles and privileges ....................................................................................... 20


l Resetting system-generated VM Direct credentials.............................................................. 30
l Managing LDAP or AD groups............................................................................................... 30
l Managing keychains...............................................................................................................31
l LDAP or AD authentication.................................................................................................... 31

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 19


Managing Users

Managing user roles and privileges


Users can be defined as either local or LDAP/Active Directory. Users and LDAP groups can access
all protection policies and assets within the PowerProtect Data Manager environment.
The role that is assigned to a user defines the privileges that are associated with the user and
determines the tasks that the user can perform.

Managing users
Only the Admin role can manage users.
The following roles can view users, roles, identity sources, and user groups:
l Admin
l User
l Export and Recovery Admin
Users can see only their own role within their own account.
Note: User authorization grants or denies users access to PowerProtect Data Manager
resources. Authorization is the same for locally authorized users and Microsoft Windows
Active Directory/LDAP users.
You can create local users to perform management tasks. When you create a local user account,
you must assign a role to the user.

Add a user
You must have administrator credentials to add a user.
Procedure
1. Select Administration > Users.
The Users window appears.
2. Click Add.

3. In the New User window, provide the following information:


l User first name
l User last name
l Username
l Email Address
l Password
l Retype to confirm password
l Force Password Change—Enabled by default. Requires the user to update the
password at first login.
l Role

4. Click Save.
Results
The newly added user appears in the Users window.

20 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Managing Users

Edit or delete a user


You must have administrator credentials to edit or delete a user.
Procedure
1. Select Administration > Users.
The Users window displays the following information:
l Username
l User first name
l User last name
l User email address
l User role
l Date the user was created

2. Select the user you want to edit or delete.


3. Do one of the following:
l To delete the user, click Delete.
l To edit the user, click Edit, modify the user fields, and then click Save.
Results
The changes appear in the Users window.

Reset a password
Local users can reset a forgotten password using this procedure.
Before you begin
l The user must be a a local user.
l A reset password mail server must be configured.
l LDAP and Windows Active Directory users cannot reset their password using this procedure.
Contact the system administrator to reset your password.
About this task
Local users can receive an email with a link to reset their password. The reset password link in the
email expires in 20 minutes, after which time they must request another link.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager login page, click Forgot Password.
2. In the Forgot Password dialog box, type your user name, click Send Link, and click OK to
dismiss the informational dialog box.
The system sends a message to the email address associated with your user name.
3. Open the email and click the link.
4. In the Reset Password dialog box, type a new password in the New Password and
Confirm New Password fields, and click Save.
The PowerProtect Data Manager login page appears.
5. Log in with your user name and new password.

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 21


Managing Users

Default admin user


The default admin user is preassigned the Admin role during PowerProtect Data Manager
installation.
The default admin user has super user control over PowerProtect Data Manager and cannot be
deleted. However, you can modify the attributes of the default admin user.

Roles
A role defines the privileges and permissions that a user has to perform a group of tasks. When a
user is assigned a role, you grant the user all of the privileges that are defined by the role. Only one
role can be associated to a user account.

Admin role
Admin
The Admin role is responsible for setup, configuration, and all PowerProtect Data Manager
management functions. The Admin role provides systemwide access to all functionality across all
organizations. One default Admin role is assigned at PowerProtect Data Manager deployment and
installation. You can add and assign additional Admin roles to users in your organization who
require full access to the system.
This table outlines the privileges and tasks that are associated with the Admin role.

Table 6 Admin role privileges and tasks

Privileges Tasks

Activity Management l Manage Discovery Jobs


l Manage Tasks
l Workflow Execution

Asset Management l View Data Source Assets


l Manage Data Source Assets
l View Protection Storage Targets
l Manage Protection Storage Targets

Monitoring l Monitor Events


l Manage Events
l View Historical Data
l View Tasks and Activities

Recovery and Reuse l View Host


Management
l Manage Host
l Rollback to Production
l Recovery to New Location
l Export for Reuse

22 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Managing Users

Table 6 Admin role privileges and tasks (continued)

Privileges Tasks

Service Plan l View Plans


Management
l Manage Plans
l Assign Data Source to Plan

Security and System l Monitor Security/System Audit


Audit
l Manage Security/System Audit

Storage Management l View Storage Array


l Manage Storage Array
l View Inventory Sources
l Manage Inventory Sources

Support Assistance and l View Diagnostic Logs


Log Management
l Manage Diagnostic Logs

System Management l View System Settings


l Manage System Settings

User/Security l Manage User Security


Management
l View User Security

User role

User
The User role is responsible for monitoring the PowerProtect Data Manager Dashboard, Activity
Monitor, and Notifications. The User role provides read-only access to monitor activities and
operations. Assign the User role to users in your organization who monitor Dashboard activities,
Activity Monitor, and Notifications but do not require the ability to configure the system.
This table outlines the privileges and tasks that are associated with the User role.

Table 7 User role privileges and tasks

Privileges Tasks

Activity Management l Workflow Execution

Asset Management l View Data Source Assets


l View Protection Storage Targets

Monitoring l Monitor Events


l View Historical Data
l View Tasks and Activities

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 23


Managing Users

Table 7 User role privileges and tasks (continued)

Privileges Tasks

Recovery and Reuse l View Host


Management

Service Plan l View Plans


Management

Security and System l Monitor Security/System Audit


Audit

Storage Management l View Storage Array


l View Inventory Sources

Support Assistance and l View Diagnostic Logs


Log Management

System Management l View System Settings

User/Security l View User Security


Management

Export and Recovery Admin role


Export and Recovery Admin
The Export and Recovery Admin role is defined for a dedicated set of users who are solely
responsible for PowerProtect Data Manager setup, configuration, and execution of data
management tasks such as copy export and recovery operations. The Export and Recovery Admin
role provides access only to those functions required for data export and recovery operations. This
role and its operations are intended for a limited set of users whose actions are solely focused on
data management, export, and recovery; and whose actions are audited routinely for security
purposes. Assign the Export and Recovery Admin role to a user in your organization that requires
access to data only to make it available to others in the organization to maintain a chain of custody
record.
This table outlines the privileges and tasks that are associated with the Export and Recovery
Admin role.

Table 8 Export and Recovery Admin role privileges and tasks

Privileges Tasks

Activity Management None

Asset Management l View Data Source Assets


l View Protection Storage Targets

Monitoring l Monitor Events


l View Historical Data
l View Tasks and Activities

Recovery and Reuse l View Host


Management
l Manage Host

24 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Managing Users

Table 8 Export and Recovery Admin role privileges and tasks (continued)

Privileges Tasks

l Rollback to Production
l Recovery to New Location
l Export for Reuse

Service Plan None


Management

Security and System None


Audit

Storage Management l View Storage Array

Support Assistance and l View Diagnostic Logs


Log Management

System Management l View System Settings

User/Security l View User Security


Management

Privileges
PowerProtect Data Manager privileges define the tasks that a user can perform and these
privileges are assigned to roles.

Activity Management Privileges


This table defines the Activity Management Privileges.

Table 9 Activity Management Privileges

Privilege Task

Manage Discovery l Create discovery jobs.


Jobs
l View discovery jobs.
l Edit discovery jobs.
l Delete discovery jobs.

Manage Task l Create task resources.


l View task resources.
l Edit task resources.

Workflow Execution l Start workflow execution.


l Cancel workflow execution.
l View the status of workflow execution.

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 25


Managing Users

Asset Management Privileges


This table defines the Asset Management Privileges.

Table 10 Asset Management Privileges

Privilege Task

Manage Data Source l Create, read, edit, and delete a data source.
Assets
l Create, view, edit, and delete the policy in the protection
group resource.
l Create, view, edit, and delete asset group resources.
l Create, view, edit, patch, and delete tag category resources.

Manage Protection l Create, view, edit, and delete a data target.


Storage Targets
l Create, view, edit, and delete asset group resources of
protection storage targets.

View Data Source Assets l View a data source.


l View asset group resources.
l View the policy of the protection group resource.
l View tag category resources.

View Protection Storage l View a data target.


Targets

Monitoring Privileges
This table defines the Monitoring Privileges.

Table 11 Monitoring Privileges

Privilege Task

View Tasks or Activities l View task resources.

View Historical Data l View historical data that relates to plans, arrays, data
targets, data sources, and capacity data.

Monitor Events l View alerts.


l View external notifications.

Manage Events l Acknowledge alerts and add notes.


l Create, modify, and delete external notifications.

Service Policy Management Privileges


This table defines the Policy Management Privileges.

26 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Managing Users

Table 12 Policy Management Privileges

Privilege Task

Assign Data Source to l Assign a data source to a protection policy resource.


Policy

Manage Policies l Create, view, edit, and delete the policy for a protection policy
resource.
l Create, view, edit, and delete a policy definition resource.
l Create, view, edit, and delete schedule resources.
l Create, view, edit, and delete an objective definition resource.
l Create, read, edit, and delete an action definition.

View Policies l View the policy for a protection policy resource.


l View schedule.
l View a protection policy definition.
l View objective definition.
l View services.
l View service resources.
l View assets that are assigned to a protection policy.
l View action definitions.
l View asset group resources.

Recovery and Reuse Management Privileges


This table defines the Recovery and Reuse Management Privileges.

Table 13 Recovery and Reuse Management Privileges

Privilege Task

Export for Reuse l Create, view, edit, and start export and reuse operations.

Roll back to l Create, view, edit, and start rollback to production operations.
Production

Recovery to Alternate l Create, view, edit, and start recovery to alternate location
Location operations.

Manage Host l Create, view, edit and delete a host.

View Host l View a host.

Storage Management Privileges


This table defines the Storage Management Privileges.

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 27


Managing Users

Table 14 Storage Management Privileges

Privilege Task

View Inventory l View a management interface.


Sources
l Read storage manager resources such as exported, deleted, and
restored copies.

View Storage Array l View a storage array.

Manage Storage l Create, view, edit, and delete a storage array.


Array

Manage Inventory l Create storage manager resources and run creation-related


Sources storage array operations.
l Create exported and restored copies and run restore-related
storage array operations.
l Create expunged copies and run deletion-related storage array
operations.
l Create, view, edit, and delete a management interface.

Security Management Privileges


This table defines the Security Management Privileges.

Table 15 Security Management Privileges

Privilege Task

Manage User Security l Create, view, edit, and delete users


l View roles
l Create, view, edit, and delete identity sources
l Create, view, edit, and delete user groups
l Create, view, edit, and delete whitelists

View User Security l View users and roles


l View identity sources and user groups
l View whitelists

System Management Privileges


This table defines the System Management Privileges.

Table 16 System Management Privileges

Privilege Task

View System Settings l View SRS information.

28 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Managing Users

Table 16 System Management Privileges (continued)

Privilege Task

l View Server Disaster Recovery artifacts.


l View Maintenance Mode.
l View License information.
l View Server Disaster Recovery Status.
l View node, Configuration EULA, OS User, Upgrade Package,
Component, Configuration Status, Configuration Logs, Time
Zone, and State resources

Manage System l Manage Server Disaster Recovery activities.


Settings
l Manage SRS Gateway connection and other Telemetry
communications.
l View and edit Node State resource.
l Update the license for the appliance.
l View Component, Configuration Status, Configuration Logs, Time
Zone, and State resources
l View and edit node, Configuration EULA, OS User, and Lockbox
resouces.
l Create, view, edit, and delete the Upgrade Package resource

Support Assistance and Log Management Privileges


This table defines the Support Assistance and Log Management Privileges.

Table 17 Support Assistance and Log Management Privileges

Privilege Task

View Diagnostic Logs l View Log bundle resources.


l View Log information resources.
l View the LogSource resource.
l View logs.

Manage Diagnostic l Manage Log bundle resources.


Logs
l Retrieve Log information resources.
l Retrieve or edit the LogSource resource.
l Export logs.

Security and System Audit Privileges


This table defines the Security and System Audit Privileges.

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 29


Managing Users

Table 18 Security and System Audit Privileges

Privilege Task

Monitor Security/ l View Security Audit–related events and activities.


System Audit

Manage Security/ l Acknowledge Security Audit–related events and activities.


System Audit
l Export Audit/Change Log of events and activities.

Resetting system-generated VM Direct credentials


PowerProtect Data Manager deploys the VM Direct Engine during installation with unique admin
and root credentials.
About this task
You must have PowerProtect Data Manager Admin role privileges to edit or delete a user.
Procedure
1. Select Administration > Credentials.
The Credentials Management window appears and displays the type, name, and username.
2. Select a VM Direct user and click Edit.
3. Modify the password in the Edit Credentials window and click Save.
4. Select Infrastructure > Protection Engines > VM Direct Engines.
5. Select a VM Direct Engine.
6. Select redeploy from the ellipsis list.

Managing LDAP or AD groups


PowerProtect Data Manager requires you to configure an LDAP group, and the PowerProtect Data
Manager users must be part of this group. Only the Admin role can create users or LDAP and AD
groups.
Users
You can create local users to perform management tasks. When you create a local user account,
you must assign a role to the user.
LDAP or AD groups
When you configure LDAP or AD authentication in the Authentication Service, use the User Group
resources to assign roles to the LDAP groups. The User Group resource defines the role
assignments for an LDAP or AD user group.

30 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Managing Users

Managing keychains
You can create, edit, delete, and view keychain credentials.

Add credentials
Procedure
1. Select Administration > Credentials > Add.
The Add Credentials window appears.
2. Enter the following information, and then click Save.
l Type—The type of credential you would like to add
l Username—The username associated with the credential you are adding
l Password—The password associated with the username

LDAP or AD authentication
When you authenticate users through an external authentication authority, users can log in with
their authority username and password. The authority username and password are managed by
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), Lightweight Directory Access Protocol over SSL
(LDAPS), Microsoft Active Directory server (AD), or a Microsoft Active Directory server over SSL.
When the user's credentials are validated, the Authentication Service issues a token for the user.
The PowerProtect Data Manager GUI uses the token information to authorize the user's activities.
Note: You can configure only one authority.

Configuring LDAP or AD authorities and assigning roles


Only the Admin role can configure an external LDAP, LDAPS, or AD authentication authority. You
can configure LDAP or AD roles in Administration > Identity Sources.

Configure LDAP or Active Directory authentication


Only the Admin role can configure an external LDAP, LDAPS, or Active Directory authentication
authority.
Procedure
1. Select Administration > Identity Sources.
The Identity Sources window appears.
2. Click New.
The Identity Source Server window appears.
3. In the Required tab, configure the following attributes:

Attribute Description

Server Type Select one:


l Active Directory

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 31


Managing Users

Attribute Description

l LDAP

Server Address Type the protocol and hostname or IP address of the LDAP or
Active Directory server, in the following format:

protocol://hostname_or_ip_address

where:

l protocol is ldap for LDAP or Active Directory authorities, and


ldaps for LDAPS or Active Directory over SSL.
For example, to configure an Active Directory server that is
named idd-ad.iddlab.com, type ldap://idd-
ad.iddlab.com
l hostname_or_ip_address is the FQDN or IP address of the
external authentication authority.
For example, ldap://[2620:0:170:5a9::1:2]
Note: When you specify the LDAPS protocol, PowerProtect
Data Manager automatically downloads the certificates
required to connect to the authentication authority. Once
downloaded, the Certificate field appears. Click Verify to
compare the displayed certificate information with the
expected authentication authority's certificate information. If
the certificates match, click Accept to continue with the
setup. Otherwise, click Cancel to cancel the setup.

Domain Type the base distinguished name (DN) of the LDAP or Active
Directory authority.
For example, dc=pp_lab, dc=ldap.example.com

Port Type the port number that the external authentication authority
uses.
l For LDAP and Active Directory, the default port number is 389.
l For LDAPS and Active Directory over SSL, the default port
number is 636.

User Search a. Type the objectClass that the authentication service uses
when searching for users in the LDAP or AD hierarchy.
b. Ensure that you specify a search path that is relative to the
base DN that you specified in the Domain option.
For example:
l For an Active Directory configuration, specify the value in the
objectClass property for an AD user. For example, type user.
l For an LDAP configuration, specify the value in the objectClass
property. For example, type account.

Group Search a. Type the objectClass of the search path that you want the
authentication service to use when searching for groups in the
LDAP or AD hierarchy.
b. Ensure that you specify a search path that is relative to the
base DN that you specified in the Domain attribute.

32 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Managing Users

Attribute Description

For example:
l For an Active Directory configuration, specify the value in the
objectClass property for an AD group. For example, type
group.
l For an LDAP configuration, specify the value in the objectClass
property for an LDAP group. This value should be a structural
objectClass. For example, type group.

Query User Type a user account that has full read access to the LDAP or AD
directory, in the following formats:
l For Active Directory, the format is user@domain, or the DN
of the query user. For example,
[email protected] or
cn=administrator,dc=example,dc=com.
l For LDAP, the format is user@domain. For example,
[email protected].

Query Password Type the password of the user account that you specified in the
Query User attribute.

4. (Optional) In the Advanced tab, configure the following attributes:

Attribute Description

User Search Path Type the DN of the search path that the authentication service
uses when searching for users in the LDAP or AD hierarchy. Ensure
that you specify a search path that is relative to the base DN that
you specified in the Domain option. For example:
l For an AD configuration, specify the value in the objectClass
property for an AD user.
l For an LDAP configuration, specify the value in the account
object class.

User Group Search Path Type the DN of the search path that the authentication service
should use when searching for groups in the LDAP or AD hierarchy.
Ensure that you specify a search path that is relative to the base
DN that you specified in the Domain attribute. For example:
l For an AD configuration, specify the value in the objectClass
property for an AD group.
l For an LDAP configuration, specify the value in the posixGroup
object class.

Group Attribute Name Type the attribute that the authentication service should use to
validate the group name in the LDAP or AD hierarchy.
For example:
l For an AD configuration, specify sAMAccountName.
l For an LDAP configuration, specify cn.

Group Member Attribute Type the attribute that the authentication service should use to
validate the group member in the LDAP or AD hierarchy.

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 33


Managing Users

Attribute Description

For example:
l For an AD configuration, specify member.
l For an LDAP configuration, specify memberUid.

User Attribute ID Type the attribute that the authentication service should use to
validate the username in the LDAP or AD hierarchy.
For example:
l For an AD configuration, specify sAMAccountName.
l For an LDAP configuration, specify cn.

5. Click Save.
6. Assign LDAP or AD groups to a role. The section Add LDAP group-to-role mapping on page
34 provides instructions.
This step is required before you can log in to the UI with an LDAP or AD account.

Edit an LDAP or AD authority configuration


Only the Admin role can edit an LDAP or AD authority.
Procedure
1. Select Administration > Identity Sources.
2. Select the Identity Source you would like to edit, and then click Edit.
3. Edit the LDAP attributes as required.
4. Click Save.

Delete an LDAP or AD authority configuration


Only the Admin role can delete an existing LDAP or AD authority configuration.
Procedure
1. Select Administration > Identity Sources.
2. Select the Identity Source you would like to delete, and then click Delete.

Add LDAP group-to-role mapping


Only the Admin role can add LDAP group-to-role mapping.
Procedure
1. Select Administration > Identity Sources.
2. Select the identity source for which you would like to add group-to-role mapping, and then
click New Group Map.
3. Assign the LDAP or AD groups to a role.
4. Click Add.

Modify LDAP group-to-role mapping


Only the Admin role can modify LDAP group-to-role mapping.
Procedure
1. Select Administration > Identity Sources.

34 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Managing Users

2. Select the indentity source for which you would like to edit group-to-role mapping, and then
click New Group Map.
3. Assign the same LDAP or AD groups to a different role.
4. Click Add.

Delete LDAP group-to-role mapping


Only the Admin role can delete LDAP group-to-role mapping.
Procedure
1. Select Administration > Identity Sources.
2. Select the group or group roles you would like to delete, and then click .

Example: Configuring an AD authority


In this example, an AD server that is named idd-ad.iddlab.com has an AD group called
Protection_admins. Protection_admins contains three users: Meghan, Patrick, and Liam. These
users require access to the PowerProtect Data Manager UI with the privileges that are assigned to
the User role.
View the properties of the AD configuration
To view the properties of the AD configuration, use a third-party tool such as the AD Explorer
program.
The following figure provides an example of the key user attributes on the AD server, which are
required to configure idd-ad.iddlab.com.
Figure 1 AD and user properties in AD Explorer

Based on this AD configuration, specify the following values for PowerProtect Data Manager LDAP
configuration options:
l Domain: dc=iddlab, dc=com
l Hostname: idd-ad-iddlab.com
l User Search: One of the following values: top, inetOrgPerson, or user
l User Attribute ID: cn
Configure the idd-ad.iddlab.com authority
The following figure provides an example of the group attributes that are required to configure the
idd-ad.iddlab.com authority.

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 35


Managing Users

Figure 2 AD group properties in AD Explorer

Based on the properties of Protection_admins, specify the following values for the LDAP
configuration options:
l Group Search: top or group
l Group Attribute Name: sAMAccountName

Example: Configuring an LDAP authority


In this example, an LDAP server that is named alberta.lss.emc.com has a group that is named
AlbertaAllGroups. AlbertaAllGroups contains three LDAP users: alberta_user1, alberta_user2, and
alberta_user3. These users require access to the PowerProtect Data Manager UI with the
privileges that are assigned to the User role.
View the LDAP configuration properties
To view the properties of the LDAP configuration, use a third party tool such as the LDAP Admin
program.
The following figure provides an example of the key user attributes to use when configuring an
LDAP authority.
Figure 3 LDAP Admin server and group attributes

Based on this configuration, specify the following values for the LDAP configuration options:
l Domain: dc=alberta,dc=emc,dc=com
l Hostname: alberta.lss.emc.com
l Group Search: groupOfUniqueNames.

36 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Managing Users

Note: Only structural object classes may be values for the group search. So, in the
example, although top is an object class, only groupOfUniqueNames can be used as a
group search value.
l Group Attribute Name: cn
Specify values in the user search attribute
The following figure provides an example of the value to specify in the user search attribute.
Figure 4 LDAP Admin user search attribute

Based on this configuration, specify the following values for the LDAP configuration options:
l User Search: One of the following objectClass values: top, person, organizationalPerson,
or inetOrgPerson
l User Attribute ID: cn

Troubleshooting LDAP configuration issues


This section provides information about error messages that might appear when you configure an
external authority for authentication.
For more information about LDAP configuration errors, refer to
http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=LDAP_Error_Codes#gsc.tab=0.

User credentials are incorrect


The following message appears when the user credentials that you specified are not correct:

org.springframework.ldaps.AuthenticationException: [LDAP: error code 49 -


80090308: LdapErr: DSID-0C0903A9, commentL AcceptSecurityContext error, data
52e, v1db1]

To resolve this issue, ensure that the values in the Query User and Query Password fields are
correct.

Base DN is not correct


The following message appears when Base DN is not correct:

org.springframework.ldap.InvalidNameException: Invalid name: domain_name

To resolve this issue, ensure that the value in the Domain field is correct.

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 37


Managing Users

Format of the Server Address field is not correct


The following message appears when the format of the Server Address field is not correct:

org.springframework.ldap.UncategorizedLdapException: Uncategorized Exception


occurred during LDAP processing; nested exception is
javax.naming.NamingException: Cannot parse url: url

To resolve this issue, ensure that you specify the Server Address field in the following format:
l For an LDAP or Active Directory authority: ldap://hostname_ip_address
l For an LDAPS or Active Directory over SSL authority: ldaps://hostname_ip_address

38 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


CHAPTER 3
Managing Storage

This section includes the following topics:

l Add protection storage .........................................................................................................40


l Overview of PowerProtect Data Manager cloud tier..............................................................41
l Overview of PowerProtect Data Manager Cloud Disaster Recovery...................................... 41

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 39


Managing Storage

Add protection storage


About this task
The PowerProtect Data Manager UI enables users with administrator credentials to add the
following storage types:
l Data Domain Management Center
l External Data Domain system
Note: References to Data Domain systems in this documentation, in the UI, and elsewhere in
the product include Data Domain systems and the new PowerProtect DD systems.
Procedure
1. Select Infrastructure > Storage.
The Storage window appears.
2. In the Protection Storage tab, click Add.
3. In the Add Storage dialog box, select a storage system (Data Domain System, Data Domain
Management Center).
Note: If using the Storage Direct agent to move snapshot backups from a VMAX storage
array to a Data Domain system, you do not need to add a Data Domain Management
Center.

4. Specify the storage system attributes:


a. In the Name field, specify a storage name.
b. In the Address field, specify the hostname, fully qualified domain name (FQDN), or the
IP address.
If you specify a virtual machine for the storage name, use the FQDN.

c. In the Port field, specify the port for SSL communication.


5. Under Add Credentials, if you have already configured Data Domain credentials that are
common across Data Domain systems, select an existing keychain from the Select
Keychain list. Alternatively, you can add new credentials, and then click Save .
6. If a trusted certificate does not exist on the storage system, a dialog box appears requesting
certificate approval. Review the certificate and then click Verify.
7. Click Save to exit the Add Storage dialog and initiate the discovery of the storage system.
A dialog box appears to indicate that the request to add storage has been initiated.

Note: Discovery time is based on networking bandwidth. The resources that are
discovered and those that are doing the discovery take a performance hit each time that
you go through a discovery process. It might appear that PowerProtect Data Manager is
not updating the storage data while the discovery is in progress.

PowerProtect Data Manager can add up to three assets of the same type simultaneously
and up to 10 assets simultaneously.
8. In the Storage window, click Discover to refresh the window with any newly discovered
storage systems.
When a discovery completes successfully, the Status column updates to OK.

40 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Managing Storage

9. To modify a storage system location:


a. In the Storage window, select the storage system from the table.
b. Click Set Location.
The Set Location window appears.
c. Click Location > Add.
The Add Location window appears.
d. In the Name field, type a location name for the asset, and click Save.
10. To manage MTrees in the Storage window, select the storage system from the table and
click Manage MTrees.

Results
PowerProtect Data Manager displays External Data Domain systems only in the Storage window
Name column. PowerProtect Data Manager displays Data Domain Management Center storage
types in the Managed By column.

Overview of PowerProtect Data Manager cloud tier


The PowerProtect Data Manager cloud tier feature works in tandem with the Data Domain Cloud
Tier feature to move PowerProtect Data Manager backups from Data Domain systems to the
cloud. This provides long-term storage of PowerProtect Data Manager backups by seamlessly and
securely tiering data to the cloud.
From the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, you configure cloud tier to move PowerProtect Data
Manager backups from Data Domain to the cloud, and you can perform seamless recovery of these
backups.
Data Domain cloud storage units must be pre-configured on the Data Domain system before they
are configured for cloud tier in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI. The Data Domain Operating
System Administration Guide provides further information.

Add Data Domain cloud protection storage


You can add cloud tier storage by accessing either the physical or virtual Data Domain system.
Procedure
l The "DD cloud tier" chapter of the DD OS Administration Guide, available on Dell EMC Online
Support, provides instructions.
Note: If a protection policy has both replication and tiering objectives defined, ensure that
replication from any system occurs before tiering. For example, create backups to DD A,
replicate from DD A to DD B, and then tier from DD A to Cloud.

Overview of PowerProtect Data Manager Cloud Disaster


Recovery
The Cloud DR feature enables you to deploy a Cloud DR Server in the public cloud and provide DR
protection to the cloud as part of the PowerProtect Data Manager protection life cycle. From the
PowerProtect Data Manager, you can run DR work flows in the cloud and monitor the progress of
these jobs.
For example, to validate that you can fail over a VM copy to the cloud before a disaster occurs,
from PowerProtect Data Manager, you select a network in the cloud, start a DR test, and monitor

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 41


Managing Storage

its progress. If you want to fail over a production VM, from PowerProtect Data Manager, you
select a network in the cloud, start the DR failover operation, and then bring up the restored VM
within AWS.
To learn about Cloud DR work flows within PowerProtect Data Manager, see the PowerProtect
Data Manager Cloud Disaster Recovery Administration and User Guide.

42 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


CHAPTER 4
Enabling the Microsoft Application Agent for SQL

This section includes the following topics:

l About the Microsoft application agent for SQL..................................................................... 44


l Microsoft SQL Server data protection and replication requirements..................................... 44
l Protecting a stand-alone SQL Server.................................................................................... 44
l Protecting SQL Server clustered environments.................................................................... 45
l Install and configure the Microsoft application agent for SQL Server....................................46
l Manage the Microsoft application agent for SQL..................................................................50
l Support for existing SQL agent backups with PowerProtect Data Manager.......................... 51

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 43


Enabling the Microsoft Application Agent for SQL

About the Microsoft application agent for SQL


The Microsoft application agent enables an application administrator to protect and recover the
SQL application data on the application host. PowerProtect Data Manager integrates with the
Microsoft application agent to check and monitor backup compliance against protection policies.
PowerProtect Data Manager also enables central scheduling for backups.
You can install the Microsoft application agent on a Windows SQL Server host by using the install
wizard. Install and configure the Microsoft application agent for SQL Server on page 46 provides
instructions.
Note:
PowerProtect Data Manager supports the co-existence of the Microsoft SQL agent and the
File System agent on Windows.
To enable the discovery and scheduling of backups with PowerProtect Data Manager, you
must approve the client in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI.
Software compatibility information for the PowerProtect Data Manager software and application
agents is provided in the eLab Navigator, available at https://elabnavigator.emc.com/eln/
modernHomeDataProtection.

Microsoft SQL Server data protection and replication


requirements
PowerProtect Data Manager can manage and monitor data protection and replication for
Microsoft SQL Server assets through integration with the Microsoft application agent.
After installing the Microsoft application agent, review the following information for additional
requirements before adding the Microsoft application agent as an asset source in PowerProtect
Data Manager and discovering the SQL Server assets.
Verify that the environment meets the following requirements:
l Ensure that you do not mix 32-bit and 64-bit instances on the same SQL Server host.
PowerProtect Data Manager operations do not support hosts with a mix of 32-bit and 64-bit
SQL Server instances.
l Ensure that all clocks on the SQL Server host, domain controller, and PowerProtect Data
Manager are time-synced to the local NTP server to ensure discovery of the backups.
l Ensure that the SQL Server and the PowerProtect Data Manager system network can see and
resolve each other.
l Ensure that port 7000 is open on the SQL Server host.
l Ensure that DNS is configured correctly on the Application Agent Host for SQL Server.

Protecting a stand-alone SQL Server


Learn how to configure protection of a stand-alone SQL Server.
Procedure
1. Add storage for Data Domain Management Console or the External Data Domain.
Add protection storage on page 40 provides information.
2. Install the Microsoft application agent on the SQL Server host.
Install the Microsoft application agent on page 46 provides information.

44 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Enabling the Microsoft Application Agent for SQL

3. Add or approve the Microsoft application agent in PowerProtect Data Manager.


Manage the Microsoft application agent for SQL on page 50 provides information.
4. Discover and add the credentials for the SQL application host.
Discover an Oracle or SQL application host on page 111 provides information.
5. Create a protection policy to protect the SQL host.
Add a protection policy for SQL database protection on page 122 provides information.
Note: You cannot perform a backup to a secondary Data Domain device. You can only
restore from a secondary Data Domain device

Protecting SQL Server clustered environments


Learn how to configure protection of SQL Server clustered environments, including Always On
availability groups and Failover Cluster Instances.
About this task
On each node in the cluster. repeat the steps to install the Microsoft application agent, and then
add and discover the application host in PowerProtect Data Manager.
NOTICE Protection of Failover Cluster Instances (FCI) requires that all nodes in the cluster be
registered to the PowerProtect Data Manager server. Prior to registration, the node must be
the active node and own all the disks in the cluster. The recommended method is to failover all
nodes to the registering node. Repeat this step for all nodes in the cluster and any nodes
added to the cluster. Failure to perform this step results in unpredictable results during
protection policy.
Procedure
1. Add a storage system.
Add protection storage on page 40 provides information.
2. Install the Microsoft application agent on each node in the cluster.
Install the Microsoft application agent on page 46 provides information.
3. Configure the required user privileges on each node in the cluster.
Required privileges for backup and recovery of a Failover Cluster Instance or Always On
Failover Cluster Instance on page 50 provides information.
4. Add or approve the Microsoft application agent on each node in the cluster.
Manage the Microsoft application agent for SQL on page 50 provides information.
5. Discover and add the credentials for each SQL application host.
Discover an Oracle or SQL application host on page 111 provides information.
6. Create a protection policy to protect the cluster.
Add a protection policy for SQL database protection on page 122 provides information.
Note: You cannot perform a backup to a secondary Data Domain device. You can only
restore from a secondary Data Domain device

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 45


Enabling the Microsoft Application Agent for SQL

Install and configure the Microsoft application agent for SQL


Server
Learn how to install and configure the Microsoft application agent for SQL Server.

Prerequisites
Ensure that a SQL Server environment meets the following prerequisites before you install the
Microsoft application agent:
l Install the following applications on the Windows host:
n Microsoft SQL Server
n The SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
n .NET Framework 4.0
If you are installing ItemPoint for table-level recovery, install .NET Framework 4.5.
l In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select Agent Downloads from the System Settings
menu, select the Microsoft application agent download package,
msappagent192_win_x64.zip, and then download the package to the Windows SQL
Server host.
l Log in to the SQL Server host as an Administrator to install the Microsoft application agent.
l To deploy the Common Language Runtime (CLR) assembly, ensure that you have
Administrator access to the SQL Server host and the master database. If the SQL Server host
is running in a domain, ensure that you have access as a Domain administrator.

Install the Microsoft application agent


Learn how to install the Microsoft application agent.
About this task
Note: In Always On availability group or cluster environments, you must install the Microsoft
application agent on each node in the cluster.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:
a. Select Agent Downloads from the System Settings menu.
b. Select the Microsoft application agent download package,
msappagent192_win_x64.zip.
c. Download the package to the host where you want to install the Microsoft application
agent.
2. Open msappagent192_win_x64.zip with WinZip.
When you are prompted for a password, type the password that you received with the
software license.

3. Use WinZip to unzip the msappagent192_win_x64.zip file.


4. In the unzipped folder, launch emcmsappagent-19.2.0.0.exe.
The installation wizard appears.
5. On the Welcome Wizard page, select I agree to the license term and agreements, and
then click Next.

46 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Enabling the Microsoft Application Agent for SQL

6. On the Change Install Location page, perform one of the following tasks:
l To install the Microsoft application agent in the default folder, leave the installation
location as-is.
The default installation folder is C:\Program Files\DPSAPPS\MSAPPAGENT.
l To specify a different installation location, perform the following steps: .
a. Click Change.
b. In the dialog box that appears, specify the installation location.
c. Click OK.
7. Click Next.
8. On the Configure Installation Options page, specify any of the following installation
options, as required:
l To integrate the Microsoft application agent with PowerProtect for centralized or self-
service protection of SQL Server data, select the following options, as required:
n To install the Microsoft application agent software, select Application Direct.
n To install the SQL Server Management Studio plug-in user interface, select SSMS
Plug-in.
You can use the SSMS plug-in to perform self-service SQL Server backup and
restore operations.
n To enable table-level restores, select ItemPoint.
This option installs ItemPoint for Microsoft SQL Server, which you can use to
perform table-level restores.
n You must specify the PowerProtect appliance details by performing the following
steps:
a. Select PowerProtect Data Manager Integration.
b. In the Appliance Hostname or IP address field, type the hostname or IP address
of the PowerProtect server.
Note: Installation of the Microsoft application agent requires port 7000 on SQL
Server and port 8443 on PowerProtect to be open bidirectionally. These ports
enable communication between the Microsoft application agent and
PowerProtect.
l To install the VM Direct Engine to recover application-aware SQL virtual machine
backups, select the following options, as required:
Note: By default, when a SQL Server virtual machine is added to a virtual machine
application-aware protection policy in PowerProtect Data Manager, the Microsoft
application agent and ItemPoint silently install on the protected virtual machine.
When you are restoring a VM Direct Engine backup to an alternate virtual machine
that is not part of a protection policy, you must install the Microsoft application
agent on the target virtual machine.
n Select VM Direct Engine.
Note: The PowerProtect appliance details are disabled when you select the VM
Direct Engine option.
n To install the SQL Server Management Studio plug-in user interface, select SSMS
Plug-in.
n To enable table-level restores, select ItemPoint.
This option installs ItemPoint for Microsoft SQL Server, which you can use to
perform table-level restores.

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 47


Enabling the Microsoft Application Agent for SQL

9. Click Install >.


10. On the CLR assembly deployment wizard page, perform the following steps:
a. Select or clear the SQL Server instances on which you want to deploy the CLR
Assembly. By default, all the SQL Server instances are selected.
b. To deploy CLR Assembly, select one of the following authentication options:
l Current Windows User
l Use Windows Authentication
l Use Database Authentication

c. In the User name and Password fields respectively, type the username and the
password of the user who has the privileges to deploy the CLR Assembly.
d. Click Deploy.
e. Click Install.
f. After the deployment completes, click Next.
11. On the Complete the Setup page, click Finish.

Upgrade the Microsoft application agent


The Microsoft application agent 19.2 does not support a direct upgrade from an earlier version if
you are using an earlier version of PowerProtect Data Manager.
To upgrade to version 19.2, you must uninstall and then reinstall the Microsoft application agent.
The following sections provide instructions:
l Uninstall the Microsoft application agent with the setup file on page 48
l Install the Microsoft application agent on page 46

Uninstall the Microsoft application agent with the setup file


About this task
To uninstall the Microsoft application agent for SQL Server with the setup file, perform the
following steps.
Procedure
1. Launch emcmsappagent-19.2.0.0.exe.
2. On the Install Modification page, select Remove, and then click Next.
3. On the Configure Uninstallation Options page, click Remove.
4. On the Removing the CLR assembly page:
a. Select the required SQL Server instances to remove the CLR Assembly.
By default, all the SQL Server instances are selected.

b. Select one of the following options to remove the CLR assembly:


l Use Windows Authentication
l Use Database Authentication

c. In the User name and Password fields, type the credentials for the user who has the
privileges to remove CLR assembly.

48 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Enabling the Microsoft Application Agent for SQL

d. Click Remove.
e. After the removal completes, click Next.
5. On the Complete the Setup page, click Finish.
Results
The Microsoft application agent is uninstalled.

Required privileges for backup and recovery of a stand-alone server


Learn about the user requirements for stand-alone backup and recovery.
Required SQL Server roles
Assign the user the following SQL Server roles:
l sysadmin
l public
Required Windows user permissions
Create a local or domain Windows user account and assign the following roles:
l For table-level backup and recovery, assign administrative privileges.
l For database-level backup and recovery, assign the following permissions:
n Add the user to the "Create global objects" Windows policy
n Assign the following permissions to the data and log folder of the database:
– Read
– Write
– List folder contents
The default data and log folder is the SQL Server installation path. For example, for SQL
Server 2012 the default path is C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server
\MSSQL12.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\

Required privileges for backup and recovery of an Always On availability group


Learn about the user requirements for stand-alone backup and recovery.
Required SQL Server roles
Assign the user the following SQL Server roles:
l sysadmin
l public
Required Windows user permissions
Create a Windows user account with one of the following configurations:
l The built-in Windows Administrator
l A domain user added to the Administrators user group
l A local user account added to the Administrators user group on each node in the cluster. The
username and password must be the same on each node.
Note: If you are using an account that you created (an account that is not the built-in Windows
Administrator), you must launch the tool where you will perform the backup or recovery with
elevated permissions (run as administrator).

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 49


Enabling the Microsoft Application Agent for SQL

Required privileges for backup and recovery of a Failover Cluster Instance or


Always On Failover Cluster Instance
Learn about the user requirements for Failover Cluster Instance or Always On Failover Cluster
Instance backup and recovery.
Required SQL Server roles
Assign the user the following SQL Server roles:
l sysadmin
l public
Required Windows user permissions
Create a Windows user account with one of the following configurations:
l The built-in Windows Administrator
l A domain user added to the Administrators user group
Note: If you are using an account that you created (an account that is not the built-in Windows
Administrator), you must launch the tool where you will perform the backup or recovery with
elevated permissions (run as administrator).

Stagger SQL discovery jobs in host scale-out environments


In the host scale-out environment, where there are large number of SQL hosts to register to
PowerProtect Data Manager, consider the following methods for staggering the SQL discovery
jobs.
Kick off the installer in smaller group of hosts
If you are installing MS appAgent by script, kick off the installer in smaller groups of hosts. The
discovery jobs will kick off after the agent installation; therefore, distributing the installer in smaller
groups will help stagger the incoming discovery results to PowerProtect Data Manager.
Stagger the Schedule Discovery in Inventory Sources
When you create an Inventory Sources custom group for SQL, PowerProtect Data Manager sets
the default schedule to be disabled. If you choose to enable daily discovery, consider staggering
this schedule at different times among different Inventory Sources.

Manage the Microsoft application agent for SQL


You can add a new Microsoft application agent for SQL data protection, approve and reject
pending agent requests, and edit and delete existing agents.
Procedure
1. Go to Infrastructure > Application Agents.
The Application Agents window appears.
2. Click Add.
The Add Application/FS Agent window appears.
3. Select one of the following options:
l Add IP Address or CSV Filename.
This process is also called Whitelisting.

50 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Enabling the Microsoft Application Agent for SQL

n If you select Add IP Address, perform the following steps:


a. Type the IP Address for the application agent.
b. Specify the date until which the application agent is pre-approved.
c. Click Save.
n If you select CSV Filename, perform the following steps:
a. Click the Choose File icon.
Note: The contents of the .CSV file must be in the following format, for
example:

"10.25.115.113"
"10.25.115.112"
"10.25.115.145"

The Explorer window appears.


b. Select the .csv file, and then click Open.
The file displays in the Application/FS Agents window.
c. Select the date until which the application or File System agent is preapproved.
d. Click Save.
l If you have disabled Auto whitelist, perform the following steps:
The Auto whitelist option enabled by default. When Auto whitelist is enabled,
all pre-approved Application Agents are automatically approved.
a. Select the wanted application agent.
b. Click one of the following options:
n Approve
n Reject
n Edit, then make the wanted changes.
n Remove
c. Click Save.
After you finish
For application agents, the section Discover an application host describes how to set the host
credentials before you schedule a backup.

Support for existing SQL agent backups with PowerProtect


Data Manager
The Microsoft application agent provides the capability to onboard existing stand-alone
deployments, including their existing backups, to PowerProtect Data Manager. Existing backups
are Microsoft application agent backups that you performed before integrating the Microsoft
application agent with the PowerProtect Data Manager software and before adding an asset to a
PowerProtect Data Manager protection policy.
Note:
You can onboard up to three previous months of existing backups.

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 51


Enabling the Microsoft Application Agent for SQL

Retention lock is not supported for discovered existing backups in PowerProtect Data
Manager.
Onboarding of DD Boost-over-FC backups is not supported.
With the onboarding capability, PowerProtect provides the following centralized features:
l Visibility of both existing backups and any new self-service or PowerProtect Data Manager
policy-driven backups of onboarded assets.
l Automatic configuration of target protection storage based on the PowerProtect Data
Manager protection policies that are used for your database.
l All the other functionality that is provided for PowerProtect Data Manager protection policies.
When you create a protection policy, the PowerProtect Data Manager software creates a storage
unit on the specified Data Domain backup host that is managed by PowerProtect Data Manager.
All subsequent backups will go to this new storage unit. This implementation overrides the backup
host and storage unit information that is provided in the script with the backup host and storage
unit information that is provided by PowerProtect Data Manager.

Supporting existing SQL agent backups with PowerProtect


Learn how to support existing SQL agent backups.
Procedure
1. Upgrade the Microsoft application agent on the SQL Server host.
Upgrade the Microsoft application agent on page 48 provides information.
2. Run the backup discovery tool, AgentBackupDiscovery.exe, to enable management of
existing SQL agent backups with PowerProtect.
Use the backup discovery tool for PowerProtect Data Manager management of existing
backups on page 53 provides information.
Note: Step 2 enables the discovery of old backup copies that the Microsoft application
agent created during self-service backups with stand-alone deployments.

3. Register and approve the Microsoft application agent in PowerProtect Data Manager.
Manage the File System agent on page 84 provides information.
After a few minutes of approving the SQL host, all the old backup copies start to be
discovered. Depending on the number of backups, the discovery and subsequent visibility of
the backups in PowerProtect Data Manager can take some time. The retention time of the
discovered existing backup copies will be equal to the retention time set in the protection
policy plus 14 days rounded off to the next day.

4. Discover and add the credentials for the SQL application host.
Discover an Oracle or SQL application host on page 111 provides information.
5. Create a protection policy to protect the SQL host. For onboarding assets, only a subset of
databases can be onboarded. It is not mandatory for all the databases on the host to be
onboarded.
Add a protection policy for SQL database protection on page 122 provides information.
The first backup after onboarding must be a full backup:
l The first centralized backup is automatically promoted to a full backup.
l The first self-service backup is automatically performed as a full backup.

52 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Enabling the Microsoft Application Agent for SQL

Note: You cannot perform a backup to a secondary Data Domain device. You can only
restore from a secondary Data Domain device.

6. Perform a self-service backup of the Microsoft SQL databases. Onboarded assets can be
part of either a centralized or self-service protection policy.
Performing self-service backups of Microsoft SQL databases on page 166 provides
information.

Use the backup discovery tool for PowerProtect Data Manager management of
existing backups
To enable the PowerProtect Data Manager management of existing backups after you have
upgraded from a previous version of Microsoft application agent, you must run the backup
discovery tool, AgentBackupDiscovery.exe. Existing backups are Microsoft application agent
backups that you performed before integrating the Microsoft application agent with the
PowerProtect Data Manager software.
NOTICE After you run the backup discovery tool, you can continue to use the existing backup
scripts to perform the Microsoft application agent backups. Ensure that all the databases
backed up with a particular script are added to a single protection policy. By default, the
PowerProtect Data Manager overrides the Data Domain details by using the storage unit from
the protection policy. If you do not want the Data Domain details to be overridden, use the -a
"SKIP_DD_OVERRIDE=TRUE" option in the backup scripts.
To discover the existing backups by using the backup discovery tool, perform the following steps.
1. In the Microsoft application agent installation directory, C:\Program Files\DPSAPPS
\MSAPPAGENT\bin, run AgentBackupDiscovery.exe as the administrator.
The Discovery of existing backups dialog box appears.
Note: If the program does not start but displays the following message, an ongoing backup
discovery process is running, as invoked by the PowerProtect Data Manager:

Backup discovery is in progress. Please wait for it to complete.

When the discovery process is complete, you can run the backup discovery tool.
2. In the Data Domain system list in the dialog box, select the appropriate Data Domain IP address
or hostname, storage unit, and username for the existing backups that you want the
PowerProtect Data Manager software to discover.
Note: Select only one storage unit at a time. After discovery is complete for the storage
unit, you can run the backup discovery tool again to discover the backups of another
storage unit.
3. In the Client hostname field, you can change the client hostname from the default local
hostname as needed.
To enable the backup discovery for an AAG or FCI, you must specify the appropriate client
hostname:
l If the host is part of an AAG, specify the Windows cluster name.
l If the host is part of a SQL virtual server or FCI, specify the virtual server name.
4. In the Backup discovery time period field, select the number of months for the time period,
as the time in the past when the backups were performed. You can select 1 month, 2 months,
or 3 months for the time period.
5. After you have specified the required field values, click Generate.

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Enabling the Microsoft Application Agent for SQL

When the PowerProtect Data Manager software completes the generation of the backup
metadata or breadcrumbs, the following message appears in the dialog box. Depending on the
number of old backups, the generation of breadcrumbs can take some time:

Breadcrumbs generated successfully.


The retention time for the discovered backup is calculated as follows:
(Retention time set for the previously performed backup) + (PowerProtect Data Manager
retention value) + (padding to midnight), where the PowerProtect Data Manager retention value
for older backups is 14 days by default.

54 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


CHAPTER 5
Enabling the Oracle RMAN Agent

This section includes the following topics:

l About the Oracle RMAN agent..............................................................................................56


l Review Oracle data protection and replication requirements.................................................56
l Protecting a stand-alone Oracle server................................................................................. 57
l Protecting Oracle RAC environments....................................................................................57
l Install and configure the Oracle RMAN agent........................................................................58
l Add or manage the Oracle application agent..........................................................................74
l Supporting existing Oracle RMAN agent backups with PowerProtect Data Manager............75

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 55


Enabling the Oracle RMAN Agent

About the Oracle RMAN agent


The Oracle RMAN agent enables an application administrator to protect and recover the Oracle
data on the application host. PowerProtect Data Manager integrates with the Oracle RMAN agent
to check and monitor backup compliance against protection policies. PowerProtect Data Manager
also enables central scheduling for backups.
The Oracle RMAN agent installation is a command-line process whereby the user installs the
required Oracle RMAN agent and PowerProtect Data Manager software. PowerProtect Data
Manager then sets the Data Domain host, storage unit, user, and password. Install and configure
the Oracle RMAN agent on page 58 provides instructions.
Note: PowerProtect Data Manager supports the coexistence of the Oracle RMAN agent and
the File System agent on Linux.
Software compatibility information for the PowerProtect Data Manager software and application
agents is provided in the eLab Navigator, available at https://elabnavigator.emc.com/eln/
modernHomeDataProtection.

Review Oracle data protection and replication requirements


PowerProtect Data Manager can manage and monitor data protection and replication for Oracle
assets through integration with the Oracle RMAN agent.
After installing the Oracle RMAN agent, review the following information for additional
requirements before adding the Oracle RMAN agent as an asset source in PowerProtect Data
Manager and discovering the agent assets.

Prerequisites
Ensure that you meet the required prerequisites before you add an Oracle asset.
Verify that the environment meets the following requirements:
l Ensure that all clocks on both the Oracle host and PowerProtect Data Manager are time-
synced to the local NTP server to ensure discovery of the backups.
l Ensure that the Oracle host and the PowerProtect Data Manager network can see and resolve
each other.
l Ensure that port 7000 is open on the Oracle host.
l If you are going to register Oracle RAC nodes to PowerProtect Data Manager, set the
db_domain parameter on every RAC node in the RAC database instance:
1. Use sqlplus to log in to your database.
2. Run the command: sqlplus / as sysdba
3. Run the command: show parameters db_domain
The following output is displayed:
NAME TYPE VALUE ------------------------------------ -----------
------------------------------
db_domain string SQL> alter system set db_domain='admdb'
scope=spfile sid='*';
System altered.

56 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Enabling the Oracle RMAN Agent

1. shutdown immediate;
2. startup;

Protecting a stand-alone Oracle server


Learn how to configure protection of a stand-alone Oracle server.
Procedure
1. Add a storage system.
Add protection storage on page 40 provides information.
2. Install the Oracle RMAN agent on the Oracle server host.
Install the Oracle RMAN agent on page 58 provides information.
3. Add or approve the Oracle RMAN agent in PowerProtect Data Manager.
Add or manage the Oracle application agent on page 74 provides information.
4. Discover and add the credentials for the Oracle application host.
Discover an Oracle or SQL application host on page 111 provides information.
5. Create a protection policy to protect the Oracle server host.
Add a protection policy for Oracle database protection on page 125 provides information.

Protecting Oracle RAC environments


Learn how to configure protection of Oracle RAC environments.
About this task
You must repeat the steps to install the Oracle RMAN agent, and then add and discover the
application host in PowerProtect Data Manager on each node in the Oracle RAC environment.
Procedure
1. Add a storage system.
Add protection storage on page 40 provides information.
2. Install the Oracle RMAN agent on each Oracle RAC node.
Install the Oracle RMAN agent on page 58 provides information.
3. Add or approve the Oracle RMAN agent on each Oracle RAC node.
Add or manage the Oracle application agent on page 74 provides information.
4. Discover and add the credentials for each Oracle application host.
Discover an Application Host provides information.
5. Create a protection policy group to protect the Oracle RAC nodes.
Add a protection policy for Oracle database protection on page 125 provides information.

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 57


Enabling the Oracle RMAN Agent

Install and configure the Oracle RMAN agent


Learn how to install and configure the Oracle RMAN agent.

Install the Oracle RMAN agent


Learn how to install the Oracle RMAN agent on all the Linux database servers that must access the
Data Domain system.
About this task
NOTICE You must use the Oracle RMAN agent version 19.2 with PowerProtect Data Manager
version 19.2. If a previous version of Oracle RMAN agent is installed, you must upgrade to
version 19.2.
Run the install.sh script to install the Oracle RMAN agent 19.2 or to upgrade from an earlier
version of the Oracle RMAN agent. The script installs the Oracle RMAN agent in a user-specified
directory or in the default installation directory, $HOME/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent.
Run the install.sh -h or install.sh --help command to obtain more information about
the script operation.
Complete the following steps to download the Oracle RMAN agent and perform a new installation
of the software on Linux.
Note: In a RAC system, you must install the Oracle RMAN agent and PowerProtect Data
Manager agent on each node.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:
a. Select Agent Downloads from Dashboard > System Settings.
b. Select the Oracle RMAN agent download package, ddrman192_linux_x86_64.tar.
c. Download the package to the Oracle server host on Linux.
Note: As an alternative, you can download the Oracle RMAN agent package from the
Support website at https://support.emc.com.

2. Change the ownership of the tar file to the oracle user by running the following command:

# chown -R oracle:oinstall ddrman192_linux_x86_64.tar

Uncompress the downloaded tar file using the oracle user by running the following
command:

# tar -vxf ddrman192_linux_x86_64.tar

3. Ensure that no backups are running. Stop the RMAN processes before you install the Oracle
RMAN agent.
4. As one of the system's Oracle users (recommended), run the install.sh script:

$ install.sh

58 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


Enabling the Oracle RMAN Agent

5. The install.sh script displays the following prompt:

Do you want to install under the default installation directory /home/


oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent? (y or n)

Type the appropriate value:


l To install in the default directory, type y.
l To install in a non-default directory that already exists, type n.
The script then prompts you to enter the installation directory pathname:

Enter the full pathname of the installation destination:

Type the pathname of an already created installation directory.


Note: The user-specified installation directory must be a directory that is created
specifically for the Oracle RMAN agent 19.2 installation, and must not be the
ORACLE_HOME directory. The complete directory pathname must be specified,
without a slash (/) at the end.
The install.sh script displays the following output:

The lib directory /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/lib is created.


The config directory /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/config is created.
The bin directory /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/bin is created.
The breadcrumbs directory /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/breadcrumbs
is created.
Installing the Oracle RMAN agent.
Copying the lockbox libraries to /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/lib/.
Copying libddobk.so to /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/lib/.
Copying libDDBoost.so to /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/lib/.
Copying ddutil to /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/bin/.
Copying the dependency libraries to /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/
lib/.
Copying the configuration file to /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/
config/.
Copying the ddbmcon program to /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/bin/.
Creating the lockbox.
Successfully installed the Oracle RMAN agent.

6. If ORACLE_HOME is set in the environment, the install.sh script displays the following
type of prompt. Type n, as required for a new installation:

The Oracle RMAN agent library, libddobk.so, does not exist in /space/
oracle/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/lib.
Do you want to update settings in /space/oracle/app/oracle/product/
12.1.0/dbhome_1 directory so that RMAN scripts from previous
installation can be reused? (y or n) n

The installation script exits.

7. To verify the installed version of Oracle RMAN agent, run the following command:

$ /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/bin/ddutil -i

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 59


Enabling the Oracle RMAN Agent

Upgrade the Oracle RMAN agent


An upgrade of the Oracle RMAN agent to version 19.2 requires additional steps when the pre-19.2
Oracle RMAN agent is integrated with Enterprise Copy Data Management (eCDM). In that case,
you must also upgrade the eCDM integration to a PowerProtect Data Manager integration.
About this task
Note: If Oracle RMAN agent versions earlier than version 4.0 are installed, refer to the latest
PowerProtect Oracle RMAN Agent Administration Guide for information about how to upgrade
the pre-4.0 versions.
Procedure
1. To obtain details about the Data Domain hosts and storage units that eCDM or
PowerProtect has registered with the Oracle RMAN agent, run the ddutil -s command
on the Oracle RMAN agent client host. For example:

ddutil -s

Data Domain Hostname: 10.36.52.98

FC Service Name: None


FC Service Enabled: false

Storage Unit: PLC-PROTECTION-1557475568457

User: PLC-PROTECTION-1557475568457
Type: PRIMARY

2. If the pre-19.2 Oracle RMAN agent is integrated with eCDM, perform the following steps to
upgrade the eCDM software to PowerProtect Data Manager software:
a. In the eCDM UI menu, select Upgrade under System Settings.
b. To upload the upgrade package, click Upload Package.
The following message appears when the package has been uploaded:

Package uploaded successfully.

c. To run the upgrade process, click Perform Upgrade.


d. When prompted to verify the certificate details and confirm the upgrade, click Yes.
The following message appears when each package component has been upgraded:

State: UPGRADED

3. To stop the eCDM agent on the Oracle RMAN agent client host, run the following command:

/usr/local/ecdm/ecdm-agent/bin/ecdm-agent.bin stop

The following message appears when the eCDM agent is stopped:

eCDM Agent daemon control 'stop' is successful

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4. Upgrade the Oracle RMAN agent according to the instructions in Install the Oracle RMAN
agent on page 58.
For example, when you run the install.sh script to perform the upgrade, the following
type of output appears:

install.sh
Do you want to install under the default installation directory /home/
oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent? (y or n) y
An Oracle RMAN agent already exists. Do you want to continue the
installation? (y or n) y
Installing the Oracle RMAN agent.
Copying the lockbox libraries to /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/
lib/.
Copying libddobk.so to /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/lib/.
Copying libDDBoost.so to /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/lib/.
Copying ddutil to /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/bin/.
Copying the dependency libraries to /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/
lib/.
Copying the ddbmcon program to /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent/bin/.
Upgrading the lockbox.
Import operation is not needed because the lockbox version is already
updated.
As a PowerProtect Data Manager user, update the existing Data Domain
details? (y or n) y
Data Domain server name: 10.36.52.98
Data Domain Storage Unit name: PLC-PROTECTION-1557475568457
Successfully updated the DD Boost credentials in the lockbox.
As a PowerProtect Data Manager user, update the existing Data Domain
details? (y or n) n
Updated the lockbox.
Successfully installed the Oracle RMAN agent.
Do you want to uninstall the previous Oracle RMAN agent in /u01/app/
oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1 directory? (y or n) y
The Oracle RMAN agent is uninstalled.
Do you want to update settings in /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/
dbhome_1 directory so that RMAN scripts from previous installation can
be reused? (y or n) y
Updating settings in the /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1
directory.
Settings are updated.
Installation is completed.

5. If you upgraded the eCDM software to PowerProtect Data Manager software in step 2,
perform the following steps to uninstall the eCDM agent and install the PowerProtect agent:
a. To uninstall the eCDM agent, run the rpm -e ecdm-agent-3.0.0-15_1.x86_64
command. For example:

rpm -e ecdm-agent-3.0.0-15_1.x86_64
Uninstalling ecdm-agent...
ecdmagent.service - eCDM Agent Service
Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/ecdmagent.service; enabled)
:

b. To install the PowerProtect agent, run the rpm -ivh adm-agent-19.x.x. rpm
command, where x.x is the current version. For example:

rpm -ivh adm-agent-19.1.0.rpm


warning: adm-agent-19.1.0.rpm: Header V3 RSA/SHA1 Signature, key ID
5301dfb7: NOKEY
Preparing... ################################# [100%]

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Enabling the Oracle RMAN Agent

Updating / installing...
1:adm-agent-19.1.0-1_SNAPSHOT201904#################################
[100%]
Installing adm-agent...
2019/05/10 14:48:56 Adding current path for configurations: /usr/
local/ecdm/ecdm-agent/bin
2019/05/10 14:48:56 nameLogfile logfile
2019/05/10 14:48:56 Flags &{ControlAction:install Unregister:false
Upgrade:false LogFile:/usr/local/ecdm/ecdm-agent/logs/admagent.log
Port:7000 AgentID: ECDMHost: ECDMPort:8443 ECDMScheme:https
AppAgentPaths:[]}
2019/05/10 14:48:57 ADM Agent daemon control 'install' is successful

Please run /usr/local/ecdm/ecdm-agent/bin/register.sh to register


this system to a Dell EMC PPDM Server.
If OS authentication is disabled for one or more Oracle databases on
the client, refer to Oracle RMAN agent Administration Guide to use
another authentication option for discovery.

6. To register the Oracle RMAN agent to the PowerProtect server, run the register.sh
script. For example:

/usr/local/ecdm/ecdm-agent/bin/register.sh
2019/05/10 14:49:25 Adding current path for configurations: /usr/local/
ecdm/ecdm-agent/bin
2019/05/10 14:49:25 nameLogfile logfile
2019/05/10 14:49:25 Flags &{ControlAction:stop Unregister:false
Upgrade:false LogFile:/usr/local/ecdm/ecdm-agent/logs/admagent.log
Port:7000 AgentID: ECDMHost: ECDMPort:8443 ECDMScheme:https
AppAgentPaths:[]}
2019/05/10 14:49:25 ADM Agent daemon control 'stop' is successful
Enter PowerProtect Data Manager IP/Hostname: blrv136h018.lss.emc.com
Enter App Agent Home (press enter for default home /home/oracle/opt/
dpsapps/rmanagent):
unregister host
2019/05/10 14:49:35 Adding current path for configurations: /usr/local/
ecdm/ecdm-agent/bin
:
Do you want to set the default retention time for automatic retention
management by PowerProtect of existing backups? (y or n) y
Provide default retention time in number of days: 2
Allow SYSDBA access for RMAN agent? (y or n) y
2019/05/10 14:49:45 Adding current path for configurations: /usr/local/
ecdm/ecdm-agent/bin
2019/05/10 14:49:45 nameLogfile logfile
2019/05/10 14:49:45 Flags &{ControlAction:start Unregister:false
Upgrade:false LogFile:/usr/local/ecdm/ecdm-agent/logs/admagent.log
Port:7000 AgentID: ECDMHost:blrv136h018.lss.emc.com ECDMPort:8443
ECDMScheme:https AppAgentPaths:[/home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent]}
2019/05/10 14:49:45 ADM Agent daemon control 'start' is successful

7. To complete the upgrade, manually approve the Oracle RMAN agent from the PowerProtect
Data Manager server. Manage the File System agent on page 84 provides information.

Uninstall the Oracle RMAN agent


Run the uninstall.sh script to uninstall the Oracle RMAN agent 19.2. You can also run the
script to uninstall a previous version of the Oracle RMAN agent.
About this task
Run the uninstall.sh -h or uninstall.sh --help command to obtain more information
about the script operation.

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You can run the uninstall.sh script manually or automatically. To enable the automatic
operation, you must set the appropriate environment variables as listed in Table 19 on page 63:
l When the variables are not set, the script runs manually and prompts for the required values.
l When the variables are set, the script runs automatically and performs the uninstallation
according to the environment variable settings.

Table 19 Environment variables for uninstallation of Oracle RMAN agent

Environment variable Description Default and valid values

RMAN_AGENT_HOME Specifies the installation directory for l /home/oracle1/opt/


the Oracle RMAN agent. dpsapps/rmanagent (default).
l Valid complete pathname of the
directory for installation of
Oracle RMAN agent.
Note: The directory
pathname must not end with
a slash (/).

RMAN_AGENT_UNINSTALL_OPTIO Specifies the software components l Undefined (default).


NS to uninstall.
l NONE or none—Specifies to
keep the Oracle RMAN agent
software, and not perform the
uninstallation.
l BINARY or binary—Specifies to
uninstall the software, but not
the lockbox or the configuration
file.
l FULL or full—Specifies to
uninstall the software, lockbox,
and configuration file.

Note: It is not necessary to uninstall the Oracle RMAN agent for an upgrade. An existing
Oracle RMAN agent is overwritten during an upgrade.
Perform the following steps to uninstall the Oracle RMAN agent.
Procedure
1. Ensure that backup and restore operations are not in progress when you uninstall the Oracle
RMAN agent.
2. If you want the uninstallation script to run automatically, ensure that
RMAN_AGENT_HOME and RMAN_AGENT_UNINSTALL_OPTIONS are set as described in
Table 19 on page 63.
To verify the value of an environment variable, run the echo command. For example:

# echo $RMAN_AGENT_HOME

/home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent

To set an environment variable, run the export command. For example:

# export RMAN_AGENT_HOME=/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent

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Enabling the Oracle RMAN Agent

3. As an Oracle user, run the uninstall.sh script:


Note: It is recommended that you set the RMAN_AGENT_HOME environment variable
before you run the uninstall.sh script.

# ./uninstall.sh

4. If the script does not run automatically, type the appropriate values at the prompts:
a. When prompted, specify whether you want to enter the directory pathname of the
Oracle RMAN agent installation:

An installation directory pathname is not specified. Do you want to


enter the installation pathname? (y or n)

If you type y, then the script prompts for the installation location. Type the complete
pathname of the installation location, without a slash (/) at the end.

b. When prompted, specify whether you want the lockbox and configuration file to be
removed:

Do you want to remove the lockbox and the configuration file? (y or n)

c. If the script detects an additional installation of Oracle RMAN agent, the script prompts
whether to uninstall that version. You can specify to keep or uninstall the software.
The script removes the Oracle RMAN agent software and prints the following message:

The Oracle RMAN agent is uninstalled from the /home/oracle/opt/dpsapps/


rmanagent directory.
Uninstallation is completed.

Integration with PowerProtect Data Manager software


This procedure enables the integration of Oracle RMAN agent with PowerProtect Data Manager,
which enables PowerProtect Data Manager to monitor, manage, and analyze the Oracle RMAN
agent backups on Linux.
NOTICE
PowerProtect Data Manager can create and manage replication copies based on the
protection policies.
PowerProtect Data Manager performs these operations whether the backup is created by the
DBA or by the PowerProtect Data Manager centralized backup scheduler.
Because PowerProtect Data Manager controls the replication, when the Oracle RMAN agent is
deployed with PowerProtect Data Manager, the following self-service replication operations
are disabled:
l Creation of multiple backup copies with the RMAN BACKUP COPIES command.
l MTree replication to create backup copies on a secondary Data Domain system.
You can restore from replicated copies of backups that were performed with a previous
version of Oracle RMAN agent.

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Enabling the Oracle RMAN Agent

When you perform a self-service backup managed by PowerProtect Data Manager, the
PowerProtect Data Manager protection policy settings for the given database will override the
target protection storage settings specified in the RMAN backup script, including the Data
Domain server hostname and storage unit name.
1. Install and register the required PowerProtect Data Manager application data management
(ADM) agent on the Oracle RMAN agent host as described in Install the PowerProtect Data
Manager agent on page 65.
2. Enable the ddbmcon program to connect to the local Oracle databases during PowerProtect
Data Manager operations. How the Oracle RMAN agent communicates with PowerProtect
Data Manager on page 67 provides details.
3. Verify the connectivity from the ddbmcon program to the Oracle database by using the
ddutil program with the required options. Verify the connectivity from ddbmcon on page
71 provides details.
4. Ensure that the /etc/oratab file contains a complete list of all the Oracle SIDs on the host.
The Oracle RMAN agent uses the information in the file to discover the database resources on
the system, which enables the PowerProtect Data Manager operations.
In an Oracle RAC environment, ensure that the /etc/oratab file contains an entry for each
database instance. Manually add any database instance entries that do not yet exist in the file.
Each entry must have the following format:

<ORACLE_SID>:<ORACLE_HOME>:<N|Y>

Note: Only with Oracle RAC 12.2 or later, each entry can have the following format:

<DATABASE_UNIQUE_NAME>:<ORACLE_HOME>:<N|Y>

As recommended by Oracle, ensure that all the archived redo logs in the Oracle RAC
environment reside on shared storage or a shared cluster file system that is accessible from all
the RAC nodes. Select one node to be the backup node and set the IS_RAC_BACKUP_NODE
parameter accordingly, as described in Configuration file requirements for connection to local
databases on page 68.

Install the PowerProtect Data Manager agent


You must install the PowerProtect Data Manager agent as the root user on the Oracle RMAN host
so that the Oracle RMAN agent can communicate with the PowerProtect Data Manager server.
About this task
Note: In a RAC system, you must install the Oracle RMAN agent and PowerProtect Data
Manager agent on each node.
Procedure
1. Log in as the root user on the Oracle RMAN host.
2. To install the PowerProtect Data Manager agent, run the following command:

rpm -ivh adm-agent-19.2.0.rpm

warning: adm-agent-19.2.0.rpm: Header V3 RSA/SHA1 Signature, key ID


5301dfb7: NOKEY
Preparing... ################################# [100%]

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 65


Enabling the Oracle RMAN Agent

Updating / installing...
1:admagent-19.2.0-1_SNAPSHOT201904################################# [100%]
Installing adm-agent...
2019/05/10 14:48:56 Adding current path for configurations: /usr/local/
ecdm/ecdm-agent/bin
2019/05/10 14:48:56 nameLogfile logfile
2019/05/10 14:48:56 Flags &{ControlAction:install Unregister:false
Upgrade:false LogFile:/usr/local/ecdm/ecdmagent/logs/admagent.log
Port:7000 AgentID: ECDMHost:ECDMPort:8443 ECDMScheme:https AppAgentPaths:
[]}
2019/05/10 14:48:57 ADM Agent daemon control 'install' is successful
Please run /usr/local/ecdm/ecdm-agent/bin/register.sh to register this
system to a Dell EMC PPDM Server.
If OS authentication is disabled for one or more Oracle databases on the
client, refer to Oracle RMAN Agent Administration Guide to use another
authentication option for discovery.

The adm-agent-19.2.0.rpm file is installed in the /usr/local/ecdm/ecdm-agent


directory.

3. To register the Oracle RMAN agent with the PowerProtect Data Manager server, run the
register.sh script:

/usr/local/ecdm/ecdm-agent/bin/register.sh

2019/05/10 14:49:25 Adding current path for configurations: /usr/local/


ecdm/ecdm-agent/bin
2019/05/10 14:49:25 nameLogfile logfile
2019/05/10 14:49:25 Flags &{ControlAction:stop
Unregister:false Upgrade:false LogFile:/usr/local/ecdm/ecdmagent/
logs/admagent.log Port:7000 AgentID: ECDMHost:
ECDMPort:8443 ECDMScheme:https AppAgentPaths:[]}
2019/05/10 14:49:25 ADM Agent daemon control 'stop' is successful

a. When prompted by the register.sh script, type the hostname or IP address of the
PowerProtect Data Manager home:

Enter PowerProtect Data Manager IP/Hostname:

Enabling the Oracle RMAN application agent blrv136h018.lss.emc.com


b. When prompted, type the location of the Oracle RMAN agent installation:

Enter App Agent Home (press enter for default home /home/oracle/opt/
dpsapps/rmanagent):

c. When prompted, you can set the retention time as the number of days that the
PowerProtect Data Manager will retain any backups that already exist on the system:

Do you want to set the default retention time for automatic retention
management by PowerProtect of existing backups? (y or n) y
Provide default retention time in number of days: 1

d. When prompted, specify whether Oracle OS authentication will use the SYDBDA role
when connecting to Oracle. If you type n, then OS authentication will use the
SYSBACKUP role:

Allow SYSDBA access for RMAN agent? (y or n) y

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The script completes by starting the daemon that connects to PowerProtect Data
Manager:

2019/05/10 14:49:45 ADM Agent daemon control 'start' is successful

Uninstall the PowerProtect Data Manager agent


You must uninstall the PowerProtect Data Manager agent as the root user on the Oracle RMAN
host.
Procedure
1. Log in as the root user on the Oracle RMAN host.
2. Query the Oracle client for an installed adm agent by running the following command:

# rpm -qa | grep adm*

adm-agent-19.2.0-1_SNAPSHOT20190530071531.x86_64

3. If the adm agent exists on the Oracle client, uninstall the adm agent by running the following
command:

# rpm -e adm-agent-19.2.0-1_SNAPSHOT20190530071531.x86_64

How the Oracle RMAN agent communicates with PowerProtect Data Manager
The Oracle RMAN agent program ddbmcon handles all communication between the Oracle RMAN
agent and PowerProtect Data Manager.
Note: You cannot run the ddbmcon program manually. The program is only run by the
PowerProtect Data Manager agent.
When the ddbmcon program performs discovery, backup, or deletion operations, it connects to
the Oracle database. The following authentication methods are supported:
1. Database authentication—The ddbmcon program first tries to connect to the Oracle database
instance by using database authentication. The program tries to use the database
administrator username and password to connect to the database instance.
2. Oracle wallet authentication—If database authentication fails or is not enabled, the ddbmcon
program tries to connect by using Oracle wallet authentication. The program tries to use the
parameter settings from the configuration file to connect to the database instance.
3. Operating system authentication—If Oracle wallet authentication also fails or is not enabled,
the ddbmcon program tries to connect by using operating system authentication. The program
tries to change the real process user ID to the Oracle installation user ID, to connect to the
database instance.
The ddbmcon program tries all these authentication methods for each Oracle database instance.
The program reports a connection error if it cannot connect to the database instance by using any
of these methods. If one of these methods succeeds, the ddbmcon program ignores the other
authentication methods and proceeds to retrieve the information as used by the PowerProtect
Data Manager.
Ensure that you enable one of these three authentication methods for the ddbmcon program. For
maximum ease of use, it is recommended that you enable the operating system authentication

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide 67


Enabling the Oracle RMAN Agent

method. Both the database and Oracle wallet authentication methods require additional
configuration steps on the Oracle host and parameter settings in the configuration file
rman_agent.cfg.

Configuration file requirements for connection to local databases


As required for certain ddbmcon program operations, you must complete the required
configuration settings to enable the authentication method that you want the program to use.
Each authentication method has its own requirements for parameter settings in the configuration
file.
During the Oracle RMAN agent installation, the configuration file template, rman_agent.cfg, is
installed in the $RMAN_AGENT_HOME/config directory. To enable a particular authentication
method, you must set the required parameters in the rman_agent.cfg configuration file.
The configuration file template includes the following information.

# #############################################################################
#
# rman_agent.cfg
#
# All rights reserved.
#
# Oracle RMAN agent 19.2
#
# This template is designed to help users to configure the authentication of
# RMAN agent. Check the product administration guide for a complete list of
# all the supported parameters and rules for editing the configuration file.
#
# Make a copy of this file before making any modifications.
# To enable a parameter, uncomment or add the parameter in the file and
# specify its value.
#
# #############################################################################
#
# #############################################################################
# Oracle parameters.
# There can be repetitive sections of Oracle parameters. The Oracle database
# the parameters belong to is described in the section name: SID_name. The
# name here must be replaced by the SID of the database.
# #############################################################################
[SID_name]
# ORACLE_SERVICE =
# ORACLE_USER =
# ORACLE_OS_USER =
# TNS_ADMIN =
# RMAN_CATALOG_SERVICE =
# RMAN_CATALOG_USER =
# IS_RAC_BACKUP_NODE =

To set a particular parameter in the configuration file, such as ORACLE_SERVICE, remove the #
symbol at the start of the parameter line and add the parameter value after the equal sign (=).
You can complete the following settings in the configuration file:
l SID_name is mandatory for each authentication method when you set any parameters in the
file for a particular system ID (SID). [SID_name] (for example, [SID_orcl]) must appear on a
separate line before all the parameter settings for the SID:
n For Oracle 10g, 11g, and non-RAC systems, SID_name must match the SID in the /etc/
oratab file.
n For Oracle 12c RAC systems, SID_name must match the SID that runs on the local host.
Note: Each Oracle SID on the same system requires its own entries in the configuration
file. You must use the same configuration file for all the Oracle SIDs.

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l ORACLE_SERVICE is mandatory for database authentication and Oracle wallet authentication.


Specifies the TNS or Net service name of the Oracle database.
l ORACLE_USER is mandatory for database authentication only. Specifies the database
username as saved in the lockbox.
l ORACLE_OS_USER is mandatory for operating system authentication when the username for
connection is different than the ORACLE_OSDBA_USER username. Specifies the operating
system user that will connect to the Oracle database for operating system authentication.
When this parameter is set, ORACLE_OSDBA_USER is ignored.
l TNS_ADMIN is mandatory for database authentication and Oracle wallet authentication when
the Oracle Net configuration files including tnsnames.ora reside in a non-default directory.
Specifies the pathname of the non-default directory. When this parameter is not set, the
system default directory $ORACLE_HOME/network is used.
l RMAN_CATALOG_SERVICE is mandatory when an RMAN catalog is used for backup or
recovery of the database. Specifies the TNS name of the RMAN catalog.
l RMAN_CATALOG_USER is mandatory for each authentication method when an RMAN catalog
is used. Specifies the catalog database username as saved in the lockbox.
l IS_RAC_BACKUP_NODE is highly recommended in an Oracle RAC environment only. In the
Oracle RAC environment, select a single node to be the backup node and set this parameter to
TRUE to specify that the SID_name node is the backup node. Set this parameter to FALSE
when the SID_name node is not the backup node.
The following topics provide more details about the configuration requirements of each particular
authentication method.

Authentication requirements
The following subtopics provide details about the three authentication methods that the ddbmcon
program supports.

Database authentication requirements


Before the ddbmcon program can use database authentication to connect to an Oracle database,
you must complete the required configuration to enable the database authentication method.
Database authentication can be used to connect to a target database or catalog database.
To enable the database authentication method, run the ddutil command with the appropriate
options to store the database administrator credentials in the lockbox:

ddutil -C -a USER_TYPE=DATABASE_ADMIN [-a DATABASE_SIDS=<database_SIDs>] [-a


USERNAME=<administator_username>]

Note: If the lockbox does not exist when you run the ddutil command, the command creates
the lockbox in the default directory.
The options -C and -a USER_TYPE=DATABASE_ADMIN are mandatory. If you do not specify the
other -a options, -a DATABASE_SIDS=<database_SIDs> and -a
USERNAME=<administator_username>, the command prompts for the database SIDs and
administrator username. The command always prompts for the administrator password.

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If multiple databases exist on the system and all use the same administrator username and
password, you can add the credentials for all the databases to the lockbox with the same ddutil
command. You must specify the database SIDs as a comma-separated list. For example:

ddutil -C -a USER_TYPE=DATABASE_ADMIN

'RMAN_AGENT_HOME' is retrieved from ddutil runtime location as '/home/


oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent'
Database SIDs (to a maximum of 19 SIDs):
orcl1,orcl2,orcl3,orcl4,orcl5,db1,db2
Database administrator name: SYS
Password: xxxxx
Re-enter password: xxxxx
Successfully set the Oracle database administrator credentials in the lockbox.
Enabling the Oracle RMAN application agent.

The following example command includes all the supported -a options:

ddutil -C -a USER_TYPE=DATABASE_ADMIN -a
DATABASE_SIDS=orcl1,orcl2,orcl3,orcl4,orcl5,db1,db2 -a USERNAME=SYS

'RMAN_AGENT_HOME' is retrieved from ddutil runtime location as '/home/


oracle/opt/dpsapps/rmanagent'
Password: xxxxx
Re-enter password: xxxxx
Successfully set the Oracle database administrator credentials in the lockbox.

To enable the database authentication method, you must also set the following parameters for
each required SID in the rman_agent.cfg configuration file:
l Set ORACLE_SERVICE and ORACLE_USER. ORACLE_USER must match the username that is
saved in the lockbox.
l If the Oracle Net configuration files reside in a non-default directory, set TNS_ADMIN to the
directory pathname.
l If an RMAN catalog is used, set RMAN_CATALOG_SERVICE and RMAN_CATALOG_USER.
For example, the rman_agent.cfg configuration file includes the following settings to enable the
database authentication for the database SID orcl:

[SID_orcl]
ORACLE_SERVICE = DBFS
ORACLE_USER = ORACLE1
TNS_ADMIN = /home/oracle/wallet

To confirm that database authentication is enabled, you can log in as the root user and run the
ddutil commands as described in Verify the connectivity from ddbmcon on page 71.

Oracle wallet authentication requirements


Before the ddbmcon program can use Oracle wallet authentication to connect to an Oracle
database, you must complete the required configuration to enable the Oracle wallet authentication
method. Oracle wallet authentication can be used to connect to a target database or catalog
database.
To enable the Oracle wallet authentication method, you must set the following parameters for
each required SID in the rman_agent.cfg configuration file:

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l Set ORACLE_SERVICE to the TNS or Net service name. For example, set the parameter to the
value DBFS.
l If the Oracle Net configuration files reside in a non-default directory, set TNS_ADMIN to the
directory pathname.
l If an RMAN catalog is used, set RMAN_CATALOG_SERVICE and RMAN_CATALOG_USER.
For example, the rman_agent.cfg configuration file includes the following settings to enable the
Oracle wallet authentication for the database SID orcl:

[SID_orcl]
ORACLE_SERVICE = DBFS
TNS_ADMIN = /home/oracle/<alternate_TNS_location>

To confirm that Oracle wallet authentication is enabled, you can log in as the root user and run the
ddutil commands as described in Verify the connectivity from ddbmcon on page 71.

Operating system authentication requirements


The operating system authentication method can only be used on systems with a single Oracle
home or with multiple Oracle homes that were all installed by the same user. During authentication,
the ddbmcon program either obtains the Oracle installation user ID or reads the operating system
username from the rman_agent.cfg configuration file. Then the program changes the real user
of the process to the Oracle installation user or the operating system user, to connect to the
database instance.
Note: The operating system user specified in the configuration file takes precedence over the
Oracle installation user.
When the ddbmcon program uses the authentication method on a system with multiple Oracle
homes that were installed by different users, the program returns information for only one Oracle
home. The program returns a connection error for the other Oracle homes.
During the backup discovery, the ddbmcon program tries to use the operating system
authentication method only after the database authentication and Oracle wallet authentication
methods have both failed to connect to the Oracle database.
To enable the operating system authentication method, you must set the following parameters for
each required SID in the rman_agent.cfg configuration file:
l If the username to be used for the connection is different than ORACLE_OSDBA_USER, set
ORACLE_OS_USER.
l If an RMAN catalog is used, set RMAN_CATALOG_SERVICE and RMAN_CATALOG_USER.
For example, the rman_agent.cfg configuration file includes the following settings to enable the
operating system authentication for the database SID orcl:

[SID_orcl]
ORACLE_OS_USER = ORACLE1

To confirm that operating system authentication is enabled, you can log in as the root user and run
the ddutil commands as described in Verify the connectivity from ddbmcon on page 71.

Verify the connectivity from ddbmcon


You can run the ddutil command as the root user with the appropriate -v option to verify the
connectivity from the ddbmcon program to the Oracle database.
The following subtopics describe the three supported levels of verification with the ddutil -v
command:

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l Host verification
l Instance verification
l RMAN verification
Host verification
To perform the host verification, run the ddutil -v host command as the root user.
The ddutil -v host command output includes the Oracle instances found on the system and
basic information about each Oracle instance.
For example, the following ddutil -v host command lists one Oracle instance and the
authentication method as database authentication:

ddutil -v host

'RMAN_AGENT_HOME' is retrieved from ddutil runtime location as '/opt/dpsapps/


rmanagent'.
The ORACLE_HOME environment variable could not be retrieved.
Reported application instance:
Version: 11.2.0.1.0
Install location: /home/oracer/app/oracer/oracle/product/11.2.0/db_1
Database identifier: 1040017416
Oracle SID: CER
Authentication type: Oracle database user

Instance verification
To perform the instance verification, run the ddutil -v inst command as the root user. The
command tests the OCI connection to the database, and provides similar output to the host
verification command. In addition, the output lists the database objects that are discovered. You
can use the command to determine if the ddbmcon program has the required read access for the
database objects.
For example, the following ddutil -v inst command lists one Oracle instance and the
database objects. The authentication method is listed as database authentication:

ddutil -v inst

'RMAN_AGENT_HOME' is retrieved from ddutil runtime location as '/opt/dpsapps/


rmanagent'.
The ORACLE_HOME environment variable could not be retrieved.
Reported application instance:
Version: 11.2.0.1.0
Install location: /home/oracer/app/oracer/oracle/product/11.2.0/db_1
Database identifier: 1040017416
Oracle SID: CER
Authentication type authentication: Oracle database user

Application instance detailed information:


Database name : CER
Database object : SYSTEM
Database object : SYSAUX
Database object : PSAPUNDO
Database object : PSAPCER
Database object : CATTBS

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RMAN verification
To perform the RMAN verification, run the ddutil -v rman command as the root user. This
verification is required only if you use an RMAN catalog. Database authentication or Oracle wallet
authentication can be used to connect to an RMAN catalog. (Operating system authentication
cannot be used with the RMAN catalog.)
The ddutil -v rman command tests whether the ddbmcon program can connect to the target
database and catalog database through an RMAN script, as required to perform an active deletion
of Oracle backups.
Note: To enable an active deletion through RMAN, the Data Domain credential must be stored
in the lockbox.
The ddutil -v rman command displays the following three sections of output for the RMAN
verification:
1. Target database connection information:
l Authentication type, listed as operating system user, Oracle database user, or Oracle wallet
user.
l For operating system authentication, only the operating system user is listed.
l For database authentication, the operating system user, Oracle service, and database user
are listed.
l For Oracle wallet authentication, the Oracle service and TNS_ADMIN value are listed.
2. Catalog database connection information:
l Authentication method, listed as Oracle database user or Oracle wallet user.
l For database authentication, the database service and database user are listed.
l For Oracle wallet authentication, the Oracle service and TNS_ADMIN value are listed.
3. Output of the RMAN script, which shows the connection information and any error messages.
For example, the following ddutil -v rman command displays the three sections of output,
showing that the database authentication method is used for both the target database and catalog
database:

ddutil -v rman

'RMAN_AGENT_HOME' is retrieved from ddutil runtime location as '/opt/dpsapps/


rmanagent'.
The ORACLE_HOME environment variable could not be retrieved.
Reported RMAN instance connection:
Oracle SID: CER

Target database authentication: Oracle database user


Oracle OS dba user: oracer
Oracle service: CER
Oracle database user: system

RMAN catalog authentication: Oracle database user


Catalog database service: SAP.world
Catalog database user: catowner

RMAN output:

Recovery Manager: Release 11.2.0.1.0 - Production on Fri Dec 15 14:30:15 2017


Copyright (c) 1982, 2009, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
RMAN> connect ********
2>
3> connect *********

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4>
5>
connected to target database: CER (DBID=1040017416)
connected to recovery catalog database
Recovery Manager complete

Discover the storage units


When a PowerProtect Data Manager protection policy is created, the PowerProtect Data Manager
server assigns its storage unit to the Oracle databases that are protected by the protection policy.
Both the manual backups and scheduled backups of these Oracle databases are sent to this
storage unit.
To display the storage units and their assigned databases on the Oracle RMAN agent host, run the
ddutil -s command.
Note: The ddutil -s command might display a storage unit type of "secondary." However,
you cannot perform a backup to a secondary device. You can only restore from a secondary
device.
For example:

ddutil -s

Data Domain Hostname: 10.36.52.98

FC Service Name: None


FC Service Enabled: false

Storage Unit: RMAN87-SS-CT-blrv35a029-a7bc3

User: RMAN87-SS-CT-blrv35a029-a7bc3
Type: PRIMARY

Storage Unit: RMAN87-SS-CT-blrv35b179-c9de5

User: RMAN87-SS-CT-blrv35b179-c9de5
Type: PRIMARY

Add or manage the Oracle application agent


You can add a new Oracle application agent, approve and reject pending agent requests, and edit
and delete existing agents.
Procedure
1. Go to Infrastructure > Application Agents.
The Application Agents window appears.
2. Click Add.
The Add Application/FS Agent window appears.
3. Select one of the following options:
l Add IP Address or CSV Filename.
This process is also called Whitelisting.
n If you select Add IP Address, perform the following steps:
a. Type the IP Address for the application agent.

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b. Specify the date until which the application agent is pre-approved.


c. Click Save.
n If you select CSV Filename, perform the following steps:
a. Click the Choose File icon.
Note: The contents of the .CSV file must be in the following format, for
example:

"10.25.115.113"
"10.25.115.112"
"10.25.115.145"

The Explorer window appears.


b. Select the .csv file, and then click Open.
The file displays in the Application/FS Agents window.
c. Select the date until which the application or File System agent is preapproved.
d. Click Save.
l If you have disabled Auto whitelist, perform the following steps:
The Auto whitelist option enabled by default. When Auto whitelist is enabled,
all pre-approved Application Agents are automatically approved.
a. Select the wanted application agent.
b. Click one of the following options:
n Approve
n Reject
n Edit, then make the wanted changes.
n Remove
c. Click Save.
After you finish
For application agents, the section Discover an application host describes how to set the host
credentials before you schedule a backup.

Supporting existing Oracle RMAN agent backups with


PowerProtect Data Manager
The Oracle RMAN agent 19.1 introduced the capability to onboard existing stand-alone
deployments, including their existing backups, to PowerProtect Data Manager. Existing backups
are Oracle RMAN agent backups that you performed before you have integrated the Oracle RMAN
agent with the PowerProtect Data Manager software and added an asset to a PowerProtect Data
Manager protection policy.
Note:
Retention lock is not supported for discovered existing backups in PowerProtect Data
Manager.
Onboarding of DD Boost-over-FC backups is not supported.
With the onboarding capability, PowerProtect Data Manager provides the following centralized
features:

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l Visibility of both existing backups and any new self-service or PowerProtect Data Manager
policy-driven backups of onboarded assets.
l Retention management of all backups. The retention time of existing backups can be set during
the PowerProtect Data Manager registration.
l Automatic configuration of target protection storage based on the PowerProtect Data
Manager protection policies that are used for your database.
l All the other functionality that is provided for PowerProtect Data Manager protection policies.
Self-service operations use the Data Domain backup host and storage unit managed by
PowerProtect Data Manager
With Oracle RMAN agent 19.1 or later, you can provide the Data Domain backup host and storage
unit in the RMAN scripts. After you use PowerProtect Data Manager to add an asset to the
protection policy, you might want to keep using the existing RMAN scripts instead of or along with
scheduling backups through PowerProtect Data Manager.
When you create a protection policy, the PowerProtect Data Manager software creates a storage
unit on the specified Data Domain backup host that is managed by PowerProtect Data Manager.
All subsequent backups will go to this new storage unit. This implementation overrides the backup
host and storage unit information that is provided in the script with the backup host and storage
unit information that is provided by PowerProtect Data Manager.
Setting and reporting the retention time for existing backups
With Oracle RMAN Agent 19.1 or later, any backups that are performed before you add an asset to
a PowerProtect Data Manager protection policy are considered existing backups. You can set the
retention time for existing backups during registration with the PowerProtect Data Manager
server by using the register.sh script. This retention time is reported to PowerProtect Data
Manager during backup discovery.
Note: If a retention time is not specified for existing backups, the backup copies in
PowerProtect Data Manager will never expire.

Support existing Oracle RMAN agent backups with PowerProtect Data Manager
Learn how to support existing Oracle RMAN agent backups.
Procedure
1. Upgrade the Oracle RMAN agent on the Oracle server host.
Upgrade the Oracle RMAN agent on page 60 provides information.
2. Register and approve the Oracle RMAN agent in PowerProtect Data Manager.
Manage the File System agent on page 84 provides information.
After a few minutes of approving the Oracle agent, all the old backup copies start to be
discovered. Depending on the number of backups, the discovery and subsequent visibility of
the backups in PowerProtect Data Manager can take some time. The retention time of the
discovered existing backup copies will be equal to the retention time set in the protection
policy plus 14 days and 1 day.

3. Discover and add the credentials for the Oracle RMAN agent host.
Discover an Oracle or SQL application host on page 111 provides information.
4. Create a protection policy to protect the Oracle RMAN agent host.
Add a protection policy for Oracle database protection on page 125 provides information.
The first backup after onboarding must be a full backup:

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l The first centralized backup is automatically promoted to a full backup.


l For the first self-service backup after onboarding, the Oracle DBA must run a full backup
script.
Note: You cannot perform a backup to a secondary Data Domain device. You can only
restore from a secondary Data Domain device.

5. Perform a self-service Application Direct backup of Oracle databases. Onboarded assets can
be part of either a centralized or self-service protection policy.
Performing self-service backups of Oracle databases on page 166 provides information.

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78 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


CHAPTER 6
Enabling the File System Agent

This section includes the following topics:

l About the File System agent................................................................................................. 80


l File System agent prerequisites............................................................................................ 80
l Roadmap for protection with the File System agent.............................................................. 81
l Installing and configuring File System agent..........................................................................82
l Manage the File System agent.............................................................................................. 84

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About the File System agent


The File System agent enables an application administrator to protect and recover data on the file
system host. PowerProtect Data Manager integrates with the File System agent to check and
monitor backup compliance against protection policies. PowerProtect Data Manager also enables
central scheduling for backups.
You can install the File System agent on the host that you plan to protect by using the installation
wizard. Installing and configuring File System agent on page 82 provides instructions.
Note: PowerProtect Data Manager supports the co-existence of agents on the same Windows
or Linux host for the following:
l Microsoft SQL agent and the File System agent on Windows.
l Oracle/RMAN agent and the File System agent on Linux.
Software compatibility information for the PowerProtect Data Manager software and the File
System agent is provided in the eLab Navigator, available at https://elabnavigator.emc.com/eln/
modernHomeDataProtection.

File System agent prerequisites


Review the following prerequisites before installing and enabling the File System agent in
PowerProtect Data Manager and discovering the File System assets.
Windows and Linux prerequisites
l Both the PowerProtect Data Manager server software and the File System agent have to be
the same version. For example, using a 19.1 version File System agent with PowerProtect Data
Manager version 19.2 is not supported.
l Ensure that your host is a 64-bit system. PowerProtect Data Manager supports only 64-bit
hosts.
l Ensure that your host is a supported operating system version.
Software compatibility information for the PowerProtect Data Manager software is provided in
the eLab Navigator, available at https://elabnavigator.emc.com/eln/
modernHomeDataProtection.
l Ensure that all clocks on both the host and PowerProtect Data Manager are time-synced to
the local NTP server to ensure discovery of the backups.
l Ensure that the host and the PowerProtect Data Manager network can see and resolve each
other.
l Note that LVM/VxVM partitions/volumes are supported, but not physical partitions.
l Each volume group on LVM2 or VxVM must have at least 10% free space for a block based
backup to succeed.
l Review the limitations in the section File System agent limitations on page 216.
Linux File System prerequisites
l Ensure that the File System has the /etc/fstab entry. Without the /etc/fstab entry,
discovery fails.
l If you plan to perform file level restores on SuSE Linux (SLES) versions 11 SP1, SP2, or SP3,
complete the following:
1. Log in to the system you are restoring from as root.

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2. In a command prompt, type yast2 iscsi-client .


3. For Service Start, choose Manually, and then click OK.
l Install the lsb_release package:
1. Mount the ISO:

[root@RHEL73-224-16 ~]# lsblk


NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda 8:0 0 30G 0 disk
├─sda1 8:1 0 1G 0 part /boot
└─sda2 8:2 0 14G 0 part
├─rhel-root 253:0 0 12.5G 0 lvm /
└─rhel-swap 253:1 0 1.5G 0 lvm [SWAP]
sdb 8:16 0 30G 0 disk
└─VG1-LV1 253:2 0 2G 0 lvm /volume1_ext3
sr0 11:0 1 3.5G 0 rom /run/media/root/RHEL-7.3 Server.x86_64
[root@RHEL73-224-16 ~]#

2. Add the Local REPO:

[root@RHEL75-224-18 ~]# cat /etc/yum.repos.d/local.repo


[local]
name=local
baseurl=file:///run/media/root/RHEL-7.3\ Server.x86_64
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=file:///run/media/root/RHEL-7.3\ Server.x86_64/RPM-GPG-KEY-
redhat-release
*

3. Execute the YUM command:

yum install redhat-lsb

As a result, all the dependency packages are installed.

Roadmap for protection with the File System agent


The following roadmap provides the steps required to configure the File System agent in
PowerProtect Data Manager in order to run protection policies.
Procedure
1. Add a storage system.
Add protection storage on page 40 provides information.
2. Install the File System agent on the File System host.
Installing and configuring File System agent on page 82 provides information.
3. Add or approve the File System agent on each File System host.
Manage the File System agent on page 84 provides information.
4. Discover the File system asset.
Discover a File System Host provides information.
5. Create a protection policy to protect the File System.
Add a protection policy for File System protection on page 129 provides information.

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Note: You cannot perform a backup to a secondary Data Domain device. You can only
restore from a secondary Data Domain device

Installing and configuring File System agent


Learn how to install and configure the File System agent for Linux and Windows.

Install the File System agent on Linux


Learn how to install the File System agent on supported Linux systems.
Before you begin
l Ensure that you review the prerequisites provided in File System agent prerequisites on page
80.
l Download the File System agent software package to the Linux host.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:
a. Select Agent Downloads from the System Settings menu.
b. Select the File System agent download package for Linux,
fsagent192_linux_x86_64.tar.gz.
c. Download the package in the location that you want to install the File System agent.
2. Untar the installer by running - gunzip * followed by tar -xvf .
3. Run the installation script install.sh.
4. Enter the PowerProtect Data Manager server IP address.
Note: If the File System agent will co-exist with another application agent, ensure that
you register the agent with the existing PowerProtect Data Manager server IP. When
you register the agent with a PowerProtect Data Manager server that is different from
the currently registered server, no warning message displays, and requests are routed to
the newer server instance.

After you finish


If the host is not already whitelisted or approved, add the File System host to the PowerProtect
Data Manager server. Add or manage Application/File System Agents provides more information.
Discover File System assets. Discover a File System Host provides more information.

Install the File System agent on Windows


Learn how to install the File System agent on supported Windows systems.
Before you begin
l Ensure that you carry out the prerequisites provided in File System agent prerequisites on page
80.
l Download the File System agent software package.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:

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a. Select Agent Downloads from the System Settings menu.


b. Select the File System agent download package for Windows,
fsagent192_win_x64.zip.
c. Download the package in the location that you want to install the File System agent.
2. Open the fsagent-19.2.0.0.exe installation file.
3. Follow the wizard installation steps to provide the installation location and the PowerProtect
Data Manager server IP address.
4. Click Install.
5. Click Finish.
After you finish
If the host is not already whitelisted or approved, add the File System host to the PowerProtect
Data Manager server. Add or manage Application/File System Agents provides more information.
Discover File System assets. Discover a File System Host provides more information.

Silent installation of File System agent


You can perform a silent installation or uninstallation of the File System agent.
Silent installation commands
To perform the silent installation to the default path, run:

fsagent-19.2.0.0.exe /s PPDMHostName=<<PPDM-server-IP>>

To perform the silent installation to a different path, run:

fsagent-19.2.0.0.exe /s PPDMHostName=<<PPDM-server-IP>>
ProductInstallPath="D:\alternate-path"

Note: PPDMHostName is a mandatory option in the command line. If a value is not provided,
the product is installed without PowerProtect registration, and no backups can be initiated
from the UI. Specifying ProductInstallPath is optional, but if used, the value cannot be empty.
Silent uninstallation commands
To perform a silent uninstall without uninstalling common components (such ADM or BBB), run:

fsagent-19.2.0.0.exe /s /uninstall

To perform a silent uninstall while also uninstalling common components, run:

fsagent-19.2.0.0.exe /s /uninstall UnInstallPPDMAgent="1" UnInstallBBBWT="1"

Uninstalling the File System agent


You can uninstall the File System agent for SQL Server with the setup file.
Procedure
1. Launch DPSFSAgent-19.2.0.0.exe.
2. On the Install Modification page, select Remove, and then click Next.

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3. On the Complete the Setup page, click Finish.


4. After the uninstall completes you must remove the working directory from C:\Program
Files\DPSFSSGENT.

Upgrade the File System agent


There is no direct upgrade option for the File System agent. If you have the File System agent for
PowerProtect Data Manager 19.1 and you want to upgrade to release 19.2, perform the following
steps.
Procedure
1. Uninstall the PowerProtect Data Manager 19.1 File System agent, but keep the existing
folders. Uninstalling the File System agent on page 83 provides instructions.
2. Install and register the PowerProtect Data Manager 19.2 File System agent for Linux or
Windows with the same PowerProtect Data Manager server in the same location. Install the
File System agent on Linux on page 82 and Install the File System agent on Windows on
page 82 provide instructions.
3. Approve the new instance of the File System agent on the PowerProtect Data Manager
server. Manage the File System agent on page 84 provides instructions.

Manage the File System agent


You can add a File System agent, approve and reject pending agent requests, and edit and delete
existing agents.
About this task
Note: PowerProtect Data Manager supports the coexistence of the following agents on the
same Windows or Linux host:
l SQL agent and File System agent on Windows.
l Oracle/RMAN agent and File System agent on Linux.
Procedure
1. Select Infrastructure > Application Agents.
2. In the Application Agents window, click Add.
3. In the Add Application/FS Agent window, select one of the following options:
Note: The Auto Whitelist option is enabled by default. When Auto whitelist is
enabled, all pre-approved Application Agents are automatically approved.

l Add IP Address
Perform the following steps:
a. Type the IP Address for the application agent.
b. Specify the date until which the application agent is pre-approved.
c. Click Save.
l CSV Filename
Perform the following steps:
a. Click the Choose File icon.

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Note: The contents of the .CSV file must be in the following format, for example:

"10.25.115.113"
"10.25.115.112"
"10.25.115.145"

The Explorer window appears.


b. Select the .csv file, and then click Open.
The file displays in the Application/FS Agents window.
c. Select the date until which the application or File System agent is preapproved.
d. Click Save.
4. If you have disabled Auto whitelist, select an application agent, and then select one of
the following options:
l Approve
l Reject
l Edit Make the required changes.
l Remove

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86 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


CHAPTER 7
Enabling the Storage Direct Agent

This section includes the following topics:

l About the Storage Direct agent.............................................................................................88


l Storage Direct agent prerequisites........................................................................................88
l Additional setup and configuration file requirements for existing Storage Direct users......... 89
l Roadmap for protection with the Storage Direct agent (new users)......................................91
l Roadmap for protection with the Storage Direct agent (existing Storage Direct users)........93
l Installing or Upgrading Storage Direct...................................................................................94
l Manage the Storage Direct agent......................................................................................... 98

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About the Storage Direct agent


Storage Direct uses snapshot backup technology to protect data on VMAX storage arrays, moving
storage group data from the VMAX to a Data Domain system. Starting in release 19.2, the
PowerProtect Data Manager software enables an application administrator to configure the
Storage Direct agent and create self-service protection policies within the PowerProtect Data
Manager UI to facilitate the setup of backups for new users and the importing of the setup for
existing users into PowerProtect Data Manager. PowerProtect Data Manager also enables you to
roll back the snapshot backup data to the original location or a different location.
You can install the Storage Direct agent on the host that you plan to protect by using the
installation wizard. Installing or Upgrading Storage Direct on page 94 provides instructions.
When you install and configure the agent, Storage Direct takes the data from VMAX storage
groups, creates a snapshot backup, and transfers the data to a Data Domain system. Using FTS
technology, the host running your applications accesses the source LUNs from the VMAX where
the storage group data resides. A link is then established between FTS devices on the VMAX and
the destination Data Domain system, enabling the creation of a virtual drive (vDisk), vDisk pool,
and mTree on the Data Domain.
Upon the approval/registration of the Storage Direct agent in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI,
and the addition and discovery of Data Domain systems and the SMIS server, the Storage Direct
agent is enabled for use. The storage groups in the VMAX can then be discovered by
PowerProtect Data Manager for the purposes of assigning unprotected storage groups to a
protection policy.
Software compatibility information for the PowerProtect Data Manager software and the Storage
Direct agent is provided in the eLab Navigator, available at https://elabnavigator.emc.com/eln/
modernHomeDataProtection.

Storage Direct agent prerequisites


If you are a new user of Storage Direct, or an existing user updating to the Storage Direct agent
for PowerProtect Data Manager 19.2, review the following prerequisites before enabling the
Storage Direct agent in PowerProtect Data Manager and discovering the VMAX storage groups:
l Ensure that the vDisk user is an administrator.
l Ensure that the LUNs of the storage groups to be protected are masked to the host.
l Ensure that your host is a 64-bit system. PowerProtect Data Manager supports only 64-bit
hosts.
l Only Windows and Linux platforms are supported through the PowerProtect Data Manager
server.
l Ensure that your host is a supported operating system version.
Software compatibility information for the PowerProtect Data Manager software is provided in
the eLab Navigator, available at https://elabnavigator.emc.com/eln/
modernHomeDataProtection.
l After the Data Domain discovery, ensure that the vDisk Pool and DD Boost storage units are
available in PowerProtect Data Manager by navigating to Infrastructure > Storage, selecting
the Data Domain and then selecting Manage Storage Units.
l Ensure that all clocks on both the host and PowerProtect Data Manager are time-synced to
the local NTP server to ensure discovery of the backups.

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l Ensure that the host and the PowerProtect Data Manager network can see and resolve each
other.
l If using replication, ensure that you add a secondary Data Domain system.

Additional setup and configuration file requirements for


existing Storage Direct users
Existing Storage Direct users who want to enable the Storage Direct agent in PowerProtect Data
Manager 19.2 must satisfy the following additional requirements.
Upgrade requirements
Review the following setup requirements specific to existing Storage Direct users who are
upgrading to the latest Storage Direct agent release for PowerProtect Data Manager 19.2:
l During the upgrade, on the Configure Installation Options page, click PowerProtect Data
Manager registration, and then provide the PowerProtect Data Manager server IP so that the
Storage Direct agent can register with the PowerProtect Data Manager server.
l Also during the upgrade, on the Configuration File Input page, click Select the
Configuration Files, browse to the location of your configuration file(s), and for each
configuration file, click Add.
Configuration file requirements
For new users who are installing and configuring the Storage Direct agent for the first time, a
configuration file is created automatically in the C:\Program Files\DPSAPPS\ppfsagent
\config directory upon the addition of storage groups to a VMAX Storage Group protection
policy. This configuration contains information about the VMAX and Data Domain system
attributes and the storage groups being protected by this policy, and is required to perform self-
service backup and restore.
Existing Storage Direct users, however, already have one or more configuration files that contain
this information. In order to ensure that PowerProtect Data Manager can use your existing
configuration file(s), review the file contents and, where required, modify those contents or your
environment to satisfy the following requirements:
l If importing one configuration file, ensure that all backup vDisks on the Data Domain belong to
the same pool. Device groups, however, can be different. For example, if you have two source
storage groups (SG1 and SG2), you can create one device group for the backup vDisks of SG1,
and another device group for the backup vDisks of SG2.
Note that if importing multiple configuration files per host, vDisks can belong to different
pools.
l Only storage groups can be added to the file, and not IDs of the source LUNs or details about
the secondary Data Domain system.
l The file must contain the Ddboost and DdVdiskUser, with their corresponding passwords in
the lockbox.
l The Devicepath cannot start with a /.
Additionally, the file must be in one of the following formats:

Example 1 Format 1: One restore device group and one restore storage group

This format is optimal when you have one restore device group and one restore
storage group. In this format:

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Example 1 Format 1: One restore device group and one restore storage group (continued)

l There is one entry for RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP and


VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG for all Source Storage Groups.
l All Storage Groups map to a single RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP and
VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG
l Since only one of the RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP or
VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG attributes is used, comment the one not in use.
l If using RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP, then the corresponding pool information for
RESTORE_DEVICE_POOL must be provided, and the attribute uncommented.
l If using VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG, then comment the
RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP and RESTORE_DEVICE_POOL attributes.

The following output shows an example layout of this format.

[PRIMARY_SYSTEM]
DDBOOST_USER = <boost_user>
DEVICE_HOST = <dd_host>
DEVICE_PATH = <ddboost_devPath>
DDVDISK_USER = <vdisk_user>
# RESTORE_DEVICE_POOL = <device_pool>
# RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP = <device_group>
# DD_BOOST_FC =
# DD_PORT =
VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG = <restore_sg>
# SELECT_VISIBLE_RESTORE_DEVICES =
|
|
|
[BACKUP_SOURCE_DEVICES]
# SRC_DEVICE1 = 000196700638:00F1A
# SRC_DEVICEn =
SRC_GROUP1 = <symmId:SourceGrp1>
SRC_GROUP2 = <symmId:SourceGrp2>
SRC_GROUP3 = <symmId:SourceGrp3>
# SRC_GROUPn =

Example 2 Format 2: Multiple restore device groups and restore storage groups

This format is optimal when you have multiple restore device groups and restore
storage groups. In this format:

l For each source storage group, there should be a corresponding restore storage
group and restore device group.
l The same number of entries must exist for RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP and
VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG as the number of source storage groups in a 1:1
mapping, and the order should be maintained, as in the first
RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP and VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG entry should correspond
to SRC_GROUP1, the second RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP and
VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG entry should correspond to SRC_GROUP2, and so on.
l Since there should only be one entry of RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP and
VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG, other entries should be commented.

The following output shows an example layout of this format.

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Example 2 Format 2: Multiple restore device groups and restore storage groups (continued)

[PRIMARY_SYSTEM]
DDBOOST_USER = <boost_user>
DEVICE_HOST = <dd_host>
DEVICE_PATH = <ddboost_devPath>
DDVDISK_USER = <vdisk_user>
# RESTORE_DEVICE_POOL = <device_pool_sg1>
# RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP = <device_group_sg1>
# RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP = <device_group_sg2>
# RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP = <device_group_sg_3>
# DD_BOOST_FC =
# DD_PORT =
VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG = <restore_sg1>
# VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG = <restore_sg2>
# VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG = <restore_sg3>
# SELECT_VISIBLE_RESTORE_DEVICES =
|
|
|
[BACKUP_SOURCE_DEVICES]
# SRC_DEVICE1 = 000196700638:00F1A
# SRC_DEVICEn =
SRC_GROUP1 = <symmId:SourceGrp1>
SRC_GROUP2 = <symmId:SourceGrp2>
SRC_GROUP3 = <symmId:SourceGrp3>
# SRC_GROUPn =

Roadmap for protection with the Storage Direct agent (new


users)
For users new to Storage Direct (ProtectPoint) and PowerProtect Data Manager, the following
roadmap provides the steps required to configure protection of the Storage Direct agent in
PowerProtect Data Manager for movement of snapshot backups from the VMAX storage area to
the DD system.
Before you begin
Review any prerequisites in the section Storage Direct agent prerequisites on page 88, and make
note of any limitations in the section Storage Direct agent limitations on page 218.
Procedure
1. Set up the SMIS server in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:
a. Add the SMIS server.
b. Initiate a discovery of the SMIS server.
c. Verify that the discovery completed successfully.
Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent on page 113 provides
information.
2. Set up the Data Domain system in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:
a. Add a primary Data Domain system.
b. (Optional) If using replication, add a secondary Data Domain system.
c. Initiate a discovery of the Data Domain system(s).
d. Verify that the discovery completed successfully.

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Add protection storage on page 40 provides information.


Note: If using the Storage Direct agent to move snapshot backups from a VMAX storage
array to a Data Domain system, you do not need to add a Data Domain Management
Center.

3. Install the Storage Direct agent on the Storage Direct/ProtectPoint host system.
Installing or Upgrading Storage Direct on page 94 provides information.
4. Approve the Storage Direct agent in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI on each Storage
Direct/ProtectPoint host system.
Manage the Storage Direct agent on page 98 provides information.
5. Ensure that the Storage Direct agent has been discovered.
Discover a Storage Direct agent host on page 112 provides information.
6. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, verify that the VMAX assets (storage groups) have
been discovered, and that the host name appears next to these assets.
Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent on page 113 provides
information about how to verify that these assets have been discovered, and Add a
protection policy for Storage Direct protection on page 132 provides information about
adding assets to a protection policy.
7. Create a protection policy in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI by selecting the Storage
Group policy type and choosing the I want PPDM to automatically provision and manage
all storage needed to achieve this objective option.
Add a protection policy for Storage Direct protection on page 132 provides information.
8. Review the configuration file that is automatically generated upon the successful
configuration of the Storage Direct agent in PowerProtect Data Manager to ensure that the
file contains the information identified in Additional setup and configuration file
requirements for existing Storage Direct users on page 89. This file is required to perform
self-service backup and restore.
Add a protection policy for Storage Direct protection on page 132 provides information
about the type of information that the configuration file contains, and how this file is used
when executing the backup command.
Note: Do not make any changes to this configuration file.

9. Run the protectpoint snapbackup create command with the configuration file name
specified in order to perform the self-service backup.
The Storage Direct Agent Installation and Administration Guide, and the After you finish
section of Add a protection policy for Storage Direct protection on page 132, provide
information about running this command with the configuration file.

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Roadmap for protection with the Storage Direct agent


(existing Storage Direct users)
For existing users of Storage Direct (ProtectPoint), the following roadmap provides the steps
required to configure protection of the Storage Direct agent in PowerProtect Data Manager for
movement of snapshot backups from the VMAX storage area to the DD system.
Before you begin
Review any prerequisites in the section Storage Direct agent prerequisites on page 88 and
Additional setup and configuration file requirements for existing Storage Direct users on page 89,
and make note of any limitations in the section Storage Direct agent limitations on page 218.
Procedure
1. Set up the SMIS server in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:
a. Add the SMIS server.
b. Initiate a discovery of the SMIS server.
c. Verify that the discovery completed successfully.
Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent on page 113 provides
information.
2. Set up the Data Domain system in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:
a. Add a primary Data Domain system.
b. (Optional) If using replication, add a secondary Data Domain system.
c. Initiate a discovery of the Data Domain system(s).
d. Verify that the discovery completed successfully.
Add protection storage on page 40 provides information.
Note: If using the Storage Direct agent to move snapshot backups from a VMAX storage
array to a Data Domain system, you do not need to add a Data Domain Management
Center.

3. Modify your existing configuration file(s) to ensure that the file contains the information
required by PowerProtect Data Manager to run the VMAX Storage Group policy, and to
ensure the file is in an acceptable format, as described in the section Additional setup and
configuration file requirements for existing Storage Direct users on page 89.
4. Upgrade the Storage Direct agent on the Storage Direct/ProtectPoint host system.
Installing or Upgrading Storage Direct on page 94 provides information.
5. Approve the Storage Direct agent in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI on each Storage
Direct/ProtectPoint host system.
Manage the Storage Direct agent on page 98 provides information.
6. Ensure that the Storage Direct agent has been discovered.
Discover a Storage Direct agent host on page 112 provides information.
7. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, verify that the VMAX assets (storage groups) have
been discovered, and that the host name appears next to these assets.
Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent on page 113 provides
information about how to verify that these assets have been discovered, and Add a

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protection policy for Storage Direct protection on page 132 provides information about
adding assets to a protection policy.
8. Create a protection policy in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI by selecting the Storage
Group policy type and choosing the I will provision and manage my own storage option.
Add a protection policy for Storage Direct protection on page 132 provides information.
9. Review the configuration file that is automatically generated upon the successful
configuration of the Storage Direct agent in PowerProtect Data Manager to ensure that the
file contains the information identified in Additional setup and configuration file
requirements for existing Storage Direct users on page 89. This configuration file will be
used going forward instead of your previous configuration file(s) to perform self-service
backup and restore.
Add a protection policy for Storage Direct protection on page 132 provides information
about the type of information that the configuration file contains, and how this file is used
when executing the backup command for the initial snapshot.
Note: Do not make any changes to this configuration file.

10. Run the protectpoint snapbackup create command with the configuration file name
specified in order to perform the self-service backup.
The Storage Direct Agent Installation and Administration Guide, and the After you finish
section of Add a protection policy for Storage Direct protection on page 132, provide
information about running this command with the configuration file.

Installing or Upgrading Storage Direct


Learn how to install or upgrade Storage Direct to the Storage Direct agent for PowerProtect Data
Manager 19.2.

Install the Storage Direct agent on Linux


Learn how to install the standalone ProtectPoint agent for PowerProtect Data Manager, also
known as the Storage Direct agent, on supported Linux systems.
Before you begin
l Ensure that you review the prerequisites provided in Storage Direct agent prerequisites on
page 88.
l Download the Storage Direct agent software package to the Linux host.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:
a. Select Agent Downloads from the System Settings menu.
b. Select the Storage Direct agent download package for Linux,
storagedirectagent192_linux_x86_64.tar.gz.
c. Download the package to the location where you want to install the Storage Direct
agent.
2. Unpack the Storage Direct software package:
a. Run the following command:

gunzip storagedirectagent192_<platform>.tar.gz

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b. Run the following command:

tar -xvf storagedirectagent192_<platform>.tar

c. Run the following command:

rpm -–import RPM_KEY

3. Provide "Execute" +x permissions on the install.sh file.


4. Install the Storage Direct software as the root user by running the installation script:

install.sh

Note: During the installation, you are prompted for the hostname or IP address of the
PowerProtect Data Manager. As an alternative, you can include the --server option
when you run the install.sh installation script, as in the following:

install.sh --server=<PowerProtect_Data_Manager_server_hostname_or_IP>

To obtain a list of all the available command options for the install.sh command, run the
command install.sh --help or install.sh -h. The command also supports the --
debug or -d option for debugging purposes.

The product is installed in the /opt/dpsapps/ppfsagent directory. Two rpms are


installed as part of the installation script:
l adm-agent-rpm-19.2.0.rpm
l storagedirectagent-19.2.0.0-0.x86_64.rpm
After you finish
Complete the host registration with the PowerProtect Data Manager server. Add and discover the
SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent on page 113 provides more information.
Approve the pending Storage Direct agent request so that you can discover the VMAX assets, also
known as storage groups. Manage the Storage Direct agent on page 98 provides more
information.

Upgrade the Storage Direct agent on Linux


Learn how to upgrade to the standalone ProtectPoint agent for PowerProtect Data Manager, also
known as the Storage Direct agent, on supported Linux systems.
Before you begin
l Ensure that you review the prerequisites provided in Storage Direct agent prerequisites on
page 88, and the Upgrade requirements section in Additional setup and configuration file
requirements for existing Storage Direct users on page 89.
l Download the Storage Direct agent software package to the Linux host.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:

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a. Select Agent Downloads from the System Settings menu.


b. Select the Storage Direct agent download package for Linux,
storagedirectagent192_linux_x86_64.tar.gz.
c. Download the package to the location where you want to install the Storage Direct
agent.
2. Unpack the Storage Direct software package:
a. Run the following command:

gunzip storagedirectagent192_<platform>.tar.gz

b. Run the following command:

tar -xvf storagedirectagent192_<platform>.tar

c. Run the following command:

rpm -–import RPM_KEY

3. Provide "Execute" +x permissions on the install.sh file.


4. Upgrade the Storage Direct software as the root user by running the installation script with
the -u option, as in the following:

install.sh -u

Note: Later in the upgrade, you are prompted for the hostname or IP address of the
PowerProtect Data Manager. As an alternative, you can include the --server option
when you run the install.sh -u command, as in the following:

install.sh -u --
server=<PowerProtect_Data_Manager_server_hostname_or_IP>

The product is upgraded in the /opt/dpsapps/ppfsagent directory. Two rpms are


installed as part of the installation script:
l adm-agent-rpm-19.2.0.rpm
l storagedirectagent-19.2.0.0-0.x86_64.rpm
5. For Do you wish to give existing config file path?, type y, and then
provide the path to the configuration files.
A prompt appears requesting if you have additional configuration files. If you have more than
one existing configuration file, type y, and provide the additional path.
6. For Do you wish to upgrade adm-agent?, type y.
7. If you did not specify the PowerProtect Data Manager server name when running the
install.sh -u command, a prompt appears requesting if you want to register Storage
Direct with the PowerProtect Data Manager server. Type y, and then type the
PowerProtect Data Manager server FQDN or IP address.

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After you finish


Complete the host registration with the PowerProtect Data Manager server. Add and discover the
SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent on page 113 provides more information.
Approve the pending Storage Direct agent request so that you can discover the VMAX assets, also
known as storage groups. Manage the Storage Direct agent on page 98 provides more
information.

Install or Upgrade the Storage Direct agent on Windows


Learn how to install or upgrade to the standalone ProtectPoint agent for PowerProtect Data
Manager, also known as the Storage Direct agent, on supported Windows systems.
Before you begin
l Ensure that you review the prerequisites provided in Storage Direct agent prerequisites on
page 88, and the Upgrade requirements section in Additional setup and configuration file
requirements for existing Storage Direct users on page 89.
l Download the Storage Direct agent software package to the Windows host.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:
a. Select Agent Downloads from the System Settings menu.
b. Select the Storage Direct agent download package for Windows, for example,
storagedirectagent_192_win_x64.zip.
c. Download the package in the location that you want to install the Storage Direct agent.
2. To launch the installer, unzip the storagedirectagent192_win_x64.zip file and then
run the storagedirectagent192_win_x64.exe program.
The installation wizard opens.
3. Click Next.
4. Select I accept the terms in the License Agreement, and then click Next.
5. On the Configure Installation Options page, click PowerProtect Data Manager
registration, and then and type the PowerProtect Data Manager server hostname or IP
address in the Appliance hostname or IP address text box so that the Storage Direct
agent can register with the PowerProtect Data Manager server.
6. If upgrading, on the Configuration File Input page, click Select the Configuration Files,
browse to the location of your configuration file(s), and for each configuration file, click
Add.
7. When completed, click Install.
8. Click Finish to exit the installation wizard.
After you finish
Complete the host registration with the PowerProtect Data Manager server. Add and discover the
SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent on page 113 provides more information.
Approve the pending Storage Direct agent request so that you can discover the VMAX assets, also
known as storage groups. Manage the Storage Direct agent on page 98 provides more
information.

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Silent installation of the Storage Direct agent


You can perform a silent installation of the Storage Direct agent on Linux or Windows.
Silent installation commands
To perform the silent installation to the default path:
l On Linux, run install.sh -- server PPDM server name
l On Windows, run storagedirectagent-19.2.0.0.exe /s PPDMHostName=<PPDM-server-
IP>
Note: PPDMHostName is a mandatory option in the command line. If a value is not provided,
the product is installed without PowerProtect registration, and no backups can be initiated
from the application host. Specifying ProductInstallPath is optional, but if used, the value
cannot be empty.

Uninstall the Storage Direct agent on Linux


You can uninstall the Storage Direct agent by using the uninstall.sh script, which is included
when you untar the installer.
Procedure
1. Run uninstall.sh.
2. Type y to confirm that you want to uninstall the agent.
If you have the ADM agent installed as well, a message appears indicating Other
application agents might be using adm agent... Do you wish to
uninstall adm agent[y/n]:
3. Type y or n for the ADM uninstall.
The Storage Direct agent uninstall starts.
4. After the uninstall completes, remove the working directories located at /opt/dpsapps/
and /usr/local/ecdm/.

Uninstall the Storage Direct agent on Windows


You can uninstall the Storage Direct agent by using the setup file.
Procedure
1. Launch storagedirectagent-19.2.0.0.exe.
2. On the Install Modification page, select Remove, and then click Next.
3. On the Complete the Setup page, click Finish.
4. After the uninstall completes, remove the working directory located at C:\Program
Files\DPSAPPS\ppfsagent.

Manage the Storage Direct agent


After the Storage Direct installation completes, an entry with the agent host name appears in the
Infrastructure > Application Agents window of the PowerProtect Data Manager UI. From this
window, you can approve or reject a pending Storage Direct agent request, and edit and delete
existing agents.
About this task

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Procedure
1. Select Infrastructure > Application Agents.
2. In the Application Agents window, select the entry that contains the host name, and click
Approve.
The status changes from Awaiting Approval to Registered.
Note: The Auto whitelist option, which enables you to pre-approve application
agents automatically, is disabled by default. When you enable this option, the Storage
Direct agent registration is approved automatically.

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100 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


CHAPTER 8
Managing Assets

This section includes the following topics:

l About asset sources, assets, and storage............................................................................ 102


l Prerequisites for discovering asset sources......................................................................... 102
l Adding a vCenter Server asset source................................................................................. 102
l Creating a dedicated vCenter user account and assigning the role in vCenter..................... 105
l VM Direct protection engine overview................................................................................. 108
l Discovering an application or File System host .................................................................... 110
l Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent.......................................... 113

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About asset sources, assets, and storage


In PowerProtect Data Manager, assets are the basic unit that PowerProtect Data Manager
protects. Asset sources are the mechanism that PowerProtect Data Manager uses to
communicate with and manage the storage and assets. Storage is where PowerProtect Data
Manager adds and stores copies and protection.
PowerProtect Data Manager supports Data Domain Management Center (DDMC) as the storage
and programmatic interface for controlling the Data Domain systems, as well as external Data
Domains.
Assets can be virtual machines, SQL databases, Oracle databases, File systems or VMAX storage
groups.
PowerProtect Data Manager supports backing up assets and adding the asset sources either
through a PowerProtect Application Agent for DD Boost backups, or by connecting to vCenter and
performing virtual machine backups.

Prerequisites for discovering asset sources


Perform these tasks before you discover the asset sources.
l Ensure that the PowerProtect Data Manager is deployed and configured in the environment.
The PowerProtect Data Manager Deployment Guide provides information.
l Log in with administrative rights.
l Configure all asset sources with an NTP server.
l Before you register an SQL application, ensure that the Data Domain has been discovered
successfully.
l For discovery of App/File System asset sources:
n Ensure that all clocks on both the App/File System host and PowerProtect Data Manager
are time-synced to the local NTP server to ensure discovery of the backups.
n Ensure that the App/File System host and the PowerProtect Data Manager network can
see/resolve each other.
n Ensure that port 7000 is open on the App/File System host.

Adding a vCenter Server asset source


After you register a vCenter Server with PowerProtect Data Manager, you can use the Asset
Sources window in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to add a vCenter Server asset source to
the PowerProtect Data Manager environment.
About this task
Adding a vCenter Server asset source is required if you want to schedule a backup through
PowerProtect Data Manager.

Add a VMware vCenter Server


Perform the following steps to add a vCenter Server as an asset source in the PowerProtect Data
Manager UI.
Before you begin
l You must have Administrator privileges.

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l By default, PowerProtect Data Manager enforces SSL certificates during communication with
vCenter Server. If a certificate appears, click Verify to accept the certificate.
Note: It is highly recommended that you do not disable certificate enforcement. If disabling
the certificate is required, carefully review the instructions in the section Disable SSL
certification on the vCenter Server on page 200
Procedure
1. Select Infrastructure > Asset Sources.
The Asset Sources window appears.
2. Select the vCenter tab.
3. Click Add.
The Add vCenter dialog displays.
4. Specify the source's attributes:
a. In the Name field, specify the vCenter Server name.
b. In the Address field, specify the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or the IP address.
Note: For a vCenter Server, we recommend that you use the FQDN instead of the IP
address.

c. In the Port field, specify the port for communication if you are not using the default port,
443.
5. Under Host Credentials, choose an existing entry from the list to use for the vCenter user
credentials. Alternatively, you can click Add from this list to add new credentials, and then
click Save.
Note: Ensure that you specify the credentials for a user whose role is defined at the
vCenter level, as opposed to being restricted to a lower level container object in the
vSphere object hierarchy.

6. If you want to make a subset of the PowerProtect Data Manager UI's functionality available
within the vSphere Client, move the vSphere Plugin slider to the right.
Available functionality includes the monitoring of active virtual machine/VMDK protection
policies, and restore options such as Restore to Original, Restore to New, and Instant
Access.
Note: You can unregister the vSphere plug-in at any time by moving the slider to the
left.

7. If the vCenter's SSL certificate cannot be trusted automatically, a dialog box appears
requesting certificate approval. Review the certificate and click Verify.
8. Click Save.
The vCenter Server information that you entered now appears as an entry in a table on the
Asset Sources window.

Note: Although PowerProtect Data Manager automatically synchronizes with the


vCenter server under most circumstances, certain conditions might require you to
initiate a manual discovery.

After a successful discovery, PowerProtect Data Manager starts an incremental discovery


in the background periodically to keep updating PowerProtect Data Manager with new
changes in vCenter. You can always do an ad-hoc discovery.

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9. Select Infrastructure > Assets.

The Assets window appears.


10. If not already selected, click the Virtual Machines tab.
When discovery has completed successfully, the virtual machine assets discovered in the
vCenter display. Note that discovery time is based on networking bandwidth. The resources
that are discovered and those that are doing the discovery take a performance hit each time
that you go through a discovery process. It might appear that PowerProtect Data Manager
is not updating the Asset Sources data while the discovery is in progress.
After you finish
Upon successful discovery of the vCenter's virtual machine assets, you can add a VM Direct
appliance to facilitate data movement, and then create virtual machine protection policies to back
up these assets. Note that the PowerProtect Data Manager software comes pre-bundled with an
embedded VM Direct Engine, which is automatically used as a fallback proxy for performing
backups and restores when the added external proxies fail or are disabled. It is recommended that
external proxies should always be deployed since the embedded proxy has very limited capacity for
performing parallel backups. To add a VM Direct Engine, go to Infrastructure > Protection
Engines.

Virtual asset discovery


After you add a vCenter Server as an asset source, an automatic discovery of VMware entity
information from the vCenter Server is initiated.
After automatic discovery, the virtual assets for the vCenter Server appear in the Assets window
of the PowerProtect Data Manager UI under the Virtual Machines tab, as shown in the following
figure.
Figure 5 Assets window after vCenter Server discovery

The initial vCenter Server discovery identifies all ESX clusters, hosts, and virtual machines within
the vCenter Server. Subsequent discoveries are performed automatically, according to a fixed
interval, to identify any additional or changed VMware entities since the last discovery operation.
You can also manually initiate a discovery of VMware entities at any time from the vCenter tab of
the Asset Sources window by selecting a vCenter Server and clicking Discover.
Upon vCenter Server and virtual asset discovery, the PowerProtect Data Manager VM Direct
protection engine facilitates the management of virtual assets as PowerProtect Data Manager

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resources for the purposes of backup and recovery. We recommend that you also add an external
VM Direct Engine in the Protection Engines window. You can protect virtual machine assets by
manually adding the assets to a virtual machine protection policy, or by using dynamic filters to
determine which assets will be included in a protection policy according to pre-defined rules.

Creating a dedicated vCenter user account and assigning the


role in vCenter
Dell EMC strongly recommends that you set up a separate vCenter user account at the root level
of the vCenter that is strictly dedicated for use with PowerProtect Data Manager and the VM
Direct protection engine.
Use of a generic user account such as “Administrator” might make future troubleshooting efforts
difficult as it might not be clear which “Administrator” actions are actually interfacing, or
communicating, with PowerProtect Data Manager. Using a separate vCenter user account ensures
maximum clarity if it becomes necessary to examine vCenter logs.
You can specify the credentials for this vCenter user account when you add the vCenter as an
asset source in the UI. Note that when adding the vCenter, ensure that you specify a user whose
role is defined at the vCenter level, as opposed to being restricted to a lower level container object
in the vSphere object hierarchy.

Specify the required privileges for a dedicated vCenter user account


You can use the vSphere Client to specify the required privileges for the dedicated vCenter user
account, or you can use the PowerCLI, which is an interface for managing vSphere. The following
table includes the privileges required for this user.
About this task

Table 20 Minimum required vCenter user account privileges

Setting vCenter 6.0 and later required privileges PowerCLI equivalent required privileges

Alarms l Create alarm $privileges = @(


'System.Anonymous',
l Modify alarm 'System.View',
'System.Read',
Datastore l Allocate space 'Global.ManageCustomFields',
'Global.SetCustomField',
l Browse datastore 'Global.LogEvent',
'Global.CancelTask',
l Configure datastore 'Global.Licenses',
'Global.Settings',
l Low-level file operations 'Global.DisableMethods',
'Global.EnableMethods',
l Move datastore 'Folder.Create',
'Datastore.Rename',
l Remove datastore 'Datastore.Move',
'Datastore.Delete',
l Remove file 'Datastore.Browse',
'Datastore.DeleteFile',
l Rename datastore 'Datastore.FileManagement',
'Datastore.AllocateSpace',
'Datastore.Config',
Extension l Register extension 'Network.Config',
'Network.Assign',
l Unregister extension 'Host.Config.Storage',
'VirtualMachine.Inventory.Create',
l Update extension 'VirtualMachine.Inventory.Register',
'VirtualMachine.Inventory.Delete',
'VirtualMachine.Inventory.Unregister',
Folder l Create folder 'VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOn',

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Table 20 Minimum required vCenter user account privileges (continued)

Setting vCenter 6.0 and later required privileges PowerCLI equivalent required privileges

Global l Cancel task 'VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOff',


'VirtualMachine.Interact.Reset',
l Disable methods 'VirtualMachine.Interact.ConsoleInteract',
'VirtualMachine.Interact.DeviceConnection',
l Enable methods 'VirtualMachine.Interact.SetCDMedia',
'VirtualMachine.Interact.ToolsInstall',
l Licenses 'VirtualMachine.Interact.GuestControl',
'VirtualMachine.GuestOperations.Query',
l Log event 'VirtualMachine.GuestOperations.Modify',
'VirtualMachine.GuestOperations.Execute',
l Manage custom attributes 'VirtualMachine.Config.Rename',
'VirtualMachine.Config.Annotation',
l Settings 'VirtualMachine.Config.AddExistingDisk',
'VirtualMachine.Config.AddNewDisk',
l Set custom attribute 'VirtualMachine.Config.RemoveDisk',
'VirtualMachine.Config.RawDevice',
Host l Configuration > Storage partition 'VirtualMachine.Config.HostUSBDevice',
'VirtualMachine.Config.CPUCount',
configuration 'VirtualMachine.Config.Memory',
'VirtualMachine.Config.AddRemoveDevice',
Network 'VirtualMachine.Config.EditDevice',
l Assign network 'VirtualMachine.Config.Settings',
'VirtualMachine.Config.Resource',
l Configure 'VirtualMachine.Config.UpgradeVirtualHardwa
re',
Resource l Assign virtual machine to resource pool 'VirtualMachine.Config.ResetGuestInfo',
'VirtualMachine.Config.AdvancedConfig',
l Migrate powered off virtual machine 'VirtualMachine.Config.DiskLease',
'VirtualMachine.Config.SwapPlacement',
l Migrate powered on virtual machine 'VirtualMachine.Config.DiskExtend',
'VirtualMachine.Config.ChangeTracking',
'VirtualMachine.Config.ReloadFromPath',
Sessions l Validate session 'VirtualMachine.Config.ManagedBy',
'VirtualMachine.State.CreateSnapshot',
'VirtualMachine.State.RevertToSnapshot',
Tasks l Create task 'VirtualMachine.State.RemoveSnapshot',
'VirtualMachine.Provisioning.MarkAsTemplate
l Update task ',
'VirtualMachine.Provisioning.DiskRandomAcce
ss',
vApp l Export 'VirtualMachine.Provisioning.DiskRandomRead
',
l Import 'VirtualMachine.Provisioning.PutVmFiles',
'Resource.AssignVMToPool',
l vApp application configuration 'Resource.HotMigrate',
'Resource.ColdMigrate',
Virtual Machine 'Alarm.Create',
'Alarm.Edit',
'Task.Create',
Configuration l Add existing disk 'Task.Update',
'Sessions.ValidateSession',
l Add new disk 'Extension.Register',
'Extension.Update',
l Add or remove device 'Extension.Unregister',
'VApp.ApplicationConfig',
l Advanced 'VApp.Export',
'VApp.Import'
l Change CPU count )
l Change resource New-VIRole -Name 'PowerProtect' -Privilege
(Get-VIPrivilege -Id $privileges)
l Configure managed by
l Disk change tracking
l Disk Lease
l Extend virtual disk
l Host USB device
l Memory

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Table 20 Minimum required vCenter user account privileges (continued)

Setting vCenter 6.0 and later required privileges PowerCLI equivalent required privileges

l Modify device settings


l Raw device
l Reload from path
l Remove disk
l Rename
l Reset guest information
l Set annotation
l Settings
l Swapfile placement
l Upgrade virtual machine compatibility

Guest l Guest operation modifications


Operations
l Guest operation program execution
l Guest operation queries

Interactions l Configure CD media


l Console interaction
l Device Connection
l Guest operating system management
by VIX API
l Power off
l Power on
l Reset
l VMware Tools install

Inventory l Create new


l Register
l Remove
l Unregister

Provisioning l Allow disk access


l Allow read-only disk access
l Allow virtual machine download
l Mark as Template

Snapshot l Create snapshot


Management
l Remove Snapshot
l Revert to snapshot

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VM Direct protection engine overview


The VM Direct protection engine is the virtual machine data protection solution within
PowerProtect Data Manager. This solution enables you to deploy a VM Direct Engine in the
vSphere environment to perform virtual machine snapshot backups, moving the data to a Data
Domain system.
The VM Direct protection engine is enabled after you add a vCenter Server in the Asset Sources
window, which enables you to collect VMware entity information from the vCenter server and save
the virtual machines as PowerProtect Data Manager resources for the purposes of backup and
recovery.
To view statistics for the VM Direct engine, manage and monitor VM Direct engines, and add an
external VM Direct engine to facilitate data movement, go to Infrastructure > Protection
Engines. Add a VM Direct appliance on page 108 provides more information.
Note: In the VM Direct Engines pane, VMs Protected refers to the number of assets
protected by PowerProtect Data Manager. This count does not indicate that all of the virtual
machines have been protected successfully. To determine the success or failure of asset
protection, use the Jobs window.
When you add an external VM Direct Engine, the VM Direct Engines pane provides the following
information:
l The VM Direct Engine IP address and name, which can be useful for troubleshooting network
issues.
l The vCenter and ESXi hostname.
l The VM Direct Engine status (green check mark if the VM Direct Engine is ready, red x if the
VM Direct Engine is not fully operational). The status includes a short explanation to help you
determine why a VM Direct Engine is not in a fully operational state.
l The transport mode that you selected when adding the VM Direct Engine (Hot Add, Network
Block Device, or the default setting Hot Add, Failback to Network Block Device).

Add a VM Direct appliance


In the Protection Engines window, perform the following steps to deploy a VM Direct appliance to
facilitate data movement with the VM Direct protection engine.
About this task
The PowerProtect Data Manager software comes bundled with an embedded VM Direct appliance,
which is automatically used as a fallback proxy for performing backups and restores when the
added external proxies fail or are disabled. Dell EMC recommends that you deploy external proxies
because the embedded proxy has limited capacity for performing parallel backups.
Procedure
1. In the VM Direct Engines pane of the Protection Engines window, click Add.
2. In the Add VM Direct Engines dialog box, fill out the required fields (marked with an
asterisk).
Consider the following:
l Only IPv4 addresses are supported for the Gateway, IP Address, Netmask, and
Primary DNS.
l If you have added multiple vCenter Server instances, the vCenter to Deploy list enables
you to choose the vCenter where you want to deploy the VM Direct Engine.

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NOTICE Do NOT select the internal vCenter in this step.

l The ESX Host/Cluster list enables you to choose on which cluster or ESX host you want
to deploy the additional VM Direct Engine.
l The Network list shows all the networks that are available under the selected ESX Host/
Cluster.
l The Data Store list shows all datastores that are accessible to the selected ESX Host/
Cluster based on ranking (whether the datastores are shared, local, or NFS), and
available capacity (the datastore with the most capacity appearing at the top of the list).
l You can choose the specific datastore on which the VM Direct appliance will reside or
leave the default selection of <automatic> to enable PowerProtect Data Manager to
determine the best location to host the VM Direct appliance.
l The Transport Mode list enables you to force using only Hot Add or only Network Block
Device (NBD) transport modes or to default to Hot Add mode and failback to NBD only if
Hot Add cannot be used.
Note: When configuring the VM Direct appliance in a VMware Cloud on AWS
environment, ensure that you select the transport mode as Hot Add only. VMware
Cloud on AWS does not support the NBD transport mode.

3. Click Save.
The VM Direct appliance is added to the VM Direct Engines pane. Note that it may take
several minutes before the additional VM Direct appliance is registered in PowerProtect
Data Manager. The VM Direct appliance appears in the vSphere Client window.
Results
When an extra VM Direct appliance is deployed and registered, this appliance is used by
PowerProtect Data Manager instead of the embedded VM Direct appliance for any data protection
operations involving virtual machine protection policies, unless all added VM Direct appliances are
unavailable. If no added VM Direct appliance is available, the embedded VM Direct appliance is
used as a fallback to perform limited scale backups and restores. If you do not want to use an
added VM Direct appliance, you can disable that proxy. Additional VM Direct actions on page 109
provides more information.
After you finish
If the VM Direct appliance deployment fails, review the network configuration of PowerProtect
Data Manager in the System Settings window to correct any inconsistencies in network
properties. After successfully completing the network reconfiguration, you must delete the failed
VM Direct appliance and then add the VM Direct appliance in the Protection Engines window.
When configuring the VM Direct appliance in a VMware Cloud on AWS environment, if the VM
Direct appliance is deployed to the root of the cluster instead of inside the Compute-
ResourcePool, you must move the VM Direct appliance inside the Compute-ResourcePool.

Additional VM Direct actions


For additional VM Direct actions, such is enabling, disabling, redeploying or deleting the VM Direct
Engine, use the Protection Engines window.
Disable a VM Direct Engine
You can disable an added VM Direct Engine that you do not currently require for virtual machine
backup and recovery. To disable a VM Direct Engine:
1. On the Protection Engines window, select the VM Direct Engine that you want to disable
from the table in the VM Direct Engines pane.

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2. In the far right of the VM Direct Engines pane, click the three vertical dots.
3. From the menu, select Disable.
Note: A disabled VM Direct Engine is not used for any new protection activities, and is not
automatically upgraded during an PowerProtect Data Manager upgrade.
Delete a VM Direct Engine
When you disable a VM Direct Engine, the Delete button is enabled. If you no longer require the
VM Direct Engine, perform the following steps to delete the engine:
1. Select the VM Direct Engine that you want to remove from the table in the VM Direct Engines
pane.
2. In the far right of the VM Direct Engines pane, click the three vertical dots.
3. From the menu, select Disable.
4. Click Delete.
Enable a disabled VM Direct Engine
When you want to make a disabled VM Direct Engine available again for running new protection
activities, perform the following steps to re-enable the VM Direct Engine.
1. Select the VM Direct Engine that you want to re-enable from the table in the VM Direct
Engines pane.
2. In the far right of the VM Direct Engines pane, click the three vertical dots.
3. From the menu, select Enable.
Note: If a PowerProtect Data Manager version upgrade occurred while the VM Direct Engine
was disabled, a manual redeployment of the VM Direct Engine is also required.
Redeploy a VM Direct Engine
If a PowerProtect Data Manager software update occurred while a VM Direct Engine was disabled,
or an automatic upgrade of the VM Direct Engine did not occur due to network inaccessibility or an
environment error, the Redploy option enables you to manually update the VM Direct Engine to
the current version in use with the PowerProtect Data Manager software. Perform the following
steps to manually redeploy the VM Direct Engine.
1. Select the VM Direct Engine that you want to redeploy from the table in the VM Direct
Engines pane.
2. In the far right of the VM Direct Engines pane, click the three vertical dots.
3. If the VM Direct Engine is not yet enabled, select Enable from the menu.
4. When the VM Direct Engine is enabled, select Redploy from the menu.
The VM Direct Engine is redeployed with its previous configuration details.

Discovering an application or File System host


After you register an application host with PowerProtect Data Manager, you can use the Asset
Sources window to discover an application or file system host, and modify the application host
credentials.
About this task
For application hosts, discovery is required if you want to schedule a backup. You must add
credentials to the SQL or Oracle database so that PowerProtect Data Manager can access the
database to create backups.

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Discover an Oracle or SQL application host


Perform the following steps to discover an Oracle or SQL application host as an asset source in the
PowerProtect Data Manager UI.
Procedure
1. Select Infrastructure > Asset Sources.
The Asset Sources window appears.
2. Select the App/File System Host tab.
3. If you are adding an Oracle or SQL database, select the host entry and click Edit
Credentials.
The Edit Credentials dialog appears.
4. If you are adding credentials for:
l An Oracle database:
Ensure that you specify CredentialType: tnsName or FileName for DBUSER, RMAN,
and WALLET users. If you do not specify tnsName or FileName Credential Type for
DBUSER, RMAN, and WALLET, backups fail. OS user does not require tnsName or
FileName CredentialType.
Authentication requirements on page 69 provides details about the authentication
requirements for an Oracle database.
Note: Credentials that you set at the host level supersede the credentials that you
set at the protection policy level.
l A SQL database:
Ensure that you specify the OS credentials for the SQL host. Ensure that these
credentials have the rights to perform the Microsoft SQL Server backup and restore
operations.
5. Click Save.
An entry for the Application Host with the specified information displays as an entry in a
table on the Asset Sources window.

Discovery time is based on networking bandwidth. The resources that are discovered and
those that are doing the discovery take a performance hit each time that you go through a
discovery process. It might appear that PowerProtect Data Manager is not updating the
Asset Sources data.

Note: Click Discover at any time if any additions or other changes to your Asset
Sources have taken place outside of the PowerProtect Data Manager environment.

Results
If the database is properly configured, these application hosts can now be added to a
PowerProtect Data Manager protection policy.

Discover a File System Host


Perform the following steps to discover a File System Host as an asset source in the PowerProtect
Data Manager UI.
Procedure
1. Select Infrastructure > Asset Sources.

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The Asset Sources window appears.


2. Select the App/File System Host tab.
3. Select the file system host and click Discover.
The Discover dialog appears with an option to set the discovery schedule.
4. From the Discovery Schedule list, select the time of day to initiate the discovery, or select
Manual to disable scheduled discovery. You can also select the Discover Now checkbox to
perform the discovery upon completion of this procedure.
Note: From the App/File System Host tab, you can click Discover at any time if any
additions or other changes to your Asset Sources have taken place outside of the
PowerProtect Data Manager environment. Asset discovery is also initiated by default
after registration of the host to PowerProtect Data Manager and at hourly intervals.
Discovery time is based on networking bandwidth. Note that each time you initiate a
discovery process, the resources that are discovered and those that are handling the
discovery impact system performance.

5. Click Save.
Results
When the File System is configured correctly, it can be added to a PowerProtect Data Manager
protection policy.

Discover a Storage Direct agent host


By default, discovery of the Storage Direct agent host occurs automatically upon approval of the
agent in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI. If the Storage Direct agent storage group assets
have not yet been discovered, or if you added a storage group after approving the Storage Direct
agent, perform the following steps to initiate a manual discovery of the Storage Direct agent host.
Procedure
1. Select Infrastructure > Asset Sources.
The Asset Sources window appears.
2. Select the App/File System Host tab.
Available agents display in the table with their host name. If an agent has not yet been
successfully discovered, the Discovery Status displays as Failed or Unknown.
3. Select the Storage Direct agent host and click Discover.
The Discover dialog appears with an option to set the discovery schedule.
4. From the Discovery Schedule list, select the time of day to initiate the discovery, or select
Manual to disable scheduled discovery. You can also select the Discover Now checkbox to
perform the discovery upon completion of this procedure.
Note: From the App/File System Host tab, you can click Discover at any time if any
additions or other changes to your Asset Sources have taken place outside of the
PowerProtect Data Manager environment. Asset discovery is also initiated by default
after registration of the host to PowerProtect Data Manager and at hourly intervals.
Discovery time is based on networking bandwidth. Note that each time that you initiate
a discovery process, the resources that are discovered and those that are handling the
discovery impact system performance.

5. Click Save.

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Results
If the Storage Direct agent is properly configured, the storage group assets can now be added to a
PowerProtect Data Manager Storage Group protection policy.

Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct
agent
In order to enable protection of data with the Storage Direct agent in PowerProtect Data
Manager, the addition of an SMIS server is required. The SMIS server facilitates the discovery of
LUNs for the storage groups configured in the VMAX. Perform the following steps to discover the
SMIS server as an asset source in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI.
Procedure
1. Select Infrastructure > Asset Sources.
The Asset Sources window appears.
2. Select the SMIS server tab.
3. Click Add.
The Add SMIS Server dialog box appears.
4. Provide the name, IP address, and port number of the SMIS server.
5. Under Host Credentials, choose an existing entry from the list to use for the SMIS server
user credentials, or click Add from this list to add new credentials.
6. Click Verify to check that the trusted certificate is valid for the specified host.
7. Click Save.
An entry appears for SMIS in the table on the Asset Sources window.
Note: A message does not appear if credential verification for this host was
unsuccessful. If the credentials are invalid, the status of the SMIS server entry in the
SMIS Server tab of the Infrastructure > Asset Sources window will indicate Failed.
8. Select the checkbox next to the entry and click Discover to initiate discovery of the assets,
or storage groups, in the VMAX.
Note: Asset discovery is also initiated by default after registration of the host to
PowerProtect Data Manager, and at daily intervals. Discovery time is based on
networking bandwidth. Note that each time that you initiate a discovery process, the
resources that are discovered and those that are handling the discovery impact system
performance.

When the discovery completes successfully, the Discovery Status column updates to OK.
After you finish
PowerProtect Data Manager initiates the automatic discovery of the assets (storage groups)
within the VMAX. To verify the discovery of storage groups, go to the Infrastructure > Assets
window and select the VMAX Storage Groups tab. Upon host registration with the PowerProtect
Data Manager server, all of the assets for the host (both those currently protected and
unprotected) display in the Assets window along with the host name.
Note: Ensure that you run a Discover of the SMIS server each time that you add a LUN to a
storage group.

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114 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


CHAPTER 9
Managing Protection Policies

This section includes the following topics:

l Protection policies................................................................................................................116
l Before you a create protection policy................................................................................... 118
l Add a protection policy for virtual machine protection......................................................... 118
l Add a protection policy for SQL database protection...........................................................122
l Add a protection policy for Oracle database protection....................................................... 125
l Add a protection policy for File System protection.............................................................. 129
l Add a protection policy for Storage Direct protection..........................................................132
l Add a Cloud Tier protection policy....................................................................................... 136
l Edit a protection policy........................................................................................................ 137
l Add or remove assets in a protection policy......................................................................... 137
l Removing expired backup copies......................................................................................... 138
l Export protection ................................................................................................................139
l Delete a protection policy.................................................................................................... 139
l Add a Service Level Agreement........................................................................................... 140
l Export Asset Compliance..................................................................................................... 142
l Dynamic filters .................................................................................................................... 143

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Protection policies
Protection policies define sets of objectives that apply to specific periods of time. These objectives
drive configuration, active protection, and copy-data-management operations that satisfy the
business requirements for the specified data. Each plan type has its own set of user objectives.
Users with the System Admin role can create protection policies.
You can create the following types of protection policies:
l VMware Virtual Machines
l SQL Databases
l Oracle Databases
l File Systems

Policy retention time considerations


The retention time of the protection copy set is different from the time that was configured in
PowerProtect Data Manager.
PowerProtect Data Manager applies an algorithm to determine the duration for which regular and
self-service copies must be retained. The retention time for backups is calculated as follows:
l Centralized backups: (start time of current FULL backup) + (schedule period configured in
PowerProtect Data Manager) + (retention value from PowerProtect Data Manager
configuration) + (padding to midnight)
l Self-service backups: (start time of current FULL backup) + (retention value from
PowerProtect Data Manager configuration) + (PowerProtect Data Manager self-service
schedule period value) + (padding to midnight), where PowerProtect Data Manager self-
service schedule period value = 14 days (default).
Maximum retention period for protection policy backups
According to the schedule type specified for a protection policy, the following maximum retention
periods apply:
l Hourly backups — 31 days
l Daily backups — 31 days
l Weekly backups — 52 weeks
l Monthly backups — 12 months

Data Domain protection considerations


Read about the following considerations around Data Domain protection policies and PowerProtect
Data Manager.
l PowerProtect Data Manager – created Storage Units must not be changed by the Data
Domain administrator to set up Storage Units replication.
l PowerProtect Data Manager-created Storage Units must not be configured for cloud tiering.
l When you create a protection policy, PowerProtect Data Manager creates a Data Domain
Boost storage unit and assigns a DD Boost user to it. The following limitations apply to the
number of supported PowerProtect Data Manager protection policies on the supported Data
Domain model to the number of active Data Domain Storage Units.

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Table 21 Supported PowerProtect Data Manager protection policies and Storage Units by Data
Domain version

Data Domain System DD OS Version Storage Units Supported Supported configurable


concurrently active
Storage Units /supported
number of PowerProtect
Data Manager protection
policies

DD9800 6.0 and later 256 256

DD9500 5.7 and later 256 256

DD6800, DD9300 6.0 and later 128 128

DD6300 6.0 and later 100 32

DD990, DD4200, DD4500, 5.7 and later 128 128


DD7200

All other DD systems 5.7 and later 100 Up to 32 based on the


model

DD9500 5.6 100 64

DD990, DD890 5.3 and later 100 Up to 32 based on the


model

DD7200, DD4500, DD4200 5.4 and later 100 Up to 32 based on the


model

All other DD systems 5.2 and later 100 Up to 14 based on the


model

Table 22 Supported Storage Units in DDVE by TB

Number TBs in DDVE Maximum Number of Storage Units Supported configurable


concurrently active Storage Units /
supported number of
PowerProtect Data Manager
protection policies

4 100 6
6
8

32 100 14
48

64 100 32
96

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Before you a create protection policy


Consider the following points before creating a protection policy.
l An asset can only be protected by one policy at a time. If you move assets between different
protection policies at some point, ensure that you unconfigure the assets from the current
policy before moving them to the new policy.
Note: If an SQL server is also a virtual machine, you can still protect the SQL database with
an application-consistent backup without interfering with the SQL agent-based backup.
l Before adding replication to a protection policy, ensure that you add a remote Data Domain
system as the replication location. Add Protection Storage provides detailed instructions about
adding a remote Data Domain system.
Managing backup frequency
To avoid high CPU usage that can lead to failure issues, do not schedule backups more often than
recommended in the following table:
Backup type Minimum frequency recommendation

Archive Log 30 minutes

Differential 6 hours

Incremental Cumulative 12 hours

Full Daily

Add a protection policy for virtual machine protection


A protection policy enables you to select a specific group of assets that you want to back up. Use
the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to create a virtual machine protection policy.
Before you begin
Dell EMC recommends to distribute the virtual machine asset protection workload over multiple
ESXi hosts so that you do not exceed the ESXi NBD session limit. Note that if the limit is reached,
you can manage the workload by deploying an external VM Direct appliance on the host/cluster
using Hot Add transport mode.
To create Application Aware protection policies for virtual machines, ensure that:
l You manually update the vmx configuration parameter disk.EnableUUID to True by using the
vSphere Web Client.
l The vSphere version that you are running uses a supported version of VMware Tools. Software
compatibility information for the PowerProtect Data Manager software is provided in the eLab
Navigator, available at https://elabnavigator.emc.com/eln/modernHomeDataProtection.
l The virtual machine has direct access to the Data Domain client.
l The virtual machine uses SCSI disks only, and the number of available SCSI slots matches at
least the number of disks.
l The Windows account that is used for the protection policy has both Microsoft Windows
administrative rights and Microsoft SQL Server login and sysadmin rights.
l The SQL configuration support is limited to Microsoft SQL Server stand-alone instances and a
Microsoft SQL Server Always On availability group (AAG) configured with file share witness.
Unsupported configurations include Microsoft SQL Server failover cluster instances that are
configured with shared drives, and Microsoft SQL Server cluster-less AAG configurations.

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l For Microsoft SQL Server AAG configurations, the database administrator specifies the AAG
backup preferences for backup in the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).
These preferences control which AAG node is selected as the preferred node when you
perform a transaction log backup of AAG databases.
Procedure
1. Select Protection > Protection Policies.
2. In the Protection Policies window, click Add.
The Add Policy wizard appears.
3. On the Type page, specify the following fields, and then click Next:
l Name—Type a descriptive name for the protection policy.
l Description—Type a description for the policy.
l Type—Select Virtual Machine, which includes protection for SQL application-aware
virtual machines.

4. On the Purpose page, select from the following options to indicate the purpose of the new
protection policy group, and then click Next:
l Crash Consistent—Select this type for point-in-time backup of virtual machines.
l Application Aware —For virtual machines with a SQL application installed, select this
type to quiesce the application to perform the SQL database and transaction log backup.
When you select this type, you also need to provide Windows account credentials for the
virtual machine. You can provide the credentials at the protection lifecycle level and/or
the virtual machine asset level. When you provide the credentials at both levels, the
virtual machine asset credentials override the policy credentials.
l Exclusion—Select this type if there are virtual machine assets within the protection
policy that you plan to exclude from data protection operations.

5. In the Assets page, select the unprotected assets that you want to back up as part of this
protection policy, and then click Next.
If the virtual machines that you want to protect are not listed, do one of the following:
l Click Find More Assets to perform an updated asset discovery of the vCenter.
l Use the Search box to search by asset name.
l Select vCenter Hierarchy or All Virtual Machines from the filter on the right side of the
window to display a different view.
Note: When you configure a virtual machine application-aware protection policy to
protect a Microsoft SQL Server Always On availability group (AAG), you must add all
the virtual machines for that AAG to the same policy, to ensure proper protection.
Failure to do so might result in missed transaction log backups.
For the virtual machine application-aware case, the Assets page displays a warning about
the AAG policy configuration requirement.

6. On the Schedule page, click + Backup to create a new schedule.


7. On the Add Primary Backup page, specify the backup schedule fields, and then click OK:
l Recurrence—Specify how often backups will occur.
l Create Copy—Specify how often to create an incremental backup.
l Transaction Log Every—For application-aware protection policies, specify the interval
in minutes for logs to be generated.

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Note: For Microsoft SQL Server AAG configurations, the database administrator can
specify the AAG backup preferences for a transaction log backup in the Microsoft
SQL Server Management Studio.
l Keep For—Specify the retention period for the backup.
l Start Time—Specify the time of day to start initiating backups.
l End Time—Specify the time of day to stop initiating backups.
Note: Any running backups will complete.

l Create Full—Select this option if you want to periodically force a full (level 0) backup,
and then specify how often to create these backups. When you select this option, the
backup chain is reset.
Note:
When a new asset is added to a protection policy during a scheduled backup window,
the backup starts right away. However, if an asset is added to a protection policy
outside of the scheduled backup window, the backup does not start until the next time
that backups are configured to run.
If a new asset is added to a protection policy that has a weekly or monthly backup
schedule and the current time is within the scheduled Start Time and End Time, the
backup runs right away, regardless of the date. If the current time is not within the
scheduled Start Time and End Time, the backup does not start until the next time that
backups are configured to run.

The Schedule page updates with the added backup schedule.


Note: After completing a backup schedule, you can change any schedule details by
selecting the check box next to the added schedule and clicking Edit.
8. To extend the latest primary backup copy to long-term retention:
a. Select the checkbox next to the added schedule and click + Backup.
b. Complete the schedule details in the Add Promotion Backup dialog box, and then click
OK.
9. To replicate these backups to a remote Data Domain system:
a. Select the checkbox next to the added schedule and click Replicate.
b. Complete the schedule details in the Add Primary Replication dialog box, and then click
OK.
Note: To enable replication, ensure that you add a remote Data Domain system as the
replication location. Add Protection Storage provides detailed instructions about adding
a remote Data Domain system.

10. Select the check box next to the added schedule.


When you select the check box, the service level agreement (SLA), Storage Name, and
Network interface lists are enabled for selection.
11. From the SLA list, select an existing service level agreement that you want to apply to this
schedule, or select Add to create a SLA within the Add Backup Service Level Agreement
window.
Add a new SLA provides instructions.
12. From the Storage Name list:
l Select the backup destination from the list of existing Data Domain systems.

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l To add a system, select Add, and complete the details in the Storage Target window.
Add Protection Storage provides instructions.
When you select the destination storage, the Space field updates with the available capacity
on the system.
13. Click Set Storage Quotas to set storage space restrictions for a Data Domain MTree or
Storage Unit to prevent the consumption of excess space. There are two kinds of quota
limits—hard limits and soft limits. You can set either a soft or hard limit or both a soft and
hard limit. Both values must be integers, and the soft value must be less than the hard value.
Note: When you set a soft limit and the limit is reached, an alert is generated but data
can still be written to the Data Domain. When you set a hard limit and the limit is
reached, data cannot be written to the MTree. Therefore, all data protection operations
fail until data is deleted from the MTree. The Data Domain Operating System
Administration Guide provides more information about MTree quota configuration.

a. Capacity Quota — Controls the total size of pre-compression data written to the Data
Domain.
b. Stream Quota — The number of concurrent streams allowed on the system during data
protection operations. Setting a Stream Quota limit can help ensure that system
performance is not impacted negatively if a data protection operation is consuming too
many system resources.

14. Select the Retention Lock check box to enable retention locking for these backups on the
selected system.
Note: Primary backups are assigned a default retention lock period of 14 days.
Replicated backups, however, are not assigned a default retention lock period. If you
select this check box for a replicated backup, ensure that you set the Keep For field in
the Add Primary Replicate backup schedule dialog to a minimum number of 14 days so
that the replicated backup does not expire before the primary backup.

15. From the Network interface list, select a network interface card (NIC), if applicable.
16. Click Next.
The Summary page appears.
17. Review the protection policy group configuration details. Except for the protection policy
type, you can click Edit next to any completed details to change the protection policy
information. When completed, click Finish.
An informational message appears to confirm that PowerProtect Data Manager has saved
the protection policy. When the new protection policy group is created, PowerProtect Data
Manager automatically performs a full backup. For virtual machines, if you have not yet
added a VM Direct appliance, the backup is performed using the embedded VM Direct
appliance. Subsequent backups are performed according to the schedule specified.
18. Click OK to exit the window, or click Go to Jobs to open the Jobs window to monitor the
backup of the new protection policy group.

On-demand backups of virtual machines


Once virtual assets have been added to a virtual machine protection policy, you can perform on-
demand backups of individual virtual machines by using the Backup Now functionality in the
PowerProtect Data Manager UI.
When a virtual machine is part of an application-aware protection policy, the ad-hoc backup is a
full application-aware backup.

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To perform an on-demand backup:


1. Select Infrastructure > Assets.
2. Select the Virtual Machines tab. A list of virtual assets for the discovered vCenter display.
3. Select a virtual machine from the table that has an associated protection policy.
Note: You can only select one virtual machine at a time for on-demand backup, and the
protection policy associated with this virtual machine cannot be an exclusion policy.
4. Click Backup Now. A notification appears indicating whether the request was processed
successfully.

Additional options for managing virtual machine backups


After a virtual machine protection policy backup is complete, additional options such as editing the
retention period become available for virtual machine assets backed up as part of the policy.
Select Infrastructure > Assets. Select the Virtual Machines tab. The table lists the virtual
machine assets that were discovered in the vCenter. Select an asset from the table and click View
Copies. The Copy Locations pane identifies where the backups are stored.
In the left pane, click the storage icon to the right of the VM icon, for example, DD. The table in
the right pane lists the backup copies. Depending on whether the asset is retention locked, you
can perform the following functions from this window:
l Edit the retention period for a backup copy — Select a backup copy from the table and click
Edit Retention.
l Delete a backup copy — If you no longer require one of the backup copies and the retention
lock is not enabled for this copy, select the backup copy from the table and click Delete.

Add a protection policy for SQL database protection


Use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to add a protection policy group for the purposes of SQL
database protection.
About this task
Note: If a database is protected in an Always On availability group, you cannot configure stand-
alone backups of that database in a protection policy group.
Procedure
1. Select Protection > Protection Policy.
The Protection Policy window appears.
2. Click Add.
The Add Policy wizard appears.
3. In the Type page, specify the new protection policies group fields. For example, if you are
creating a protection policy for daily backups in the SQL production environment:
a. In the Name field, specify the name of the protection policy. For example, SQL Prod
Databases

Note: The name that you specify here becomes part of the Data Domain MTree
entry.

b. In the Description field, specify a short description of the protection policy. For
example, For example, SQL Prod Daily Backups

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c. In theType field, select Microsoft SQL database.


d. Click Next.
The Purpose page appears.
4. In the Purpose page, specify the following fields to indicate the purpose of the new
protection policy group:
a. The type of protection policies group.
For a SQL database, you can select from three types:
l To use PowerProtect Data Manager to manage all protection centrally, click
Centralized Protection.
l To use SQL to create local backup protection, click Self-Service Protection.
PowerProtect Data Manager creates a protection policy and manages extra stages.
l If there are SQL assets within the protection policy that you plan to exclude from
data protection operations, click Exclusion.

b. To specify the credentials, click Set Credentials. You can specify new credentials or
select existing credentials from the list.
c. Click Save.
d. Click Next.
The Assets page appears.
5. Select the unprotected assets that you want to add to the backup of this protection policy
group. The window enables you to filter by asset name to locate the required assets.
6. Click Next.
If you selected Exclusion in the Purpose page, the Summary page appears. Proceed to the
final two steps.
If you selected Centralized Protection or Self-Service Protection, the Schedule page
appears.
7. Click + Backup.
The Add Primary Backup dialog box appears.
8. Specify the backup schedule fields:
l For Centralized Protection:
a. In the Recurrence field, select the interval at which the backup job runs within the
window that you specify.
Recurrence relates to Start Time and End Time fields.
When you select Hourly, Daily,Weekly, and Monthly recurrence, you are selecting
the interval at which the backup job runs within the window that you specify.
b. In the Create Full field, specify the interval in hours to create a full backup.
The interval should be between 1 hour to 12 hours.
c. To create an incremental differential backup, click Differential, and then specify the
interval in minutes.
d. To create a log, click Log, and then specify the interval in minutes.
e. In the Keep For field, specify the retention time.
f. In the Start Time field, specify the time when new backups are initiated in this policy.
g. In the End Time field, specify the time after which no new backups are initiated in
this policy. It does not mean that any policy that is running is stopped.

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h. Click OK.
Note:
When a new asset is added to a protection policy during a scheduled backup
window, the backup starts right away. However, if an asset is added to a
protection policy outside of the scheduled backup window, the backup does not
start until the next time that backups are configured to run.
If a new asset is added to a protection policy that has a weekly or monthly backup
schedule and the current time is within the scheduled Start Time and End Time,
the backup runs right away, regardless of the date. If the current time is not
within the scheduled Start Time and End Time, the backup does not start until
the next time that backups are configured to run.
The Schedule page updates with the newly added backup schedule.
l For Self-Service Protection:
a. In the Keep For field, specify the retention time.
b. Click OK.
After completing a backup schedule, you can change any schedule details by selecting the
checkbox next to the added schedule and clicking Edit.
9. To reduce the number of backups when daily, weekly, and/or monthly backups coincide,
turn on auto promotion:
a. Select the checkbox next to the added schedule and click + Backup.
b. Complete the schedule details in the Add Promotion Backup dialog box, and then click
OK.
10. To replicate these backups to a remote Data Domain system:
a. Select the checkbox next to the added schedule and click Replicate.
b. Complete the schedule details in the Add Primary Replication dialog box, and then click
OK.
Note: To enable replication, ensure that you add a remote Data Domain system as the
replication location. Add Protection Storage provides detailed instructions about adding
a remote Data Domain system.

11. Select the check box next to the added schedule.


When you select the check box, the SLA, Storage Name, and Network interface lists are
enabled for selection.
12. From the SLA list, select an existing service level agreement that you want to apply to this
schedule, or select Add to create a SLA within the Add Backup Service Level Agreement
window. Add a Service Level Agreement provides instructions.
13. From the Storage Name list:
l Select the backup destination from the list of existing Data Domain systems.
l To add a system, select Add, and complete the details in the Storage Target window.
Add Protection Storage provides instructions.
When you select the destination storage, the Space field updates with the available capacity
on the system.
14. From the Network interface list, select a network interface card (NIC), if applicable.
15. Click Set Storage Quotas to set storage space restrictions for a Data Domain MTree or
Storage Unit to prevent the consumption of excess space. There are two kinds of quota

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limits—hard limits and soft limits. You can set either a soft or hard limit or both a soft and
hard limit. Both values must be integers, and the soft value must be less than the hard value.
Note: When you set a soft limit and the limit is reached, an alert is generated but data
can still be written to the Data Domain. When you set a hard limit and the limit is
reached, data cannot be written to the MTree. Therefore, all data protection operations
fail until data is deleted from the MTree. The Data Domain Operating System
Administration Guide provides more information about MTree quota configuration.

a. Capacity Quota — Controls the total size of pre-compression data written to the Data
Domain.
b. Stream Quota — The number of concurrent streams allowed on the system during data
protection operations. Setting a Stream Quota limit can help ensure that system
performance is not impacted negatively if a data protection operation is consuming too
many system resources.

16. Select the Retention Lock check box to enable retention locking for these backups on the
selected system.
Note: Primary backups are assigned a default retention lock period of 14 days.
Replicated backups, however, are not assigned a default retention lock period. If you
select this check box for a replicated backup, ensure that you set the Keep For field in
the Add Primary Replicate backup schedule dialog box to a minimum number of 14 days
so that the replicated backup does not expire before the primary backup.

17. Click Next.


The Summary page appears.
18. Review the protection policy group configuration details. You can click Edit next to any
completed window's details to change any information. When completed, click Finish.
An informational message appears to confirm that PowerProtect Data Manager has saved
the protection policy. When a new protection policy is created, PowerProtect Data Manager
performs the first full backup and subsequent backups according to the schedule specified.
19. Click OK to exit the window, or click Go to Jobs to open the Jobs window to monitor the
backup of the new protection policy group.

Add a protection policy for Oracle database protection


Use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to add a protection policy group for the purposes of
Oracle database protection.
Before you begin
l If you are creating protection policies for RAC databases, ensure that all nodes in the RAC
environment are powered on and registered at the time of PLC creation. Otherwise protection
may fail.
l You cannot add assets from a single Oracle host in two or more protection policies with the
same Data Domain. You must add additional protection policies to a different DD. This is
pertaining to issue ECDM-39456.
l For Oracle Instance Group assets, ensure that the maximum length of the hostname plus
storage unit is 59. There are no special character limitations. For example,
oracle_database_department_123_accounts.

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Procedure
1. Select Protection > Protection Policy.
The Protection Policy window appears.
2. Click Add.
The Add Policy wizard appears.
3. In the Type page, specify the new protection policies group fields. For example, if you are
creating a protection policy for daily backups in the Oracle production environment:
a. In the Name field, specify the name of the protection policy. For example, Oracle Prod
Databases

Note: The name that you specify here becomes part of the Data Domain MTree
entry.

b. In the Description field, specify a short description of the protection policy. For
example, Oracle Prod Daily Backups
c. In theType field, select Oracle database.
d. Click Next.
The Purpose page appears.
4. In the Purpose page, specify the following fields to indicate the purpose of the new
protection policy group:
a. The type of protection policies group.
For an Oracle database, you can select from three types:
l To use PowerProtect Data Manager to manage all protection centrally, click
Centralized Protection
l To use Oracle to create local backup protection, click Self-Service Protection.
PowerProtect Data Manager creates a protection policy and manages extra stages.
l If there are Oracle assets within the protection policy that you plan to exclude from
data protection operations, click Exclusion.

b. To specify the credentials, click Set Credentials. You can specify new credentials or
select existing credentials from the list.
Authentication requirements on page 69 provides details about the authentication
requirements for an Oracle database.
Note: Credentials that you set at the host level supersede the credentials that you
set at the protection policy level.

c. Click Next.
The Assets page appears.
5. Select the unprotected assets that you want to add to the backup of this protection policy
group. The window enables you to filter by asset name to locate the required assets.
Additionally, you can change the assets view to display all assets discovered by
PowerProtect Data Manager, or a hierarchical view to display the assets in a tree structure
underneath the application host. A hierarchical view might be helpful, for example, if you
have added multiple Oracle or SQL databases, so that you can more easily identify which
assets belong to which database.

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6. Click Next.
If you selected Exclusion in the Purpose page, the Summary window appears. Proceed to
the final two steps.

If you selected Centralized Protection or Self-Service Protection, the Schedule page


appears.
7. Click + Backup.
The Add Primary Backup dialog box appears.
8. Specify the backup schedule fields:
l For Centralized Protection:
a. In the Recurrence field, select the interval at which the backup job runs within the
window that you specify.
Recurrence relates to Start Time and End Time fields.
When you select Hourly, Daily,Weekly, and Monthly recurrence, you are selecting
the interval at which the backup job runs within the window that you specify.
b. In the Create Full (Level 0) field, specify the interval in hours to create a full backup.
The interval should be between 1 hour to 12 hours.
c. To create an incremental cumulative backup, click Incremental Cumulative, and then
specify the interval in minutes.
d. To create an incremental differential backup, click Incremental Differential, and
then specify the interval in minutes.
e. To create a log, click Log, and then specify the interval in minutes.
f. In the Keep For field, specify the retention time.
g. In the Start Time field, specify the time when new backups are initiated in this policy.
h. In the End Time field, specify the time after which no new backups are initiated in
this policy. It does not mean that any policy that is running is stopped.
i. Click OK.
Note:
When a new asset is added to a protection policy during a scheduled backup
window, the backup starts right away. However, if an asset is added to a
protection policy outside of the scheduled backup window, the backup does not
start until the next time that backups are configured to run.
If a new asset is added to a protection policy that has a weekly or monthly backup
schedule and the current time is within the scheduled Start Time and End Time,
the backup runs right away, regardless of the date. If the current time is not
within the scheduled Start Time and End Time, the backup does not start until
the next time that backups are configured to run.
The Schedule page updates with the newly added backup schedule.
l For Self-Service Protection:
a. In the Keep For field, specify the retention time.
b. Click OK.
After completing a backup schedule, you can change any schedule details by selecting the
checkbox next to the added schedule and clicking Edit.
9. To reduce the number of backups when daily, weekly, and/or monthly backups coincide,
turn on auto promotion:
a. Select the check box next to the added schedule and click + Backup.

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b. Complete the schedule details in the Add Promotion Backup dialog box, and then click
OK.
10. To replicate these backups to a remote Data Domain system:
a. Select the checkbox next to the added schedule and click Replicate.
b. Complete the schedule details in the Add Primary Replication dialog box, and then click
OK.
Note: To enable replication, ensure that you add a remote Data Domain system as the
replication location. Add Protection Storage provides detailed instructions about adding
a remote Data Domain system.

11. Select the check box next to the added schedule.


When you select the check box, the SLA, Storage Name, and Network interface lists are
enabled for selection.
12. From the SLA list, select an existing service level agreement that you want to apply to this
schedule, or click Add to create a SLA within the Add Backup Service Level Agreement
window. Add a Service Level Agreement provides instructions.
13. From the Storage Name list:
l Select the backup destination from the list of existing Data Domain systems.
l To add a system, select Add, and complete the details in the Storage Target window.
Add Protection Storage provides instructions.
When you select the destination storage, the Space field updates with the available capacity
on the system.
14. From the Network interface list, select a network interface card (NIC), if applicable.
15. Click Set Storage Quotas to set storage space restrictions for a Data Domain MTree or
Storage Unit to prevent the consumption of excess space. There are two kinds of quota
limits—hard limits and soft limits. You can set either a soft or hard limit or both a soft and
hard limit. Both values must be integers, and the soft value must be less than the hard value.
Note: When you set a soft limit and the limit is reached, an alert is generated but data
can still be written to the Data Domain. When you set a hard limit and the limit is
reached, data cannot be written to the MTree. Therefore, all data protection operations
fail until data is deleted from the MTree. The Data Domain Operating System
Administration Guide provides more information about MTree quota configuration.

a. Capacity Quota — Controls the total size of pre-compression data written to the Data
Domain.
b. Stream Quota — The number of concurrent streams allowed on the system during data
protection operations. Setting a Stream Quota limit can help ensure that system
performance is not impacted negatively if a data protection operation is consuming too
many system resources.

16. Select the Retention Lock check box to enable retention locking for these backups on the
selected system.
Note: Primary backups are assigned a default retention lock period of 14 days.
Replicated backups, however, are not assigned a default retention lock period. If you
select this check box for a replicated backup, ensure that you set the Keep For field in
the Add Primary Replicate backup schedule dialog box to a minimum number of 14 days
so that the replicated backup does not expire before the primary backup.

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17. Click Next.


The Summary page appears.
18. Review the protection policy group configuration details. You can click Edit next to any
completed window's details to change any information. When completed, click Finish.
An informational message appears to confirm that PowerProtect Data Manager has saved
the protection policy. When the new protection policy group is created, PowerProtect Data
Manager automatically performs a full backup. Subsequent backups are performed
according to the schedule specified.
19. Click OK to exit the window, or click Go to Jobs to open the Jobs window to monitor the
backup of the new protection policy group.

Add a protection policy for File System protection


Use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to add a protection policy for the purposes of File System
data protection.
Before you begin
Review the prerequisites in the section File System agent prerequisites on page 80
Procedure
1. Select Protection > Protection Policies.
The Protection Policy window appears.
2. Click Add.
The Add Policy window appears.
3. In the Type page, specify the new protection policies group fields. For example, if you are
creating a protection policy for daily backups in the Windows 2012 Server:
a. In the Name field, specify the name of the protection policy. For example, File System
Prod

Note: The name that you specify here becomes part of the Data Domain MTree
entry.

b. In the Description field, specify a short description of the protection policy. For
example, File System Prod Daily Backups
c. In theType field, select File System.
d. Click Next.
The Purpose page appears.
4. In the Purpose page, specify the following fields to indicate the purpose of the new
protection policy:
a. The type of protection policies group.
For File System, you can select from three types:
l To use PowerProtect Data Manager to manage all protection centrally, click
Centralized Protection
l To use the File System to create local backup protection, click Self-Service
Protection. PowerProtect Data Manager creates a protection policy and manages
extra stages.

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l If there are assets within the protection policy that you plan to exclude from data
protection operations, click Exclusion.

b. Click Next.
The Assets page appears.
5. Select the unprotected assets that you want to add to the backup of this protection policy
group. The window enables you to filter by asset name to locate the required assets.
Additionally, you can change the assets view to display all assets discovered by
PowerProtect Data Manager, or a hierarchical view to display the assets in a tree structure
underneath the application host. A hierarchical view might be helpful, for example, if you
have added multiple File Systems, so that you can more easily identify which assets belong
to which host.
Note: PowerProtect Data Manager does not support including CSV and non-CSV
volumes in the same protection policy.

6. Click Next.
If you selected Exclusion in the Purpose page, the Summary page appears. Proceed to the
final two steps.
If you selected Centralized Protection or Self-Service Protection, the Schedule page
appears.
7. Click + Backup.
The Add Primary Backup dialog box appears.
8. Specify the backup schedule fields:
l For Centralized Protection:
a. In the Recurrence field, select the interval at which the backup job runs within the
window that you specify.
Recurrence relates to Start Time and End Time fields.
When you select Hourly, Daily,Weekly, and Monthly recurrence, you are selecting
the interval at which the backup job runs within the window that you specify.
b. Create Copy—Specify how often to create an incremental backup.
c. To create a log, click Log, and then specify the interval in minutes.
d. In the Keep For field, specify the retention time.
e. In the Start Time field, specify the time when new backups will be initiated in this
policy.
f. In the End Time field, specify the time after which no new backup will be initiated in
this policy. It does not mean that any policy that is running is stopped at this time.
g. Create Full—Select this option if you want to periodically force a full (level 0)
backup, and then specify how often to create these backups. By default, if you do not
select this option, all subsequent backups are incremental backups.
Note:
It is not mandatory to create periodic full backups. When you select this option,
the File System agent forces the next backup to be a Full Backup. A full backup
ensures protection from potential corruption that can be carried over from
previous backups. However, these backups require more time and resources.
If you do not select this option, the File System agent identifies changes since the
last full backup and uses the previous backup copy to create a new full backup.

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h. Click OK.
Note:
When a new asset is added to a protection policy during a scheduled backup
window, the backup starts right away. However, if an asset is added to a
protection policy outside of the scheduled backup window, the backup does not
start until the next time that backups are configured to run.
If a new asset is added to a protection policy that has a weekly or monthly backup
schedule and the current time is within the scheduled Start Time and End Time,
the backup runs right away, regardless of the date. If the current time is not
within the scheduled Start Time and End Time, the backup does not start until
the next time that backups are configured to run.
The Schedule page updates with the newly added backup schedule.
l For Self-Service Protection:
a. In the Keep For field, specify the retention time.
b. Click OK.
After completing a backup schedule, you can change any schedule details by selecting the
checkbox next to the added schedule and clicking Edit.
9. To reduce the number of backups when daily, weekly, and/or monthly backups coincide,
turn on auto promotion:
a. Select the check box next to the added schedule and click + Backup.
b. Complete the schedule details in the Add Promotion Backup dialog box, and then click
OK.
10. To replicate these backups to a remote Data Domain system:
a. Select the checkbox next to the added schedule and click Replicate.
b. Complete the schedule details in the Add Primary Replication dialog box, and then click
OK.
Note: To enable replication, ensure that you add a remote Data Domain system as the
replication location. Add Protection Storage provides detailed instructions about adding
a remote Data Domain system.

11. Select the check box next to the added schedule.


When you select the check box, the SLA, Storage Name, and Network interface lists are
enabled for selection.
12. From the SLA list, select an existing service level agreement that you want to apply to this
schedule, or select Add to create a SLA within the Add Backup Service Level Agreement
window. Add a Service Level Agreement provides instructions.
13. From the Storage Name list:
l Select the backup destination from the list of existing Data Domain systems.
l To add a system, select Add, and complete the details in the Storage Target window.
Add Protection Storage provides instructions.
When you select the destination storage, the Space field updates with the available capacity
on the system.
14. From the Network interface list, select a network interface card (NIC), if applicable.
15. Click Set Storage Quotas to set storage space restrictions for a Data Domain MTree or
Storage Unit to prevent the consumption of excess space. There are two kinds of quota

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limits—hard limits and soft limits. You can set either a soft or hard limit or both a soft and
hard limit. Both values must be integers, and the soft value must be less than the hard value.
Note: When you set a soft limit and the limit is reached, an alert is generated but data
can still be written to the Data Domain. When you set a hard limit and the limit is
reached, data cannot be written to the MTree. Therefore, all data protection operations
fail until data is deleted from the MTree. The Data Domain Operating System
Administration Guide provides more information about MTree quota configuration.

a. Capacity Quota — Controls the total size of pre-compression data written to the Data
Domain.
b. Stream Quota — The number of concurrent streams allowed on the system during data
protection operations. Setting a Stream Quota limit can help ensure that system
performance is not impacted negatively if a data protection operation is consuming too
many system resources.

16. Select the Retention Lock check box to enable retention locking for these backups on the
selected system.
Note: Primary backups are assigned a default retention lock period of 14 days.
Replicated backups, however, are not assigned a default retention lock period. If you
select this check box for a replicated backup, ensure that you set the Keep For field in
the Add Primary Replicate backup schedule dialog box to a minimum number of 14 days
so that the replicated backup does not expire before the primary backup.

17. Click Next.


The Summary page appears.
18. Review the protection policy group configuration details. You can click Edit next to any
completed window's details to change any information. When completed, click Finish.
An informational message appears to confirm that PowerProtect Data Manager has saved
the protection policy. When the new protection policy is created, PowerProtect Data
Manager automatically performs a full backup.
19. Click OK to exit the window, or click Go to Jobs to open the Jobs window to monitor the
backup of the new protection policy group.

Add a protection policy for Storage Direct protection


Use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to add a protection policy for the purposes of Storage
Direct data protection.
Before you begin
l Review the prerequisites in the section Storage Direct agent prerequisites on page 88.
l If you have added a LUN to a storage group since the last SMIS server discovery, run a
Discover of the SMIS server. Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent
on page 113 provides information.
l Ensure that there is no lock on the VMAX. Storage Direct agent limitations on page
218provides information.
Procedure
1. Select Protection > Protection Policies.
The Protection Policy window appears.

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2. Click Add.
The Add Policy window appears.
3. In the Type page, specify the new protection policy fields.
a. In the Name field, specify the name of the protection policy. For example, Storage
Direct VMAX Policy

Note: The name that you specify here becomes part of the Data Domain MTree
entry.

b. In the Description field, specify a short description of the protection policy. For
example, Storage Direct VMAX Policy Daily Backups.
c. In the Type field, select Storage Group.
d. Click Next.
The Purpose page appears.
4. In the Purpose page, specify the following fields to indicate the purpose of the new
protection policy:
a. Select from one of the following options:
l If you are a new Storage Direct user, select I want PPDM to automatically provision
and manage all storage needed to achieve this objective.
l If you are an existing Storage Direct user, select I will provision and manage my own
storage.

b. Click Next.
The Assets page appears.
5. Select the unprotected storage groups that you want to add to the backup of this
protection policy group. Within this page, you can filter by host or asset name to locate the
required assets. Ensure that any assets you add to the policy have a host name entry in the
Host column.
The Assets page displays the storage groups attached to the host that are currently
unprotected (storage groups that have not been assigned to a protection policy).
Note: If the desired assets do not display, cancel the policy creation and run the Storage
Direct host discovery again:
a. Go to Infrastructure > Asset Sources.
b. Select the App/File System Host tab.
c. Select the Storage Direct agent host and click Discover.
d. Go back to Protection > Protection Policies to recreate the protection policy.
6. Click Next.
The Schedule page appears.
7. Click + Backup.
The Add Primary Backup dialog box appears.
8. In the Keep For field, specify the retention time, and then click OK to exit the dialog.
The Schedule page updates with the new details. You can change this information by
selecting the check box next to the added schedule and clicking Edit.
9. Select the check box next to the added schedule for the primary backup.

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If you are a new Storage Direct user, the Storage Name and Network interface lists and
the Retention Lock check box are enabled for selection. If you are an existing Storage
Direct user, the Data Domain destination is selected automatically and you will not be able to
modify the selection. Additionally, the Retention Lock check box will be unselected and
disabled.
10. From the Storage Name list:
l For the primary backup, select a destination from the list of existing Data Domain
systems.
l For the replicated backup, select a second destination from the list of existing Data
Domain systems.
When you select the destination storage, the Space field updates with the available capacity
on the system.
11. From the Network interface list, select a network interface card (NIC), if applicable.
12. Select the Retention Lock check box to enable retention locking for these backups on the
selected system.
Primary backups are assigned a default retention lock period of 14 days, so the backup will
be locked for 14 days or until expiry of the retention period specified in the Keep For field,
whichever is less.
13. Click Set Storage Quotas to set storage space restrictions for a Data Domain MTree or
Storage Unit to prevent the consumption of excess space. There are two kinds of quota
limits—hard limits and soft limits. You can set either a soft or hard limit or both a soft and
hard limit. Both values must be integers, and the soft value must be less than the hard value.
Note: When you set a soft limit and the limit is reached, an alert is generated but data
can still be written to the Data Domain. When you set a hard limit and the limit is
reached, data cannot be written to the MTree. Therefore, all data protection operations
fail until data is deleted from the MTree. The Data Domain Operating System
Administration Guide provides more information about MTree quota configuration.

a. Capacity Quota — Controls the total size of pre-compression data written to the Data
Domain.
b. Stream Quota — The number of concurrent streams allowed on the system during data
protection operations. Setting a Stream Quota limit can help ensure that system
performance is not impacted negatively if a data protection operation is consuming too
many system resources.

14. To reduce the number of backups when daily, weekly, and/or monthly backups coincide,
turn on auto promotion:
a. Select the checkbox next to the added schedule and click + Backup.
b. Complete the schedule details in the Add Promotion Backup dialog box, and then click
OK.
15. To replicate the primary backup to a secondary Data Domain system:
a. Select the checkbox next to the added schedule and click Replicate. The Add Primary
Replication dialog box appears, indicating that MTree replication will be added for
replication of the backup to a secondary Data Domain system.
Note: The retention period used will be the same Keep For value that you specified
for the backup schedule.

b. Click OK.

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Note: To enable replication, ensure that you add a second Data Domain system for use
as the replication location. Add Protection Storage provides detailed instructions about
adding a secondary or remote Data Domain system.

16. Click Next.


The Summary page appears.
17. Review the protection policy configuration details. You can click Edit next to any completed
window's details to change any information. When completed, click Finish.
An informational message appears to confirm that PowerProtect Data Manager has saved
the protection policy.
18. Click OK to exit the window, or click Go to Jobs to open the Jobs window to monitor the
backup of the new protection policy group.
The Jobs window breaks down the Storage Group protection by VMAX storage group.
Click the link next to the storage group to open the Details pane, where you can view more
specific information about the job tasks, such as:
l Creation of vDisks in the Data Domain and creation of backup and recovery storage
groups.
l Encapsulation, which involves creating backup and restore FTS devices on the VMAX
and linking the Data Domain vDisk with FTS.
l Creation of the initial snapshot backup, and linking of the snapshot to the protection
storage group.
l Notification that a new configuration file has been pushed to the host.
l If replication was selected, notification that a job for MTree replication also was initiated.
Job tasks will vary depending on whether you are a new user or an existing Storage Direct
user.

After you finish


Execute the protectpoint snapbackup create command to perform the self-service
backup. This command uses the configuration file that is created automatically upon the addition
of storage groups to a Storage Group protection policy. The configuration file provides
information about the VMAX and Data Domain system attributes and the storage groups being
protected by this policy.
You can access the configuration file, for example, VMAXPolicy1.config, by navigating to the
C:\Program Files\DPSAPPS\ppfsagent\config directory. The file name will contain the
name you provided for the Storage Group policy.
Note: Do not make any changes to this configuration file.

Before executing the backup command, run the following command for the host to verify
snapshots will be created for each storage group in the protection policy, and to ensure that a
successful relationship has been established between the source device and the backup FTS
device for movement of data from the VMAX to Data Domain.
symsnapvx - sid xxx -sg storage group name list
An X in the Flags section of this output, as shown in the following, indicates that the relationship
has been established without any issues.

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Figure 6 Storage group list command output

Once the snapshot(s) and relationship are verified, you can run the following command to perform
the self-service backup. Note that this command example is from a Windows system.
C:\Program Files\DPSAPPS\ppfsagent\config>protectpoint snapbackup create
description "Backup using sdm configuration" VMAX policy name.config
Upon successful completion of the backup, output similar to the following displays:
Figure 7 Snapbackup command output

Add a Cloud Tier protection policy


Add a protection policy for backups to cloud tier.
Before you begin
Ensure that a Data Domain system is set up for cloud tiering. See Add Data Domain cloud
protection storage on page 41.
About this task
You can add a Cloud Tier protection policy for Self-Service protection by using a promotion
backup schedule. For primary self-service protection, the Cloud Tier option is disabled.
Procedure
1. Log in to PowerProtect Data Manager with administrator credentials.
2. Select Protection > Protection Policies > Add.
3. On the Type page, enter a name and description, select the type of system to back up, and
click Next.
4. On the Purpose page, select the purpose (Application Consistent, Application Aware, or
Exclusion).
5. On the Assets page, select the assets to be protected with this policy and click Next.
6. On the Schedule page, select Backup.
7. On the Add Primary page, set the following parameters, and then click OK:

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l Recurrence—Cloud Tier backup requires a minimum of 2 weeks.


l Keep for—Cloud Tier backup requires a minimum of 2 weeks.
l Optionally, change the Start Time and/or End Time.

8. Select the protection policy that you created and select Cloud Tier.
9. In the Add Cloud Tier dialog box, set the following parameters and then click OK:
l Select the appropriate target from the Cloud Target list.
l For Tier After, set a time of at least 2 weeks.

The Cloud Tier protection policy is created.


10. Click Next, verify the information, and then click Finish.
A new job is created, which you can view under the Jobs tab after the job completes.

Edit a protection policy


Use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to edit a protection policy name, description, or schedule.
About this task
You can also edit a protection policy to add or remove assets. You cannot, however, modify a
protection policy type or purpose. Add or remove assets in a protection policy on page 137
provides instructions.
Note: You cannot remove assets from a VMAX Storage Group policy.

Procedure
1. Select Protection > Protection Policy.
The Protection Policy window opens.
2. Select the protection policy that you want to modify, and click Edit.
The Edit Policy window opens on the Summary page.
3. In the Name, Description, or Schedule rows, click Edit.
The Edit Policy window displays the appropriate page according to your selection. For
example, if you click Edit next to the Name or Description rows, the Type page opens.
4. After making your changes, click Next to save the changes and go to the Summary page.
5. On the Summary page, click Finish
An informational dialog displays.
6. Click OK to exit the dialog, or click Go to Jobs to open the Jobs window to monitor the
backup of the new protection policy.

Add or remove assets in a protection policy


Use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to add or remove an asset in a protection policy.
About this task
When a protection policy is edited and new assets are added, backups for the new assets start
from the next scheduled FULL backup job for the protection policy.

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Procedure
1. Select Protection > Protection Policy.
The Protection Policy window appears.
2. Select the protection policy that you want to modify, and click Edit.
The Edit Policy window opens on the Summary page.
3. In the Assets row, click Edit.
The Assets page appears.
4. To add an asset to the protection policy, click + Add.
The Add Unprotected Assets dialog displays any assets that are unprotected.
5. Select the unprotected assets that you want to add to the policy, and click Add.
The added assets now appear in the table on the Assets page.
6. To remove assets, select the assets that you want to remove from the backup of this
protection policy, and click Delete.
The window enables you to filter by asset name to locate the required assets. You can
change the assets view to display all assets that are discovered by PowerProtect Data
Manager.
7. Click Next to save the changes and go to the Summary page.
8. In the Summary page, click Finish
An informational dialog box appears.
9. Click OK to exit the dialog box, or click Go to Jobs to open the Jobs window to monitor the
backup of the new protection policy.

Removing expired backup copies


PowerProtect Data Manager deletes the backup copies of an asset automatically when the
retention period of the copy expires.
Information about retention periods for each type of policy schedule is provided in the section
Policy retention time considerations on page 116.
In order for an expired copy to be deleted, the asset must be managed by PowerProtect Data
Manager and in one of the following states:
l Protected – The asset is currently assigned to a protection policy.
l Previously Protected – The asset has been unassigned from a protection policy and has not
yet been re-assigned to another policy.
The automatic deletion is performed during the Manage Copies job, which consists of a batch of
tasks for all assets in the policy.
Note: For virtual machine assets, you can also manually delete a backup copy at any time from
the Assets window if you no longer require the copy and the retention lock is not enabled.
Additional options for managing virtual machine backups on page 122provides more
information.

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Export protection
This option enables you to export protection jobs and compliance records to a .CSV file so that you
can download an Excel file of protection results data.
Procedure
1. Select Protection > Protection Policy.
The Protection Policy window appears, which displays the following information:
l Asset type
l Purpose
l Group Name
l Number of Protected Assets
l Asset Capacity
l Number of Failures
l Number of SLA Violations

2. Select the protection policy for which you would like to export the protection records.
If you do not select a protection policy, PowerProtect Data Manager exports the protection
records for all the protection policies.
3. Click Export.
The Export Asset Protection window appears.
4. Specify the following fields for the export:
a. The Time Range.
The default is Last 24 hours.
This refers to the last complete midnight-to-midnight 24-hour period; that is, yesterday.
So, any events that have occurred since the most recent midnight are not in the CSV
export. For example, if you run the CSV export at 9am, any events that have occurred in
the last 9 hours are not in the CSV export. This is to prevent the overlapping of or partial
exporting when queried mid-day on a regular or irregular basis.

b. The Job Status.


c. Click Download .CSV.
If applicable, the navigation window appears for you to select the location to save the
CSV file.
5. If applicable, save the .CSV file in the desired location and then click Save.

Delete a protection policy


You can delete a protection policy that is not protecting any assets.
Before you begin
If the policy you want to delete is protecting assets, you must associate those assets with a
different protection policy before you can delete the policy.
About this task
Use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to delete a protection policy.

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Procedure
1. Select Protection > Protection Policy.
2. Select the policy you want to delete and click Delete.

Add a Service Level Agreement


The SLA Compliance window in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI enables you to add a service
level agreement (SLA) that identifies your Service Level Objectives (SLOs). You use the SLOs to
verify that your protected assets are meeting the Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
Procedure
1. Select Protection > SLA Compliance.
The SLA Compliance window displays with the following information:
l SLA Name
l Stage Type
l Policies At Risk
l Objectives Out of Compliance
l Impacted Assets

2. Select the type of asset for which you want to add the SLA, and click Add.
The Add Service Level Agreement Type window appears.
3. Select the type of SLA that you want to add, and then click Next.
l Policy. If you choose this type, go to step 4
l Backup. If you choose this type, go to step 5.
l Promotion. If you choose this type, go to step 6.
l Replication. If you choose this type, go to step 7.
You can select only one type of Service Level Agreement.
4. If you selected Policy, specify the following fields regarding the purpose of the new Policy
SLA:
a. The SLA Name.
b. If applicable, select Minimum Copies, and specify the number of Backup and
Replication.
c. If applicable, select Maximum Copies, and specify the number of Backup and
Replication.
d. If applicable, select Available Location and select the applicable locations. To add a
location, click Add Location.
Options are:
l In—Include locations of all copies in the SLO locations. Does not require every SLO
location to have a copy.
l Must In—Include locations of all copies in the SLO locations. Requires every SLO
location to have at least one copy.
l Exclude—Locations of all copies must be other than SLO locations.

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e. Click Finish and go to step 9.


5. If you selected Backup, specify the following fields regarding the purpose of the new
Backup SLA:
a. The SLA Name.
b. If applicable, select Recovery Point Objective (RPO), and then set the duration. The
purpose of a RPO is business continuity planning, and refers to the maximum targeted
period in which data (transactions) might be lost from an IT service due to a major
incident.
Note: You can select only Recovery Point Objective to configure as an independent
objective in the SLA, or select both Recovery Point Objective and Compliance
Window. If you select both, the RPO setting must be one of the following:
l Greater than 24 hours or more than the Compliance window duration, in which
case RPO validation will occur independent of the Compliance Window.
l Less than or equal to the Compliance Window duration, in which case RPO
validation will occur within the Compliance Window.

c. If applicable, select Compliance Window, and then set the duration, which refers to the
time it takes to create the backup copy. Ensure that the Start Time and End Time of
backup copy creation falls within the Compliance Window duration specified.
These are the times in which you can expect the specified activity to take place. Any
specified activity that occurs outside of this Start Time and End Time triggers an alert.

d. If applicable, select the Verify expired copies are deleted option.


Verify expired copies are deleted is a compliance check to see if PowerProtect Data
Manager is deleting expired copies. This option is disabled by default.

e. If applicable, set the Retention Time Objective, and specify the number of Days, Months,
Weeks or Years.
f. If applicable, select the Verify Retention Lock is enabled for all copies option. This
option is disabled by default.
g. Click Finish, and go to step 9.
The SLA Compliance window appears with the newly added SLA.
6. If you selected Promotion, specify the following fields regarding the purpose of the new
Promotion SLA:
a. The SLA Name.
b. If applicable, specify the Recovery Point Objective.
c. If applicable, select the Verify expired copies are deleted option.
Verify expired copies are deleted is a compliance check to see if PowerProtect Data
Manager is deleting expired copies. This option is disabled by default.

d. If applicable, set the Retention Time Objective, and specify the number of Days, Months,
Weeks or Years.
e. If applicable, select the Verify Retention Lock is enabled for all copies option. This
option is disabled by default.
f. Click Finish, and go to step 9.
The SLA Compliance window appears with the newly added SLA.

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7. If you selected Replication, specify the following fields regarding the purpose of the new
Replication SLA:
a. The SLA Name.
b. If applicable, select the Compliance Window, and specify the Start Time and End Time.
These are the times which are permissible and in which you can expect the specified
activity to take place. Any specified activity that occurs outside of this start time and
end time triggers an alert.

c. If applicable, select the Verify expired copies are deleted option.


Verify expired copies are deleted is a compliance check to see if PowerProtect Data
Manager is deleting expired copies. This option is disabled by default.

d. If applicable, set the Retention Time Objective, and specify the number of Days, Months,
Weeks or Years.
e. If applicable, select the Verify Retention Lock is enabled for all copies option. This
option is disabled by default.
f. Click Finish, and go to step 9.
The SLA Compliance window appears with the newly added SLA.
8. Add the newly added SLA to the protection policy. Select Protection > Protection Policy.
9. In the Schedule section of the Summary window, click Edit.
10. Do one of the following, and then click Next:
l Select the newly added Policy SLA from the Set Policy Level SLA list.
l Create and add the new SLA policy from theSet Policy Level SLA list.
The Summary window appears.
11. Click Finish.
An informational message appears to confirm that PowerProtect Data Manager has saved
the protection policy.
12. Click Go to Jobs to open the Jobs window to monitor the backup and compliance results, or
click OK to exit.
Note: Compliance checks occur automatically every day at 2 am Coordinated Universal
Time (UTC).

13. In the Jobs window, click next to an entry to view details on the SLA Compliance result.

Export Asset Compliance


This option enables you to export compliance records to a CSV file so that you can download an
Excel file of compliance results data.
Procedure
1. Select Protection > SLA Compliance.
The SLA Compliance window appears. The PowerProtect Data Manager SLA Compliance
window displays the following information:
l SLA Name
l Stage Type

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l Policies At Risk
l Objectives Out of Compliance
l Impacted Assets

2. Select the SLA for which you would like to export the compliance records.
3. Click Export Asset Compliance.
The Export Asset Compliancewindow appears.
4. Specify the following fields for the export:
a. The Time Range.
The default is Last 24 hours.
This refers to the last complete midnight-to-midnight 24 hour period; that is, yesterday.
So, any events that have occurred since the most recent midnight are not included in the
CSV export. For example, if you run the CSV export at 9am, any events that have
occurred in the last 9 hours are not included in the CSV export. This is to prevent the
overlapping of or partial exporting when queried mid-day on a regular or irregular basis.
b. The Job Status.
c. Click Download .CSV .
If applicable, the navigation window appears for you to select the location to save the
CSV file.
5. If applicable, save the CSV file in the desired location and click Save.

Dynamic filters
Dynamic filters enable you to automatically determine which assets are assigned to protection
policies when the assets are discovered, based on the filter's rule definitions (rules for inclusion).
When you define a dynamic filter for a protection policy, note the following requirements:
l A protection policy must exist prior to creating the dynamic filter.
l An asset can only belong to one protection policy.
l Virtual machine tags created in the vSphere Client can only be applied to a dynamic filter.
l To ensure the protection of homogeneous assets, the dynamic filter must specify a storage
asset type.
l A virtual machine application-aware protection policy that protects a Microsoft SQL Server
Always On availability group (AAG) must include all the virtual machines of the AAG in the
same protection group. Failure to meet this requirement might result in Microsoft SQL Server
transaction log backups being skipped. Ensure that the dynamic filters are designed to include
all the AAG virtual machines.

Creating virtual machine tags in the vSphere Client


Creating virtual machine tags in the vSphere Client is supported by PowerProtect Data Manager
with vSphere versions 6.5 and later. Tags enable you to attach metadata to the virtual assets in
the vSphere inventory, which makes assets easier to sort and search for when creating a
protection policy.
Asset inclusion in a PowerProtect Data Manager protection policy is based on the filtering criteria
applied to user-defined rules that you specify when creating a dynamic filter.
When you create a tag in the vSphere Client, the tag must be assigned to a category in order to
group related tags together. When defining a category, you can specify the object types to which

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the tags will be applied and whether more than one tag in the category can be applied to an object.
Within a single rule, you can apply up to 50 rule definitions to tags and categories, as shown in the
following example where Category is the category name and Bronze is the tag name:
l Category:Category1,Tag:Bronze1
l Category:Category2,Tag:Bronze2
l Category:Category3,Tag:Bronze3
l ... Category:Category50,Tag:Bronze50
In the above example, category names and tag names that exceed 9 or 7 characters respectively,
reduce the limit for rule definitions in a single rule to less than 50. When rule definitions exceed the
maximum limit, no virtual machines are backed up as part of the group, because no members are
associated with the group. As a best practice, keep the number of rule definitions within a single
rule to 10 or fewer and, in cases where there are a large number of rule definitions within a single
rule, keep the number of characters in category or tag names to 10 or fewer.
To view existing tags for vCenter in the vSphere Client, select Menu > Tags & Custom
Attributes, and then select the Tags tab. Click a tag link in the table to view the objects
associated with this particular tag.
For PowerProtect Data Manager to include tagged assets in a dynamic filter based on the tags
created for the vCenter, you must assign at least one tag to at least one virtual machine. Note that
tags associated with containers of virtual machines (for example, a virtual machine folder) are not
currently supported for tag associations to assets.
Note: Once virtual machines are associated with tags, the association is not reflected in the
PowerProtect Data Manager UI until the timeout period has completed. The default timeout to
fetch the latest inventory from vCenter is 15 minutes. When adding a dynamic filter and using
tags as the asset filter, you must select VM Tags.

Add a dynamic filter


Use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to add dynamic filters. When an asset meets the filter
conditions, the asset is automatically assigned to the protection policy that you define for the
dynamic filter.
Before you begin
Procedure
1. Select Protection > Dynamic Filter.
The Dynamic Filter window appears, which displays the following information:
l Dynamic Filter Name
l Priority
l Asset Filter
l Assigned Protection Policy

2. Click the Virtual Machines, SQL Databases, Oracle Databases, or File System tab to
select the type of host for which you would like to add the dynamic filter, and then click
Add .
The Add Dynamic Filter wizard opens on the Protection Policy page.
3. Select the target protection policy for the dynamic filter and click Next.
The Asset Filter page appears.
4. Specify the following fields to indicate the purpose of the new Dynamic Filter:

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a. Name For example, SQL Rules Prod Finance


b. Description For example, SQL Rules Prod Servers Finance.
Field:
Using the three fields, build an asset filter that matches your purpose.
l From the list in the first field, select an asset name (such as Datacenter Name),
characteristic (such as asset size), or a tag (VM Tags) that will be used as the rule
criteria when searching for assets.
l From the list in the second field, select the matching criteria. For an asset name, you
can select from several options including Begins with, Ends with, Contains, or
Equals. For an asset characteristic such as size, you can select Greater than or Less
than. For a virtual machine tag, you can only select Includes.
l In the third field, type a search phrase to apply to the rule criteria to determine a
match.
For example, a rule with the filters SQL Server Instance Name, Contains, and
Finance helps you create a rule to match the assets in your finance department to the
selected protection policy.
c. Click Apply.
Any asset that matches the rule and is not currently included in a PowerProtect Data
Manager protection policy displays in the Unprotected Assets matching filter table
d. Verify that the asset(s) that display in the Unprotected Assets matching filter table
are the assets that you want to include in the protection policy. If not, clear the filter to
view all unprotected assets and build your filter again.
e. Click Next.
The Summary page appears.
5. Click Finish.
Results
The dynamic filter is run automatically upon creation.

Manually run a dynamic filter


PowerProtect Data Manager automatically runs dynamic filters when new assets are detected or
when existing assets are modified. You can also run dynamic filters on demand.
Procedure
1. Select Protection > Dynamic Filter.
The Dynamic Filter window appears, which displays the following information:
l Dynamic Filter Name
l Priority
l Asset Filter
l Assigned Protection Policy

2. Select the desired dynamic filter(s) and click Run.


PowerProtect Data Manager runs all dynamic filters of the current asset type.

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Edit or delete a dynamic filter


Use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to edit a dynamic filter. You can change the filter name,
description, the filter itself, and the associated protection policy.
Procedure
1. Select Protection > Dynamic Filter.
The Dynamic Filter window appears, which displays the following information:
l Dynamic Filter Name
l Priority
l Asset Filter
l Assigned Protection Policy

2. Select a dynamic filter and click Edit .


The Summary window appears.
3. To edit the name or description of the dynamic filter, modify the desired fields and click
Finish.
4. To delete a dynamic filter, select the dynamic filter and click Delete.
When you click Delete, PowerProtect Data Manager will remove the assets that you added
by dynamic filters. PowerProtect Data Manager will add those assets again if you do not
update related dynamic filters.

Change the priority of the existing dynamic filter


Use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to change the priority of a dynamic filter.
About this task
When multiple dynamic filters exist, you can define the priority of the dynamic filter. Priority
determines which dynamic filter PowerProtect Data Manager applies for an asset if an asset
matches multiple dynamic filters, and if the matching dynamic filters have conflicting actions. For
example, if an asset protection policy assignment matches several dynamic filters and each
dynamic filter specifies a different protection policy assignment, the protection policy is
determined by the dynamic filter with the highest priority.
An integer is used to represent the priority of the dynamic filter. The smaller value has the higher
priority.
Procedure
1. Select Protection > Dynamic Filter.
The Dynamic Filter window appears, which displays the following information:
l Dynamic Filter Name
l Priority
l Asset Filter
l Assigned Protection Policy

2. To change a dynamic filter's priority, select the dynamic filter and click Up or Down.
The smaller value has the higher priority.

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CHAPTER 10
Restoring Data and Assets

This section includes the following topics:

l View copies.......................................................................................................................... 148


l Restore a virtual machine or VMDK......................................................................................148
l Restore an application-aware virtual machine backup..........................................................159
l Performing centralized restore of a File System host.......................................................... 159
l Restore of Storage Direct backups in PowerProtect Data Manager..................................... 161
l Restore the PowerProtect Data Manager server ................................................................ 162
l Restore operations for cloud tier..........................................................................................163

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View copies
You can view summaries of protected copy sets in the system. PowerProtect Data Manager
displays details such as the name of the storage system that contains the copy set, system usage,
location, date the copy set was created, date the copy set expires, size, and recovery time.
Procedure
1. From the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select Infrastructure > Assets. Alternatively,
select Recovery > Assets.
All the assets in the system display.
2. Select an asset, or select one of the following tabs to view assets by type:
l Virtual Machines.
l Oracle Databases.
l SQL Databases.
l File System.
l VMAX Storage Groups.
The entire list of assets that are associated with this type displays in the right pane.
Note: You can also search for assets by name.

3. To view more details, select an asset and click View copies.


The copy map consists of the root node and its child nodes. The root node in the left pane
represents an asset, and information about copy locations displays in the right pane. The
child nodes represent storage systems. When you click a child node, the right pane displays
the storage system where the copy is stored, the number of copies, and details of each
copy, including the time that each copy was created, the size of the copy, the backup type,
and the retention time.

Restore a virtual machine or VMDK


After virtual assets are backed up as part of a virtual machine protection policy in the
PowerProtect Data Manager UI, you can perform image-level and file-level recoveries from
individual or multiple virtual machine backups, and also restore individual virtual machine disks
(VMDKs) to their original location.
All types of recoveries are performed from the Recovery > Assets window. Recovery options
include the following:
l Restore and Overwrite Original VM: Restore to the original virtual machine.
l Restore Individual Virtual Disks: Restore select virtual disks to the original location.
l Create and Restore to New VM: Restore to a new virtual machine.
l Instant Access VM: Instant access to the virtual machine backup for browse and restore.
l File Level Restore: Restore individual files/folders the original or a new virtual machine
l Direct Restore to ESXi: Recover the virtual machine directly to an ESXi host without a vCenter
server.
The Restore button, which launches the Restore wizard, is disabled until you select one or more
virtual assets in the Recovery > Assets window. Selecting multiple assets disables the View
Copies button, since this functionality is available within the first page of the Restore wizard.

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To access the Restore and Overwrite Original VM, Create and Restore to New VM, and Instant
Access VM recovery types, or the Restore Individual Virtual Disks option, select one or more
virtual assets and then click Restore to launch the Restore wizard.
To access the File Level Restore and Direct Restore to ESXi recovery options, select a virtual
asset and then click View Copies.
In both instances, you must select a backup copy in the first page of the Restore wizard before
you can go to the Options page, which displays the available recovery options.
Note: For all options, recovery in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI can only be performed if
the backup or replica is on a Data Domain system. If a replica backup does not exist on such
storage, you must manually replicate this backup to Data Domain storage before performing
the restore.
The following sections describe each recovery option and provide instructions to perform the
recovery.
Note: SQL virtual machine full database and transaction log restore from application-aware
virtual machine protection policies must be performed using Microsoft application agent tools.
The section Restore an application-aware virtual machine backup provides more information.

Prerequisites to restore a virtual machine


Review the following requirements before you restore a virtual machine in PowerProtect Data
Manager:
l Users who want to perform a virtual machine restore must have Admin or Export and
Recovery Admin privileges. Go to Administration > Roles and review the user profile to
ensure that the user has the appropriate privileges. A user with the role "User" cannot perform
a restore.
l Ensure that you have added the Data Domain system, the Data Domain Management Center
(DDMC) or Data Domain Virtual Edition (DDVE), and the vCenter server, and that the
protection of virtual machine copies has completed successfully.
To check, go to Infrastructure > Assets and Infrastructure > Asset Sources.
l Ensure that protection of the virtual machines completed successfully. If the virtual machines
have been backed up by a protection policy, the assets appear in the Recovery > Assets
window.
l If performing a restore to a new location, ensure that sufficient space is available on the target
datastore.
l Verify that the virtual machine copy that is selected for restore has not expired.

Restore to original virtual machine


A Restore to the original virtual machine, also referred to as Restore and Overwrite Original VM,
recovers a virtual machine backup to its original location on the vCenter, rolling the virtual
machine(s) that you backed up with the protection policy in PowerProtect Data Manager to an
earlier point in time. Use this process for restoring the production system.
Before you begin
Review Prerequisites to virtual machine restore before you perform the following procedure.
About this task
Note: If the original virtual machine was deleted, a Restore and Overwrite Original VM
recovery attempts to re-create the virtual machine. However, if the original virtual machine

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resources such as the datastore and cluster are no longer available, the restore fails and a
Restore to New is required.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select Recovery > Assets and select the Virtual
Machines tab.
The Recovery window displays all virtual machines available for recovery.
2. Select the checkbox next to the appropriate virtual machines and click Restore.
You can also use the filter in the Name column to search for the name of the specific virtual
machine.

The Recovery wizard appears.


3. On the Select Copy page, for each virtual machine that is listed in the table, select the radio
button next to the virtual machine and click Choose Copy.
The Choose Copy dialog box appears.
Note: If you click Next without choosing a copy, the most recent backup copy is used.

4. If the backup is on a Data Domain system, click DD, and then select from one of the
available copies that display in the table.
5. Click OK to save the selection and exit the dialog, and then click Next.
6. On the Purpose page, select Restore Entire VMs to restore the image-level virtual machine
backup to the original location, and then click Next.
The Restore Type page displays.
7. On the Restore Type page, select Restore and Overwrite Original VM, and then click
Next.
The Options page appears, displaying the current configuration of the virtual machine along
with any disks that have been added since the last backup.
8. On the Options page, if there are any hard disks in the current virtual machine configuration
that were not part of the original backup:
l Select Delete disks that will be detached to remove these disks upon restore.
l Unselect Delete disks that will be detached to keep these disks in their original
folder(s) on the virtual machine after the restore. Note that these disks will not be in the
virtual machine configuration, but after the restore you can then use the vSphere Client
to manually reattach or download these disks as appropriate.
9. Click Next.
The Summary page appears with a confirmation message indicating that the virtual machine
will be powered off and that the virtual machine in the datastore will revert to the point in
time of the selected backup copy before being powered back on.
10. On the Summary page, click Restore.
An informational dialog box appears indicating that the restore has started.
11. Go to the Jobs window to monitor the restore.
A restore job appears with a progress bar and start time.

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Restore individual virtual disks


A virtual disk (VMDK) restore recovers individual VMDKs to their original location on the vCenter,
rolling the VMDKs that you backed up with the protection policy in PowerProtect Data Manager to
an earlier point in time.
Before you begin
Review Prerequisites to virtual machine restore before you perform the following procedure.
About this task
Note: When you restore individual VMDKs, only the selected disks are restored. The virtual
machine configuration does not change.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select Recovery > Assets and select the Virtual
Machines tab.
The Recovery window displays all virtual machines available for recovery.
2. Select the checkbox next to the appropriate virtual machines and click Restore.
You can also use the filter in the Name column to search for the name of the specific virtual
machine.

The Recovery wizard appears.


3. On the Select Copy page, for each virtual machine that is listed in the table, select the radio
button next to the virtual machine and click Choose Copy.
The Choose Copy dialog box appears.
Note: If you click Next without choosing a copy, the most recent backup copy is used.

4. If the backup is on a Data Domain system, click DD, and then select from one of the
available copies that display in the table.
5. Click OK to save the selection and exit the dialog, and then click Next.
6. On the Purpose page, select Restore Individual Virtual Disks to restore specific VMDKs,
and then click Next.
The Select Disks page displays.
7. From the Backup Properties pane, select the VMDKs that you want to restore, and then
click Next. Note that individual VMDKs can only be restored to the original location.
The Summary page appears with a confirmation message indicating that the selected
disk(s) will be overwritten in the current configuration with the copy from the backup.
8. On the Summary page, click Restore.
An informational dialog box appears indicating that the restore has started.
9. Go to the Jobs window to monitor the restore.
A restore job appears with a progress bar and start time.

Restore to new
A restore to a new location enables you to create a new virtual machine using a copy of the original
virtual machine backup. Other than having a new name or location and a new vSphere VM Instance

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UUID, this copy is an exact replica of the virtual machine that you backed up with the protection
policy in PowerProtect Data Manager.
Before you begin
Review Prerequisites to virtual machine restore before you perform this procedure.
Procedure
1. Select the checkbox next to the appropriate virtual machines and click Restore.
You can also use the filter in the Name column to search for the name of the specific virtual
machine.

The Recovery wizard appears.


2. On the Select Copy page, for each virtual machine that is listed in the table, select the radio
button next to the virtual machine and click Choose Copy.
The Choose Copy dialog box appears.
Note: If you click Next without choosing a copy, the most recent backup copy is used.

3. If the backup is on a Data Domain system, click DD, and then select from one of the
available copies that display in the table.
4. Click OK to save the selection and exit the dialog, and then click Next.
5. On the Purpose page, select whether you want to restore the entire virtual machine, or only
specific virtual machine disks (VMDKs), and then click Next.
Note: Individual VMDKs can only be restored to the original location.

6. On the Restore Type page, select Create and Restore to New VM, and then click Next.
7. On the VM Information page:
a. Select whether you want to use the original virtual machine name or rename the new
virtual machine by appending a suffix to the original name. If the location for the new
virtual machine restore will be a different folder than the original location, you can use
the original name.
b. From the Restore to vCenter list, select the vCenter server for the new virtual machine
restore. This list displays any vCenter server that has been added from the Assets
window.
When you select a vCenter server, available data centers appear.

c. Select the destination data center.


d. Click Next.
8. On the Restore Location page, select the location within this data center that you want to
restore the virtual machine by expanding the hierarchical view. For example, select a
specific cluster, and then select a host within the cluster. If you select an ESX host within
this page, the next page is unnecessary. Click Next.
9. On the ESX Host page:
l If you did not select a specific host in the previous step, select a host that is connected
with the cluster, and then click Next.
l If you selected a host in the previous step, this page indicates that a host is already
selected and you can click Next to proceed.
10. On the Disk Files Datastore page, select the datastore where you want to restore the
virtual machine disks, and then click Next.

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l To restore all disks to the same location, keep the Configure per disk slider to the left,
and then select the datastore from the Storage list.
l To restore disks to different locations, move the Configure per disk slider to the right,
and then:
a. Select a datastore for each disk from the Storage list.
b. Select the type of provisioning you want to apply to the disk from the Disk Format
list.
11. On the Options page:
a. For Select Access Level, keep the slider set to Yes if you want to enable instant access
for this restore.
When you select this option, the virtual machine is created and powered on while
temporarily accessing the VMDKs from Data Domain storage. Storage vMotion is
initiated to the target datastore. The virtual machine becomes available for use when it is
powered on.

b. (Optional) For the recovery options, select Power on the virtual machine when the
recovery completes and Reconnect the virtual machine's NIC when the recovery
completes. Power on the virtual machine when the recovery completes is selected
by default when instant access is enabled.
c. Click Next.
12. On the Summary page, verify that the information you specified in the previous steps is
correct, and then click Restore.
13. Go to the Jobs window to monitor the restore.

A restore job appears with a progress bar and start time. You can also click next to the
job to verify what steps have been performed, for example, if the instant access session has
been created.

Restore an instant access virtual machine


An instant access virtual machine restore enables you to create a new virtual machine directly from
the original virtual machine backup on the Data Domain system for the purposes of instant backup
validation and recovery of individual files. The instant access virtual machine is initially available for
7 days. This process does not copy or move any data from the Data Domain system to the
production datastore. An instant access virtual machine restore also provides the option to move
the virtual machine to a production datastore if you want to retain access to the virtual machine
for a longer time.
Procedure
1. Select the checkbox next to the desired virtual machines and click Restore.
You can also use the filter in the Name column to search for the name of the specific virtual
machine.

The Recovery wizard appears.


2. On the Select Copy page, for each virtual machine that is listed in the table, select the radio
button next to the virtual machine and click Choose Copy.
The Choose Copy dialog box appears.
Note: If you click Next without choosing a copy, the most recent backup copy is used.

3. If the backup is on a Data Domain system, click DD, and then select from one of the
available copies that display in the table.

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4. Click OK to save the selection and exit the dialog, and then click Next.
5. On the Purpose page, select whether you want to restore the entire virtual machine, or only
specific virtual machine disks (VMDKs), and then click Next.
Note: Individual VMDKs can only be restored to the original location.

6. On the Restore Type page, select Instant Access VM, and then click Next.
7. On the VM Information page:
a. Select whether you want to use the original virtual machine name for the instant access
virtual machine restore, or rename the instant access virtual machine by appending a
suffix to the original name.
b. From the Restore to vCenter list, select the vCenter server for the instant access
virtual machine restore. You can select the vCenter of the original virtual machine
backup, or another vCenter. This list displays any vCenter server that has been added
from the Assets window.
When you select a vCenter server, available data centers appear.

c. Select the destination data center.


d. Click Next.
8. On the Restore Location page, select the location within this data center that you want to
restore the virtual machine by expanding the hierarchical view. For example, select a
specific cluster, and then select a host within the cluster. If you select an ESX host within
this page, the next page is unnecessary. Click Next.
9. On the ESX Host page:
l If you did not select a specific host in the previous step, select a host that is connected
with the cluster, and then click Next.
l If you selected a host in the previous step, this page indicates that a host is already
selected and you can click Next to proceed.
10. On the Options page:
a. Specify a name for the Instant Access virtual machine.
b. (Optional) Select Power on the virtual machine when the recovery completes and
Reconnect the virtual machine's NIC when the recovery completes, if desired.
Power on the virtual machine when the recovery completes is selected by default for
instant access virtual machine restores.
c. Click Next.
11. On the Summary page, verify that the information you specified in the previous steps is
correct, and then click Restore.
A confirmation message displays indicating that the restore has been initiated and providing
the option to go to the Jobs window to monitor the restore progress.
12. Go to the Jobs window to view the entry for the instant access virtual machine recovery
and verify when the recovery completes successfully. You can also click next to the job
to verify what steps have been performed, for example, if the instant access session has
been created.
Results
To monitor and manage the instant access virtual machine recovery, select Recovery > Running
Activities, and then click the Instant Access Sessions tab. From this window, you can also
extend the instant access virtual machine session beyond the default period of 7 days.

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Manage and monitor Instant Access Sessions


The Instant Access Sessions tab in the Recovery > Running Activitieswindow enables you to
manage the status of a virtual machine restore to new or instant access virtual machine restore
(for example, by extending the availability period or deleting an instant access virtual machine) and
monitor vMotion events.
Note: The Instant Access Sessions used by a SQL application-aware self-service restore are
displayed in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, but management is disabled. Use the SQL
application-aware self-service restore UI to manage these sessions.
When the Jobs window indicates that a recovery has completed successfully, go to Recovery >
Running Activities > Instant Access Sessions to access information about the sessions. This
window enables you to monitor and manage all exported copies that you have created from the
Data Domain system. An active restore session with a state of Mounting indicates that the restore
is still in progress. Once the state changes to Mounted, the restore is complete and the instant
access virtual machine is ready. When you select the session in the table, you can choose from
three options:
l Extend — Click to extend the number of days the instant access virtual machine restore is
available. The default retention period of an instant access virtual machine restore is 7 days.
l Migrate — Click to open the Migrate Storage vMotion wizard, which enables you to move
the instant access virtual machine to a protection datastore. Migrate an instant access session
provides instructions.
l Delete — Click if you no longer require the active restore session. Note that you can also
vMotion from inside of the vCenter server, and PowerProtect Data Manager will remove the
Instant Access Session upon detection.
For instant access virtual machine restores, availability of the instant access virtual machine
session is also indicated in the vSphere Client. The session appears in the Recent Tasks pane,
and you can expand the cluster and select the instant access virtual machine to view summary
information, as shown in the following figure.
Figure 8 instant access virtual machine restore in the vSphere Client

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Migrate an Instant Access session


Once you validate that the instant access virtual machine is the virtual machine that you require
for production, click Migrate to open the Migrate Storage vMotion wizard, which enables you
select the session and move the virtual machine to a production datastore.
Procedure
1. Go to Recovery > Running Activities, and click the Instant Access Sessions tab.
2. Select a session from the table that is in Mounted state, and click Migrate.
The Migrate Storage vMotion wizard displays.
3. On the Disk Files Datastore page, select the datastore where you want to relocate the
instant access virtual machine, and then click Next.
l To migrate all VMDKs to the same datastore, keep the Configure per disk slider to the
left, and then select the datastore from the Storage list.
l To migrate VMDKs to separate datastores, move the Configure per disk slider to the
right, and then:
a. Select a datastore for each disk from the Storage list.
b. Select the type of provisioning you want to apply to the disk from the Disk Format
list.
4. On the Summary page, review the information to ensure that the details are correct, and
then click Migrate.
5. Go to the Jobs window or the Instant Access Sessions window to view the progress of the
migration.
In the Jobs window, the migration job appears with a progress bar and start time. You can
also click next to the job to verify what steps have been performed. In the Instant
Access Sessions window, you can monitor the vMotion status of the migration. When a
vMotion is in progress, the status indicates VMotioning. Once the storage vMotion for the
session is complete, the status of the session changes to Deleting as the session is being
removed from the Instant Access Sessions window.

File level restore


A file level restore enables you to recover individual files from backups of virtual machines or
VMDKs performed in PowerProtect Data Manager to a primary or secondary vCenter server.
Before you begin
Review the section Supported platform versions for file-level restore for supported platform and
operating system versions.
PowerProtect Data Manager only supports file level restore if the backup or replica is on a Data
Domain device. If a replica backup does not exist on such storage, you must manually replicate this
backup to Data Domain before performing the file level restore.
About this task
Note: File level restore in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI can only be performed by an
administrator.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, go to Recovery > Assets and select the Virtual
Machines tab.
The Recovery window displays all of the virtual machines available for recovery.

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2. Select the checkbox next to the desired virtual machine and click View Copies.
You can also use the filter in the Name column to search for the name of the specific virtual
machine.

The Recovery > Assets window provides a map view in the left pane and copy details in the
right pane.
When a virtual machine is selected in the map view, the virtual machine name displays in the
right pane with the copy locations underneath. When you select a specific location in the
left pane to view the copies, for example, on a Data Domain system, the copies on that
system display in the right pane.
3. If the backup is on a Data Domain system, click DD, and then select from one of the
available copies that display in the table.
4. In the right pane, select the checkbox next to the virtual machine backup you want to
restore, and then click File Level Restore.
The File Level Recover wizard appears.
5. On the Select Target VM page, choose from one of the following options:
l Perform the file-level restore to the original virtual machine.
l Search for the destination virtual machine by typing the name.
l Browse from the available vCenter servers to locate the destination virtual machine.
6. On the Mount Copy page:
a. Type the user credentials to access the virtual machine that you want to recover objects
to in order to initiate the disk mount. This user should have privileges to install the FLR
Agent, which is required to perform file level restore. For Windows virtual machines, this
is an administrator account. For Linux virtual machines, this requires the root user
account.
Note: Once you approve storing the credentials for the virtual machine, the user
credentials prompt will not appear unless the credentials change.

b. (Optional) Leave Keep FLR Agent Installed selected if you want the FLR Agent to
remain on the destination virtual machine after the restore completes.
c. Click Start Mount to initiate the disk mount.
A progress bar identifies when the mount has completed.
Note: You cannot browse the contents of the virtual machine backup until the
mounting of the destination virtual machine completes successfully.
d. When the mount completes successfully, click Next.
7. On the Select Files to Recover page:
a. Expand individual folders to browse the original virtual machine backup, and select the
objects you want to restore to the destination virtual machine.
b. Click Next.
Note: When browsing for objects to recover on this page, each directory/hard drive
appears twice. Therefore, when you select an object from one location, the object will
be selected in the duplicate location as well.

8. On the Select Restore Location page:


a. Browse the folder structure of the destination virtual machine to select the folder where
you want to restore the objects.

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b. Click Next.
9. On the Summary page:
a. Review the information to ensure that the restore details are correct.
b. Click Restore.
10. Go to the Jobs window to monitor the restore.
A restore job appears with a progress bar and start time.

Direct Restore to ESXi


If the virtual machine you protected with PowerProtect Data Manager was a vCenter virtual
machine, but this virtual machine and vCenter is now lost or no longer available, Direct Restore to
ESXi enables you to recover the virtual machine directly to an ESXi host without a vCenter server.
Before you begin
Direct Restore to ESXi restore requires either the embedded or an added VM Direct appliance
that is registered to PowerProtect Data Manager.
Additionally, ensure that you disconnect the ESXi host from the vCenter server.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, go to Recovery > Assets and select the Virtual
Machines tab.
The Recovery window displays all of the virtual machines available for recovery.
2. Select the checkbox next to the desired virtual machine and click View Copies.
Note: If you cannot locate the virtual machine, you can also use the filter in the Name
column to search for the name of the specific virtual machine.

The Recovery > Asset window provides a map view in the left pane and copy details in the
right pane.
When a virtual machine is selected in the map view, the virtual machine name displays in the
right pane with the copy locations underneath. When you select a specific location in the
left pane to view the copies, for example, on a Data Domain system, the copies on that
system display in the right pane.
3. If the backup is on a Data Domain system, click DD, and then select from one of the
available copies that display in the table.
4. In the right pane, select the checkbox next to the virtual machine backup you want to
restore, and then click Direct Restore to ESXi.
The Direct Restore to ESXi wizard appears.
5. On the Options page:
a. (Optional) Select Reconnect the virtual machine's NIC when the recovery
completes, if desired. Power on the virtual machine when the recovery completes is
selected by default.
b. Click Next.
6. On the ESX Host Credentials page:
a. In the ESX Host field, type the IP of the ESX server where you want to restore the
virtual machine backup.
b. Specify the root Username and Password for the ESX Server.

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c. Click Next.
7. On the Datastore page, select the datastore where you want to restore the virtual machine
disks, and then click Next.
l To restore all of the disks to the same location, keep the Configure per disk slider to the
left, and then select the datastore from the Storage list.
l To restore disks to different locations, move the Configure per disk slider to the right,
and then:
a. For each available disk that you want to recover, select a datastore from the Storage
list.
b. Select the type of provisioning you want to apply to the disk from the Disk Format
list.
8. On the Summary page:
a. Review the information to ensure that the details are correct.
b. Click Restore.
9. Go to the Jobs window to monitor the restore.
A restore job appears with a progress bar and start time.

Restore an application-aware virtual machine backup


When virtual machine applications are protected within a protection policy in PowerProtect Data
Manager, you can recover the application data using the Microsoft application agent.
The PowerProtect Microsoft Application Agent SQL Server User Guide provides instructions on how
to restore an application-aware virtual machine using the VM Direct SQL Server Management
Studio (SSMS) plug-in.

Performing centralized restore of a File System host


When File Systems are protected within a protection policy in PowerProtect Data Manager, you
can recover the File System data using the centralized PowerProtect Data Manager restore
functionality, or directly using the self-service restore feature. The following section describes the
procedure for centralized restore of File Systems in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI.
Prerequisites for File System restores
Before performing centralized or self-service File System restores:
l Ensure that the target or destination volume is not a system volume.
l Ensure that the File System agent is not installed and running on the target volume.
l Ensure that there is sufficient space on the target volume for the restore.

Centralized restore of File Systems in PowerProtect Data Manager


A File System host image-level restore enables you to recover data from backups of file systems
performed in PowerProtect Data Manager.
Before you begin
Ensure the following for Linux File System hosts:
l You have disabled Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) by running one of the following relevant
commands:

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n RHEL 7.x or CentOS7.x: setsebool -P nis_enabled 1


n RHEL 6.x or CentOS 6.x: setsebool -P allow_ypbind 1
l You have installed the iscsiadm utility by installing one of the following relevant packages on
the Linux client:
n RHEL or CentOS: iscsi-initiator-utils<version_number>.rpm
n SLES: open-iscsi<version_number>.rpm
l On SLES, if you want to start the iscsiadm utility for the first time, restart the iSCSI services
by running the following command: service open-iscsi restart
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select Recovery > Assets and select the File
System tab.
The Recovery window displays all of the file systems available for recovery.
2. Select the checkbox next to the desired file system and click View Copies.
You can also use the Search field or the filter in the Name column to locate a specific file
system.

The Recovery > Assets window provides a map view in the left pane and copy details in the
right pane.
When a file system is selected in the map view, the file system name displays in the right
pane with the copy locations underneath. When you select a specific location in the left
pane to view the copies, for example, on a Data Domain system, the copies on that system
display in the right pane.
3. Click DD, and then select from one of the available copies that display in the table.
4. In the right pane, select the checkbox next to the file system backup you want to restore,
and then click Restore.
The Restore wizard appears.
5. On the Select Target Location page, choose from one of the following options, and then
click Next.
l Restore to original — Restore the file system to the original location.
l Restore to a new location on the original host — Select the destination file system asset
(volume) from the list of available assets on the host.
l Restore to a new host — Browse from the available hosts to locate and select a
destination host and file system.
Note: If the destination file system asset already contains some data, this data will be
overwritten.

6. On the Summary page:


a. Review the information to ensure that the restore details are correct.
b. Click Restore.
7. Go to the Jobs window to monitor the restore.
A restore job appears with a progress bar and start time.

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Restore of Storage Direct backups in PowerProtect Data


Manager
A Storage Direct host image-level restore enables you to recover data from storage group
snapshot backups by using the PowerProtect Data Manager UI.
Before you begin
If performing a Restore to Original, unmount all of the production LUNs in the original storage
group.
If performing a Restore to New, unmount all of the LUNs in the destination storage group.
About this task
Note: You cannot perform a restore from a replicated backup on a secondary Data Domain
system.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, go to Recovery > Assets and select the VMAX
Storage Groups tab.
The Recovery window displays all of the storage groups.
2. Select the checkbox next to the storage group that contains the backup, and click View
Copies.
You can also use the Search field or the filter in the Name column to locate a specific
storage group.
The Recovery > Assets window provides a map view in the left pane and copy details in the
right pane.
When you select a specific location in the left pane to view the copies, for example, on a
Data Domain system, the copies on that system display in the right pane.
3. In the left pane, click DD to display the available copies.
4. In the right pane, select the checkbox next to the storage group snapshot backup you want
to restore, and then choose one of the following restore types:
l Click Restore to Original to perform a rollback restore to the same location on the
original host.
Note: If, after the original backup, you saved any additional files to this location that
were not part of the backup, these files will be removed upon rollback.
l Click Restore to New to perform the restore to a different location on the original host,
or to a different host.
If you selected Restore to Original, the Restore VMAX Storage Group to original
location dialog box appears. Click OK to start the restore. You can now proceed to step 7.
If you selected Restore to New, the VMAX Restore wizard appears.
5. On the Choose the Alternate VMAX page, select the VMAX where the destination storage
group resides, and then click Next.
For the alternate VMAX host, if you select a VMAX other than the source VMAX, you will
also be required to perform the following:
a. Select a storage group and Data Domain.
b. In the newly created configuration file that was pushed by the PowerProtect Data
Manager server, note the storage group name (the value of
VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG , DDVDISK_USER, and RESTORE_DEVICE_POOL.
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c. Create a storage group in the alternate VMAX with the value specified in the
configuration file (VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG).
d. Add vDisk devices in the Data Domain to a vDisk pool specified in the configuration file
(RESTORE_DEVICE_POOL).
e. Encapsulate these vDisk devices and add them to the storage group created in step b.
6. On the Choose the VMAX Storage Group page, select the destination storage group where
the data will be rolled back to. The alternate storage group should have the same size LUN
and geometry as the source storage group.
7. Click Finish.
Once the restore completes successfully, you can mount LUNs in the destination storage
group to any host.
8. Go to the Jobs window to monitor the restore.
A restore job appears with a progress bar and start time.

Restore the PowerProtect Data Manager server


You can restore PowerProtect Data Manager server persisted data as a new instance using any of
the backups. A System Administrator can carry out the restore.
Before you begin
Ensure that:
l The PowerProtect Data Manager version that is deployed on your system and the backups you
are using for the restore match.
l The network configuration is the same on the newly deployed PowerProtect Data Manager
system as on the failed instance that you are restoring.
Procedure
1. Deploy the PowerProtect Data Manager OVA and power it on.
2. Select Restore Backup.
3. Specify the following storage information:
a. Data Domain System IP where the recovery backups are stored.
b. Data Domain NSF Export Path where the recovery backups are stored.
c. Click Connect.
4. Select the PowerProtect Data Manager instance that you would like to restore, and click
OK.
5. Select the backup file that you would like to use for recovery, and click Recover.
6. Specify the lockbox passphrase associated with the backup, and start the recovery.
This will initiate the recovery and display the progress status. The recovery process can take
approximately eight minutes before the URI is redirected to the PowerProtect Data
Manager login. If the recovery status shows progress as Failed, refer to Recover a failed
PowerProtect Data Manager backup on page 205
After you finish
After a successful recovery:
l The time zone of the PowerProtect Data Manager instance is set to the same as that of the
backup.

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l The OS user passwords and PowerProtect Data Manager login are set to the lockbox phrase
previously provided in step 6.

Restore operations for cloud tier


Restore operations of backups that have been tiered to the cloud are identical to normal restore
operations.
The PowerProtect Data Manager software recalls a copy of the backup from the cloud to the
active tier of the Data Domain system, and then performs a restore of the backup from the active
tier to the client. The status appears as Cloud. The backup is stored on the Data Domain cloud tier
after the restore. The copy of the backup on the Data Domain active tier is used for restore
operation and is deleted after 10 days.

Restore from cloud tier


Procedure
1. Select Recovery > Assets, click DD, and then select from one of the available copies that
appear in the table.
2. Click Recall, and specify how long the copy should be kept on the active tier.
The copy is moved and the Location changes from Cloud to Local.
3. Click the appropriate restore option.
4. Select the recalled copy and click Edit Recall Retention.
5. Select the recalled copy to retier the copy to the active tier.

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164 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


CHAPTER 11
Performing Self-service Backup and Restore of
Application and File System Agents

This section includes the following topics:

l Performing self-service backups of Microsoft SQL databases.............................................166


l Performing self-service backups of Oracle databases..........................................................166
l Performing self-service backups of File Systems................................................................. 167
l Performing self-service backups of Microsoft SQL databases............................................. 168
l Restore a SQL application host............................................................................................ 168
l Restore an Oracle application host.......................................................................................168
l Performing self-service restore of a File System host......................................................... 169

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Performing self-service backups of Microsoft SQL databases


To enable self-service protection, when you create the SQL protection policy, select Self-Service
Protection.
When performing a self-service stand-alone backup of an AAG asset, the backups display under
the AAG asset.
Chapter 4, Backing Up SQL Server with Application Direct, in the PowerProtect Microsoft
Application Agent SQL Server User Guide provides instructions on how to perform self-service SQL
Server backups.

Performing self-service backups of Oracle databases


To enable self-service protection, when you create the Oracle protection policy, select Self-
Service Protection.
To perform a self-service or manual backup of an Oracle database, you must create and run an
RMAN backup script. The Oracle RMAN documentation provides detailed information about how
to create the backup scripts. The documentation also describes all the supported backup features.
The following example shows an RMAN script that performs a full backup of the database and its
archive logs:

connect target username/password;

run {
allocate channel c1 type SBT_TAPE parms ‘SBT_LIBRARY=rman_agent_home/lib/
libddobk.so’, ENV=(RMAN_AGENT_HOME=rman_agent_home, STORAGE_UNIT=XYZ,
BACKUP_HOST=bu-ddbealin-17.lss.emc.com)’;

backup database include current controlfile format ‘%U’ plus archvielog;

release channel c1;


}

The libddobk.so library location and the RMAN_AGENT_HOME, STORAGE_UNIT, and


BACKUP_HOST settings must be specified in the allocate channel command. All other parts
of the script are standard RMAN commands.
To increase the parallelism of the backup, you can allocate more channels:

connect target username/password;

run {
allocate channel c1 type SBT_TAPE parms ‘SBT_LIBRARY=rman_agent_home/lib/
libddobk.so’, ENV=(RMAN_AGENT_HOME=rman_agent_home, STORAGE_UNIT=XYZ,
BACKUP_HOST=bu-ddbealin-17.lss.emc.com)’;)’;
allocate channel c2 type SBT_TAPE parms ‘SBT_LIBRARY=rman_agent_home/lib/
libddobk.so’, ENV=(RMAN_AGENT_HOME=rman_agent_home, STORAGE_UNIT=XYZ,
BACKUP_HOST=bu-ddbealin-17.lss.emc.com)’;)’;
allocate channel c3 type SBT_TAPE parms ‘SBT_LIBRARY=rman_agent_home/lib/
libddobk.so’, ENV=(RMAN_AGENT_HOME=rman_agent_home, STORAGE_UNIT=XYZ,
BACKUP_HOST=bu-ddbealin-17.lss.emc.com)’;)’;
allocate channel c4 type SBT_TAPE parms ‘SBT_LIBRARY=rman_agent_home/lib/
libddobk.so’, ENV=(RMAN_AGENT_HOME=rman_agent_home, STORAGE_UNIT=XYZ,
BACKUP_HOST=bu-ddbealin-17.lss.emc.com)’;)’;

backup database include current controlfile format ‘%U’ plus archivelog;

release channel c1;

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release channel c2;


release channel c3;
release channel c4;
}

Performing self-service backups of File Systems


A host with the File System Agent installed requires a PowerProtect Data Manager server to back
up file systems. However, an administrator can configure a retention policy only instead of a
complete backup.
To back up file systems manually and use PowerProtect Data Manager for compliance purposes,
register the host to PowerProtect Data Manager, create a self-service protection policy, and
configure only the retention policy.
Note: To enable self-service protection, select Self-Service Protection when you create the
File Systems protection policy in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI.
After a host is registered with PowerProtect Data Manager and assets are added to a self-service
protection policy, use the ddfssv command to run self-service or manual backups on the host file
system assets, as in the following example:
ddfssv -LL -l FULL -a DFA_SI_DD_HOST=IPv4 address -a DFA_SI_DD_USER=username
(for example, PLC-Protection) -a DFA_SI_DEVICE_PATH=device path (for example, /
PLCProtection/LVMs/2))
Where:
-l {full | incr}
Specifies the type of the backup to perform such as full (full), or incremental (incr). The
default value is full.

-a "DFA_SI_DD_HOST=<server_name>"
Specifies the name of the Data Domain server that contains the storage unit where you want
to back up the databases.

-a "DFA_SI_DEVICE_PATH=<storage_unit_and_path>"
Specifies the name and the path of the storage unit where you want to direct the backup.

-a "DFA_SI_DD_USER=<username>"
Specifies the protection storage username.
You must register the hostname and the protection storage username in the lockbox to enable
the Microsoft application agent to retrieve the password for the registered user.

These details are provided in the .app.settings file on both Linux and Windows hosts. If the
default installation path was used, the .app.settings file is at /opt/dpsfsagent/
settings/.app.settings on a Linux host and C:\Program Files\DPSFSAGENT
\settings\.app.settings on a Windows host. More information about how to use the admin
utility to query the list of backups for an asset, see Using the ddfsadmin utility for File Systems.
Note: This command uses only the retention period that was specified when the self-service
protection policy was created.
To perform a self-service backup, use the storage unit and username that was created on the Data
Domain system when the policy was created. PowerProtect Data Manager discovers these
backups and enables centralized restore operations. You can also perform a manual restore
operation.

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Performing self-service backups of Microsoft SQL databases


To enable self-service protection, when you create the SQL protection policy, select Self-Service
Protection.
When performing a self-service stand-alone backup of an AAG asset, the backups display under
the AAG asset.
Chapter 4, Backing Up SQL Server with Application Direct, in the PowerProtect Microsoft
Application Agent SQL Server User Guide provides instructions on how to perform self-service SQL
Server backups.

Restore a SQL application host


You can perform database or table-level restores directly to the SQL application host using the
Microsoft application agent.
Chapter 6, Restoring Application Direct Backups, in the PowerProtect Microsoft Application Agent
SQL Server User Guide provides instructions on how to restore an application-aware SQL Server
backup.

Restore an Oracle application host


You can perform database restores directly to the Oracle application host by using the Oracle
RMAN agent.
To perform an Oracle database restore, you must prepare the database and then run an RMAN
script to restore the data. The RMAN documentation provides detailed information about how to
prepare the database and create the RMAN restore script. The documentation also describes all
the supported restore features.
The following example shows an RMAN script that performs a complete restore of the database to
the current time, after the database has been prepared:

connect target username/password;

run {
allocate channel c1 type SBT_TAPE parms ‘SBT_LIBRARY=rman_agent_home/lib/
libddobk.so’, ENV=(RMAN_AGENT_HOME=rman_agent_home, STORAGE_UNIT=XYZ,
BACKUP_HOST=bu-ddbealin-17.lss.emc.com)’;)’;

restore database;
recover database;

release channel c1;


}

The libddobk.so library location and the RMAN_AGENT_HOME, STORAGE_UNIT, and


BACKUP_HOST settings must be specified in the allocate channel command. All other parts
of the script are standard RMAN commands.
To increase the parallelism of the restore, you can allocate more channels:

connect target username/password;

run {
allocate channel c1 type SBT_TAPE parms ‘SBT_LIBRARY=rman_agent_home/lib/
libddobk.so’, ENV=(RMAN_AGENT_HOME=rman_agent_home, STORAGE_UNIT=XYZ,

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BACKUP_HOST=bu-ddbealin-17.lss.emc.com)’;)’;
allocate channel c2 type SBT_TAPE parms ‘SBT_LIBRARY=rman_agent_home/lib/
libddobk.so’, ENV=(RMAN_AGENT_HOME=rman_agent_home, STORAGE_UNIT=XYZ,
BACKUP_HOST=bu-ddbealin-17.lss.emc.com)’;)’;
allocate channel c3 type SBT_TAPE parms ‘SBT_LIBRARY=rman_agent_home/lib/
libddobk.so’, ENV=(RMAN_AGENT_HOME=rman_agent_home, STORAGE_UNIT=XYZ,
BACKUP_HOST=bu-ddbealin-17.lss.emc.com)’;)’;
allocate channel c4 type SBT_TAPE parms ‘SBT_LIBRARY=rman_agent_home/lib/
libddobk.so’, ENV=(RMAN_AGENT_HOME=rman_agent_home, STORAGE_UNIT=XYZ,
BACKUP_HOST=bu-ddbealin-17.lss.emc.com)’;)’;

restore database;
recover database;

release channel c1;


release channel c2;
release channel c3;
release channel c4;
}

Performing self-service restore of a File System host


When File Systems are protected within a protection policy in PowerProtect Data Manager, you
can recover the File System data using the centralized PowerProtect Data Manager restore
functionality, or directly using the self-service restore feature. The following section describes the
procedure for self-service restore of File Systems.
Prerequisites for File System restores
Before performing centralized or self-service File System restores:
l Ensure that the target or destination volume is not a system volume.
l Ensure that the File System agent is not installed and running on the target volume.
l Ensure that there is sufficient space on the target volume for the restore.

Using the ddfsadmin utility for File Systems


The ddfsadmin utility provides the following command line options for File System recovery.
ddfsadmin backup query
Before running the ddfsrc command to perform a self-service image-level restore of File
Systems, you can use the ddfsadmin backup command to query a list of all the local and
remote backups taken for a particular host, as shown in the following:
ddfsadmin backup query -local -v=volume name -t=time value [h = hour,d = days,w
= weeks,m = months] queries the local record file for listing backups.
ddfsadmin backup query -remote -d=Protection storage system -s=storage unit -
u=username -p=DD password -c=hostname -v=volume name -t=time value [h = hour,d =
days,w = weeks,m = months] queries the record file on the protection storage system for listing
backups.

Example 3 Example usage

ddfsadmin backup query -local -v="C:\\" -t=5 will display a list of local
backups in C:\ taken within the last five days.

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ddfsadmin sync
The following is the usage for the ddfsadmin sync command:

sync -local options: Sync local record file with record file on DD
sync -remote options: Sync remote record file with file in the local
options:
-d=<DD host>: Protection storage system host IP
-u=<DD username>: Protection storage system username
-s=<DD device path>: Protection storage system device path
-p=<DD password>: Protection storage system password.[Optional]

Example 4 Example usage

ddfsadmin sync -local -d x.x.x.x -u username -s /dev_path

Self-service image-level restore of File Systems


You can perform self-service image-level restores of file systems to the original location by using
the ddfsrc command. Note that this restore is not supported in the following scenarios:
l When the restore destination is the C:\ volume, which can result in the operating system
becoming unavailable.
l When the restore destination is a volume with the File System agent installed.
Note: To perform File System restore to an alternate location, use the centralized restore
method in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, as described in the section Centralized restore
of File Systems in PowerProtect Data Manager on page 159
Before running ddfsrc, use the ddfsadmin backup command to list the local backups for a
particular host and obtain the ID of the save set you want to restore. Using the ddfsadmin utility
for File Systems provides more information about the ddfsadmin backup command.
To restore from a particular backup, specify the ID of the save set as an input to the ddfsrc
command, as in the following example:
ddfsrc -h DFA_SI_DEVICE_PATH=device path (for example, /fsa2) -h
DFA_SI_DD_HOST=Protection storage system IPv4 address -c BackupClientHostName
(for alternate host restore) -h DFA_SI_DD_USER=Protection storage system
username (for example, sysadmin) -h DFA_SI_DD_PASSWORD=Protection storage system
password -S 1551407738 -r file path (for example, /volume1_ext3) -i y.
Where:
-h "DFA_SI_DEVICE_PATH=<storage_unit_and_path>"
Specifies the name and the path of the storage unit that contains the backup.

-h "DFA_SI_DD_HOST=<server_name>"
Specifies the name of the protection storage system server that contains the backup.
When you have a remote (secondary) protection storage system server that has replicated
databases to restore, type the name of the secondary server. A user on the secondary
protection storage system server must be in the same group as the primary protection storage
system server.

-h "DFA_SI_DD_USER=<Protection storage system_user>"


Specifies the protection storage system username.
You must register the hostname and the DD Boost username in the lockbox to enable
Microsoft application agent to retrieve the password for the registered user.

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-h "DFA_SI_DD_PASSWORD=<DProtection storage system_password>"


Specifies the password of the protection storage system user.
A password is only required in this command if restoring to a new host. If you are a file system
administrator and need the password to use for a particular storage system, storage unit and
user, contact the backup administrator. If restoring to the original host, the password will be
picked up from the lockbox.

Self-service file-level restore of File Systems


You can perform self-service file-level restores of File Systems using the ddfsrc command with
the -I option.
Before executing the command, create a file that contains the list of file(s) to be restored. Provide
the location of this file as an input to the -I option, as shown in the following example

Example 5 ddfsrc command with input file specified

ddfsrc -h DFA_SI_DEVICE_PATH=Protection storage unit -h


DFA_SI_DD_HOST=Protection storage system IP address -c
BackupClientHostName (for alternate host restore) -h
DFA_SI_DD_USER=Protection storage system username -h
DFA_SI_DD_PASSWORD=Protection storage system password -S savetime-
value -I path-of-file-containing-list-of-files-for-restore -i R -d
destination-path-for-restoring-files

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172 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


CHAPTER 12
Preparing for and Recovering from a Disaster

This section includes the following topics:

l Managing system backups................................................................................................... 174


l Manage PowerProtect Data Manager backups for disaster recovery...................................174
l Prepare the Data Domain recovery target............................................................................175
l Configure backups for disaster recovery..............................................................................175
l Configure PowerProtect Data Manager server disaster recovery backups.......................... 176
l Record settings for disaster recovery.................................................................................. 176
l Restore PowerProtect Data Manager from an external Data Domain system.......................177

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Managing system backups


The PowerProtect Data Manager system protection service enables you to protect the persistent
data of a PowerProtect Data Manager system from catastrophic loss by creating a series of
system backups.
Each backup is considered a “full” backup although it is created in an incremental manner. The
persistent data that is saved in a backup includes the Lockbox and Elasticsearch databases. The
backup operation creates a point-in-time snapshot of the database while the system is in a
quiesced state. While the system is quiesced, user functionality is limited. After the snapshot
completes and while PowerProtect Data Manager copies the snapshots to the Data Domain
storage unit, full user functionality is restored. If the system fails to quiesce, PowerProtect Data
Manager still takes a backup, which is marked as crash consistent instead of application
consistent.
To store system backups, you must configure and assign a private Data Domain storage unit for
the PowerProtect Data Manager system. The system protection service enables you to manage
the frequency and start time of an automated system backup, perform on-demand backups, and
define the length of time that the system backups are available for recovery.

Manage PowerProtect Data Manager backups for disaster


recovery
View PowerProtect Data Manager backups and perform manual backups.
Before you begin

About this task


You can view the last 5 PowerProtect Data Manager backups.
Procedure
1. From the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select System Settings > DR Backups >
Manage Backups.
2. To perform a manual backup:
You can back up to only one Data Domain host at a time. When you enter new Data Domain
information for backup, you overwrite the existing Data Domain host for backup. If there are
more than one external Data Domain systems, you can change which Data Domain has the
backup.

a. Click Backup Now.


The Enter a name for your backup dialog appears.

b. [Optional] Type a name for your backup.


You can leave the backup name blank, and PowerProtect Data Manager provides a name
for the backup using the naming convention UserDR-. If you provide a name with the
convention that PowerProtect Data Manager uses for scheduled backups, which is
SystemDR, PowerProtect Data Manager displays an error.

c. Click Start.
3. To delete a backup:
a. Select a backup from the list.

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b. Click Delete.
The system displays a warning to confirm you want to delete the backup. Click Yes to
proceed.
4. Click Close.

Prepare the Data Domain recovery target


Before you can configure PowerProtect Data Manager for backup and recovery, you must
configure the NFS export on the Data Domain target system.
Procedure
1. Use a Web browser to log in to the Data Domain System Manager as the system
administrator user.
2. In the Summary tab in the Protocols pane, select NFS Exports > Create Export.
3. In the Create NFS Export window, provide the following information, and then click OK.
l Export Name—the name of the Data Domain MTree
l Directory Path—the full directory path for Data Domain MTree that you created.
Ensure that you use the same name for the directory.
Note: For an external Data Domain system, specify a path similar to the following, /
data/col1/<path>. Where<path> is the MTree used to store the DR backups.

4. When the progress message indicates that the save operation is complete, click Close.
5. In the Summary tab in the Protocols pane, click NFS Exports.
6. Under NFS Protocols > Exports, select the Data Domain MTree from the list of exports and
click Add Clients.
7. In the Add Clients window, provide the following information, and then click OK.
l Client—IP address or host name of the PowerProtect Data Manager.
l Accept the default settings for the rest of the fields.
l Current Selection—Ensure that the list includes no_root_squash, which is required
for permission for your system to change the directory structure on the NFS share.

Configure backups for disaster recovery


Configure your system to automatically create backups in the event of a disaster or catastrophic
outage.
Before you begin
Ensure that you have configured Data Domain as a replication location. See Prepare the Data
Domain recovery target on page 175.
Procedure
1. Log in to PowerProtect Data Manager as administrator.
2. Select System Settings > DR Backups > Configuration.
3. Enter the following information, and then click Save.
l Select Enable backup.

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l Data Domain System—IP address or host name of the Data Domain System where you
created the MTree with NFS Export
l NFS Export Path—the path of the NFS Export

Results
The initial backup runs, and then backups are automatically triggered every hour.

Configure PowerProtect Data Manager server disaster


recovery backups
Configure disaster recovery protection for the PowerProtect Data Manager system and the
system metadata.
Before you begin
For external Data Domain system backups, ensure that you carry out the procedure described in
Configure the Data Domain system on page 237.
Procedure
1. From the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select System Settings > DR Backups >
Configuration.
2. Configure the backup with the following attributes:
a. In the Data Domain System field, type the Data Domain system to back up.
b. In the NFS Export Path field, type the path where backups are stored on the target
Data Domain system.
3. Click Save.

Record settings for disaster recovery


Plan for disaster recovery by recording vital information.
About this task
In the event of a major outage, you will need certain information to recover your systems.
Procedure
l Ensure that you record the following information on a local drive outside PowerProtect Data
Manager:
n PowerProtect Data Manager build number—Customer Support can provide this
information. It is not mandatory.
n Port Groups—Log in to the vSphere Client, right-click the appliance name and select Edit
Settings. Record the port group settings that are assigned to PowerProtect Data Manager.
n NFS export details—Click the System Settings icon and select DR Backups >
Configuration. Under Backup, record the host IP address and the NFS Export Path.
n Run the GET /Configurations API (api/v2/configurations) from PowerProtect
Data Manager and save the details for network information.

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Restore PowerProtect Data Manager from an external Data


Domain system
You can restore PowerProtect Data Manager from an external Data Domain system where the
data is replicated.
Before you begin
l Ensure that all the information listed in Record settings for disaster recovery on page 176 is
available.
l Ensure that the FQDN of the PowerProtect Data Manager is the same as the host name.
l Ensure that the VM for PowerProtect Data Manager is powered on.
l Ensure that you have set up the recovery target system. See Prepare the Data Domain
recovery target on page 175.
About this task
When your primary PowerProtect Data Manager system fails because of a major event, deploy a
new PowerProtect Data Manager system and recover the backup from the external Data Domain
system.
Note: If your recovery system is on a different FQDN, see Troubleshoot recovery of
PowerProtect Data Manager on page 212.
Procedure
1. Use the .ova file to deploy a new PowerProtect Data Manager system.
2. On the Install window under Welcome, select Restore Backup and click Next.
3. Under Select File, enter the Data Domain System and NFS Export Path where the backup is
located, and then click Connect.
A list of the available recovery backups on Data Domain appears.
4. Select the backup from which to recover the system, and click OK.
5. Provide the Lockbox Passphrase and click Start.
When the Passphrase is verified, the recovery starts. Recovery can take a few minutes.
Results
When recovery is complete, the PowerProtect Data Manager login page appears.

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178 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


CHAPTER 13
Managing Alerts, Jobs, and Tasks

This section includes the following topics:

l Configure Alert Notifications............................................................................................... 180


l View and manage System Alerts.......................................................................................... 180
l View and manage System Alerts...........................................................................................181
l Monitoring and viewing jobs................................................................................................. 181
l Monitor and view tasks........................................................................................................ 182
l Restart a job or task.............................................................................................................182
l Cancel a job or task..............................................................................................................183
l Export logs for a job or task................................................................................................. 184

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Managing Alerts, Jobs, and Tasks

Configure Alert Notifications


The Alert Notifications window of the UI enables you to configure email notifications for
PowerProtect Data Manager alerts.
Procedure
1. Select Administration > Alert Notifications
The Alert Notifications window appears with a table that displays the details for existing
notifications.
2. Click Add.
The Add Alert Notification dialog appears.
3. In the Name field, type name of the individual or group who will receive the notification
email.
4. In the Email field:
a. Specify the email address and/or alias that notifications will be sent to. This field is
required in order to create an alert notification. Ensure that multiple entries are
separated by a comma.
b. Click Test Email to ensure that a valid SMTP configuration exists.
5. From the Category list, select the notification category.
6. From the Severity list, select the notification severity.
7. In the Duration field, specify the amount of time that the notification will display.
8. In the Subject field, optionally type the subject that you would like to attach to the
notification email.
9. Click Save to save your changes and exit the dialog.
Results
The Alert Notifications window updates with the new alert notification. At any time, you can Edit,
Delete, or Disable the notification by selecting the entry in the table and using the buttons in this
window.

View and manage System Alerts


System alerts enable you to determine if there are issues with the PowerProtect Data Manager
system or any data protection operations in PowerProtect Data Manager. Alerts are classified into
three categories — critical, warning, and informational. You can monitor alert messages from the
Alerts window and export log files.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI left navigation pane, select Alerts.
The Alerts window displays alert information in a table. You can filter the alerts by Severity,
Date, Category, or Acknowledge.
2. Select the System tab.
3. To view more details about a specific alert, click next to the entry in the table.
4. Select one or more alerts in the table and click Acknowledge to acknowledge that you have
reviewed the alert information, and Add/Edit Note to append information to an alert.

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5. To export the log file for an alert to a .cvs file, select the alert and click Export.

View and manage System Alerts


Alerts enable you to track the performance of data protection operations in PowerProtect Data
Manager so that you can determine whether there is compliance to service level objectives. You
can access the system alerts from the Alerts window.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI left navigation pane, select Alerts.
The Alerts window displays alert information in a table. You can filter the alerts by Severity,
Date, Category, or Acknowledge.
2. Select the System tab.
3.
To view more details about a specific entry, click next to the entry in the table.
4. To acknowledge the system alert, select the alerts and click Acknowledge.
5. To add or edit a note for the system alert, click Add/Edit Note, and when finished, click
Save.

Monitoring and viewing jobs


The Jobs window in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI enables you to monitor the status of
certain data protection, system, and maintenance jobs and to view details. To perform analysis or
troubleshooting, you can view a detailed log of a failed job.
To access the Jobs window, open the PowerProtect Data Manager UI left navigation pane, and
select Jobs. The Jobs window appears, displaying completed jobs by default.
The Jobs window provides you with options to filter and sort the information that appears:
l Filter jobs by Completed or Running—By default, the Jobs window displays completed jobs. To
display only running jobs, at the top of the Jobs window, click Running.
l Filter jobs by time range—By default, the Jobs window displays all jobs regardless of time
range. To display jobs for a specific time range, select an option:
n All
n 1 Week
n 3 Days
n 1 Day
l Filter jobs by Description, Policy Name, Job Type, Asset Type, Start Time, Status, or
Events, by clicking in their respective column.
l Sort jobs by Description, Policy Name, Job Type, Asset Type, and Start Time by clicking the
column heading.
You can use the Search field to filter jobs based on a search string. When you type a keyword in
the Search field, the PowerProtect Data Manager UI filters the results as you type. To clear the
search filter, remove all keywords from the Search field.

To view details for a job, click next to the job name.


You can also monitor the status of individual tasks, view task details, and perform certain
operations on tasks.

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Managing Alerts, Jobs, and Tasks

Monitor and view tasks


When you drill down within a job, you can view the status of specific tasks within a job. This
information can be helpful when troubleshooting to determine whether one or more tasks caused a
job to fail.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI left navigation pane, select Jobs.
The Jobs window appears.
2. Click to the left of the job name.
The Details pane appears on the right.
3. In the Task Summary section, click the link that indicates the total number of tasks.
A new window opens to display a list of all tasks for the job. You can view the following
information for a task:
l Details
l Task Name
l Status
l Asset Name
l Start Time
l Duration
l Data Transferred
The success or failure of individual tasks is indicated in the Status column.

4. (Optional) Sort and filter the information that appears:


l To sort tasks by Task Name, Status, or Asset Name, click a column heading.
l
To filter tasks by Task Name, Status, or Asset Name, click in their respective
column.
l To filter tasks based on a search string, type the string in the Search field.

5. To view task details and summary information, click to the left of an individual job task,
and then complete the following steps:
a. On the Steps tab, review the summary information, which describes the task activity.
To view the information for a step, expand the step by clicking the arrow (>) .

b. On the Details tab, review the details for the task.

Restart a job or task


You can restart a failed virtual machine backup in the Jobs window of the PowerProtect Data
Manager UI.
About this task
When you click Restart, the job or task restarts immediately, regardless of the scheduled activity
window.

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Note: If a policy with both protection and Cloud Data Recovery (CDR) stages fails, the CDR
job is cancelled and cannot be restarted.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI left navigation pane, select Jobs.
The Jobs window appears, displaying only completed jobs by default. You can filter the
information that appears in the Jobs window. Monitoring and viewing jobs on page 181
provides more information.
2. To restart a failed job, select Running, select the failed job from the list, and then click
Restart.
3. To restart a failed task:
a. Click to the left of the job name.
The Details pane appears on the right.

b. In the Task Summary section, click the link that indicates the total number of tasks.
c. Select a failed task, and then click Restart.
d. Click Close.
Results
To view the status of the restarted job or task, select Running at the top of the Jobs window. The
status indicates Running or Queued.

Cancel a job or task


From the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, you can cancel a backup that is still in progress, or any
asset protection and replication activities when the tasks are queued.
About this task
Note: The Cancel operation is only available for supported jobs and tasks.

Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI left navigation pane, select Jobs.
The Jobs window appears, displaying only completed jobs by default. You can filter the
information that appears in the Jobs window. Monitoring and viewing jobs on page 181
provides more information.
2. To cancel a job, select Running, select a job that is in-progress, and then click Cancel.
Note: If a job is almost complete, the cancellation might fail. If the cancellation fails, a
message displays indicating that the job cannot be canceled.

3. To cancel an individual task:


a. Click to the left of the job name.
The Details pane appears on the right.

b. In the Task Summary section, click the link that indicates the total number of tasks.
c. Select a task that is in-progress, and then click Cancel.

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Note: If a task is almost complete, the cancellation might fail. If the cancellation fails,
a message displays indicating that the task cannot be canceled.

d. Click Close.
Results
The Jobs window displays the status of the canceled job or task. If the cancellation is successful,
then the status eventually changes to Canceled. If the cancellation is not successful, then the
status might indicate either Success or Critical.

Export logs for a job or task


The PowerProtect Data Manager UI enables you to export and view a detailed log of a job or task.
You can view logs to perform analysis or troubleshooting.
About this task
Note: You can only export logs for failed jobs and tasks that have a log available to download. If
a log is available to download, the Export Log button is enabled.
Procedure
1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI left navigation pane, select Jobs.
The Jobs window appears, displaying only completed jobs by default. You can filter the
information that appears in the Jobs window. Monitoring and viewing jobs on page 181
provides more information.
2. To export a log for a completed job, select a job from the list, and then click Export Log.
3. To export a log for a completed task:
a. Click to the left of the job name.
The Details pane appears on the right.

b. In the Task Summary section, click the link that indicates the total number of tasks.
c. Select a completed task, and then click Export Log.

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CHAPTER 14
Upgrading the PowerProtect Data Manager
Software

This topic presents the following topics:

l Upgrade the software from PowerProtect Data Manager version 19.1.................................186


l Upgrade PowerProtect Data Manager from version 19.2 and later.......................................187
l Managing certificates after upgrading from versions earlier than PowerProtect Data Manager
version 19.1.......................................................................................................................... 188

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Upgrading the PowerProtect Data Manager Software

Upgrade the software from PowerProtect Data Manager


version 19.1
Use this procedure to upgrade from PowerProtect Data Manager version 19.1.
Before you begin
l Ensure that you have administrator credentials. Only an administrator can initiate the upgrade.
l If you have not configured Secure Remote Services (SRS), download the upgrade package
from Dell EMC Support Downloads and Drivers.
l Check for running tasks and cancel them or allow them to complete.
l Disable any Protection Policies that are scheduled to run in the next few hours.
l Take a snapshot of the system: Select the PowerProtect VM in the vSphere Client, right click,
and then select Snapshot > Take snapshot .
About this task
You can upgrade the system by manually downloading upgrade packages or by connecting to an
SRS gateway. When PowerProtect Data Manager is licensed and you have registered the SRS
gateway host with PowerProtect Data Manager, you can upgrade using SRS. When an upgrade
package is available, the packages are uploaded to the SRS gateway. The appliance checks the
SRS gateway once a day for available upgrade packages or you can manually check for upgrade
packages.
An upgrade package can upgrade one or more of the following:
l The PowerProtect Data Manager, including application agent installers stored on the
PowerProtect Data Manager virtual machine
l External VM DIrect appliance
l External CDRS servers
Procedure
1. Log in to PowerProtect Data Manager with administrator credentials.
2. Select System Settings > Upgrade.
l If you have registered SRS, the UI lists the latest available PowerProtect Data Manager
package.
l If the system is unable to locate an upgrade package or if you are using the manual
package download method:
a. Click Upload Upgrade File, browse to the path that contains the upgrade package,
select the package, and click Open.
b. Wait until the package status is Available, and then click OK.

3. (Optional) Click Perform upgrade.


A dialog box lists any areas that require attention, such as an indication that the upgrade is
disruptive or requires a reboot and warnings about running tasks or active sessions that
should be addressed before the upgrade. Click the links provided to go to the management
page for the active events, where you can cancel them or allow them to complete before
continuing.
Note: The upgrade can proceed even if jobs, IA sessions, or CDR jobs are active, but this
is not recommended.

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The dialog box also lists any required certificates. Continuing indicates acceptance of the
certificate.

4. Enter the Lockbox Passphrase, if required.


The upgrade begins. The browser is redirected to the Upgrade Manager UI on port 14443.
This enables you to monitor upgrade progress while the PowerProtect Data Manager
components are shutdown for the upgrade.
Note: To monitor the update status if the connection to the appliance closes, connect to
https://IP_address_appliance:14443.
When the upgrade completes successfully, the browser is redirected back to the main
PowerProtect Data Manager UI logon page.
5. Log in toPowerProtect Data Manager and return to the Upgrade page to verify that the
state of the upgrade is Installed.

Results
The overall package status covers critical upgrades for the PowerProtect Data Manager. Other
subcomponents, such as Agents and vProxies, may still be processing, or even fail. This does not
impact the overall status of the upgrade. You can view the state of each subcomponent by
expanding the package that was installed.
Note: If the upgrade fails, you must delete the failed package before uploading a new package
(or the same package) to try again.
After you finish
If you created a manual snapshot, use the vSphere Client to delete the snapshot:
1. Right-click the appliance and select Manage Snapshots.
2. In the Manage Snapshots window, select the snapshot and click Delete.

Upgrade PowerProtect Data Manager from version 19.2 and


later
Use this procedure to upgrade PowerProtect Data Manager from version 19.2 or later.
Before you begin
When the following prerequisites are met, upgrade packages are automatically downloaded, the
upgrade process automatically stops all running jobs, puts the system into maintenance mode, and
creates a snapshot of the system. If the upgrade fails or is aborted, the system uses the snapshot
to roll back to the previous state. Once the system is rolled back or upgraded successfully, the
snapshot is automatically deleted.
l Ensure that you have administrator credentials. Only a PowerProtect Data Manager
administrator can initiate the upgrade.
l Ensure that your system is registered with Secure Remote Services (SRS). Register the
Secure Remote Services gateway on page 227 provides instructions.
l Ensure that automatic upgrade package downloads is enabled. Enable automatic upgrade
package downloads on page 231 provides more information.
l To enable automatic snapshots, ensure that the vCenter hosting PowerProtect Data Manager
is added as an asset source. Add a VMware vCenter Server on page 102 provides more
information.
l Check for running tasks and cancel them or allow them to complete.
l Disable any Protection Policies that are scheduled to run in the next few hours.

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Upgrading the PowerProtect Data Manager Software

About this task


A notification appears in the UI when an upgrade package is available.
An upgrade package can upgrade one or more of the following:
l The PowerProtect Data Manager, including application agent installers stored on the
PowerProtect Data Manager virtual machine
l External VM DIrect appliance
l External CDRS servers
Procedure
1. Log in to PowerProtect Data Manager with administrator credentials.
2. Select System Settings > Upgrade.
The UI lists the latest available PowerProtect Data Manager upgrade package. Click the
down arrow next to the package name to view details about the contents.
3. Click Upgrade, enter the Lockbox passphrase, if required, and then click Continue.
4. Click Yes to continue with the upgrade.
The upgrade begins. The browser is redirected to the Upgrade Manager UI on port 14443.
This enables you to monitor upgrade progress while the PowerProtect Data Manager
components are shutdown for the upgrade.
Note: To monitor the update status if the connection to the appliance closes, connect to
https://IP_address_appliance:14443.
The Upgrade Manager status bar enables you to abort the upgrade, if necessary.
When the upgrade completes successfully, the browser is redirected back to the main
PowerProtect Data Manager UI logon page.
Results
l The Upgrade page indicates the status of the upgrade.
l If the upgrade fails:
1. Click the Export logs button to download the log files.
2. Click Rollback to snapshot.
3. In the Upgrade page, click Delete to delete the failed upgrade package.
4. Review the log files to determine the cause of the failure.
5. Remedy the issues, and then retry the upgrade.

Managing certificates after upgrading from versions earlier


than PowerProtect Data Manager version 19.1
Use this procedure to ensure that certificates existing on the pre-upgrade system also exist on the
post-upgrade system.
Before you begin
Ensure that you update any expired certificates on external systems to valid certificates.
Procedure
1. Log in to thePowerProtect Data Manager operating system with administrator credentials.
2. Run the upgrade command:

/usr/local/brs/lib/secretsmgr/bin/secretsmgr-tls-upgrade

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The system displays the external system certificates.


3. Verify each certificate as trusted or untrusted: At the prompt for each certificate, type Y to
accept.
Any other character rejects the certificate. Expired certificates are automatically rejected.

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190 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


CHAPTER 15
Best Practices and Troubleshooting

This section includes the following topics:

l Compatibility information.....................................................................................................192
l Power off the PowerProtect Data Manager OVA.................................................................192
l Creating a dedicated vCenter user account and assigning the role in vCenter..................... 192
l Best practices with the VM Direct appliance....................................................................... 195
l Troubleshooting backup configuration issues...................................................................... 200
l Troubleshooting virtual machine backup issues....................................................................201
l Recover a failed PowerProtect Data Manager backup........................................................ 205
l Troubleshooting virtual machine restore issues................................................................... 205
l Troubleshoot recovery of PowerProtect Data Manager.......................................................212
l Application agent and File System agent co-existence.........................................................212
l Microsoft application agent for SQL Server application-aware protection........................... 214
l Troubleshooting Microsoft Application Agent discoveries on Windows 2008 and Application
Direct...................................................................................................................................216
l Supporting more than 50 database clients........................................................................... 216
l File System agent limitations............................................................................................... 216
l Storage Direct agent limitations...........................................................................................218
l Time synchronization required between PowerProtect Data Manager and the systems it
interfaces with..................................................................................................................... 221
l PowerProtect Data Manager allows completion of protection policy when storage unit on the
Data Domain cannot be created........................................................................................... 221
l Viewing the DD Boost storage unit password.......................................................................221

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Best Practices and Troubleshooting

Compatibility information
Software compatibility information for the PowerProtect Data Manager software is provided in the
eLab Navigator, available at https://elabnavigator.emc.com/eln/modernHomeDataProtection.

Power off the PowerProtect Data Manager OVA


Before you begin
Stop any tasks or services that are in process.
Procedure
1. In vCenter, select the VM that has the PowerProtect Data Manager OVA on it, which you
would like to power off.
2. Right-click and select Shutdown.
For additional details on VMware UI, refer to VMware vendor documentation.
3. Alternatively, select Reboot.

Creating a dedicated vCenter user account and assigning the


role in vCenter
Dell EMC strongly recommends that you set up a separate vCenter user account at the root level
of the vCenter that is strictly dedicated for use with PowerProtect Data Manager and the VM
Direct protection engine.
Use of a generic user account such as “Administrator” might make future troubleshooting efforts
difficult as it might not be clear which “Administrator” actions are actually interfacing, or
communicating, with PowerProtect Data Manager. Using a separate vCenter user account ensures
maximum clarity if it becomes necessary to examine vCenter logs.
You can specify the credentials for this vCenter user account when you add the vCenter as an
asset source in the UI. Note that when adding the vCenter, ensure that you specify a user whose
role is defined at the vCenter level, as opposed to being restricted to a lower level container object
in the vSphere object hierarchy.

Specify the required privileges for a dedicated vCenter user account


You can use the vSphere Client to specify the required privileges for the dedicated vCenter user
account, or you can use the PowerCLI, which is an interface for managing vSphere. The following
table includes the privileges required for this user.
About this task

Table 23 Minimum required vCenter user account privileges

Setting vCenter 6.0 and later required privileges PowerCLI equivalent required privileges

Alarms l Create alarm $privileges = @(


'System.Anonymous',
l Modify alarm 'System.View',
'System.Read',
Datastore l Allocate space 'Global.ManageCustomFields',

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Table 23 Minimum required vCenter user account privileges (continued)

Setting vCenter 6.0 and later required privileges PowerCLI equivalent required privileges

l Browse datastore 'Global.SetCustomField',


'Global.LogEvent',
l Configure datastore 'Global.CancelTask',
'Global.Licenses',
l Low-level file operations 'Global.Settings',
'Global.DisableMethods',
l Move datastore 'Global.EnableMethods',
'Folder.Create',
l Remove datastore 'Datastore.Rename',
'Datastore.Move',
l Remove file 'Datastore.Delete',
'Datastore.Browse',
l Rename datastore 'Datastore.DeleteFile',
'Datastore.FileManagement',
Extension l Register extension 'Datastore.AllocateSpace',
'Datastore.Config',
l Unregister extension 'Network.Config',
'Network.Assign',
l Update extension 'Host.Config.Storage',
'VirtualMachine.Inventory.Create',
'VirtualMachine.Inventory.Register',
Folder l Create folder 'VirtualMachine.Inventory.Delete',
'VirtualMachine.Inventory.Unregister',
'VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOn',
Global l Cancel task 'VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOff',
'VirtualMachine.Interact.Reset',
l Disable methods 'VirtualMachine.Interact.ConsoleInteract',
'VirtualMachine.Interact.DeviceConnection',
l Enable methods 'VirtualMachine.Interact.SetCDMedia',
'VirtualMachine.Interact.ToolsInstall',
l Licenses 'VirtualMachine.Interact.GuestControl',
'VirtualMachine.GuestOperations.Query',
l Log event 'VirtualMachine.GuestOperations.Modify',
'VirtualMachine.GuestOperations.Execute',
l Manage custom attributes 'VirtualMachine.Config.Rename',
'VirtualMachine.Config.Annotation',
l Settings 'VirtualMachine.Config.AddExistingDisk',
'VirtualMachine.Config.AddNewDisk',
l Set custom attribute 'VirtualMachine.Config.RemoveDisk',
'VirtualMachine.Config.RawDevice',
'VirtualMachine.Config.HostUSBDevice',
Host l Configuration > Storage partition 'VirtualMachine.Config.CPUCount',
configuration 'VirtualMachine.Config.Memory',
'VirtualMachine.Config.AddRemoveDevice',
'VirtualMachine.Config.EditDevice',
Network l Assign network 'VirtualMachine.Config.Settings',
'VirtualMachine.Config.Resource',
l Configure 'VirtualMachine.Config.UpgradeVirtualHardwa
re',
'VirtualMachine.Config.ResetGuestInfo',
Resource l Assign virtual machine to resource pool 'VirtualMachine.Config.AdvancedConfig',
'VirtualMachine.Config.DiskLease',
l Migrate powered off virtual machine 'VirtualMachine.Config.SwapPlacement',
'VirtualMachine.Config.DiskExtend',
l Migrate powered on virtual machine 'VirtualMachine.Config.ChangeTracking',
'VirtualMachine.Config.ReloadFromPath',
Sessions 'VirtualMachine.Config.ManagedBy',
l Validate session 'VirtualMachine.State.CreateSnapshot',
'VirtualMachine.State.RevertToSnapshot',
Tasks l Create task 'VirtualMachine.State.RemoveSnapshot',
'VirtualMachine.Provisioning.MarkAsTemplate
',
l Update task 'VirtualMachine.Provisioning.DiskRandomAcce
ss',
vApp l Export 'VirtualMachine.Provisioning.DiskRandomRead
',
l Import 'VirtualMachine.Provisioning.PutVmFiles',
'Resource.AssignVMToPool',
l vApp application configuration 'Resource.HotMigrate',
'Resource.ColdMigrate',
Virtual Machine

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Best Practices and Troubleshooting

Table 23 Minimum required vCenter user account privileges (continued)

Setting vCenter 6.0 and later required privileges PowerCLI equivalent required privileges

Configuration l Add existing disk 'Alarm.Create',


'Alarm.Edit',
l Add new disk 'Task.Create',
'Task.Update',
l Add or remove device 'Sessions.ValidateSession',
'Extension.Register',
l Advanced 'Extension.Update',
'Extension.Unregister',
l Change CPU count 'VApp.ApplicationConfig',
'VApp.Export',
l Change resource 'VApp.Import'
)
l Configure managed by
New-VIRole -Name 'PowerProtect' -Privilege
l Disk change tracking (Get-VIPrivilege -Id $privileges)
l Disk Lease
l Extend virtual disk
l Host USB device
l Memory
l Modify device settings
l Raw device
l Reload from path
l Remove disk
l Rename
l Reset guest information
l Set annotation
l Settings
l Swapfile placement
l Upgrade virtual machine compatibility

Guest l Guest operation modifications


Operations
l Guest operation program execution
l Guest operation queries

Interactions l Configure CD media


l Console interaction
l Device Connection
l Guest operating system management
by VIX API
l Power off
l Power on
l Reset
l VMware Tools install

Inventory l Create new

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Table 23 Minimum required vCenter user account privileges (continued)

Setting vCenter 6.0 and later required privileges PowerCLI equivalent required privileges

l Register
l Remove
l Unregister

Provisioning l Allow disk access


l Allow read-only disk access
l Allow virtual machine download
l Mark as Template

Snapshot l Create snapshot


Management
l Remove Snapshot
l Revert to snapshot

Best practices with the VM Direct appliance


Observe the following best practices when using PowerProtect Data Manager with the VM Direct
protection engine.
l Install VMware Tools on each virtual machine by using the vSphere Client. VMware Tools
adds additional backup and recovery capabilities that quiesce certain processes on the guest
operating system prior to backup.
l Use Hot Add transport mode for faster backups and restores and less exposure to network
routing, firewall, and SSL certificate issues. To support Hot Add mode, deploy the VM Direct
appliance on an ESXi host that has a path to the storage that holds the target virtual disk(s)
for backup.
Note: Hot Add mode requires VMware hardware version 7 or later. Ensure all virtual
machines that you want to back up are using Virtual Machine hardware version 7 or later.
For sites that contain a large number of virtual machines that do not support Hot Add
requirements, Network Block Device (NBD) transport mode will be used. This can cause
congestion on the ESXi host management network. Plan your backup network carefully for
large scale NBD installs. You may consider configuring one of the following options:
n Set up Management network redundancy.
n Set up backup network to ESXi for NBD.
n Set up storage heartbeats. http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/vmw-vsphere-
high-availability.pdf provides more information.
l If you have vFlash-enabled disks and are using hotadd transport mode, ensure that you
configure the vFlash resource for the VM Direct host with sufficient resources (greater than or
equal to the virtual machine resources), or migrate the VM Direct appliance to a host with
vFlash already configured. Otherwise, backup of any vFlash-enabled disks will fail with the
error "VDDK Error: 13: You do not have access rights to this file," and the error "The available
virtual flash resource '0' MB ('0' bytes) is not sufficient for the requested operation" on the
vCenter server.
l Avoid deploying VMs with IDE virtual disks; using IDE virtual disks degrades backup
performance. Use SCSI virtual disks instead whenever possible.

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Note: You cannot use Hot Add mode with IDE Virtual disks and therefore backup of these
disks will be performed using NBD mode.
l During policy configuration, assign virtual machines to a protection group based on logical
grouping to allow for better scheduling of backups that will help you avoid resource contention
and create more organized logs for review.
l When configuring or unconfiguring a very large number of virtual machines (300 or more) in a
protection policy, an error message might display indicating that the request is too large. You
can click OK and proceed, but system performance will be impacted due to the size of the
request. As a best practice, it is recommended to use dynamic filters to automatically
determine which assets are assigned to protection policies when the assets are discovered.
l When you plan the backups, ensure that PowerProtect Data Manager supports the disk types
that you use in the environment. Currently, PowerProtect Data Manager does not support the
following disk types:
n Independent (persistent and non-persistent)
n RDM Independent - Virtual Compatibility Mode
n RDM Physical Compatibility Mode
l The VM Direct appliance uses Changed Block Tracking (CBT) by default. If CBT is disabled on
the virtual machine, then it will enable CBT automatically. If you add a disk to the virtual
machine after the first full backup, for the next policy run a full backup will be performed
automatically for the newly added disk, and an incremental backup will be performed for the
existing disk.
l When backing up thin-provisioned Virtual Machines or disks for Virtual Machines on NFS
datastores, an NFS datastore recovery does not preserve thin provisioning. VMware
knowledge base article 2137818 at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2137818 provides more
information.
l Virtual Machines with extremely high IO may face hangs during consolidation due to the ESXi
forced operation called synchronous consolidate. Plan your backups of such Virtual Machines
according to the amount of workload on the Virtual Machine.

Software and hardware requirements


The following table lists the required components for PowerProtect Data Manager and the VM
Direct protection engine.

Table 24 PowerProtect Data Manager and VM Direct appliance requirements

Component Requirements

PowerProtect Data Version 19.2 or later


Manager with the
VM Direct appliance

vCenter Server l vSphere and ESXi versions 6.0, 6.5, 6.7.


Note: Version 6.5 and later is required to perform Microsoft
SQL Server application-aware protection.
Refer to VMware documentation on physical host requirements for the
ESXi hosts:
l ESXi 6.5 minimum requirements
l ESXi 6.0 hardware requirements

VMware Tools Version 10 or later.

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Table 24 PowerProtect Data Manager and VM Direct appliance requirements (continued)

Component Requirements

Note: Version 10.1 and later is required to perform Microsoft SQL


Server application-aware protection.

Data Domain l A minimum of one configured DD Boost device is required. Note


that all models of Data Domain are supported.
l Data Domain operating system (DDOS) version 6.1 and later and
the Data Domain Management Console (DDMC).
l Make note of the hosts writing backups to your Data Domain(s).

Web browser The latest version of the Google Chrome browser in order to access
the PowerProtect Data Manager UI.

PowerProtect Data Manager resource requirements on VMware environment


PowerProtect Data Manager has the following minimum system requirements for the VMware
environment (ESXi server) it is running on:
l 10 CPU cores
l 18 GB (The ESXi server requires at least 18 GB of RAM available for PowerProtect Data
Manager)
l Five total disks:
n Disk 1 of 100 GB
n Disk 2 of 500 GB
n Disk 3 of 10 GB
n Disk 4 of 10 GB
n Disk 5 of 5 GB
l One 1-GB NIC

Configuration checklist for common issues


The following configuration checklist provides best practices and troubleshooting tips that might
help resolve some common issues.
Basic configuration
Review the following basic configuration requirements:
l Synchronize system time between vCenter and ESX/ESXi/vSphere.
l Assign IPs carefully — do not reuse any IP addresses.
l Use Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs) where possible.
l For any network related issue, confirm that forward and reverse DNS lookups work for each
host in the datazone.
Virtual machine configuration
Review the following virtual machine configuration requirements:

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l Ensure that the virtual machine has access to and name resolution for the Data Domain
system.
l Ensure that the virtual machine firewall has port rules for Data Domain.
l For application-aware backups, ensure that Microsoft SQL Server instances are enabled for
data protection using a SYSTEM account, as described in the software and security
requirements section of the topic Microsoft Application Agent for SQL Server application-
aware protection.

VM Direct appliance performance and scalability


The VM Direct appliance performance and scalability of depends on several factors, including the
number of vCenter Servers and proxies and the number of concurrent virtual machine backups.
The following table provides information on these scalability factors and maximum
recommendations, in addition to concurrence recommendations for sessions created from backups
using the VM Direct Engine.
The count of sessions is driven by the number of proxies, and backups running through this server.

Table 25 Performance and scalability factors

Component Maximum Recommended Notes


limit count

Number of concurrent 50 (10G VMware uses Network File Copy (NFC) protocol
NBD backups per ESXi network) to read VMDK using NBD transport mode. You
Server need one VMware NFC connection for each VMDK
file being backed up. The VMware Documentation
provides more information on vCenter NFC
session connection limits.

Concurrent VMDK 100 Can be achieved with a combination of the number


backups per vCenter of proxies multiplied by the number of configured
Server Hot Add sessions per VM Direct appliance.

Number of proxies per 4 A limit of 25 concurrent backup and recovery


vCenter Server sessions.

Number of files/ 200,000 File-level recovery is recommended for quickly


directories per file level recovering a small set of files. Image-level or
recovery VMDK-level recoveries are optimized and
recommended for recovering a large set of files/
folders.

Table 26 Proxy session limits by proxy type

Component Total number Notes


of sessions
(backup and
recovery)
maximum

Added (External) VM Direct appliance 25

Embedded VM Direct appliance (the 4 The embedded proxy is only used as a fallback when all
proxy pre-bundled with the other proxies are disabled or in Failed state.
PowerProtect Data Manager
software)

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Increasing the number of instant access sessions


PowerProtect Data Manager supports up to 32 concurrent instant access sessions at the storage
level.
You can be increase the number of sessions by adding an external VM Direct appliance and
modifying a configuration file to override the automatically deployed proxy's maximum sessions
value. Note that sessions created in excess of the maximum concurrent sessions supported will be
queued for 24 hours before timing out. To increase the number of concurrent sessions manually to
match the capability of the underlying cluster, perform the following steps.
1. Create a file named vmdm_recovery.properties in the /usr/local/brs/lib/vmdm/
config/ directory.
2. Add the parameter value to override the default value. For example:
vmdm.recovery.queue.ia_session_allowance=32
3. Run vmdm stop and then vmdm start to restart the vmdm service.

Enabling or disabling Changed Block Tracking


The VM Direct Engine uses changed block tracking (CBT) automatically upon the first virtual
machine backup so that only changed disk areas on the virtual machine are backed up. Some
virtual machines, however, do not support CBT and you may be required to disable CBT for those
virtual machines.
A vCenter administrator can control the application of CBT by using the custom field EMC VM
Direct Disable CBT in the vSphere Client. You can set this custom field to true to disable CBT, or
false to enable CBT. If you do not set this field for a virtual machine, or the field is not present,
CBT is enabled by default for that virtual machine.
To set CBT for virtual machines, perform the following:
1. Log into the vSphere Client (vSphere versions 6 and earlier) or vSphere Web Client
(vSphere versions 6.5 and later) as an administrator.
2. Select a virtual machine in the vCenter tree, and then click the Summary tab.
3. Edit the virtual machine attributes:
l In vSphere versions 6.x and earlier, click Edit in the Annotation box.
l In vSphere versions 6.5 and later, click Edit under Custom Attributes.
4. Locate the EMC VM Direct Disable CBT field, or create a string for EMC VM Direct Disable
CBT. The string must match the field name exactly and is case-sensitive.
5. Set the value to true to disable CBT on the virtual machine, or to false (or leave the field
blank) to enable CBT on the virtual machine. Setting or resetting the field for one virtual
machine does not affect the other virtual machines in the vCenter.
Fixing CBT if corrupted on virtual machine
If CBT becomes corrupted on the virtual machine, warnings similar to the following appear in the
backup logs:

WARN: Change block tracking needs to be reset.


WARN: Change Block Tracking could not be reset, causing full backup: Second
attempt failed.
NOTICE: Change block tracking cannot be reset by proxy. Please remediate VM.

If these messages appear, you can use PowerCLI commands to disable and then enable CBT
without powering off the virtual machines as described in the VMware knowledgebase article at
https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/search.do?

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cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=1031873, or perform the


following steps to clean up CBT:
1. Power down the virtual machine.
2. Remove CBT flags.
3. Delete CTK files from the datastore.
4. Power ON the virtual machine.

Configure a backup to support vSAN datastores


Backup and recovery functionality is supported for vSAN virtual machines.
About this task
When performing backups or restores of virtual machines residing on vSAN datastores, it is highly
recommended to deploy the VM Direct appliance on a vSAN datastore. A VM Direct appliance
deployed on any one vSAN datastore can be used for backing up virtual machines from other vSAN
or non-vSAN datastores by using Hot Add or nbdssl transport modes, as applicable.

Disable SSL certification on the vCenter Server


If the vCenter's SSL certificate cannot be trusted automatically, a dialog box appears when adding
the vCenter Server as an asset source in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, requesting
certificate approval. It is highly recommended that you do not disable certificate enforcement.
If disabling of the SSL certificate is required, you can perform the following procedure.
WARNING These steps should only be performed if you are very familiar with certificate
handling and the issues that can arise from disabling a certificate.
1. Create the following files (and file contents) in the /home/admin directory on the VM Direct
appliance:
A file named cbs_vmware_connection.properties with the line
cbs.vmware_connection.ignore_vcenter_certificate=true
A file named vmdm_vmware_connection.properties with the line
vmdm.vmware_connection.ignore_vcenter_cert=true
A file named .vmdm_discovery.properties with the line
vmdm.discovery.ignore_vcenter_cert=true
Note: Note the period at the start of this file.

2. Run cbs stop to stop the cbs service, and then cbs start to restart the service.
3. Run vmdm stop to stop the vmdm service, and then vmdm start to restart the service.
4. Perform a test to determine if SSL certificate disabling was successful by adding a vCenter
Server using the vCenter's IP address (if the SSL certificate uses FQDN), and then verify that
the asset source was added and virtual machine discovery was successful.

Troubleshooting backup configuration issues


The following section provides a list of error messages that might appear when you configure an
appliance backup configuration.
Data Domain storage unit mount command failed with error: 'Cannot mount full path: Access
is denied'
This error message appears when an NFS export does not exist on the Data Domain System for
the full path to the DD Boost Storage Unit.

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To resolve this issue, ensure that you have configured an NFS export for the full path of the DD
Boost storage unit and that the appliance is an Export client.
Data Domain storage unit mount command failed with error: 'Cannot resolve FQDN: The
name or service not known'
This error message appears when the appliance cannot contact the Data Domain System by using
the specified FQDN. To resolve this issue, ensure that you can resolve the FQDN and IP address of
the Data Domain System.

Troubleshooting virtual machine backup issues


This section provides information about issues related to virtual machine backup operations with
the VM Direct protection engine.

VM Direct limitations and unsupported features


Review the following limitations and unsupported features related to the VM Direct appliance.
VMware limitations by vSphere version
VMware limitations for vSphere 6.0 and later versions are available at https://
configmax.vmware.com/home. For vSphere 5.5, go to https://www.vmware.com/pdf/
vsphere5/r55/vsphere-55-configuration-maximums.pdf.

VM Direct appliance configuration settings cannot be modified after adding the VM Direct
appliance
After adding a VM Direct appliance, the only field you can modify is the Transport Mode. Any
other configuration changes require you to delete and then re-add the VM Direct appliance.
Additional VM Direct actions on page 109 provides more information.

Limitations to SQL Server application consistent data protection


Review the SQL Server application-consistent protection support limitations in the section
Microsoft application agent for SQL Server application-aware protection on page 214.

Network configuration settings are not restored with virtual machine after recovery of a vApp
backup
Network configuration settings are not backed up with the virtual machine as part of a vApp
backup. As a result, when you restore a vApp backup, you must manually reconfigure the
network settings.

VM Direct appliance configured with dual stack is not supported


The VM Direct appliance does not support dual stack (IPv4 and IPv6) addressing. If you want
to run backups and restores using the VM Direct appliance, use IPv4 only addressing.

Virtual machine alert "VM MAC conflict" may appear after successful recovery of virtual machine
After performing a successful recovery of a virtual machine through vCenter version 6, an
alert may appear indicating a "VM MAC conflict" for the recovered virtual machine, even
though the new virtual machine will have a different and unique MAC address. You must
manually acknowledge the alert or clear the alert after resolving the MAC address conflict.
Note that this alert can be triggered even when the MAC address conflict is resolved.
The VMware release notes at http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/vsphere/60/
vsphere-vcenter-server-60u2-release-notes.html provide more information.

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Protection fails for virtual machine name containing { or }


A PowerProtect Data Manager virtual machine protection policy fails to back up virtual
machines that contain the special characters { or } in the name. This limitation exists with
vSphere versions previous to 6.7. If you do not have vSphere 6.7 installed, avoid using these
two characters in virtual machine names.

Datastore names cannot contain special characters


Using special characters in datastore names can cause problems with the VM Direct Engine,
such as failed backups and restores. Special characters include the following: % & * $ #
@ ! \ / : * ? " < > | ;, and so on.

Hot Add backups fail when datacenter names contain special characters
Virtual machine backups fail when the datacenter name contains special characters and the
transport mode specified for VM Direct backups is Hot Add only. Avoid using special
characters in the datacenter name, for example, "Datacenter_#2@3", or specify Hotadd with
fallback to Network Block Device for the transport mode.

Hot Add backups fail when virtual machine protection policy configured with Virtual Flash Read
Cache value
When using Hot Add transport mode for a virtual machine protection policy, the backup fails
with the following error if configured with the Virtual Flash Read Cache (vFRC) value:

"Backup has FAILED. Failed to backup


virtual disk \"Hard disk <no.>\". Failed to initialize Block
Reader. Failed to open source VMDK \<dataStore
name>/<VM_Name.vmdk>\": VDDK Error: 13: You do not have
access rights to this file. (500)".

Backups fail for resource pools recreated with the same name as deleted pool
When you delete a resource pool in vCenter and then recreate a resource pool with the same
name, backups fail. Re-configure the protection group with the newly created resource pool.

Data Domain Boost over fibre channel not supported


PowerProtect Data Manager does not support Data Domain Boost over fibre channel (DFC).

SAN transport mode not supported


PowerProtect Data Manager supports only the Hot Add and NBD transport modes. The Hot
Add mode is the default transport mode. For a protection policy, you can specify to use only
Hot Add mode, only NBD mode, or Hot Add mode with fallback to NBD of Hot Add is not
available.

Specify NBD for datastores if VM Direct should use NBD mode only
For a VM Direct appliance that will only use NBD transport mode, you must also specify the
datastores for which you want the proxy to perform only NBD backups to ensure that any
backups of virtual machines running on these datastores are always performed using NBD
mode. This also ensures that the same NBD-only proxies are never used for backups of virtual
machines residing on any other datastores.

Backup of individual folders within a virtual machine is not supported


PowerProtect Data Manager only supports image-level backup and disk-level backup. You
cannot perform backups of individual folders within the virtual machine.

I/O contention when all Virtual Machines on a single data store


I/O contention may occur during snapshot creation and backup read operations when all
Virtual Machines reside on a single datastore.

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VMware snapshot for backup is not supported for independent disks


When using independent disks you cannot perform VMware snapshot for backup.

Managing command execution for VM Direct Agent operations on Linux


The VM Direct Agent automatically creates a PAM service file named vproxyra in the /etc/
pam.d system directory, if the file does not already exist.
This file, which enables you to manage command execution through the VM Direct Agent, is
modeled on the corresponding vmtoolsd file. The settings in this file permit command execution
by any user who is able to perform VM Direct operations on the guest virtual machine. A system
administrator can further modify this file to specify which users can perform VM Direct Agent
operations, for example, file-level restore and SQL application-aware protection. For more
information on the configuration of PAM service files, see the system documentation for your
specific guest virtual machine operating system.

SQL Server application-consistent backups fail with error "Unable to find VSS
metadata files in directory"
SQL Server application-consistent virtual machine backups might fail with the following error when
the disk.EnableUUID variable for the virtual machine is set to False.
Unable to find VSS metadata files in directory C:\Program Files\DPSAPPS
\MSVMAPPAGENT\tmp\VSSMetadata.xxxx.
To resolve this issue, ensure that the disk.EnableUUID variable for the virtual machines included in
an SQL Server application-consistent backup is set to True.

Failed to lock Virtual Machine for backup: Another EMC VM Direct operation
'Backup' is active on VM
This error message appears when a backup fails for a virtual machine, when previous backups of
the virtual machine was abruptly ended and the VM annotation string was not cleared.
To resolve this issue, clear the annotation string value for the virtual machine.
1. Connect to the vCenter server and navigate Home > Inventory > Hosts and Clusters.
2. Select the virtual machine, and then select the Summary tab.
3. Clear the value that appears in the EMC Proxy Session field.

vMotion operations are not allowed during active backup operations


The vSphere vMotion feature enables the live migration of running virtual machines from one
physical server to another. You cannot run vMotion operations on the VM Direct appliance or
VMware Backup appliance during active backup operations. This is expected behavior. Wait until all
backup operations have completed prior to performing a vMotion operation.

Backups fail if certain characters are used in the virtual machine name,
datastore, folder, or datacenter names
When you use spaces or special characters in the virtual machine name, datastore, folder, or
datacenter names, the .vmx file is not included in the backup. The VM Direct appliance does not

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back up objects that include the following special characters, in the format of character/escape
sequence:
l & %26
l + %2B
l / %2F
l = %3D
l ? %3F
l % %25
l \ %5C
l ~ %7E
l ] %5D

Lock placed on virtual machine during backup and recovery operations


continues for 24 hours if VM Direct appliance fails
During VM Direct backup and recovery operations, a lock is placed on the virtual machine. If a VM
Direct appliance failure occurs during one of these sessions, the lock is extended to a period of 24
hours, during which full backups and transaction log backups will fail with the following error until
the lock is manually released:
Cannot lock VM 'W2K8R2-SQL-2014' (vm-522): Another EMC vProxy operation
'Backup' is active on VM vm-522.

Workaround
To manually release the lock on the virtual machine:
1. Open the vSphere Web Client.
2. Select the virtual machine and select Summary.
3. Select Custom attribute and click Edit.
4. Remove the attribute EMC VM Direct Session.

Trailing spaces not supported in SQL database names


Due to a VSS limitation, you cannot use trailing spaces within the names of SQL databases
protected by an application-consistent data protection policy.

SQL databases skipped during virtual machine transaction log backup


When an advanced application-consistent policy is enabled with transaction log backup, the
msvmagent_appbackup.exe program evaluates databases to determine if transaction log
backup is appropriate.
If transaction log backup is not appropriate for a database, the database will automatically be
skipped. Databases are skipped for the following reasons:
Table 27 SQL Skipped Database Cases and Descriptions

Case Description

Database has When a database has been restored, this database will be skipped during
been restored transaction log backup because there is no Backup Promotion.

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Table 27 SQL Skipped Database Cases and Descriptions (continued)

Case Description

System System databases are automatically skipped for transaction log backup.
Database

Database State Database is not in a state that allows backup. For example, the database is in
the NORECOVERY state.

Recovery Database is in SIMPLE recovery model, which does not support transaction
Model log backup

Other Backup Most recent backup for the database was performed by a different backup
Product product.

New Database Database was created after most recent full backup.

Backup Failure Database was in state to allow backup, backup was attempted, but backup
failed.

All skipped databases will be backed up as part of the next full backup. Also, a skipped database
will not result in msvmagent_appbackup.exe failure. The only instance in which
msvmagent_appbackup.exe would potentially fail is if all databases failed to back up.
The msvmagent_appbackup.exe program generates a history report of the databases, if the
database backup status was success/skipped/failed, and a reason if they were skipped or failed if
applicable. This history report is visible in the action logs for the VM Direct Engine, which are
available as part of the appbackup logs.
Note: For SQL virtual machine application-consistent data protection, the SQL and operating
system versions follow the NMM support matrix available at http://
compatibilityguide.emc.com:8080/CompGuideApp/.

Accessing Knowledge Base Articles


Additional troubleshooting information is available through the Featured VMware Documentation
Sets website at https://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/. Select Support > Search Knowledge
Base.

Recover a failed PowerProtect Data Manager backup


Procedure
1. Redeploy the PowerProtect Data Manager OVA.
2. Call Dell EMC Technical support.

Troubleshooting virtual machine restore issues


The following topics provide information on troubleshooting virtual machine restore failures.
Virtual machine protection copy does not display under available copies
If a virtual machine protection copy does not display under the available copies in PowerProtect
Data Manager, verify the following:
l Ensure that protection of the virtual machine completed successfully.
l Check that the desired copy has not expired according to the PowerProtect Data Manager
protection policy.

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l Run a discovery of the Data Domain Management Center (DDMC) and ensure that discovery
completed successfully for virtual machine copies.
l Check the discovery logs for any exceptions or errors that might have occurred during
discovery.
Virtual machine restore fails with name resolution error
A virtual machine restore might fail with the following error due to network issues between Data
Domain and PowerProtect Data Manager or the vCenter/ESXi:

com.emc.brs.vmdm.http.HttpsConnector - null: Temporary failure in name


resolution
java.net.UnknownHostException : null: Temporary failure in name resolution

Ensure that you have proper name resolution between the Data Domain and PowerProtect Data
Manager /vCenter/ESX.
DD NFS share not removed after restore to original
The DD NFS share might not be removed after a successful virtual machine restore to original.
When this occurs, the restore hangs and the following DD NFS clients appear enabled in the Data
Domain.
Figure 9 DD NFS clients still enabled after restore

If you encounter this issue, you can wait 24 hours for PowerProtect Data Manager to clean up the
DD NFS shares, or you can stop the restore and clean up the DD NFS clients manually by
performing the following steps:
1. Restart the VMDM service by typing /usr/local/brs/lib/vmdm/bin/vmdm restart.
2. Clean up DD NFS clients by typing nfs del <Path> <Client>.
3. In the vSphere Client's Configuration tab, manually unmount the EMC-vProxy-vm-qa-
xxxxx DDNFS datastore that is mounted on the ESXi host.
Virtual machine restore fails with error due to VM Direct corruption
A virtual machine restore might fail with the following error due to corruption of the VM Direct
Engine that is running in PowerProtect Data Manager:

com.emc.dpsg.vproxy.client.VProxyManager - Error(createSession):
javax.net.ssl.SSLException:
Unrecognized SSL message, plaintext connection

Ensure that the vproxyd service is running in PowerProtect Data Manager by typing the following
command.
ps xa | grep vproxy
Ensure that the vproxy rpm is installed as expected in PowerProtect Data Manager by typing the
following command.
rpm -qa | grep vProxy
When logged in as the root user, restart the vproxyd service on PowerProtect Data Manager by
typing the following command.
systemctl restart vproxyd

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Virtual machine restore fails with error "Unable to create NAS Datastore"
A virtual machine restore might fail with the following error when a change is made to the DD
restore user role in Data Domain:

Unable to create NAS Datastore: Unable to create NFS export at 'irv-dd9500-


skyline1.asl.lab.emc.com:/data/col1/eCDM-SU-1497653922167/vProxy-vm-
qa-1084.asl.lab.emc.com-abfd110d-cdfa-4517-9485-27767ef75d35':

Ensure that the DD user performing the restore has the admin role. You can change the user's
status in Data Domain by identifying the Data Domain user that starts with ecdmsu-admin and
using the following commands:
To check the user's status, type user show list
To change the role of the user, type user change role < ecdmsu-admin-xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
admin
Virtual machine restore fails with error "User UserEARA does not have proper privileges"
A virtual machine restore fails with the error "User UserEARA does not have proper privileges"
when the user does not have adequate privileges to perform the restore operation.
Ensure that the PowerProtect Data Manager user performing the restore belongs to System
Tenant and has the Export and Recovery Admin role.
Virtual machine restore fails when the previous restore of this virtual machine is in progress
or did not complete
A virtual machine restore fails with the following error if the previous restore operation for the
same virtual machine is still in progress or did not complete successfully:

Error : There is another running restore operation that conflicts with this
request.

If the previous restore operation for this virtual machine is still in progress, monitor the progress in
PowerProtect Data Manager until the restore completes. If the virtual machine restore is complete
but the task stops responding, then you must manually cancel the restore in PowerProtect Data
Manager by restarting the VMDM service. You can restart the VMDM service by typing /usr/
local/brs/lib/vmdm/bin/vmdm restart.

Troubleshooting instant access restore failures


An instant access restore consists of two stages. First, a virtual machine is made available in the UI
as an instant access virtual machine without moving the virtual machine to permanent storage.
Second, storage vMotion is initiated to migrate the virtual machine to permanent storage.
If at any point during the migration a restore failure occurs, the instant access session is not
automatically removed until after the expiration period for an instant access virtual machine
restore, which is 7 days by default. This behavior is intentional for the following reasons:
l To avoid data loss, since changes might have been made to the virtual machine during that
time
l To provide you with the opportunity to fix the issue (for example, to free up space on the
restore destination or choose a different datastore) and then take the appropriate action
When the cause of the failure is determined and/or fixed, you can use the Instant Access
Sessions window of the UI to retry the migration, or save the data and delete the instant access
virtual machine, as required. The section Manage and monitor Instant Access Sessions provides
detailed information about these actions.

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FLR Agent for virtual machine file-level restore


The VM Direct FLR Agent is required for file-level restore operations and is installed automatically
on the target virtual machine when you initiate a file-level restore and provide the virtual machine
credentials.
The FLR Agent installation on Linux virtual machines requires that you use the root account. If
non-root credentials are provided for the target virtual machine, the FLR Agent installation fails,
even if this user has privileges similar to a root user. Once the FLR Agent installation is completed
by a root user, you can perform file-level restore operations as a non-root user.
FLR Agent installation on Windows virtual machines requires that you use administrative
privileges. If the provided credentials for the target virtual machine do not have administrative
privileges, the FLR Agent installation fails.
On Linux, to perform a file-level restore using a non-root user, ensure that the FLR Agent has
already been installed on the target virtual machine using the root user account. Otherwise, ensure
that you are using a supported platform and the root user is specified, and click OK. For Linux, file-
level restore is only supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 6 and 7, and SuSE Linux
Enterprise Server versions 11 and 12.
On Windows, to perform a file-level restore using a non-administrator user, ensure that the FLR
Agent is already installed on the target machine using administrative privileges. Otherwise, ensure
that an administrative user is specified, and click OK.
FLR Agent installation on Windows virtual machines with User Account Control enabled
Performing the FLR Agent installation on User Account Control (UAC) enabled Windows virtual
machine requires you to either provide the credentials of the administrator user, or to disable UAC
during the FLR Agent installation and then re-enable upon completion.
On Windows versions 7, 8, and 10, the administrator account is disabled by default. To enable the
account, complete the following steps:
1. To activate the account, open a command prompt in administrative mode, and then type net
user administrator /active: yes.
2. To set a password for the administrator account, go to Control Panel > User Accounts and
select the Advanced tab. Initially, the account password is blank.
3. In the User Accounts pane, right-click the user and select Properties, and then clear the
Account is disabled option.
To disable UAC during the FLR Agent installation and then re-enable on completion of the
installation, complete the following steps:
1. Initiate a file-level restore to launch the FLR Agent installation window. The FLR Agent
installation is automatically started during a mount operation if it is not already installed on the
destination virtual machine.
2. In the FLR Agent installation window, select the Keep VM Direct FLR on target virtual
machine option.
3. Open regedit and change the EnableLUA registry key value at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft
\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System to 0x00000000. By default, this is set to
1.
4. Proceed with the FLR Agent installation.
5. Open regedit and reset the EnableLUA registry key to the previous value to re-enable UAC.

Updating the Microsoft Application Agent and FLR Agent software


The Microsoft Application Agent and FLR Agent software required to perform SQL application-
aware data protection and file-level restore operations will be automatically updated on the target

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virtual machine by the VM Direct appliance during the file-level restore operation. The VM Direct
appliance detects the available software on the client and updates the Agent software with the
new version of software from its repository. If the update does not occur automatically, contact a
Dell EMC technical support professional for a procedure to update the VM Direct software
repository with the latest version of the Agent software packages.

Supported platform versions for file-level restore


File-level restore is only supported for the following platforms and operating system versions.
Note: Platforms/operating systems are qualified for file-level restore support using the default
file system for these platforms.
l RedHat Enterprise Linux versions 6.x and 7.x
l SuSE Linux Enterprise Server versions 11.x and 12.x
l Debian version 9.1
l Ubuntu version 17.10
l CentOS version 7.2
l Oracle Enterprise Linux version 7.2
l Windows 7, 8, 10, Server 2008, 2012, 2016 (all 64-bit platforms and R2, where applicable) for
FAT, and NTFS.

Support for Debian or Ubuntu operating system


VM Direct file-level restore is supported on the Debian/Ubuntu operating system. To configure the
Debian or Ubuntu guest operating system for file-level restore, perform the following steps.
About this task
Note: File-level restore is not supported on Debian/Ubuntu ext4 file systems.

Procedure
1. Log in to the system console as a non-root user.
2. Run the sudo passwd root command.
Enter the new password twice to set a password for the root account.
3. Run the sudo passwd -u root command to unlock the root account.
4. Specify the root user credentials in the Dell EMC Data Protection Restore Client and
proceed to complete the file-level restore operation at least once.
While performing the file-level restore operation for the first time, remember to select Keep
FLR agent.

5. After performing the above steps at least once, you can revert the root account to the
locked state and use non-root account for future file-level restore requests. Non-root user
can lock the root account with the sudo passwd -l root command.

Operating system utilities required for file-level restore


On Linux and Windows, the installed operating system must include several standard utilities in
order to use file-level restore. Depending on the target operating system for restore and the types
of disks or file systems in use, some of these standard utilities, however, may not be included.
The following utilities and programs may be required for performing file-level restore.
On Windows:

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l msiexec.exe
l diskpart.exe
l cmd.exe
On Linux:
l blkid
l udevadm
l readlink
l rpm
l bash
Note: On Linux LVM, LVM2 rpm version 2.02.117 or later is required. Also, additional binaries
required on Linux LVM include dmsetup, lvm, and vgimportclone.

File-level restore and SQL restore limitations


This section provides a list of limitations that apply to file-level restore and individual SQL database
and instance restore.
Consider the following:
l The VM Direct FLR Agent is installed automatically on the target virtual machine for file-level
restore when a disk mount operation is initiated. The mount, however, fails and the FLR Agent
is not installed if the user does not have sufficient administrator privileges. Ensure that the
user performing file-level restore is a system administrator. Note that adding a user to the
Administrators group does not grant this user sufficient privileges to perform this operation.
l When performing a file-level restore, VMDKs will fail to mount with the following error if the
FLR Agent service is not running on the target virtual machine: "Cannot connect to
vProxy Agent: dial tcp <127.0.0.1:<port>: connectex: No connection
could be made because the target machine actively refused it."
l If you no longer require the VM Direct FLR Agent on the target virtual machine, the agent
must be properly uninstalled. If you manually delete VM Direct FLR Agent files instead of
uninstalling the agent, and at some point reinstall the agent, subsequent mount attempts to
perform restores will fail.
To uninstall the VM Direct FLR Agent on Linux:
1. Execute the following command: /opt/emc/vproxyra/bin/preremove.sh.
2. Uninstall FLR agent package by running rpm -e emc-vProxy-FLRAgent.
3. If the uninstall fails due to a broken installation or other issue, you can force removal of the
package by running rpm -e --force emc-vProxy-FLRAgent.
To uninstall the VM Direct FLR Agent on Windows:
1. Select Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features.
2. Locate EMC VM Direct FLR.
3. Right-click the program and select Uninstall.
l When a file-level restore or SQL restore operation is in progress on a virtual machine, no other
backup or recovery operation can be performed on this virtual machine. Wait until the file-level
restore session completes before starting any other operation on the virtual machine.
l Clean up from a suspended or cancelled mount operation requires a restart of the virtual
machine before you can initiate a new mount for the file-level restore.
l When you enable Admin Approval Mode (AAM) on the operating system for a virtual machine
(for example, by setting Registry/FilterAdministratorToken to 1), the administrator

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user cannot perform a file-level restore to the end user's profile, and an error displays
indicating "Unable to browse destination." For any user account control (UAC) interactions,
the administrator must wait for the mount operation to complete, and then access the backup
folders located at C:\Program Files (x86)\EMC\vProxy FLR Agent\flr
\mountpoints by logging into the guest virtual machine using Windows Explorer or a
command prompt.
l When you perform file-level restore on Windows 2012 R2 virtual machines, the volumes listed
under the virtual machine display as "unknown." File-restore operations are not impacted by
this issue.
l When you perform file-level restore on Ubuntu/Debian platforms, you must enable the root
account in the operating system. By default, the root account will be in locked state.
l You can only restore files and/or folders from a Windows backup to a Windows machine, or
from a Linux backup to a Linux machine.
l You must install VMware Tools version 10 or later. For best results, ensure that all virtual
machines run the latest available version of VMware Tools. Older versions are known to cause
failures when you perform browse actions during file-level restore or SQL retore operations.
l You can perform file-level restore across vCenters as long as the vCenters are configured in
PowerProtect Data Manager, and the source and target virtual machine have the same guest
operating system. For example, Linux to Linux, or Windows to Windows.
l File-level restore does not support the following virtual disk configurations:
n LVM thin provisioning
n Unformatted disks
n FAT16 file systems
n FAT32 file systems
n Extended partitions (Types: 05h, 0Fh, 85h, C5h, D5h)
n Two or more virtual disks mapped to single partition
n Encrypted partitions
n Compressed partitions
l File-level restore of virtual machines with Windows dynamic disks is supported with the
following limitations:
n The restore can only be performed when recovering to a virtual machine different from the
original. Also, this virtual machine cannot be a clone of the original.
n The restore can only be performed by virtual machine administrator users.
n If Windows virtual machines were created by cloning or deploying the same template, then
all of these Windows virtual machines may end up using the same GUID on their dynamic
volumes.
l File-level restore does not restore or browse symbolic links.
l File-level restore of Windows 8, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2016 virtual
machines is not supported on the following file systems:
n Deduplicated NTFS
n Resilient File System (ReFS)
n EFI bootloader

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Troubleshoot recovery of PowerProtect Data Manager


When the FQDN of the recovery site is different from the FQDN of the primary site, a mount error
might occur and the recovery process requires a few extra steps.
About this task
If a mount error occurs during recovery, follow this work-around procedure.
Procedure
1. On the Data Domain system where the backup is located, delete the replication pair and
mount it for PowerProtect Data Manager.
2. When recovery is complete, on PowerProtect Data Manager, regenerate the certificates
using the following command.
sudo -H -u admin /usr/local/brs/puppet/scripts/
generate_certificates.sh -c
3. Restart the system and select the URL of the primary PowerProtect Data Manager system.
The https://PPDM IP/#/progress page appears and recovery resumes.
4. Log in to the primary PowerProtect Data Manager.
The PowerProtect Data Manager VM vCenter console shows an error, which you can
ignore.
5. Open the primary PowerProtect Data Manager using the original IP address and log in.
Results
Recovery is complete.

Application agent and File System agent co-existence


PowerProtect Data Manager supports the coexistence of the Microsoft SQL Application agent
with the File System agent on Windows, and the Oracle agent with the File System agent on Linux,
which enables you to protect the SQL or Oracle database with the host file system. The following
co-existence scenarios are supported:
l Both agents in managed mode (registered to PowerProtect Data Manager)
l The SQL or Oracle agent in standalone mode, with the File System agent registered to
PowerProtect Data Manager
Note: The latest version of each agent must be installed if both agents are registered to
PowerProtect Data Manager. In the single agent co-existence scenario (SQL or Oracle agent
in standalone mode), the File System agent is supported in managed mode only.
The steps for installation and usage for each agent are the same.
The table below lists the supported use cases and limitations.

Category Supported cases Current limitations

Agent installation and 1. New installation of both l Uninstalling the last agent
uninstallation agents with: installed on the host un-
registers the host from
a. SQL Application agent
PowerProtect Data
or Oracle Application
Manager. Any new agent

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Category Supported cases Current limitations

agent in standalone or installation that occurs


managed mode. after the uninstall will
have to be newly
b. File System agent in
registered to the
managed mode.
PowerProtect Data
2. New installation of an Manager server.
agent in managed mode
l Similar to the agent
with an already existing
installations,
agent in standalone
uninstallation of each
mode.
agent is performed
3. New installation of an separately.
agent in standalone mode
with an already existing
agent in managed mode.
4. Repair of an already
existing agent installation.
5. Uninstallation of agents.

Host Registration and Un- 1. Registration of an l Both agents, if operating


registration installed agent to the in managed mode, should
PowerProtect Data be registered to the same
Manager server. PowerProtect Data
Manager server only.
2. Changing the registration
There is no option to
of an already registered
register each agent to a
agent to a different
different PowerProtect
PowerProtect Data
Data Manager server.
Manager server.
l On an already registered
3. Un-registration of agents
host, performing a direct
from the PowerProtect
registration (explicitly
Data Manager server.
using register.sh/
register.bat) with a
different PowerProtect
Data Manager server IP
will un-register the host
from the current
PowerProtect Data
Manager server and
register the host to the
new server. Standalone
agents will continue to
operate in standalone
mode and will not be
registered.
l Un-registering a host will
un-register all of the
managed agents installed
on that host. Standalone
agents will not be
affected.

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Category Supported cases Current limitations

l After un-registering a
host, the host's assets
will still display in the UI in
order to support restore
of these assets to a
different host. However,
backups will not be
initiated on these assets
as the protection policies
will be disabled.

Backup and restore features 1. Protection policy creation


supported on all
registered agents.
2. All scheduled protection
policy backups are
supported on both agents
as per individual
protection policies.
3. Self-service backups are
supported on both
agents.
4. Restores are supported
on both agents.
5. Compliance is supported
on both agents as per the
individual Service Level
Agreements (SLAs).

Microsoft application agent for SQL Server application-aware


protection
The Microsoft application agent is a component of the PowerProtect Data Manager data
protection solution for VMware virtual machines.
A PowerProtect Data Manager application-aware VM protection policy uses the Microsoft
application agent to provide advanced application-consistent protection for the following SQL
workloads:
l SQL Server full backup to Data Domain—Configure a PowerProtect Data Manager protection
policy with the application-aware option to perform a SQL Server backup to a Data Domain
device as part of a VMware image-level backup. A SQL Server full backup is performed during
the in-guest quiesce by VMware Tools. When the backup is performed as part of the VMware
image-level backup, the SQL data files are backed up as part of the VMDKs during the VM
Direct backup. After completing the backup, the Microsoft application agent is automatically
run on the virtual machine to catalog the SQL server backup on the Data Domain associated
with the protection policy.
l Transaction log backup—When configuring a PowerProtect Data Manager protection policy
with the Application Aware option, set an interval for Transaction log backup to enable
transaction log backups for SQL instances running on the virtual machine, and specify the

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frequency of backups. The Microsoft application agent is run on the virtual machine to perform
the transaction log backup. Backups are written directly to the Data Domain associated with
the protection policy. A transaction log backup is only performed for databases in the proper
state; otherwise, databases are skipped.
l Database restore, flat file restore, table-level restore, or database Instant Access restore to
the source virtual machine or an alternate virtual machine. To perform restores to an alternate
virtual machine, that virtual machine must be an asset of PowerProtect Data Manager.
However, instance-level restores can only be performed to the original source instance. For
more details on how to use Microsoft application agent to restore SQL databases backed up
with an application-aware VM protection policy, see the PowerProtect Microsoft Application
Agent SQL Server User Guide.
The Microsoft application agent software package is bundled with the PowerProtect Data
Manager appliance, and is automatically configured on a virtual machine when you add the virtual
machine asset to a VM application-aware protection policy. As part of the VM protection policy
configuration, both the VM Direct Agent and the Microsoft application agent are installed on the
virtual machine. The Microsoft application agent installation includes the software components
required for self-service restore, including the SQL Server Management Studio Microsoft App
Agent plug-in and ItemPoint. After the agent installations, configuration information for the Data
Domain is also sent to the virtual machine, calling the Microsoft application agent to perform the
lockbox configuration. Subsequent protection policy backups and self-service restore operations
jobs will also use this information without any further action required. During application-aware
SQL Server full backups and transaction log backups, PowerProtect Data Manager upgrades the
VM Direct Agent and Microsoft application agent software packages as required.
The virtual machine credentials provided in the protection policy or within the virtual machine
asset are used during Microsoft application agent installation and during SQL Server full and
transaction log backups. The Microsoft application agent is first called to validate the virtual
machine SQL configuration. The agent verifies that the SQL Server is installed and running, and
that the provided virtual machine credentials have the necessary permissions to perform an SQL
Server backup.
In order to perform SQL Server application-consistent data protection for virtual machines, the
Microsoft application agent requires the following:
l The Microsoft application agent runs under the virtual machine credentials provided in the VM
protection policy or virtual machine asset for installation and data protection operations.
Configure all SQL Server instances on the virtual machine to grant account rights for this
account to perform SQL database backup and recovery operations:
n Add the account to SQL logins.
n Grant the account the sysadmin role.
l Network connectivity, hostname resolution, and firewall ports between the Data Domain
device and the virtual machines that are part of SQL Server application-consistent protection
policies and restore to alternate operations. This connectivity is required to enable the
Microsoft application agent to perform client direct operations to Data Domain.
l VMware vCenter server version 6.5 or later.
l VMware ESXi server version 6.5 or later.
l VMware Tools version 10.1 or later.
l Enable the UUID attribute (disk.EnableUUID=TRUE) in the vSphere Client.
l The virtual machine must use SCSI disks only, and the number of available SCSI slots must at
least match the number of disks. For example, a virtual machine with 7 disks will only require
one SCSI controller, but a virtual machine with 8 disks will require 2 SCSI controllers.

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l The VM Direct Engine requires live network connectivity to the ESXi where the targeted SQL
virtual machine resides.

Troubleshooting Microsoft Application Agent discoveries on


Windows 2008 and Application Direct
When you perform a Microsoft Application Agent discovery on Windows 2008 on PowerProtect
Data Manager and Application Direct versions 4.5 and 4.6, the PowerProtect Data Manager agent
uses the wmic.exe command to discover the installed programs. The default PowerProtect Data
Manager agent installation on Windows 2008 R2 produces an error in the ecdmagent log, and
discovery fails.
In Some Windows 2008 environments, the wmic.exe command does not work properly when you
run it from the local user or local system account, and it causes the following error: Failed to
run wmic: ERROR: error running command `wmic.exe product where name like
'DDBEA and ProtectPoint Microsoft app agent' or name like 'Microsoft
Application agent' get Name, Version /format:csv`: exit status 44210
To avoid the error and ensure that Microsoft Application Agent discoveries on Windows 2008 and
Application Direct succeed, run the wmic.exe command as domain administrator instead of local
administrator.

Supporting more than 50 database clients


About this task
If you are supporting more than 50 database clients and the following error message is displayed,
perform the following steps:

Error:Protect Databases failed. The service is unavailable"

Procedure
1. Modify the following parameter in the /usr/local/brs/lib/zuul/conf/
application.yml file.
MaxTotalConnections = (Number of clients * 12)

2. Increase the value in the MaxTotalConnections parameter by a factor of 12 for every client.
For example, to protect 70 SQL clients, set the parameter to MaxTotalConnections=840.
3. Restart the Zuul service:

zuul restart

File System agent limitations


Review the following limitations related to File System agent support in PowerProtect Data
Manager.
l File System agent block-based backups will exclude the following:
n Application files such as SQL and Exchange.

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n HyperVisor files. Note that the File System agent is installed primarily in the guest operating
system for the backup of guest file system volumes, and is not dependent on the underlying
HyperVisor.
n Data belonging to individual application writers.
n Unsupported application writer's files.
l For any ESXi version 6.5 and earlier host with Trident storage attached, the Windows
operating system deployment/installation cannot proceed and File System agent backup and
restore operations will fail if the DiskMaxIOSize parameter is not configured with the proper
value. Ensure that you set the DiskMaxIOSize to 1024 KB.
l It is recommended to use different mount points for each drive. Reusing mount points might
cause unexpected issues during File System discovery.
l The File System agent does not support non-English operating systems. Software
compatibility information for the PowerProtect Data Manager software and the File System
agent is provided in the eLab Navigator, available at https://elabnavigator.emc.com/eln/
modernHomeDataProtection.
l If a Windows or Linux File System host is unregistered from PowerProtect Data Manager and
then re-registered with a different FQDN, because PowerProtect Data Manager recognizes
the registration as a new host by its new name, duplicate asset entries will appear in the UI—
those for the host registered earlier, as well as for the host registered by the new name. This
does not impact backup and restore functionality on the new host.
l IPv6 is not supported. Use IPv4 instead.
l Image-level recovery to a system volume is not supported.
l Recovery of ReFS or deduplicated volumes to Windows 2008 R2 is not supported.
l If File System host discovery does not occur on Windows hosts, verify that the fs plugin -
adm-fs-4.0.0-1-SNAPSHOT-windows-amd64.exe plug-in file has been copied to
C:\Program Files\DPSFSAGENT\ADM Agent\bin. Note that copying the file to this
location can take 10-15 minutes. When the plug-in file appears in this location, initiate a manual
discovery from the UI's Asset sources window.
l File system discovery requires an ext3, ext4, or XFS file system type. Note, however, that
PowerProtect Data Manager does not support ext4 file systems on SuSE Linux Enterprise
Server (SLES) version 11 SP1-SP4 platforms.
l If a Windows or Linux File System host has DNS incorrectly configured or is part of a
workgroup with a dummy DNS suffix added, centralized restore of a backup copy performed
on this host will fail. This is because the storage name on the protection storage system is
created with the actual shortname of the host, and does not include the incorrect suffix. For
the same reason, a restore from PowerProtect Data Manager will also fail if the host name or
domain name of the client is changed and then re-registered to PowerProtect Data Manager.
As a workaround, use the ddfsrc command with the -c flag, with the short name as input to
restore the required copies. More information on how to use the ddfsrc command is provided
in the section Performing self-service restore of a File System host on page 169.
l If the File System agent will co-exist with the Microsoft SQL or Oracle application agents, it is
recommended that you use either the IP address or FQDN for registering both agents.
Registering one agent using an IP address and another using the FQDN will require you to re-
approve the host in PowerProtect Data Manager, and might cause other unexpected
inconsistencies.
l For a protection policy backup with assets from different hosts, the backup status displays as
"Failed" in the UI if the backup of one asset within the policy fails.

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l Running the ddfssv and ddfsrc commands to perform self-service backup and restore of
File Systems fails if you provide the Data Domain host name for the DFA_SI_DD_HOST
variable.
l A File System backup might fail with the error Insufficient space exists in the
volume group for creating shadow of the volume when there is not enough
space in the volume group for a block based backup to succeed. Each volume group on LVM2
or VxVM must have at least 10% free space.
l On the Linux hosts that have the UEFI Secure Boot option enabled, block based backup drivers
do not load, and the error message insmod: ERROR: could not insert module /
lib/ modules/ 3.10.0-693.el7.x86_64/ extra/nsrbbb.ko: Required key
not available appears. As a workaround, you can disable the Secure Boot option.
l On Linux, the block based incremental backups consistently fail and display a message similar
to save: Block Based Error subsystem error while performing Block
Based Backup. Check if any other process is already accessing the snapshot, or delete the
snapshot manually, and then try again.
l If the Bytes of sector sizes of the source and target volumes are different, PowerProtect Data
Manager does not support block based image recoveries. For example, you cannot perform a
block based image recovery of a volume that has 4096 as the Bytes of sector size to a volume
that has 512 as the Bytes of sector size, and vice versa.

Storage Direct agent limitations


Review the following limitations that apply to PowerProtect Data Manager support for the Storage
Direct agent.
Co-existence of the Storage Direct agent with other application agents is not supported
PowerProtect Data Manager 19.2 does not support the co-existence of the Storage Direct agent
with other application agents such as Oracle or SQL in PowerProtect Data Manager.
LUN expansion not supported for existing Storage Direct users
The LUN expansion feature is not currently supported for existing Storage Direct users updating to
the Storage Direct agent for PowerProtect Data Manager 19.2.
SDFSA install/upgrade fails on trying to install using absolute path
An SDFSA installation or upgrade fails when performed using the absolute path. For example:

Example 6 Installation using absolute path

[root@xxxxx /]# /Softwares/builds/sdfsa_19.2_36/install.sh


2019/09/18 23:18:42 adm-agent rpm not found in current working
directory...

Example 7 Upgrade using absolute path

[root@xxxxx sd_cfs]# /Softwares/builds/sdfsa_19.2_40/install.sh -u


2019/09/17 01:49:35 storagedirectagent rpm not found in current
working directory...
/Softwares/builds/sdfsa_19.2_40/install.sh: line 595: [: -gt: unary
operator expected

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Example 7 Upgrade using absolute path (continued)

/Softwares/builds/sdfsa_19.2_40/install.sh: line 597: [: -gt: unary


operator expected
/Softwares/builds/sdfsa_19.2_40/install.sh: line 599: [: -gt: unary
operator expected
/Softwares/builds/sdfsa_19.2_40/install.sh: line 601: [: -gt: unary
operator expected
2019/09/17 01:49:35 storagedirectagent rpm not found in current
working directory...
rpm -U --quiet --test
rpm: no packages given for install
2019/09/17 01:49:35 storagedirectagent upgrade failed...
2019/09/17 01:49:35 storagedirectagent upgrade failed...

To work around this issue, change the directory to the location of install.sh and
run ./install.sh.

Encapsulation fails during policy creation if retention lock exists on VMAX or SMIS services
not running
During protection policy creation, a process called encapsulation occurs, which involves creating
backup and restore FTS devices on the VMAX and linking the Data Domain vDisk with FTS. If a
retention lock exists on the VMAX, or if the SMIS services are not running, encapsulation fails.
To ensure that there is no retention lock on the VMAX, run the following command as the root
user from the SMIS server:
symcfg list -lockn all
Output similar to the following displays:

S Y M M E T R I X L O C K S

Lock Lock Lock Time


SymmID Attachment Status Number Usage Held (Sec)

000196700638 Local Locked 15 Config Change 13572 ->


Almost 4 hours
000192604348 Remote N/A N/A N/A N/A
000297000476 Remote N/A N/A N/A N/A

If SMIS services are not running, an exception appears in the logs indicating that the storsvd
service is not available and so a connection to SMIS cannot be established using the SYMAPI calls.
If this exception occurs:
1. Run the following command as the root user from the SMIS server to verify the status of
storsvd:
./stordaemon show storsrvd
If the service is unavailable, the message *** Daemon storsrvd is not currently
running appears.
2. Restart the service by running ./stordaemon start storsrvd.
3. Run the ./stordaemon show storsrvd command again to verify the status is now
Running.
4. To view the remote server details, run ./stordaemon action storsrvd -cmd show
server.
5. To view the network configuration, run ./stordaemon action storsrvd -cmd show -
netinfo.

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Encapsulation fails with error "SYMAPI_C_NET_HANDSHAKE_FAILED"


If the encapsulation of a device fails with the error SYMAPI_C_NET_HANDSHAKE_FAILED:
1. Ensure that proper name resolution can occur by verifying that the PowerProtect Data
Manager server/SMIS server and SDA host are resolvable by either DNS or the hosts file.
2. Perform the following steps to ensure that the PowerProtect Data Manager server can obtain
all the necessary information from the SMIS server:
l Log in to PowerProtect Data Manager as an administrator.
l Go to the /usr/emc/API/symapi/config/netcnfg directory.
l Verify that the server entry exists. For example, <ConnectionName> - TCPIP <hostname>
<ipaddress> 2707 -.
l Verify whether the Solutions Enabler base daemon is running. For example:

admin@xxxxx:~> stordaemon list -all


Available Daemons ('[*]': Currently Running, '[NI]': Not Installed):
[*] storapid EMC Solutions Enabler Base Daemon
storgnsd EMC Solutions Enabler GNS Daemon
storrdfd EMC Solutions Enabler RDF Daemon
storevntd EMC Solutions Enabler Event Daemon
[*] storwatchd EMC Solutions Enabler Watchdog Daemon
storsrmd EMC Solutions Enabler SRM Daemon
l Export the environment variables SYMCLI_CONNECT_TYPE=REMOTE and
SYMCLI_CONNECT=<ConnectionName>.
l Execute symcfg list. The command output should display all VMAX/PowerMax that
have been added to the SMIS server.
Configuration file validation fails when multiple storage group assets selected for policy
inclusion if configuration file is not formatted correctly
When you select multiple storage group assets as part of a VMAX Storage Group protection
policy in PowerProtect Data Manager, if the configuration file is not formatted correctly, validation
fails. For example, a configuration file with the following format might be pushed to the host:

DDBOOST_USER = 148_78-xxxxx-932c9
DEVICE_HOST = IP address
DEVICE_PATH = /148_78-xxxxx-932c9-SU
DDVDISK_USER = 148_78-xxxxx-932c9
#RESTORE_DEVICE_POOL = 148_78-xxxxx-932c9
#RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP = R-sdm_xxxxx_SG7-0638
#RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP = R-sdm_xxxxx_SG8-0638
# DD_BOOST_FC =
# DD_PORT =
VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG = R-sdm_xxxxx_SG7-0638
#VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG = R-sdm_xxxxx_SG8-0638

To work around this issue, comment the VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG attribute and un-comment
RESTORE_DEVICE_POOL and one of the entries for RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP.

MTree replication fails when adding replication stage for multiple protection policies if
assets have the same user/vDisk pool
For an existing Storage Direct user who has upgraded to the Storage Direct agent for
PowerProtect Data Manager 19.2, an MTree replication job fails with an error similar to the
following if you have the same user/vDisk pool for protected assets and you attempt to create
multiple protection policies for these assets with a replication stage.
Unable to create DataDomain user xxxx, User xxxx already exists.
To work around this issue, manually add the secondary Data Domain details in the configuration
file.

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Replication not supported for assets in a Storage Group policy for existing Storage Direct
users if replication already configured for stand-alone agent
The addition of a replication stage as part of a Storage Group protection policy in PowerProtect
Data Manager is not supported for existing Storage Direct users' assets if replication has already
been configured on the stand-alone Storage Direct (ProtectPoint) agent.
To import these assets for primary backup policy creation, you need to remove the secondary Data
Domain details from the configuration file before importing the file during the Storage Direct agent
for PowerProtect Data Manager 19.2 upgrade

Time synchronization required between PowerProtect Data


Manager and the systems it interfaces with
The PowerProtect Data Manager system time is synchronized with the ESXi host system time. It is
critical to PowerProtect Data Manager operation that the PowerProtect Data Manager system
time matches the systems that it interfaces with. Otherwise, compliance check will fail.
Dell EMC recommends that the ESXi host, and all of the systems that the ESXi host interfaces
with, be configured to use a NTP server.

PowerProtect Data Manager allows completion of protection


policy when storage unit on the Data Domain cannot be
created
When adding a protection policy in PowerProtect Data Manager, creation of a storage unit on the
selected Data Domain system fails if you reach the maximum Mtree count on the Data Domain.
However, PowerProtect Data Manager allows you to finish adding the protection policy without
the storage unit. If you subsequently run a backup of this protection policy, instead of the backup
failing or an error message displaying, the backup hangs indefinitely.
If this occurs, clean up on the Data Domain is required in order to continue backup operations on
this device.

Viewing the DD Boost storage unit password


PowerProtect Data Manager provides a script to retrieve the password of a DD Boost unit that is
configured as a backup target.
Before you begin
This process requires the name of the Data Domain MTree where the DD Boost storage unit
resides.
Procedure
1. SSH to the PowerProtect Data Manager appliance as the admin user.
2. Navigate to the /usr/local/brs/puppet/scripts directory.
3. Obtain the DD Boost storage unit password by typing the following command:
./get_<DD-MTree-Name>_credential.py PLC-PROTECTION-1551667983302

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CHAPTER 16
Modifying the System Settings

This section includes the following topics:

l System settings...................................................................................................................224
l System Support...................................................................................................................227
l Modifying the PowerProtect Data Manager virtual machine disk settings...........................235
l Configure the Data Domain system..................................................................................... 237

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Modifying the System Settings

System settings
You can use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to modify system settings that are typically
configured during PowerProtect Data Manager installation.

To access System Settings, click the icon in the top-right.

Modify the network settings


Perform the following steps if you want to modify the IP address, subnet mask, gateway, and DNS
servers that are defined for the appliance.
Procedure
1. Select System Settings > System > Network.
2. Update the fields as necessary:
l Domain Name
l IP Address
Note: When you change the domain name or IP address, the system becomes
unavailable until all components are restarted.
l Subnet Mask
l Gateway
l Primary DNS
l Secondary DNS

3. Click Save.

Modify the appliance time zone


Perform the following steps if you want to modify the time zone for the PowerProtect Data
Manager appliance.
Procedure
1. Select System Settings > System > Timezone.
2. In the Timezone field, select the desired time zone from the menu.
3. Click Save.

Change the system root user password


Perform the following steps if you want to change the password for the root user.
Before you begin
Note: Changing the password only changes the password for the UI login, and not the
appliance. Make note of your original appliance password in case you require this password for
appliance operations.
Procedure
1. Select System Settings > Authentication.
The System Users window appears.

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2. Select User name of the user password that you want to edit and click Edit.
The Change the password for the root user window appears.
3. Type the existing password in the Old Password field.
4. Type the new password in the New Password field, and then retype it in the Confirm
Password field.
5. Click Save.

Enable replication encryption


You can select the Replication Encryption option within the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to
ensure that replicated content is encrypted while in-flight to the destination storage and then
decrypted before being saved on the destination.
About this task
Note that the encryption settings on both the source and destination systems must match in order
to ensure successful replication. For example, if you enable in-flight encryption in PowerProtect
Data Manager, the setting must be explicitly enabled on each source and destination server before
defining the PowerProtect Data Manager replication objective. If encryption is enabled after the
initial definition of replication objectives, any replication jobs initiated during the period that the
source and destination server encryption settings did not match will fail.
Procedure
1. Select System Settings > Security.
The Security dialog appears.
2. Move the Replication Encryption slider to the right, and then click Save.
After you finish
The Infrastructure > Storage window of the PowerProtect Data Manager UI displays the status
of the in-flight encryption setting for all attached storage systems.
Note: For systems with DD OS version 6.2 and earlier installed, the status might display as
Unknown. DD OS version 6.3 and later supports Authentication Mode. DD OS versions earlier
than version 6.3 support only Anonymous authentication mode. PowerProtect Data Manager
supports only Anonymous and Two-way authentication modes. Ensure that both source and
destination system servers use the same authentication mode.
You can take additional steps on your PowerProtect Data Manager server to enable in-flight
encryption on connected Data Domain systems by using Data Domain System Manager, as
described in the Data Domain Operating System Administration Guide.

License types
Learn about the licenses that are available.
The following list provides information about the license types:
l Trial license—Applied automatically on installation of PowerProtect Data Manager and enables
full use of the product without applying a license key for up to 90 days. When the trial period
ends, PowerProtect Data Manager continues to operate with full functionality, so you can
apply a permanent license.
l Front-end protected capacity by terabyte or FETB—The primary model of eLicensing, which is
based on the actual capacity that you want to protect. For example, you can purchase a 100-
TB license, which enables you to protect up to 100 TB of actual data.
l Socket-based—Licensed per CPU socket on virtual machine hosts being backed up and/or
replicated.

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Note: When you upgrade from a previous release, for example, 3.0.0-18, to PowerProtect Data
Manager, any existing license and its associated secure remote services (SRS) connection are
removed from the system, and replaced with the 90-day trial license. If you have a valid FETB
or Socket-based license for PowerProtect Data Manager, ensure that you upload this license
and set up the associated SRS connection.
Perpetual and term-based (subscription) licensing
Licensed software is offered in perpetual and term-based licenses. Your quote will identify whether
your license rights are perpetual or term-based.
A perpetual license enables you to use the software for as long as you are in compliance with the
terms of the license agreement.
A term-based license enables you to use the software for a specified period of time, as long as you
are in compliance with the terms of the license agreement. At the end of the license term, you
must either stop using the software, extend the license term, or purchase new licenses through an
agreement with Dell EMC.

PowerProtect Data Manager licenses


The License area in Settings provides PowerProtect Data Manager license status details, such as
capacity usage and software ID number. You can also add a license file to the PowerProtect Data
Manager.
Before you begin
You can obtain the .xml license file from the Dell EMC license management website. To obtain the
license file, you must have the License Authorization Code (LAC), which was emailed from Dell
EMC. If you have not received the LAC, contact your customer support representative.
About this task
To review existing license information, go to Settings > License.
To add a license, perform the following steps.
Procedure
1.
Click the System Settings icon along the top-right: .
2. Go to Settings > License > Upload file.
3. Do one of the following:
l Copy and paste license file text into the License window.
l Browse to the location where a license file is located, select the license file and click
Open.
The license file content appears in the License window.
4. Click Save.
Results
A message appears in the License window to confirm that the license is successfully added.

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System Support
You can use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to manage and modify support settings, such as
the mail server setup and Secure Remote Services registration, that are typically configured during
installation.

To access the Support window, click the icon in the top-right, and then select System
Settings > Support.

Register the Secure Remote Services gateway


Secure Remote Services (SRS) enables you to register PowerProtect Data Manager with a
gateway host IP address for remote access. You can register only one SRS gateway for
PowerProtect Data Manager. After PowerProtect Data Manager is registered, Technical Support
Engineers can remotely connect to PowerProtect Data Manager to troubleshoot issues, and you
can upgrade PowerProtect Data Manager by using SRS version 3.36.20.10 or later.
Before you begin
l You must apply a valid PowerProtect Data Manager license appliance.
l You must have an SRS gateway ServiceLink account open and deployed. Your Dell EMC Sales
representative can assist you.
About this task
If you update a license file with a different SWID, the SRS gateway requires the new SWID.
Reregister the license file with the SRS gateway to ensure the SRS gateway has the new SWID.
Procedure
1. From the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select System Settings > Support > Secure
Remote Services
2. Enter the following information:
l The hostname or IP address of the virtual machine that is deployed for SRS.
l The username and password for the SRS gateway account. The SRS gateway account
credentials are provided by the ServiceLink team.

3. Click Save to complete registration of the SRS gateway.


Note: Currently, you can use only an IPv4 address for the gateway. IPv6 is not
supported.

Remove the Secure Remote Services gateway


Before you begin
You must disable Auto Support to delete Secure Remote Services. If you have Auto Support
enabled, you will receive an error message when you attempt to delete Secure Remote Services.
About this task
Use the following procedure to remove the Secure Remote Services gateway.
Procedure
1. From the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select System Settings > Support > Auto
Support.

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2. Move the Enable Auto Support slider to Disabled, and then click Save.
3. Select System Settings > Support > Secure Remote Services
The Secure Remote Services Configuration dialog box appears.
4. Click Delete to remove the Secure Remote Services gateway.

Callhome
When you register an SRS gateway, you also enable the Callhome feature, which allows Technical
Support Engineers to collect data that is related to troubleshooting device and PowerProtect Data
Manager software issues. Callhome does not collect any personal information.
Callhome populates three reports—a telemetry report, an alert summary report, and a
PowerProtect Central report. The following table lists the information that Callhome collects for
the telemetry report.

Table 28 Telemetry report information

Category Type of information collected

PowerProtect Data l Date of the last upgrade


Manager appliance
l Any applied patches
l Version of the appliance
l Uptime (in days) since the last appliance reboot
l Operating system version
l Installation date
l Telemetry report last sent date
l System upgrade packages
l Hostname
l Node ID
l Time zone
l Secondard DNS configured
l Number of additional users
l Backup configured
l Backup storage type

Asset Sources l DDMC instances


l XMS instances
l vCenter instances
l SMIS instances
l SQL groups instances
l RecoverPoint instances

Hosts information l ESXi hosts


l ESXi cluster hosts
l Application hosts

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Table 28 Telemetry report information (continued)

Category Type of information collected

Data Domain l Number of Data Domain systems


inventory
l Data Domain operating system version and system ID
l MTree inventory
l Asset source ID
l Serial number
l Model
l Data Domain system capacity

PowerProtect Data l Asset information (number of assets, asset groups, assets


Manager operational protected versus unprotected)
inventory
l Protection policies (number of policies)
l Tags (number of tags and tag categories)
l Active protection policy details (assets and their types, objectives
for each stage)
l Failed jobs
l Application agents
l SLA violations
l External proxies

Integrated Storage l General Information (Model type, system serial number, installed
hardware, MAC addresses, WWPN’s, alerts
l Server Usage
l Active Tier resources, Filesys compression,
l General Status (System Memory summary, Alerts, Alert History,
Network Hardware, Trust information, Certificate details, Disk
Status, Filesys status, NFS status, lw-status)
l Software Configuration (License details)
l Virtual Hardware Configuration (Network configuration,
Hardware details, PCI info, System Ports)
l Cluster configuration (Node details, Storage Policy, Compute
Policy)
l File System cleaning configuration and statistics
l File System encryption configuration/status
l File System statistics
l File System compression statistics that relate to deduplication
and compression achievements of ingested data.
l Network statistics
l NFS Statistics
l DD Boost Statistics
l Storage Layer Statistics

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Table 28 Telemetry report information (continued)

Category Type of information collected

l System Statistics
l Processes information
l Kernel information

Usage l Amount of data that is protected

Licensing l Status of the applied license

Compliance in last 24 l FETB in compliance


hours
l FETB out of compliance

Callhome collects details about the following objects for the PowerProtect Central report:
l Protection Life Cycle
l Service Level Agreement
l Assets
l Storage Systems
l Data targets
l Protection Details
l Compliance Details
l Audit logs

Set up the email server


The Email Setup area on the PowerProtect Data Manager System Settings area enables you to
set SMTP email server information to send emails for resetting local user passwords and
customized alert notifications.
Procedure
1. Select System Settings > Support > Email Setup.
2. Populate the following fields:
a. Mail Server
The SMTP mail server.
b. Email from:
The email address at which you would like to receive the PowerProtect Data Manager
autosupport email.
c. [Optional] Recipient for Test Email:
The email address to which you would like to send the PowerProtect Data Manager test
email.
d. [Optional] Port:
The default port is 25. PowerProtect Data Manager supports using nondefault ports.
If the SMTP port is deleted, you must manually choose any nondefault port that is not in
use anywhere else.

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e. User Name:
The user name associated with the PowerProtect Data Manager SMTP email server.

f. Password:
The password associated with the PowerProtect Data Manager SMTP email server.
3. Click Send Test Email.
PowerProtect Data Manager sends a test email.
4. Click Save.

Add Auto Support


When auto support is enabled, auto support information, telemetry reports, alert summary, and
PowerProtect Central reports will be sent.
About this task
If Secure Remote Services and SMTP are both configured, this information will be sent via Secure
Remote Services.
Procedure
1. Select System Settings > Support > Auto Support.
The Auto Support window appears. The PowerProtect Data Manager
2. Change the Enable Auto Support option to Disabled or Enabled, and click Save.
When you enable Auto Support, the Telemetry Software Terms page displays. Review and
scroll down to the bottom of the page to accept the terms, and then click Save to save your
changes.
When you disable Auto Support, PowerProtect Data Manager stops sending error and
telemetry data to SRS or the SMTP server. PowerProtect Data Manager continues to send
information for upgrades and other information.
Note: You must disable Auto Support to delete SRS.

Enable automatic upgrade package downloads


Enable upgrade packages to be downloaded automatically through SRS.
About this task
If this feature is disabled, the system alerts you when a new package is available through SRS.
When the feature is enabled, the system automatically downloads available packages, and then
alerts you when the package is downloaded.
Procedure
1. Select System Settings > Support > Secure Remote Services.
2. Select Automatically download upgrade packages, and then click Save.

Add a log bundle


Use the following procedure to add a log bundle.
About this task
Note: You can add a maximum of 10 log bundles.

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Procedure
1. Select System Settings > Support > Logs.
2. Click Add to add a log bundle.
The Add Log Bundle window appears.
3. Select the systems for the log bundle (Data Manager and/or VM Direct), set the log bundle
duration, and click Save.
The range can be a maximum period of 7 days up to the current date. The range must be a
minimum of 1 day.

The Jobs window displays the progress of the log bundle creation. Additionally, a green
banner in the UI indicates that the log bundle has successfully been created. If you want to
dismiss the banner, click X.
4. To delete the log bundle, select the box to the left of log bundle and click Delete.
The Log Capacity indicates how much space in GB remains on the disk for logs and the
percentage of the disk in use for log storage.
5. To download the log bundle, click the bundle name.

Monitor system state and system health


In addition to the summary system health view provided in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI's
Dashboard window, the System Settings > Support window provides a further breakdown of
PowerProtect Data Manager system health information.

Monitor system component health


Through the Settings window, you can monitor the state of the appliance and the health of each
system component. .

To view the health of system components, click the icon in the top-right, select System
Settings > Support, and then select System Health.
The following table provides a summary of each component state.

Table 29 Component status

Status Description

Running This state appears when the associated service or component is running with
full functionality. When all components are in running state, the state of the
appliance is operational.

Initializing This state appears when the component is starting. When the component
successfully starts, the state changes to Running.

Maintenance This state appears when the associated service is in maintenance. In the
maintenance state, components have limited functionality. Infrastructure
services do not go into maintenance state. When other components are in
maintenance, the appliance state is also maintenance.

Quiesce This state appears when the service that is associated with the component is
stopping.

Shut down This state appears when the service has stopped.

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Table 29 Component status (continued)

Status Description

No response This state appears when the service that is associated with the component is
running, but the service is not responding.

Business Service components


The following table summarizes the business services health components.

Table 30 Business Service components

System option Description

Application Data Management Service Provides the status of the Application Data
Management Service.

Common Business Service Provides the status of the Common Business


Service.

Storage Manager Provides the status of the Storage Manager.

VMDM Provides the status of the VMDM service.

Replication Manager Provides the status of the Replication


Manager service.

Cloud Manager Provides the status of the Cloud Manager


service.

Core Service system health components


The following table summarizes the core services system health components.

Table 31 Core system health components

System option Description

Authentication Provides the status of the Authentication Service.

Event Provides the status of the Event Service.

Log Manager Provides the status of the Log Manager service.

Server Disaster Provides the status of a system disaster recovery


Recovery

System Manager Provides the status of the System Manager.

Infrastructure Service system health components


The following table summarizes the Infrastructure system health components.

Table 32 Infrastructure system health components

System option Description

API Gateway Provides the status of the API Gateway service.

Catalog Store Provides the status of the Catalog database.

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Table 32 Infrastructure system health components (continued)

System option Description

HTTP Proxy Provides the status of the HTTP Proxy service.

Message Bus Provides the status of the Message Bus.

Secrets Manager Provides the status of the Secrets Manager service.

Service Manager Provides the status of the Service service.

Service Registry Provides the status of the Service Registry service.

UI Provides the status of the User Interface service.

Workflow Database Provides the status of the Workflow database.

Management Service system health components


The following table summarizes the Management system health components.

Table 33 Management system health components

System option Description

Historical Provides the status of the Historical Data Service.

Monitoring Server Provides the status of the Server.

Scheduler Provides the status of the Scheduler service.

Telemetry Manager Provides the status of the Telemetry Manager service.

Workflow Manager Provides the status of the Workflow Manager service.

Protection Service system health component


The following table summarizes the Protection system health component.

Table 34 Protection system health components

System option Description

Compliance Provides the compliance status.


Verification

Discovery Provides the status of the Discovery Service.

Configure PowerProtect Central reporting


You can enable or disable PowerProtect Central data collection for Dell EMC storage systems.
Before you begin
l Add a valid license in Settings > License.
l Set up SRS in Settings > Support > SRS.
About this task
PowerProtect Central is a no-cost SaaS/cloud-based management application that proactively
monitors and measures the overall health of Dell EMC systems through intelligent, comprehensive,

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and predictive analytics. The data reported to PowerProtect Central includes configuration data,
historical metrics and health score data.
Procedure
1. Select System Settings > Support > Auto Support.
2. Click Enable Auto Support or Disable Auto Support.
Results
When Auto Support is enabled, PowerProtect Central reports are sent automatically.
To log in to PowerProtect Central, click the Reporting menu item, or go to https://
powerprotectcentral.emc.com
For more information on PowerProtect Central, refer to the PowerProtect Central Online Support
site.

Modifying the PowerProtect Data Manager virtual machine


disk settings
Follow the steps in this section, under the guidance and recommendations of Dell EMC Support, to
expand the size of the data disk and system disk, and modify the memory configuration.

Modify the virtual machine memory configuration


Adjust the PowerProtect Data Manager virtual machine memory configuration to support changes
in the protection environment.
Before you begin
Shut down PowerProtect Data Manager and the VM Direct appliance.
Procedure
1. Log in to the vSphere Web Client.
2. Right-click the appliance and select Edit Settings.
The Edit Settings window appears with the Virtual Hardware button selected.
3. In the Memory field, specify the new memory value.
Ensure that the value you specify does not exceed 16 times the amount of memory the
virtual machine has when powered on and is a multiple of 4 MB.
4. Click OK.

Modify the data disk size


Follow these steps to expand the size of a data disk that is single partitioned and has the log
partition is on the system disk.
Procedure
1. Perform the following steps from the vSphere Web Client:
a. Right-click the VM Direct appliance and select Shut Down Guest OS.
b. After the power off completes, right-click the appliance and select Edit Settings.
The Edit Settings window appears with the Virtual Hardware button selected.
c. Increase the provisioned size of Hard disk 2 to the desired size, and then click OK.

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Note: You cannot decrease the provisioned size of the disk.

d. Right-click the VM Direct appliance and select Power On.


2. Perform the following steps from the appliance console, as the root user.
Note: If you use ssh to connect to the appliance, log in with the admin account, and
then use the su command to change to the root account.

a. Reboot the appliance by typing reboot.


b. On the GNU GRUB menu, press Esc to edit the GNU GRUB menu.
c. In the edit screen, search for the line that starts with Linux, and then add word single
before the entry splash=0
The following figure provides an example of the edit screen with the updated text.
Figure 10 Editing the GNU GRUB menu

d. Press Ctrl-x to reboot into single-user mode.


e. When prompted, type the password for the root account.
f. Unmount the data disk, by typing umount /data01.
g. Start the partition utility, by typing parted, and then perform the following tasks:
a. Type select /dev/sdb.
b. Type print. If you are prompted to fix issues, type fix at each prompt. The output
displays the new disk size in the Size field and the current size in the table.
c. Type resize 1 new_size. Where new_size is the value that appears in the Size field
in the output of the print command.

For example, to resize the disk to 700 GB, type: resize 1 752GB
d. Type quit.

3. Reboot the VM Direct appliance by typing systemctl reboot.


4. Log in to the console as the root user.
Note: If you use ssh protocol to connect to the VM Direct appliance, log in with the
admin account, and then use the su command to change to the root account.

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5. Grow the xfs file system by typing xfs_growfs -d /data01.


6. Confirm the new partition size by typing df -h.

Modify the system disk size


Follow these steps to expand the size of a data disk when the log partition is the last partition on
the system disk.
Procedure
1. Perform the following steps from the vSphere Web Client:
a. Right-click the VM Direct appliance and select Shut Down Guest OS.
b. After the power off completes, right-click the appliance and select Edit Settings.
The Edit Settings window appears with the Virtual Hardware button selected.
c. Increase the provisioned size of Hard disk 1 to the desired size, and then click OK.
Note: You cannot decrease the provisioned size of the disk.

d. Right-click the VM Direct appliance and select Power On.


2. Boot from a SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) version 12 CD.
3. Start the partition utility, by typing parted, and then perform the following tasks.
a. Type select /dev/sdx.
b. Type print. If you are prompted to fix issues, type fix at each prompt. The output
displays the new disk size in the Size field and the current size in the table.
c. Type quit.
4. Reboot the VM Direct appliance by typing systemctl reboot.
5. Log in to the console as the root user.
Note: If you use ssh protocol to connect to the VM Direct appliance, log in with the
admin account, and then use the su command to change to the root account.

6. Grow the xfs file system by typing xfs_growfs -d /data01.


7. Confirm the new partition size by typing df -h.

Configure the Data Domain system


Before you begin
Before you can use Data Domain to protect the system, use NFS to export the MTree that
PowerProtect Data Manager uses on the Data Domain system. The setup on Data Domain requires
that you add the PowerProtect Data Manager client with no_root_squash.
Procedure
1. Use a web browser to log in to the Data Domain System Manager as the system
administrator.
2. In the Summary tab, Protocols pane, select NFS export > create export.
The Create NFS Exports window appears.
3. In the Create NFS Exports window:

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Modifying the System Settings

a. In the Export Name field, specify the name of the Data Domain MTree.
b. If you have not yet created the Data Domain MTree, follow the prompts to create the
MTree and click Close.
c. In the Directory path field, specify the full directory path for Data Domain MTree that
you created. Ensure that you use the same name for the directory.
d. Click OK.
A message appears to indicate that the NFS export configuration save is in progress and
then complete.
e. Click Close.

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CHAPTER 17
PowerProtect plug-in within the vSphere Client

This chapter includes the following topics:

l Overview of the PowerProtect plug-in within the vSphere Client....................................... 240


l Prerequisites to using the PowerProtect plug-in within the vSphere Client......................... 241
l Monitor virtual machine protection copies...........................................................................242
l Restore a virtual machine protection copy in the vSphere Client.........................................242

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Overview of the PowerProtect plug-in within the vSphere


Client
Upon adding a vCenter Server and enabling the vSphere Plugin option in the PowerProtect Data
Manager UI, a subset of the UI's functionality becomes available within the vSphere Client.
When the plug-in is installed, the PowerProtect Data Manager portlet appears within the
Summary window of the vSphere Client, as shown in the following.
Figure 11 PowerProtect portlet in the vSphere Client

Note: If you are logged into the vSphere Client when the vCenter discovery occurs in
PowerProtect Data Manager, ensure that you log out and then log back in for PowerProtect to
display.
If the virtual assets in the vCenter have not yet been assigned to a virtual machine protection
policy in PowerProtect Data Manager, only the PowerProtect Data Manager name displays in the
portlet when you select a virtual machine. Adding the virtual machine to a PowerProtect Data
Manager protection policy updates the portlet with more information, as shown in the following
figure.
Figure 12 PowerProtect portlet with protected virtual machine

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Once you complete the tasks to set up and run a virtual machine protection policy in PowerProtect
Data Manager, you can perform the following PowerProtect Data Manager functionality within the
vSphere Client:
l In the Summary window, view information about protection policies and, if policies have been
run in PowerProtect Data Manager, information about available protection copies.
l In the Monitor window, actively monitor in-progress backup and restore operations for the
virtual machine protection policy, and view information for successfully completed protection
copies that are available for restore.
l Perform a Restore to Original, Restore to New, or Instant Access restore. You can initiate a
restore from the Monitor window, or by right-clicking a virtual machine and selecting
PowerProtect > Restore.

Prerequisites to using the PowerProtect plug-in within the


vSphere Client
To use the PowerProtect plug-in within the vSphere Client for restore operations, complete the
following tasks in the vSphere Client and the PowerProtect Data Manager UI.
l Add and discover the vCenter Server in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI's Infrastructure >
Asset Sources window, ensuring that you move the vSphere Plugin slider to the right in order
to enable the plug-in. Add a VMware vCenter Server on page 102 provides information.
l Verify that the virtual machine assets for the vCenter have been discovered in the
Infrastructure > Assets window. Virtual asset discovery on page 104 provides information.
l For the Virtual machine power user group in the vSphere Client, open the Edit Role window
(Administration > Users and Groups), select PowerProtect Restore, and then add the
following required PowerProtect Data Manager privileges:
n All PowerProtect restore privileges
n Instant Access
n Restore to New
n Restore to Original
Figure 13 PowerProtect privileges added for the Virtual machine power user

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Note: If you edit the vCenter Server in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to unregister
the vSphere Plugin for PowerProtect Data Manager, these PowerProtect Data Manager
privileges are not removed from the user group.
l For the virtual asset (virtual machine, cluster, host) and all its child elements, add permissions
to the Virtual machine power user group that you have enabled with PowerProtect Data
Manager privileges. To add these permissions, select the asset in the left pane of the vSphere
Client, and then click the Permissions tab.
l Add a virtual machine protection policy in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI's Protection >
Protection Policies window to schedule a backup of the virtual machine(s). Add a protection
policy for virtual machine protection on page 118 provides information.

Monitor virtual machine protection copies


You can use the Monitoring window in the vSphere Client to view protection copies that are
available for restore. You can also launch a restore from this window.
To view information about completed protection policy backups, in the navigation pane select
PowerProtect > Protection Copies. The view provided is identical to what you would see in the
PowerProtect Data Manager UI Infrastructure window, with a copy map that enables you to view
the available protection copies when you click on the storage icon (DD), as described in Additional
options for managing virtual machine backups on page 122.
To view the status of active operations for both backups initiated from the PowerProtect Data
Manager UI and those from vSphere Client, expand the Recent Tasks pane at the bottom of the
window. You can also view this pane from the Summary window.

Restore a virtual machine protection copy in the vSphere


Client
You can use the vSphere Client PowerProtect Data Manager plug-in functionality to initiate a
recovery of a PowerProtect Data Manager virtual machine protection policy backup.
About this task
Available recovery options in the vSphere Client include:
l Restore to Original: Restore the virtual machine to the original location on the same vCenter.
l Restore to New: Restore the virtual machine to a new location on the original vCenter or a
different vCenter.
l Instant Access: Restore the backup as a live virtual machine so that you can view the backup
and then determine whether you want to do a full restore. Instant Access sessions are made
available for a default period of 7 days, which can be extended.
You can initiate the restore in one of two ways, as described in the following procedure.
Procedure
1. Access the backup copy by using one of the following methods:
l Right-click the virtual machine in the left pane and select PowerProtect > Restore. The
Restore wizard opens on the Select Copy page. You can now skip to step 3.
l With the virtual machine selected in the Summary window, go to the Monitor window
and, in the left navigation pane, select PowerProtect > Protection Copies.
2. Select the storage icon (DD) to access the backup copies, choose from one of the available
copies that displays in the table, and then click Restore. The Restore wizard opens on the
Options page. You can now skip to step 4.

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3. On the Select Copy page, for each virtual machine that is listed in the table, select the radio
button next to the virtual machine and click Choose Copy.
The Choose Copy dialog appears.
Note: If you click Next without choosing a copy, the most recent backup copy is used.

4. If the backup is on a Data Domain system, click DD, and then select from one of the
available copies that display in the table.
5. On the Purpose page, select whether you want to restore the entire virtual machine, or only
specific virtual machine disks (VMDKs), and then click Next.
Note: Individual VMDKs can only be restored to the original location.

6. On the Restore Type page, select from one of three available restore options. The wizard
updates to display the pages relevant to the restore type that you select, and are identical
to the Restore wizards for these options that appear in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI.
Note, however, that selections such as the vCenter, resource pool, and datastore will be
limited to what the logged in vSphere user has access to, and not necessarily what an
administrator user in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI would be able to view and select.
l For Instant Access restore, review the section Restore an instant access virtual machine
on page 153.
l For Restore to New, review the section Restore to new on page 151.
l For Restore to Original, review the section Restore to original virtual machine on page
149.
7. On the Summary page, review your selections and then click Restore.
Results
An entry for the restore job displays in the Recent Tasks pane of the Monitor window, and also
the Recovery > Running Activities window of the PowerProtect Data Manager UI.
After you finish
For Instant Access restores, when the virtual machine is powered on and you select the virtual
machine in the left pane of the Summary window, the session information displays within the
PowerProtect portlet. If you require this session for longer than the time you specified during
setup, you can click Extend Session and increase session availability by up to 7 days.

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244 PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide


CHAPTER 18
VMware Cloud on Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Support

This chapter includes the following topics:

l PowerProtect Data Manager image backup and recovery for VMware Cloud on AWS........ 246
l Configure the VMware Cloud on AWS web portal console.................................................. 246
l Amazon AWS web portal requirements................................................................................247
l Interoperability with VMware Cloud on AWS product features............................................ 247
l vCenter server inventory requirements............................................................................... 248
l VMware Cloud on AWS configuration best practices.......................................................... 248
l Add a VM Direct appliance.................................................................................................. 248
l Protection and recovery operations.................................................................................... 249
l Interoperability with VMware Cloud on AWS product features............................................250
l Unsupported operations in VMware Cloud on AWS ............................................................250
l Troubleshooting VMware Cloud on AWS ............................................................................250

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PowerProtect Data Manager image backup and recovery for


VMware Cloud on AWS
PowerProtect Data Manager provides image backup and restore support for VMware Cloud on
Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Using PowerProtect Data Manager to protect virtual machines that are running in VMware Cloud
on AWS is similar to how you protect the virtual machines in an on-premises data center. This
section provides information on network configuration requirements, PowerProtect Data Manager
best practices for VMware Cloud on AWS, and unsupported PowerProtect Data Manager
operations for VMware Cloud on AWS.
To perform data protection and disaster recovery tasks in VMware Cloud on AWS, consider the
following recommendations and requirements for the backup infrastructure deployment:
l Deploy PowerProtect Data Manager in a VMware Cloud on AWS environment.
l Deploy the VM Direct Appliance in VMware Cloud on AWS environment. Deploy at least one
VM Direct Appliance per each SDDC cluster in the VMware Cloud on AWS.
l Clone backups to another Data Domain running either in the same AWS geographical location
or in a different AWS geographical location. This type of deployment enables backup copies to
be stored for longer retention, leveraging the AWS network for transferring data at lower
latency and cost when compared to the public Internet.
l Store backups outside of the VMware Cloud on AWS environment. For example, store backups
on the Amazon AWS VPC. This type of deployment enables efficient data transfer over the
fast ENI connection that is used by VMware to communicate with Amazon AWS.
l Clone your backups to another Data Domain system that is running either in the same AWS
geographical location or in a different AWS geographical location. This type of deployment
enables backup copies to be stored for longer retention, leveraging the AWS network for
transferring data at lower latency and cost when compared to the public Internet.

Configure the VMware Cloud on AWS web portal console


Domain Name System (DNS) resolution is critical for deployment and configuration of
PowerProtect Data Manager, the PowerProtect Data Manager external proxy, and the Data
Domain appliance. All infrastructure components should be resolvable through a Fully Qualified
Domain Name (FQDN). Resolvable means that components are accessible through both forward
(A) and reverse (PTR) lookups.
In the VMware Cloud on AWS web portal console, ensure that the following requirements are met:
l By default, there is no external access to the vCenter Server system in the Software Defined
Data Center (SDDC). You can open access to the vCenter Server system by configuring a
firewall rule. To enable communication to the vCenter public IP address from the SDDC logical
network, set the firewall rule in the compute gateway of VMware Cloud on AWS. If the firewall
rule is not configured in the SDDC, PowerProtect Data Manager does not allow you to add the
vCenter Server.
l The default compute gateway firewall rules prevent all virtual machine traffic from reaching
the internet. To enable the PowerProtect Data Manager virtual machine to connect to the
internet, create a compute gateway firewall rule. This action enables outbound traffic on the
logical network that the PowerProtect Data Manager Server virtual machine is connected to.
l Configure DNS to allow machines in the SDDC to resolve Fully Qualified Domain Names
(FQDNs) to IP addresses belonging to the internet. If the DNS server is not configured in the

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SDDC, the PowerProtect Data Manager server does not allow you to add the vCenter Server
by using the server's public FQDN or IP address.
l It is recommended that you deploy the Data Domain system as a virtual appliance in the
Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). During the SDDC creation, connect the SDDC to an AWS
account, and then select a VPC and subnet within that account.
l The Data Domain system running in the Amazon VPC must be connected to the VMware SDDC
through the VMware Cloud Elastic Network Interfaces (ENIs). This action allows the SDDC,
the services in the AWS VPC, and subnet in the AWS account to communicate without having
to route traffic through the internet gateway.
l The same ENI channel is recommended for access to Data Domain systems.
For more information about configuring ENIs, see https://vmc.vmware.com/console/aws-link.
l If DDVE is running in the Amazon VPC, configure the inbound and outbound firewall rules of
the compute gateway for Data Domain connectivity.
For detailed information on what incoming on outgoing ports need to be opened for
PowerProtect-VM proxy solution, refer to the PowerProtect Data Manager 19.2 Security
Configuration Guide.
l If using NSX-T, configure the DNS to resolve to the internal IP address of the vCenter server.
Navigate to SDDC Management > Settings > vCenter FQDN and select the Private vCenter
IP address so that you can directly access the management network over the built-in firewall.
Additionally, ensure that you open TCP port 443 of the vCenter server in both the
management gateway and the compute gateway.

Amazon AWS web portal requirements


In the Amazon AWS web portal, ensure that the following requirements are met:
l If Data Domain is running in your Amazon VPC, configure the inbound and outbound firewall
rules of your Amazon VPC security group to provide connectivity between the VMware SDDC
compute gateway and Data Domain connectivity.
l If you are replicating from one Data Domain system to another, configure the inbound rule for
the security group in AWS to allow all traffic from the respective private IPs of the Data
Domain Virtual Editions running in your Amazon VPC.
l If you have more than one Data Domain running in AWS to perform replication, both Data
Domain systems must have the ability to ping each other using the FQDNs.

Interoperability with VMware Cloud on AWS product features


VMware Cloud on AWS has certain restrictions on workloads and resource pools. To ensure proper
operation, select the Workload an Compute sections in AWS.
Do not use the non-accessible areas. :
l vsanDatastore datastore
l Management VMs folder in VMs and Templates view
l Mgmt-ResourcePool resource pool in Hosts and Clusters view

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vCenter server inventory requirements


In the vCenter server inventory of your SDDC, ensure that the following requirements are met:
l An internal DNS name lookup server must be running inside the vCenter inventory. This will be
referenced by all the workloads running in the VMware SDDC.
l The internal DNS server must have Forwarders enabled to access the internet. This action is
required to resolve the vCenter Server's public FQDN.
Forwarders are DNS servers that the server can use to resolve DNS queries for records that
the server cannot resolve.

VMware Cloud on AWS configuration best practices


For VMware Cloud on AWS support, ensure that the following requirements are met:
l When deploying or configuring PowerProtect Data Manager or the VM Direct appliance,
ensure that correct DNS server IP points to the internal DNS server that is running in the
vCenter inventory.
l Ensure that both forward and reverse lookup entries in the internal DNS server are in place for
all of the required components, such as PowerProtect Data Manager, VM Direct appliance, and
the DDVE appliance.
l If using NSX-T, add the vCenter server toPowerProtect Data Manager by using the FQDN.
l If using NSX-V, add the vCenter server to PowerProtect Data Manager by using the public
FQDN of the vCenter server.
l When adding the vCenter server to PowerProtect Data Manager, specify the login credentials
for the [email protected] user.
l When configuring the VM Direct appliance in a VMware Cloud on AWS environment, ensure
that you select the transport mode as Hot Add only. VMware Cloud on AWS does not support
the NBD transport mode.

Add a VM Direct appliance


In the Protection Engines window, perform the following steps to deploy a VM Direct appliance to
facilitate data movement with the VM Direct protection engine.
About this task
The PowerProtect Data Manager software comes bundled with an embedded VM Direct appliance,
which is automatically used as a fallback proxy for performing backups and restores when the
added external proxies fail or are disabled. Dell EMC recommends that you deploy external proxies
because the embedded proxy has limited capacity for performing parallel backups.
Procedure
1. In the VM Direct Engines pane of the Protection Engines window, click Add.
2. In the Add VM Direct Engines dialog box, fill out the required fields (marked with an
asterisk).
Consider the following:
l Only IPv4 addresses are supported for the Gateway, IP Address, Netmask, and
Primary DNS.
l If you have added multiple vCenter Server instances, the vCenter to Deploy list enables
you to choose the vCenter where you want to deploy the VM Direct Engine.

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NOTICE Do NOT select the internal vCenter in this step.

l The ESX Host/Cluster list enables you to choose on which cluster or ESX host you want
to deploy the additional VM Direct Engine.
l The Network list shows all the networks that are available under the selected ESX Host/
Cluster.
l The Data Store list shows all datastores that are accessible to the selected ESX Host/
Cluster based on ranking (whether the datastores are shared, local, or NFS), and
available capacity (the datastore with the most capacity appearing at the top of the list).
l You can choose the specific datastore on which the VM Direct appliance will reside or
leave the default selection of <automatic> to enable PowerProtect Data Manager to
determine the best location to host the VM Direct appliance.
l The Transport Mode list enables you to force using only Hot Add or only Network Block
Device (NBD) transport modes or to default to Hot Add mode and failback to NBD only if
Hot Add cannot be used.
Note: When configuring the VM Direct appliance in a VMware Cloud on AWS
environment, ensure that you select the transport mode as Hot Add only. VMware
Cloud on AWS does not support the NBD transport mode.

3. Click Save.
The VM Direct appliance is added to the VM Direct Engines pane. Note that it may take
several minutes before the additional VM Direct appliance is registered in PowerProtect
Data Manager. The VM Direct appliance appears in the vSphere Client window.
Results
When an extra VM Direct appliance is deployed and registered, this appliance is used by
PowerProtect Data Manager instead of the embedded VM Direct appliance for any data protection
operations involving virtual machine protection policies, unless all added VM Direct appliances are
unavailable. If no added VM Direct appliance is available, the embedded VM Direct appliance is
used as a fallback to perform limited scale backups and restores. If you do not want to use an
added VM Direct appliance, you can disable that proxy. Additional VM Direct actions on page 109
provides more information.
After you finish
If the VM Direct appliance deployment fails, review the network configuration of PowerProtect
Data Manager in the System Settings window to correct any inconsistencies in network
properties. After successfully completing the network reconfiguration, you must delete the failed
VM Direct appliance and then add the VM Direct appliance in the Protection Engines window.
When configuring the VM Direct appliance in a VMware Cloud on AWS environment, if the VM
Direct appliance is deployed to the root of the cluster instead of inside the Compute-
ResourcePool, you must move the VM Direct appliance inside the Compute-ResourcePool.

Protection and recovery operations


Using PowerProtect Data Manager to protect virtual machines that are running in VMware Cloud
on AWS is similar to how you protect the virtual machines in an on-premises data center.
Once you complete the tasks to set up and run a virtual machine protection policy in PowerProtect
Data Manager, you can perform the following PowerProtect Data Manager functionality:
l In the Summary window, view information about protection policies and, if policies have been
run in PowerProtect Data Manager, information about available protection copies.

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l In the Monitor window, actively monitor in-progress backup and restore operations for the
virtual machine protection policy, and view information for successfully completed protection
copies that are available for restore.
l Perform a Restore to Original, Restore to New, or Instant Access restore. You can initiate a
restore from the Monitor window, or by right-clicking a virtual machine and selecting
PowerProtect > Restore.

Interoperability with VMware Cloud on AWS product features


VMware Cloud on AWS has certain restrictions on workloads and resource pools. To ensure proper
operation, select the Workload an Compute sections in AWS.
Do not use the non-accessible areas. :
l vsanDatastore datastore
l Management VMs folder in VMs and Templates view
l Mgmt-ResourcePool resource pool in Hosts and Clusters view

Unsupported operations in VMware Cloud on AWS


PowerProtect Data Manager image backup and restore in VMware Cloud on AWS does not
currently support the following operations:
l Application-consistent data protection for MS-SQL with the VM Direct appliance.
l File-level restore from an image-level backup if using NSX-V. Note that this operation is
supported if using NSX-T.
l Instant access recovery of an image-level backup.
l Emergency restore (image-level restore directly to an ESXi host, bypassing the vCenter).
l Image-level backups and restores that use NBD or the NBDSSL transport mode.
l VM Direct appliance that is configured with dual-stack or IPv6.
l If a datacenter is placed inside a folder in the SDDC, image backup and restore is not
supported.
l VM Backup and Recovery plugin (HTML5) for vSphere is not supported.

Troubleshooting VMware Cloud on AWS


When restoring as new VM, the reconnect NIC option might not work correctly.
Workaround
1. Edit the settings of the restored new VM and change the network to "VM Network" and then
click Apply.
2. Reopen the Edit Setting Configuration pane of the VM and then change the network to the
correct NSX-T network logical switch.
3. Click Connect.

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