RapidSeed for Replicating Systems Version 7.4 7 Technology Circle, Suite 100 Columbia, SC 29203 Phone: 803.454.0300
Contents Overview...3 Supported seed devices by system...4 Prerequisites...4 General prerequisites... 4 Suspend or disable replication... 5 Option 1: Suspend replication... 5 Option 2: Disable replication at the client, virtual machine, and application level... 5 On-premise configuration...7 Using a seeding drive (esata or USB)... 7 Using the Unitrends NAS device for seeding... 11 Off-premise configuration... 13 Using an esata or USB seeding drive... 13 Using the Unitrends NAS seeding device... 16 2
RapidSeed for Replicating Systems Overview Replication is the electronic transfer of data from an on-premise Unitrends backup system to an off-premise Unitrends system, in a private cloud or a public cloud setup. Unitrends offers a disaster recovery public cloud service called Unitrends Cloud (was Vault2Cloud). Replication is achieved with in-flight deduplication and the only blocks transferred over the network are those that have changed or those that are different between the on-premise system and the off-premise system. But in order to achieve effective in-flight deduplication, the initial data set must be transferred to the off-premise location in its entirety. Given the size of the initial dataset, this operation can take a very long time to complete. RapidSeed is the process of transferring the initial dataset to a removable media (disk or NAS) and then using the removable media to seed the initial dataset on the off-premise location. Note: The procedures in this document are for replicating systems running Unitrends version 7.2.0 or later. To seed an older system for vaulting, see RapidSeed for Legacy Vaulting Systems. 3
Supported seed devices by system The types of seed devices you can use for your system are listed here: Unitrends System UEB on Hyper-V UEB on VMware Recovery-172 All other Recovery-Series models Supported Seed Devices NAS* USB, NAS* USB, NAS* esata, NAS* *Note about NAS devices: Only Unitrends NAS devices are supported. Prerequisites Before initiating the seed process, ensure that the following prerequisites are addressed: General prerequisites Suspend or disable replication General prerequisites You must be running Unitrends version 7.2 or later. Have access to the Unitrends system using a terminal emulator, such as Putty. Completed replication configuration. The replication process requires an archive set in order to synchronize data from the backup system to the target. The seeding process requires that replication has been previously configured for the backup system. This document provides instructions for using an archive drive or Unitrends NAS device to seed data from the backup system to the target, without losing the integrity of the replicated backups. Disable archive schedules for the duration of the seed operation. a. Log into the backup system and select Archive > Schedule Archive. b. Select a schedule and click Enable/Disable. Repeat to disable each schedule. If a server had been configured for replication and had to be unconfigured, you must delete any active or queued backups: 4
a. In the Unitrends system, selecting Replication > Dashboard. b. Select the backups for these servers in the Active Replication Operations area and Pending Replication Operations. c. Select the trash can icon to delete the backup, and then select Remove Queue Items by their client. Suspend or disable replication Replication can be suspended or disabled until seeding is complete. This speeds up seeding. You can either: Suspend replication for your entire system. If you aren't seeding data for all clients, you can disable replication at the client, virtual machine, and application level. Option 1: Suspend replication Follow these procedures to suspend replication for the entire system: 1 In the Unitrends system, go to Replication > Replication Attributes > Connection Options and Process Control. 2 Click Suspend Replication. Option 2: Disable replication at the client, virtual machine, and application level Follow these steps to ensure that all clients, virtual machines, and applications that are seeding to the replication target are NOT set to be synchronized. For clients (file-level backups): 1 In the Unitrends system, go to Settings > Clients, Networking, and Notifications > Clients. 2 Select the client. 3 Uncheck (if checked) the All backups performed on this computer are to be replicated to a vault checkbox for the servers you wish to seed to the target. 4 Click Save. 5 Repeat this process for additional clients that are seeding to the replication target. 5
For VMware or Hyper-V virtual machines: 1 In the Navigation pane in the Unitrends system, select the Hyper-V or VMware node. 2 Go to Replication > Replication Attributes. You see a list of the virtual machines with checkboxes next to them. Note: If you do not see the desired items, click Reload to refresh the view. 3 Make sure the checkbox is NOT checked for virtual machines you want to seed. 4 Click Confirm to save your settings. 5 Repeat this process for additional virtual machines are seeding to the replication target and are not to be synchronized. For applications: 1 In the Navigation pane in the Unitrends system, select the application (such as SQL, Exchange, Oracle, or SharePoint). 2 Go to Replication > Replication Attributes. You see a list of applications with checkboxes next to them. Note: If you do not see the desired items, click Reload to refresh the view. 3 Make sure the checkbox is NOT checked for the applications you want to seed. 4 Click Confirm to save your settings. 5 Repeat this process for additional databases you are seeding to the replication target and are not to be synchronized. 6
On-premise configuration Perform one of the following procedures on the source backup system. See Supported seed devices by system if you are unsure which of the following to select. Using a seeding drive (esata or USB) Using the Unitrends NAS device for seeding Note: In the procedures in this section, command line entries contain a # sample prompt followed by the text that you enter in bold (such as # fdisk l). Using a seeding drive (esata or USB) You can use: A USB device for UEB on VMware and Recovery-172 systems. An esata device for all other Recovery-Series systems. A Unitrends NAS device for UEB on Hyper-V you must seed to a Unitrends NAS device. (See Using the Unitrends NAS device for seeding on page 11 for more information.) You must run the steps in this procedure from the backup system. Command-line steps are issued via a terminal emulator connection. For menu commands, log into the backup system. 1 Using a terminal emulator, such as Putty, ssh to the Unitrends system and log in as user root with the associated password. 2 Run the following commands from the command line, where # is the sample prompt and the text you enter is in bold: a. Enter the following: # mkdir /mnt/seed Note: This creates a mount point and only needs to be done once per backup system. # fdisk l b. Make a note of which /dev/sd devices are present. c. Place the archive drive in the upper right slot of the backup system or in the esata/usb docking station attached to the unit. Enter the following: # fdisk l 7
d. Determine which /dev/sd device is new this is the device node to use in the remaining steps. e. Clean the archive disk by entering the following: # wget ftp://ftp.unitrends.com/utilities/clean_drive -O clean_drive # chmod +x clean_drive #./clean_drive d /dev/sdx Where /dev/sdx represents the new device identified in the preceding step. f. Enter the following command: # cryptsetup -c aes -h ripemd160 -y create cryptdev /dev/sdx Where cryptdev is the name being used for the virtual device and where /dev/sdx represents the new device identified in the preceding step. You are prompted for an encryption key and must re-enter this key when mounting the drive at the replication site. This allows the data to be encrypted on the drive. g. Enter this command to create a file system on the virtual device: # mkfs t xfs /dev/mapper/cryptdev h. Enter this command to mount the virtual device: # mount /dev/mapper/cryptdev /mnt/seed i. Export this mount point through NFS: # echo /mnt/seed localhost(rw,no_root_squash) >/etc/exports j. Restart NFS service: # service nfs restart 3 Follow these steps to add this drive as archive storage. a. Log into the backup system and go to Settings > Storage and Retention > Storage. b. Click Add Archive Storage. 8
c. Select or enter the following: Field Type Name Host Protocol Share name Entry NAS Seed (or whatever name you prefer "Seed" is used as an example throughout this procedure) localhost nfs /mnt/seed You see a new storage element named seed created and usable for archiving. 4 From Putty, edit cmc_nas for seeding: # cp /usr/bp/bin/cmc_nas /usr/bp/bin/cmc_nas.orig # vi /usr/bp/bin/cmc_nas Enter: /TMPSTR= Enter: / This should now put the cursor at the second instance of TMPSTR= as shown below: nfs) TMPSTR=$2":/$SHARE on" Enter: o Enter: Press the Esc key Enter: :wq TMPSTR="$SHARE on" 5 Remount the NFS mount as local: # umount /backups/seed # mount o bind /mnt/seed /backups/seed 6 Follow these instructions to archive the clients to the seed drive storage: a. While still logged into the backup system, go to Archive > Archive Now. 9
b. Use the following settings for the archive: Field Time Range Clients Backup Types Target of Archive Options Local directory information Entry Last Backups Select clients which will be replicating. Select all that will be replicating. Select the archive target you just set up, named seed. Overwrite checked Purge not checked E-Mail Report checked Compress not checked Encrypt not checked Seed checked Retention Period leave None required c. Click Archive and wait for the archive job to finish. It can be monitored by going to Settings > System Monitoring > Jobs. 7 After the archive job has finished, follow these steps to remove this drive from archive storage: a. Log into the backup system and go to Settings > Storage and Retention > Storage. b. Click on the storage item named seed, then click Delete. 8 To remove the NFS export for the seed drive, go to Putty and enter: # >/etc/exports # service nfs restart 9 Unmount the drive using the following commands: # umount /backups/seed # umount /mnt/seed # cryptsetup remove cryptdev 10
10 Restore cmc_nas to the original: # cp f /usr/bp/bin/cmc_nas.orig /usr/bp/bin/cmc_nas 11 Enable archiving, if needed, as follows: a. Select Archive > Schedule Archive. b. Select a schedule and click Enable/Disable at the bottom of the screen. c. Repeat to enable each schedule. The seeding drive is ready to ship to the off-site disaster recovery location. Using the Unitrends NAS device for seeding The following steps guide you through the seeding of data to a Unitrends NAS device when connected to a physical Unitrends system or connected over the network to a Unitrends Enterprise Backup deployment. 1 Configure the Unitrends NAS device onto the network as described in the Unitrends NAS Device Setup Guide. 2 Add this Unitrends NAS device as archive storage: a. Log into the backup system and go to Settings > Storage and Retention > Storage. b. Click Add Archive Storage. c. Select or enter the following: Field Type Name Host Protocol Share name Entry NAS Seed (or whatever name you prefer "Seed" is used as an example throughout this procedure) The NAS device's IP address nfs The NAS device's share name (/mnt/data) You see a new storage element named seed created and usable for archiving. 3 Follow these instructions to archive the clients to the seed drive storage: a. While still logged into the backup system, go to Archive > Archive Now. 11
b. Use the following settings for the archive: Field Time Range Clients Backup Types Target of Archive Options Local directory information Entry Last Backups Select clients which will be replicating. Select all that will be replicating. Select the archive target you just set up, named seed. Overwrite checked Purge not checked E-Mail Report checked Compress not checked Encrypt not checked Seed checked Retention Period leave None required c. Click Archive and wait for the archive job to finish. It can be monitored by going to Settings > System Monitoring > Jobs. 4 After the archive job has finished, follow these steps to remove this drive from archive storage: a. Log into the backup system and go to Settings > Storage and Retention > Storage. b. Click on the storage item named seed, then click Delete. 5 Enable archiving, if needed, as follows: a. Select Archive > Schedule Archive. b. Select a schedule and click Enable/Disable at the bottom of the screen. c. Repeat to enable each schedule. The Unitrends NAS seeding device is ready to ship to the disaster recovery location. 12
Off-premise configuration Perform one of the following procedures. See Supported seed devices by system if you are unsure which of the following to select. Using an esata or USB seeding drive Using the Unitrends NAS seeding device Perform these steps at the off-premise disaster recovery site. You must run the steps in this procedure from the replication target system. Command-line steps are issued via a terminal emulator connection. For menu commands, log into the target system Administrator Interface by entering its IP address in any browser on the network. Note: In the procedures in this section, command line entries contain a # sample prompt followed by the text that you enter in bold (such as # fdisk l). Using an esata or USB seeding drive 1 Using a terminal emulator, such as Putty, ssh to the Unitrends system and log in as user root with the associated password. 2 If backups on the seeding drive are encrypted, be sure that encryption is enabled on the replication target. For details, see About encryption in the Unitrends Administrator's Guide. 3 To mount the drive, enter the following commands or follow these instructions: a. # mkdir /mnt/seed b. # fdisk l c. Make a note of which /dev/sd devices are present. d. Place the seed drive in the esata/usb device attached to the unit. e. # fdisk l f. Determine which /dev/sd device is new this will be the device node to use in the mount commands. g. # cryptsetup -c aes -h ripemd160 -y create cryptdev /dev/sdx Where /dev/sdx represents the new device identified in the preceding step. h. You see a prompt for an encryption key. Enter the identical key used when initially setting up seeding at the backup system. i. # mount /dev/mapper/cryptdev /mnt/seed 13
4 Export this mount point through NFS: # echo /mnt/seed localhost(rw,no_root_squash) >/etc/exports 5 Restart NFS service: # service nfs restart 6 Add this drive as archive storage: a. Log into the replication target system and go to Settings > Storage and Retention > Storage. b. Click Add Archive Storage. c. Select or enter the following: Field Type Name Host Protocol Share name Entry NAS Seed (or whatever name you prefer "Seed" is used as an example throughout this procedure) localhost nfs /mnt/seed You see a new storage element named seed created and usable for archiving. 7 On the target system, import the seeded backups: a. Select the target (brown vault icon) in the Navigation pane. b. Go to Archive > Media. Wait for the connected media scan to complete. 8 From Putty, edit cmc_nas for seeding: # cp /usr/bp/bin/cmc_nas /usr/bp/bin/cmc_nas.orig # vi /usr/bp/bin/cmc_nas Enter: /TMPSTR= Enter: / This should now put the cursor at the second instance of TMPSTR= as shown below: nfs) TMPSTR=$2":/$SHARE on" Enter: o 14
Enter: TMPSTR="$SHARE on" Press the Esc key Enter: :wq 9 Replace the NFS mount with a local mount # umount /backups/seed # mount -o bind /mnt/seed /backups/seed 10 Perform the following: a. Identify the directory name of the archive set in the newly mounted /mnt/seed location, which looks something like this: ls /mnt/seed 2013-08-23_11_44_04 blockstore b. Run the rapidseedimport script with the following: The latest version, which is available via: # wget ftp://ftp.unitrends.com/utilities/rapidseedimport.sh # chmod 755 rapidseedimport.sh The full path identified in the previous step as the first parameter. The number of concurrent copies to use is the second parameter. This should be 3 for a single disk and 8 for a FreeNAS archive device, which looks something like this: rapidseedimport.sh /mnt/seed/2013-08-23_11_44_04/ 3 c. When the script is finished, you see the following: All transfers are complete. Exiting. 11 After the restore is complete, you must resume replication for the entire system or enable replication at the client, virtual machine, or application level, depending on what method you used at the beginning of this process. (See Suspend or disable replication on page 5 for more information.) Note: Once seeded backups have been imported, you may see larger replication jobs until the database has been updated with unique block identifiers. These updates run after the import and are required for replication to determine which blocks are new and which are duplicates. 15
Perform one of the following: If you suspended replication on the system In the Unitrends system, go to Replication > Replication Attributes > Connection Options and Process Control. Click Resume Replication to restart replication on the backup system. If you disabled replication at the client, virtual machine, or application level Follow the steps in Option 2: Disable replication at the client, virtual machine, and application level on page 5, but be sure to check the checkboxes to enable replication. 12 Remove this drive from archive storage: a. Log into the backup system and go to Settings > Storage and Retention > Storage. b. Click on the storage item named seed, then click Delete. 13 Remove the NFS export for the seed drive: # > /etc/exports # service nfs restart 14 (Optional) You can now remove all of the contents of the seed drive by running the following command: # dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mapper/cryptdev bs=1m 15 Unmount the drive using the following commands: # umount /backups/seed # umount /mnt/seed # cryptsetup remove cryptdev 16 Restore cmc_nas to the original: # cp f /usr/bp/bin/cmc_nas.orig /usr/bp/bin/cmc_nas Using the Unitrends NAS seeding device 1 Configure the Unitrends NAS device onto the network as described in the Unitrends NAS Device Setup Guide. 2 If backups on the Unitrends NAS seeding device are encrypted, be sure that encryption is enabled on the replication target. For details, see About encryption in the Unitrends Administrator's Guide. 16
3 Add this Unitrends NAS device as archive storage: a. Log into the target system and go to Settings > Storage and Retention > Storage. b. Click Add Archive Storage. c. Select or enter the following Field Type Name Host Protocol Share name Entry NAS Seed (or whatever name you prefer "Seed" is used as an example throughout this procedure) The NAS device's IP address nfs The NAS device's share name (/mnt/data) You see a new storage element named seed created and usable for archiving. 4 On the target system, import the seeded backups: a. Select the target (brown vault icon) in the Navigation pane. b. Go to Archive > Media. Wait for the connected media scan to complete. c. Select Seed, then click on Sets at the bottom of the screen. d. Import the archive set on the media. e. Go to Archive > Status to see the archive set you just imported. f. Click on the archive set. 17
You see the Archive Set Information window. g. Click Restore to System. You see the Restore Archive of [date] window. h. Check the Restore for Seeding? checkbox. i. Click Restore to system. You can monitor the restore by going to Settings > System Monitoring > Jobs. j. (Optional) Once the restore is complete, remove all of the seeded archives by selecting the seed archive target and then selecting Prepare. Note: For more information, see the Archiving section in the Unitrends Administrator's Guide and the archiving videos. 5 After the restore is complete, you must resume replication for the entire system or enable replication at the client, virtual machine, or application level, depending on what method you used at the beginning of this process. (See Suspend or disable replication on page 5 for more information.) Note: Once seeded backups have been imported, you may see larger replication jobs until the database has been updated with unique block identifiers. These updates run after the import and are required for replication to determine which blocks are new and which are duplicates. Perform one of the following: If you suspended replication on the system In the Unitrends system, go to Replication > Replication Attributes > Connection Options and Process Control. Click Resume Replication to restart replication on the backup system. If you disabled replication at the client, virtual machine, or application level Follow the steps in Option 2: Disable replication at the client, virtual machine, and application level on page 5, but be sure to check the checkboxes to enable replication. 6 On the target, remove this drive from archive storage: a. Log into the target system and go to Settings > Storage and Retention > Storage. b. Click on the storage item named seed, then click Delete. 18