NetWorker Save and Restore for DIGITAL UNIX Version 4.3 Release Notes The following release notes for NetWorker Save and Restore Version 4.3 describe enhancements, features, and restrictions for this release. These release notes are included in your distribution kit. The PostScript file is titled brx430_relnotes.ps and the text file is brx430_relnotes.txt. These release notes are also included in the Release Notes and Documentation subset and are located in the directory /usr/opt/BRX430/usr/doc after installation. The release notes are included in this location to ensure that they are accessible from the product directory after the distribution disk is unmounted. Mandatory Update To run this version of NetWorker Save and Restore, you must be running DIGITAL UNIX version 4.0A (or higher). This version of NetWorker is incompatible with earlier versions of DIGITAL UNIX. Before you install this version of NetWorker Save and Restore, you may need to update your operating system with a patch. Instructions for acquiring and installing the appropriate patch are included in the Steps for Updating DIGITAL UNIX section of this Release Notes document. If you are running the Database Module for Oracle (DMO) version 1.0x, you must upgrade to DMO V2.0 to be compatible with NetWorker V4.3. Each version of DMO requires specific versions of other software for compatibility. Refer to the Miscellaneous section for additional compatibility information. Steps for Updating DIGITAL UNIX NetWorker V4.3 requires functionality not available in the base operating system distributions of DIGITAL UNIX V4.0A, 4.0B, and 4.0C. It is mandatory that the appropriate patch be acquired and installed on all server systems before installing NetWorker 4.3. In addition, the appropriate patch must be installed on all clients running HSM. [C] Digital Equipment Corporation 1997. All rights reserved. The patches are available via the following URL: http://www.service.digital.com/html/patch_main.html Note If you do a textual search for these patches, they may also be listed as solving QAR 36779. A textual search is not recommended. For accuracy, use the information presented in Table 1. The required patches are identified in Table 1. Note that there are currently two patch numbers listed because the patch naming scheme is in transition. Table 1 Required UNIX Patches for NetWorker 4.3 UNIX Patch Number Additional Patches Version DIGITAL Patch 155.00 If OSFADVFSBIN405 subset is UNIX V4.0A (OSF405-054) loaded (whether or not actually using AdvFS) install patch 157.01 (OSF405-400176-1) DIGITAL Patch 71.00 If OSFADVFSBIN410 subset is UNIX V4.0B (OSF410-405054) loaded (whether or not actually using AdvFS) install patch 70.01 (OSF410-400176-1) DIGITAL Not yet Contact DIGITAL at: nsr- UNIX V4.0C available ft@zso.dec.com for availability. Warning While the patch IDs are current as of the V4.3 release date, it is possible that the required patch may be superseded by subsequent patch releases. It is therefore important to check the online documentation (and release notes) of subsequent patches before installing, to determine if the specified patch has been superseded. Enhancements and New Features o Performance Improvements -- The major feature of this release of NetWorker is the optimization of local backup performance. When backing up a large local system, particularly systems with raw disks or databases, you should experience a very substantial increase in performance and a decrease in system load. 2 NetWorker Release Notes Note that this performance improvement does not affect networked operations. They continue to function as before, both in terms of performance and functionality. o SQL and Exchange Support -- SQL and Exchange clients can now back up to this version of NetWorker. Refer to the Software Product Description (SPD) for part numbers and ordering information for these client licenses. o Server Default Parameters Changed -- The following server parameters have new maximum values: Parallelism 64 Sessions per Device 64 Active devices 32 Parallelism for a client using this software version 32 Note An additional license may be required for the higher values. Raising these values beyond the capacity of the specific hardware platform may cause serious performance problems. Care should be taken to ensure that values appropriate to the system are used. Notification of Loader Support Retirement With this release of NetWorker Save and Restore for DIGITAL UNIX (Version 4.3), support for the use of sequential access loaders is no longer provided. Starting with NetWorker Save and Restore for DIGITAL UNIX, Version 4.2A and continuing through Version 4.2C, sequential access loaders were supported with the purchase of a Jukebox Tier-1 license. If you are currently using a sequential access loader and choose to upgrade to NetWorker Version 4.3, the installation procedure will remove the loader resource. You must redefine the device as a jukebox and run it with the proper license. Some sequential access loaders cannot be used as jukeboxes. Consult the device documentation to determine whether your loader can be defined as a jukebox. Problems Resolved Since the Last Release The following problems and restrictions were resolved: o For a TL8xx jukebox with a tape that is loaded or mounted, issuing the nsrjb -H command would not properly reset the jukebox. The jukebox drive would not unload (unmount) and the nsrjb -H command would return with the following error message: NetWorker Release Notes 3 nsrjb: Jukebox error, Illegal Request, Medium Not Present. o Using the nwadmin GUI to label a volume in a stand-alone device did not increment the label template for the selected pool. You had to select the Label Template window from the Customize pull-down menu and manually increment the label template following the label operation. o The app-defaults file, which is used for altering the NetWorker GUI, is now installed during server installation. This file is copied to the /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults directory if this file is not already installed. In addition, accurate instructions for altering this file are now included in the Addendum. Known Problems and Restrictions in This Release The following sections contain information on known problems and restrictions in this release. Workarounds are provided where available. In addition to the information presented here, see Chapter 7, Troubleshooting, in the NetWorker Addendum for further information on configuring and operating NetWorker. Devices and Media o Stand-alone Device and Auto Media Management -- If Auto Media Management is enabled on a stand-alone device and a request for a tape for backup is pending, NetWorker will take exactly 1 hour to attempt to mount or relabel (as appropriate) the tape loaded on the device. After the tape is mounted or relabeled, the server operations on that device continue normally. If the tape in the device needs to be mounted, you can avoid the 1-hour waiting period by temporarily disabling Auto Media Management on the device and then mounting the tape manually. If the tape loaded in the device is not a NetWorker tape, the tape is labeled without any waiting period. o Selecting a Device When Defining Pools -- The device field in the pool resource does not completely limit use of devices as documented in the nsr_pool(5) reference page. Do not attempt to manually label and mount devices not selected for a pool. The operations will not complete successfully, and you may or may not receive an error message (depending on whether the operation was initiated from the command line or the GUI). o Labeling Two Volumes Concurrently -- Attempting to label two volumes concurrently, while using the same label template, will cause a race condition with duplicate labels. The first to attempt labeling will complete successfully, while the 4 NetWorker Release Notes other attempt will generate an error message stating that there are duplicate labels, cancel the failing label operation, and require the user to choose another label. o Save Set Consolidation -- SaveSet Consolidation will write all sessions to one device, disregarding the Sessions/Device setting. Jukeboxes o Canceling a Jukebox Label Operation -- If you start a label operation using the nwadmin interface and then cancel the operation, NetWorker might not move the volume from the jukebox tape drive back into the volume's original slot. Attempts to label another volume will result in the following message: The drive is loaded with a volume from a different slot If this problem occurs, reset the jukebox or issue the nsrjb -u command to unload the tape drive. o Resetting a Jukebox -- For a jukebox with a tape that is mounted, issuing the nsrjb -H command is not recommended. It may not properly reset the jukebox, leaving it in an unavailable state. The jukebox drive will be unloaded but the NetWorker Administrator window and the nsrmm command will continue to display the device as mounted. To avoid this problem, issue the nsrjb -u command to unmount the volume before issuing the nsrjb -H command. If the jukebox gets into the situation described previously, use the nsrmm -u command to unmount the tape. o Sequence Number Mismatch Error When Updating a Jukebox Resource -- If the jukebox resource has been updated since the data was fetched for display in the Jukebox window, an attempt to delete a jukebox results in a sequence number mismatch error. Close the Jukebox window, then re-open it to display current information and allow normal operations. o Installing TL893, TL896, TL820, TL891, TL892, TL894 Jukeboxes -- When you run the jb_config command to configure a TL893 or TL896 jukebox and choose not use the autoconfigure option, select 29) "Digital TL820 Series from the Install an SJI Jukebox menu. To configure a TL894 jukebox, select 28) Digital TL810 Series from the Install an SJI Jukebox menu. To configure a TL891 or TL892, select 27) Digital TL800 Series from the Install an SJI Jukebox menu. Graphical User Interface o Archive Retrieve Window Problem -- In the Archive Retrieve window, the Change Server dialog is a modal dialog. No access to the main Retrieve window screen or help window is allowed NetWorker Release Notes 5 until the dialog is dismissed. The Details dialog can be accessed independently of the Change Server dialog. Cloning o Automatic Savegroup Cloning with 4mm Devices -- In some circumstances, a 4mm device can hang at the start of an automatic clone operation. If this problem occurs, see the comments in the /sbin/rc3.d/S94nsrd file. Follow the instructions for a workaround and then restart NetWorker using the /sbin/rc3.d/S94nsrd start command. Do not make this change unless there is a known problem with this type of device. Firmware version 4BQH prevents this problem with the TLZ7L device. o Cloning Save Sets Using Jukeboxes -- For a server with two jukeboxes that each have only one device, NetWorker might hang while attempting to clone save sets that cross volumes from one jukebox to another. To avoid this situation, do not attempt to clone these save sets. Another way to avoid this situation is to label all of the volumes in one of the jukeboxes for cloning pools only. If you want to clone some of the save sets on a volume, use the following command to determine which save sets are completely contained on that volume: # mminfo -avo t vol_name The output from this command provides the save set ID number for each save set. In addition, the fl column indicates whether only part of the save set is contained on the volume. The ch, cm, and ct columns designate the head, middle, or tail of the save set. Once you decide which save sets to clone, create a file containing the save set IDs of the save sets you want to clone, excluding the save sets that cross to a volume in the other jukebox. In the file, list one save set ID per line, leaving no blank lines. Make sure there is a carriage return after the last entry. Then, issue the following command to clone the save sets (clone_pool is the name of an existing clone pool, and ids_file is the name of the file you created containing the save set IDs): # nsrclone -b clone_pool -V -f ids_file HSM o NFS Timeout Error -- During the de-migration of very large files, the operation that started the de-migration of the file can terminate with an NFS time-out error such as the following: 6 NetWorker Release Notes #./openfile file_name Reading 1 byte from file file_name NFS2 read failed for server pidxxx : RPC : Timed out Error reading file file_name # Disregard the time-out error. The de-migration of the file will continue to a normal, successful completion. After completion, the file may be accessed normally. You can verify a file de-migration is in progress by monitoring NetWorker activity with the administrator tools. o Superfull Backups -- DIGITAL recommends that you not run the superfull backup function at this time. With this release, the following problems exist with this feature: - The superfull backup will successfully build a clone tape containing the last backup and migration save set. However, migrated files cannot be successfully recalled from the clone. Files can be restored from the backup clone normally. - The superfull backup does not identify or clone ad-hoc or manual creations of migration save sets. Miscellaneous o Cannot Retrieve a Saveset -- In certain circumstances, attempting to retrieve a saveset may fail. This failure will occur when a client has never had an incremental, level, or full backup and has only saved its data through archiving. For example: # nsrretrieve -s sinclair -S 23653 nsrretrieve: SYSTEM error, No such file or directory To work around this problem, perform a single backup of the client of any amount of data. o Incorrect Client Machine Type for Windows NT Clients -- Versions of the NetWorker for DIGITAL UNIX server up to and including NetWorker Version 4.2B incorrectly define newly created NetWorker for Windows NT Version 4.3 clients as type Workstation rather than type PC. On NetWorker Version 4.2A or 4.2B, this causes a workstation license rather than a PC license to be allocated for the client. To work around this problem, on the NetWorker server, manually set the machine type field of the NT client resource to PC and make certain that the arch field is empty. This causes the correct license type to be allocated. o Sparse Files -- NetWorker determines that files are sparse (or "holey") by comparing the allocated blocks with the byte size (this can be seen using the ls -ls command). If the allocated blocks do not account for the size of the file, the NetWorker Release Notes 7 file is considered to be sparse and saved using an algorithm that replaces long strings of zeroes with "holes" in the recovered file. When AdvFS clone filesets are used, AdvFS reports the number of blocks allocated to the clone (which is zero, or the number of blocks on the real file that have been modified since the clone creation). Thus, files in a cloned fileset always look sparse to NetWorker. The problem that may occur is that some files that were not sparse when saved may be sparse when recovered. Note that Oracle databases are zero-filled, fully allocated files and, as such, are not "holey." They are particularly susceptible to this problem. At this time, the workaround for this is to use the cp command to copy the file after recovery. This will cause a sparse file to be converted to a fully-allocated file. A more permanent solution is being implemented by AdvFS in a future release of DIGITAL UNIX. o Large Sparse Files -- The NetWorker V4.3 client does not correctly save sparse files with holes greater than 4 GB in size. There is currently no workaround. o Retention Policies Greater than 26 Years -- Retention policies greater than 26 years do not work properly. If, going backward in time, the duration represented by the retention policy takes you prior to January 1, 1970, the volumes will be incorrectly marked recyclable. o Head and Middle Volumes Not Marked Recyclable -- If multiple volumes are used for a single save set and one of those volumes is deleted, all the other volumes should be marked recyclable. Currently the volumes are not being marked recyclable by NetWorker, so the volumes must be marked recyclable manually. o Backup with an AdvFS Root File System -- If you are backing up a client running DIGITAL UNIX 3.2x that has an AdvFS root file system, you may encounter an AdvFS bug that causes NetWorker to fail to properly back up mount points on root. If you encounter this problem, contact the CSC for a patch to the AdvFS file system. o Backup of AdvFS File Systems for DIGITAL UNIX Version 3.2C, 3.2D, and 3.2F -- If you are backing up a client running DIGITAL UNIX Version 3.2C, 3.2D, or 3.2F, the AdvFS file system may not be saved properly. You can resolve this AdvFS problem by either installing the consolidated AdvFS patch that corresponds to the version of DIGITAL UNIX you are running or upgrading your DIGITAL UNIX system to Version 3.2G. Contact the CSC for information about how to obtain these patches. 8 NetWorker Release Notes o Multiple Concurrent Savegroups -- NetWorker is designed to run one Savegroup at a time. Running multiple concurrent Savegroups will result in unpredictable behavior. If overlapping Savegroups cause system problems, reschedule the Groups or combine them into a single Group. o DMO Version Compatibility -- If you are running the Database Module for Oracle (DMO) version 1.0x, you must upgrade to DMO V2.0 to be compatible with NetWorker V4.3. Each version of the Database Module for Oracle (DMO) requires specific versions of other software for compatibility. Refer to the following table: DMO DIGITAL UNIX NetWorker Oracle EBU Version V1.0/V1.0A V3.2C V3.2x V7.1.6 V2.0.10 V2.0 V3.2C V4.2B V7.3.2.x V2.0.12.4 o Installation Can Hang Due to Lack of Space -- Make sure that the file system where your indexes are located (/nsr) contains free space equal to 90% of the total NetWorker index size. If the nsrck command run by installation does not detect enough free space, the installation may hang. In the example below /nsr is linked to a location in the file system named /condor: Creating /sbin/init.d/nsrd Running nsrck -F. This may take some time nsrck: checking index for comet.dec.com nsrck: compressing index for comet.dec.com /condor: write failed, file system is full If you encounter this problem, do the following 1 Press CTRL/C to interrupt the installation. The following error will display: /condor: write failed, file system is full setld: Exiting 2 Free enough space for the indexes. 3 Issue the setld -d BRXSOAKIT430 command to delete the server subset. 4 Use the setld command to reinstall the server subset. NetWorker Release Notes 9 o Using the nsrinfo Command -- The nsrinfo -N command works only for paths that are either root or a fully-specified file (e.g. /var/tmp/foo.txt). The following error message displays when this command is used on any non-root directory: WISS error, cannot find the key o Recovering the quota.group File -- If you save the quota.group file from a UFS filesystem and then attempt to recover it to a different location, the recover will fail. (You would not normally need to do this procedure.) o Recovering Large Numbers of Files -- When attempting to recover more than 300,000 files at one time, use the saveset recover command: recover -S ssid If you attempt to recover over 300,00 files using the nwrecover or recover xxx commands, the following error will display: recover: Not enough space recover: : Permission denied Nothing to recover The Save Set Consolidation (SSC) function uses recover mechanisms to formulate the data to consolidate. Therefore, if there are more than approximately 500,000 files in a saveset, SSC will fail without an error message. There is currently no workaround to this situation. o Preserving the Access Timestamp -- The atimeasm command must be used before the compressasm command if explicitely listed in a directives file. If this is not done, the last access timestamp will not be properly preserved. o Client Index Displays Blank Line for Client Name -- Occasionally the nwadmin display for client indexes (Indexes hotbutton) displays a blank client name at the top of the list of clients. When you click on this blank line, a list of savesets is displayed. The workaround is to shutdown and restart NetWorker. This is a cosmetic problem only. It does not affect NetWorker functionality. Licensing Errors o Multiple Client Creation -- If you are creating multiple clients and some clients are not created due to license failures, the list of existing clients is not updated with the successful additions until the window is closed and reopened. 10 NetWorker Release Notes o SQL Server Savegroup Completion Error -- If the NetWorker V4.3 server license for the NT Microsoft SQL Server has not been installed and a client has been set up to save using the NetWorker Module for Microsoft SQL Server, execution of a savegroup that includes that client will result in a savegroup completion error message similar to the following: * montlake:MSSQL:master 1 retry attempted * montlake:MSSQL:master nsrsqlsv: Internal system error, please see nsr\applogs\xbsa.messages on the client system for reason. * montlake:MSSQL:master nsrsqlsv: MS SQL error: severity=5, errno=10007, oserr=-1 * montlake:MSSQL:master nsrsqlsv: dberrstr=General SQL Server error: Check messages from the SQL Server. * montlake:MSSQL:master nsrsqlsv: oserrstr=(null) * montlake:MSSQL:master nsrsqlsv: previous DB-MSG=Write on dump device '\\.\pipe\sql\nsrdump4210' failed, vsn=884 return=-2 status=-2. Please consult the SQL Server error log for more details. * montlake:index aborted To resolve the problem, run the nsr_shutdown command to shut down the NetWorker server, install the DECNSR-SVR-SQL license, and restart the server with the /sbin/init.d/nsrd start command. o Exchange Server Savegroup Completion Error -- If the NetWorker V4.3 server license for NT Microsoft Exchange Server has not been installed and a client has been set up to save using the NetWorker Module for Microsoft Exchange Server, execution of a savegroup that includes that client will result in a savegroup completion error message similar to the following: * montlake:MSEXCH:IS 1 retry attempted * montlake:MSEXCH:IS nsrxchsv: Internal system error, please see nsr\applogs\xbsa.messages on the client system for reason. * montlake:MSEXCH:DS 1 retry attempted * montlake:MSEXCH:DS nsrxchsv: Internal system error, please see nsr\applogs\xbsa.messages on the client system for reason. To resolve the problem, run the nsr_shutdown command to shut down the NetWorker server, install the DECNSR-SRV-EXCH license, and restart the server with the /sbin/init.d/nsrd start command. NetWorker Release Notes 11