Installing Backup Exec System Restore on CentOS 5.5 and First backup / restore

As I said in my review I would telling you how to install this on CentOS 5.5, so here it is.

Normally one would simply run the Symantec_Backup_Exec_System_Recovery.bin with ./Symantec_Backup_Exec_System_Recovery.bin. But on a non-supported distribution / kernel that won't work.

However all is not lost! You can install this with a little shell-fu.
Instead of ./Symantec_Backup_Exec_System_Recovery.bin run
./Symantec_Backup_Exec_System_Recovery.bin --noexec --target .

This will extract the contents of the binary to the current directory. Next you need to install a few RPM packages, but you need to know what version of kernel you are running (for me it was either PAE or non-PAE). So I ran uname -a to see what version of the kernel that machine was running.

rpm -Uhv SymSnap/symbdsnap-1.0.1-36146.2.6.18_8.el5PAE.i686.rpm
rpm -Uhv symmount-1.0.1-36352.i686.rpm
rpm -Uhv besr-1.0.1-36352.i686.rpm

Once all of these packages are installed I was able to do my first backup. And by first backup I mean first three (/boot, /, and SWAP). While I probably don't need to do all three (/boot and /) I don't want to have to create a SWAP system after a restore. So I ran all three.

besr -b/dev/sda1 -d /Storage/backups/hostname/boot.v2i -use-aes-encryption standard -p SoM3SupErSecureP@ssW0rd -compress Standard
besr -b /dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00 -d /Storage/backups/hostname/Vol00Log00.v2i -use-aes-encryption standard -p SoM3SupErSecureP@ssW0rd -compress Standard
besr -b /dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol01 -d /Storage/backups/hostname/Vol00Log01.v2i -use-aes-encryption standard -p SoM3SupErSecureP@ssW0rd -compress Standard

Now in /Storage/backups/hostname I have three files
boot.v2i
Vol00Log00.v2i
Vol00Log01.v2i

If I needed to restore these I would use the Backup Exec System Recovery Windows based LiveCD. During the restore I would choose all three of these in the order shown above.

After the restore process was finished I need to boot using the gparted LiveCD. Once in I would open up a terminal and install grub on to my sda hard drive.

#grub
#root (hd0,0)
#setup (hd0)
#quit

Once grub is installed on sda I needed to update fstab to no longer look for / on the /dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00 and swap to not be on /dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol01.

Backup Exec System Recovery Review

I asked a question over on Serverfault about backup software that supported Windows and Linux and did Bare-Metal Recovery and the response I got was to try Backup Exec System Recovery, which so far has been pretty good.

The bad stuff:

1) Restore CD creation on CentOS is impossible from what I have tried and can tell. They really do mean Redhat Enterprise Linux only.
2) Bare-metal recovery with MBR restore doesn't work. Which means I have to install grub after a restore.
3) LVM support is once again not there or well hidden.
4) Centralized management. It is a separate 1GB download as an Addon. I did the download and install, but now I can't find the Management console. Setting up each of our servers isn't too big of a problem, but I really wanted one window to view for backups.
5) There is no built in scheduler with Linux.
6) There is no incremental backup in Linux.

The good stuff:
1) It works on CentOS with a little bit of hacker-y to install (more on that in another post).
2) It is easy to install and configure on Windows, even though it requires a reboot. (BOO!)
3) It is pretty quick to get a backup started.
4) The backup procedure is different on Windows than on Linux. Windows is GUI based 100%. (I haven't looked to see if I can configure a backup from the command line.) While Linux is 100% CLI.
5) The Windows based restore CD is a pretty useful tool with out limits (unlike the Acronis Boot Disk).
6)Restores are quick and pretty simple to do.

All in all after trying three different products and looking at half a dozen I think this may be the winner.

Acronis Backup and Recovery Advanced Server 10

Getting up and running with Acronis Backup and Recovery Advanced Server 10 is pretty quick, especially for the demo. It took under an hour to install, configure and start backing up a Windows 2008 Standard server. Getting the Backup agent installed on our Linux servers took a little bit more work because of the SnapAPI kernel modules. After a little bit of digging around in the Acronis knowledge base I was able to resolve all of the issues I had getting the Acronis Backup Agent installed on our CentOS 5.4 servers. If we go with Acronis Backup and Recovery Advanced Server 10 I will need to add some additional lines to our Linux Post-Install script to add in the kernel-devel package and the additional RPMs that the agent needs. (DKMS and SnapAPI) both of which are already on our Storage drive.

With our second trial run here we where able to resolve most of the outstanding issues we had from the first trial. Namely excessive recovery times and recovering to dis-similar hardware. I have yet to truly attempt a Linux restore to dis-similar hardware, but I have the base system recovered and the instructions, so I will be attempting one later this week (with results to follow). Restoring our Windows machines to either dis-similar hardware or a VM is pretty straight forward with the Universal Restore CD. The main problem holding us back in those scenarios is not having the drivers readily available for post install. This can be remedied by always going to VM and installing the VM tools as they also contain the drivers for the system.

Each backup policy allows us to modify settings for the backups such as Encryption, Compression, and throttling resources. The encryption can have a separate encryption key and varying levels of encryption from none to AES-128, AES-192, and finally AES-256. The automated backups can do a simple backup plan with full and incremental that are stored as a file on the storage system. The policy also allows us to run custom commands before and after the backup so can could do a virus scan, or shred temp files or what ever we desired.

One of the strangest problems I came across was while doing the restores to VM, if started from the VMs Console after picking the Disk to recover to the process could take hours to complete. Whereas if I did the same restore on to physical hardware the process would take seconds. The work around is to boot the VM from the Universal Restore CD and use the Management Console to connect to the VM. Once connected to the VM from the Management console I was able to start the restore in a matter of minutes, more akin to a physical machine.

Something to remember when setting up the backup policy for Linux machines that utilize LVM is to back up the disk as a whole. You don't want to backup the LVM by its self because after the restore it will fail to boot.

All in all I feel that Acronis would make a wonderful addition to our eco-system. It fulfills all of the requirements of our backup scheme, except the web based access, which is not uncommon for Windows based software.

Copy Directory Structure Only

This is a simple one liner for copying a Directory structure, and not the contents.

find * -type d -exec mkdir /new_directory/\{\} \;

Now there are a few caveots to this of course, but they are simple.

First the /new_directory/ has to exist.

Second, you have to run the command from within the directory that you want to copy the structure from.

For example, if I need to copy the structure of /Storage to /newStorage I would:

mkdir /newStorage

cd /Storage

find * -type d -exec mkdir /newStorage/\{\} \;

Spiceworks releases 3.5!

Just found out that Spiceworks has been updated to 3.5. I never got the chance I wanted to beta test 3.5, but now I don't have to worry about it. Looking forward to the Network Bandwidth Analyzer and the Nagios integration.

I plan on doing a backup of my database tonight so I can do the update after hours. Wish me luck.

Firefox 3: places.sql to bookmarks.html conversion

Sometimes, just sometimes you jump the gun and upgrade too soon. Well as it turns out I did that when I first started my new job. Our home grown web app renders perfectly in Firefox 2 but looks odd in Firefox 3. Also one of the plugins we need to run is very unstable in Firefox 3 so I had to revert back.

If I had known this a month ago and not started accumulating bookmarks all over the place I would have been fine, but that was not the case. The main problem is that Firefox 3 uses a new places.sqlite SQL database to keep track of bookmarks instead of the tried and true bookmarks.html. I went online looking for some sort of conversion program, thought about making my own (which I still might do just as a proof of concept / fun project.)

So anyway, here is how to have Firefox 3 save a bookmarks.html file in addition to the places.sqlite. Open a new tab and go to about:config. Click "Ok" when it asks if you will be careful. Now browse down to "browser.bookmarks.autoExportHTML" and change this from the default of "false" to "true". Restart Firefox and you will have your bookmarks.html file updated as you add new bookmarks.

If I ever do create a conversion program I will post the link on this site.

Clonezilla

I have seen Symantec Ghost used in the past. I have always wanted a scenario where using something like Ghost would make sense and today I have found it!

We have a great many machines here that are identical. They do the same function, have the same hardware, and need the same software. That being said I have finally found a reason to really need a solution like Symantec Ghost. Now being on a very tight budget I was looking for a different solution and thanks to the generous folks over on the Spiceworks fourms I found Clonezilla.

Now there is a server based version that I could use to Clonecast (I don't know if that is a real word or even something they use but I like it) images out to machines, but for now I am booting off of my 2GB USB key and saving / reading images from a seperate 160GB USB drive.

It takes about 15 to 20 minutes do drop an image from the USB-Hard drive to the client machine (for around 1GB of info). It takes just around as long do put the image on the USB-HDD which is very quick if you ask me. Most of the time is getting the computer to boot off of the USB key and configure the options you want.

One of my projects that I hope to do later is to install the NTFS 3g drivers for Linux so I can modify the file system once the image is installed. This will enable me to do things like rename the PC based on it's MAC address. Also I may get a Clonezilla server up and running. If I do you can be sure I will post something about it.

Failed to send SMTP (2AFC) for CA BrightStor ARCServe Back

This error was getting thrown after every backup my system does. BrightStor used to send me emails when it finished a backup job but at some point in time it started failing.

The simple fix for this is to add in a hosts entry for the SMTP server. Even though I specified an IP address for my SMTP server this fix worked.

To add in a hosts record open Notepad or whatever text editor you love and then open the file "C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc\hosts". Notice there is no extension on this file.

If you have your \Windows directory located on a partition other than "C:" use "%windir%\System32\Drivers\Etc\hosts".

How to Delete the Undeletable File!

There comes a point in every Network Admins life that you must delete a file that is always locked, even those pesky files that won't go away after a reboot or going into safe mode.

Geeks are Sexy has a good article on how to delete pesky undeletable files. I already knew about #1. I always first try to kill "Explorer.exe" from task manager before I do anything drastic. If that doesn't work I move on to number three if I have Unlocker handy.

I typically have either unlocker installed or an Internet connection to download a copy so I have never had to resort to using the Recovery Console on my computer. Also it is far more likely that I would have those then a Windows CD around to use the recovery console as I always forget to install it before hand.

Using the Windows Backup Utility (ntbackup.exe)

Most people don't know that Windows comes with a decent (read Free!) Backup Utility. Granted it is not that useful in true enterprise situations (like mine), but it does work and is handy in a pinch. Also Microsoft has released a Powertoy called "Sync Toy" that does a fairly good job backing up file systems only.

The first thing that I do when I run the Backup Utility (found at Start Menu, [All Programs]*, Accessories, System Tools, Backup) or "Run...", ntbackup, [Enter] is I uncheck "Always start in Wizard mode", and click "Advanced Mode".

*Only if not using the "Classic" start menu in Windows XP/Server 2003.

To start a backup follow these steps.
1. Click on the "Backup" tab.
2. Check the boxes for what you want to back up.
3. Check "System State" to back up Boot Files, Com+ Class Registration Database, and the System Registry.
4. Name your backup and select it's location.
5. If you want to schedule a backup job click the "Schedule Jobs" tab. Then the "Add Jobs" button in the lower right corner.
6. This will bring up a warning dialog box if you have anything selected. "Files and Folders are already selected. Would you like to start the wiazard with these selections? Click 'No' to clear these selections before starting the Wizard." You then get the options for "Yes, No, & Cancel." If you want to use your selections click "yes" if you didn't mean to follow my directions then click "Cancel" otherwise click "No".
7. On the "Back up Wizard" home page click "Next".
8. Make your selections, remeber that if you chose "Yes" you will start with those options. Click "Next"
9. On the "Back up Type, Destination, and Name" page choose your location and file name. Click Next.
10. Choose the type of Back up job that you want to do. Options and descriptions below.

• Normal - Back up selected files, and marks each file as backed up.
• Copy - Backs up selected files but does not marky any as backed up.
• Incremental - Backs up selected files only if they were created or modified since the previous backup. (You need all Tapes/Backup Files involved to sucessfully restore, makes for a quicker backup, slower recover, more can go wrong due to more tapes involved.)[Example: You Backup Incremental Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and a Normal Backup on Friday. Your server hard drive fails Wednesday after the backup, you need Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to recover from the failure. You also need to recover the server hard drive with each tape in order.]
• Differential - Backs up selected files only if they were created or modified since the previous backup, but does not mark them as backed up. (You only need the newest/latest tape to restore, makes for a longer back up, but a quicker restore. Since you only need one tape to recover there is less that could go wrong in the recovery process. [Example: You Backup Differential Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and a Normal Backup on Friday. Your server hard drive fails Wednesday after the backup, you need Wednesday's tape/file to recover from the failure.]
• Daily - Backs up only files that were created or modified today.

11. Select your options (Will vary due to hardware differences)

• Verify Data After Backup
• Use hardware compression, if available
• Disable Volume Shadow Copy

12. Choose to append or replace the media.

13. Set the backup schedule.

Other Resources: Backup Utility Advanced Options, Microsoft Powertoys, Microsoft Synctoy