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Home » Backups, Veritas

NetBackup Command Guide

Submitted by on December 27, 2009 – 7:17 pm 15 Comments

NetBackup is an enterprise-level distributed backup and recovery application. The environment consists of the master server, media server, storage library, networking hardware, and client agents. NetBackup supports a wide variety of Unix, Linux, VMS, and Windows systems, proving the data recovery costs vs. cloud backup services are justified. The original backup solution was developed by Control Data Corp., later acquired by Openvision, which gave the product its “NetBackup” name. NetBackup was then bought by Veritas and is currently owned and supported (poorly) by Symantec.

Daemons and Processes

On the master server there are four NetBackup daemons started in sequence:

  1. bprd – the request daemon started during system boot
  2. bpsched – the scheduler daemon started by bprd
  3. bpdbm – the NetBackup database manager started by bpsched
  4. bpjobd – the job monitor daemon started by bpdbm

One the media server, there are up to nine NetBackup daemons:

  1. bpcd – communications daemon started during system boot
  2. bpbrm – backup and restore manager started by bpcd
  3. bptm – tape manager started by bpbrm
  4. bpdm – disk manager started by bpbrm
  5. ltid – media manager started during system boot
  6. avrd – bar code reader daemon started by ltid
  7. vmd – volume manager daemon started by ltid
  8. tldd – robotic tape library daemon started by ltid
  9. tldcd – robotic tape library control daemon started by ltid

One the client side, there is one NetBackup daemon started during system boot:

  1. bpcd – the client daemon, which starts the bpbkar processes for each active backup or restore job

Logs and Configuration Files

Version and patch levels

  1. NetBackup and patch versions: /opt/openv/netbackup/bin/version
  2. Patch level history: /opt/openv/netbackup/patch/patch.history
  3. Media version: /opt/openv/volmgr/version

Configuration Files

  1. NetBackup configuration: /opt/openv/netbackup/bp.conf
  2. Media manager configuration: /opt/openv/volmgr/vm.conf
  3. Buffer size: /opt/openv/netbackup/db/config/SIZE_DATA_BUFFERS
  4. Number of buffers: /opt/openv/netbackup/db/config/NUMBER_DATA_BUFFERS
  5. Network buffer size: /opt/openv/netbackup/NET_BUFFER_SZ (default is 32)
  6. Catalog type: /opt/openv/netbackup/db/config/cat_format.cfg

Access control

  1. Java GUI authorization: /opt/openv/java/auth.conf

Troubleshooting

  1. Corrupt database images: /opt/openv/netbackup/db.corrupt

(The following is the corrected and expanded information found at http://www.datadisk.co.uk/html_docs/veritas/veritas_netbackup_cs.htm)

Server Commands

Check license details /opt/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/get_license_key
Start Netbackup netbackup start

/opt/openv/netbackup/bin/initbprd (master)
/opt/openv/volmgr/bin/vmd (media)

Stop Netbackup (does not disconnect GUI sessions) netbackup stop

/opt/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bprdreq -terminate (master)
/opt/openv/netbackup/bin/bpdbm -terminate (master)

Stop Netbackup and kill all GUI sessions /opt/openv/netbackup/bin/goodies/bp.kill_all
Start the GUI /opt/openv/netbackup/bin/jnbSA
Scan for tape devices sgscan (solaris)
ioscan (HPUX)
Display all Netbackup processes bpps -a
lists servers errors

bperror -U -problems -hoursago
bperror -U -backstat -by_statcode -hoursago

display information on a error code bperror -statuscode [-recommendation]
Reread bp.conf file without stopping Netbackup bprdreq -rereadconfig
Check database consistency bpdbm -consistency 1
bpdbm -consistency 2Check for the below lines:
Bad image header
Does not exist
Netbackup Recovery
Device catalog is intact bprecover -l -m -d dlt (listing)
bprecover -r -m -d dlt (recovering)
Device catalog is gone or corrupted bprecover -l -tpath (listing)
bprecover -r -tpath (recovering)
Disk backups bprecover -l -dpath (listing)
bprecover -r -dpath (recovering)

Catalog Commands

Master Server
Information about backed-up files image – /opt/openv/netbackup/db
Storage Unit, Global Configuration, Catalog backup configuration. config – /opt/openv/netbackup/db
Backup Policy information class – /opt/openv/netbackup/db
Job status information jobs – /opt/openv/netbackup/db
Netbackup logs with error and status information error – /opt/openv/netbackup/db
Information on volumes, volume pools, scratch pool and volume groups volume – /opt/openv/volmgr/database
Media Server
Tracks assigned volumes (media that has data them) media – /opt/openv/netbackup/db
Information about devices managed by the media server device – /opt/openv/volmgr/database

Volume Commands

Tape Drive and Inventory Commands
List drive status, detail drive info and pending requests vmoprcmd
List the tape drive status vmoprcmd -d ds
List the pending requests vmoprcmd -d pr
Control a tape device vmoprcmd [-reset][-up][-down]
List all changes in the robot(but do not update) vmupdate -recommend -rt tld -rn 0

vmcheckxxx -rt tld -rn 0 -recommend

Empty the robot and re-inventory (using barcodes) vmupdate -rt tld -rn -rh -vh -nostderr -use_barcode_rules -use_seed -empty_ie
Tape Media Commands
List all pools vmpool -listall -bx
List tapes in pool vmquery -pn -bx
List all tapes in the robot vmquery -rn 0 -bx |grep ‘TLD’ | sort +4
List cleaning tapes vmquery -mt dlt_clean -bx
List tape volume details vmquery -m
Delete a volume from the catalog vmdelete -m
Change a tapes expiry date vmchange -exp 12/31/06 23:59:58 -m
Change a tape’s media pool vmchange -p -m

Media Commands

List the storage units bpstulist -U
Freeze or unfreeze media bpmedia [-freeze][-unfreeze] -ev
List media details bpmedialist -ev
List media contents bpmedialist -U mcontents -m
List backup Image Information bpimagelist -backupid
Expire client images bpimage -cleanup -allclients
Expire a tape bpexpdate -d 0 -ev -force
List all netbackups jobs bpdbjobs -report [-hoursago]
Move media from one media server to another bpmedia -movedb -newserver -oldserver

Tape/Robotic Library Commands

List tape drives tpconfig -d
List cleaning times on drives tpclean -L
clean a drive tpclean -C
change a drives cleaning frequency tpclean -F
set a drives cleaning time to zero tpclean -M
Move tapes within robot using robtest robtest

commands that can be used are as follows:

s s (show slots)
s d (show drives)
s i (show load port)
m s250 d5 (move tape from slot 250 into drive 5)
uload d5 (unload tape from drive 5)
m d5 s250 (move tape from drive 5 to slot 250)
m s250 i1 (move tape from slot 250 to load port 1)

List load port tapes echo “s i q” | tldtest -r /dev/sg/c0t4l0
List all slot contents echo “s s q” | tldtest -r /dev/sg/c0t4l0
List tape drive contents echo “s d q” | tldtest -r /dev/sg/c0t4l0
Move a tape in s100 to drive 1 echo “m s100 d1” | tldtest -r /dev/sg/c0t4l0
Move a tape to load port 1 echo “m s100 i1” | tldtest -r /dev/sg/c0t4l0

Archiving Commands

list archive info bpcatlist -client all -before Jul 01 2006
bpcatlist -client all -before Aug 01 2006
archive and remove images bpcatlist -before Jul 01 2006 | bpcatarc | bpcatrm
restore archive files bpcatlist -before Jul 01 2006 | bpcatres

Client Commands

test client connectivity bpclntcmd [-ip ] bpclntcmd [-hn ] bpclntcmd [-pn] bpclntcmd [-sv]
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15 Comments »

  • Yusoff says:

    Hi

    I found this site useful since I was trying to identify the key processes/services for NetBackup. I have a question though. Which version of NetBackup was this write up based on?

    I am asking because I am currently using NetBackup 7 and what I noticed is a few services mentioned above missing when NetBackup started, but my NetBackup works just fine.

    Below is what I have:-
    > master server
    1. bprd ā€“ the request daemon started during system boot
    3. bpdbm ā€“ the NetBackup database manager started by bpsched

    > media server
    1. bpcd ā€“ communications daemon started during system boot
    5. ltid – media manager started during system boot
    6. avrd – bar code reader daemon started by ltid
    7. vmd – volume manager daemon started by ltid
    9. tldcd – robotic tape library control daemon started by ltid

    Are the other services started on-demand rather than persistently running when NetBackup starts?

    • admin says:

      I am afraid this was originally written for NetBackup 5.x, so I wouldn’t be surprised if since then there have been a few changes to the running services. I can confirm that for version 7 there would be only two processes running on the master server: bprd and bpdbm, so what you have looks right. The bpbrm, bptm, and bpdm are started on demand when there is an active backup or restore job. I think this is still the case in version 7. This leaves tldd. Check if the binary is present (probably in /usr/openv/volmgr/bin/tldd or just do a search for tldd). I am almost certain tldd is still there in version 7 and should be running constantly if you have configured robotic library devices (at least one drive). You may want to check the log files (check for /usr/openv/volmgr/debug/reqlib, it may have debug info specifically for tldd). Sometimes tldd may terminate if the media server lost contact with the library device (even if temporarily).

  • sabeeh says:

    what is the command to know the number of drives attached to a particular storage unit?

  • KIRAN says:

    Hi
    Recently i finished my veritas netbackup6.5 course. i am trying for job could any please help me about real time environment like how many master servers,media servers,clients,os,tape drives n plz provide me material also……………

  • Hmm is anyone else having problems with the pictures on this
    blog loading? I’m trying to figure out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog.
    Any responses would be greatly appreciated.

  • Peter says:

    Most of the mock drafts and cheatsheets I see are based on roto scoring and what not. Very rarely do I see anyone analyzing head to head points leagues. So tell me the first ten off the board in a head to head10 team league and explain a little why you think so. Any draft tips in general would help too. The following is the point system and roster settings for my league:

    Batting
    single: 1
    double: 2
    triple: 3
    HR: 4
    RBI: 1
    walk: 1
    strike out: -1
    stolen base: 2
    caught steeling: -1

    Pitching
    1 win: 7
    2nd win: +3
    Complete game: 5
    2nd Complete game: +2
    Shutout: 5
    2nd shutout: +2
    1 Quality start: 5
    2nd Quality start: +2
    Losses: -4
    5 innings: 1 (+1 per inning after)
    Saves: 5
    blown save: -2

    Roster:
    1 C
    1 1B
    1 2B
    1 3B
    1 SS
    3 OF
    DH
    5 SP
    3 RP
    5 bench
    By the way, I am slated to pick in the 6 spot. Since it is a snake draft, I will pick at 15 in the second round.
    Pronk allow me to elaborate.

    “I’m wondering if you’re in a yahoo league,and if your pitching 2nd stats are per SP,or per entire staff..”
    It’s a custom cbs league. The 2nd stats are per SP. So if a two starting pitcher gets two wins in a week, the second win counts for less points.

    “Is it 1 point per 5 innings,then 1 additional point per that pitcher,or 1 additional point per entire staff..
    (I’ve NEVER seen such a screwed up pitching scoring system!Like,is 6 wins with all different SPs 42 points,or 22 points?I’m confused about those little stipulations.)”
    No. Once again, it is per pitcher. So if a single starting pitcher totals 8 innings in a week, they get 4 points. If any single starting pitcher totals 2 wins in a week they get 10 points. Thus it is possible to get a total of 50 points by wins if all five of your starters have two starts in a week.

  • Dom L says:

    something is wrong with my computer burner and i cant burn pictures and video to cds anymore. i have a feeling that i am going to need a new laptop soon.
    my question is can i put all my pictures and videos somewhere online and get to them on another computer so that i can download from there. i was trying with webshots.com i can get to the pictures and save them to the computer but not the video.
    is there a site that will let me put my video back on the computer so i can burn it on to a cd. and if so which site?

    thank you all very much this is very important to me. my sons first year of life is on this laptop. please help
    thank you for all the help im going to get a flash drive. thanks again im completely retarded when it comes to computers

  • Big Banger says:

    i have a job to do for a friend, basically he wants me to back up his system to a HDD other than one connected to his work server. i want to back it up to a HDD at his home. ive had a look at some options online, they say to pay x amount/month for server storage, is there a way of doing it without the need of online servers, simply like FTP it to a HDD at home?

    Thanks for any advice!

  • Caltel T says:

    What is the average salary of Storage professionals in Australia? Storage means – SAN, TSM, NetBackup, Omnibackup. This comes in skill shortage in AU, therefore is the salary will be coming down in next couple of years as what had happened in USA?

  • Echo says:

    And not one with just tables and fonts. I’m now in to more advanced HTML. I just want something cool to add to my website.

  • Stevalicious says:

    I want to use Veritas Netbackup for My practice to Backup Oracle Database

  • isk8at818 says:

    Does anyone know where I can find a good fantasy basketball cheatsheet of player rankings for free (besides the yahoo Bigger Board)? I have an offline draft and could only find one decent cheatsheet. I need to know if there are any other good ones out there.

  • Ramblin Spirit says:

    R they copied from memory to DISK?
    Plz tell me where they are copied? WHERE?????

  • Denali says:

    i want it to be all about basketball footbal and baseball….it will have fantasy sports cheatsheets rankings and other stuff for your fantasy team….what should i name it…..i want it to be catchy….and please give me tips to how to get people to keep coming to my website

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