Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 1.0
Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Scheduling Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 1.0 Author: Jason Basler, Tivoli Storage Manager Test Architect Document: Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Date: 11/15/2012 Version: 1.0 Page 1 of 16 Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Scheduling Document History Document Location This is a snapshot of an on-line document. Paper copies are valid only on the day they are printed. Revision History Revision Revision Number Date 1.0 11/15/12 Summary of Changes Changes marked Initial version Disclaimer The information contained in this document is distributed on an "as is" basis without any warranty either expressed or implied. This document has been made available as part of IBM developerWorks WIKI, and is hereby governed by the terms of use of the WIKI as defined at the following location: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/tivoli/community/disclaimer.html Document: Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Date: 11/15/2012 Version: 1.0 Page 2 of 16 Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Scheduling Contents Document History...................................................................................................................2 Document Location........................................................................................................................................2 Revision History.............................................................................................................................................2 Disclaimer......................................................................................................................................................2 Contents..................................................................................................................................3 1. Overview.............................................................................................................................4 1.1 Terminology.............................................................................................................................................4 1.2 Simplified Scheduling from Enhancements in 6.4....................................................................................5 1.2.1 Incremental-forever virtual machine backups....................................................................................5 1.2.2 Multi-session backup.........................................................................................................................5 1.2.3 Specifying VMware clusters in the backup domain............................................................................5 1.3 Implementation Diagram..........................................................................................................................6 1.4 Using the ASNODE Capability.................................................................................................................7 1.4.1 agent node.........................................................................................................................................7 1.4.2 target node........................................................................................................................................7 2. Setting up Multi-session Scheduled Backups....................................................................8 2.1 Install and configure the DP for VMware vCenter plug-in interface..........................................................8 2.2 Configure the TSM server........................................................................................................................8 2.2.1 TSM server setup requirements to enable multi-session backup......................................................8 2.2.2 Configure the TSM server with TSM nodes and proxy relationships.................................................9 2.2.3 Create schedule definitions on the TSM server (TSM version 6 server)..........................................10 2.3 Configure the vStorage backup server as a data mover........................................................................12 2.3.1 Install the TSM backup-archive client..............................................................................................12 2.3.2 Create a client options files..............................................................................................................12 2.3.3 Store passwords locally...................................................................................................................13 2.3.4 Create Windows services to run scheduled backups, and ad-hoc backups issued from the plug-in interface....................................................................................................................................................14 3. References to Other Information......................................................................................16 Document: Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Date: 11/15/2012 Version: 1.0 Page 3 of 16 Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Scheduling 1. Overview Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments - Data Protection for VMware provides the ability to schedule backups of a large collection of VMware virtual machines providing an automated backup solution that allows for the automatic discovery of newly created virtual machines as well as providing parallel backup of multiple virtual machines. This can be implemented in a way which minimizes the impact to any single VMware ESX or ESXi host. This document covers the following topics related to setting up scheduled VMware backups using Tivoli Storage Manager Data Protection for VMware: • Using the TSM asnode capability to allow multiple backup instances to store the VMware backups under a common TSM namespace. • Using the new 6.4 vmmaxprallel capability to use multiple backup sessions to efficiently process virtual machines in parallel. • Defining TSM schedule definitions that use the new 6.4 capability to perform incremental-forever virtual machine backups. • Identifying VMware clusters as the unit of work when defining the scope of virtual machines to be protected. The combination of the new incremental-forever and multi-session backup capabilities enables a larger VMware environment to be protected with fewer vStorage backup servers. The examples and information described in this document depend on capabilities provided in the 6.4 TSM Backup-Archive client for Windows and Linux that are enabled as part of the TSM for Virtual Environments 6.4 product. The information provided in this document is specific to setting up a Windows vStorage backup server, but a similar setup is possible for Linux. There are also setup considerations for the TSM server to allow for the use of multiple sessions from a single node. This document does not go into depth regarding setting up a TSM server, but detailed information is given on the requirements specific to enabling multi-session backup. 1.1 Terminology • The term ESX server that is used throughout this document is assumed to cover both VMware ESX and ESXi host systems. • The term vStorage backup server represents a system that has the TSM backup-archive client installed with the VMware vStorage API runtime files feature selected. This system can be either a physical system or a virtual machine, and acts as the data mover in a off-host backup solution. • The term backup instance refers to one instance of a backup-archive client process running on a vStorage backup server. Unlike previous releases, TSM for Virtual Environments 6.4 will typically be used with only one backup instance on each vStorage backup server. • The term vCenter plug-in refers to the Data Protection for VMware vCenter plug-in user interface that is part of the Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments product. Document: Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Date: 11/15/2012 Version: 1.0 Page 4 of 16 Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Scheduling 1.2 Simplified Scheduling from Enhancements in 6.4 There are three major enhancements in TSM for Virtual Environments 6.4 that greatly simplify scheduling backups to protect your VMware environment. The enhancements and how they simplify scheduling are summarized below: 1.2.1 Incremental-forever virtual machine backups Incremental-forever backup uses TSM grouping technology to create new synthetic-full recovery points by combining required blocks from previous backups with the changes from daily incremental backups. This technology provides the following advantages with respect to scheduled backups: • Eliminates the requirement to take a periodical full backup which eliminates the need to manage two separate schedules for weekly full and daily incremental backups. • Reduces the number of vStorage backup servers required due to the reduction in the volume of data to backup. 1.2.2 Multi-session backup The TSM backup-archive client now has the ability to backup multiple virtual machines simultaneously from the same backup instance. This is an improvement over previous versions that required multiple backup instances to accomplish this. Multiple backup sessions from the same backup instance provide the following advantages: • Simplified configuration by eliminating the need to configure multiple backup instances as a means to process more than one virtual machine backup simultaneously. Instead, multiple threads are used within one backup instance to process virtual machines in parallel up to a user specified limit. The limit is specified with the new vmmaxparallel option. • Optimizes backup throughput by load balancing across multiple threads from the entire domain of virtual machines to backup. A dispatcher keeps every backup thread busy until the pool of virtual machines to backup is exhausted. The previous solution required the user to specify a fixed pool of machines for each backup instance. This resulted in underutilized hardware as backup instances ended early as a result of not always have equal amount of data to protect. • New options vmlimitperhost and vmlimitperdatastore are available to control the maximum number of virtual machines that can be simultaneously processed on a given VMware host or datastore. 1.2.3 Specifying VMware clusters in the backup domain VMware clusters can now be included in the domain processing list that controls which groups of virtual machines are processed for backup. The previous solution allowed hosts to be specified which can be numerous and more difficult to mange. Document: Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Date: 11/15/2012 Version: 1.0 Page 5 of 16 Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Scheduling 1.3 Implementation Diagram The following diagram depicts the TSM implementation for a hypothetical VMware environment that matches the examples that are presented in the remainder of this document. In this example there is a VMware datacenter including virtual machines managed in two different VMware clusters. A physical vStorage backup server is used with a single client instance using a maximum of 30 parallel sessions. Document: Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Date: 11/15/2012 Version: 1.0 Page 6 of 16 Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Scheduling 1.4 Using the ASNODE Capability The TSM Backup-Archive client and server provide the ability to grant a proxy relationship between two nodes such that one of those nodes can be used for purposes of authentication while the other is used to store backup data. This proxy relationship is defined with the grant proxy command on the TSM server, and the node transition is controlled using the -asnode option on the backup-archive client. In addition, the Data Protection for VMware solution uses several nodes to represent VMware elements such as the Virtual Center. There are two types of nodes involved in a proxy relationship: 1.4.1 agent node An agent node is used to authenticate to the TSM server, and is also associated to a specific defined schedule on the TSM server using the define association command. An agent node should be created for each TSM backup instance which in most cases will be one agent node for each datamover. The agent nodes will have proxy granted to a common target node. 1.4.2 target node The target node is used to store backup data for all virtual machines in a group. A group should correspond to one of the grouping types within VMware, such as, a datacenter. By having the backup instance for each VMware cluster store backups to the same target nodename, problems such as redundant backups are avoided in cases where a virtual machine is migrated from one VMware host to another. Since VMware does not allow for migration across datacenters, the VMware datacenter becomes the best level of grouping to use for a target node. Document: Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Date: 11/15/2012 Version: 1.0 Page 7 of 16 Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Scheduling 2. Setting up Multi-session Scheduled Backups To improve overall throughput for VMware backups, multiple sessions should be configured on the vStorage backup server to perform incremental-forever virtual machine backups. The sections that follow detail the steps involved in setting up this type of scheduled backup. The following are the significant steps involved with this process: 1. Install and configure the Data Protection for VMware vCenter plug-in interface (optional). 2. Configure the TSM server a. TSM server setup requirements to enable multi-session backup b. Setup nodes and proxy relationships c. Define VMware backup schedules and associations on the TSM server. 3. Configure the vStorage backup server as a data mover: a. Install the TSM backup-archive client. b. Create a TSM client options file including the correct data mover nodename. c. Store passwords locally. d. Create Windows services to run scheduled backups and one-time backup and restores issued from the vCenter plug-in interface. In the sections detailing scheduling below, the example presented in the diagram at the beginning of this document is continued. 2.1 Install and configure the DP for VMware vCenter plug-in interface The vCenter plug-in interface provides management capabilities for Data Protection for VMware. This interface is not required for performing scheduled backups, but is recommended. Details for how to install and configure the vCenter plug-in can be found in the Data Protection for VMware Installation and User's Guide. 2.2 Configure the TSM server Consult TSM server documentation for general information on how to configure a TSM server. The following sections provide information specific to performing scheduled multi-session VMware backups to a TSM server. For certain storage pool configurations that will involve tape storage, you will want to consult additional information related to retaining control files from VMware backups in a disk storage pool. Additional information is available for this topic at the links included at the end of this document. 2.2.1 TSM server setup requirements to enable multi-session backup The TSM server must be configured to allow multi-session backups. The configuration required depends on the storage pool types that will be used for ingesting VMware backups. When a sequential storage pool type is used, such as a deduplicated sequential file storage pool, the datacenter node ingesting backups must be allowed to use sufficient mount points. The following TSM server configuration settings need to be considered: Document: Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Date: 11/15/2012 Version: 1.0 Page 8 of 16 Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Scheduling • The datacenter node needs to be allowed sufficient mount points as controlled by the MAXNUMMP node parameter. This parameter needs to be set above the number of expected sessions because virtual machine backups use additional mount points for restoring control files during backup processing. • The device class backing the storage pool needs to allow for sufficient mount points. In the case of deduplication, more than one volume may be held open by a session as controlled by the NUMOPENVOLSALLOWED server option. • The server MAXSESSION option needs to allow for a sufficient number of sessions. The following provides an example of settings used for an implementation involving client-side deduplicated VMware backups using 30 parallel sessions with a single datamover: setopt update update setopt maxsessions 700 node dc_tivoliarclab maxnummp=200 devclass dedupfile mountlimit=650 numopenvolsallowed 20 2.2.2 Configure the TSM server with TSM nodes and proxy relationships Each vStorage backup server requires a TSM node definition that has proxy granted to a common target node where backups will be stored. The following section explains the node definitions and proxy relationships specific to the example used in this document. The vCenter plug-in interface provides a configuration wizard that can be used to create the required nodes and proxy relationships needed for your environment. Document: Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Date: 11/15/2012 Version: 1.0 Page 9 of 16 Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Scheduling The commands that follow are an example of how the node creation steps can be performed manually by issuing commands on the TSM server as an alternative to using the configuration wizard. /* register a node for the virtual center */ register node vc_vcenter1 password1 domain=vmware /* register a node for the vmcli */ register node vmcli_vcenter1 password1 domain=vmware /* register a target node for the datacenter */ register node dc_tivoliarclab password1 domain=vmware maxnummp=200 /* register agent nodes for each data mover */ register node dm_vbs1 password1 domain=vmware /* Grant proxy between the various nodes nodes */ grant proxy target=vc_vcenter1 agent=vmcli_vcenter1 grant proxy target=vc_vcenter1 agent=dc_tivoliarclab grant proxy target=dc_tivoliarclab agent=vmcli_vcenter1,dm_vbs1 2.2.3 Create schedule definitions on the TSM server (TSM version 6 server) Schedule definitions that perform the backup vm command need to be created on the TSM server. A single schedule can be defined to perform incremental-forever backups. During the backup, TSM automatically performs a full backup when needed for cases like the initial full backup of a virtual machine of for incidental full backups of some virtual machines when required by VMware's changed block tracking. Several important controls are defined in the options portion of the schedule definition: • asnode: Allow the datamover node to transition to the datacenter node before storing data. • mode: Specifies for the backup type to be incremental-forever • domain.vmfull: Optionally specifies the backup scope to be part of the schedule definition. Examples are included below that implement incremental-forever virtual machine backups daily on every day of the week. The vCenter plug-in interface provides the ability to create these backup schedules from a convenient interface where you can select the VMware components to include in the backup scope. When you use the vCenter plug-in to create the schedules, the domain.vmfull option is specified as part of the schedule definition. An example is also given of how a schedule can be manually created on the TSM server. In the manual example, the domain.vmfull option is not included in the schedule definition. Instead, the option is specified in the options file on the data mover. Document: Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Date: 11/15/2012 Version: 1.0 Page 10 of 16 Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Scheduling 2.2.3.1 Create schedules from the vCenter plug-in interface The vCenter plug-in interface provides a wizard that simplifies the process of defining the backup schedules. To launch the wizard for schedule creation, select the Schedule a Backup link from the backup tab of the vCenter plug-in as shown below. The selection shown for the panel from the schedule wizard below will create a schedule that performs incremental-forever backups. Other panels in the wizard also allow you to select the timing of when the schedule runs, and which datamover will perform the scheduled job. Document: Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Date: 11/15/2012 Version: 1.0 Page 11 of 16 Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Scheduling 2.2.3.2 Manually define the backup schedules The following commands can be issued to the TSM server to define schedules that perform VMware incremental-forever backups once per day. One or more associations should be defined to associate this schedule with each datamover node. DEFINE SCHEDULE vmdomain vm_ifincr TYPE=CLIENT ACTION=BACKUP SUBACTION=VM OPTIONS='-ASNODENAME=dc_tivoliarclab -MODE=IFINCR' STARTDATE=12/01/2012 STARTTIME=23:00 SCHEDSTYLE=ENHANCED DAYOFWEEK=ANY DEFINE ASSOCIATION vmdomain vm_ifincr dm_vbs1 2.3 Configure the vStorage backup server as a data mover The sections that follow outline the steps required to prepare a system to use the TSM backup-archive client as a data mover for scheduled VMware backups. Some environments require more than one vStorage backup server, in which case, these steps need to be repeated for each system. 2.3.1 Install the TSM backup-archive client The TSM backup-archive client provides the data movement capabilities, and the capabilities to perform scheduled backups. The following components must be installed: 1. The TSM backup-archive client including the optional feature named VMware vStorage API runtime files. 2. The Data Protection for VMware component named Data Protection for VMware Enablement File that enables the VMware related capabilities in the backup-archive client. 2.3.2 Create a client options files Each backup instance requires its own option file that defines a unique nodename. The inclusion of the domain.vmfull option in the client options file is not required if the vCenter plug-in interface is used to define the schedules, or if you manually defined schedules that included the domain as part of the schedule definition. The maximum number of virtual machines that can be backed up in parallel is controlled with the vmmaxparallel option. The options vmlimitperhost and vmlimitperdatastore can be set to prevent too much load on one host or datastore. By default, there will be no limit on the number of simultaneous backups against individual VMware hosts and datastores. Be careful not to set the host and datastore limits so low that they will prevent the desired number of parallel sessions from being reached. In our example, we have ten VMware hosts, so we divided the desired number of parallel sessions by the number of hosts to determine that we would need a vmlimitperhost setting of at least three. Testing showed that we were able to safely increase this setting up to five. The same method also applies to the vmlimitperdatastore setting. Document: Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Date: 11/15/2012 Version: 1.0 Page 12 of 16 Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Scheduling dsm_vmware.opt ** TSM server connection options TCPSERVERADDRESS tsmserver1.yourdomain.com TCPPORT 1500 PASSWORDACCESS generate NODENAME DM_VBS1 ** Scheduling and logs SCHEDMODE prompted MANAGEDSERVICES SCHEDULE ERRORLOGNAME c:\Progra~1\tivoli\tsm\baclient\dsmerrorvm.log SCHEDLOGNAME c:\Progra~1\tivoli\tsm\baclient\dsmschedvm.log ** VMware connection and backup type VMCHOST vcenter1.yourdomain.com VMCUSER administrator VMBACKUPTYPE full VMFULLTYPE vstor VMVSTORTRANSPORT san:nbd ** Backup scope DOMAIN.VMFULL "VMHOSTCLUSTER=clustera,clusterb;-vm=vm1,vm2,*test*" EXCLUDE.VMDISK "win2008x64 - medic" "Hard disk 3" EXCLUDE.VMDISK "win2008x64 - medic" "Hard disk 4" VMPROCESSVMWITHPRDM yes VMPROCESSVMWITHINDEPENDENT yes VMENABLETEMPLATEBACKUPS yes ** Backup optimization VMMAXPARALLEL 30 VMLIMITPERHOST 5 VMLIMITPERDATASTORE 5 2.3.3 Store passwords locally This section describes how passwords used to access the TSM server and VMware components can be stored on the vStorage backup server encrypted in the Windows registry. The data mover node password must be stored locally using passwordaccess=generate so that the background scheduler services will be able to connect to the TSM server without user intervention. To avoid storing your VMware passwords in the TSM option files, you should use the set password command to store the password in the Windows registry. Alternatively, you can use the Backup-Archive client preferences editor to store the password used to access the Virtual Center. The following two commands show how this can be accomplished for the TSM and VMware passwords: The following command can be used to store the datamover node password. You will need to enter the correct password for the node when prompted. dsmc query session -optfile=dsm_vmware.opt Document: Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Date: 11/15/2012 Version: 1.0 Page 13 of 16 Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Scheduling The command below stores the password used to access the VMware virtual center. Windows login credentials are used when connecting to a VMware virtual center. The examples use the administrator account; however, you may have the requirement to use another user id for backup purposes. Please note: You will need to have a policy to re-run this set password command whenever the password is changed for this user. dsmc set password -type=vm vcenter1.yourdomain.com administrator mysecretpassword2 -optfile=dsm_vmware.opt 2.3.4 Create Windows services to run scheduled backups, and ad-hoc backups issued from the plug-in interface On the vStorage backup server, the client backup instances run as Windows services that allow them to run in the background and automatically start on system boot. Each backup instance requires both a TSM Client Acceptor service and a TSM Scheduler service for scheduled backups. A remote client agent service is also required for each instance if the vCenter plug-in user interface will be used to execute backup and restore commands on the datamovers. The dsmcutil utility is available to easily automate the creation of the services. Alternatively, the backup-archive client graphical interface provides setup wizards which can walk you through the process. 1. Change into the TSM client installation directory c: cd \program files\tivoli\tsm\baclient 2. Use dsmcutil to create a triplet of schedules for the data mover set DSM_DIR=c:\progra~1\tivoli\tsm\baclient dsmcutil install scheduler /name:"TSM Sched - VMWARE" /optfile:%DSM_DIR %\dsm_vmware.opt /autostart:no /password:password1 /errorlog:%DSM_DIR%\dsmerrorvm.log /schedlog:%DSM_DIR%\dsmschedvm.log /startnow:no /node:dm_vbs1 dsmcutil install cad /name:"TSM CAD - VMWARE" /cadschedname:"TSM Sched - VMWARE" /optfile:%DSM_DIR%\dsm_vmware.opt /autostart:yes /password:password1 /startnow:no /node:dm_vbs1 dsmcutil install remote /name:"TSM Agent - VMWARE" /optfile:%DSM_DIR %\dsm_vmware.opt /partnername:"TSM CAD - VMWARE" /password:password1 /startnow:no /node:dm_vbs1 net start "TSM CAD - VMWARE" Document: Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Date: 11/15/2012 Version: 1.0 Page 14 of 16 Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Scheduling 3. Update the Microsoft Windows firewall to allow communication to the CAD and remote agent services. This can be accomplished by adding an exception for the dsmcad.exe and dsmagent.exe program files. Document: Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Date: 11/15/2012 Version: 1.0 Page 15 of 16 Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Scheduling 3. References to Other Information Additional information related to TSM for Virtual Environments is consolidated at the following location: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/mydeveloperworks/wikis/home?lang=en#/wiki/Tivoli%2520Storage %2520Manager/page/Tivoli%2520Storage%2520Manager%2520for%2520Virtual%2520Environments One topic that is important to review is handling the TSM server setup with respect to Virtual Tape Libraries and physical tape. This includes understand the VMCTLMC option that was included in the example option files above. Details on this topic are available in this document: http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27021081 Information for setting up LAN-free backups for a physical data mover are available here: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/mydeveloperworks/wikis/home?lang=en#/wiki/Tivoli%2520Storage %2520Manager/page/Recommendations%2520for%2520Using%2520LAN-free%2520with%2520Tivoli %2520Storage%2520Manager%2520for%2520Virtual%2520Environments <End of document> Document: Recommendations for Scheduling with Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments 6.4 Date: 11/15/2012 Version: 1.0 Page 16 of 16
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