Backup Central

We have just wasted a day trying to convince NetWorker 7.6.2.5 NOT to backup the S:\ drive on a
Windows 2008R2 system as part of the DISASTER RECOVERY:\ save set.

When we started, we discovered that the S:\ drive had become a critical system drive because
NetWorker stupidly installed a dll there when it blasted well should not have (FYI, the dll is
for an off support outdated and vulnerable version of Microsoft Visual C++ runtime
redistributable) just because the S:\ drive had the largest amount of free space.

We followed Microsoft's directions to replace the dll with a non-vulnerable version on the C:\
disk where it belongs and WSB now says that the S:\ drive is NOT critical, NetWorker on the
other hand says that this 4TB drive is part of the Disaster Recovery set and must be backed up
- HOG WASH!

So, I read the admin guide and tried the two VSS flags specified on page 640
(VSS:SAVE_NONCRITICAL_DYNAMIC_DISKS=off and VSS:SAVE_NONCRITICAL_MNTPARENT_DISKS=off) without
any relief. Finally settled on the VSS flag to disable the DISASTER RECOVERY:\ save set
(VSS:DISASTER_RECOVERY=off) entirely and the older VSS savesets do not insist on backing up the
S:\ drive as part of what they do (Thankfully!).

Has anyone else tripped over this behaviour and found a way to get around it that does not
involve having to use WSB to generate a disaster recovery set? If not, I'll open the SR with
EMC...

Thanks,

--
Frank Swasey | http://www.uvm.edu/~fcs
Sr Systems Administrator | Always remember: You are UNIQUE,
University of Vermont | just like everyone else.
"I am not young enough to know everything." - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)


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Sounds like a pretty good hassle. Is there a command that would let
one do a dry run just to see what would make up a given system's
DISASTER_RECOVERY:\ set?

On Tue, Oct 11, 2011 at 12:14 PM, Francis Swasey <Frank.Swasey < at > uvm.edu> wrote:
We have just wasted a day trying to convince NetWorker 7.6.2.5 NOT to backup the S:\ drive on a
Windows 2008R2 system as part of the DISASTER RECOVERY:\ save set.

When we started, we discovered that the S:\ drive had become a critical system drive because
NetWorker stupidly installed a dll there when it blasted well should not have (FYI, the dll is
for an off support outdated and vulnerable version of Microsoft Visual C++ runtime
redistributable) just because the S:\ drive had the largest amount of free space.

We followed Microsoft's directions to replace the dll with a non-vulnerable version on the C:\
disk where it belongs and WSB now says that the S:\ drive is NOT critical, NetWorker on the
other hand says that this 4TB drive is part of the Disaster Recovery set and must be backed up
- HOG WASH!

So, I read the admin guide and tried the two VSS flags specified on page 640
(VSS:SAVE_NONCRITICAL_DYNAMIC_DISKS=off and VSS:SAVE_NONCRITICAL_MNTPARENT_DISKS=off) without
any relief.  Finally settled on the VSS flag to disable the DISASTER RECOVERY:\ save set
(VSS:DISASTER_RECOVERY=off) entirely and the older VSS savesets do not insist on backing up the
S:\ drive as part of what they do (Thankfully!).

Has anyone else tripped over this behaviour and found a way to get around it that does not
involve having to use WSB to generate a disaster recovery set?  If not, I'll open the SR with
EMC...

Thanks,

--
Frank Swasey                    | http://www.uvm.edu/~fcs
Sr Systems Administrator        | Always remember: You are UNIQUE,
University of Vermont           |    just like everyone else.
 "I am not young enough to know everything." - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)


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On 10/11/11 2:28 PM, Eugene Vilensky wrote:
Sounds like a pretty good hassle. Is there a command that would let
one do a dry run just to see what would make up a given system's
DISASTER_RECOVERY:\ set?



I have not yet found a way of getting NetWorker to tell me what it is going to backup in the
DISASTER RECOVERY:\ save set short of running the save group (granted, I've aborted it every
time it started writing OSSR_S because I know that is not what I want it to do and it is not
what I believe it should be doing).

- Frank


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On 10/11/11 2:28 PM, Eugene Vilensky wrote:
Sounds like a pretty good hassle. Is there a command that would let
one do a dry run just to see what would make up a given system's
DISASTER_RECOVERY:\ set?



I have not yet found a way of getting NetWorker to tell me what it
is going to backup in the
DISASTER RECOVERY:\ save set short of running the save group
(granted, I've aborted it every
time it started writing OSSR_S because I know that is not what I
want it to do and it is not
what I believe it should be doing).

1. Use "diskshadow /l writers.log" to start diskshadow and direct output
to a log file.
2. From the DISKSHADOW> prompt run "list writers detailed".
3. Exit diskshadow.

The writers.log will contain the list of files for all writers.


Search for a thread from mid-august of 2011 called "NW 7.6.2 and the
DISASTER_RECOVERY: saveset", for more info. I have the same problem -
Lotus Notes installed onto Drive E:, and since it registers itself as a
critical system file, the DISASTER_RECOVERY: saveset includes all of Lotus
Notes (350G+), and then I would also have to backup the E: drive *again*
so I can do recovers of individual files.

I just turned off DISASTER_RECOVERY:, it was the only feasible solution.


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On 10/11/11 3:36 PM, Michael Leone wrote:
1. Use "diskshadow /l writers.log" to start diskshadow and direct output to a log file. 2.
From the DISKSHADOW> prompt run "list writers detailed". 3. Exit diskshadow. The writers.log
will contain the list of files for all writers. Search for a thread from mid-august of 2011
called "NW 7.6.2 and the DISASTER_RECOVERY: saveset", for more info. I have the same problem
- Lotus Notes installed onto Drive E:, and since it registers itself as a critical system
file, the DISASTER_RECOVERY: saveset includes all of Lotus Notes (350G+), and then I would
also have to backup the E: drive *again* so I can do recovers of individual files. I just
turned off DISASTER_RECOVERY:, it was the only feasible solution.

Michael,

I vaguely remember that issue. However, I think in your case, NetWorker was correct that the
system considered your E: drive to be critical. In my case, WSB (using the commands EMC
provides in esg122599) says the S: drive is NOT critical, yet NetWorker's DISASTER_RECOVERY:\
save set insists that OSSR_S (all 4TB of data) is part of what is critical. I'm at the point
in my SR where the level 1 tech is struggling to recreate the problem on their systems.

--
Frank Swasey | http://www.uvm.edu/~fcs
Sr Systems Administrator | Always remember: You are UNIQUE,
University of Vermont | just like everyone else.
"I am not young enough to know everything." - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)


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