How to create a bootable Windows 7 USB flash drive

Looking for a quicker way to install Windows 7 than via DVD? Try this.

The USB flash drive has replaced the floppy disk drive as the best storage medium for transferring files, but it also has its uses as a replacement for CDs and DVDs. USB drives tend to be higher in capacity than disc media, but since they are more expensive, they cannot (yet) really be used as a replacement. There are reasons why you would, however, choose a USB device over a DVD disc, and bootable software is definitely one of them. Not only is it faster to copy data such as setup files from a USB drive, but during usage the access times are also significantly faster. Therefore, installing something like Windows 7 will work that much faster from a USB drive than from a DVD (and of course, is particularly useful for the PCs without an optical drive; this isn't something we should just leave for the pirates to enjoy).
This guide will show you two different ways to create a USB flash drive that works just like a Windows 7 DVD. In order to follow this guide, you'll need a USB flash drive with at least 4GB of free space and a copy of the Windows 7 installation disc.

Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool

You are normally given this tool when you purchase from the online Microsoft Store.

The easiest way to turn a USB flash drive into a bootable Windows 7 installer is by using the tool Microsoft offers, cunningly named the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. To get started, download the installer [exe] from Microsoft.com and follow the basic steps to put it onto your computer; you can put it on the computer you plan to install Windows 7 on or another one, it doesn't matter.

Once it is installed, it should create an icon on your desktop, so double-click that to open. If you can't find it, use the search function in the Start Menu with a keyword like "USB." Launching it should give you the above screen, and step one is to find the Windows 7 .ISO file. The tool only accepts .ISO images, so we recommend that you convert yours if it's in a different DVD image format.

Step two is straightforward: simply choose USB device.

In step three, all you have to do is make sure that you are choosing the correct USB device. If you have other data on the device, move it to your hard drive, another USB device, or somewhere else before proceeding.

The tool will prompt you if it detects data on the device. Once your data is backed up elsewhere, click Erase USB Device.

You will get another prompt warning you that all the data will be wiped. Click Yes to continue.

The format will be very quick, while the copying of the files will take a little bit more time (about 10 to 15 minutes).

Once the process is complete, you should get the above confirmation message. At this point you can close the tool and use the USB drive to install Windows 7. Remember that you'll have to choose to boot off the USB drive. Before doing so, you may want to open up the USB drive and double click on setup.exe to see if everything looks okay. If you want to be able to do this manually, see the next section, and if you want to be able to install any edition of Windows 7, skip to the section after that.

Manual creation

Maybe you don't like that Microsoft violated the GPL with the first version of the above tool (the company has since GPLed the code), or you're old-school and just love using the command prompt. Regardless of what your reasons are for creating a bootable Windows 7 USB drive manually, we have the scoop on how to do it. First, open the command prompt (if you use UAC make sure to right click it and choose "Run as administrator"), type "diskpart" without the quotes, and hit enter. You can also get here by simply typing "diskpart" without the quotes into the Start Menu and hitting enter.

Now type "list disk" without the quotes and hit enter. Take a look at the Size column and figure out which disk number your USB drive is. Ours is number 1, so we're going to type "select disk 1" without the quotes and hit enter. Now we're going to wipe it by typing "clean" without the quotes and hitting enter (make sure to do a backup of the contents if you haven't already).

At this point we want to prepare the USB drive for the files and make sure it is bootable. Type "create partition primary" without the quotes and hit enter. Then type "select partition 1" without the quotes and hit enter. Next type "active" without the quotes and hit enter. Finally, type "format fs=fat32" without quotes and hit enter (if you choose to use ntfs, you'll later have to run the "Bootsect.exe /nt60 G:" command to put boot manager compatible files onto your USB flash drive to make it a bootable device). This one will take a while, so go grab a snack, we'll wait. When that's done, type "assign" without the quotes and hit enter (this will assign a new drive letter to the USB flash drive).

An AutoPlay window like the one above will appear. Remember the drive letter (in our case it is H:), close the window, type "exit" without the quotes and hit enter. If you are working with an .ISO image, the best way to do this last part is to mount the file with a program like Virtual Clone Drive. Alternatively, you can extract the files from the .ISO image and simply copy them to the USB drive, but since we've been using the command prompt up to this point, we'll show you how to do the last step with it as well.

If you don't have the command prompt open, open it with administrative privileges, type "xcopy f:*.* /s/e/f g:" without the quotes and hit enter. Note that you will likely have to replace "f:" with the drive letter for your Windows 7 DVD and "g:" with the drive letter for your USB flash drive. Don't worry if install.wim takes a while to copy: it's easily the biggest file on the disc.

Bonus: install any edition of Windows 7

This is a completely optional step and you only want to do this if you want to be able to choose which edition of Windows 7 to install. In the command prompt, type "del G:\sources\ei.cfg" without the quotes and hit enter (where g: is your USB flash drive).

This will make sure that your Windows 7 installer no longer has a specific version of Windows 7 set as the default, and you will be prompted to choose the version you want to install. Remember that while this gives you a more universal Windows 7 installer, you still need to make sure you are choosing the edition that you own, or you will not be able to activate Windows 7 with the key you have obtained.

Understanding types of server form factors between tower, rack and blade

 Tower Server:

These are upright, free-standing units that contain all traditional server components: hard disks, motherboards and central processing units (CPUs), networking, cabling, power and so on. You commonly add a hard drive to a tower server for direct attached storage (DAS).
Tower servers generally require more floor space than bladed environments or rack-mounted servers, and offer less scalability by design.
Tower servers are ideal for small, remote or branch office environments, and offer maximum in-chassis flexibility and all-inclusive server/storage solutions.

 Rack Server:

These are complete servers specially designed for ultra-compact vertical arrangement within a standardized
19-inch mounting rack or cabinet.
Rack-mounted models have expansion slots, known as mezzanine slots, for adding network interface cards (NICs) or Fibre Channel host bus adapter (HBA) cards. This configuration uses floor space efficiently, and offers centralized cable and server management. In addition, a rack server configuration increases infrastructure scalability by letting you add servers as needed, and connect to external storage, such as a network attached storage (NAS) or storage area network (SAN).
It's important to note that relative to server blades and enclosures, rack servers are more limited in the number of new drives and memory you can install.
Rack servers are generally designed to work as a logical and cohesive whole but without the tight integration found with server blades, which makes rack servers more flexible in some situations. In addition, you can run servers from different manufacturers in the same rack unit because the servers don't share proprietary components.
Rack servers are ideal for data centers and use with external storage. They offer maximum computing power in a space-saving design.

 Blade Server:

These are small form factor servers housed in blade enclosures, which are designed for modularity and high-density footprints (enabling you to fit more servers into a smaller space). A blade enclosure includes server blades and room for storage, in addition to many shared components—power, cooling and ventilation, networking and other interconnects—all controlled by an integrated management system.
Blade infrastructures generally require less rack space than rack-mounted servers. Blade enclosures also use less power per server because of shared power and cooling, which equates to less heat output and lower cooling costs.
Some blade infrastructure enclosures can increase the number of servers up to 60 percent.
Blade servers are ideal for data centers and use with external storage, and offer maximum computing power in space, power and cooling saving designs.

 

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Windows XP Support Nag Window – FYI

As you may already know Microsoft will stop supporting Windows XP on April 8th, 2014.
What this really means is – no more security patches for XP.
What you might not know is starting this Saturday – March 8th, 2014 – users will start seeing a nag window like this:

For some organizations, these type of popups can cause a flood of messages to hit the helpdesk. This means you have a short window today to let your users know it is coming.
In addition, Microsoft has partnered with Laplink and is providing a free transition tool called PCmover Express

It helps you move your apps and settings to a newer version of Windows.
While I agree it is time to move to a newer version of Windows, I know some of you have your hands tied…and will be running XP for quite some time.
If you really don’t want to see the message popping up all over the place, and don’t care if those systems are updated anymore, you can prevent the message from appearing by stopping the automatic update service.
Keep in mind this will disable all updates – they will still be available for a month.
You can stop it and set it to manual at the command line with these two commands:

sc config wuauserv start= disabled
net stop wuauserv

Note – that space after the = on the first line is important. The command will fail if you don’t put it in there. Got to love MS for that one
Alternatively you can remotely stop and set the service to manual on many machines at once using our Network Administrator tool:

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How to Configure Exchange Server 2010 Outlook Anywhere

In this tutorial I will demonstrate how to enable and configure Exchange Server 2010 Outlook Anywhere to provide secure mailbox connectivity for remote Outlook users.
Outlook Anywhere is a much better solution for remote email access than POP or IMAP because the end user experience is the same when the user is using Outlook on the LAN or remotely. Thanks to SSL encryption Outlook Anywhere is also inherently more secure than other protocols that have non-encrypted options that companies often deploy.

What is Outlook Anywhere?

Outlook Anywhere is a service provided by the Client Access server role that allows Outlook clients to make a secure connection over SSL/HTTPS to the mailbox from remote locations.  Previously this was known as RPC-over-HTTPS but was renamed to Outlook Anywhere in Exchange 2007 and 2010.
By wrapping normal Outlook RPC requests in HTTPS the connections are able to traverse firewalls over the common SSL/HTTPS port without requiring the RPC ports to be opened.
There are three main tasks to deploy Outlook Anywhere in an Exchange environment:

• Enable and configure Outlook Anywhere on the Client Access server
• Configure the perimeter firewall to allow SSL/HTTPS connections from external networks to the Client Access server
• Configure the Outlook clients to use Outlook Anywhere when connecting from remote networks

Enable Outlook Anywhere on Exchange Server 2010

In the Exchange Management Console navigate to Server Configuration -> Client Access, and select the Client Access server you want to enable for Outlook Anywhere.
If you have multiple Client Access servers in an Active Directory site then choose the one that is the internet-facing Client Access server.  Or if you have deployed a CAS array you will need to repeat this process on all members of the array.

Choose the Exchange Server 2010 Client Access Server to configure for Outlook Anywhere

With the server selected, in the action pane of the Exchange Management Console click on Enable Outlook Anywhere.

Enable Outlook Anywhere for Exchange Server 2010

The Enable Outlook Anywhere wizard launches.  Enter the external host name for Outlook Anywhere users to use when connecting remotely to Exchange, and choose an authentication method.

Configure Outlook Anywhere for Exchange Server 2010

The external host name you choose should ideally be one that is already included in the Exchange certificate configured on the Client Access server.  Otherwise you will need to create a new certificate for Exchange.
The Outlook Anywhere authentication method you choose will depend on a few factors in your environment.

• Basic Authentication – this requires that Outlook users enter their username and password each time they connect to Outlook Anywhere.  The credentials are sent in clear text so therefore it is critical that Outlook Anywhere connections only occur over SSL/HTTPS.  You may need to choose Basic Authentication if the connecting computers are not members of the domain, if the ISA Server publishing rule and listener are shared with other Exchange services that require Basic Authentication, or if the firewall being used does not support NTLM authentication.
• NTLM Authentication – this is ideal for connecting clients that are domain members because the username and password will not need to be entered by the user each time they connect.  However NTLM may not work with some firewalls or ISA Server publishing scenarios.

When you have configured the Outlook Anywhere settings click Enable to continue, and then click Finish to close the wizard.
The Outlook Anywhere configuration for Exchange 2010 will take effect within 15 minutes of completing the wizard.  The Application Event Log will record Event ID 3008 and a series of other events when the configuration has been applied to the server.

Configure the Firewall for Exchange Server 2010 Outlook Anywhere

To enable remote Outlook users to connect to Outlook Anywhere the perimeter firewall for the network must be configured to allow the SSL/HTTPS connections to pass through to the Client Access server.
The precise steps for this will depend on which firewall you are using in your environment.  However the basic components of this configuration are:

• A public DNS record for the external host name you are using for Outlook Anywhere
• A public IP address on the firewall that the public DNS record resolves to
• A NAT or publishing rule to allow SSL/HTTPS connections to reach the Client Access server

Exchange Server 2010 Outlook Anywhere Firewall Overview

If you are running an internet-facing Exchange Server 2010 CAS array then you would configure the firewall rule to direct traffic to the CAS array IP address.

Configure Outlook Clients for Exchange Server 2010 Outlook Anywhere

Before an Outlook client can connect to Outlook Anywhere it needs to be configured with the correct settings.  In Outlook 2010 open the Account Settings for the Outlook profile that is configured.

Outlook 2010 Account Settings for Exchange Server 2010 Outlook Anywhere

Double-click to open the properties of the Exchange Server profile that is configured.

Outlook 2010 Exchange Server Profile Settings

Click on More Settings, and then select the Connection tab of the settings dialog box that appears.

Outlook 2010 Connection Settings

Tick the box to Connect to Microsoft Exchange using HTTP, and then click the Exchange Proxy Settings button.

Enable Outlook Anywhere in Outlook 2010

Enter the External Host Name that was configured for Outlook Anywhere earlier on the Client Access server, and then configure the Proxy Authentication Settings to match the client authentication method chosen on the server.

Configure the Outlook Anywhere External Host Name and Authentication Settings in Outlook 2010

Click OK, OK, Next and then Finish to apply the change to Outlook 2010.  You must restart Outlook for the new settings to take effect.
Now that Outlook 2010 has been configured for Exchange Server 2010 Outlook Anywhere, any time the user launches Outlook from a remote connection and can reach the perimeter firewall over the internet they will be able to securely access their mailbox as though they were still on the corporate network.

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DNS Amplification Attack

Before we understand the DNS Amplification Attack, lets learn about DDoS first. Distributed denial-of-service Attack (DDoS), is a cyber threat looming large on Organizations. It adversely affects the online productivity of individuals too. Anyone who relies on their Internet presence to generate revenue can be a target.
The Security tangent comes in question here. First, let us understand what DoS attack is. A denial of service (DoS) attack is a malicious attempt to make a server or a network resource unavailable to users. This is usually performed by interrupting or suspending the services of a host connected to the Internet.
Distributed DoS (DDoS) attacks are DoS attacks launched from multiple hosts simultaneously. The flood of incoming messages to the target system forces it to shut down or choke bandwidth. Hence, denying service to the legitimate users.
The domain name system (DNS) is one of the most critical service that keep the Internet working. However, it’s also been the most popular target for attackers. A DNS amplification attack is a form of distributed denial of service (DDos) attack that takes benefit from a much larger response generated by a small DNS query. When combined with source address spoofing, an attacker can direct a large volume of network traffic to the target system by initiating relatively small DNS queries.
DNS Amplification Attack, as the name suggests, is a way for an attacker to magnify the bandwidth for targeting a potential victim. By leveraging a botnet to produce a large number of spoofed DNS queries, an attacker can create an immense amount of traffic with little effort. Additionally, because the responses are legitimate data coming from valid servers, it is extremely difficult to prevent these types of attacks. While the attacks are difficult to stop, network operators can apply several possible mitigation strategies.

DNS Amplification Attack: The Scenario

An attacker builds up his army of attack sources (the botnet). He writes large amplification records (e.g., a 4000 byte DNS TXT resource record) in the zone file of the name server he has compromised. Then, the attacker attacks the targeted name server via open recursive servers.
In the image below, the attacker targets a name server at the IP address 10.10.1.1. At the attacker’s signal, all the zombies, the botnets, issue DNS request messages asking for the amplification of records through open recursive servers. The botnet hosts the spoof to the targeted name server by writing 10.10.1.1 in the source IP address field of the IP packets containing their DNS request messages.
In reality, the targeted name server at 10.10.1.1 never issues any DNS request messages. But, it now receives a flurry of responses. The responses contain a 4000 byte DNS TXT record. A message of this size exceeds the maximum (Ethernet) transmission unit. Hence, it is broken into multiple IP packets. This forces reassembly at the destination and increases the processing load at the target and enhances the deception.
The response spans several IP fragments and only the first fragment contains UDP header. The target may not immediately recognize that the attack is DNS-based.

Important Terminologies

• System Compromise – An attacker doesn’t want to use his own system for performing attacks on other systems. Hence, he launches the attack from systems on which he has gained unauthorized administrative control. The attacker can remotely control and direct the compromised system to initiate a DoS attack.
• Amplification – Amplification, as the name suggests, increases the traffic volume in an attack. In the DNS attack, the attacker uses an extension to the DNS protocol (EDNS0) that enables large DNS messages. The attacker composes a DNS request message of approximately 60 bytes to trigger delivery of a response message of approximately 4000 bytes to the target.
• Impersonation – The IP addresses are impersonated or copied to launch attacks. In the DNS attack, each attacking host uses the targeted name server’s IP address as its source IP address rather than its own. The effect of spoofing /impersonating IP addresses is that the responses to DNS requests is returned to the target rather than the spoofing hosts.
• Recursion- It is a method of processing a DNS request in which a name server performs the request for a client by asking the authoritative name server for the name record.

DNS Amplification Attack Techniques

DNS amplification works on the concept of amplifying the response data to a target server via impersonating the IP address by an attacker. Some of the techniques which can be used for mitigating such attacks are:-

• Source IP Verification: In this process, the Internet Service Provider target filtering on the basis of spoofed IP addresses. The filters are placed on the basis of the routers determining whether the victim’s IP address is reachable via the interface from where the packet is originated. If not, then the packet is rejected. This is termed as Network Ingress Filtering.
• Recursion disabling and restriction on Authoritative name servers: Recursion disabling should be employed on the basis of the domain that the name server caters to. For requests on other domains, the authoritative name server should not perform recursion. As for restrictions, it should be employed for DNS servers present inside an organization’s network so that they perform recursion for authorized clients only.
• Removal of unsecured recursive resolvers: This is deemed as the best way to mitigate such threats. But, due to abundance of open DNS resolvers on the internet, this process is practically infeasible. 
• Response Rate Limiting: There is currently an experimental feature available as a set of patches for BIND9 that allows an administrator to limit the maximum number of responses per second being sent to one client from the name server. This functionality is intended to be used on authoritative domain name servers only as it will affect performance on recursive resolvers.

Case Study

A massive 300Gbps was thrown against Internet blacklist maintainer Spamhaus’ website but the anti-spam organisation , CloudFlare was able to recover from the attack and get its core services back up and running.
Spamhaus, a group based in both London and Geneva, is a non-profit organisation that aims to help email providers filter out spam and other unwanted content. Spamhaus is pretty resilient, as its own network is distributed across many countries, but the attack was still enough to knock its site offline.
The high attack bandwidth was made possible because attackers used misconfigured domain-name service (DNS) servers known as open recursive resolvers or open recursors to amplify a much smaller attack into a larger data flood. Known as DNS reflection, the technique used requests for a relatively large zone file that appeared to be sent from the intended victim’s network.
According to CloudFlare, it initially recorded over 30,000 DNS resolvers that were tricked into participating in the attack. There are as many as 25 million of these open recursive resolvers at the disposal of attackers. The attack was devised by a Dutch hosting company called CyberBunker.

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Using catalog backup and recovery to transfer NetBackup catalogs between UNIX or Linux master servers as part of a hardware refresh

Issue

Using catalog backup and recovery to transfer NetBackup catalogs between UNIX or Linux master servers as part of a hardware refresh

Solution

It is sometimes necessary for a customer to replace the hardware they use for their master server.  For example they may need to  replace a 32 bit master server with a newer model 64 bit master server.  In most cases this just involves replacing the existing master server with a newer machine of a similar type but a higher specification and can be accomplished without assistance from Symantec Consulting Services.

This tech note explains how catalog backup and recovery can be used as part of a hardware refresh process provided the following conditions are observed.  

If one or more of these conditions is not met please contact Symantec Consulting Services or your Business Critical Account Manager for assistance. 

1. The version of NetBackup installed on the old and new hardware must be the same release update of NetBackup (e.g. if the old master server is running NetBackup 6.5.4, install NetBackup 6.5.4 on the new master server).
2. The master server must not be a storage server for SharedDisk storage.
3. The host name of the old and new hardware must be the same.
4. The type and version of O/S on the new master server does not matter provided it supports the version of NetBackup used on the old master server.  For example this procedure may be used to replace a Solaris 9 Sparc master server with a Solaris 10 X64 master server.  Note that additional steps are required when moving to or from a Red Hat Linux master server running NetBackup 6.x (i.e. all versions of NetBackup 6.0 and 6.5). These additional steps are required because of differences in the EMM database configuration between Red Hat Linux and other operating systems in NetBackup 6.x and are not required for NetBackup 7.0 and above.

The following procedure should be used when replacing hardware:

1. Make a full catalog backup of the old master server and shut it down.  
2. Prepare the new master server using the same host name and IP address as the old master server (ensure that the conditions stated above are met).  If the master server is also a storage server for AdvancedDisk volumes ensure that the volumes are presented to the same mount points on the new master server (i.e. /disk1 on the old master server must be mounted as /disk1 on the new master server).  If the old master server has access to OpenStorage and PureDisk deduplication devices ensure that the new master server can access the same devices using the same storage server name.
3. Install the same version of NetBackup on the new master as the version on the old master server (i.e. if the old master server is running NetBackup 6.5.4, install NetBackup 6.5.4 on the new master server).  
4. If either the old or new master server is Red Hat Linux and the version of NetBackup is 6.x, make a copy of the file /usr/openv/var/global/server.conf on the new master server before restoring the catalog backup to it.
5. Restore the catalog backup created from the old master server to the new master server.  Details of the catalog restore process can be found in the Disaster Recovery section of the NetBackup Troubleshooting Guide. 
6. If either the old or new master server is Red Hat Linux and the version of NetBackup is 6.x then, once the catalog has been restored, stop NetBackup and  replace the file /usr/openv/var/global/server.conf on the new master server with the copy created at step 4 and then restart NetBackup.
7. Once the catalog has been restored confirm the basic operation of NetBackup by running test backup and restore jobs.
8. If the master server is also a media server, run the device discovery wizard to update  the locally presented devices and storage units.
9. If the operating system has changed (for example from Solaris to AIX) run the command "nbemmcmd -updatehost -machinename <master server name> -machinetype master -operatingsystem <new O/S>".  Running this command updates the operating system field in the EMM master server record to reflect the new operating system.  A list of valid operating systems can be found in the on-line help for the nbemmcmd -updatehost command. 

Warning:  If steps 4 and 6 are missed during a move from or to Red Hat Linux on NetBackup 6.x the effect will be either that (if the new server is Red Hat Linux) the performance of nbemm will be severely impacted or (for all other Linux and UNIX operating systems) nbemm will simply fail to start.

Note:  When using this procedure with NetBackup 6.x some backup policies, particularly file system policies that use directives and run multiple data streams, the first backup that runs after the catalog has been recovered will backup all the data – even if it is an incremental backup.   This may result in backups running longer and media usage being higher than normal during that first backup period and customers should take this into account when planning a hardware refresh.  This problem does not affect environments running NetBackup 7.0 and higher versions.

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About catalog backup parent and child jobs on Windows

Normally, a hot, online catalog backup consists of one parent job and two or more child jobs. Events for these jobs appear in the dbm log.

An overview of the hot catalog backup process consists of the following process:

• Make a temporary copy of database files to a staging directory by typing the following command:
  Install_path\NetBackupDB\staging
  Once the copy is made, NetBackup can back up the catalog files.
• A child job backs up files in a single stream as follows:
  
  
  

  • Configuration files (server.conf, database.conf, vxdbms.conf)
  • Database files
    NBDB.db
    NBDB.log
    EMM_DATA.db
    EMM_INDEX.db
    If BMR was installed
    BMRDB.db
    BMRDB.log
    BMR_DATA.db
    BMR_INDEX.db
• A second child job begins the image catalog backup.
  The backup of any 5.x media server appears as a separate job.
  If BMR is installed and a remote EMM server is in use, the backup of the EMM server appears as a separate job.
• Transaction logs are truncated after a successful full or incremental backup.
  If the transaction logs are manually changed or deleted, a hole could exist in the recovery.
  The child job for the relational database backup is normally run on the master server. The master server is the default location for NBDB and the required location for BMRDB.
  If NBDB was moved to a media server, the child job runs on the media server. In this case, additional logging for the job appears in the admin log on the media server.
  If NBDB was moved to a media server and BMRDB is installed on the master server, two child jobs exist for the relational database backup portion of the online, hot catalog backup. One on the media server for NBDB and one on the master server for BMRDB.
  
  
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Symantec NetBackup 7.5 Backup, Archive, and Restore Getting Started Guide

Description

Explains how to use the NetBackup Backup, Archive, and Restore interface to perform basic backup and restore operations on UNIX, Windows, and Linux systems. For more detailed information, see the NetBackup Backup, Archive, and Restore interface online help.

Attachments

NetBackup Backup, Archive, and Restore 7.5 Getting Started Guide PDF NetBackup_BAR_GS_Guide.pdf (1.4 MBytes)

Article URL http://www.symantec.com/docs/DOC5146

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Terms of use for this information are found in Legal Notices

How to recover a catalog backup from a Standard or Enterprise disk device (including OpenStorage, PureDisk Deduplication Option and AdvancedDisk) with NetBackup 6.5.4 and later releases.

 Issue

How to recover a catalog backup from a Standard or Enterprise disk device (including OpenStorage, PureDisk Deduplication Option and AdvancedDisk) with NetBackup 6.5.4 and later releases.

Solution

With the introduction of NetBackup 6.5.4 it is possible to make catalog backups to Standard and Enterprise disk technologies such as OpenStorage, PureDisk Deduplication Option and AdvancedDisk.  However recovering the catalog from these backups is not as straight forward as it is for tape and BasicDisk catalog backups.  (Note that, as explained in tech note 327439, restrictions apply when recovering from duplicated or replicated backups.)

This article explains the steps involved in the recovery of a catalog backup made to a Standard or Enterprise disk device in the event of the loss of the Master Server and assumes that the catalog backup is restored directly to a Master Server of the same name and platform as the original Master Server from the original backup (rather than a duplicate copy).

The recovery process requires the user to create an empty EMM database on the Master Server and then configure the Storage Server in that database to have the same attributes as those recorded in the fragment information in the disaster recovery file for the catalog backup.  Matching these pieces of information allows the recovery wizard to locate the catalog backup and restore it.  

Note:  In the interests of simplifying the recovery procedure it is recommended that the catalog backup is made using a separate Media Server and not written to the storage device by the Master Server itself.  The reason for this recommendation is that in the event of a failure of the Master Server the presentation of the storage to the Media Server would be unaffected.

1. If the Master Server has been lost provision a new Master Server and install NetBackup on the new Master Server and ensure that all necessary maintenance packs  and hot fixes are applied to the Master Server.  
2. If just the catalog storage has been lost provision new storage and create a new, empty database using the nbdb_create command.
3. The Media Server that wrote the catalog backup must be added to the domain.
4. The target Storage Server must be created and configured.  

The storage server attributes must match those of the original storage server as documented in the catalog backup's disaster recovery file.   To determine these attributes open the DR file and examine the fragment records as shown in the following example:

# FRAG: c# f# K rem mt den fn id/path host bs off md dwo f_flags f_unused1 exp mpx rl chkpt rsm_nbr seq_no media_subtype keep_date copy_date i_unused1

FRAGMENT 1 -1 38 970 0 39 0 @aaaa8 media01.xyz.com 262144 0 0 -1 0 1;dd;dorna;dd_dp;dv02;0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0

FRAGMENT 1 1 2912 0 0 0 0 @aaaa8 media01.xyz.com 262144 0 0 -1 0 1;dd;dorna;dd_dp;dv02;01226440313 0 65537 0 0 0 6 0 225230725 0

The important attributes are held in the media descriptor record which is shown in bold here.  In this example  "dd" is the Storage Server type (in this case a Data Domain OpenStorage device), "dorna" is the Storage Server Name, "dd_dp" is the Disk Pool  and "dv02" is the Disk Volume.   (Note that for AdvancedDisk the media server and storage server have the same name.)

To configure the storage server use the following steps:

1. On UNIX or Linux run:

/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/nbdevconfig –creatests –storage_server dorna –media_server media01.xyz.com –st 9 –stype dd

Followed by:

/usr/openv/volmgr/bin/tpconfig –add –storage_server dorna –sts_user_id userid –password pword –stype dd

b. On Windows run:

<install path>\netbackup\bin\admincmd\nbdevconfig –creatests –storage_server dorna –media_server media01.xyz.com –st 9 –stype dd

Followed by:

<install path>\volmgr\bin\tpconfig –add –storage_server dorna –sts_user_id userid –password pword –stype dd

Once the Storage Server is configured it is possible to  recover the entire catalog using bprecover command as described in the NetBackup Troubleshooting Guide.  Note that if disk is used for backup storage you  should always do a full catalog recovery.   

Recovering the NetBackup catalog image files using bprecover -wizard

You must have root (administrative) privileges to perform this procedure.

You must be logged on to the master server on which you want to recover the catalog. The Catalog Recovery Wizard does not work after you perform a change server operation.

Note:

This wizard relies on the disaster recovery file that was generated during the catalog backup. The path to the disaster recovery file is specified in the catalog backup policy.

Note:

During the catalog recovery process, services may be shut down and restarted. If NetBackup is configured as a highly available application (cluster or global cluster), freeze the cluster before starting the recovery process to prevent a failover. Then unfreeze the cluster after the recovery process is complete.

Warning:

Do not run any client backups before you recover the NetBackup catalog.

See About recovering the NetBackup catalog image files

To recover the catalog image file using bprecover -wizard

1. If recovering the catalog to a new NetBackup installation, such as at a disaster recovery site, do the following:

   • Install NetBackup.
   • Configure the devices that are required for the recovery.
   • Add the media that are required for the recovery to the devices.
2. Start NetBackup by entering the following:

   • On UNIX and Linux:
     /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/bp.start_all
   • On Windows:
     install_path\NetBackup\bin\bpup
   If your configuration includes an EMM server that is separate from the master server, do the following: start NetBackup on the EMM server before starting NetBackup on the master server.
3. Start the bprecover wizard by entering the following command:

   bprecover -wizard

   The following is displayed:

   Welcome to the NetBackup Catalog Recovery Wizard!
   Please make sure the devices and media that contain catalog
   disaster recovery data are available
   Are you ready to continue?(Y/N)

4. Enter Y to continue. The following prompt appears:

   Please specify the full pathname to the catalog disaster 
   recovery file:

5. Enter the fully qualified pathname to the disaster recovery file for the backup that you want to restore. For example:
   /mnt/hdd2/netbackup/dr-file/Backup-Catalog_1318222845_FULL
   If the most recent catalog backup was an incremental backup, use the disaster recovery file from the incremental backup. (There is no need to first restore the full backup and then follow with the incremental backup.) Alternately, you can recover from earlier version of the catalog.
   If you specified a DR file for a full backup, a message similar to the following is displayed:

   vm2.symantecs.org_1318222845
   All media resources were located
   
   Do you want to recover the entire NetBackup catalog? (Y/N)

   If you specified a DR file for an incremental backup, a message similar to the following is displayed:

   vm2.symantec.org_1318309224
   All media resources were located
   
   The last catalog backup in the catalog disaster recovery file is 
   an incremental.
   If no catalog backup images exist in the catalog,
   a PARTIAL catalog recovery will only restore the NetBackup catalog
   files backed up in that incremental backup.
   
   However, all of the catalog backup images up to the last full catalog
   backup are restored.  Then you can restore the remaining NetBackup 
   catalog files from the Backup, Archive, and Restore user interface.
   If catalog backup images already exist, all files that were included
   in the related set of catalog backups are restored.
   
   Do you want to recover the entire NetBackup catalog? (Y/N)

6. Enter N to continue. The following is displayed:

   A PARTIAL catalog recovery includes the images directory
   containing the dotf files and staging of the NetBackup relational 
   database (NBDB) for further processing.
   
   Do you also want to include policy data?(Y/N)

7. Enter Y or N to continue. The following is displayed:
   Do you also want to include licensing data?(Y/N)
8. Enter Y or N to continue. The following is displayed:

   Catalog recovery is in progress. Please wait...
   
   Completed successful recovery of NBDB in staging directory on 
   vm2.symantecs.org
   
   This portion of the catalog recovery has completed.
   Because this was a PARTIAL recovery of the NetBackup catalog,
   any remaining files included in the catalog backup can be restored
   using the the Backup, Archive, and Restore user interface.
   
   The image metadata that is stored in NBDB in the staging directory
   can be exported using "cat_export -staging", and, imported using 
   "cat_import".
   
   The "nbdb_unload -staging" command can be used to unload one or more
   database tables from NBDB in the staging directory.
   
   The "nbdb_restore -recover -staging" command can be used to replace
   NBDB in the data directory with the contents from the staging 
   directory.
   
   WRN - NetBackup will not run scheduled backup jobs until NetBackup 
   is restarted.
   
   For more information, please review the log file:
   /usr/openv/netbackup/logs/user_ops/root/logs/Recover1318357550.log
   

9. When the recovery job is finished, each image file is restored to the proper image directory and the configuration files are restored. If you chose to recover the policy data and licensing data, it is restored also.
10. Before you continue, be aware of the following points:

    • If you recovered the catalog from removable media, NetBackup freezes the catalog media.
      See Unfreezing the NetBackup online catalog recovery media
    • Before you restart NetBackup, Symantec recommends that you freeze the media that contains the backups more recent than the date of the catalog from which you recovered.
    • NetBackup does not run scheduled backup jobs until you stop and then restart NetBackup.
      You can submit backup jobs manually before you stop and restart NetBackup. However, if you do not freeze the media that contains the backups more recent than the date of the catalog from which you recovered, NetBackup may overwrite that media.
    • Because this operation is a partial recovery, you must recover the relational database portion of the catalog.
      See About recovering the NetBackup relational database
11. Stop and restart NetBackup on all the servers, as follows:

    • On UNIX and Linux:

      /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/bp.kill_all
      /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/bp.start_all

    • On Windows:

      install_path\NetBackup\bin\bpdown
      install_path\NetBackup\bin\bpup

12. If the catalog recovery is part of a server recovery procedure, complete the remaining steps in the appropriate recovery procedure.
    This procedure can include the following tasks:

    • Importing the backups from the backup media into the catalog
    • Write protecting the media
    • Ejecting the media and setting it aside
    • Freezing the media
      
      
       

Original Link

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Recovering the NetBackup catalog image files using the Catalog Recovery Wizard

You must have root (administrative) privileges to perform this procedure.

You must be logged on to the master server on which you want to recover the catalog. The Catalog Recovery Wizard does not work after you perform a change server operation.

Note:

This wizard relies on the disaster recovery file that was generated during the catalog backup. The path to the disaster recovery file is specified in the catalog backup policy.

Note:

During the catalog recovery process, services may be shut down and restarted. If NetBackup is configured as a highly available application (cluster or global cluster), freeze the cluster before starting the recovery process to prevent a failover. Then unfreeze the cluster after the recovery process is complete.

Warning:

Do not run any client backups before you recover the NetBackup catalog.

See About recovering the NetBackup catalog image files

To recover the catalog image files using the Catalog Recovery Wizard

1. 
   

   If recovering the catalog to a new NetBackup installation, such as at a disaster recovery site, do the following:

   • Install NetBackup.
   • Configure the devices that are required for the recovery.
   • Add the media that are required for the recovery to the devices.
2. 
   

   Start NetBackup by entering the following:

   • On UNIX and Linux:
     /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/bp.start_all
   • On Windows:
     install_path\NetBackup\bin\bpup
   If your configuration includes an EMM server that is separate from the master server, do the following: start NetBackup on the EMM server before starting NetBackup on the master server.
3. Click Recover the Catalogs in the NetBackup Administration Console to start the Catalog Recovery Wizard.
   The Welcome to the NetBackup Disaster Recovery Wizard panel appears.
4. Click Next in the wizard welcome panel.
   The Catalog Disaster Recovery File panel appears.
5. On the Catalog Disaster Recovery File panel, enter or browse to select the full pathname to the most recent disaster recovery information file available.
   If the most recent catalog backup was an incremental backup, use the disaster recovery file from the incremental backup. (There is no need to first restore the full backup and then follow with the incremental backup.) Alternately, you can recover from earlier version of the catalog.
   The following is an example of the wizard panel:
   
   

   
   After you enter the fully qualified pathname to the disaster recovery file, click Next.
   The Retrieving Disaster Recovery File panel appears.
6. The wizard searches for the media sources that are identified in the disaster recovery file. This wizard panel also displays the result of the media search.
   The following is an example of the wizard panel.
   
   

   
   If the wizard finds the media, click Next.
   If the wizard does not find the media, follow the wizard instructions to insert the required media and update the NetBackup database. After you insert the media and update the database, click Next.
   The Disaster Recovery Method panel appears.
7. On the Disaster Recovery Method panel, select Recover only NetBackup catalog image and configuration files and specify a job priority.
   The following is an example of the wizard panel.
   
   

   
   To continue, click Next.
   The Recovering Catalog panel appears.
8. The Recovering Catalog panel displays the recovery progress.
   The following is an example of the wizard panel.
   
   

   
   If the recovery is not successful, consult the log file messages for an indication of the problem.
   Click Next to continue to the final wizard panel.
9. On the final wizard panel, click Finish
10. 
    

    Before you continue, be aware of the following points:

    • If you recovered the catalog from removable media, NetBackup freezes the catalog media.
      See Unfreezing the NetBackup online catalog recovery media
    • Before you restart NetBackup, Symantec recommends that you freeze the media that contains the backups more recent than the date of the catalog from which you recovered.
    • NetBackup does not run scheduled backup jobs until you stop and then restart NetBackup.
      You can submit backup jobs manually before you stop and restart NetBackup. However, if you do not freeze the media that contains the backups more recent than the date of the catalog from which you recovered, NetBackup may overwrite that media.
    • Because this operation is a partial recovery, you must recover the relational database portion of the catalog.
      See About recovering the NetBackup relational database
11. 
    

    Stop and restart NetBackup on all the servers, as follows:

    • On UNIX and Linux:

      /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/bp.kill_all
      /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/bp.start_all

    • On Windows:

      install_path\NetBackup\bin\bpdown
      install_path\NetBackup\bin\bpup

12. If the catalog recovery is part of a server recovery procedure, complete the remaining steps in the appropriate recovery procedure.
    
    

    Recovery can include the following:

    • Importing the backups from the backup media into the catalog.
    • Write protecting the media.
    • Ejecting the media and setting it aside.
    • Freezing the media.

 Original link: