Contents

Dell PowerProtect 19.11 Data Manager Storage Direct User Guide PDF

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Summary of Content for Dell PowerProtect 19.11 Data Manager Storage Direct User Guide PDF

PowerProtect Data Manager 19.11 Storage Direct User Guide

June 2022 Rev. 01

Notes, cautions, and warnings

NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your product.

CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid

the problem.

WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.

2020 - 2022 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Dell Technologies, Dell, and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Preface.........................................................................................................................................................................................5

Chapter 1: PowerProtect Data Manager for Storage Direct Agent Overview.................................. 9 PowerProtect Data Manager overview..........................................................................................................................9 Supported Internet Protocol versions............................................................................................................................ 9 Prerequisites......................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Firewall and port considerations.....................................................................................................................................10 Role-based security............................................................................................................................................................11 Roadmap for protection with the Storage Direct agent for new environments................................................. 11 Roadmap for protection with the Storage Direct agent for existing environments.......................................... 12

Chapter 2: Enabling the Storage Direct Agent for VMAX Systems................................................14 About the Storage Direct agent..................................................................................................................................... 14 Storage Direct agent prerequisites................................................................................................................................14 Storage Direct agent limitations.....................................................................................................................................15

Provide asset configuration file during update..................................................................................................... 15 Storage Direct agent coexistence with other application agents is not supported.....................................15 Configuration Change Management is not supported for existing Storage Direct users.......................... 15 Storage Direct policies do not support Smart Scale system pools.................................................................. 15

Installing or updating the Storage Direct agent......................................................................................................... 15 Install the Storage Direct agent on Linux...............................................................................................................15 Update the Storage Direct agent on Linux............................................................................................................ 16 Install or update the Storage Direct agent on Windows ....................................................................................17 Silent installation of the Storage Direct agent......................................................................................................18 Uninstall the Storage Direct agent on Linux..........................................................................................................18 Uninstall the Storage Direct agent on Windows...................................................................................................19

Updating an existing Storage Direct agent..................................................................................................................19 Configuration file requirements................................................................................................................................ 19 Onboard an existing Storage Direct agent configuration to the PowerProtect Data Manager

server.......................................................................................................................................................................... 21

Chapter 3: Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection.................................................................22 About asset sources, assets, and storage...................................................................................................................22 Add protection storage ...................................................................................................................................................22 Manage the Storage Direct agent.................................................................................................................................23 Enable an asset source.................................................................................................................................................... 24

Disable an asset source..............................................................................................................................................24 Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent......................................................................... 25 Replication triggers...........................................................................................................................................................26 Add a self-service protection policy for Storage Direct.......................................................................................... 26 Add a centralized protection policy for Storage Direct........................................................................................... 30

Reduce the backup-copy discovery time.............................................................................................................. 33 Add a service-level agreement.......................................................................................................................................33 Extended retention........................................................................................................................................................... 36 Add assets to an existing storage group protection policy.....................................................................................38

Contents

Contents 3

Remove assets from an existing storage group protection policy........................................................................ 38 Edit the retention period for backup copies............................................................................................................... 39 Delete backup copies....................................................................................................................................................... 40

Retry a failed backup copy deletion.........................................................................................................................41 Export data for deleted backup copies...................................................................................................................41 Remove backup copies from the PowerProtect Data Manager database.................................................... 42

Restoring a Storage Direct VMAX storage group..................................................................................................... 42 Restore a VMAX storage group backup to the original location......................................................................42 Restore a VMAX storage group backup to an alternate location.................................................................... 43 Instant access restore of a VMAX storage group backup.................................................................................44

Restore backup copies from replication DD when source Storage Direct agent host, PowerProtect Data Manager server, and VMAX are unavailable.................................................................................................45

Manage the PowerProtect agent service................................................................................................................... 46 About the PowerProtect agent service................................................................................................................. 47 Start, stop, or obtain the status of the PowerProtect agent service............................................................ 48 Troubleshooting PowerProtect agent service installations...............................................................................48 Troubleshooting PowerProtect agent service operations.................................................................................48 Register the PowerProtect agent service to a different server address on Windows.............................. 49 Recovering the PowerProtect agent service from a disaster.......................................................................... 49

Chapter 4: Storage Direct Best Practices and Troubleshooting....................................................51 Storage Direct agent limitations.....................................................................................................................................51

Provide asset configuration file during update..................................................................................................... 51 Storage Direct agent coexistence with other application agents is not supported.....................................51 Configuration Change Management is not supported for existing Storage Direct users.......................... 51 Storage Direct policies do not support Smart Scale system pools................................................................. 52

Troubleshooting agent registration ............................................................................................................................. 52 Troubleshooting PowerProtect agent service installations.................................................................................... 52 Troubleshooting PowerProtect agent service operations.......................................................................................53 Troubleshooting PowerProtect Data Manager UI display of localhost.localdomain hostname......................53 Troubleshooting when protection policies cannot be created from an imported configuration file that

uses VMAX..................................................................................................................................................................... 54 Troubleshooting when protection policies cannot be created from an imported configuration file that

uses replication.............................................................................................................................................................. 54 Troubleshooting initiation of SMIS server discovery job......................................................................................... 54 Troubleshooting SDFSA install/update failure when using absolute path.......................................................... 54 Troubleshooting when encapsulation fails during policy creation......................................................................... 55 Troubleshooting when restart of encapsulation fails............................................................................................... 55 Troubleshooting when encapsulation fails with error "SYMAPI_C_NET_HANDSHAKE_FAILED"...............55 Troubleshooting failure of configuration file validation .......................................................................................... 56 Troubleshooting failure of MTree replication............................................................................................................. 56 Troubleshooting replication for assets already configured for a stand-alone agent........................................ 56 Troubleshooting creation of new snapshot after restart of failed backup..........................................................57 Troubleshooting a configuration file that is generated by PowerProtect Data Manager and imported

during an agent update................................................................................................................................................57 Troubleshooting storage policy backup failure and PowerProtect config validation error............................. 57

4 Contents

Preface As part of an effort to improve product lines, periodic revisions of software and hardware are released. Therefore, all versions of the software or hardware currently in use might not support some functions that are described in this document. The product release notes provide the most up-to-date information on product features.

If a product does not function correctly or does not function as described in this document, contact Customer Support.

NOTE: This document was accurate at publication time. To ensure that you are using the latest version of this document,

go to the Customer Support website.

Product naming Data Domain (DD) is now PowerProtect DD. References to Data Domain or Data Domain systems in this documentation, in the user interface, and elsewhere in the product include PowerProtect DD systems and older Data Domain systems. In many cases the user interface has not yet been updated to reflect this change.

Language use This document might contain language that is not consistent with Dell Technologies current guidelines. Dell Technologies plans to update the document over subsequent future releases to revise the language accordingly.

This document might contain language from third-party content that is not under Dell Technologies control and is not consistent with the current guidelines for Dell Technologies own content. When such third-party content is updated by the relevant third parties, this document will be revised accordingly.

Website links The website links used in this document were valid at publication time. If you find a broken link, provide feedback on the document, and a Dell Technologies employee will update the document as necessary.

Purpose This document describes how to configure and administer the Dell PowerProtect Data Manager software to protect and recover the data on VMAX and PowerMax storage arrays. The PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide provides additional details about configuration and usage procedures.

Audience This document is intended for the host system administrator who is involved in managing, protecting, and reusing data across the enterprise by deploying PowerProtect Data Manager software.

Revision history The following table presents the revision history of this document.

Table 1. Revision history

Revision Date Description

01 June 21, 2022 Initial release of this document for PowerProtect Data Manager version 19.11.

Preface 5

Compatibility information Software compatibility information for the PowerProtect Data Manager software is provided by the E-Lab Navigator.

Related documentation The following publications are available at Customer Support and provide additional information:

Table 2. Related documentation

Title Content

PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide Describes how to configure the software.

PowerProtect Data Manager Deployment Guide Describes how to deploy the software.

PowerProtect Data Manager Licensing Guide Describes how to license the software.

PowerProtect Data Manager Release Notes Contains information about new features, known limitations, environment, and system requirements for the software.

PowerProtect Data Manager Security Configuration Guide Contains security information.

PowerProtect Data Manager Amazon Web Services Deployment Guide

Describes how to deploy the software to Amazon Web Services (AWS).

PowerProtect Data Manager Azure Deployment Guide Describes how to deploy the software to Microsoft Azure.

PowerProtect Data Manager Google Cloud Platform Deployment Guide

Describes how to deploy the software to Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

PowerProtect Data Manager Cloud Disaster Recovery Administration and User Guide

Describes how to deploy Cloud Disaster Recovery (Cloud DR), protect virtual machines in the AWS or Azure cloud, and run recovery operations.

PowerProtect Data Manager Cyber Recovery User Guide Describes how to install, update, patch, and uninstall the PowerProtect Cyber Recovery software.

PowerProtect Data Manager File System User Guide Describes how to configure and use the software with the File System agent for file-system data protection.

PowerProtect Data Manager Kubernetes User Guide Describes how to configure and use the software to back up and restore namespaces and PVCs in a Kubernetes cluster.

PowerProtect Data Manager Microsoft Exchange Server User Guide

Describes how to configure and use the software to back up and restore the data in a Microsoft Exchange Server environment.

PowerProtect Data Manager Microsoft SQL Server User Guide

Describes how to configure and use the software to back up and restore the data in a Microsoft SQL Server environment.

PowerProtect Data Manager Oracle RMAN User Guide Describes how to configure and use the software to back up and restore the data in an Oracle Server environment.

PowerProtect Data Manager SAP HANA User Guide Describes how to configure and use the software to back up and restore the data in an SAP HANA Server environment.

PowerProtect Data Manager Storage Direct User Guide Describes how to configure and use the software with the Storage Direct agent to protect data on VMAX storage arrays through snapshot backup technology.

PowerProtect Data Manager Network Attached Storage User Guide

Describes how to configure and use the software to protect and recover the data on network-attached storage (NAS) shares and appliances.

PowerProtect Data Manager Virtual Machine User Guide Describes how to configure and use the software to back up and restore virtual machines and virtual-machine disks (VMDKs) in a vCenter Server environment.

6 Preface

Table 2. Related documentation (continued)

Title Content

VMware Cloud Foundation Disaster Recovery With PowerProtect Data Manager

Provides a detailed description of how to perform an end-to- end disaster recovery of a VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) environment.

PowerProtect Data Manager Public REST API documentation Contains the Dell Technologies APIs and includes tutorials to guide you in their use.

vRealize Automation Data Protection Extension for Data Protection Systems Installation and Administration Guide

Describes how to install, configure, and use the vRealize Data Protection Extension.

Typographical conventions The following type style conventions are used in this document:

Table 3. Style conventions

Formatting Description

Bold Used for interface elements that a user specifically selects or clicks, for example, names of buttons, fields, tab names, and menu paths. Also used for the name of a dialog box, page, pane, screen area with title, table label, and window.

Italic Used for full titles of publications that are referenced in text.

Monospace Used for: System code System output, such as an error message or script Pathnames, file names, file name extensions, prompts, and syntax Commands and options

Monospace italic Used for variables.

Monospace bold Used for user input.

[ ] Square brackets enclose optional values.

| Vertical line indicates alternate selections. The vertical line means or for the alternate selections.

{ } Braces enclose content that the user must specify, such as x, y, or z.

... Ellipses indicate non-essential information that is omitted from the example.

You can use the following resources to find more information about this product, obtain support, and provide feedback.

Where to find product documentation The Customer Support website The Community Network

Where to get support The Customer Support website provides access to product licensing, documentation, advisories, downloads, and how-to and troubleshooting information. The information can enable you to resolve a product issue before you contact Customer Support.

To access a product-specific page:

1. Go to the Customer Support website. 2. In the search box, type a product name, and then from the list that appears, select the product.

Preface 7

Knowledgebase The Knowledgebase contains applicable solutions that you can search for either by solution number (for example, KB000xxxxxx) or by keyword.

To search the Knowledgebase:

1. Go to the Customer Support website. 2. On the Support tab, click Knowledge Base. 3. In the search box, type either the solution number or keywords. Optionally, you can limit the search to specific products by

typing a product name in the search box, and then selecting the product from the list that appears.

Live chat To participate in a live interactive chat with a support agent:

1. Go to the Customer Support website. 2. On the Support tab, click Contact Support. 3. On the Contact Information page, click the relevant support, and then proceed.

Service requests To obtain in-depth help from a support agent, submit a service request. To submit a service request:

1. Go to the Customer Support website. 2. On the Support tab, click Service Requests.

NOTE: To create a service request, you must have a valid support agreement. For details about either an account or

obtaining a valid support agreement, contact a sales representative. To find the details of a service request, in the

Service Request Number field, type the service request number, and then click the right arrow.

To review an open service request:

1. Go to the Customer Support website. 2. On the Support tab, click Service Requests. 3. On the Service Requests page, under Manage Your Service Requests, click View All Dell Service Requests.

Online communities For peer contacts, conversations, and content on product support and solutions, go to the Community Network. Interactively engage with customers, partners, and certified professionals online.

How to provide feedback Feedback helps to improve the accuracy, organization, and overall quality of publications. You can send feedback to DPAD.Doc.Feedback@emc.com.

8 Preface

PowerProtect Data Manager for Storage Direct Agent Overview

Topics:

PowerProtect Data Manager overview Supported Internet Protocol versions Prerequisites Firewall and port considerations Role-based security Roadmap for protection with the Storage Direct agent for new environments Roadmap for protection with the Storage Direct agent for existing environments

PowerProtect Data Manager overview Use PowerProtect Data Manager with the application agent to perform the following operations:

Automate the configuration of the application agent backup policy and protection storage settings. Create a catalog of backups that the application agent creates. Then, monitor that catalog data to determine if retention

policies are being adhered to. Manage the life cycle of backups that the application agent creates. Ensure that the backups are marked for garbage

collection, based on the rules of the retention policy.

PowerProtect Data Manager does not change the way that the application agent works. DBAs, system administrators, or backup administrators create the backups and perform the restore operations.

Supported Internet Protocol versions PowerProtect Data Manager only supports the use of IPv4 addresses.

Using an IPv6 address can result in errors or other unexpected behavior. When configuring devices to connect over the network with PowerProtect Data Manager, use only IPv4 addresses.

Prerequisites Ensure that your environment meets the requirements for a new deployment or update of PowerProtect Data Manager.

Requirements: NOTE: The most up-to-date software compatibility information for the PowerProtect Data Manager software and the

application agents is provided by the E-Lab Navigator.

A list of hosts that write backups to DD systems is available. DDOS version 6.1 or later and the PowerProtect DD Management Center are required. All models of DD systems are

supported. NOTE: PowerProtect DD Management Center is required with a DDOS version earlier than 6.1.2. With DDOS version

6.1.2 or later, you can add and use a DD system directly without PowerProtect DD Management Center.

Application agent 19.11 or earlier is required. License: A trial license is provided with the PowerProtect Data Manager software. Customers can contact Customer

Support for assistance with a permanent PowerProtect Data Manager license. Large environments require multiple PowerProtect Data Manager instances. Contact Champions.eCDM@emc.com for

assistance with sizing requests.

1

PowerProtect Data Manager for Storage Direct Agent Overview 9

The PowerProtect Data Manager 19.11 download file requires the following: ESXi version 6.5, 6.7, or 7.0. 10 vCPUs, 24 GB RAM, one 100 GB disk, and one 500 GB disk. The latest version of the Google Chrome browser to access the PowerProtect Data Manager UI. TCP port 7000 is open between PowerProtect Data Manager and the application agent hosts.

VMware ESXi server that hosts PowerProtect Data Manager meets the following minimum system requirements: 10 CPU cores 24 GB of RAM for PowerProtect Data Manager Five disks with the following capacities:

Disk 1100 GB Disk 2500 GB Disk 310 GB Disk 410 GB Disk 55 GB

One 1-GB NIC

Firewall and port considerations The latest version of the PowerProtect Data Manager Security Configuration Guide provides more details about the port requirements.

Table 4. PowerProtect Data Manager port requirements

Description Communication Port

SSH communications Bi-directional communication between the SSH client and the PowerProtect Data Manager appliance.

22 TCP/UDP

Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Microsoft Exchange Server, SAP HANA, File System

Bi-directional communication between the PowerProtect Data Manager agent and the PowerProtect Data Manager appliance.

Requirement applies to Application Direct and VM Direct.

7000 TCP

REST Server Bi-directional communication between the HTTP client and the PowerProtect Data Manager appliance.

8443 TCP

RESTAPI Server - VM Direct

Bi-directional communication between the PowerProtect Data Manager agent and the PowerProtect Data Manager appliance.

Requirement applies to Microsoft SQL Server VM application- aware.

8443 TCP

UI redirect Inbound only. 80 TCP

443

LDAP Outbound only. 389 TCP/UDP

636 TCP

Discovery (devices) Outbound between the PowerProtect Data Manager appliance and the device.

3009 TCPStorage Direct and DD system

5989 TCPSMI-S

443 TCPXtremIO

7225 TCPRecoverPoint

PowerProtect Data Manager agent

Bi-directional communication between the database hosts and the PowerProtect Data Manager appliance.

7000 TCP

10 PowerProtect Data Manager for Storage Direct Agent Overview

Table 4. PowerProtect Data Manager port requirements (continued)

Description Communication Port

This requirement applies to both Application Direct and VM Direct.

Embedded VM Direct service

Outbound. 9090 TCP

Role-based security PowerProtect Data Manager provides predefined user roles that control access to areas of the user interface and to protected operations. Some of the functionality in this guide is reserved for particular roles and may not be accessible from every user account.

By using the predefined roles, you can limit access to PowerProtect Data Manager and to backup data by applying the principle of least privilege.

The PowerProtect Data Manager Security Configuration Guide provides more information about user roles, including the associated privileges and the tasks that each role can perform.

Roadmap for protection with the Storage Direct agent for new environments For new Storage Direct agent environments, the following roadmap provides the steps required to configure protection of the Storage Direct agent in PowerProtect Data Manager to facilitate movement of snapshot backups from the VMAX storage area to protection storage.

Prerequisites

Review the prerequisites and limitations in the following sections:

Storage Direct agent prerequisites Configuration file requirements Storage Direct agent limitations

Steps

1. Set up the SMIS server in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:

a. Add the SMIS server. b. Initiate a discovery of the SMIS server. c. Verify that the discovery completed successfully.

Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent provides information.

2. Set up the DD system in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:

a. Add a primary protection storage system. b. (Optional) If using replication, add a secondary protection storage system. c. Initiate a discovery of protection storage. d. Verify that the discovery completed successfully.

Add protection storage provides information. NOTE: If you use the Storage Direct agent to move snapshot backups from a VMAX storage array to a DD system, the

DD Management Center is not required.

3. Install the Storage Direct agent on the Storage Direct host system.

Installing or updating the Storage Direct agent provides information.

4. Approve the Storage Direct agent in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI on each Storage Direct host system.

Manage the Storage Direct agent provides information.

PowerProtect Data Manager for Storage Direct Agent Overview 11

5. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, verify that the VMAX assets (storage groups) have been discovered, and that the host name appears next to these assets.

Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent provides information about how to verify that these assets have been discovered, and Add a self-service protection policy for Storage Direct provides information about adding assets to a protection policy.

6. Create a centralized or self-service protection policy in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI by selecting the Storage Group policy type and choosing the I want PPDM to automatically provision and manage all storage needed to achieve this objective option.

Add a centralized protection policy for Storage Direct and Add a self-service protection policy for Storage Direct provide information.

7. If you plan to perform self-service backup and restore, review the configuration file that is automatically generated upon the successful configuration of the Storage Direct agent in PowerProtect Data Manager to ensure that the file contains the information identified in Configuration file requirements.

Add a self-service protection policy for Storage Direct provides information about the type of information that the configuration file contains and how this file is used when running the backup command.

NOTE: Do not make any changes to this configuration file.

8. For self-service backups, run the protectpoint snapbackup create command with the configuration file name specified in order to perform the self-service backup.

The Storage Direct Agent Installation and Administration Guide, and the After you finish section of Add a self-service protection policy for Storage Direct, provide information about running this command with the configuration file.

Roadmap for protection with the Storage Direct agent for existing environments For existing Storage Direct agent environments, the following roadmap provides the steps required to configure protection of the Storage Direct agent in PowerProtect Data Manager to facilitate movement of snapshot backups from the VMAX storage area to protection storage.

Prerequisites

Review any prerequisites in the section Storage Direct agent prerequisites and Configuration file requirements, and make note of any limitations in the section Storage Direct agent limitations.

Steps

1. Set up the SMIS server in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:

a. Add the SMIS server. b. Initiate a discovery of the SMIS server. c. Verify that the discovery completed successfully.

Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent provides information.

2. Set up the DD system in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:

a. Add a primary protection storage system. b. (Optional) If using replication, add a secondary protection storage system. c. Initiate a discovery of protection storage. d. Verify that the discovery completed successfully.

Add protection storage provides information.

NOTE: If using the Storage Direct agent to move snapshot backups from a VMAX storage array to a DD system, you do

not need to add a DD Management Center.

3. Modify your existing configuration file to ensure that the file contains the information required by PowerProtect Data Manager to run the VMAX Storage Group policy, and to ensure the file is in an acceptable format, as described in the section Configuration file requirements.

4. Onboard the existing Storage Direct agent command line configuration to the PowerProtect Data Manager server. Onboard an existing Storage Direct agent configuration to the PowerProtect Data Manager server provides information.

12 PowerProtect Data Manager for Storage Direct Agent Overview

5. Update the Storage Direct agent on the Storage Direct host system.

Installing or updating the Storage Direct agent provides information.

6. Approve the Storage Direct agent in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI on each Storage Direct/ProtectPoint host system.

Manage the Storage Direct agent provides information.

7. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, verify that the VMAX assets (storage groups) have been discovered, and that the host name appears next to these assets.

Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent provides information about how to verify that these assets have been discovered. Add a self-service protection policy for Storage Direct provides information about adding assets to a protection policy.

8. Create a centralized or self-service protection policy in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI by selecting the Storage Group policy type and choosing the I will provision and manage my own storage option.

Add a centralized protection policy for Storage Direct and Add a self-service protection policy for Storage Direct provide information.

9. If you plan to perform self-service backup and restore, review the configuration file that is automatically generated upon the successful configuration of the Storage Direct agent in PowerProtect Data Manager to ensure that the file contains the information identified in Configuration file requirements. This configuration file will be used going forward instead of your previous configuration file to perform self-service backup and restore.

Add a self-service protection policy for Storage Direct provides information about the type of information that the configuration file contains, and how this file is used when running the backup command for the initial snapshot.

NOTE: Do not make any changes to this configuration file.

10. For self-service backups, run the protectpoint snapbackup create command with the configuration file name specified in order to perform the self-service backup.

The Storage Direct Agent Installation and Administration Guide, and the After you finish section of Add a self-service protection policy for Storage Direct, provide information about running this command with the configuration file.

PowerProtect Data Manager for Storage Direct Agent Overview 13

Enabling the Storage Direct Agent for VMAX Systems

Topics:

About the Storage Direct agent Storage Direct agent prerequisites Storage Direct agent limitations Installing or updating the Storage Direct agent Updating an existing Storage Direct agent

About the Storage Direct agent Storage Direct uses snapshot backup technology to protect data on VMAX and PowerMax storage arrays by moving storage group data from the array to protection storage.

PowerProtect Data Manager enables application administrators to configure the Storage Direct agent and create centralized or self-service protection policies to set up backups for new environments and import existing environments into PowerProtect Data Manager.

PowerProtect Data Manager also enables you to restore the snapshot backup data with the following options:

Restore from backups (restore to original, restore to an alternate location on the same storage system, and restore to a different storage system).

Instant access to Storage Direct backups on any host.

You can use the installation wizard to install the Storage Direct agent on the host that you plan to protect. Installing or updating the Storage Direct agent provides instructions.

When you install and configure the agent, Storage Direct creates a snapshot of the data on storage groups and transfers the data to protection storage. Using FTS technology, the host running your applications accesses the source LUNs from the storage array where the storage group data resides. A link is established between FTS devices on the array and the destination protection storage system, which enables you to create a virtual disk (vDisk), vDisk pool, and MTree on the DD system.

After the SMIS server and DD system are added and discovered, then the Storage Direct agent must be approved and registered in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI. PowerProtect Data Manager can discover the storage groups in the storage arrays and you can assign unprotected storage groups to a protection policy.

The E-Lab Navigator provides software compatibility information for the PowerProtect Data Manager software and the Storage Direct agent.

Storage Direct agent prerequisites Before you enable the Storage Direct agent and discover VMAX storage groups, ensure that your system meets the following requirements:

NOTE: Only Windows and Linux platforms are supported through the PowerProtect Data Manager server.

The vDisk user is an administrator. The LUNs of the storage groups to be protected are masked to the host. The host is a 64-bit system. PowerProtect Data Manager supports only 64-bit hosts. The host is running a supported operating system version. The E-Lab Navigator provides software compatibility information

for PowerProtect Data Manager. All clocks on both the host and PowerProtect Data Manager are time-synced to the local NTP server to ensure discovery of

the backups.

2

14 Enabling the Storage Direct Agent for VMAX Systems

The host and the PowerProtect Data Manager network can see and resolve each other. For replication, add a secondary protection storage system. For existing Storage Direct agent users, if you have backup copies for which the expiration is set to "never", an

BACKUP_EXPIRE variable must be added to the configuration file prior to setting up the Storage Direct agent host in PowerProtect Data Manager. The value set for BACKUP_EXPIRE will be applied to those existing backup copies and read automatically by PowerProtect Data Manager, and displayed as the copy retention time within the PowerProtect Data Manager UI.

After protection storage discovery, ensure that the vDisk pool and storage units are available. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select Infrastructure > Storage, select the protection storage system, and then select Manage Storage Units.

Storage Direct agent limitations Review the following limitations that apply to PowerProtect Data Manager support for the Storage Direct agent.

Provide asset configuration file during update

For existing Storage Direct agent users who are updating, the asset configuration file must be provided during the update. No option is provided to add the file once the update is completed.

Storage Direct agent coexistence with other application agents is not supported

PowerProtect Data Manager does not support the coexistence of the Storage Direct agent with other application agents, such as the Oracle, SAP HANA, or SQL application agent in PowerProtect Data Manager.

Configuration Change Management is not supported for existing Storage Direct users

The Configuration Change Management feature is not supported for existing Storage Direct users when updating to the Storage Direct agent for PowerProtect Data Manager.

Storage Direct policies do not support Smart Scale system pools

The storage target list shows all protection storage systems, regardless of membership, but does not show system pools. Therefore, you cannot select a system pool as a policy target. The PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide provides more information about system pools.

Installing or updating the Storage Direct agent Learn how to install or update the Storage Direct agent for Linux or Windows.

Install the Storage Direct agent on Linux

Learn how to install the stand-alone Storage Direct agent for PowerProtect Data Manager on supported Linux systems.

Prerequisites

Ensure that you review the prerequisites provided in Storage Direct agent prerequisites. Download the Storage Direct agent software package to the Linux host.

Enabling the Storage Direct Agent for VMAX Systems 15

Steps

1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:

a. Select Agent Downloads from the System Settings menu. b. Select the Storage Direct agent download package for Linux, storagedirectagent19x_linux_x86_64.tar.gz.

c. Download the package to the location where you want to install the Storage Direct agent.

2. Unpack the Storage Direct software package:

a. Run the following command:

gunzip storagedirectagent19x_ .tar.gz

b. Run the following command:

tar -xvf storagedirectagent19x_ .tar

c. Run the following command:

rpm -import RPM_KEY

3. Provide "Execute" +x permissions on the install.sh file.

4. Install the Storage Direct software as the root user by running the installation script:

install.sh

NOTE: During the installation, you are prompted for the hostname or IP address of the PowerProtect Data Manager.

As an alternative, you can include the --server option when you run the install.sh installation script, as in the

following:

install.sh --server=

To obtain a list of all the available command options for the install.sh command, run the command install.sh --help or install.sh -h. The command also supports the --debug or -d option for debugging purposes.

The product is installed in the /opt/dpsapps/ppfsagent directory. Two RPM files are installed as part of the installation script: storagedirectagent-19.x.x.x86_64.rpm powerprotect-agentsvc-19.x.x.x86_64

To view the status of the PowerProtect agent service, go to the /opt/dpsapps/agentsvc directory and run the ./ register.sh --status command.

Next steps

Complete the host registration with the PowerProtect Data Manager server. Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent provides more information.

Approve the pending Storage Direct agent request so that you can discover the VMAX assets, also known as storage groups. Manage the Storage Direct agent provides more information.

Update the Storage Direct agent on Linux

Learn how to update to the stand-alone Storage Direct agent for PowerProtect Data Manager on supported Linux systems.

Prerequisites

Ensure that you review the prerequisites provided in Storage Direct agent prerequisites, and the Update requirements section in Configuration file requirements.

Download the Storage Direct agent software package to the Linux host.

16 Enabling the Storage Direct Agent for VMAX Systems

Steps

1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:

a. Select Agent Downloads from the System Settings menu. b. Select the Storage Direct agent download package for Linux, storagedirectagent19x_linux_x86_64.tar.gz.

c. Download the package to the location where you want to install the Storage Direct agent.

2. Unpack the Storage Direct software package:

a. Run the following command:

gunzip storagedirectagent19x_ .tar.gz

b. Run the following command:

tar -xvf storagedirectagent19x_ .tar

c. Run the following command:

rpm -import RPM_KEY

3. Provide "Execute" +x permissions on the install.sh file.

4. Update the Storage Direct software as the root user by running the installation script with the -u option, as in the following:

install.sh -u

NOTE: Later in the update, you are prompted for the hostname or IP address of the PowerProtect Data Manager. As an

alternative, you can include the --server option when you run the install.sh -u command, as in the following:

install.sh -u --server=

The product is updated in the /opt/dpsapps/ppfsagent directory. Two RPM files are installed as part of the installation script: storagedirectagent-19.x.x.x86_64.rpm powerprotect-agentsvc-19.x.x.x86_64

5. For Do you wish to give existing config file path?, type y, and then provide the path to the configuration files. A prompt appears requesting if you have additional configuration files. If you have more than one existing configuration file, type y, and provide the additional path.

6. For Do you wish to upgrade adm-agent?, type y.

7. If you did not specify the PowerProtect Data Manager server name when running the install.sh -u command, a prompt appears requesting if you want to register Storage Direct with the PowerProtect Data Manager server. Type y, and then type the PowerProtect Data Manager server FQDN or IP address.

Next steps

Complete the host registration with the PowerProtect Data Manager server. Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent provides more information.

Approve the pending Storage Direct agent request so that you can discover the VMAX assets, also known as storage groups. Manage the Storage Direct agent provides more information.

Install or update the Storage Direct agent on Windows

Learn how to install or update to the stand-alone Storage Direct agent for PowerProtect Data Manager on supported Windows systems.

Prerequisites

Ensure that you review the prerequisites provided in Storage Direct agent prerequisites, and the Update requirements section in Configuration file requirements.

Download the Storage Direct agent software package to the Windows host.

Enabling the Storage Direct Agent for VMAX Systems 17

Steps

1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI:

a. Select Agent Downloads from the System Settings menu. b. Select the Storage Direct agent download package for Windows, for example,

storagedirectagent19x_win_x64.zip.

c. Download the package in the location that you want to install the Storage Direct agent.

2. To launch the installer, unzip the storagedirectagent19x_win_x64.zip file and then run the storagedirectagent19x_win_x64.exe program. The installation wizard opens.

3. Click Next.

4. Select I accept the terms in the License Agreement, and then click Next.

5. On the Configure Installation Options page, click PowerProtect Data Manager registration, and then and type the PowerProtect Data Manager server hostname or IP address in the Appliance hostname or IP address text box so that the Storage Direct agent can register with the PowerProtect Data Manager server.

6. If updating, on the Configuration File Input page, click Select the Configuration Files, browse to the location of your configuration files, and for each configuration file, click Add.

7. When completed, click Install.

8. Click Finish to exit the installation wizard.

Next steps

Complete the host registration with the PowerProtect Data Manager server. Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent provides more information. For updates, if the installed product is already registered with any PowerProtect Data Manager server, then this information will appear automatically in the UI.

Approve the pending Storage Direct agent request so that you can discover the VMAX assets, also known as storage groups. Manage the Storage Direct agent provides more information.

Silent installation of the Storage Direct agent

You can perform a silent installation of the Storage Direct agent on Linux or Windows.

Silent installation commands

To perform the silent installation to the default path:

On Linux, run the following command:

install.sh -- server On Windows, run the following command:

storagedirectagent-19.x.x.exe /s PPDMHostName=

NOTE: PPDMHostName is a mandatory option in the command line. If a value is not provided, the product is

installed without PowerProtect registration, and no backups can be initiated from the application host. Specifying

ProductInstallPath is optional, but if used, the value cannot be empty.

Uninstall the Storage Direct agent on Linux

You can uninstall the Storage Direct agent by using the uninstall.sh script, which is included when you untar the installer.

Steps

1. Run uninstall.sh.

2. Type y to confirm that you want to uninstall the agent.

18 Enabling the Storage Direct Agent for VMAX Systems

If you have the powerprotect agentsvc installed as well, a message appears indicating Other application agents might be using powerprotect-agentsvc... Do you wish to uninstall powerprotect- agentsvc[y/n]:

3. Type y or n for the powerprotect agentsvc uninstall. The Storage Direct agent uninstall starts.

Uninstall the Storage Direct agent on Windows

You can uninstall the Storage Direct agent by using the setup file.

Steps

1. Launch storagedirectagent-19.x.x.exe.

2. On the Install Modification page, select Remove, and then click Next.

3. On the Complete the Setup page, click Finish.

4. After the uninstall completes, remove the working directory located at C:\Program Files\DPSAPPS\ppfsagent.

Updating an existing Storage Direct agent To update an existing Storage Direct agent for a new release of PowerProtect Data Manager, ensure that your configuration is compatible.

Review the following setup requirements to update an existing Storage Direct agent to the latest release of PowerProtect Data Manager.

During the update:

On the Configure Installation Options page, click PowerProtect Data Manager registration, and then provide the PowerProtect Data Manager server IP address so that the Storage Direct agent can register with the PowerProtect Data Manager server.

On the Configuration File Input page, click Select the Configuration Files, browse to the location of your configuration files, and for each configuration file, click Add.

Configuration file requirements

When you create a VMAX Storage Group protection policy, a configuration file is automatically created in the C:\Program Files\DPSAPPS\ppfsagent\config directory. This configuration file contains information about the VMAX and DD system attributes and the storage groups protected by the policy. This file is required for self-service backup and restore procedures.

To ensure that PowerProtect Data Manager can use your existing configuration files, review the files and ensure that the contents and your environment satisfy the following requirements:

For existing Storage Direct agent users who are updating, the asset configuration file must be provided during the update. No option is provided to add the file once the update is completed.

For existing Storage Direct agent users, if you have backup copies for which the expiration is set to "never", an BACKUP_EXPIRE variable must be added to the configuration file prior to setting up the Storage Direct agent host in PowerProtect Data Manager. The value set for BACKUP_EXPIRE will be applied to those existing backup copies and read automatically by PowerProtect Data Manager, and displayed as the copy retention time within the PowerProtect Data Manager UI. If no value is set for this variable, a retention value of 0 will be used for any protection policies run from PowerProtect Data Manager, and the UI will display a retention date that has passed.

To import a single configuration file, all backup vDisks on the DD system must belong to the same pool.

You can create more than one device group. For example, for two source storage groups (SG1 and SG2), you can create one device group for the backup vDisks of SG1 and another device group for the backup vDisks of SG2.

To import multiple configuration files per host, vDisks can belong to different pools.

The file must contain only storage groups. It must not contain IDs of the source LUNs or details about the secondary DD system.

The file must contain the Ddboost and DdVdiskUser with their corresponding passwords in the lockbox.

The Ddboost and DdVdiskUser specified in the configuration file must have the admin role.

Enabling the Storage Direct Agent for VMAX Systems 19

The Devicepath cannot start with a forward slash (/).

Additionally, the file must be in one of the following formats:

One restore device group and one restore storage group. Multiple restore device groups and multiple restore storage groups with one-to-one mapping between each restore device

group and restore storage group.

One restore device group and one restore storage group

In this format:

One entry exists for RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP and VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG for all source storage groups.

All storage groups map to a single RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP and VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG.

Only one of the RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP or VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG attributes is used. Enclose the one not in use in a comment.

For RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP, the corresponding pool information for RESTORE_DEVICE_POOL must be provided and the attribute must not be enclosed in a comment.

For VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG, enclose the RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP and RESTORE_DEVICE_POOL attributes in a comment.

Example:

[PRIMARY_SYSTEM] DDBOOST_USER = DEVICE_HOST = DEVICE_PATH = DDVDISK_USER = # RESTORE_DEVICE_POOL = # RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP = # DD_BOOST_FC = # DD_PORT = VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG = # SELECT_VISIBLE_RESTORE_DEVICES = | | | [BACKUP_SOURCE_DEVICES] # SRC_DEVICE1 = 000196700638:00F1A # SRC_DEVICEn = SRC_GROUP1 = SRC_GROUP2 = SRC_GROUP3 = # SRC_GROUPn =

Multiple restore device groups and restore storage groups

In this format:

Each source storage group has a corresponding restore storage group and restore device group. The number of source storage groups is in a one-to-one mapping, which should be maintained. The same

number of entries must exist for RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP and VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG. For example, the first RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP and VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG entry should correspond to SRC_GROUP1. The second RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP and VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG entry should correspond to SRC_GROUP2.

Only one entry of RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP and VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG should exist. Enclose other entries in a comment.

Example:

[PRIMARY_SYSTEM] DDBOOST_USER = DEVICE_HOST = DEVICE_PATH = DDVDISK_USER = # RESTORE_DEVICE_POOL = # RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP =

20 Enabling the Storage Direct Agent for VMAX Systems

# RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP = # RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP = # DD_BOOST_FC = # DD_PORT = VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG = # VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG = # VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG = # SELECT_VISIBLE_RESTORE_DEVICES = | | | [BACKUP_SOURCE_DEVICES] # SRC_DEVICE1 = 000196700638:00F1A # SRC_DEVICEn = SRC_GROUP1 = SRC_GROUP2 = SRC_GROUP3 = # SRC_GROUPn =

Onboard an existing Storage Direct agent configuration to the PowerProtect Data Manager server

Perform the following steps to onboard an existing Storage Direct agent command line configuration to a PowerProtect Data Manager server.

Steps

1. Verify that all the configuration files required for importing to PowerProtect Data Manager are complete.

2. Update the Storage Direct Agent for version 19.7, and ensure that you specify the names of all required configuration files during the update.

3. Create a json file named BFconfigValidate.json, with the following content:

{ "command": "brownfieldConfigValidate", "configName": [] } 4. Copy the json file to the installpath/bin directory.

5. Run the following command:

protectpoint < BFconfigValidate.json. NOTE: The validation fails when you validate multiple brown field config files simultaneously. In that case, rerun this

command according to the number of files. For example, if you have five brown field config files, run this command for

five times.

The appsetting file in the installpath/config directory displays details for both successfully validated configuration files and configuration files that cannot be validated. For each configuration file that has been validated successfully, a 1 is added at the end of the configuration file name. Only the successful configuration files' storage groups and copies will be onboarded to the PowerProtect Data Manager server.

Enabling the Storage Direct Agent for VMAX Systems 21

Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection

Topics:

About asset sources, assets, and storage Add protection storage Manage the Storage Direct agent Enable an asset source Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent Replication triggers Add a self-service protection policy for Storage Direct Add a centralized protection policy for Storage Direct Add a service-level agreement Extended retention Add assets to an existing storage group protection policy Remove assets from an existing storage group protection policy Edit the retention period for backup copies Delete backup copies Restoring a Storage Direct VMAX storage group Restore backup copies from replication DD when source Storage Direct agent host, PowerProtect Data Manager server,

and VMAX are unavailable Manage the PowerProtect agent service

About asset sources, assets, and storage In PowerProtect Data Manager, assets are the basic units that PowerProtect Data Manager protects. Asset sources are the mechanism that PowerProtect Data Manager uses to manage assets and communicate with the protection storage where backup copies of the assets are stored.

PowerProtect Data Manager supports PowerProtect DD Management Center (DDMC) as the storage and programmatic interface for controlling protection storage systems.

Asset sources can be a vCenter server, Kubernetes cluster, application host, SMIS server, or Cloud Snapshot Manager tenant. Assets can be virtual machines, Microsoft Exchange Server databases, Microsoft SQL Server databases, Oracle databases, SAP HANA databases, file systems, Kubernetes namespaces, or storage groups.

Before you can add an asset source, you must enable the source within the PowerProtect Data Manager user interface.

In the Assets window, you can export asset records by using the Export All functionality.

CAUTION: Maximum number of characters that are allowed for an asset or a storage group name is 25. If it

exceeds, the protection policy configuration fails.

Add protection storage Add and configure a storage system to use as a target for protection policies. Adding a storage system requires the admin role.

Prerequisites

NOTE:

When adding a High Availability PowerProtect DD system, observe the following points:

Do not add the individual active and standby DD systems to PowerProtect Data Manager.

3

22 Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection

In the Address field, use the hostname that corresponds to the floating IP address of the High Availability PowerProtect

DD system.

The High Availability PowerProtect DD system is verified with the root certificate.

About this task

The PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide provides more information about protection storage and related concepts:

NOTE: If using the Storage Direct agent to move snapshot backups from a VMAX storage array to a DD system, you do not

need to add a DDMC.

Steps

1. From the left navigation pane, select Infrastructure > Storage.

The Storage window appears.

2. In the Protection Storage tab, click Add.

3. In the Add Storage dialog box, select a storage system (PowerProtect DD System or PowerProtect DD Management Center).

For a system pool, select DDMC.

4. To add a High Availability PowerProtect DD system, select the checkbox.

5. Specify the storage system attributes:

a. In the Name field, specify a storage name. b. In the Address field, specify the hostname, fully qualified domain name (FQDN), or the IP address. c. In the Port field, specify the port for SSL communication. Default is 3009.

6. Under Host Credentials click Add, if you have already configured protection storage credentials that are common across storage systems, select an existing password. Alternatively, you can add new credentials, and then click Save.

7. If a trusted certificate does not exist on the storage system, a dialog box appears requesting certificate approval. Click Verify to review the certificate, and then click Accept.

8. Click Save to exit the Add Storage dialog and initiate the discovery of the storage system.

A dialog box appears to indicate that the request to add storage has been initiated.

9. In the Storage window, click Discover to refresh the window with any newly discovered storage systems. When a discovery completes successfully, the Status column updates to OK.

10. To modify a storage system location, complete the following steps:

A storage system location is a label that is applied to a storage system. If you want to store your copies in a specific location, the label helps you select the correct storage system during policy creation.

a. In the Storage window, select the storage system from the table. b. Click More Actions > Set Location.

The Set Location window appears. c. Click Add in the Location list.

The Add Location window appears. d. In the Name field, type a location name for the asset, and click Save.

Results

PowerProtect Data Manager displays external DD systems only in the Storage window Name column. PowerProtect Data Manager displays DDMC storage types in the Managed By column.

Manage the Storage Direct agent After the Storage Direct installation completes, an entry with the agent host name appears in the Infrastructure > Application Agents window of the PowerProtect Data Manager UI. From this window, you can approve or reject a pending Storage Direct agent request, and edit and delete existing agents.

Steps

1. Select Infrastructure > Application Agents.

Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection 23

2. In the Application Agents window, select the entry that contains the hostname, and click Approve.

The status changes from Awaiting Approval to Registered.

NOTE: The Auto Allow List option, which enables you to preapprove application agents automatically, is disabled

by default. When you enable this option, the Storage Direct agent registration is approved automatically.

Enable an asset source An asset source must be enabled in PowerProtect Data Manager before you can add and register the asset source for the protection of assets.

About this task

Only the Administrator role can manage asset sources.

In some circumstances, the enabling of multiple asset sources is required. For example, a vCenter Server and a Kubernetes cluster asset source must be enabled for Tanzu Kubernetes guest cluster protection.

There are other circumstances where enabling an asset source is not required, such as the following:

For application agents and other agents such as File System and Storage Direct, an asset source is enabled automatically when you register and approve the agent host. For example, if you have not enabled an Oracle asset source but have registered the application host though the API or the PowerProtect Data Manager user interface, PowerProtect Data Manager automatically enables the Oracle asset source.

When you update to the latest version of PowerProtect Data Manager from an earlier release, any asset sources that were previously enabled appear in the PowerProtect Data Manager user interface. On a new deployment, however, no asset sources are enabled by default.

Steps

1. From the PowerProtect Data Manager user interface, select Infrastructure > Asset Sources, and then click + to reveal the New Asset Source tab.

2. In the pane for the asset source that you want to add, click Enable Source. The Asset Sources window updates to display a tab for the new asset source.

Results

You can now add or approve the asset source for use in PowerProtect Data Manager. For a vCenter server, Kubernetes cluster, SMIS Server, or PowerProtect Cloud Snapshot Manager tenant, select the appropriate tab in this window and click Add. For an application host, select Infrastructure > Application Agents and click Add or Approve as required.

NOTE: Although you can add a Cloud Snapshot Manager tenant to PowerProtect Data Manager in order to view its health,

alerts, and the status of its protection, recovery, and system jobs, you cannot manage the protection of its assets from

PowerProtect Data Manager. To manage the protection of its assets, use Cloud Snapshot Manager. For more information,

see the PowerProtect Cloud Snapshot Manager Online Help.

Disable an asset source

If you enabled an asset source that you no longer require, and the host has not been registered in PowerProtect Data Manager, perform the following steps to disable the asset source.

About this task

NOTE: An asset source cannot be disabled when one or more sources are still registered or there are backup copies of the

source assets. For example, if you registered a vCenter server and created policy backups for the vCenter Server virtual

machines, then you cannot disable the vCenter Server asset source. But if you register a vCenter server and then delete it

without creating any backups, you can disable the asset source.

24 Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection

Steps

1. From the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select Infrastructure > Asset Sources, and then select the tab of the asset source that you want to disable. If no host registration is detected, a red Disable button appears.

2. Click Disable.

Results

PowerProtect Data Manager removes the tab for this asset source.

Add and discover the SMIS server for the Storage Direct agent In order to enable protection of data with the Storage Direct agent in PowerProtect Data Manager, the addition of an SMIS server is required. The SMIS server facilitates the discovery of LUNs for the storage groups configured in the VMAX. Perform the following steps to discover the SMIS server as an asset source in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI.

Steps

1. Select Infrastructure > Asset Sources.

The Asset Sources window appears.

2. Select the SMIS server tab.

3. Click Add. The Add SMIS Server dialog box appears.

4. Provide the name, IP address, and port number of the SMIS server.

5. Under Host Credentials, choose an existing entry from the list to use for the SMIS server user credentials, or click Add from this list to add new credentials.

NOTE: The Host Credentials must be an SMIS Admin user credentials whether it is an existing entry or a new user. Else,

the discovery process does not work as expected.

6. Click Verify to check that the trusted certificate is valid for the specified host.

7. Click Save. An entry appears for SMIS in the table on the Asset Sources window.

NOTE: A message does not appear if credential verification for this host was unsuccessful. If the credentials are invalid,

the status of the SMIS server entry in the SMIS Server tab of the Infrastructure > Asset Sources window will

indicate Failed.

8. Select the check box next to the entry and click Discover to initiate discovery of the assets, or storage groups, in the VMAX.

NOTE: Asset discovery is also initiated by default after registration of the host to PowerProtect Data Manager, and

at daily intervals. Discovery time is based on networking bandwidth. Note that each time that you initiate a discovery

process, the resources that are discovered and those that are handling the discovery impact system performance.

When the discovery completes successfully, the Discovery Status column updates to OK.

Next steps

PowerProtect Data Manager initiates the automatic discovery of the assets (storage groups) within the VMAX. To verify the discovery of storage groups, go to the Infrastructure > Assets window and select the VMAX Storage Groups tab. Upon host registration with the PowerProtect Data Manager server, all of the assets for the host (both those currently protected and unprotected) are displayed in the Assets window along with the host name.

NOTE: Ensure that you run a Discover of the SMIS server each time that you add a LUN to a storage group.

Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection 25

Replication triggers PowerProtect Data Manager orchestrates protection policy replication objectives independently of the primary backup or retention. When you add a replication objective to a policy, select one of the available triggers.

The default replication trigger is a schedule window that you define by setting a recurrence period plus start and end times. Replication occurs during the defined window. For example, every day between 8 p.m. and 12 a.m.

You can also trigger replication immediately after the completion of the associated primary backup or retention, whether scheduled or manual. At the start of the primary backup, PowerProtect Data Manager generates an associated replication job that remains queued until the end of the protection job. If the backup fails or completes with exception, the associated replication job is skipped. Restarting the protection job queues the associated replication job again.

NOTE:

Replication after backup completion is only supported for centralized protection policies. This feature is not yet available for

self-service protection policies or for replication objectives that are based on extended retention.

Older application agents may not support replication after backup completion. Update the applicable application agents to

the current version before configuring this trigger.

Using a schedule can help you manage network traffic by replicating during off-peak hours. However, for larger backup sets, the primary backup or retention may not finish before the start of the replication schedule, which creates a replication backlog. Replication after backup completion prevents a replication backlog from forming.

To prevent data loss, the replication after backup completion trigger replicates new backups from the primary objective and any outstanding backups that have not yet replicated.

Add a self-service protection policy for Storage Direct Select a self-service protection policy if you want your backup application to manage the local protection stage, and PowerProtect Data Manager to handle the additional stage by backing up selected assets within a policy. You can use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to add a self-service protection policy for Storage Direct data protection.

Prerequisites

Review the prerequisites. If you have added a LUN to a storage group since the last SMIS server discovery, run a Discover of the SMIS server. Ensure that there is no lock on the VMAX. Before you perform a backup on a weekly or monthly schedule from the protection policy, ensure that the PowerProtect

Data Manager time zone is set to the local time zone. If the PowerProtect Data Manager time zone is not set to the local time zone, the weekly or monthly backup still runs but is triggered based on the PowerProtect Data Manager time zone.

If applicable, complete all of the virtual network configuration tasks before you assign any virtual networks to the protection policy. The PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide provides more information.

Steps

1. From the left navigation pane, select Protection > Protection Policies.

The Protection Policies window appears.

2. In the Protection Policies window, click Add.

The Add Policy wizard appears.

3. On the Type page, specify the following fields, and then click Next:

NameType a descriptive name for the protection policy. DescriptionType a description for the policy. TypeSelect Storage Group.

The Purpose page appears.

4. In the Purpose page:

a. Select Self-Service Protection. PowerProtect Data Manager. b. Select one of the following options:

26 Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection

If this is a new Storage Direct environment, select PowerProtect Data Manager will automatically provision and manage all storage required to meet this objective.

When selected, PowerProtect Data Manager will perform the provisioning of the Storage Direct environment and create the required configuration on both the VMAX storage and the DD system. For example, a backup device group and restore device group are created on the DD system, and a backup storage group that is linked with the source storage group, and a restore storage group, are created on the VMAX.

If this is an existing Storage Direct environment, select PowerProtect Data Manager will not provision and manage my storage.

When selected, only the storage group assets in the existing configuration will appear in the Assets page. Also, no additional configuration will be performed since this was already completed during setup of the stand-alone Storage Direct environment. The configuration will be read from the configuration file and stored in the PowerProtect Data Manager database.

c. Click Next. The Assets page appears.

5. Select the unprotected storage groups that you want to add to the backup of this protection policy group. Within this page, you can filter by host or asset name to locate the required assets. Ensure that any assets you add to the policy have a hostname entry in the Host column. The Assets page displays the storage groups that are attached to the host that are unprotected (storage groups that have not been assigned to a protection policy).

6. Click Next. The Objectives page appears.

7. On the Objectives page, select a policy-level Service Level Agreement (SLA) from the Set Policy Level SLA list, or select Add to open the Add Service Level Agreement wizard and create a policy-level SLA.

The PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide provides instructions.

8. Click Add under Primary Retention. The Add Primary Retention dialog appears.

9. On the Retention pane of the Add Primary Retention dialog box:

a. Under Recurrence: Self-Service, specify the Retain for period for which the backup scheduled by self-service is to be retained.

You can extend the retention period for the primary retention backup by adding an Extend Retention backup. For example, your regular schedule for daily backups can use a retention period of 30 days, but you can apply extended retention backups to keep the full backups taken on Mondays for 10 weeks. Extended retention provides information.

b. Click Save within the Retention pane to save and collapse the backup schedule.

10. Specify the fields on the Target pane of the Add Primary Retention dialog.

If you are a new Storage Direct user, the Storage Name and Network interface lists are enabled for selection, and the Retention Lock slider can be moved to On. If you are an existing Storage Direct user, the protection storage destination is selected automatically and you cannot modify the selection. Also, the Retention Lock slider cannot be moved.

a. Storage NameFor the primary retention, select a destination from the list of protection storage, or select Add to add a protection storage system and complete the details in the Storage Target window.

NOTE: The Space field indicates the total amount of space, and the percentage of available space, on the storage

system.

b. Network InterfaceSelect a network interface from the list, if applicable. c. Retention LockMove the Retention Lock slider to the right to enable retention locking for these backups on the

selected system. PowerProtect Data Manager uses Governance mode for retention locking, which means that the lock can be reverted at any time if necessary. Toggling the Retention Lock slider on or off applies to the current backup copy only, and does not impact the retention lock setting for existing backup copies.

d. SLASelect an existing service level agreement that you want to apply to this schedule from the list, or select Add to create an SLA within the Add Service Level Agreement wizard.

The PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide provides instructions.

11. Click Save to save your changes and return to the Objectives page.

The Objectives page updates to display the name and location of the target storage system under Primary Retention.

After completing the objective, you can change any details by clicking Edit next to the objective.

12. Optionally, extend the retention period for a primary retention:

Extended retention provides more information about Extend Retention functionality.

Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection 27

a. Click Extend Retention next to Primary Retention. An entry for Extend Retention is created below Primary Retention.

b. Under Extend Retention, click Add. The Add Extended Retention dialog appears.

c. Extend the retention of a full primary backup copy everySpecify the preferred recurrence for the extended retention backup objective.

d. Repeat onDepending on the frequency of the full backup schedule, specify the day of the week, the date of the month, or the date of the year that the extended retention backup occurs.

e. Retain ForSpecify the retention period for the backup. You can retain an extended retention backup for a maximum of 70 years.

f. Click Save to save your changes and return to the Objectives page.

13. Optionally, replicate the backups:

NOTE:

To enable replication, ensure that you add remote protection storage as the replication location. The PowerProtect Data

Manager Administration and User Guide provides detailed instructions about adding remote protection storage.

When creating multiple replicas for the same protection policy, it is recommended to select a different storage system

for each copy. If you select a storage unit that is the target of another objective for the same policy, the UI issues

a warning. The PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide provides information about replicating to

shared protection storage to support PowerProtect Cyber Recovery. Verify the storage targets and the use case before

you continue.

Replication after completion is not available for self-service protection policies.

a. Click Replicate next to Primary Retention or Extend Retention. An entry for Replicate is created to the right of the primary or extended retention objective.

b. Under Replicate, click Add. The Add Replication dialog appears, indicating that replication will be added for replication of the backup to a secondary protection storage system. When you select the destination storage, the Space field updates with the available capacity on the system.

c. Select when to replicate the backups:

For replication of the primary backup, the schedule frequency can be every day, week, month, or x hours. For replication of the extended retention backup, the schedule frequency can be every day, week, month, year, or x hours.

For daily, weekly, and monthly schedules, the numeric value cannot be modified. For hourly, however, you can edit the numeric value. For example, if you set Create a Full backup every 4 hours, you can set a value of anywhere 1 to 12 hours.

d. Retention Lock and Retain for are inherited from the primary retention, and cannot be configured in the Add Replication dialog.

e. Click Save to save your changes and return to the Objectives page.

14. Click Next. The Summary page appears.

15. Review the protection policy configuration details. You can click Edit next to any details to make changes. When completed, click Finish. An informational message appears to confirm that PowerProtect Data Manager has saved the protection policy.

16. Click OK to exit the window, or click Go to Jobs to open the Jobs window to monitor the configuration of the new protection policy group.

You can monitor and view detailed information in the Jobs window for self-service backups and restores of database application agents.

NOTE: The Cancel and Retry options are not available for self-service jobs that are created by database application

agents.

The Jobs window breaks down the Storage Group protection by VMAX storage group. Click the link next to the storage group to open the Details pane, where you can view more specific information about the job tasks, such as: Creation of vDisks in the DD system and creation of backup and recovery storage groups. Encapsulation, which involves creating backup and restore FTS devices on the VMAX and linking the DD vDisk with FTS. Creation of the initial snapshot backup, and linking of the snapshot to the protection storage group. Notification that a new configuration file has been pushed to the host.

28 Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection

If replication was selected, notification that a job for MTree replication was also initiated.

Job tasks vary depending on whether you are a new user or an existing Storage Direct user.

Next steps

Run the following command from the host to verify that snapshots will be created for each storage group in the protection policy, and to ensure that a successful relationship has been established between the source device and the backup FTS device for movement of data from the VMAX to protection storage.

symsnapvx - sid xxx -sg storage group name list An X in the Flags section of this output, as shown in the following, indicates that the relationship has been established without any issues.

Figure 1. Storage group list command output

Once the snapshots and relationship are verified, the protectpoint snapbackup create command is used to perform the self-service backup. This command uses the configuration file that is created automatically upon the addition of storage groups to a Storage Group protection policy. The configuration file provides information about the VMAX and protection storage system attributes and the storage groups protected by this policy.

You can access the configuration file, for example, VMAXPolicy1.config, by going to the C:\Program Files\DPSAPPS\ppfsagent\config directory. The file name contains the name that you provided for the Storage Group policy.

NOTE: Do not modify this configuration file.

Run the following command to perform the self-service backup. This command example is from a Windows system.

C:\Program Files\DPSAPPS\ppfsagent\config>protectpoint snapbackup create description "Backup using sdm configuration" VMAX policy name.config Upon successful completion of the backup, output similar to the following is displayed:

Figure 2. Snapbackup command output

Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection 29

NOTE: The backup job details are not visible to the users who are in the user, backup administrator and restore

administrator roles. Only the users who are in Admin and Administrator roles can view the backup job details.

Add a centralized protection policy for Storage Direct Select the centralized protection policy for Storage Direct if you want PowerProtect Data Manager to centrally manage all stages of the protection policy. You can use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to add a centralized protection policy for Storage Direct data protection.

Prerequisites

Review the prerequisites. If you have added a LUN to a storage group since the last SMIS server discovery, run a Discover of the SMIS server. Ensure that there is no lock on the VMAX. Before you perform a backup on a weekly or monthly schedule from the protection policy, ensure that the PowerProtect

Data Manager time zone is set to the local time zone. If the PowerProtect Data Manager time zone is not set to the local time zone, the weekly or monthly backup still runs but is triggered based on the PowerProtect Data Manager time zone.

If applicable, complete all of the virtual network configuration tasks before you assign any virtual networks to the protection policy. The PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide provides more information.

NOTE: To reduce the backup-copy discovery time, see Reduce the backup-copy discovery time.

Steps

1. From the left navigation pane, select Protection > Protection Policies.

The Protection Policies window appears.

2. In the Protection Policies window, click Add.

The Add Policy wizard appears.

3. On the Type page, specify the following fields, and then click Next:

NameType a descriptive name for the protection policy. DescriptionType a description for the policy. TypeSelect Storage Group.

4. In the Purpose page:

a. Select Centralized Protection. b. Select one of the following options:

If this is a new Storage Direct environment, select PowerProtect Data Manager will automatically provision and manage all storage required to meet this objective.

When selected, PowerProtect Data Manager will perform the provisioning of the Storage Direct environment and create the required configuration on both the VMAX storage and the DD system. For example, a backup device group and restore device group are created on the DD system, and a backup storage group that is linked with the source storage group, and a restore storage group, are created on the VMAX.

If this is an existing Storage Direct environment, select PowerProtect Data Manager will not provision and manage my storage.

When selected, no additional configuration is performed since this configuration was already completed during setup of the stand-alone Storage Direct environment. The configuration will be read from the configuration file and stored in the PowerProtect Data Manager database.

c. Click Next. The Assets page appears.

5. Select the unprotected storage groups that you want to add to the backup of this protection policy group. Within this page, you can filter by host or asset name to locate the required assets. Ensure that any assets you add to the policy have a hostname entry in the Host column. The Assets page displays the storage groups that are attached to the host that are unprotected (storage groups that have not been assigned to a protection policy).

6. Click Next. The Objectives page appears.

30 Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection

7. On the Objectives page, select a policy-level Service Level Agreement (SLA) from the Set Policy Level SLA list, or select Add to open the Add Service Level Agreement wizard and create a policy-level SLA.

The PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide provides instructions.

8. Click Add under Primary Backup. The Add Primary Backup dialog appears.

9. On the Schedules pane of the Add Primary Backup dialog box, specify the following fields to schedule the synthetic full backup of this protection policy:

a. Create a Synthetic Full...Specify how often to create a synthetic full backup. A synthetic full backs up only the changed blocks since the last backup to create a new full backup.

b. Retain forSpecify the retention period for the backup.

You can extend the retention period for the latest primary backup copy. For example, your regular schedule for daily backups can use a retention period of 30 days, but you can extend retention to keep the full backups taken on Mondays for 10 weeks. Extended retention provides information.

c. Start and End The activity window. Specify a time of day to start the synthetic full backup, and a time of day after which backups cannot be started. .

NOTE: Any backups started before End occurs continue until completion.

d. Click Save within the Schedules pane to save and collapse the backup schedule.

10. Specify the fields on the Target pane of the Add Primary Backup dialog.

If you are a new Storage Direct user, the Storage Name and Network interface lists are enabled for selection, and the Retention Lock slider can be moved to On. If you are an existing Storage Direct user, the protection storage destination is selected automatically and you cannot modify the selection. Also, the Retention Lock slider cannot be moved.

a. Storage NameFor the primary backup, select a destination from the list of protection storage, or select Add to add a protection storage system and complete the details in the Storage Target window.

NOTE: The Space field indicates the total amount of space, and the percentage of available space, on the storage

system.

b. Network InterfaceSelect a network interface from the list, if applicable. c. Retention LockMove the Retention Lock slider to the right to enable retention locking for these backups on the

selected system. PowerProtect Data Manager uses Governance mode for retention locking, which means that the lock can be reverted at any time if necessary. Toggling the Retention Lock slider on or off applies to the current backup copy only, and does not impact the retention lock setting for existing backup copies.

d. SLASelect an existing service level agreement that you want to apply to this schedule from the list, or select Add to create an SLA within the Add Service Level Agreement wizard.

The PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide provides instructions.

11. Click Save to save your changes and return to the Objectives page.

The Objectives page updates to display the name and location of the target storage system under Primary Backup.

After completing the objective, you can change any details by clicking Edit next to the objective.

12. Optionally, extend the retention period for a primary backup:

Extended retention provides more information about Extend Retention functionality.

a. Click Extend Retention next to Primary Backup. An entry for Extend Retention is created below Primary Backup.

b. Under Extend Retention, click Add. The Add Extended Retention dialog appears.

c. Extend the retention of a full primary backup copy everySpecify the preferred recurrence for the extended retention backup objective.

d. Repeat onDepending on the frequency of the full backup schedule, specify the day of the week, the date of the month, or the date of the year that the extended retention backup occurs.

e. Retain ForSpecify the retention period for the backup. You can retain an extended retention backup for a maximum of 70 years.

f. Click Save to save your changes and return to the Objectives page.

13. Optionally, replicate the backups:

NOTE:

To enable replication, ensure that you add remote protection storage as the replication location. The PowerProtect Data

Manager Administration and User Guide provides detailed instructions about adding remote protection storage.

Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection 31

When creating multiple replicas for the same protection policy, it is recommended to select a different storage system

for each copy. If you select a storage unit that is the target of another objective for the same policy, the UI issues

a warning. The PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide provides information about replicating to

shared protection storage to support PowerProtect Cyber Recovery. Verify the storage targets and the use case before

you continue.

a. Click Replicate next to Primary Backup or Extend Retention. An entry for Replicate is created to the right of the primary or extended retention backup objective.

b. Under Replicate, click Add. The Add Replication dialog appears, indicating that replication will be added for replication of the backup to a secondary protection storage system. When you select the destination storage, the Space field updates with the available capacity on the system.

c. Select when to replicate the backups:

Replication triggers provides more information.

To replicate after the backup finishes, move the Replicate immediately upon backup completion slider to on. For scheduled replication, move the Replicate immediately upon backup completion slider to off, and then

complete the schedule details in the Add Replication dialog.

For replication of the primary backup, the schedule frequency can be every day, week, month, or x hours. For replication of the extended retention backup, the schedule frequency can be every day, week, month, year, or x hours.

For daily, weekly, and monthly schedules, the numeric value cannot be modified. For hourly, however, you can edit the numeric value. For example, if you set Create a Full backup every 4 hours, you can set a value of anywhere from 1 to 12 hours.

All replicas of the primary backup objective use the same retention period and, by default, this retention period is inherited from the Retain For value of the synthetic-full backup schedule.

d. Retention Lock and Retain for are inherited from the primary backup, and cannot be configured in the Add Replication dialog.

e. Click Save to save your changes and return to the Objectives page.

14. Click Next. The Options page appears.

15. Use the following options if required for the policy:

a. If you want to create an application-consistent policy, specify a Pre Snapshot Script and a Post Snapshot Script. For example, specify preSnap.sh and postSnap.sh, which are the names of the provided files. The preSnap.sh script is run before the snapshot is taken, and the postSnap.sh script is run after the snapshot completes.

Application consistency ensures that before the snapshot is taken on the VMAX and the data is moved to protection storage, the database is quiesced and there is no current activity on the database that would result in the snapshot being in an inconsistent state.

If the pre-snapshot script fails, then the backup fails immediately. If the pre-snapshot script runs successfully but the post-snapshot script fails, the backup continues unless you have specified a return code of -1 which forces the backup to fail if the post-snapshot script fails.

NOTE: The provided pre-snapshot and post-snapshot script files should be located under scripts folder of the

Storage Direct stand-alone agent installer on the host. If the files are not currently in the scripts folder, ensure that

you manually copy the files to this folder, otherwise the backup will fail.

b. For Troubleshooting, enter true or false to enable or disable a higher debug level.

16. Click Next. The Summary page appears.

17. Review the protection policy configuration details. You can click Edit next to any details to make changes. When completed, click Finish. An informational message appears to confirm that PowerProtect Data Manager has saved the protection policy.

When the new protection policy is created and assets are added to the protection policy, PowerProtect Data Manager performs backups according to the backup schedule.

18. Click OK to exit the window, or click Go to Jobs to open the Jobs window to monitor the configuration of the new protection policy group.

32 Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection

NOTE: The backup job details are not visible to the users who are in the user, backup administrator and restore

administrator roles. Only the users who are in Admin and Administrator roles can view the backup job details.

When configuration is in progress, the job entry indicates Configuring Storage Groups - storage group name. Any job that specifies Auto Full, for example, Protecting Storage Groups - storage group name - Auto Full, indicates that a scheduled centralized Storage Direct policy backup has been started.

The Jobs window breaks down the Storage Group protection by VMAX storage group. Click the link next to the storage group to open the Details pane, where you can view more specific information about the job tasks, such as:

Creation of vDisks in the DD system and creation of backup and recovery storage groups. Encapsulation, which involves creating backup and restore FTS devices on the VMAX and linking the DD vDisk with FTS. Creation of the initial snapshot backup, and linking of the snapshot to the protection storage group. Notification that a new configuration file has been pushed to the host. If replication was selected, notification that a job for MTree replication was also initiated.

Job tasks vary depending on whether you are a new user or an existing Storage Direct user.

Reduce the backup-copy discovery time

The discovery of backup copies can be delayed by up to 15 minutes. To reduce this time, you can edit the Storage Direct agent configuration file.

Steps

1. Edit the config.yml file.

2. Search for /v1/agent/copies: recurringInterval: 13, and replace 13 with 4.

3. Search for /v1/agent/change-notifications: recurringInterval: 17, and replace 17 with 6.

4. Save the config.yml file.

5. Restart the agent service.

Add a service-level agreement SLA Compliance in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI enables you to add a service-level agreement (SLA) that identifies your service-level objectives (SLOs). You use the SLOs to verify that your protected assets are meeting the service-level agreements (SLAs).

About this task

NOTE: When you create an SLA for Cloud Tier, you can include only full backups in the SLA.

In the SLA Compliance window, you can export compliance data by using the Export All functionality.

Steps

1. From the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select Protection > SLA Compliance.

The SLA Compliance window appears.

2. Click Add or, if the assets that you want to apply the SLA to are listed, select these assets and then click Add.

The Add Service Level Agreement wizard appears.

3. Select the type of SLA that you want to add, and then click Next. Policy. If you choose this type, go to step 4. Backup. If you choose this type, go to step 5. Extended Retention. If you choose this type, go to step 6. Replication. If you choose this type, go to step 7. Cloud Tier. If you choose this type, go to step 8.

You can select only one type of Service Level Agreement.

4. If you selected Policy, specify the following fields regarding the purpose of the new Policy SLA:

Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection 33

a. The SLA Name. b. If applicable, select Minimum Copies, and specify the number of Backup, Replication, and Cloud Tier copies. c. If applicable, select Maximum Copies, and specify the number of Backup, Replication, and Cloud Tier copies. d. If applicable, select Available Location and select the applicable locations. To add a location, click Add Location.

Options include the following: InInclude locations of all copies in the SLO locations. Selecting this option does not require every SLO location to

have a copy. Must InInclude locations of all copies in the SLO locations. Selecting this option requires every SLO location to

have at least one copy. ExcludeLocations of all copies must be non-SLO locations.

e. If applicable, select Allowed in Cloud through Cloud Tier/Cloud DR. f. Click Finish, and then go to step 9.

5. If you selected Backup, specify the following fields regarding the purpose of the new Backup SLA:

a. The SLA Name. b. If applicable, select Recovery Point Objective required (RPO), and then set the duration. The purpose of an RPO is

business continuity planning, and indicates the maximum targeted period in which data (transactions) might be lost from an IT service due to a major incident.

NOTE: You can select only Recovery Point Objective required to configure as an independent objective in the

SLA, or select both Recovery Point Objective required and Compliance Window for copy type. If you select

both, the RPO setting must be one of the following:

Greater than 24 hours or more than the Compliance window duration, in which case RPO validation occurs

independent of the Compliance Window.

Less than or equal to the Compliance Window duration, in which case RPO validation occurs within the

Compliance Window.

c. If applicable, select Compliance Window for copy type, and then select a schedule level from the list, for example, All, Full, Cumulative, and set the duration. Duration indicates the amount of time necessary to create the backup copy. Ensure that the Start Time and End Time of backup copy creation falls within the Compliance Window duration specified.

This window specifies the time during which you expect the specified activity to take place. Any specified activity that occurs outside of this Start Time and End Time triggers an alert.

d. If applicable, select the Verify expired copies are deleted option.

Verify expired copies are deleted is a compliance check to see if PowerProtect Data Manager is deleting expired copies. This option is disabled by default.

e. If applicable, select Retention Time Objective, and specify the number of Days, Months, Weeks, or Years.

NOTE: For compliance validation to pass, the value set for the Retention Time Objective must match the lowest

retention value set for the backup levels of this policy's target objectives. For example, if you set the synthetic full

backup Retain For to 30 days but set the full backup Retain For to 60 days, the Retention Time Objective must be

set to the lower value, in this case, 30 days.

f. If applicable, select the Verify Retention Lock is enabled for all copies option. This option is disabled by default. g. Click Finish, and go to step 9.

The SLA Compliance window appears with the new SLA.

6. If you selected Extended Retention, specify the following fields regarding the purpose of the new Extended Retention SLA:

a. The SLA Name. b. If applicable, select Recovery Point Objective required (RPO), and then set the duration. The purpose of an RPO is

business continuity planning, and indicates the maximum targeted period in which data (transactions) might be lost from an IT service due to a major incident.

NOTE: By default, the RPO provides a grace period of 1 day for SLA compliance verification. For example, with

a weekly extended retention schedule, PowerProtect Data Manager provides 8 days for the RPO to pass the SLA

Compliance verification.

c. If applicable, select the Verify expired copies are deleted option.

Verify expired copies are deleted is a compliance check to see if PowerProtect Data Manager is deleting expired copies. This option is disabled by default.

d. If applicable, select Retention Time Objective, and specify the number of Days, Months, Weeks, or Years.

34 Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection

e. If applicable, select the Verify Retention Lock is enabled for all copies option. This option is disabled by default. f. Click Finish, and go to step 9.

The SLA Compliance window appears with the newly added SLA.

7. If you selected Replication, specify the following fields regarding the purpose of the new Replication SLA:

a. The SLA Name. b. If applicable, select the Compliance Window, and specify the Start Time and End Time.

This window specifies the times that are permissible and during which you can expect the specified activity to occur. Any specified activity that occurs outside of this start time and end time triggers an alert.

c. If applicable, select the Verify expired copies are deleted option.

Verify expired copies are deleted is a compliance check to see if PowerProtect Data Manager is deleting expired copies. This option is disabled by default.

d. If applicable, select Retention Time Objective, and specify the number of Days, Months, Weeks, or Years.

NOTE: For compliance validation to pass, the value set for the Retention Time Objective must match the lowest

retention value set for the backup levels of this policy's target objectives.

e. If applicable, select the Verify Retention Lock is enabled for all copies option. This option is disabled by default. f. Click Finish, and go to step 9.

The SLA Compliance window appears with the newly added SLA.

8. If you selected Cloud Tier type SLA, specify the following fields regarding the purpose of the new Cloud Tier SLA:

a. The SLA Name. b. If applicable, select the Verify expired copies are deleted option.

This option is a compliance check to determine if PowerProtect Data Manager is deleting expired copies. This option is disabled by default.

c. If applicable, select Retention Time Objective and specify the number of Days, Months, Weeks, or Years.

NOTE: For compliance validation to pass, the value set for the Retention Time Objective must match the lowest

retention value set for the backup levels of this policy's target objectives.

d. If applicable, select the Verify Retention Lock is enabled for all copies option. This option is disabled by default. e. Click Finish.

9. If the SLA has not already been applied to a protection policy:

a. Go to Protection > Protection Policies. b. Select the policy, and then click Edit.

10. In the Objectives row of the Summary window, click Edit.

11. Do one of the following, and then click Next: Select the added Policy SLA from the Set Policy Level SLA list. Create and add the SLA policy from the Set Policy Level SLA list. The Summary window appears.

12. Click Finish. An informational message appears to confirm that PowerProtect Data Manager has saved the protection policy.

13. Click Go to Jobs to open the Jobs window to monitor the backup and compliance results, or click OK to exit.

NOTE: Compliance checks occur automatically every day at 2 a.m. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). If any objectives

are out of compliance, an alert is generated at 2 a.m. UTC. The Validate job in the System Jobs window indicates the

results of the daily compliance check.

For a backup SLA with a required RPO setting that is less than 24 hours, PowerProtect Data Manager performs real-time compliance checks. If you selected Compliance Window for copy type and set the backup level to All, the real-time compliance check occurs every 15 minutes only within the compliance window. If the backup level is not All, or if a compliance window is not specified, the real-time compliance check occurs every 15 minutes without stop.

NOTE: If the backup SLA has a required RPO setting of 24 hours or greater, compliance checks occur daily at 2 a.m.

UTC. Real-time compliance checks do not occur for backup SLAs with an RPO setting of 24 hours or greater.

Real-time compliance-check behavior

If the interval of time between the most recent backup of the asset and the compliance check is greater than the RPO requirement, then an alert indicates the RPO of the asset is out of compliance. This alert is generated once within an RPO period. If the same backup copy is missed when the next compliance check occurs, no further alerts are generated.

Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection 35

If the interval of time between the most recent backup of the asset and the compliance check is less than the RPO requirement, the RPO of the asset is in compliance.

If multiple assets in a policy are out of compliance at the same time when a compliance check occurs, a single alert is generated and includes information for all assets that are out of compliance in the policy. In the Alerts window, the asset count next to the alert summary indicates the number of assets that are out of compliance in the policy.

14. In the Jobs window, click next to an entry to view details on the SLA Compliance result.

Extended retention You can extend the retention period for the primary backup copy for long-term retention. For example, your regular schedule for daily backups can use a retention period of 30 days, but you can extend the retention period to keep the full backups taken on Mondays for 10 weeks.

Both centralized and self-service protection policies support weekly, monthly, and yearly recurrence schedules to meet the demands of your compliance objectives. For example, you can retain the last full backup containing the last transaction of a fiscal year for 10 years. When you extend the retention period of a backup in a protection policy, you can retain scheduled full backups with a repeating pattern for a specified amount of time.

For example:

Retain full yearly backups that are set to repeat on the first day of January for 5 years. Retain full monthly backups that are set to repeat on the last day of every month for 1 year. Retain full yearly backups that are set to repeat on the third Monday of December for 7 years.

Preferred alternatives

When you define an extended retention objective for a protection policy, you define a set of matching criteria that select preferred backups to retain. If the matching criteria do not identify a matching backup, PowerProtect Data Manager automatically retains the preferred alternative backup according to one of the following methods:

Look-backRetain the last available full backup that was taken before the matching criteria. Look-forwardRetain the next available full backup that was taken after the matching criteria.

For example, consider a situation where you configured a protection policy to retain the daily backup for the last day of the month to extended retention. However, a network issue caused that backup to fail. In this case, look-back matching retains the backup that was taken the previous day, while look-forward matching retains the backup that was taken the following day.

By default, PowerProtect Data Manager uses look-back matching to select the preferred alternative backup. A grace period defines how far PowerProtect Data Manager can look in the configured direction for an alternative backup. If PowerProtect Data Manager cannot find an alternative backup within the grace period, extended retention fails.

You can use the REST API to change the matching method or the grace period for look-forward matching. The PowerProtect Data Manager Public REST API documentation provides instructions. If there are no available backups for the defined matching period, you can change the matching method to a different backup.

For look-forward matching, the next available backup can be an ad-hoc backup or the next scheduled backup.

Selecting backups by weekday

This section applies to centralized protection policies. Self-service protection policies have no primary backup objective configuration.

When you configure extended retention to match backups by weekday, PowerProtect Data Manager may identify a backup that was taken on one weekday as being taken on a different weekday. This behavior happens where the backup window does not align with the start of the day. PowerProtect Data Manager identifies backups according to the day on which the corresponding backup window started, rather than the start of the backup itself.

For example, consider a backup schedule with an 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. backup window:

Backups that start at 12:00 a.m. on Sunday and end at 6:00 a.m. on Sunday are identified as Saturday backups, since the backup window started on Saturday.

Backups that start at 8:01 p.m. on Sunday and end at 12:00 a.m. on Monday are identified as Sunday backups, since the backup window started on Sunday.

36 Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection

Backups that start at 12:00 a.m. on Monday and end at 6:00 a.m. on Monday are identified as Sunday backups, since the backup window started on Sunday.

In this example, when you select Sunday backups for extended retention, PowerProtect Data Manager does not retain backups that were taken between 12:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. This behavior happens even though the backups occurred on Sunday. Instead, PowerProtect Data Manager selects the first available backup that started after 8:00 p.m. on Sunday for extended retention.

If no backups were created between 8:01 p.m. on Sunday and 6:00 a.m. on Monday, PowerProtect Data Manager retains the next alternative to extended retention. In this example, the alternative was taken after 6:00 a.m. on Monday.

Extended retention backup behavior

When PowerProtect Data Manager identifies a matching backup, automatic extended retention creates a job at the beginning of the backup window for the primary objective. This job remains queued until the end of the backup window and then starts.

The following examples describe the behavior of backups with extended retention for centralized and self-service protection.

Centralized protection

For an hourly primary backup schedule that starts on Sunday at 8:00 p.m. and ends on Monday at 6:00 p.m. with a weekly extended retention objective that is set to repeat every Sunday, PowerProtect Data Manager selects the first available backup starting after 8:00 p.m. on Sunday for long-term retention.

The following diagram illustrates the behavior of backups with extended retention for a configured protection policy. In this example, full daily backups starting at 10:00 p.m. and ending at 6:00 a.m. are kept for 1 week. Full weekly backups are set to repeat every Sunday and are kept for 1 month.

Figure 3. Extend retention backup behavior

Self-service protection

For self-service backups, PowerProtect Data Manager uses a default backup window of 24 hours. For a backup schedule that starts on Sunday at 12:00 p.m and ends on Monday at 12:00 p.m. with a weekly extended retention objective that is set to repeat every Sunday, PowerProtect Data Manager selects the first available backup that is taken between 12:00 p.m. on Sunday and 12:00 p.m. on Monday for long-term retention.

Replication of extended retention backups

You can change the retention time of selected full primary backups in a replication objective by adding a replication objective to the extended retention backup. The rules in the extended retention objective define the selected full primary backups. Review the following information about replication of extended retention backups.

Before you configure replication of extended retention backups, create a replication objective for the primary backup.

Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection 37

Configure the replication objective of the extended retention and match this objective with one of the existing replication objectives based on the primary backup. Any changes to a new or existing storage unit in the extended retention replication objective or the replication objective of the primary backup is applied to both replication objectives.

The replication objective of extended retention backups only updates the retention time of replicated backup copies and does not create any new backup copies in the replication storage.

Add assets to an existing storage group protection policy Use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to edit a protection policy to add storage groups.

About this task

When you add assets to an existing protection policy, backups for the new assets start from the next scheduled full backup job for the protection policy.

Steps

1. Select Protection > Protection Policy.

The Protection Policy window appears.

2. Select the protection policy that you want to modify, and click Edit.

The Edit Policy window opens on the Summary page.

3. In the Assets row, click Edit. The Assets page appears.

4. To add a storage group to the protection policy:

a. Click + Add.

The Add Unprotected Assets dialog displays any storage groups that are unprotected.

b. Select the individual unprotected assets that you want to add to the policy, and then click Add.

The Assets page updates with the changes.

5. Click Next to save the changes and go to the Summary page.

6. In the Summary page, click Finish. An informational dialog box appears.

7. Click OK to exit the dialog box, or click Go to Jobs to open the Jobs window to monitor the backup of the new protection policy.

Remove assets from an existing storage group protection policy Use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to edit a protection policy to remove storage groups.

Steps

1. Select Protection > Protection Policy.

The Protection Policy window appears.

2. Select the protection policy that you want to modify, and click Edit.

The Edit Policy window opens on the Summary page.

3. In the Assets row, click Edit. The Assets page appears.

4. To remove a storage group from the protection policy, select the asset and click Remove.

NOTE: During backup, storage groups that you added to a protection policy are grouped in a transaction. When deleting

storage groups, it is recommended to delete all the storage groups that are part of this transaction simultaneously.

The Assets page updates with the changes.

38 Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection

5. Click Next to save the changes and go to the Summary page.

6. In the Summary page, click Finish An informational dialog box appears.

7. Click OK to exit the dialog box, or click Go to Jobs to open the Jobs window to monitor the backup of the new protection policy.

Results

Configuration of assets occurs in four steps: Step1: Configure ProtectPoint vDisks. Step 2: Encapsulate vDisks. Step 3: Create copy. Step 4: Configure host. If the four configuration steps for the assets that are marked for removal completes successfully, a Removing Storage Groups from Configuration File job is initiated. Upon completion, the entry for these assets is removed from the BACKUP_SOURCE_DEVICES section of the configuration file, and the assets will no longer be backed up as part of the policy. Existing backups of these assets remain on the system and continue to be available for recovery. If you want to protect these assets again, you can create another Storage Groups policy for the assets, add them again to the previous policy, or add them to an existing policy that has the same vDisk pool.

If configuration fails at step 2 or earlier, the configuration for the assets is removed. If the configuration fails at step 3 or later, however, the configuration is retained.

NOTE: If asset configuration was only partially successful for a protection or replication stage, asset removal is handed

differently based on the following scenarios:

If configuration of the protection stage was only partially successful, the configuration of these assets is removed

based on the step at which configuration failed. For example, if configuration failed at the first step Configure ProtectPoint vDisks, then the vDisks are deleted. If configuration failed at the second step Encapsulate vDisks, storage_groups are deleted and the vDisks are deleted.

If configuration for both protection and replication stages was incomplete, configuration is removed for the protection

and replication stage, based on the step at which the failure occurred.

If configuration for the protection stage was incomplete but was successful for the replication stage, the configuration

is removed for protection, based on the step at which the failure occurred, and the replication configuration remains

intact.

If configuration for the protection stage was completed successfully, but was incomplete for the replication stage, then

the configuration for both protection and replication are retained. You can restart jobs for replication to complete the

configuration.

Edit the retention period for backup copies You can edit the retention period of one or more backup copies to extend or shorten the amount of time that backups are retained.

About this task

You can edit the retention period for all asset types and backup types.

Steps

1. Select Infrastructure > Assets.

2. From the Assets window, select the tab for the asset type for which you want to edit the retention period. If a policy has been assigned, the table lists the assets that have been discovered, along with the associated protection policy.

3. Select a protected asset from the table, and then click View Copies. The Copy Locations pane identifies where the backups are stored.

4. In the left pane, click the storage icon to the right of the icon for the asset, for example, DD. The table in the right pane lists the backup copies.

5. Select one or more backup copies from the table, and click Edit Retention.

6. Select one of the following options:

Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection 39

To select a calendar date as the expiration date for backups, select Retention Date. To define a fixed retention period in days, weeks, months, or years after the backup is performed, select Retention

Value. For example, you can specify that backups expire after 6 months.

NOTE: When you edit the retention period for copies that are retention locked, you can only extend the retention

period.

7. When satisfied with the changes, click Save. The asset is displayed in the list with the changes. The Retention column displays both the original and new retention periods, and indicates whether the retention period has been extended or shortened.

Delete backup copies In addition to deleting backups upon expiration of the retention period, PowerProtect Data Manager enables you to manually delete backup copies from protection storage.

About this task

If you no longer require a backup copy and the retention lock is not enabled, you can delete backup copies prior to their expiration date.

You can perform a backup copy deletion that deletes only a specified part of a backup copy chain, without impacting the ability to restore other backup copies in the chain. When you select a specific backup copy for deletion, only that backup copy and the backup copies that depend on the selected backup copy are deleted. For example, when you select to delete a full backup copy, any other backup copies that depend on the full backup copy are also deleted.

Steps

1. From the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select Infrastructure > Assets.

2. From the Assets window, select the tab for the asset type for which you want to delete copies. If a policy has been assigned, the table lists the assets that have been discovered, along with the associated protection policy.

3. Select a protected asset from the table, and then click View Copies. The Copy Locations pane identifies where the backups are stored.

4. In the left pane, click the storage icon to the right of the icon for the asset, for example, DD. The table in the right pane lists the backup copies.

5. Select one or more copies from the table that you want to delete from protection storage, and then click Delete.

A preview window opens and displays the selected backup copies.

6. For all asset types, you can choose to keep the latest backup copies or delete them. By default, PowerProtect Data Manager keeps the latest backup copies. To delete the latest backup copies, clear the check box next to Exclude latest copies.

For VMAX storage group backup copies, you can choose to delete copies that are grouped together in the same protection transaction or delete only selected copies. By default, PowerProtect Data Manager deletes copies that are grouped together in the same protection transaction. To delete only selected copies, clear the check box next to Include copies in the same protection transaction.

7. To delete the backup copies, in the preview window, click Delete.

NOTE: The delete operation may take a few minutes and cannot be undone.

An informational dialog box opens to confirm the copies are being deleted. To monitor the progress of the operation, click Go to Jobs. To view the list of backup copies and their status, click OK.

NOTE: If the data deletion is successful but the catalog deletion is unsuccessful, then the overall deletion job status

appears as Completed with Exceptions.

When the job completes, the task summary provides details of each deleted backup copy, including the time that each copy was created, the backup level, and the retention time. The time of copy creation and the retention time are shown in UTC.

An audit log is also generated and provides details of each deleted backup copy, including the time that each copy was created, the backup level, and the retention time. The time of copy creation and the retention time are shown in UTC. Go to Alerts > Audit Logs to view the audit log.

8. Verify that the copies are deleted successfully from protection storage. If the deletion is successful, the deleted copies no longer appear in the table.

40 Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection

Retry a failed backup copy deletion

If a backup copy is not deleted successfully, you can manually retry the operation.

Steps

1. From the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select Infrastructure > Assets.

2. From the Assets window, select the tab for the asset type for which you want to delete copies. If a policy has been assigned, the table lists the assets that have been discovered, along with the associated protection policy.

3. Select a protected asset from the table, and then click View Copies. The Copy Locations pane identifies where the backups are stored.

4. In the left pane, click the storage icon to the right of the icon for the asset, for example, DD. The table in the right pane lists the backup copies.

5. Select one or more backup copies with the Deletion Failed status from the table, and then click Delete.

You can also filter and sort the list of backup copies by status in the Copy Status column.

The system displays a warning to confirm that you want to delete the selected backup copies.

6. Click OK. An informational dialog box opens to confirm that the copies are being deleted. To monitor the progress of the operation, click Go to Jobs. To view the list of backup copies and their status, click OK.

7. Verify that the copies are successfully deleted from protection storage. If the deletion is successful, the deleted copies no longer appear in the table.

Export data for deleted backup copies

This option enables you to export results of deleted backup copies to a .csv file so that you can download an Excel file of the data.

Steps

1. From the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select Infrastructure > Assets.

2. From the Assets window, select the tab for the asset type for which you want to export results of deleted backup copies. If a policy has been assigned, the table lists the assets that have been discovered, along with the associated protection policy.

3. Select one or more protected assets from the table, and then select More Actions > Export Deleted Copies.

If you do not select an asset, PowerProtect Data Manager exports the data for deleted backup copies for all assets for the specific asset type.

4. Specify the following fields for the export:

a. Time Range

The default is Last 24 Hours.

b. Copy Status

In order to export data for deleted backup copies, the backup copies must be in one of the following states:

DeletedThe copy is deleted successfully from protection storage, and, if applicable, the agent catalog is deleted successfully from the agent host.

DeletingCopy deletion is in progress. Deletion FailedCopy deletion from protection storage is unsuccessful. Deletion Failed (Agent Catalog)The copy is deleted successfully from protection storage, but is not deleted

from the agent host.

NOTE: This state is not applicable to virtual machine and Kubernetes backup copies.

NOTE: You cannot export data for backup copies that are in an Available state.

5. Click Download. If applicable, the navigation window appears for you to select the location to save the .csv file.

6. Save the .csv file in the desired location and click Save.

Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection 41

Remove backup copies from the PowerProtect Data Manager database

This option enables you to delete the backup copy records from the PowerProtect Data Manager database, but keep the backup copies in protection storage.

About this task

For backup copies that could not be deleted from protection storage, you can remove the backup copies from the PowerProtect Data Manager database. Removing the backup copies from PowerProtect Data Manager does not delete the copies in protection storage.

Steps

1. From the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select Infrastructure > Assets.

2. From the Assets window, select the tab for the asset type for which you want to delete copies. If a policy has been assigned, the table lists the assets that have been discovered, along with the associated protection policy.

3. Select a protected asset from the table, and then click View Copies. The Copy Locations pane identifies where the backups are stored.

4. In the left pane, click the storage icon to the right of the icon for the asset, for example, DD. The table in the right pane lists the backup copies.

5. Select one or more backup copies with the Deletion Failed or Deletion Failed (Agent Catalog) status from the table, and then click Remove from PowerProtect.

For backup copies with the Deletion Failed (Agent Catalog) status, click Remove from PowerProtect to remove the information from PowerProtect Data Manager for any backup copies that were successfully deleted from protection storage but for which the agent catalog was not deleted from the agent host.

The system displays a warning to confirm that you want to delete the selected backup copies.

6. Click OK. An informational dialog box opens to confirm that the copies are being deleted. To monitor the progress of the operation, click Go to Jobs. To view the list of backup copies and their status, click OK.

7. Verify that the copies are deleted from the PowerProtect Data Manager database. If the deletion is successful, the deleted copies no longer appear in the table. The backup copies remain in protection storage.

Restoring a Storage Direct VMAX storage group After VMAX storage group assets are backed up as part of a Storage Direct agent protection policy in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, you can perform recoveries from one or all of the storage groups in the backup.

All types of restores are performed from the Restore > Assets window. Restore options include the following:

Restore to Original: Restore to the original storage group in the original VMAX and overwrite the existing contents. Restore to Alternate: Restore to an alternate location on the original VMAX, or to a different VMAX. Export: Instant access restore of a VMAX storage group backup.

The Restore button, which launches the Restore wizard, does not appear until you select a storage group in the Restore > Assets window and click View Copies.

Restore a VMAX storage group backup to the original location

A Storage Direct host restore to the original location enables you to rollback data from primary or replicated storage group snapshot backups to the same location on the original host by using the PowerProtect Data Manager UI.

Prerequisites

Unmount all of the production LUNs in the original storage group.

Steps

1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, go to Restore > Assets and select the VMAX Storage Groups tab.

42 Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection

The Restore window displays all of the storage groups.

2. Select the check box next to the storage group that contains the backup, and click View Copies.

You can also use the Search field, the filter in the Name column to locate a specific storage group.

The Restore > Assets window provides a map view in the left pane and copy details in the right pane.

When you select a specific location in the left pane to view the copies, for example, on a protection storage system, the copies on that system are displayed in the right pane.

3. In the left pane, click the first DD icon to display the copies on the primary protection storage system, or the second DD to display the replica copies on the secondary protection storage system.

4. In the right pane, select the check box next to the storage group snapshot backup or replica that you want to restore, and then click Restore. The Restore wizard opens on the Select Copy page.

5. On the Select Copy page, select Restore all the copies linked with Backup Operation if you want to restore all Storage Groups that are part of this backup, and then click Next.

NOTE: If you leave the check box unselected, the backup of only the storage group that you selected in the Restore >

Assets window will be restored.

6. On the Restore Type page, select Restore to Original and Overwrite Original Storage Group, and then click Next.

NOTE: The files at the original location will be overwritten. If you saved any additional files to this location after the

backup, these files will be lost upon rollback.

7. On the Summary page, click Finish to start the restore. Once the restore completes successfully, you can mount LUNs in the destination storage group to any host.

8. Go to the Jobs window to monitor the restore. A restore job appears with a progress bar and start time.

Restore a VMAX storage group backup to an alternate location

A Storage Direct host restore to an alternate location enables you to recover data from primary or replicated storage group snapshot backups to a different location on the original host, or to a different host, by using the PowerProtect Data Manager UI.

Prerequisites

Unmount all of the LUNs in the destination storage group.

Steps

1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, go to Restore > Assets and select the VMAX Storage Groups tab.

The Restore window displays all of the storage groups.

2. Select the check box next to the storage group that contains the backup, and click View Copies.

You can also use the Search field, the filter in the Name column to locate a specific storage group.

The Restore > Assets window provides a map view in the left pane and copy details in the right pane.

When you select a specific location in the left pane to view the copies, for example, on a protection storage system, the copies on that system are displayed in the right pane.

3. In the left pane, click the first DD icon to display the copies on the primary protection storage system, or the second DD to display the replica copies on the secondary protection storage system.

4. In the right pane, select the check box next to the storage group snapshot backup or replica that you want to restore, and then click Restore. The Restore wizard opens on the Select Copy page.

5. On the Select Copy page, select Restore all the copies linked with Backup Operation if you want to restore all Storage Groups that are part of this backup, and then click Next.

NOTE: If you leave the check box unselected, the backup of only the storage group that you selected in the Restore >

Assets window will be restored.

6. On the Restore Type page, select Restore to Alternate Storage Group, and then click Next.

7. On the Select Storage System page, select an option for the storage system to which the data from the source storage group will be restored, and then click Next: Select Original Storage System if you want to restore data to a different storage group on the original VMAX.

Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection 43

Select Alternate Storage System if you want to restore data to a storage group on a different VMAX, and then select the destination storage system from the table.

8. On the Restore Location page, select the source storage group, select the target storage group, and then click Add in order to create the mapping. The target storage group indicates the destination storage group for the restore, and will either be the original storage system, or a different storage system, depending on the option you selected in the previous step. The Mapping Results pane updates with the selected storage groups.

NOTE: The target storage group should have the same size LUN and geometry as the source storage group.

9. If restoring to an alternate storage system, the Options page is displayed. On this page, select a staging storage group to use for temporarily mounting static images during the restore, and then click Next.

NOTE: Ensure that this storage group has sufficient space for mounting these images.

10. On the Summary page, click Finish. Once the restore completes successfully, you can mount LUNs in the destination storage group to any host.

11. Go to the Jobs window to monitor the restore. A restore job appears with a progress bar and start time.

Instant access restore of a VMAX storage group backup

A Storage Direct host instant access restore enables you to mount the primary or replicated storage group snapshot backup, which is on a protection storage system, to the FTS devices which are the resource storage groups, in order to mask to the host to view and recover from the backup. This restore type, also known as Export, is primarily useful for granular level restore. You can access the instant access restore option in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI.

Prerequisites

For a virtual environment, ensure that you add and discover the vCenter server in the PowerProtect Data Manager server. When you select Export, you must specify on which host (virtual or physical) you want to mask the backup. Therefore, the

WWPN for this host must be discovered. Otherwise, the host will not appear for selection. Ensure that you unmount all of the LUNs in the destination storage group.

Steps

1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, go to Restore > Assets and select the VMAX Storage Groups tab.

The Restore window displays all of the storage groups.

2. Select the check box next to the storage group that contains the backup, and click View Copies.

You can also use the Search field, the filter in the Name column to locate a specific storage group.

The Restore > Assets window provides a map view in the left pane and copy details in the right pane.

When you select a specific location in the left pane to view the copies, for example, on a protection storage system, the copies on that system are displayed in the right pane.

3. In the left pane, click the first DD icon to display the copies on the primary protection storage system, or the second DD to display the replica copies on the secondary protection storage system.

4. In the right pane, select the check box next to the storage group snapshot backup or replica that you want to restore, and then click Restore. The Restore wizard opens on the Select Copy page.

5. On the Select Copy page, select Restore all the copies linked with Backup Operation if you want to restore all Storage Groups that are part of this backup, and then click Next.

NOTE: If you leave the check box unselected, the backup of only the storage group that you selected in the Restore >

Assets window will be restored.

6. On the Restore Type page, select Export, and then click Next.

7. On the Export Host page, select the physical or virtual host that you want to mask the backup to, and then click Next.

8. On the Summary page, click Finish.

9. Go to the Jobs window to view the entry for the instant access storage group restore and verify when the mount completes successfully. An instant access job will indicate Instant access for backup ID storage group ID. You can also

click next to the job to verify what steps have been performed, for example, when the instant access session has been created.

44 Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection

Results

To monitor and manage the instant access storage group restores, select Restore > Running Activities, and then click the Instant Access Sessions tab. When finished with the session, select the session and click Delete in order to unmount the backup from the host.

NOTE: You cannot extend or migrate an instant access storage group session. Also, there is no default retention period.

The session remains mounted until deleted.

Restore backup copies from replication DD when source Storage Direct agent host, PowerProtect Data Manager server, and VMAX are unavailable When the source Storage Direct agent host, source PowerProtect Data Manager server, and source VMAX are unavailable, you can use the CLI to perform a restore from the replication DD system.

Prerequisites

Ensure that the following requirements are met: The alternate Storage Direct agent is zoned with the replication (or secondary) DD system and alternate VMAX storage

array. Storage groups from the alternate VMAX have the same geometry as the source storage groups are mapped to the alternate

Storage Direct agent host. The configuration files that are used for performing the backup are copied to an alternate location. Create a DD support ticket and obtain the password of the vDisk and Boost users who are specified in the configuration file. The Storage Direct agent software is installed on the alternate host.

Steps

1. Restore the configuration file that you copied to an alternate location, and copy this file to the alternate Storage Direct agent host.

2. Obtain login details for the replication (or secondary) DD system from the configuration file.

3. Log in to the replication DD system and perform the following: For an existing configuration, create a vDisk pool, vDisk group, and vDisk devices using the same user specified in the

configuration file. For a new configuration:

a. Create FAST.X restore devices in the same vDisk pool and device group that was created for restore during the protection policy creation. This vDisk pool is the pool that was created to restore FAST.X devices and export to the original VMAX. For example:

:sysadmin@blrv027a046# vdisk device create count 1 capacity 1 GiB device-group RShivam_SG1_154-0638 pool QR2-Shivam-blrv209a226-c9490-Rec where RShivam_SG1_154-0638 Created VDISK device: vdisk-dev69 WWN: 60:02:18:80:00:36:60:30:bc:05:f7:1b:e6:90:12:a6 1 VDISK devices created device group and QR2-Shivam-blrv209a226-c9490-Rec created during the greenfield protection policy configuration. Count and capacity should be matching the geometry of the source storage group.

b. Export these devices to the alternate VMAX array. For example:

sysadmin@blrv027a046# scsitarget group show list Group Name Service # Initiators # Devices ------------ ------- ------------ --------- FTS_VMAX_476 VDisk 8 60 Original VMAX FTS_VMAX_638 VDisk 8 64 Alternate VMAX ------------ ------- ------------ --------- sysadmin@blrv027a046# scsitarget group add FTS_VMAX_638 device vdisk-dev69

Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection 45

4. Encapsulate the newly added devices. From the alternate Storage Direct agent host or any of the hosts where the Solutions Enabler is installed, perform the following steps to encapsulate the newly added FAST.X devices into the alternate host:

a. Create a file with the following format:

ADD EXTERNAL_DISK WWN=wwn ENCAPSULATE_DATA=YES Where wwn is the World Wide Name of the newly created FAST.X LUN.

b. Run the command for encapsulation:

symconfigure -sid 638 -file /a commit -n 5. Create a storage group in the alternate VMAX, for example, QR_SG2, and then add the newly encapsulated FAST.X device

to this storage group:

symsg create QR_SG2 -sid 638 symsg -sg QR_SG2 add dev 00334 -sid 638 Where 00334 is the symdev ID provided to the FAST.X device after encapsulation.

6. Edit the configuration file to add the details for the VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG storage group on the alternate storage. For example:

[SECONDARY_SYSTEM] DDBOOST_USER = QR2-Shivam-blrv209a226-c9490 DEVICE_HOST = blrv027a046.lss.emc.com DEVICE_PATH = QR2-Shivam-blrv209a226-c9490-SU DDVDISK_USER = QR2-Shivam-blrv209a226-c9490 # DEVICE_POOL = #RESTORE_DEVICE_POOL = QR2-Shivam-blrv209a226-c9490-Rec #RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP = R-Rep-Shivam_SG1_154-0476 #RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP = R-Rep-Shivam_SG2_154-0476 # DD_BOOST_FC = # DD_PORT = VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG = QR_SG2 this is the SG created in step 5. [ROLLBACK_TARGET_DEVICES] SRC_GROUP1 = 000196700638:25AUG2019_SG5 this is the storage group created in the alternate VMAX with the same geometry of source device

7. From the alternate storage, create a lockbox entry for the user who is specified in the configuration file by running the following commands:

protectpoint security add dd-credentials dd-system secondary vdisk config-file config file location protectpoint security add dd-credentials dd-system secondary ddboost config-file config file location

NOTE: These commands prompt you for the passwords that you obtained from DD support for the users who are

specified in the configuration file.

8. Run the following command to ensure that all the restore copy details are obtained using the newly created lockbox:

Protectpoint backup show list dd-system secondary ddboost config-file config file location

9. Select one of the backup IDs to restore, and run the following command:

protectpoint rollback backup-id client source agent hostname dd-system secondary config-file config file location

Manage the PowerProtect agent service The PowerProtect agent service provides important functionality for the application agent operations with the PowerProtect Data Manager.

Review the following topics to ensure that you enable and manage the PowerProtect agent service functionality as required for application agent operations.

46 Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection

About the PowerProtect agent service

The PowerProtect agent service is a REST API based service that is installed by the application agent on the application host. The agent service provides services and APIs for discovery, protection, restore, instant access, and other related operations. The PowerProtect Data Manager uses the agent service to provide integrated data protection for the application assets.

This section uses to represent the PowerProtect agent service installation directory. By default, the agent service installation location is C:\Program Files\DPSAPPS\AgentService on Windows and /opt/dpsapps/agentsvc on Linux. All files that are referenced in this section are the relative paths to the agent service installation location.

The PowerProtect agent service performs the following operations:

Addon detectionAn addon integrates the application agent into the agent service. The agent service automatically detects the addons on the system for each application asset type and notifies the PowerProtect Data Manager. While multiple addons can operate with different asset types, only one agent service runs on the application host. Specific asset types can coexist on the same application host.

DiscoveryThe agent service discovers both stand-alone and clustered database servers (application systems), databases and file systems (assets), and their backup copies on the application agent host. After the initial discovery, when the agent service discovers any new application systems, assets, or copies, the agent service notifies the PowerProtect Data Manager.

Self-service configurationThe agent service can configure the application agent for self-service operations by using information that is provided by the PowerProtect Data Manager. When you add an asset to a protection policy for self-service or centralized protection, or modify the protection policy, including changing the DD Boost credentials, the PowerProtect Data Manager automatically pushes the protection configuration to the agents.

NOTE: If you change the DD Boost credentials to include \ in the password, the protection policy configuration will not

be pushed to the agents unless you also select the protection policy from the Protection Policies window, and then

click Set LockBox.

Centralized backupsThe agent service performs the centralized backups as requested by the PowerProtect Data Manager.

Centralized restoresThe agent service performs the centralized restores as requested by the PowerProtect Data Manager.

NOTE: In the current release, the centralized restores are only available for the File System agent, Microsoft SQL

Server agent, and Storage Direct agent.

Backup deletion and catalog cleanupThe PowerProtect Data Manager deletes the backup files directly from the protection storage when a backup expires or an explicit delete request is received and no dependent (incremental or log) backups exist. The PowerProtect Data Manager goes through the agent service to delete the catalog entries from the database vendor's catalog and the agent's local datastore.

NOTE: Deletion of any backup copies manually or through the command line is not recommended. PowerProtect Data

Manager deletes all the expired copies as needed.

The agent service is started during the agent installation by the installer. The agent service runs in the background as a service and you do not interact with it directly.

The config.yml file contains the configuration information for the agent service, including several parameter settings that you can change within the file. The config.yml file is located in the directory.

The agent service periodically starts subprocesses to perform the discovery jobs. You can see the type and frequency of these jobs in the jobs: section of the config.yml file. The job interval unit is minutes.

The agent service maintains a datastore in the /dbs/v1 directory, which contains information about the application system, assets, and backups discovered on the system. The size of the datastore files depends on the number of applications and copies on the host. The agent service periodically creates a backup of its datastore in the /dbs/v1/backups directory, as used to recover the datastore if this datastore is lost.

NOTE: The size of each datastore backup is the same as the datastore itself. By default, a backup is created every hour.

To save space on the file system, you can reduce this datastore backup frequency for large datastores. By default, the

datastore backup is retained for one week. You can change the datastore backup frequency, retention period, and backup

location in the config.yml file.

Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection 47

Start, stop, or obtain the status of the PowerProtect agent service

The PowerProtect agent service is started during the agent installation by the installer. If needed, you can use the appropriate procedure to start, stop, or obtain the status of the agent service.

On Windows, you can start, stop, or obtain the status of the PowerProtect agent service from the Services Manager, similar to other Windows services. The name of the service in the Services Manager is PowerProtect Agent Service.

Troubleshooting PowerProtect agent service installations

A PowerProtect agent service installation might fail with the following error message:

Service 'PowerProtect Agent Service' (AgentService) could not be installed. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to install system services.

Possible causes of the installation failure are as follows:

The installation was attempted on a passive node of a Failover Cluster Instance (FCI). The installation was canceled and a rollback left some stale entries of PowerProtect agent services.

As a workaround, clean up the PowerProtect agent service entries, and retry the installation.

Troubleshooting PowerProtect agent service operations

To troubleshoot agent service operations, you can check the agent service log file OpAgentSvc- .log, which is created in \logs on Windows and /logs on AIX or Linux. To modify the log level and retention of temporary files, you can modify specific parameter settings in the config.yml file.

About this task

To modify the log level and retention of temporary files, you can perform the following steps.

Steps

1. Stop the agent service by using the appropriate procedure from the preceding topic.

2. Open the config.yml file in an editor.

3. Modify the log-level settings in the following parameters, as required:

NOTE: These parameters are listed in order of decreasing number of messages in the debug information output. The

default log-level is INFO.

DEBUG INFO WARNING ERROR CRITICAL

4. To retain the temporary files, set the keepTempFiles parameter to True in the config.yml file.

NOTE: The agent service and application agent communicate through the temporary files, which are typically deleted

after use but can be useful for troubleshooting purposes. Do not leave the keepTempFiles parameter set to True

permanently, or the temporary files can use excessive space on the file system.

5. Start the agent service by using the appropriate procedure from the preceding topic.

48 Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection

Register the PowerProtect agent service to a different server address on Windows

The PowerProtect agent service is registered to a particular PowerProtect Data Manager server during the agent installation by the installer. If needed, you can register the agent service to a different PowerProtect Data Manager server address. If there are multiple agents installed on a host, all agents will be re-registered to the new PowerProtect server.

The agent service can only be registered to a single PowerProtect Data Manager server.

On Windows, perform the following steps to register the agent service to a different server address.

1. To unregister from the current PowerProtect Data Manager server, go to the C:\Program Files\DPSAPPS\AgentService directory and run unregister.bat.

2. In the dbs\v1 directory, rename the copies.db file to copies-backup.db.

3. To register the agent service to the different server address, run register.bat and provide the new PowerProtect Data Manager server IP address or hostname.

NOTE: If the host is already decommissioned from PowerProtect Data Manager using asset source deletion and you

want to register the host again to the same or different PowerProtect Data Manager, then go to the Add/Remove

Programs window and use the change option in the installer to register again. In this case, do not use register.bat.

4. Verify the agent registration status:

a. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select Infrastructure > Application Agents.

b. In the Application Agents window, select the entry that contains the agent hostname and ensure that the status is Registered.

5. To perform asset discovery for the agent:

a. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select Infrastructure > Asset Sources.

The Asset Sources window appears.

b. Select the tab for your application agent or file system host. c. Select the agent hostname and click Discover. At the confirmation prompt, click Yes.

When you select Infrastructure > Assets, the Assets window displays the discovered assets.

Recovering the PowerProtect agent service from a disaster

You can perform self-service restores of application assets by using a file system or application agent, regardless of the state of the agent service or PowerProtect Data Manager. The information in this section describes how to bring the agent service to an operational state to continue if a disaster occurs and the agent service datastore is lost.

The agent service periodically creates a backup of its datastore in the /dbs/v1/backups repository. If all of these backups are lost, the agent service can still start. The agent service discovers all the application systems, assets, and backup copies on the system again, and notifies PowerProtect Data Manager. Depending on when the failure occurred, the agent service might not be able to find older backup copies for some asset types. As a result, the centralized deletion operations might fail when cleaning up the database vendor catalog or removing older backups that are taken before the asset is added to PowerProtect Data Manager.

By default, the agent service backs up consistent copies of its datastore files to the local disk every hour and keeps the copies for 7 days. Each time the agent service backs up the contents of the datastore, it creates a subdirectory under the /dbs/v1/backups repository. The subdirectories are named after the time the operation occurred, in the format YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS_epochTime.

By default, the datastore repository is on the local disk. To ensure that the agent service datastore and its local backups are not lost, it is recommended that you back up the datastore through file system backups. You can also change the datastore backup location to a different location that is not local to the system. To change the datastore backup location, update the values in the config.yml file.

Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection 49

Restore the PowerProtect Data Manager agent service datastore

Prerequisites

NOTE: Ensure that the agent service is powered off. Do not start the agent service until disaster recovery is complete.

About this task

You can restore the datastore from the datastore backup repository. If the repository is no longer on the local disk, restore the datastore from file system backups first.

To restore the datastore from a backup in the datastore backup repository, complete the following steps:

Steps

1. Move the files in the /dbs/v1 directory to a location for safe keeping.

NOTE: Do not move or delete any /dbs/v1 subdirectories.

2. Select the most recent datastore backup.

The directories in the datastore backup repository are named after the time the backup was created.

3. Copy the contents of the datastore backup directory to the /dbs/v1 directory. After the copy operation is complete, the /dbs/v1 directory should contain the following files: copies.db objects.db resources.db sessions.db

4. Start the agent service.

50 Managing Storage, Assets, and Protection

Storage Direct Best Practices and Troubleshooting

Topics:

Storage Direct agent limitations Troubleshooting agent registration Troubleshooting PowerProtect agent service installations Troubleshooting PowerProtect agent service operations Troubleshooting PowerProtect Data Manager UI display of localhost.localdomain hostname Troubleshooting when protection policies cannot be created from an imported configuration file that uses VMAX Troubleshooting when protection policies cannot be created from an imported configuration file that uses replication Troubleshooting initiation of SMIS server discovery job Troubleshooting SDFSA install/update failure when using absolute path Troubleshooting when encapsulation fails during policy creation Troubleshooting when restart of encapsulation fails Troubleshooting when encapsulation fails with error "SYMAPI_C_NET_HANDSHAKE_FAILED" Troubleshooting failure of configuration file validation Troubleshooting failure of MTree replication Troubleshooting replication for assets already configured for a stand-alone agent Troubleshooting creation of new snapshot after restart of failed backup Troubleshooting a configuration file that is generated by PowerProtect Data Manager and imported during an agent update Troubleshooting storage policy backup failure and PowerProtect config validation error

Storage Direct agent limitations Review the following limitations that apply to PowerProtect Data Manager support for the Storage Direct agent.

Provide asset configuration file during update

For existing Storage Direct agent users who are updating, the asset configuration file must be provided during the update. No option is provided to add the file once the update is completed.

Storage Direct agent coexistence with other application agents is not supported

PowerProtect Data Manager does not support the coexistence of the Storage Direct agent with other application agents, such as the Oracle, SAP HANA, or SQL application agent in PowerProtect Data Manager.

Configuration Change Management is not supported for existing Storage Direct users

The Configuration Change Management feature is not supported for existing Storage Direct users when updating to the Storage Direct agent for PowerProtect Data Manager.

4

Storage Direct Best Practices and Troubleshooting 51

Storage Direct policies do not support Smart Scale system pools

The storage target list shows all protection storage systems, regardless of membership, but does not show system pools. Therefore, you cannot select a system pool as a policy target. The PowerProtect Data Manager Administration and User Guide provides more information about system pools.

Troubleshooting agent registration Review the following information that is related to troubleshooting agent registration issues.

On Windows, if the agent fails to establish a connection with the PowerProtect Data Manager server, agent registration might fail with the following error message:

During a network connectivity test, the agent is unable to reach the PowerProtect Data Manager server by using ping.

1. If the ping command is blocked in the environment, the agent registration can still complete successfully. Review the agent service logs at INSTALL_DIR\DPSAPPS\AgentService\logs to verify that the registration is successful. If the registration is successful, the status of the agent host indicates Registered in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI. 2. If the ping command is not blocked in the environment, the agent registration might not complete successfully because a network connection cannot be started. If this occurs, complete the following steps to troubleshoot the issue:

On Linux or AIX, if the agent fails to establish a connection with the PowerProtect Data Manager server, agent registration might fail with the following error message:

During a network connectivity test, the agent is unable to reach the PowerProtect Data Manager server by using ping and curl.

1. If the ping command is blocked in the environment and curl is not installed, the agent registration can still complete successfully. Review the agent service logs at /opt/dpsapps/agentsvc/logs to verify that the registration is successful. If the registration is successful, the status of the agent host indicates Registered in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI. 2. If the ping command is not blocked in the environment, the agent registration might not complete successfully because a network connection cannot be started. If this occurs, complete the following steps to troubleshoot the issue:

If agent registration fails with these error messages, complete the following operation:

1. Use any network packet tracing tool to trace the packets from the agent system to PowerProtect Data Manager. 2. Start the packet tracing between the source IP of the agent system and the destination IP of PowerProtect Data Manager. 3. Start the network traffic between the agent system and PowerProtect Data Manager.

Wait 10 to 15 seconds.

4. Analyze the captured packets. 5. Look for SYN and SYN_ACK packets to see if a 3-way handshake is being performed.

Determine whether the source agent or the destination PowerProtect Data Manager is blocking the connection.

If network traffic is blocked, contact your network security team to resolve the port communication issue.

Troubleshooting PowerProtect agent service installations A PowerProtect agent service installation might fail with the following error message:

Service 'PowerProtect Agent Service' (AgentService) could not be installed. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to install system services.

52 Storage Direct Best Practices and Troubleshooting

Possible causes of the installation failure are as follows:

The installation was attempted on a passive node of a Failover Cluster Instance (FCI). The installation was canceled and a rollback left some stale entries of PowerProtect agent services.

As a workaround, clean up the PowerProtect agent service entries, and retry the installation.

Troubleshooting PowerProtect agent service operations To troubleshoot agent service operations, you can check the agent service log file OpAgentSvc- .log, which is created in \logs on Windows and /logs on AIX or Linux. To modify the log level and retention of temporary files, you can modify specific parameter settings in the config.yml file.

About this task

To modify the log level and retention of temporary files, you can perform the following steps.

Steps

1. Stop the agent service by using the appropriate procedure from the preceding topic.

2. Open the config.yml file in an editor.

3. Modify the log-level settings in the following parameters, as required:

NOTE: These parameters are listed in order of decreasing number of messages in the debug information output. The

default log-level is INFO.

DEBUG INFO WARNING ERROR CRITICAL

4. To retain the temporary files, set the keepTempFiles parameter to True in the config.yml file.

NOTE: The agent service and application agent communicate through the temporary files, which are typically deleted

after use but can be useful for troubleshooting purposes. Do not leave the keepTempFiles parameter set to True

permanently, or the temporary files can use excessive space on the file system.

5. Start the agent service by using the appropriate procedure from the preceding topic.

Troubleshooting PowerProtect Data Manager UI display of localhost.localdomain hostname In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, the Application Agents, Asset Sources, and Protection Jobs windows might list the asset primary hostname as localhost.localdomain instead of the expected FQDN.

The display of localhost.localdomain as the hostname in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI windows might occur when you specify the host's actual FQDN setting for the loopback address in the /etc/hosts file. For example, when you add the following settings in the /etc/hosts file, the first setting value, localhost.localdomain, appears as the hostname in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI windows, instead of the actual FQDN:

127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost6 localhost6.localdomain6 127.0.0.1 blrv027d233.blr.lab.emc.com blrv027d233

Ensure that the host's actual FQDN is not specified for the loopback address and do not specify hostnames that start with "local" in the /etc/hosts file.

Storage Direct Best Practices and Troubleshooting 53

Troubleshooting when protection policies cannot be created from an imported configuration file that uses VMAX When trying to import a VMAX storage group protection policy configuration file created by another Storage Direct agent deployment, the protection policy configuration job can fail with the following description:

Configuring Replication Restore vDisks For the protection policy configuration to succeed, delete and recreate the secondary restore devices before importing the configuration file.

Troubleshooting when protection policies cannot be created from an imported configuration file that uses replication Protection policies cannot be created from an imported Storage Direct configuration file that uses replication.

Remove replication from the Storage Direct configuration before importing the file to PowerProtect Data Manager. After it has been imported, replication can be added back to the Storage Direct configuration.

Troubleshooting initiation of SMIS server discovery job The "Reconfigure Storage Group" job is not initiated after running a discovery of the SMIS server from the PowerProtect Data Manager UI on the first attempt.

The "Reconfigure Storage Group" job is initiated upon running the SMIS server discovery a second time.

Troubleshooting SDFSA install/update failure when using absolute path An SDFSA installation or update fails when performed using the absolute path. For example:

Installation using absolute path

[root@xxxxx /]# /Softwares/builds/sdfsa_19.x_36/install.sh 2019/09/18 23:18:42 adm-agent rpm not found in current working directory...

Update using absolute path

[root@xxxxx sd_cfs]# /Softwares/builds/sdfsa_19.x_40/install.sh -u 2019/09/17 01:49:35 storagedirectagent rpm not found in current working directory... /Softwares/builds/sdfsa_19.x_40/install.sh: line 595: [: -gt: unary operator expected /Softwares/builds/sdfsa_19.x_40/install.sh: line 597: [: -gt: unary operator expected /Softwares/builds/sdfsa_19.x_40/install.sh: line 599: [: -gt: unary operator expected /Softwares/builds/sdfsa_19.x_40/install.sh: line 601: [: -gt: unary operator expected 2019/09/17 01:49:35 storagedirectagent rpm not found in current working directory... rpm -U --quiet --test rpm: no packages given for install 2019/09/17 01:49:35 storagedirectagent upgrade failed... 2019/09/17 01:49:35 storagedirectagent upgrade failed...

To work around this issue, change the directory to the location of install.sh and run ./install.sh.

54 Storage Direct Best Practices and Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting when encapsulation fails during policy creation When a protection policy is created, a process that is called encapsulation occurs, which creates backup and restore FTS devices on the VMAX system and links the DD vDisk with FTS. If a retention lock exists on the VMAX system, or if the SMIS services are not running, encapsulation fails.

To ensure that there is no retention lock on the VMAX system, run the following command as the root user from the SMIS server:

symcfg list -lockn all The output is similar to the following:

S Y M M E T R I X L O C K S

Lock Lock Lock Time SymmID Attachment Status Number Usage Held (Sec)

000196700638 Local Locked 15 Config Change 13572 -> Almost 4 hours 000192604348 Remote N/A N/A N/A N/A 000297000476 Remote N/A N/A N/A N/A

If SMIS services are not running, an exception appears in the logs indicating that the storsvd service is not available and a connection to SMIS cannot be established using the SYMAPI calls. If this exception occurs:

1. Run the following command as the root user from the SMIS server to verify the status of storsvd:

./stordaemon show storsrvd If the service is unavailable, the message *** Daemon storsrvd is not currently running appears.

2. Restart the service by running ./stordaemon start storsrvd.

3. Run the ./stordaemon show storsrvd command again to verify that the status is now Running.

4. To view the remote server details, run ./stordaemon action storsrvd -cmd show server.

5. To view the network configuration, run ./stordaemon action storsrvd -cmd show -netinfo.

Troubleshooting when restart of encapsulation fails When an encapsulation job for the Storage Direct agent does not complete successfully, a restart of the job in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI fails with the message error: Data Domain vDisk pool not provided remediation: null.

Troubleshooting when encapsulation fails with error "SYMAPI_C_NET_HANDSHAKE_FAILED" If the encapsulation of a device fails with the error SYMAPI_C_NET_HANDSHAKE_FAILED 1. Ensure that proper name resolution can occur by verifying that the PowerProtect Data Manager server/SMIS server and

SDA host are resolvable by either DNS or the hosts file. 2. Perform the following steps to ensure that the PowerProtect Data Manager server can obtain all the necessary information

from the SMIS server: a. Log in to PowerProtect Data Manager as an administrator. b. Go to the /usr/emc/API/symapi/config/netcnfg directory.

c. Verify that the server entry exists. For example, - TCPIP 2707 -.

Storage Direct Best Practices and Troubleshooting 55

d. Verify whether the Solutions Enabler base daemon is running. For example:

admin@xxxxx:~> stordaemon list -all Available Daemons ('[*]': Currently Running, '[NI]': Not Installed): [*] storapid EMC Solutions Enabler Base Daemon storgnsd EMC Solutions Enabler GNS Daemon storrdfd EMC Solutions Enabler RDF Daemon storevntd EMC Solutions Enabler Event Daemon [*] storwatchd EMC Solutions Enabler Watchdog Daemon storsrmd EMC Solutions Enabler SRM Daemon

e. Export the environment variables SYMCLI_CONNECT_TYPE=REMOTE and SYMCLI_CONNECT= .

f. Run symcfg list. The command output should display all VMAX and PowerMax systems that have been added to the SMIS server.

Troubleshooting failure of configuration file validation Configuration file validation fails when multiple storage group assets are selected for policy inclusion if the configuration file is not formatted correctly.

When you select multiple storage group assets as part of a VMAX Storage Group protection policy in PowerProtect Data Manager, validation fails if the configuration file is not formatted correctly. For example, a configuration file with the following format might be pushed to the host:

DDBOOST_USER = 148_78-xxxxx-932c9 DEVICE_HOST = IP address DEVICE_PATH = /148_78-xxxxx-932c9-SU DDVDISK_USER = 148_78-xxxxx-932c9 #RESTORE_DEVICE_POOL = 148_78-xxxxx-932c9 #RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP = R-sdm_xxxxx_SG7-0638 #RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP = R-sdm_xxxxx_SG8-0638 # DD_BOOST_FC = # DD_PORT = VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG = R-sdm_xxxxx_SG7-0638 #VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG = R-sdm_xxxxx_SG8-0638

To work around this issue, enclose VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG in a comment and remove RESTORE_DEVICE_POOL and one of the entries for RESTORE_DEVICE_GROUP from the comment.

Troubleshooting failure of MTree replication MTree replication fails when adding replication stage for multiple protection policies if assets have the same user/vDisk pool.

If an existing Storage Direct user has updated to the Storage Direct agent for PowerProtect Data Manager and uses the same user/vDisk pool for protected assets to create multiple protection policies with a replication stage, an MTree replication job fails with an error similar to the following: Unable to create DataDomain user xxxx, User xxxx already exists. To work around this issue, manually add the secondary DD system details in the configuration file.

Troubleshooting replication for assets already configured for a stand-alone agent Replication is not supported for assets in a storage group protection policy for existing Storage Direct agent users if replication is already configured for a stand-alone agent

The addition of a replication stage as part of a storage group protection policy is not supported when you use PowerProtect Data Manager to create a Storage Direct agent setup and then try to import it into another PowerProtect Data Manager.

To update the Storage Direct agent, remove the secondary DD system details from the configuration file before importing it.

56 Storage Direct Best Practices and Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting creation of new snapshot after restart of failed backup Storage Direct agent creates a new snapshot when restarting failed backup jobs in PowerProtect Data Manager

If a backup fails and you restart the backup job, the Storage Direct agent creates a new snapshot and does not reuse the snapshot that was created during the failed backup. This is expected behavior, and the latest snapshot is used for the new backup.

Troubleshooting a configuration file that is generated by PowerProtect Data Manager and imported during an agent update If a Storage Direct configuration file generated by one PowerProtect Data Manager system is imported as an existing Storage Direct configuration file into a second PowerProtect Data Manager system, the parent storage group is not created during asset configuration in the existing VMAX storage group protection policy.

Before you add the configuration file to the appsetting file, complete the following steps:

1. Open the Storage Direct configuration file in an editor. 2. Set the VMAX_FASTX_RESTORE_SG parameter to the restore storage group that is created by PowerProtect Data

Manager. NOTE: If there are multiple storage groups, enclose each entry in a comment. Ensure that you follow the format for

multiple restore device groups and restore storage groups. The PowerProtect Data Manager for Storage Direct User

Guide provides more information.

3. Remove the parent storage group in the configuration file. 4. Delete the parent storage group from the VMAX storage array by running the symcli command.

Troubleshooting storage policy backup failure and PowerProtect config validation error If the password of a ddboost/vdisk user contains a backslash (\) or a forward Slash (/) or a quotation mark (") or any combination of these three characters during the storage policy configuration for a new Storage Direct environment, the policy backup and PowerProtect config validation fail. This issue occurs in both self-service and centralized backup processes.

When the policy backup fails, the user interface displays an error as shown below:

Some tasks failed during the operation.Please consult the individual task status for more information.

A sample PowerProtect config validation error:

[root@XXXXX ~]# protectpoint config validate config-file /opt/dpsapps/ppfsagent/config/ 149_5_new.config *** Using VMAX configuration file "/opt/dpsapps/ppfsagent/config/149_5_new.config" *** Validating the application settings.....................[OK] Note: APP_INFO has not been specified. No value will be used, which is acceptable. Validating the host requirements........................[OK] Validating the Primary system: DD vdisk connection information.....................[Error]

**** Unable to connect to DD system '

' as user '149_5- XXXXX-6b648': Invalid user specified..

Note: DDBoost communication method is Network DD Boost connection information.....................[Error]

Storage Direct Best Practices and Troubleshooting 57

As a workaround, from the PPDM user interface, reset the password of the ddboost/ vdisk user without a backslash (\) or a forward Slash (/) or a quotation mark (").

58 Storage Direct Best Practices

Manualsnet FAQs

If you want to find out how the PowerProtect Dell works, you can view and download the Dell PowerProtect 19.11 Data Manager Storage Direct User Guide on the Manualsnet website.

Yes, we have the Storage Direct User Guide for Dell PowerProtect as well as other Dell manuals. All you need to do is to use our search bar and find the user manual that you are looking for.

The Storage Direct User Guide should include all the details that are needed to use a Dell PowerProtect. Full manuals and user guide PDFs can be downloaded from Manualsnet.com.

The best way to navigate the Dell PowerProtect 19.11 Data Manager Storage Direct User Guide is by checking the Table of Contents at the top of the page where available. This allows you to navigate a manual by jumping to the section you are looking for.

This Dell PowerProtect 19.11 Data Manager Storage Direct User Guide consists of sections like Table of Contents, to name a few. For easier navigation, use the Table of Contents in the upper left corner.

You can download Dell PowerProtect 19.11 Data Manager Storage Direct User Guide free of charge simply by clicking the “download” button in the upper right corner of any manuals page. This feature allows you to download any manual in a couple of seconds and is generally in PDF format. You can also save a manual for later by adding it to your saved documents in the user profile.

To be able to print Dell PowerProtect 19.11 Data Manager Storage Direct User Guide, simply download the document to your computer. Once downloaded, open the PDF file and print the Dell PowerProtect 19.11 Data Manager Storage Direct User Guide as you would any other document. This can usually be achieved by clicking on “File” and then “Print” from the menu bar.