{"id":8493,"date":"2019-11-13T18:31:22","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T08:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nsrd.info\/blog\/?p=8493"},"modified":"2019-11-14T05:19:26","modified_gmt":"2019-11-13T19:19:26","slug":"basics-diving-into-networker-virtual-machine-backup-details","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nsrd.info\/blog\/2019\/11\/13\/basics-diving-into-networker-virtual-machine-backup-details\/","title":{"rendered":"Basics: Diving into NetWorker Virtual Machine Backup Details"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When you perform an agent-based backup, mminfo will give you a saveset-by-saveset breakdown of what was protected. For filesystem backups, that’ll be a list of the different filesystems protected: \/, \/usr<\/strong>, \/home<\/strong>, etc., for Linux\/Unix, and C:\\<\/strong>, D:\\<\/strong>, etc., for Windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, here’s a simple mminfo output for one of my lab clients, abydos:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Wed Nov 13 19:07:27]\n [\u2022  ~  \u2022]\n root@orilla \n $ mminfo -q \"client=abydos,savetime>=1 week ago,level=full\"<\/strong>\n  volume        client       date      size   level  name\n Backup.01      abydos.turbamentis.int 09\/11\/19 6314 MB full \/\n Backup.01      abydos.turbamentis.int 09\/11\/19 290 MB full \/boot\n Backup.01      abydos.turbamentis.int 09\/11\/19 2 KB full \/d\/data\n Backup.01      abydos.turbamentis.int 09\/11\/19 5025 KB full \/home\n BoostClone.002 abydos.turbamentis.int 09\/11\/19 6314 MB full \/\n BoostClone.002 abydos.turbamentis.int 09\/11\/19 290 MB full \/boot\n BoostClone.002 abydos.turbamentis.int 09\/11\/19 2 KB full \/d\/data\n BoostClone.002 abydos.turbamentis.int 09\/11\/19 5025 KB full \/home<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
So I can see straight away from the output that there were four filesystems on abydos when it got its last full backup: \/<\/strong>, \/boot<\/strong>, \/d\/data<\/strong> and \/home<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what about virtual machine backups \u2013 proxy-based backups? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Digging deeper with mminfo for Virtual Machine Backups<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
For those, the default output of mminfo focuses just on telling you the virtual machine was backed up. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Wed Nov 13 19:10:25]\n [\u2022  ~  \u2022]\n root@orilla \n $ mminfo -q \"savetime>=3 days ago,level=full,pool=BoostBackup\"<\/strong>\n  volume        client       date      size   level  name\n BoostBackup.002 oaktier.turbamentis.int 11\/11\/19 157 GB full vm:500f1260-a7be-d5cf-0395-761e835a891b:oaktier.turbamentis.int\n BoostBackup.002 oaktier.turbamentis.int 12\/11\/19 157 GB full vm:500f1260-a7be-d5cf-0395-761e835a891b:oaktier.turbamentis.int\n BoostBackup.002 oaktier.turbamentis.int 11\/11\/19 16 GB full vm:500f21cd-5865-dc0d-7fe5-9b93fad1a059:oaktier.turbamentis.int\n BoostBackup.002 oaktier.turbamentis.int 12\/11\/19 16 GB full vm:500f21cd-5865-dc0d-7fe5-9b93fad1a059:oaktier.turbamentis.int\n BoostBackup.002 oaktier.turbamentis.int 11\/11\/19 83 GB full vm:500f6743-c531-f607-b47a-b00d26e67d4b:oaktier.turbamentis.int\n BoostBackup.002 oaktier.turbamentis.int 12\/11\/19 83 GB full vm:500f6743-c531-f607-b47a-b00d26e67d4b:oaktier.turbamentis.int\n BoostBackup.002 oaktier.turbamentis.int 11\/11\/19 574 GB full vm:500fe40e-5be3-28fc-5b57-881485c2a897:oaktier.turbamentis.int\n BoostBackup.002 oaktier.turbamentis.int 12\/11\/19 574 GB full vm:500fe40e-5be3-28fc-5b57-881485c2a897:oaktier.turbamentis.int\n BoostBackup.002 oaktier.turbamentis.int 11\/11\/19 33 GB full vm:5029e15e-3c9d-18be-a928-16e13839f169:oaktier.turbamentis.int\n BoostBackup.002 oaktier.turbamentis.int 12\/11\/19 33 GB full vm:5029e15e-3c9d-18be-a928-16e13839f169:oaktier.turbamentis.int<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Now, getting the virtual machine ID like that isn’t particularly helpful, so you can adjust your mminfo query to get the virtual machine name using the ‘-k’ option, thusly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Wed Nov 13 19:10:40]\n [\u2022  ~  \u2022]\n root@orilla \n $ mminfo -q \"savetime>=3 days ago,level=full,pool=BoostBackup\" -k<\/strong>\n  volume        type   vm_name         date     time         size ssid      fl backup_size\n BoostBackup.002 Data Domain win01      11\/11\/19 02:00:12  157 GB 1606952444 cr 157 GB\n BoostBackup.002 Data Domain win01      12\/11\/19 02:00:11  157 GB 449410941 cr  157 GB\n BoostBackup.002 Data Domain vulcan     11\/11\/19 02:00:13   16 GB 1590175228 cr  16 GB\n BoostBackup.002 Data Domain vulcan     12\/11\/19 02:00:15   16 GB 382302077 cr   16 GB\n BoostBackup.002 Data Domain test01     11\/11\/19 02:00:11   83 GB 1623729660 cr  83 GB\n BoostBackup.002 Data Domain test01     12\/11\/19 02:00:14   83 GB 399079293 cr   83 GB\n BoostBackup.002 Data Domain andoria    11\/11\/19 02:00:14  574 GB 1573398012 cr 574 GB\n BoostBackup.002 Data Domain andoria    12\/11\/19 02:00:12  574 GB 432633725 cr  574 GB\n BoostBackup.002 Data Domain krell      11\/11\/19 02:00:15   33 GB 1556620796 cr  33 GB\n BoostBackup.002 Data Domain krell      12\/11\/19 02:00:13   33 GB 415856509 cr   33 GB<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
That makes it more readable, for sure \u2013 but what if you want to know, using mminfo, what virtual disks were actually backed up? Well, for that, ‘-S’ is your friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The “mminfo -S” invocation allows you to drill down and see a lot<\/em> of additional details about a NetWorker backup. You may recall a blog article earlier in the year where I showed how to use mminfo -S to drill into dependencies between PSS savesets<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can run mminfo -S against multiple savesets concurrently, but given the amount of information it produces, I usually prefer to run it against a single saveset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To give you an example, let’s first pick a saveset. Now, I could use the ‘-k’ option in mminfo again, but the other way we can get the virtual machine name is to use a report option of vmname<\/em>. So let’s start by finding my virtual machine backups generated in the last 3 days:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Wed Nov 13 19:20:06]\n [\u2022  ~  \u2022]\n root@orilla \n $ mminfo -q \"pool=BoostBackup,level=full,savetime>=3 days ago\" -r \"vmname,savetime,ssid\"<\/strong>\n  vm_name    date   ssid\n win01      11\/11\/19 1606952444\n win01      12\/11\/19 449410941\n vulcan     11\/11\/19 1590175228\n vulcan     12\/11\/19 382302077\n test01     11\/11\/19 1623729660\n test01     12\/11\/19 399079293\n andoria    11\/11\/19 1573398012\n andoria    12\/11\/19 432633725\n krell      11\/11\/19 1556620796\n krell      12\/11\/19 415856509<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
(In this case, in my lab, I usually only backup virtual machines to my DDVE, since it’s the free 0.5TB version. If someone wants to send me a DD9900 to use, I’ll gladly send all backups to that and even argue with my husband about where it’ll fit in our garage…)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, let’s say I want to see more details about what was the virtual machine ‘vulcan’ contained during the most recent backup. To do that, I’d run mminfo -S against the saveset generated on 12 November 2019, and that command and output would look like the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Wed Nov 13 19:21:41]\n [\u2022  ~  \u2022]\n root@orilla \n $ mminfo -S -q \"ssid=382302077\"<\/strong>\n ssid=382302077 savetime=12\/11\/19 02:00:15 (1573484415) oaktier.turbamentis.int:vm:500f21cd-5865-dc0d-7fe5-9b93fad1a059:oaktier.turbamentis.int\n   level=full   sflags=vrF      size=17196675068  files=1          insert=12\/11\/19\n   create=12\/11\/19 complete=12\/11\/19 browse=12\/02\/20 23:59:59 retent=12\/02\/20 23:59:59\n   clientid=82880f28-00000004-5cc29a5e-5cc29a5d-00015000-9f778f56\n          **backup start time: 1573484415;\n               *backup_device: Data Domain;\n                 *backup_mode: VSS;\n          *policy action name: \"backup: 1573484412\", \"clone: 1573485492\";\n                 *policy name: \"VMware: 1573484412 1573485492\";\n        *policy workflow name: \"Virtual Machines: 1573484412\", \n                               \"Virtual Machines: 1573485492\";\n *policy_workflow_action_path: \/VMware\/Virtual Machines\/backup;\n              *proxy_hostname: hanko.turbamentis.int;<\/em><\/strong>\n *ss data domain backup cloneid: 1573484412;\n *ss data domain dedup statistics: \"v1:1573484412:17195263820:14789:10382\", \n                               \"v1:1573485492:17187582892:7905216:7674846\";\n              *SSID directory: Yes;\n            *vcenter_hostname: oaktier.turbamentis.int;\n             *vm_backup_level: incr;\n                     *vm_info: \\\n \"{\n   \\\"name\\\": \\\"vulcan\\\",\n   \\\"host-name\\\": \\\"\\\",\n   \\\"ip-address\\\": \\\"\\\",\n   \\\"template\\\": false,\n   \\\"moref-id\\\": \\\"vm-58\\\",\n   \\\"vcenter-name\\\": \\\"oaktier.turbamentis.int\\\",\n   \\\"path\\\": \\\"\/home\/kobol.turbamentis.int\/vulcan\\\",\n   \\\"moref-path\\\": \\\"\/datacenter-21\/domain-s26\/vm-58\\\",\n   \\\"vm-path\\\": \\\"\/home\/vulcan\\\",\n   \\\"moref-vm-path\\\": \\\"\/datacenter-21\/vm-58\\\",\n   \\\"datastore\\\": \\\"datastore2-samsung-ssd\\\",\n   \\\"datastore-moref\\\": \\\"datastore-31\\\",\n   \\\"os-identifier\\\": \\\"centos64Guest\\\",\n   \\\"os-name\\\": \\\"CentOS 4\/5 or later (64-bit)\\\",\n   \\\"version\\\": \\\"vmx-08\\\",\n   \\\"change-version\\\": \\\"2019-04-26T05:15:52.859306Z\\\",\n   \\\"esxi-moref\\\": \\\"host-28\\\",\n   \\\"esxi-name\\\": \\\"kobol.turbamentis.int\\\",\n   \\\"datacenter\\\": \\\"datacenter-21\\\",\n   \\\"compute-resource\\\": \\\"domain-s26\\\",\n   \\\"cluster-compute-resource\\\": \\\"\\\",\n   \\\"networks\\\": [\n     \\\"VM Network\\\"\n   ],\n   \\\"disks\\\": [\n     {\n       \\\"display-name\\\": \\\"Hard disk 1\\\",\n       \\\"datastore\\\": \\\"datastore2-samsung-ssd\\\",\n       \\\"datastore-moref\\\": \\\"datastore-31\\\",\n       \\\"disk-key\\\": 2000,\n       \\\"size-kb\\\": 16777216,\n       \\\"thin\\\": true,\n       \\\"disk_stats\\\": {\n         \\\"Statistics\\\": {\n           \\\"ProvisionedBytes\\\": 17179869184,\n           \\\"UsedBytes\\\": 7701463040,\n           \\\"ChangedBytes\\\": 0,\n           \\\"SecondsTaken\\\": 0\n         },\n         \\\"DDStatistics\\\": {\n           \\\"PreClientCompBytes\\\": 0,\n           \\\"PostClientCompBytes\\\": 0,\n           \\\"TotalSegments\\\": 0,\n           \\\"RedundantSegments\\\": 0\n         },\n         \\\"BaseFileName\\\": \\\"\\\"\n       }\n     }\n   ]\n }\";\n                     *vm_name: vulcan;\n                     *vm_uuid: 500f21cd-5865-dc0d-7fe5-9b93fad1a059;\n<\/em><\/strong>                        group: VMware_Virtual Machines;\n             saveset features: CLIENT_SAVETIME;\n   Clone #1: cloneid=1573484412  time=12\/11\/19 02:00:12    retent=12\/02\/20  flags=\n     frag@         0 volid=3497323266 file\/rec=       0\/0     rn=0 last=12\/11\/19\n   Clone #2: cloneid=1573485492  time=12\/11\/19 02:18:12    retent=12\/01\/20  flags=\n     frag@         0 volid=3679897583 file\/rec=       0\/0     rn=0 last=12\/11\/19<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
I’ve used bold\/italics<\/em><\/strong> in the output above to highlight the virtual-machine specific details produced by mminfo -S. You’ll see if you scan through that it tells us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
  • What proxy was used to back it up<\/li>
  • The vCenter it belonged to<\/li>
  • Whether it was a full or incremental backup (a scheduled incremental is generated as a virtual synthetic full, though \u2013 but this helps us understand whether the entire VM was processed end-to-end, or whether it was just an incremental scan of the VM)<\/li>
  • A whole bunch of nitty-gritty VM details, including:
    • What ESX server it was on, and its path<\/li>
    • What network the VM was on<\/li>
    • What the virtual machine type was<\/li>
    • What version the virtual machine was<\/li>
    • For each disk, details about virtual disk provisioning, size, etc.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      As I understand it, you can get this sort of information via the REST API as well (deep-diving into the REST API has been a slow-burning project for me since I’ve wanted to Python first to tackle it, and I’m only just getting to that now), but if you’re not yet ready to dive into the REST API, you can see that it’s equally there for you using mminfo<\/strong>, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
      So there you have it \u2013 how to pull detailed information from mminfo about virtual machine backups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
      [Edit – 2019-11-14]<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
      Per Uwe’s comments, the REST API doesn’t provide this level of detail at this point. Also, the disk details are limited to the first four disks \u2013\u00a0I suspect this will be explicitly related to a maximum record size within the media database.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
      When you perform an agent-based backup, mminfo will give you a saveset-by-saveset breakdown of what was protected. For filesystem backups,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6,16,1357],"tags":[594],"class_list":["post-8493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basics","category-networker","category-vproxy","tag-mminfo"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nsrd.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/img_0221.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pKpIN-2cZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nsrd.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nsrd.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nsrd.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nsrd.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nsrd.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8493"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nsrd.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8495,"href":"https:\/\/nsrd.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8493\/revisions\/8495"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nsrd.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nsrd.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nsrd.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nsrd.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}