NetBackup provides a pretty nice Web Interface, OpsCenter, to monitor and check the basic configuration. However after working a while with it, you may find that some information can be quit boring to find out.

Good news! Symantec didn’t forget that in Unix World some peoples still like working in command lines…

Once connected through SSH on your NetBackup server, you will have access to a bunch of usefull tools to work with your media manager. Unfortunately, while searching for them and some examples on Internet, I didn’t find a lot of articles on that topic.

Therefore the idea here is to give you a short summary of the most popular ones.
All these tools are mainly located under 2 folders (and their relative subfolders):

  •  …/openv/netbackup/bin/
  •  …/openv/volmgr/bin

The full path depends of course of your NetBackup installation.

Media monitoring and operations

First of all, let’s check the global status: vmoprcmd (in ./openv/volmgr/bin)

 vmdbitest:/usr/openv/volmgr/bin # ./vmoprcmd HOST STATUS
Host Name                                  Version   Host Status
=========================================  =======   ===========
vmdbitest                                  700000    ACTIVE
PENDING REQUESTS
DRIVE STATUS
Drive Name               Label   Ready  RecMID  ExtMID  Wr.Enbl.  Type
Host                       DrivePath                            Status
=============================================================================
HP.ULTRIUM5-SCSI.050     Yes     Yes    MED005          Yes       hcart3
vmdbitest                    /dev/nst0                            AVR

In addition, the options -activate_host and -deactivate_host can be used to activate or deactivate an host.
For complete information on vmoprcmd, use vmoprcmd -help
Then you can then check the properties for a media: vmquery (in ./openv/volmgr/bin)

vmquery -m MED002
============================================================
media ID:              MED002
media type:            1/2" cartridge tape 3 (24)
barcode:               --------
media description:     Media number 002
volume pool:           NetBackup (1)
robot type:            NONE - Not Robotic (0)
volume group:          ---
vault name:            ---
vault sent date:       ---
vault return date:     ---
vault slot:            ---
vault session id:      ---
vault container id:    -
created:               Tue Aug 10 11:43:01 2010
assigned:              Mon Aug 23 18:00:01 2010
last mounted:          Mon Nov 29 18:00:06 2010
first mount:           Wed Aug 11 10:01:22 2010
expiration date:       ---
number of mounts:      16
max mounts allowed:    ---
status:                0x0

Using bpmedialist (in ./openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd), you can have an overview of your ACTIVE medias

vmdbitest:/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd # ./bpmedialist -U
Server Host = vmdbitest
id     rl  images   allocated        last updated      density  kbytes restores
vimages   expiration       last read         <------- STATUS ------->
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MED002   1     26   12/10/2010 18:00  12/10/2010 21:50  hcart3   364089280     0
26   12/24/2010 21:50        N/A        
MED003   1     27   12/17/2010 18:00  12/17/2010 21:51  hcart3   344174432     0
27   12/31/2010 21:51        N/A        
MED001   1     27   12/20/2010 18:00  12/20/2010 21:54  hcart3   345551584     0
27   01/03/2011 21:54        N/A        
MED004   1     56   11/29/2010 20:34  12/13/2010 21:54  hcart3   703615360     0
32   12/27/2010 21:54        N/A        
MED005   1     51   11/25/2010 18:00  12/09/2010 21:52  hcart3   714567840     0
51   12/23/2010 21:52        N/A        
MED006   1     26   12/16/2010 18:00  12/16/2010 21:51  hcart3   345775808     0
26   12/30/2010 21:51        N/A        
MED007   1     52   12/07/2010 18:00  12/21/2010 21:53  hcart3   706256672     0
52   01/04/2011 21:53        N/A

Another cool tool about media usage is available_media (in ./openv/netbackup/bin/goodies)

vmdbitest:/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/goodies # ./available_media
media    media    robot    robot    robot    side/    ret    size    status
ID    type    type      #    slot    face    level  KBytes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CatalogBackup pool
DataStore pool
NetBackup pool
MED002    HCART3   NONE      -      -     -     1     364089280    ACTIVE
MED003    HCART3   NONE      -      -     -     1     344174432    ACTIVE
MED001    HCART3   NONE      -      -     -     1     345551584    ACTIVE
MED004    HCART3   NONE      -      -     -     1     703615360    ACTIVE
MED005    HCART3   NONE      -      -     -     1     714567840    ACTIVE
MED006    HCART3   NONE      -      -     -     1     345775808    ACTIVE
MED007    HCART3   NONE      -      -     -     1     706256672    ACTIVE
MED008    HCART3   NONE      -      -     -     -     -    AVAILABLE
MED009    HCART3   NONE      -      -     -     -     -    AVAILABLE
MED010    HCART3   NONE      -      -     -     1     2545523200    FULL

If like in my example you have a FULL media, it is possible to purge it manually: bpexpdate (in ./openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd)

bpexpdate -m MED003 -d 0

Of course a confirmation for the complete tape deletion is asked.

Configuration checkup

Beside the media management, the NetBackup command lines tools can also help to check the configuration.
Start by looking to the basic server information, like version or OS type: bpgetconfig (in ./openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd)

vmdbitest:/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd # ./bpgetconfig -s vmdbitest -L
Client/Master = Master
NetBackup Client Platform = Linux, SuSE2.6.16
NetBackup Client Protocol Level = 7.0.0
Product = NetBackup
Version Name = 7.0
Version Number = 700000
NetBackup Installation Path = /usr/openv/netbackup/bin
Client OS/Release = Linux 2.6.27.19-5-default

You can also get the complete settings, including CIPHER information using:
./bpgetconfig -s vmdbitest -A -L

Instead of checking the server, you can also have a look to the complete user configuration

vmdbitest:/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd # ./bpgetconfig -u
SERVER = vmdbitest
KNOWN_MASTER
MASTER_OF_MASTERS
USEMAIL = [email protected]
BPBACKUP_POLICY = any
BPBACKUP_SCHED = any
...
...
PERFORM_CONSISTENCY_CHECK = YES
CONTINUE_BACKUP_ON_FAILURE = YES
DDNS_RANGE
FAST_CONFIGURED_CLIENT = YES
ORACLE_METADATA = NO
KEEP_DBM_IMAGECHANGELOG_DAYS = 7

Some other configuration information are available about policies and schedules.
You can for instance check the existing policies: bppllist (in ./openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd)

vmdbitest:/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd # ./bppllist -U
 Policy:            LinuxFullBackup
Policy:            OracleDBTEST
Policy:            OracleOMS
Policy:            Test

Once you got the list, you can check the setting for a single policy: bpplinfo (in ./openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd)

vmdbitest:/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd # ./bpplinfo OracleDBTEST -U
Policy Type:        Oracle
Active:            yes
Effective:        02/03/2008 20:26:56
Follow NFS Mounts:    no
Cross Mount Points:    no
Client Compress:    no
Collect TIR info:    no
Policy Priority:    0
Ext Security Info:    no
File Restore Raw:    no
Client Encrypt:        no
Residence:        -  
Volume Pool:        NetBackup  
Server Group:        *ANY*
Data Classification:        -
Residence is storage lifecycle policy:    no
Granular Restore:    no
Ignore Client Direct:    no

Finally for each policy, the corresponding schedules can be displayed: bpplsched (in ./openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd)

vmdbitest:/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd # ./bpplsched OracleDBTEST -L
Schedule:        Default-Application-Backup
Type:            UBAK Obak (2)
Frequency:       7 day(s) (604800 seconds)
Retention Level: 1 (2 weeks)
u-wind/o/d:      0 0
Incr Type:       DELTA (0)
Alt Read Host:   (none defined)
Max Frag Size:   0 MB
PFI Recovery:    0
Maximum MPX:     1
Number Copies:   1
Fail on Error:   0
Residence:       (specific storage unit not required)
Volume Pool:     (same as policy volume pool)
Server Group:    (same as specified for policy)
Residence is Storage Lifecycle Policy:     0
Daily Windows:
Day         Open       Close       W-Open     W-Close
Sunday      000:00:00  024:00:00   000:00:00  024:00:00  
Monday      000:00:00  024:00:00   024:00:00  048:00:00  
Tuesday     000:00:00  024:00:00   048:00:00  072:00:00  
Wednesday   000:00:00  024:00:00   072:00:00  096:00:00  
Thursday    000:00:00  024:00:00   096:00:00  120:00:00  
Friday      000:00:00  024:00:00   120:00:00  144:00:00  
Saturday    000:00:00  024:00:00   144:00:00  168:00:00

Backup and Jobs information

The last part is about looking the jobs information and the backup data
Get the job list: bpdbjobs (in ./openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd)

vmdbitest:/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd # ./bpdbjobs
JobID         Type State Status          Policy                   Schedule  Client Dest Media Svr Active PID FATPipe
3360 Image Delete  Done      1                                                                        22691        
3305       Backup  Done      0    OracleOMS Default-Application-Backup vmdbioem        vmdbitest      14159      No
3304       Backup  Done      0    OracleDBTEST             CallRMANScript vmdbioem        vmdbitest      14077      No
3298       Backup  Done      0 LinuxFullBackup           AllWorkingNights vmdbiora1        vmdbitest       4640      No    3294 Image Delete  Done      1                                                                         1770

This is quite interresting, especially for following the running or pending jobs. In addition is you are facing some issue with a job, bperror may help to find out what happened.

vmdbitest:/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd # ./bperror -U12/22/2010 09:54:17 vmdbitest -  Hot catalog backup is not configured for
'vmdbitest', catalog cleanup will return partial success until hot catalog backup is configured.

About backups, it is possible browse all the images on a media: bpimmedia (in ./openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd)

vmdbitest:/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd # ./bpimmedia -mediaid MED001 -U
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Backup-ID:           vmdbioem_1292875215
Policy:              OracleOMS
Schedule Type:       UBAK
Retention Level      1
Number of Files:     1
Compression:         Y
Encryption:          N
Image Type:          Regular
Primary Copy:        1
Expires:             21:00 01/03/2011
Copy Number:        1
Fragment Number:    1
Fragment Size (KB): 371168
Media Type:         RMed
Density:            hcart3
File Number:        5
Offset:             3839839
Host:               vmdbitest
Device Written On:  0
MPX:                N
Expires:            21:00 01/03/2011
Retention Level:    1
MediaID:            MED001
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Backup-ID:           vmdbioem_1292868896
Policy:              LinuxFullBackup
Schedule Type:       FULL
Retention Level      1
Number of Files:     155096
Compression:         N
Encryption:          N
Image Type:          Regular
Primary Copy:        1
Expires:             19:14 01/03/2011
Copy Number:        1
Fragment Number:    1
Fragment Size (KB): 32617408
Media Type:         RMed
Density:            hcart3
File Number:        4
Offset:             3330190
Host:               vmdbitest
Device Written On:  0
MPX:                N
Expires:            19:14 01/03/2011
Retention Level:    1
MediaID:            MED001

Like often, it is possible to have a global view about the backups: bpcatlist (in ./openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd)

vmdbitest:/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd # ./bpcatlist -server vmdbitest
Backupid            Backup Date            Files    Size  Sched                      Policy             Catarcid S C Files file
vmdbioem_1292955439  Dec 21 19:17:19 2010  155053   31.0G  AllWorkingNights           LinuxFullBackup           0 1 0 LinuxFullBackup_1292955439_FULL.f
vmdbioem_1292878209  Dec 20 21:50:09 2010       1    384k  Default-Application-Backup OracleOMS              0 1 0 OracleOMS_1292878209_UBAK.f
vmdbioem_1292877956  Dec 20 21:45:56 2010       1  180.0M  Default-Application-Backup OracleOMS              0 1 0 OracleOMS_1292877956_UBAK.f
vmdbioem_1292877918  Dec 20 21:45:18 2010       1  130.0M  Default-Application-Backup OracleOMS              0 1 0 OracleOMS_1292877918_UBAK.f
vmdbioem_1292877879  Dec 20 21:44:39 2010       1  186.0M  Default-Application-Backup OracleOMS              0 1 0 OracleOMS_1292877879_UBAK.f
vmdbioem_1292877836  Dec 20 21:43:56 2010       1  185.0M  Default-Application-Backup OracleOMS              0 1 0 OracleOMS_1292877836_UBAK.f
...
...

And so we reached the end of this small topic. Remember that this list is definitively not exhaustive.
I hope that it helped to make your life with NetBackup easier. 🙄
Enjoy! 😀