Configuring NetApp FAS 3xxx controllers to use NDMP
1) Verify the tape device is on Netapp’s Data Protection
Supported Devices list
b. If needed just download the configuration file for your device from
the web site listed above.
Note: The configuration file should have a TCF extension. This is an example of a TCF file for my device which happens to be an HP ULTRIUM 4-SCSI tape drive (FC connected).
file name = HP_LTO4_ULTRIUM.TCF
# Configuration file for Hewlett-Packard tape drive HP LTO Gen4 AKA ULTRIUM-4
# Version 1.0
# Copyright (c) 2008 NetApp
# All rights reserved.
vendor_id="HP"
product_id="Ultrium 4-SCSI"
id_match_size=9
vendor_pretty="Hewlett-Packard"
product_pretty="LTO-4"
l_description="LTO-2(ro)/3 2/400GB"
l_density=0x00
l_algorithm=0x00
m_description="LTO-2(ro)/3 4/800GB cmp"
m_density=0x00
m_algorithm=0x01
h_description="LTO-4 800GB"
h_density=0x46
h_algorithm=0x00
a_description="LTO-4 1600GB cmp"
a_density=0x46
a_algorithm=0x01
autoload="yes"
2) Verify / Install the Tape Configuration
file
* Check the Netapp etc$\tape_config folder to see if the
configuration file already exists.
netapp> rdfile /etc/tape_config/HP_LTO4_ULTRIUM.TCF
Note: the configuration file is just a
text file that can be opened in any text editor.
The following steps may or may not be needed on the individual FC ports. When we purchased our controllers we purchased two additional quad port FC cards, one for each controller and each had been pre-configured as initiators, one less thing for my to do.
1) configure the appropriate Netapp FC port as an
Initiator
a. Warning: Changing the selected Netapp FC port from
Target to Initiator will change the WWN associated with the
port.
b. Typically only the embedded
Netapp FC ports can be configured as either Target or Initiator. Because of this the fcadmin commands only work on those
ports. Usually, the expansion HBA’s
installed into the Netapp Controllers are ordered hardcoded as Target or
Initiator ports and can not be changed.
c. The embedded Netapp FC ports
are usually labeled as 0a, 0b, 0c, or 0d.
Be sure you know which FC port is being changed to the Initiator
port.
i. To map WWN to Netapp FC
labels use this command.
netapp> fcp
show adapter
d. Run the following command to view the current FC Port
configuration.
netapp> fcadmin config
adapter type State Status
0a initiator configured online
0b target configured online
0c target configured online
0d target configured online
e. Disable the selected port
netapp> fcadmin
config -d 0c
Fibre Channel target adapter 0c offlined
f. Change the selected port to an
Initiator
netapp> fcadmin
config -t initiator 0c
*A reboot is required for the new adapter configuration to take affect
g. If this is a Netapp FAS
Cluster you need to perform the same configuration, on the same port, on the partner
Netapp controller. port 0c would need to be configured
in the same manner on the partner Controller. This is required to support proper takeover
and giveback during a failure.
h. Reboot the controller
* If this Netapp FAS Cluster
perform a takeover, reboot, and giveback on each of the controllers in the
Netapp FAS cluster.
* If this is a single
controller reboot the controller
i. Enable / Verify the selected Netapp FC
port
i. The port should come back online after the reboot. Use this command to verify.
netapp> fcadmin
config
adapter type State Status
0a initiator configured online
0b target configured online
0c initiator configured online
0d target configured online
ii. If the port is not enabled
use the following command to enable it.
netapp> fcadmin
config -e 0c
j. Obtain the current WWPN of the selected initiator
port.
netapp> storage
show adapter
Slot: 0c
Description:
Firmware Rev:
FC Node Name: 2:101:001b32:ba7xxx
FC Node Name: 2:101:001b32:fa7xxx
FC Packet Size: 2048
Link Data Rate: 4 Gbit
SRAM Parity: Yes
External GBIC: No
State: Enabled
In Use: No
Redundant: Yes
The WWPN may be needed to
do the FC zoning.
2) Connect the Tape Device to the selected Netapp FC
Port
a. If using an FC Switch
* Zone the selected Netapp
FC port to the FC tape device.
b. If using a directly connected FC tape
device
* Connect the FC tape device
directly to the Netapp FC port.
c. If using an Enterprise VTL
* Grant the Netapp WWPN
access to the VTL as required.
3) Reboot the selected Netapp FC Port to force a scan for new devices. A scan for new devices is only done during a
reboot or fiber state change.
i. A fiber state change can
be initiated using one of the following methods.
1. On the FC Switch disable then enable the Switch port the
selected Netapp FC port is connected to.
2. Unplug the selected Netapp FC port from the switch or
directly connect tape device.
ii. Leave the port down for at
least 2 minutes so the Netapp Controller properly detects the fiber state change
and configures the FC port as offline.
4) List the currently discovered devices.
a. List the tape devices
netapp> sysconfig
-t
b. List robotic Tape Library devices
netapp> sysconfig
-m
c. If the tape devices are not
listed review your configuration and/or perform another bounce of the selected
Netapp FC port.
5) Review and Enable NDMP on the Netapp
Controller(s)
a. Check NDMP current status
netapp> ndmpd
status
b. Enable NDMP
netapp> ndmpd
on
Configuring
NetApp to support CA ARCserve Backup for use with NDMP
The last step in my configuration was to install and configure CA ARCserve Backup 12.5 SP3 on a Windows 2008 R2 Server. The install was straight forward, the only thing I had to do differently was to run through the "Device Configuration" (QuickStart>Administration>More on Device>Device Configuration) setup. During the setup I Selected "NAS Servers", then select "Add". Here you list the NetApp controllers by FQN with a user name and password ONLY.
note: I did run into an issue where "IF" I entered a tape device configuration name or controller name, gathered form the NetApp controller command (netapp> sysconfig -t and netapp> sysconfig -m), I couldn't run any restores from CA ARCserve backup? I chose to leave it blank. Still not sure why this was occurring but as of now my backups and restores are running great!
In general to support third party backup software integration with
NDMP you will need to configure most of the following options on the Netapp
controller(s).
1) On the Netapp Controller
a. Add a backup user account for use by the
software
useradmin user add
backupuser -g “Backup Operators”
i. Change the backupuser name as needed for your
environment
ii. Enter the user password
when prompted.
b. Specify the NDMP password length
i. Users that do not have root access must enter a system generated
NDMP password to run NDMP operations on the Netapp controller. This password will also be used to
authenticate the backup user when used with third party backup
software.
options
ndmpd.password_length {8 | 16}
ii. The system generated
password can be either 8 or 16 characters in length.
c. Generate an NDMP password for the backup
user.
i. Use the following command
to generate the NDMP password.
ndmpd
password backupuser
ii. Record the generated NDMP
password.
iii. This password is good until the regular password for this account
it changed. Once the regular password is
changes you must repeat this command to obtain a new system generated
password.
iv. The system generated
password will be unique to each Netapp Controller.
d. Grant NDMP access to the host name of the server running
the third party backup software.
options
ndmpd.access host=server.domain.fqdn
i. This host name must be resolved via DNS or it should be manually
added to the etc$\hosts file. You may use the IP Address instead of the DNS
name.
ii. Optionally, you can grant
NDMP access to all hosts using the following command.
options
ndmpd.access all
1. By default all hosts should
be granted NDMP access. It is
recommended you leave this setting at its default value.
e. Specify the NDMP authentication type
options
ndmpd.authtype {challenge | plaintext | plaintext,challenge}
i. Challenge (MD5) is the
preferred and more secure method.
ii. Refer to your third party
backup software to determine which authentication type you should
configure.
f. Enable or disable NDMP connection
logging
i. This will log NDMP
connections to the etc$\messages
file and can be useful for troubleshooting or auditing access.
options
ndmpd.connectlog.enabled {on | off}
g. Configure the type of Tape Reservation to
use.
i. Sharing the Tape Drive and/or Media Changer between multiple
systems requires all the systems to use the same Tape Reservation method. This may not be required if the Tape Drive
and/or Media Changer is dedicated to a single Netapp Controller.
options
tape.reservations {scsi | persistent | off}
ii. The two tape reservation methods are SCSI-Reserve and
SCSI-Persistent. SCSI-Persistent
reservations are not affected by error recovery mechanisms, such as loop reset,
but not all devices implement SCSI-Persistent reservations correctly.
h. Determine or set NDMP version
i. Determine NDMP
version
ndmpd
version
ii. Set NDMP
version
ndmpd
version {1 | 2 | 3| 4}
1. Use this command to specify
an NDMP version compatible with your third party backup software. The highest NDMP version is
4.
To verify
if your software is compatible with Netapp’s NDMP use the following link
Monitoring
and Managing NDMP sessions
You can monitor and manage
NDMP sessions directly from the Netapp system console using the following
commands
1) View NDMP Session details
ndmpd probe [session]
2) Terminating an NDMP session
ndmpd kill session
3) Enable NDMP debug log messages
ndmpd debug {10 | 30 | 50 | 70}
4) View current NDMP debug log setting
ndmpd debug
