VERITAS NetBackup NetWare Media Server Option

Version 5.0 MP5A

Last Updated June 2005

Thank you for purchasing or evaluating the NetBackup NetWare Media Server Option! We hope you are pleased with this product and welcome your feedback so we can better suit your needs now and in the future.

This document contains release notes for the NetBackup NetWare Media Server Option and contains information that may not be in the documentation. The information in this document is more current than information in the documentation. If information in this file conflicts with the documentation, you should assume that this file is correct.

For the most current information on VERITAS products and services, please visit our Web site at  http://www.veritas.com/


NEW IN THIS RELEASE

Open File Backup Option has been updated to version 9.4 build 401b.


DOCUMENTATION SUPPLEMENT

A. NetWare 5.x Support

a. Configuring NetWare 5.x Backup Components

Unless you are running the Small Business Server version of NetWare 5, you must configure the SMDR. This is one of the Novell-supplied components that the NetBackup NetWare Media Server Option relies upon to provide access to NetWare files.

If you do not configure the SMDR, the NetBackup NetWare Media Server Option will detect the missing SMDR configuration file (SYS:.CFG) and warn you that it must be configured. You can configure the SMDR by editing the configuration file with a text editor, or deleting the file and reloading SMDR.NLM.

The SMDR Configuration consists of the following settings:

       * Disable NDS. This setting determines if NDS will be used for advertising the SMDR's services. Unless you have a specific reason for doing so, we suggest answering No to this question.
       * SMDR Context (only if NDS is enabled). The default setting is the container that the server is in. This typically does not need to be changed. This setting should be the same for all SMDRs on all the servers that are in a group. If you have two servers with different contexts, they will not be able to see each other via the NDS advertisement.
       * SMDR Group Context (only if NDS is enabled). The default setting is the container that the server is in. If you have multiple servers in different contexts, you will want to configure them to use a common SMDR Group Context at a common point in the NDS tree.
       * Disable SLP. This setting determines if SLP (a service advertising protocol for TCP/IP) will be used for advertising the SMDR's services. You may answer No to this question.
       * Disable SAP. This setting determines if SAP will be used for advertising the SMDRs servers over the SPX protocol. You should answer No to this question.

When configuring more than one server in a tree, you may get an erroneous configuration file. If this happens, the SMDR, and subsequently the NetWare Media Server Option, will hang. If this occurs, please delete the SMDR configuration file and reconfigure the SMDR following the above instructions.

b. NWTAPE.CDM, SCSI2TP.CDM, DLTTAPE.CDM and EXATAPE.CDM

These NLMs should not be loaded while using the NetBackup NetWare Media Server Option. These NLMs provide support for the SBACKUP utility and compete with the NetBackup NetWare Media Server Option for the tape drives attached to the server. If these NLMs are loaded, the SureStart loader will detect them and prompt you to unload them before restarting the NetBackup NetWare Media Server Option.

Sometimes NetWare 5 will autoload these drivers if you are loading NWPA.NLM during startup. Adding the /NA switch to the NWPA load line prevents NWPA from autoloading drivers. If you are depending on NWPA to autoload other CDM and HAM driver files, you will need to add specific load statements to your STARTUP.NCF file for those drivers after adding the /NA switch.


DOCUMENTS ON THE INSTALLATION CD

Electronic copies of the NetBackup NetWare Media Server Option System Administrators Guide are included on the NetBackup Windows platform installation CD in Adobe Acrobat's PDF format. From the Adobe Acrobat Reader's File|Open dialog, select the NetBackup_AdminGuide_NetWare.pdf file from the directory on the NetBackup Windows platform installation CD.


INSTALLATION NOTES

To install this updated build on your NetWare media servers, download and run the self-extracting executable.  The installation program (setup.exe) can then be run from any Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP system with access to the NetWare servers to be updated.  Consult the NetBackup NetWare Media Server Option System Administrators Guide for more information about the installation program.

To uninstalling using a Windows workstation:
  1. From your System Console prompt, type NBUSTOP, and then press ENTER.


  2. Map an available network drive to the NetWare server's volume where the NBU NetWare Media Server was installed, for example \nwserver.
  3. Delete the following files from the System folder:
            * NBUstart.ncf
            * NBUstop.ncf
  4. Right-click the folder, and click Delete if you want to remove this folder, or click Rename if you want to rename the folder.

  Note If you are not sure whether you will need any of the files in the folder in the future, you should rename the directory instead of deleting it.



TROUBLESHOOTING

A. When I run install from a network path, I get a fatal erroror. What should I do?
You can resolve this problem by installing directly from the NetBackup Windows platform installation CD or by creating a share that shortens the path to the install program.


B. I'm performing a disaster recovery with the Intelligent Disaster Recovery option, and I'm getting the following error "unable to allocate memory". The recovery then fails. Is there any way to resolve this?
This may be caused by the BIOS version on your motherboard. DELL BIOS version A02 has exhibited this issue. Upgrading to version A05 or later will resolve it.


DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEMS FIXED

The following are descriptions of the problems fixed. Please read the entire document before installing.

README Conventions:


Description

 Describes particular problem or feature contained in this Maintenance Pack.


** Description **

 Describes a problem that can lead to potential data loss. Please read these problem descriptions carefully.


Workaround

 Any available workarounds to a problem are also listed. Workarounds can be used INSTEAD of applying the patch, however, VERITAS strongly recommends the "best practice" of being at the latest patch level.


Additional Notes

 Any additional information regarding this problem or feature.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Etrack Incident = ET376624

      ** Description **

      iDEFENSE Security Advisory [IDEF0896] Error Status Remote Denial of Service

      iDEFENSE, Inc. reported a vulnerability in the VERITAS NetBackup NetWare Media Server that could allow remote attackers to potentially crash the system.

      The vulnerability improperly handles request packets resulting in an unexpected error status value. The vulnerability can result in a crash of the program and/or a denial of service (DoS) condition.  

      The vulnerability does not allow remote code execution on the targeted system.
     


KNOWN LIMITATIONS OF THE NETBACKUP NETWARE MEDIA SERVER OPTION

A. If you are running the NetBackup NetWare Media Server Option with an ASPI-compatible controller and the tape drive is powered off during an operation, you may need to DOWN your file server to restart the NetWare Media Server. Most ASPI managers cannot correctly handle this problem and will cause the NetWare Media Server to appear to be "hung" while trying to complete an operation. The file server will continue to function properly, but you will need to DOWN the file server and reboot it in order to use the NetWare Media Server again.
B. If the media server runs out of short-term memory while backing up an SMS device, the files being processed are backed up as corrupt files.
C. If multiple directories that differ only in case (e.g. test_dir vs. TEST_DIR) are located in a subdirectory in the NFS name space on NetWare volumes, only one of those directories will be backed up.
D. When restoring files to volumes that have only the DOS and MAC name spaces loaded, the restore will report an SMS error restoring the "/" directory. The restore does complete successfully, and this error can be ignored.
E. If you are restoring files to a directory that is different than the one from which they were backed up, the name of the directory that you select should be eight characters or less in length. The eight-character length includes the '.' symbol. Failure to specify directories of eight characters or less will prevent files and directories created under a name space other than LONG from being restored.
F. When using some older servers, you may be limited to using CD-Rs to hold your IDR images. CD-RWs are unable to boot on some of these older systems.
G. When using the Intelligent Disaster Recovery option to recover a server in a Multi Server Tree configuration, you must manually remove the server from the replica ring before continuing with the recovery. Cleaning up the replica ring involves:
       * Reassigning master replicas. If the failed server holds a master replica of any partition, you must use DSRepair to designate a new master replica on a different server in the replica list.
       * Removing replica list references to the failed server. Each server participating in replica rings that included the failed server must be "told" that the failed server is no longer available.

  Before cleaning up the replica ring, you must know which replicated partitions were stored on the failed server.

  NOTE: The replicas held by the server are listed in the header of the servdata.nds file. This file is created when doing an IDR prompted restore, and is placed in the sys:_name directory.

  To clean up the replica ring:

       1. At the System Console of a server that shared a replica with the failed server, load DSRepair with the -a switch, which allows you to access the advanced options.
       2. Select Replica and Partition Operations.
       3. Select the partition you want to edit.
       4. Select View Replica Ring to see a list of servers that have replicas of the partition.
       5. If the failed server held the master replica, select another server to hold the master using Designate This Server As the New Master Replica.
          The replica ring now has a new master replica, and all replicas participating in the ring are notified that there is a new master.
       6. Wait for the master replica to be established. Make sure the other servers in the ring acknowledge the change before proceeding.

       WARNING: Do not perform the next step if the failed server is designated as the master replica. You must first designated another server as the master replica (see step 5), before removing the failed server from the replica ring.

       7. Return to View Replica Ring, select the name of the failed server, and then select Remove This Server from the Replica Ring.
       8. Log in as Admin.
       9. Read the message that appears, and then select to continue.
       10. Exit DSRepair. All servers participating in the replica ring will be notified of the change.
       11. Repeat this procedure on one server from each replica ring that the failed server participated in.

H. The Intelligent Disaster Recovery option will not recover clustered volumes. If NetBackup is installed on a clustered volume, it will be placed on the SYS volume during the recovery. After the non-cluster volumes are recovered, you will need to manually recreate the cluster volumes, reinstall NetBackup on the cluster, and then delete the temp install.
I. NetWare 5.1 with Support Pack 6 or later, NetWare 6 with Support Pack 2 or later, and NetWare 6.5 with any Support Packs can be recovered in a Single Server environment using the Intelligent Disaster Recovery Option provided the servers are not part of a Novell cluster.
J. Recovery of NetWare 6.5 servers in a multi-server tree using the Intelligent Disaster Recovery option requires applying the Novell patches DSBKA.EXE and TSA5UP15.EXE or higher, which can be downloaded from Novell's Web site ( http://support.novell.com). Only the following files from DSBKA.EXE should be applied to your NetWare 6.5 server.
       * BACKUPCR.NLM
       * DSBK.NLM
       * DSREPAIR.NLM

       WARNING: Do not copy DSBACKER.NLM from the DSBKA.EXE patch to a NetWare 6.5 server. The version of DSBACKER.NLM in this patch is intended for use on NetWare 6.0.

K. During a partial recovery where you have skipped the DOS file copy option from bedrapp.exe, you must rename the fatfs.nlm present in the d:directory to fatfs.old, and then type server.exe to continue the recovery process.
L. The Intelligent Disaster Recovery option does not recover iSCSI partitions.
M. If you are using NetWare 6.0, the Intelligent Disaster Recovery option will not be able to recover eDirectory 8.6 and later into a multi-server configuration. VERITAS is working with Novell to resolve this issue
N. With some hard disk configurations, you may receive a media management API failure when using the Intelligent Disaster Recovery option to recover a server. Should this occur, you can manually recreate the NW partitions and restart the recovery.
O. NDS backup must begin at the [Root]. Partial tree backups are not supported.