Details:
With the NetBackup 6.5.4 release, it is now possible to backup DFSR installations while DFSR is active and running.  This technote describes the requirements of implementing DFSR with 6.5.4.  

Ensure that at Windows 2003 R2 (and later) or Windows 2008 is the client operating system in place.

Alert: There are known issues with duplicate folder names, or folder paths of a character length >256.See the following technotes for details.
http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/331904.htm
http://seer.entsupport.symantec.com/docs/336578.htm 


To backup DFSR while it is active:
1. If the previous workaround in TechAlert 290900 was previously implemented, it needs to be removed (See the Related Documents section below for the technote)

If the workaround from 290900 is in use, remove the registry value that was created. To enable the DFSR writer in the registry, do the following:

a. Launch the registry editor (Start -> Run -> Regedit)
b. Navigate to the following key:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Veritas\Symantec\BEDS\Engine\Shadow Copy Components
c. Remove the value named DFSR from this key.  The value should be "{2707761b-2324-473d-88eb-eb007a359533}".

2. Any policy which backs up "Shadow Copy Components:\User Data\Distributed File System Replication\DfsrReplicatedFolders\" will back up the DFSR data subject to excludes (see below).  This would include directives such as "ALL_LOCAL_DRIVES".

Note the following features:

-  It is possible to select individual DFSR folders (and files) for backup by using the following syntax:  

Shadow Copy Components:\User Data\Distributed File System Replication\DfsrReplicatedFolders\<ObjectName>.

Multiple streams (via NEW_STREAM) are supported for DFSR folders.

Notes on Restoring DFSR:
DFSR files and folders can be restored to their original location, or an alternate location.  If restored to an alternate location, part of the path will be prefixed.  As with other Shadow Copy Component restores, the "overwrite existing" option must always be specified.

For example, if restoring the following data:
Shadow Copy Components:\User Data\Distributed File System Replication\DfsrReplicatedFolders\data\folder1.

To the alternate NTFS file path "C:\restore", the following path will be created:
C:\restore\DfsrReplicatedFolders\data\folder1.


Configuring exclusions:
Excluding DFSR data is supported to the DFSR root level.  It is possible to exclude all DFSR information, or specific DFSR roots if it is desired to protect DFSR in a separate policy.  

To configure an exclude, do the following

1. Launch the NetBackup Administration Console GUI
2. Navigate to Host properties -> Clients in the left pane.  
3. Select the client name.
4. Expand "Windows Client" and select  "Exclude Lists"
5. Add excludes for the policy in question.

Example to exclude all DFSR:  

Shadow Copy Components:\User Data\Distributed File System Replication

Example to exclude a DFSR root:

Shadow Copy Components:\User Data\Distributed File System Replication\MyReplicatedFolder

Excludes further down in the DFSR hierarchy are not supported at this time.

Related Documents:

336578: A potential for data loss has been discovered in NetBackup Server/Enterprise Server where Distributed File System Replication (DFSR) paths may be skipped on backup, yet report a Status 0. This has been observed in the unlikely case where the DFSR path exceeds 256 characters.
 http://support.veritas.com/docs/336578


290900: TECHALERT: Backups of Distributed File System Replication (DFSR) data on Windows 2003 R2 using NetBackup 6.5 GA - 6.5.3.1 complete with a NetBackup Status Code 0 (successful), but the data is not backed up.
 http://support.veritas.com/docs/290900


331904: A potential for data loss has been discovered involving NetBackup 6.5.4 for Windows when backing up DFSR (Distributed File System Replication) folders. If a DFSR folder name is identical to a DFSR folder name in another replication group, only one folder is backed up and the backup exits with Status 0 (Successful).
 http://support.veritas.com/docs/331904

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