This article outlines the general process to follow each week on all three of our Backup Exec servers to ensure we always maintaining current and valid backups.
Backup Exec Servers:
Isidore - Physical server - Patton 154F
bexec-vsphere - Physical server - TEDC 118
Infinity - Virtual Machine (cloud based backup) - Virtual Machine in Patton 154F
Weekly Backup Media Swap Schedule:
- In general, the weekly rotation of backup media can be done Thursday or Friday morning. The times may vary depending on if backup jobs are running.
- Although we aim to swap in the backup media on a regular basis we strive to make sure to swap out backup media at least every 2 weeks.
- Backup media for servers in Patton should be stored in designated fireproof cabinet in TEDC 220
- Backup media for servers in TED should be stored in file cabinet in Patton 154F
Common Issues:
- Backup failed: Due Windows update on the BE server itself or potentially on the client
- Backup failed / interrupted: Could be interruption due to network event - such as Meraki's rebooting for firmware update
- Backup failed: Due to login credentials being changed or updated
- Backup Active: Loading Media: Job running for extended period of time. This usually denotes media chosen does not have enough free disk space for the job. Happens on Backup Exec Server: bexec-vsphere often.
Weekly Backup Procedure:
1. Login to BackupExec server using local administrator account (Isidore is currently joined to domain we should remove from domain) Admin account information in BitWarden.
2. If application is not already opened find and open Veritas Backup Exec.
3. Go to the Job Monitor tab and view the status of backup jobs.
4. If there are no active jobs to the currently active backup media set, you may proceed with reviewing and swapping out the media as needed.
5. Go to the Storage tab. Look for the batch of drives that are currently connected and ensure there are no active jobs using that media. These drives will be black and will have a state of Online / Active/ Paused. Red Drives denote they are offline and have a state of Offline displayed for each one.
6. For each drive that you will cycle out, select each drive that will be swapped out, select "PAUSE" This option is shown at the top of the screen after selecting a drive. This is a check box once the drive pause checkbox has been selected the state of the selected drive will change to Paused.
7. Using the normal Windows File Explorer or the systray USB safe removal applet and 'EJECT/Safely remove hardware and Eject media" the media from the server.
8. Physically remove the drive from the server by disconnecting it from its USB cable. Keep the USB cables and power supply cables plugged in.
9. Plug in the next batch of external hard drives. Note: CrowdStrike will scan the disk once it's connected. This generally takes 10 - 15 minutes. The drive won't be available in Windows Explorer or Backupexec until CrowdStrike finishes its scan.
10. In the storage tab in BE: Make sure the new drives are not in pause mode. (The drives will remain in pause mode if the drive was paused before it was removed.) Do the reverse process from step 6 to remove the drives from pause mode.
11. In the storage tab in BE: For each new drive inserted, start an Inventory of the drive. Note: if you forget to take the drive out of Pause mode the job will wait until you un pause the drive its being asked to inventory.
12. The next scheduled backup job that is configured to use that pool of drives, BE will automatically store the data on the newly inserted drives.
13. Immediately return the drives that you just unplugged to their proper storage location. Although the data is encrypted, it is important to always keep the drives stored in the proper and secure location.
14. Be sure to update the Blue Ridge Community College Backup Exec Media sheet with what drives are now in what location and their current status.
Troubleshooting / Issues:
Issue: When logging into Backup Exec application it states no Backup Exec server available. This normally means the Backup Exec Server services are not running or one or more of them are in a stopped state.
Resolution: On the connect to Backup Exec server splash screen that probably came up click on Manage Services. If prompted to open click yes/okay. Check the services, if some show Status of Stopped, Starting and not Running then click Restart all services if many services are stopped or click on the stopped service and with it highlighted click start service. Once all services are running close screen and if need be restart the application.
Issue: Job Stuck - Active: Loading Media (Can happen a lot on bexec-vsphere)
Resolution: Open the job, if running for some extended time, check what Storage media it is using and go to Storage tab and check status of amount of space available on that media. If media is full and there are other jobs waiting on media pause existing jobs, Cancel the job that is "loading media" and once cancelled pause the Media that was full. This may take as much as 10 minutes to cancel the job. Check media status and if there is additional available media with enough space for the job. Start the job again. This time the job will utilize the existing media with enough space.