Conversion of SLP-managed snapshot Job Manager parameter files from NetBackup 7.5 to 7.6

Article:TECH199792

Created: 2012-11-15

Updated: 2013-01-22

Article URL http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH199792

Article Type
Technical Solution

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Problem

During a NetBackup master server upgrade, you may see the following error: WARNING: Unable to convert SLP job information to the new format. This conversion is required for pending SLP jobs to complete.

Alternatively, after a master server upgrade to NetBackup 7.6, Backup From Snapshot jobs or Index From Snapshot jobs that had started while on NetBackup 7.5 may fail when resumed on NetBackup 7.6 if the initial SLP-managed snapshot Job Manager parameter files for those jobs have not been converted to JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)-readable format.

Error

WARNING: Unable to convert SLP job information to the new format. This conversion is required for pending SLP jobs to complete.

Environment

NetBackup 7.5 upgraded to NetBackup 7.6

Cause

The Job Manager job parameter file format has been changed in order to support new job-related product functionality.

Solution

For NetBackup 7.5 SLP-managed snapshot jobs, the NetBackup 7.6 upgrade process converts Job Manager parameter files from binary format to JSON format. The conversion is only for NetBackup 7.5 files, and only for SLP-managed snapshot jobs.

Backup From Snapshot jobs or Index From Snapshot jobs that you run after an upgrade to 7.6 require that the initial SLP-managed snapshot Job Manager parameter files have been converted successfully. If the parameter files have not yet been converted, Backup From Snapshot jobs or Index From Snapshot jobs may fail.

You must re-run the full SLP-managed snapshot job from the start, including the snapshot operation. NetBackup will write the Job Manager parameter files in JSON format, which is used in NetBackup 7.6 and later.

The upgrade script will rename the job parameter files that fail to convert. The renamed files have the .sav extension (<jobid>.p.sav, as in 1234.p.sav) and can be found in the following NetBackup directory:

<NetBackup_install_path>/db/jobs/restart_alt

Note: Please send these renamed files to NetBackup support for analysis.

If you are not upgrading from NetBackup 7.5, you can ignore any reported conversion failures. For any NetBackup upgrade to version 7.6 or later, the Job Manager job parameter files will be read in order to detect if conversion is needed. Conversion is only needed for the specified SLP-managed snapshot job types, so any reported conversion errors on upgrades can be ignored if the source version is not NetBackup 7.5.