Archiving data located on a Microsoft clustered File Share using Symantec Enterprise Vault (tm) for File System Archiving and its Placeholder Service (managed).

Article:TECH47730

Created: 2009-01-20

Updated: 2009-01-20

Article URL http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH47730

Article Type
Technical Solution

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Problem

Archiving data located on a Microsoft clustered File Share using Symantec Enterprise Vault (tm) for File System Archiving and its Placeholder Service (managed).

Solution

These high level instructions explain how to setup Enterprise Vault File System Archiving (FSA) in a Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) so items on a clustered resource can be archived using the FSA Placeholder Service. The configuration example in this document describes:

How to configure a clustered file share within M on which individual users home folders are located (MSCS).
How to configure the placeholder service on each cluster node.
How to configure the Enterprise Vault server

The Enterprise Vault placeholder service can either be configured as a managed cluster resource, failing over under the control of the MSCS service or as a non-managed resource where the placeholder service, although following the movements of the MSCS cluster resources, will not be directly controlled by the MSCS service. This document describes a deployment scenario where the placeholder service is managed by MSCS service. Please review the Related Document list at the end of this article to find out about implementing the placeholder service as a non-managed cluster resource.

Remarks:

It is assumed that FSA archiving has been configured to use placeholder functionality and not Internet shortcuts.
The FSA implementation described in this document applies to clustered file system running in active\passive cluster configuration only. It is not possible to have more than one virtual server within the cluster managing the Enterprise Vault Placeholder Service.
The placeholder service is managed by the MSCS cluster service, if the placeholder service stops due to a fault, MSCS cluster service will restart it.

1- Configuring the Virtual Server and Shares in Microsoft Cluster:

a. Create a Virtual Server using Microsoft Cluster Server:
Please refer to the following Microsoft article for a detailed explanation on how to perform this step
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q257932/

b. Configure users home folders and shares on the virtual server in the cluster:
Please refer to the following Microsoft article for a detailed explanation on how to perform this step

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256926/

c. On each user folder change the security settings to just allow the relevant User read\write and SYSTEM full control at file security level. Do not alter permissions at share level - these are controlled by Microsoft cluster.

2- Installing the Enterprise Vault (EV) Placeholder Service as a cluster resource:

a. Install the EV placeholder service on each physical node making sure it is running under the context of the Enterprise Vault Service Account.

b. Log on to each physical node as the Enterprise Vault Service Account. In Internet Explorer settings, add the Fully Qualified Domain Name of the Enterprise Vault Server to the local intranet zone.

Please refer to "Microsoft Cluster service on line help" for more detailed information on how to perform these steps.

c. Within Microsoft Cluster Administration Console, add a new Generic Service Resource against the virtual file server managing the clustered file system. Enter a Name and description for the resource. Make sure all other resources (Physical Disk, File Share, IP Address and Network Name) are added as dependencies. The name of the Service to enter is "Enterprise Vault File Placeholder Service".

d. Replicate the registry HKLM\SOFTWARE\KVS\Enterprise Vault\FSA by entering SOFTWARE\KVS\Enterprise Vault\FSA. There is no need to check the option "Use Network Name for computer name" under the parameters tab.

3- Configuring the Enterprise Vault Placeholder Service:

The Placeholder service will only monitor volumes that had an archive run against them, however, it is likely that the fail over drive will have never had an archive run against it making the placeholder service unaware of its presence.

For this reason on every physical node within the cluster running the placeholder service, the following registry key must be created:

Warning: Incorrect use of the Windows registry may prevent the operating system from functioning properly. Great care should be taken when making changes. Registry modifications should only be carried-out by persons experienced in the use of the registry editor application. It is recommended that a complete backup of the registry be made prior to making any changes.

a. Create the following registry key at the indicated location:

Key name: EnabledVolumes

Key type: DWORD

Key location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

\SOFTWARE

\KVS

\Enterprise Vault

\FSA

\PlaceholderService

The value of the key depends on which volumes the placeholder service will monitor. The value represents a binary mask corresponding to all drive letters that the placeholder service will manage. Each bit value in the mask represents a single drive letter with the least significant bit representing drive letter A and the most significant bit representing drive letter Z.

A drive that should be managed by the placeholder service will have a value of 1 while unmanaged or non-existing drives will have a value of 0. In the example below, drives Z, Y, X and K will be managed by the placeholder service giving a mask value of 11100000000000010000000000.

Drive letters Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A

Binary mask 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

This binary value then needs to be converted to decimal and entered in the registry.

b. To convert the binary value in decimal, start the Windows Calculator, enable scientific mode, enable binary view and select Bin with the value as a DWord.

c. Enter the binary value and click Dec to convert to decimal

Converting the above binary mask of 11100000000000010000000000, would give a decimal result of 58721280.

After setting the registry key on each physical node, the placeholder service must be restarted.

If new drives are added or existing drive letters assigned change then the registry key will require updating.

Any other registry information pertaining to the placeholder service (such as recall limits, etc...) need to be identical on each physical node. As there is only one Enterprise Vault Placeholder service there is only one set of registry settings pertaining to the placeholder service. Therefore, it is not possible for virtual servers within the cluster to have different placeholder settings (recall limits, excluded exe's, etc...).

FSA backup mode applies to all virtual servers running on the physical node at the point from when it is activated.

4- Configuring the Enterprise Vault Server:

Please refer to the "Enterprise Vault Administrator's Guide" for a detailed explanation on how to perform these steps.

a. Create an appropriate Volume FSA placeholder policy.

b. Add the Virtual File Server as a Server target in the Enterprise Vault Administration Console (VAC).

c. Create an archive point on each user "home" folder. Do not create an archive point on the root folder share.

d. Add the root folder within the VAC. There is no need to add each user's home folder individually.

e. Making sure the Virtual Server and Share is online and available, perform an archive run in report mode. Make sure all the eligible items are listed in the report and all home user folders are listed.

f. Perform an archive run as appropriate.

An archive will be created for each user's home folder and the appropriate permission set on the archive. Although the user will be able to see others users archives they will be unable to search them - matching the behavior of the Microsoft Windows File System.

Fail-over:

It is recommended a planned fail-over occur outside of the normal archiving schedule.

If fail over of a virtual server or resource occurs during an archive run, the operation will halt. This is to be expected. Archiving will resume when FSA next runs into schedule or the archive run is manually re-started.