============================================================================================= Symantec Backup Exec™ Management Plug-in for VMware® Readme Version 2.1 ============================================================================================= Symantec Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware is available in English only. This Readme file includes information about using Symantec Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware. About the Symantec Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware ------------------------------------------------------------ The Symantec Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware lets Backup Exec administrators use the vSphere Client application to: - Monitor the backup jobs that run on virtual machines. - View the backup status of the virtual machines. - View the details of past backups and future backups. - Exclude virtual machines from backup jobs. - Validate the virtual machine backups using the Virtual Machine Validator feature. - Auto-recover virtual machines faulted due to application failure using the Virtual Machine Auto Recovery feature. System Requirements ------------------- The system requirements for Symantec Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware are the same as the vSphere Client. It can be installed on any computer that runs the vSphere Client. Software Requirements --------------------- Supported platforms include the following: - Backup Exec 2012 - VMware vCenter Server version 4.0 and later - VMware vSphere Client version 4.0 and later - VMware ESX version 4.0 and later - VMware Workstation 7.0 or later (required for Virtual Machine Validator feature) Note: VMware Workstation can be downloaded from VMware downloads at the following URL: http://www.vmware.com/go/vmvalidator - ApplicationHA version 6.0 (required for Virtual Machine Auto Recovery feature) - Microsoft .Net version 3.5 SP1 - Adobe Acrobat or any other PDF reader (required for viewing the VMware Plug-in help file) Hardware Requirements (Recommended) ----------------------------------- The following sections provide information about the disk space requirements for Virtual Machine Validator and hardware requirements for the validation platform. Hardware requirements for validation platform (host) ---------------------------------------------------- The hardware requirements for the validation platform depend on the hardware configuration of the virtual machines that need to be validated. Estimated hardware requirements can be calculated using the following example as a reference. To validate 5 virtual machines with 4 CPUs and 4 GB RAM each, the host (validation platform) would need the following hardware: To validate one virtual machine at a time: 4 GB of RAM To validate all virtual machines at a time: 20 GB of RAM Note: - If you do not have enough hardware resources, Symantec recommends that you validate one virtual machine at a time. - If the number of CPUs available on the validation platform is less than those used by the virtual machines, the Virtual Machine Validator automatically scales down the CPU requirement. However, the RAM requirements must be met. Disk space requirements for Virtual Machine Validator: ------------------------------------------------------ The disk space requirements may vary depending on the size of the virtual machines that you want to validate. On an average, to validate a virtual machine that is 100 GB in size, the Virtual Machine Validator creates a snapshot (for validation) of approximately 50 MB. You must also consider the disk space that is required for the virtual machine memory (RAM). Using above information as reference, you can calculate the amount of free disk space you will need to validate your virtual machine. For example, if the size of your virtual machine is 200 GB and it has 4 GB of RAM, you will need 100 MB (snapshot size) + 4 GB (RAM size), that is 4.1 GB of free disk space. Similarly, to validate multiple virtual machines at a time, you can calculate the cumulative amount of free disk space that is required for validation. Installing Symantec Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware ------------------------------------------------------------- To install the Symantec Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware: 1. Run the BEVMPlugin_Setup.exe file on the computer that runs the vSphere Client. 2. Double-click the BEVMPlugin_Setup.exe file and follow the on-screen instructions. Note: If the vSphere Client is already running while installing the Symantec Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware, you must close the vSphere Client, and then launch it again when the installation completes. Registering the Symantec Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware with vCenter Server -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Symantec Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware must be registered with the vCenter Server to make it available to all the vSphere Clients that are managed by the vCenter Server system. Before you register the Symantec Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware, ensure that: - The following files are in the same directory as the RegisterBEVMPlugin.exe file: - Vim25Service2005.dll - Vim25Service2005.XmlSerializers.dll - RegisterBEVMPlugin.exe.config To register the Symantec Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware with the vCenter Server: 1. Open a command prompt. 2. Run the following command: RegisterBEVMPlugin -r -s -m Example, RegisterBEVMPlugin –r –s -m http:///plugin/BEVMPlugin_Setup.exe Replace with the name or IP address of the Web server on which the BE VMware Plug-in is published. If the web server is configured on a non-default port, the port number should be explicitly specified in the link. Note: Ensure that the installer (exe file) is shared on a Web server and the exe path includes the exe file name. Note: To unregister the Symantec Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware, run the following command at the command prompt: RegisterBEVMPlugin -u -s After unregistering the plug-in, you must close the vSphere Client, and then launch it again to refresh the changes. Getting Started --------------- To start monitoring the virtual machines: 1. Log on to the vSphere Client. 2. On the Symantec Backup Exec tab, enter the logon credentials that are required to connect to the media server. 3. Click Login. The monitoring view for the media server is added to the Symantec Backup Exec tab. Uninstalling the Symantec Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware ------------------------------------------------------------------- You can uninstall the Symantec Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware using the Windows Add/Remove Program tool. Important Considerations for using the Virtual Machine Validator feature ------------------------------------------------------------------------ - The media server or any computer that contains the backup sets must be accessible using their NetBIOS names. - To validate deduplication-based backups, you must log on to the computer that has the vSphere Client using a logon account that is used to run the Backup Exec services on the media server. - To validate deduplication-based backups, you must manually install Backup Exec Remote Agent 2012 on the validation platform. - Symantec recommends that you keep the custom NICs free in VMware Workstation settings. These settings are used when you want to create a private network between the virtual machines to validate communication between them. - On Operating Systems with UAC (User Account Control) enabled, the vSphere Client must be launched in administrator context using the "Windows Run as Administrator" feature. - To avoid deduplication storage logon failures, Symantec recommends that you add the name of the media server containing the deduplication storage folder in the hosts file. Known Issues and Limitations ---------------------------- Virtual Machine Validator feature --------------------------------- - If you restore a virtual machine or change the display name of a virtual machine, the plug-in may not show the validation report history. - The plug-in does not automatically remove older reports from the validation reports directory. All of the reports are stored as history. To free up disk space, you must manually delete the older reports from the validation reports directory. - You can validate only Granular Recovery Technology (GRT)-enabled full backups. Incremental GRT-enabled backups cannot be validated. - Non-GRT backups targeted to backup-to-disk folders, deduplication storage folders, OST or tape devices cannot be validated. - You cannot validate duplicate backup jobs. Virtual Machine Auto Recovery feature ------------------------------------- - Virtual Machine Auto Recovery feature does not support encrypted backups. - Backup Exec does not support independent disks. Hence, independent disks are not preserved when a virtual machine is restored. - Only Windows guest Virtual Machines are supported. Known Issues/Limitations with Workarounds ----------------------------------------- Issue: If you are using vSphere Client 4.1 as the framework and VMware Workstation 7.1.x or later as the validation platform, the backup validation jobs may not start. Description: The Symantec Backup Exec Management Plug-in for VMware uses VIX to facilitate communication between the vSphere Client and the VMware Workstation. Both VIX and vSphere Client use the same Open SSL libraries. The vSphere Client 4.1 uses older versions of the Open SSL libraries. Hence, it cannot load VIX, which requires the newer versions of the following Open SSL libraries: - libeay32.dll - ssleay32.dll Workaround: For example, if you are using VMware Workstation 7.1.x, copy the libeay32.dll file and ssleay32.dll file from "\Program Files\VMware\VMware VIX\Workstation-7.1.x\32bit" and paste them in "\Program Files\VMware\ Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\4.1." =========================================================================== Copyright Information =========================================================================== Copyright © 2012 Symantec Corporation. All rights reserved. Symantec and Backup Exec are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation. All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. END