Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) servers unify computing, networking, management, virtualization, and storage access into a single integrated architecture. This unique architecture enables end-to-end server visibility, management, and control in both bare metal and virtual environments. As you guys might remember, Symantec NetBackup is the first and only enterprise backup solution to achieve Cisco’s official Interoperability Verification Testing (IVT) certification for its superior scale and agility to protect workloads on both virtual and bare metal configurations. Whether you are deploying UCS with your own choices of storage or consuming it as part of popular converged infrastructure solutions like NetApp FlexPod or VCE VBLOCK, there is more great news for Cisco UCS customers. Symantec NetBackup now announces protection for Cisco UCS service profiles thereby enabling end-to-end coverage for UCS based data center across bare-metal, virtualized and converged deployments. Untitled_1.png What is a UCS service profile? A service profile for UCS server is like a SIM card for cell phone. The identity of a given logical server and its resources are encapsulated on this logical entity. Protecting UCS Service Profile is an important step in ensuring business continuity and disaster recovery for UCS based data centers. The service profiles recovered from backups enable you to recreate UCS domain during site recovery.

1. White
Paper
Protect Your Cisco UCS Domain with
Symantec NetBackup
August
2014
This document is provided for informational purposes only. All warranties relating to the information
in this document, either express or implied, are disclaimed to the maximum extent allowed by law.
The information in this document is subject to change without notice. Copyright © 2014 Symantec
Corporation. All rights reserved. Symantec, the Symantec Logo, and the Checkmark Logo are
trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other
countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
SYMANTEC
NETBACKUP
WHITEPAPER
PROTECTING
A
CISCO
UCS
DOMAIN

2. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
i
Table
of
Contents
What
You
Will
Learn
1
Introduction
1
Audience
1
About
Symantec
NetBackup
1
About
Cisco
Unified
Computing
System
2
Cisco
UCS
Backup
2
Solution
Overview:
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
Domain
5
Cisco
UCS
Manager
5
Symantec
NetBackup
and
Cisco
UCS
Manager
5
Solution
Configuration:
Symantec
NetBackup
5
Data
Collection
5
Configuring
Prebackup
and
Postbackup
Processing
6
Scheduled
Backups
of
a
Cisco
UCS
Domain
6
Configuration
Steps
7
Schedule
the
Backup
7
Define
the
Client
8
Define
the
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
Snapshot
Storage
Location
9
Solution
Configuration:
Cisco
UCS
Manager
Backup
10
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
Snapshot
11
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
Snapshot
Reports
12
Solution
Configuration:
Restoring
UCS
Domain
Configuration
using
Symantec
NetBackup16
Conclusion
19
Appendix
A:
Using
Microsoft
Windows
PowerShell
Scripts
to
Take
Cisco
UCS
MIT
Snapshots
20
Appendix
B:
Symantec
NetBackup
Preprocessing
and
Postprocessing
21
Appendix
C:
Symantec
NetBackup
and
Cisco
UCS
Performance
Benchmarks
22
Appendix
D:
Strategy
for
using
a
MIT
Snapshot
and
MIT
Snapshot
reports
23
Appendix
E:
Interpreting
and
using
the
UCS
Snapshot
Report
25

3. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
What
You
Will
Learn
This
document
explains
how
Symantec
NetBackup
can
be
configured
to
protect
a
Cisco
Unified
Computing
System™
(Cisco
UCS®)
Page
1
domain.
This
document
applies
to
Symantec
NetBackup
Versions
7.5
and
7.6.
If
you
have
any
feedback
or
questions
about
this
document,
please
email
them
to
IMG-­‐TPM-­‐
Requests@symantec.com
stating
the
document
title.
Introduction
This
document
explains
how
Symantec
NetBackup
can
be
configured
to
protect
a
Cisco
UCS
domain.
Audience
This
document
assumes
that
the
reader
has
or
is
using
Symantec
NetBackup
and
has
an
understanding
of
Symantec
NetBackup
concepts
and
architecture.
This
document
covers
the
use
of
Symantec
NetBackup
on
all
supported
platforms.
If
there
are
any
OS-­‐specific
considerations,
these
are
mentioned
in
the
document.
About
Symantec
NetBackup
The
Symantec
NetBackup
platform
is
an
enterprise-­‐level
heterogeneous
backup
and
recovery
suite.
It
provides
cross-­‐platform
backup
functions
to
a
large
variety
of
Microsoft
Windows,
UNIX,
and
Linux
operating
systems.
Symantec
NetBackup
comes
with
support
for
many
hardware
devices,
such
as
tape
drives,
tape
libraries,
and
disk
units,
and
it
supports
hot
backups
for
major
database
products
such
as
Oracle
databases,
it
can
natively
backup
and
restore
the
virtual
machines
of
major
virtualization
products
such
as
VMware
Infrastructure,
it
can
use
the
Network
Data
Management
Protocol
(NDMP),
and
it
offers
tape
vaulting.
Symantec
NetBackup
also
enables
LAN-­‐free
and
server-­‐free
backups
in
SAN
fabric
environments.
Symantec
NetBackup
has
a
significant
history
with
the
Cisco
UCS
platform.
Symantec
NetBackup
has
achieved
recording-­‐breaking
backup
performance
in
a
VMware
environment
hosted
on
Cisco
UCS.
These
benchmarks
have
been
featured
at
major
industry
conferences,
including
the
Symantec
Vision
conference
and
VMware
VMworld
conference.
More
information
about
these
benchmarks
can
be
found

4. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
in
Appendix
C.
Symantec
NetBackup
is
also
the
first
backup
vendor
to
achieve
the
official
Cisco
Interoperability
Verification
Testing
(IVT)
certification.
About
Cisco
Unified
Computing
System
Cisco
UCS
is
a
next-­‐generation
data
center
platform
that
unites
computing,
networking,
and
storage
access
resources.
The
platform,
optimized
for
(but
not
limited
to)
virtual
environments,
is
designed
with
open
industry
standard
technologies
and
seeks
to
reduce
total
cost
of
ownership
(TCO)
and
increase
business
agility.
The
system
integrates
a
low-­‐latency,
lossless
10
Gigabit
Ethernet
unified
network
fabric
with
enterprise-­‐class,
x86-­‐architecture
servers.
The
system
is
an
integrated,
scalable,
multichassis
platform
in
which
all
resources
participate
in
a
unified
management
domain.
Cisco
UCS
Manager
implements
policy-­‐driven
management
of
the
Cisco
UCS
server
and
network
resources.
Network,
storage,
and
server
administrators
all
participate
in
the
creation
of
policies
in
their
areas
of
domain
expertise.
Policies
are
consumed
by
service
profiles,
allowing
Cisco
UCS
Manager
to
fully
configure
the
servers,
adapters,
and
fabric
extenders
and
the
appropriate
isolation,
quality
of
service
(QoS),
and
uplink
connectivity
on
the
Cisco
UCS
6200
or
6100
Series
Fabric
Interconnects.
Cisco
UCS
Backup
A
single
Cisco
UCS
domain
can
consist
of
up
to
160
servers
as
well
as
unified
network
and
storage
infrastructure.
The
infrastructure
and
the
policies
used
to
configure
it
represent
a
significant
investment
and
provide
the
foundation
for
delivery
of
applications
and
services
in
the
data
center.
Because
of
the
scale
and
significance
of
its
role
in
the
data
center,
Cisco
UCS
should
be
deployed
in
conjunction
with
a
robust
backup
strategy.
The
backup
strategy
should
capture
the
Cisco
UCS
state
and
configuration
at
regular
intervals.
For
this
purpose,
Cisco
UCS
provides
several
types
of
backups
that
administrators
can
initiate
or
schedule
at
regular
intervals:
• Full
State:
This
backup
type
provides
a
snapshot
of
the
entire
system.
It
produces
a
binary
file
that
can
be
used
to
restore
or
rebuild
the
system's
configuration
on
the
original
fabric
interconnect
or
to
re-­‐create
the
configuration
on
a
different
fabric
interconnect.
• All
Configuration:
This
backup
type
provides
an
XML
file
that
includes
the
system
and
logical
configuration
settings.
This
file
can
be
imported
to
the
original
(or
recovery)
fabric
interconnect.
• Logical
Configuration:
This
backup
type
provides
an
XML
file
that
includes
only
logical
configuration
settings.
This
file
can
be
imported
to
the
original
(or
recovery)
fabric
interconnect.
Page
2

5. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
• System
Configuration:
This
backup
type
provides
an
XML
file
that
includes
only
the
related
configuration.
This
file
can
be
imported
to
the
original
(or
recovery)
fabric
interconnect.
The
foundation
of
a
Cisco
UCS
backup
strategy
should
be
collection
of
Full
State
and
All
Configuration
backup
information
for
the
system
at
regular
intervals.
This
backup
strategy
will
provide
the
necessary
information
to
recover
from
almost
any
failure
scenario.
Although
Full
State
and
All
Configuration
backups
provide
comprehensive
system
configuration
information
and
settings,
the
backup
files
are
large,
and
operators
may
have
difficulty
locating
and
editing
settings.
The
Full
State
backup
file
is
in
binary
format,
which
prevents
the
operator
from
editing
or
browsing
it.
It
can
be
applied
only
in
an
all-­‐or-­‐nothing
fashion
to
recover
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
instance.
The
XML
backup
types
(All
Configuration,
Logical
Configuration,
and
System
Configuration)
capture
only
configuration
data
(which
can
be
imported
into
Cisco
UCS
Manager
to
facilitate
recovery).
They
do
not
provide
state
information
such
as
information
about
faults,
configuration
errors,
and
hardware
inventory,
which
can
useful
during
disaster
recovery.
Ideally,
during
system
recovery,
operators
have
access
to
complete
information
about
the
state
of
the
system
before
the
failure
occurred.
Operators
should
quickly
be
able
to
identify
the
hardware
and
firmware
versions
of
all
components
in
their
Cisco
UCS
domain
(because
subtle
changes
can
be
the
source
of
changes
in
system
behavior).
Operators
should
be
able
to
view
the
backed-­‐up
system's
policies
in
conjunction
with
its
state
information,
which
would
allow
operators
to
check
whether
a
fault
was
introduced
during
recovery
or
existed
on
the
backed-­‐up
system.
This
information
should
be
accessible
in
a
well-­‐organized
and
graphical
format
because
backups
are
often
several
megabytes
in
size
and
contain
configuration
data
spanning
the
storage,
networking,
and
computing
domains.
This
organization
can
be
accomplished
by
using
the
Cisco
UCS
XML
API
to
extract
a
management
information
tree
(MIT),
or
configuration
management
database,
snapshot
and
then
mining
its
data
to
produce
a
report
about
the
Cisco
UCS
instance.
This
document
illustrates
this
technique
using
two
simple
scripts
to
produce
a
detailed
Cisco
UCS
MIT
Snapshot
Report
with
the
following
information:
• Hardware
inventory
for
each
Cisco
UCS
component
• Installed
firmware
version
for
each
Cisco
UCS
component
• Fault
report
with
a
complete
list
of
the
Cisco
UCS
faults,
including
their
severity
• Navigation
links
to
view
the
XML
content
to
configure
many
Cisco
UCS
policies
Page
3

6. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
• LAN
and
SAN
configuration
information
• Cisco
UCS
identifiers
report:
MAC
addresses,
World
Wide
Names
(WWNs),
World
Wide
Port
Names
(WWPNs),
universal
user
IDs
(UUIDs),
and
International
Qualifications
Network
(IQN)
addresses
For
each
service
profile,
the
report
contains
the
following
information:
• All
policies
referenced
from
the
service
profile
• Hardware
and
firmware
information
for
the
associated
hardware
• Network
and
storage
VLANs
• Identities
used
by
the
service
profile
The
Cisco
UCS
MIT
Snapshot
Report
is
useful
whether
you
are
recovering
from
multiple
failed
components
or
from
the
inadvertent
deletion
of
a
policy.
You
can
modify
or
augment
this
report
to
harvest
the
information
that
is
most
valuable
to
your
Cisco
UCS
deployment.
Because
the
report
is
produced
offline,
there
is
no
risk
of
affecting
the
Cisco
UCS
domain,
and
the
Cisco
UCS
MIT
snapshot
is
available
for
additional
processing.
To
prepare
for
disaster
recovery,
a
Cisco
UCS
backup
regimen
should
include
Full
State
and
All
Configuration
backup
as
well
as
a
Cisco
UCS
Snapshot
Report.
The
remainder
of
this
document
describes
how
you
can
implement
this
regimen
using
Symantec
NetBackup.
Page
4

7. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Solution
Overview:
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
Domain
Cisco
UCS
Manager
and
Symantec
NetBackup
work
together
to
protect
the
Cisco
UCS
domain.
Cisco
UCS
Manager
The
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT,
or
configuration
management
database,
contains
comprehensive
configuration
settings
that
define
the
network,
storage,
and
server
configurations
for
domains
that
consist
of
large
numbers
of
servers.
Erroneous
configuration
changes,
whether
malicious
or
inadvertent,
and
hardware
failures
may
require
operator
intervention
to
recover
the
system.
To
plan
for
this
contingency,
you
should
have
in
place
a
backup
strategy
that
includes
the
following:
Page
5
• Full
State
backup
• All
Configuration
backup
• Cisco
UCS
MIT
snapshot
• Cisco
UCS
MIT
Snapshot
Report
Symantec
NetBackup
and
Cisco
UCS
Manager
Symantec
NetBackup
can
easily
be
configured
to
protect
a
Cisco
UCS
domain.
The
Cisco
UCS
domain
can
be
backed
up
as
often
as
necessary,
retained
for
any
length
of
time,
and
restored
on
demand.
This
level
of
protection
helps
ensure
that
any
version
of
any
Cisco
UCS
domain
policy
can
be
accessed
whenever
needed.
Solution
Configuration:
Symantec
NetBackup
Symantec
NetBackup
uses
the
concept
of
a
policy.
A
policy
defines
what
gets
backed
up,
when
it
gets
backed
up,
how
long
the
backed-­‐up
data
is
retained,
and
where
the
data
is
written
(to
disk,
tape,
etc.).
Symantec
NetBackup
uses
a
client
that
is
installed
on
a
Linux
system.
This
client
is
then
configured
to
collect
the
Cisco
UCS
domain
information
and
write
it
to
a
predefined
destination.
Data
Collection
The
collection
of
Cisco
UCS
domain
information
is
processed
through
prebackup
and
postbackup
processing
capabilities
designed
into
Symantec
NetBackup.
These
capabilities
are
available
through
any
Symantec
NetBackup
Linux
client.
Each
time
a
backup
is
performed,
Symantec
NetBackup
automatically
runs
a
pre-­‐backup
processing
script,
called
bpstart_notify.
When
the
scheduled
backup
of
this
client
is

8. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Page
6
finished,
a
postbackup
processing
script,
called
bpend_notify,
is
automatically
run.
It
is
through
this
prebackup
and
postbackup
processing
that
the
Cisco
UCS
domain
backup
information
can
be
collected.
This
processing
is
discussed
in
greater
detail
in
subsequent
sections.
Configuring
Prebackup
and
Postbackup
Processing
Configuration
of
the
Symantec
NetBackup
bpstart_notify
and
bpend_notify
behavior
varies
somewhat
depending
on
the
version
of
Symantec
NetBackup
in
use.
Consult
the
Symantec
NetBackup
administration
guide
for
the
specific
version
of
Symantec
NetBackup
that
you
are
using
to
obtain
information
that
is
specific
to
that
version.
The
script
that
is
defined
in
subsequent
sections
of
this
document
must
be
configured
as
described
here.
The
script
text
is
copied
to
the
following
file:
• Linux:
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/bpstart_notify
This
script,
called
by
the
Symantec
NetBackup
client
process
(bpbkar),
is
started
as
part
of
a
standard
backup
process.
The
script
is
run
during
all
scheduled
backups
for
the
Symantec
NetBackup
policy.
Because
no
post-­‐backup
processing
is
required,
the
bpend_notify
script
does
not
need
to
be
created.
Scheduled
Backups
of
a
Cisco
UCS
Domain
During
the
pre-­‐backup
processing
described
previously,
the
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
snapshot
is
copied
to
the
Symantec
NetBackup
system,
where
Symantec
NetBackup
protects
it.
This
protection
process
is
accomplished
by
configuring
a
Symantec
NetBackup
policy.
Basic
information
related
to
the
Symantec
NetBackup
policy
can
be
found
in
the
Symantec
NetBackup
administration
guide
associated
with
your
version
of
Symantec
NetBackup.

9. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Configuration
Steps
The
main
configuration
tasks
within
the
Symantec
NetBackup
policy
are
described
in
the
following
sections.
Schedule
the
Backup
From
within
the
Symantec
NetBackup
policy,
select
the
Schedule
tab
(Figure
1).
Here
you
can
define
specifically
when
the
Cisco
UCS
MIT
snapshot
will
be
taken.
In
this
example,
the
domain
is
backed
up
every
night
at
22:00
although
this
backup
window
can
be
defined
for
any
time
frame.
A
best
practice
is
to
perform
backup
operations
when
Cisco
UCS
Manager
is
less
likely
to
apply
configuration
changes.
Figure
1:
Symantec
NetBackup
Schedule
Page
7

10. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Define
the
Client
Next,
define
the
client
that
will
receive
a
copy
of
the
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
snapshot
(Figure
2).
Note
that
this
client
can
be
a
physical
system
or
a
virtual
machine.
This
client
can
also
be
any
Symantec
NetBackup
configuration
including
a
Symantec
NetBackup
(Linux)
master,
media,
or
client
system.
Figure
2:
Symantec
NetBackup
Client
Definition
Page
8

11. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Define
the
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
Snapshot
Storage
Location
Define
the
data
that
will
actually
be
protected
by
Symantec
NetBackup
(Figure
3).
The
location
defined
here
on
the
Backup
Selections
tab
is
the
location
to
which
the
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
snapshot
is
sent.
Figure
3:
Cisco
UCS
MIT
Snapshot
Storage
Location
Page
9

12. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Solution
Configuration:
Cisco
UCS
Manager
Backup
Cisco
UCS
Manager
provides
the
capability
to
create
backup
policies
to
schedule
Full
State
and
All
Configuration
backups.
Figure
4
shows
the
Cisco
UCS
Manager
Configuration
screen.
Figure
4:
Cisco
UCS
Manager
Configuration
Screen
You
can
configure
the
communications
protocol,
credentials,
and
backup
frequency.
Using
these
settings,
Cisco
UCS
Manager
will
perform
backup
operations
and
copy
backup
files
to
the
specified
remote
location.
This
is
all
you
need
to
do
to
automate
Full
State
and
All
Configuration
backups.
Note:
This
backup
approach
is
the
one
that
most
customers
use;
however,
you
can
also
manually
initiate
backup
operations
on
demand
from
Symantec
NetBackup
using
the
Cisco
UCS
Manager
XML
API.
The
Microsoft
Windows
PowerShell
script
provided
in
Appendix
A:
Using
Microsoft
Windows
PowerShell
Scripts
to
Take
Cisco
UCS
MIT
Snapshot
demonstrates
this
approach.
Page
10

13. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
Snapshot
The
example
in
this
document
uses
a
Perl
script
named
Page
11
snapshot-­‐mit.pl
to
take
a
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
snapshot.
This
script
has
the
following
requirements:
• Perl
must
be
installed
on
the
backup
system1.
• IP
connectivity
from
the
backup
system
to
Cisco
UCS
Manager
is
required.
• Cisco
UCS
Manager
credentials
are
required.
Download
and
unzip
the
ucs-­‐snapshot.tgz2
archive.
The
top-­‐level
directory
of
the
archive
is
referred
to
as
SNAPSHOT_HOME
below.
The
directory
structure
is
as
follows:
• bin:
Contains
the
Perl
script
ucs-­‐backup-­‐report.pl
• cfg:
Contains
configuration
files
• snapshots:
Is
used
to
store
the
Cisco
UCS
snapshots
Edit
the
configuration
file
SNAPSHOT_HOME/cfg/snapshot.cfg
as
appropriate
for
your
Cisco
UCS
domain
and
snapshot
directory.
The
configuration
file
contains
the
following
settings:
#
snapshot.cfg
:
snapshot-­‐mit
configuration
file;
[UCS]
URI
=
https://ucs-­‐vip-­‐ip/nuova
UNAME
=
admin
PASSWORD
=
PASSWORD
1
The
appendix
contains
instructions
on
how
to
collect
a
Cisco
UCS
MIT
snapshot
using
a
Microsoft
Windows
PowerShell
script.
It
requires
Cisco
UCS
PowerTool
libraries
to
be
installed
on
the
backup
system.
2
UCS
Manager
MIT
Snapshot
Tool
-­‐
https://communities.cisco.com/docs/DOC-­‐52108

14. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
[APP]
#
Local
directory
to
store
the
MIT
backup
to:
BACKUP_HOME
=
/home/ucs-­‐snapshot/snapshots
#
Maximum
number
of
backup
files
to
retain
(before
deleting
oldest)
MAX_BACKUP_FILES
=
7
Enter
the
following
command
to
take
a
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
snapshot:
perl
./bin/snapshot-­‐mit.pl
–cfg=./cfg/snapshot.cfg
Manually
run
the
script
to
verify
that
the
configuration
was
successful.
The
MIT
snapshot
file
will
contain
a
timestamp
in
its
name,
like
this:
ucs-­‐snapshot-­‐2014-­‐04-­‐25-­‐04_51_08.xml
After
you
have
verified
the
configuration,
add
the
command
to
the
Page
12
bpstart_notify
script.
Then
Symantec
NetBackup
will
automatically
collect
Cisco
UCS
MIT
snapshots
based
on
its
configuration.
You
can
process
the
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
snapshot
offline
to
extract
configuration
information
and
produce
reports
about
the
system.
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
Snapshot
Reports
You
can
copy
the
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
snapshot
to
another
system
for
offline
processing,
such
as
report
generation.
The
example
here
uses
a
ucs-­‐snapshot-­‐report
script
to
generate
a
report.
This
script
has
the
following
requirements:
• Perl
must
be
installed
on
the
system.
• The
system
must
have
sufficient
memory
and
disk
space
for
processing
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
snapshots,
which
are
often
many
megabytes
in
size.

15. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Download
and
install
the
UcsSimple-­‐CommMgr-­‐master.tgz3
package.
One
way
to
install
this
package
and
its
dependent
packages
is
to
extract
the
archive,
cd
into
the
extracted
directory,
and
use
cpanm,
as
follows:
cpanm
–I
UcsSimple-­‐CommMgr-­‐0.0001.tar.gz
Page
13
Download
and
unzip
the
ucs-­‐snapshot.tgz
archive.
For
clarity,
the
top-­‐level
directory
of
the
archive
is
referred
to
here
as
SNAPSHOT_HOME.
The
following
directories
are
pertinent
for
this
application:
• bin:
Contains
the
Perl
script
ucs-­‐backup-­‐report.pl
• cfg:
Contains
configuration
files
• snapshots:
Stores
Cisco
UCS
snapshots
• assets:
Contains
CSS
files
and
JavaScript
used
by
the
reports
• schema:
Used
for
your
UCS-­‐IN
schema
file
Download
the
Cisco
UCS
XML
schema
that
corresponds
to
the
version
of
Cisco
UCS
Manager
from
which
the
snapshot
was
taken.
This
schema
can
be
found
here
on
the
Cisco
Communities
website4.
Download
the
schema
files
archive
that
match
your
UCS
Manager
version
and
extract
the
contents
to
the
SNAPSHOT_HOME/schema
directory.
Edit
the
configuration
file
SNAPSHOT_HOME/cfg/report.cfg
as
appropriate
for
your
Cisco
UCS
domain
and
desired
snapshot
directory.
The
configuration
file
contains
the
following
settings:
#
report.cfg
:
ucs-­‐backup-­‐report
configuration
file;
[APP]
SCHEMA
=
/home/ucs-­‐snapshot/schema/UCSM-­‐IN.xsd
CSS_DIR
=
/home/ucs-­‐snapshot/assets
BACKUP_HOME
=
/home/ucs-­‐snapshot/snapshots
3
UCS
Manager
MIT
Snapshot
Tool
-­‐
https://communities.cisco.com/docs/DOC-­‐52108
4
UCS
Manager
XML
Schema
at
https://communities.cisco.com/docs/DOC-­‐36350

16. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Page
14
A
report
can
be
generated
as
follows:
perl
ucs-­‐snapshot-­‐report
-­‐-­‐cfg=./cfg/report.cfg
-­‐-­‐xml=./snapshots/ucs-­‐backup-­‐2014-­‐04-­‐25-­‐04_51_08.xml
This
script
will
create
a
subdirectory
in
BACKUP_HOME
to
hold
the
report.
The
directory’s
name
will
have
the
same
name
as
the
snapshot
file,
without
the
“.xml”
extension.
Thus,
for
the
example
here,
the
report
directory
name
would
be:
REPORT-­‐ucs-­‐snapshot-­‐2014-­‐04-­‐25-­‐04_51_08/
To
view
the
report,
you
open
the
index.html
file
in
your
browser
(Figure
5).
Figure
5
shows
the
top-­‐level
page
of
the
report.
This
report
provides
many
different
tabs
and
views.
Feel
free
to
explore
and
to
add
the
information
and
views
that
you
find
useful.

17. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Page
15
Figure
5:
Cisco
UCS
Backup
Report

18. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Solution
Configuration:
Restoring
UCS
Domain
Configuration
using
Symantec
NetBackup
In
the
“Solution
Configuration:
Symantec
NetBackup”
section,
we
described
how
to
protect
the
Cisco
UCS
state
and
configuration
snapshots.
In
this
section
we
will
describe
the
steps
required
to
restore
the
Cisco
UCS
state
and
configuration
snapshots.
There
are
two
steps
involved
in
this
process.
First,
the
Cisco
UCS
state
and
configuration
snapshot
is
restored
from
a
previously
performed
backup.
Second,
the
Cisco
UCS
state
and
configuration
snapshot
data
is
used
by
UCS/NetBackup
Administrators
to
selectively
restore
a
UCS
Configuration.
The
following
sections
document
this
restore
process.
NetBackup
Restore
Overview
NetBackup
offers
flexible
methods
for
restoring
file
and
folder
data.
By
default
NetBackup
will
restore
protected
data
to
the
original
location
from
which
the
data
was
backed
up.
This
may
not
be
optimal
as
this
location
may
contain
actively
backed
up
copies
of
the
Cisco
UCS
state
and
configuration.
Optionally,
NetBackup
can
easily
be
configured
to
restore
data
to
an
alternate
location.
We
will
describe
how
to
restore
the
Cisco
UCS
state
and
configuration
snapshot
to
the
original
or
alternate
location.
Restore
the
Cisco
UCS
State
and
Configuration
Snapshot
from
Previous
Backup
This
restore
process
is
essentially
the
same
process
used
to
restore
any
file
that
was
backed
up
with
NetBackup.
In
this
restore
description,
we
will
assume
the
same
client
name
and
restore
folder
and
file
definitions
that
we
used
to
back
up
the
UCS
Manager
MIT
snapshot.
Those
definitions
are
as
follows:
Client
name:
Page
16
UCS_Profile_VM16
Restore
directory:
/home/ucs-­‐snapshot/snapshots
To
process
the
restore
of
the
Cisco
UCS
state
and
configuration
snapshot,
perform
the
following
steps
from
the
main
NetBackup
Administration
console:

19. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Page
17
1. Select
the
Backup,
Archive,
and
Restore
option.
2. Click
the
Restore
Files
tab.
3. Click
here
to
select
the
Restore
options.
4. Type
the
name
of
our
client:
UCS_Profile_VM16
We
will
restore
the
data
to
the
same
client.
If
we
needed
to
restore
the
data
to
a
different
NetBackup
client,
we
could
enter
that
client
name
here.
5. Make
sure
the
policy
type
is
Standard.
6. Click
OK.
Now
we
see
the
files
and
folders
that
we
backed
up.
Our
Cisco
UCS
state
and
configuration
snapshot
was
stored
in
the
“/home/ucs-­‐snapshot/snapshots”
directory
as
shown
next.

20. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Page
18
We
can
process
the
restore
as
follows:
From
this
section
we
can
select
the
specific
backup
image
that
we
want
to
restore.
In
this
example
we
will
used
the
default
backup
image
which
is
the
most
recent
image.
1. Mark
the
checkbox
next
to
the
folder
named:
snapshots
2. Click
here
to
begin
the
restore
process.
The
Restore
Marked
Files
dialogue
box
provides
additional
restore
options.
In
this
case,
we
will
restore
the
files
to
the
original
location.
To
ensure
that
we
don’t
inadvertently
overwrite
important
files
we
will
not
select
the
Overwrite
existing
files
option.
3. Select
Start
Restore
to
begin
the
restore
process.

21. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Conclusion
Cisco
UCS
should
be
deployed
in
conjunction
with
a
robust
backup
strategy.
The
foundation
of
this
strategy
should
be
Full
State
and
All
Configuration
backups
and
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
snapshots
captured
at
regular
intervals.
The
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
snapshots
can
be
processed
offline
to
generate
useful
reports
about
all
aspects
of
Cisco
UCS.
This
document
described
how
to
use
Symantec
NetBackup
to
implement
this
backup
strategy.
Page
19

22. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Appendix
A:
Using
Microsoft
Windows
PowerShell
Scripts
to
Take
Cisco
UCS
MIT
Snapshots
You
can
use
a
Microsoft
Windows
PowerShell
script
and
the
Cisco
UCS
PowerTool
library
to
take
a
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
snapshot
(as
an
alternative
to
the
Perl
script
Page
20
simple-­‐ucs-­‐backup.pl).
In
this
case,
you
need
to
install
the
Cisco
UCS
PowerTool
libraries
on
the
backup
system.
You
can
invoke
the
BackupMIT.ps1
script
5as
follows:
./BackupMIT.ps1
–backupDir
c:Backups
This
script
will
download
the
following
items:
• Full
State
backup
• All
Configuration
backup
• Cisco
UCS
MIT
snapshot
Note:
you
can
comment
out
commands
in
this
file
to
get
only
the
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
snapshot.
The
script
creates
files
of
the
following
form
in
the
specified
backup
directory:
• SJC18-­‐L07-­‐UCS1-­‐2014-­‐24-­‐04-­‐22-­‐06-­‐config-­‐all.xml
(Full
State
backup)
• SJC18-­‐L07-­‐UCS1-­‐2014-­‐24-­‐04-­‐22-­‐05-­‐config-­‐system.xml
(All
Configuration
backup)
• SJC18-­‐L07-­‐UCS1-­‐2014-­‐24-­‐04-­‐22-­‐06-­‐MIT.xml
(MIT
snapshot)
The
Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
snapshot
can
be
processed
offline
to
create
the
Cisco
UCS
Manager
Backup
report.
5
UCS
Manager
MIT
Snapshot
Tool
at
https://communities.cisco.com/docs/DOC-­‐52108

23. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Appendix
B:
Symantec
NetBackup
Preprocessing
and
Postprocessing
The
prebackup
and
postbackup
processing
capabilities
provided
by
Symantec
NetBackup
are
performed
using
scripts
named
Page
21
bpstart_notify
and
bpend_notify.
To
enable
the
use
of
these
scripts,
you
need
to
place
them
on
a
system
configured
as
a
Symantec
NetBackup
master,
media,
or
client
system.
The
pre-­‐
processing
script
must
be
placed
in
the
following
location:
• Linux
or
UNIX:
/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/bpstart_notify
Every
time
a
Symantec
NetBackup
policy
runs
against
this
client,
this
script
will
be
implemented.
The
exact
way
in
which
these
scripts
run
can
vary
between
Symantec
NetBackup
versions.
Information
that
is
specific
to
the
version
of
Symantec
NetBackup
in
use
can
be
found
in
the
Symantec
NetBackup
administration
guide
that
covers
your
version.
Additional
information
can
be
found
in
the
following
Symantec
TechNotes:
• How
to
use
the
bpstart_notify
and
bpend_notify
scripts:
http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH162973
• Implementing
the
Symantec
NetBackup
bpstart_notify
and
the
bpend_notify
scripts
when
using
multistreaming
in
the
backup
policy:
http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH69986.

24. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Appendix
C:
Symantec
NetBackup
and
Cisco
UCS
Performance
Benchmarks
The
Symantec
NetBackup
and
Cisco
UCS
teams
have
worked
together
to
provide
two
separate
performance
benchmarks.
These
benchmarks
provide
information
related
to
performance
tuning,
recommended
hardware
configurations,
and
performance
best
practices.
More
information
about
these
benchmarks
can
be
found
at
the
following
URLs:
• Symantec
NetBackup,
Cisco
UCS,
and
VMware
vSphere
joint
backup
performance
benchmark:
http://eval.symantec.com/mktginfo/enterprise/white_papers/b-­‐
nbu_cisco_vmware_backup_perf_21157021_WP.en-­‐us.pdf
• Increasing
backup
performance:
https://www4.symantec.com/Vrt/offer?a_id=151949
Page
22

25. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Appendix
D:
Strategy
for
using
a
MIT
Snapshot
and
MIT
Snapshot
reports
Summary:
As
mentioned
earlier,
a
MIT
(Management
Information
Tree)
Snapshot
is
a
point-­‐in-­‐time
snapshot
of
the
UCS
Manager
MIT.
MIT
Snapshot
Reports
can
be
created
from
any
MIT
Snapshot,
and
the
result
will
be
a
user-­‐friendly
html
report
that
is
easy
to
browse
for
configuration
data.
The
MIT
Snapshots
and
Reports
can
be
very
useful
as
a
reference
of
how
the
UCS
System
hardware
was
configured
at
a
particular
point
in
time.
Next
we
will
discuss
some
sample
example
Use
Cases
for
using
SnapShot
Reports.
Example
Use
Cases
where
the
MIT
Snapshot/Report
can
be
helpful:
1. Restoring
NetBackup
data
to
a
UCS
Domain
with
different
hardware
a.
If
a
disaster
has
occurred
and
Operating
System
data
is
to
be
restored
to
a
UCS
domain
with
different
attributes
(perhaps
different
server
models,
adapters,
etc...),
the
MIT
Snapshot
and
Report
can
be
useful
in
determining
the
exact
server
configuration
before
the
disaster,
so
that
an
appropriate
server
can
be
identified
for
data
restore.
b. Example:
If
restoring
a
Database
server,
it
may
be
important
that
the
new
target
server
has
similar
type
of
hardware
(processors,
memory,
and
disk
controller/local
disks).
In
many
cases,
it
is
equally
important
to
understand
the
granular
details
of
the
hardware
configurations
(Firmware
Levels,
BIOS
Settings,
NIC
and
HBA
configurations,
access
layer
configurations
for
Network/SAN).
Using
this
data
from
the
MIT
Snapshots/Reports,
NetBackup
and
UCS
Administrators
can
work
collaboratively
in
locating
an
appropriately
configured
server
to
restore
data
backups
and
reduce
risk.
2. Recovering
UCS
configuration
that
was
inadvertently
changed
or
deleted
a. If
a
UCS
Administrator
makes
an
inadvertent
change
or
even
deletion
to
UCS
Configuration
(policies,
pools,
templates
or
individual
configurations),
you
can
use
the
Snapshots
and
Reports
to
review
the
system
configuration
that
was
in
place
at
a
given
Page
23

26. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
time.
The
Reports
can
be
a
reference
for
re-­‐creating
configuration
manually,
but
as
you
will
see
shortly,
the
Reports
also
contain
XML
data
for
these
individual
pools,
policies,
templates,
that
can
be
imported
using
UCS
Automation
Tools
like
the
UCS
Python
SDK,
UCS
PowerTool
(PowerShell
library)
or
goUCS.
b. Example:
a
BIOS
Policy
contains
an
exhaustive
list
of
the
BIOS
Settings
of
an
x86
Server.
If
a
BIOS
Policy
was
inadvertently
changed,
there
would
be
many
settings
to
compare,
and
there
would
be
risk
that
an
Administrator
might
miss
one
of
the
many
settings
that
are
being
compared.
Rather
than
comparing
the
BIOS
Settings
manually,
an
Administrator
could
choose
to
import
the
XML
Data
for
this
particular
policy
from
the
report.
Importing
the
XML
data
will
create
the
BIOS
Policy
if
it
was
deleted,
or
modify
an
existing
BIOS
policy,
in
the
event
that
the
policy
was
changed
inadvertently.
Page
24

27. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Appendix
E:
Interpreting
and
using
the
UCS
Snapshot
Report
The
UCS
Snapshot
report
(See
“Cisco
UCS
Manager
MIT
Snapshot
Reports”
above)
can
be
created
from
the
UCS
MIT
Snapshot
–
the
end
result
is
a
folder
of
html
files
that
can
be
used
to
browse
the
UCS
Configuration
in
a
user-­‐friendly
manner.
First
locate
the
folder
where
your
reports
are
written
to
(check
your
configuration
files
–
the
default
location
is
/home/ucs/ucs-­‐snapshot/snapshots):
Navigate
inside
the
Report
folder
you
are
most
interested
in
and
you
will
see
a
list
of
html
files
and
subfolders
containing
the
configuration
that
was
generated
from
the
ucs-­‐snapshot-­‐report
utility:
Page
25

28. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
The
index.html
will
default
to
the
Domain
tab
and
provide
a
summary:
Page
26

29. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
Page
27
Click
the
Service
Profiles
tab
to
review
the
list
of
Service
Profiles
configured
at
the
time
that
the
Snapshot
was
taken.
Note:
On
the
Service
Profiles
tab,
you
can
see
the
UUID
associated
with
each
Service
Profile.
The
Server
UUID
is
a
great
example
of
a
unique
identifier
that
can
be
used
to
identify
the
hardware
configuration
of
one
specific
server
for
which
you
may
need
to
restore
data.
Note:
Other
examples
of
unique
server
identifiers
are
MAC,
Port
WWN,
or
ISCSI
IQN
addresses.
These
identifiers
are
available
in
their
respective
tabs,
or
by
navigating
the
hyperlinks
in
the
Service
Profile
tab.

30. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
After
the
Service
Profile
name
is
identified,
the
UCS
and
NetBackup
administrators
now
have
access
to
the
detailed
hardware
configuration
for
this
server
(at
a
point
in
time
when
the
snapshot
was
taken).
The
Tabs
on
the
left
side
will
link
to
detailed
Hardware
Configuration,
inventory,
etc...
Using
this
detailed
hardware
configuration,
UCS
and
NetBackup
Administrators
can
now
make
an
informed
choice
as
to
where
OS
data
should
be
restored,
and
identify
the
desired
hardware
configuration
for
the
target
server.
Page
28

31. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
For
Use
Cases
where
UCS
configuration
was
inadvertently
changed
or
deleted
by
an
Administrator:
Hyperlinks
that
point
to
a
specific
Policy,
Pool
or
Template
will
link
to
the
specific
XML
for
that
object
in
the
UCS
MIT.
The
screenshot
below
illustrates
a
UCS
Scrub
Policy:
Page
29

32. Symantec
NetBackup
Whitepaper
–
Protecting
a
Cisco
UCS
domain
with
Symantec
NetBackup
This
data
can
be
easily
imported
with
UCS
Automation
tools
such
as
the
UCS
Python
SDK,
UCS
PowerTool
(Microsoft
PowerShell
library),
or
goUCS.
Example
with
UCS
PowerTool:
For
more
information
on
UCS
Automation
Tools,
including
the
UCS
Platform
Emulator
(which
can
be
useful
for
testing
system
changes
in
a
“sandbox”
environment),
visit
the
UCS
Communities
Page:
http://communities.cisco.com/ucs
Direct
link
to
information
on
the
UCS
Platform
Emulator:
http://communities.cisco.com/ucspe
Page
30

33. About
Symantec:
Symantec
is
a
global
leader
in
providing
security,
storage,
and
systems
management
solutions
to
help
consumers
and
organizations
secure
and
manage
their
information-­‐driven
world.
Our
software
and
services
protect
against
more
risks
at
more
points,
more
completely
and
efficiently,
enabling
confidence
wherever
information
is
used
or
stored.
Headquartered
in
Mountain
View,
Calif.,
Symantec
has
operations
in
40
countries.
More
information
is
available
at
www.symantec.com.
For
specific
country
offices
and
contact
numbers,
please
visit
our
Web
site:
www.symantec.com
Symantec
Corporation
World
Headquarters
350
Ellis
Street
Mountain
View,
CA
94043
USA
+1
(650)
527
8000
+1
(800)
721
3934
Copyright
©
2014
Symantec
Corporation.
All
rights
reserved.
Symantec
and
the
Symantec
logo
are
trademarks
or
registered
trademarks
of
Symantec
Corporation
or
its
affiliates
in
the
U.S.
and
other
countries.
Other
names
may
be
trademarks
of
their
respective
owners.