Rebuilding Vembu BDR Server - running between version v3.7 to v5.2 [Server Running PostgreSQL]

Challenge

A hardware failure or a system crash on the BDRSuite Backup Server machine may result in the loss of the BDRSuite application and its backend database (PostgreSQL server) installations.

However, if the backup data is stored on a different storage device and the database dump files are not damaged by system failures, it can be used to rebuild or reconstruct the BDRSuite Backup Server from the scratch.

Solution Overview

The solution provided below allows you to rebuild the BDRSuite Backup Server to its previous state (before failure). As a result, backup and restore operations can be resumed.

The following steps are applicable only if you are using BDRSuite v3.7 and below v5.3.

If you are using BDRSuite v5.3 and above, refer to the following KB: https://www.vembu.com/support/knowled...

Files Required

The following are required for rebuilding a BDRSuite backup server:

1. Backup Data (Mandatory)
• Backup storage targets that hold backup data (i.e., sgstorage folder from all backup data storage drives attached earlier). When more than one drive is configured for storage, ensure you have all of them.
• For example, when E and H drives are configured as storage drives, then make sure you have both E:\sgstorage, H:\sgstorage. Now rename the ‘sgstorage’ folders to name like old1sgstorage,old2sgstorage.
2. Database Dump File - SGDatabase.sql (Mandatory):
• The BDRSuite Backup Server configurations are stored in a database by default, which is dumped daily. The Database Dump file is saved in the backup storage location specified during installation.
• For Example: Windows - E:\sgstorage\DefaultRepo\SGDatabase.sql Ubuntu - /sgstorage/DefaultRepo/SGDatabase/SGDatabase.sql (upto v4.2)
• For Example: Windows - E:\sgstorage\DefaultRepo\VembuDBDumps\SGDatabase.sql Ubuntu - /sgstorage/DefaultRepo/SGDatabase/VembuDBDumps/SGDatabase.sql (from v5.0)
3. Plugin-data Folder (Optional):
• ‘Plugin-data’ folder from BDRSuite installation location ‘[BDRSuite-Home]’ . Example: Ubuntu - C:\Program Files\Vembu\VembuBDR on Windows and /home/vembubdr/Vembu/VembuBDR
• The above ‘Plugin-Data’ folder will be required in the following cases:
• if you are running BDRSuite v4.1 to v5.3 (and) you are backing up VMware/Hyper-V hosts 2016 and lower versions (and) want to continue the incremental backups.
• if you are running BDRSuite v4.0 and lower (and) you are backing up VMware/Hyper-V (and) want to continue the incremental backups.

Steps to Rebuild Backup Server:

Rebuilding the BDRSuite Backup Server is a three-step process.

1. Installing BDRSuite Backup Server and preparing for the rebuild process.
2. Importing BDRSuite Backup Server database and populating metadata.
3. Restarting the BDRSuite Backup Server Services and resuming the backup jobs.

Step 1: Install BDRSuite Backup Server and prepare it for the rebuild process:

Follow the below steps for the preparation of the rebuild process.

1. Login to the Vembu Portal at https://portal.vembu.com/. Navigate to the Download tab and download the same version of the BDRSuite Backup Server installer which was running earlier on your machine.
2. Run the installer and ensure you configured the same drive letters for storage location as configured previously. Say the same E drive as mentioned in earlier steps.
Important Note: At the end of the installation, unselect the option to start the BDRSuite Backup Server application, such that we can make sure ‘BDRSuite Backup Server for Virtual Physical Workloads’ service and ‘‘BDRSuite Backup Server for AWS’ service are NOT started. If it has already started, stop those services from services.msc. In older versions, you can see only the VembuBDR service in the service manager.
3. Go to BDRSuite installation location ‘[BDRSuite-Home]’ and replace the ‘Plugin-data’ folder from the previous setup (Optional as mentioned in ‘Files Required’ section)
4. Open ‘[BDRSuite-Home]/conf/SGConfiguration.conf’ file and set the previously used Vembu BDR ID value (in the old server) in the ID attribute. You can get this value from Vembu Portal (if already registered) or you can refer to the value from the SGConfiguration.conf file from the previous BDRSuite Backup Server installation (if you have that old conf folder)
5. Copy the renamed sgstorage folders “old1sgstorage,old2sgstorage” [Renamed while following earlier steps] to respective locations say E, H Drive and move it to the original name as “sgstorage”.

Step 2: Importing BDRSuite Backup Server’s database dump file and populating metadata:

You can import the BDRSuite Backup Server’s database from the old database dump file and populate the metadata for all the backed up data in the database by following the below steps.

Open CMD prompt with administrator privileges and run the below command from the PostgreSQL installation location to import the dumped database

For Windows:

psql.exe -U <user_name> -p <port_num> -d <destination_db> -f <file_path>

Example: C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\9.6\bin>psql.exe -U postgres -p 32010 -d SGDatabase -f "E:\sgstorage\Default_Repo\SGDatabase.sql"

For Linux:

psql -U <user_name> -p <port_num> -d <destination_db> -f <file_path>

Example: psql -U postgres -p 32010 -d SGDatabase -f /sgstorage/Default_Repo/SGDatabase/SGDatabase.sql

Note: By default “32010’ post is used for PostgreSQL connection. If you have changed the default port, enter the correct port number that you have provided during the installation. To find the port number of PostgreSQL you can execute the command “\conninfo" in the PostgreSQL command line util.

Once you have imported the database dump file, all the backup configuration information's will be loaded on the BDRSuite GUI.

If you want to rebuild with all backups present in the backup server, then execute the below command in the command prompt from the '[VembuBDR-Home]' location.

Note: This import process takes time based on the backed up data size.

For Windows:

   bin\VembuBDR.exe CheckAndUpdateDB All ChunkEntryRefill

For Linux:

   ./bin/VembuBDR CheckAndUpdateDB All ChunkEntryRefill

[or]

If you want to recover the shared schema for a particular backup job name, then execute the below command

For Windows:

  bin\VembuBDR.exe CheckAndUpdateDB All <ManagedBy> <BackupName> ChunkEntryRefill

For Linux:

   ./bin/VembuBDR CheckAndUpdateDB All <ManagedBy> <BackupName> ChunkEntryRefill

Note: In place of < MangedBy >, use BDR-ID. If the backup is configured from the backup server, enter the 'BDR-ID' from the backup server. If the backup is configured from the client, enter the 'BDR-ID' of the particular client.

Step 3: Restarting the BDRSuite Backup Server Services and resuming the backup jobs

After importing the databases please start the Vembu BDR Backup Server for Virtual Physical Workloads service, Vembu BDR Backup Server for AWS service, and PostgreSQL service and ensure the backups are resumed and running successfully.