Details: Under normal operation, restores will always be directed to the media server that performed the backup. There are times when this behavior is not desirable. Some examples of when to use this method:

Two (or more) servers are sharing a robot, with each host either directly connected to some of the drives, or connected to the drives in a shared storage option (SSO) environment. A restore is requested while one of the servers is either temporarily unavailable or is busy doing backups. The backup window is very limited and any time spent performing restores would prevent critical backups from taking place. So, a dedicated restore Media Server is defined that does not perform any critical backups. A media server has been removed from the NetBackup configuration, and is no longer accessible.

This TechNote describes a process that causes restores of backups made by one media server to be performed on a different media server. This process will cause all restores of backups performed by Media Server A to be performed by Media Server B instead. This method requires administrator intervention.

Note: The media server override applies to all storage units on the overridden media server. This means restores for any storage unit on the "fromhost" will go to the "tohost."

The process requires modification of the bp.conf file on UNIX media servers and registry edits on Windows NT media servers.

To override the NetBackup media server for a restore:

  1. If necessary, physically move the media and update the Media Manager volume database, using the Media Manager administrative utilities

  2. Modify the NetBackup configuration on the master server:

If the master server is a UNIX NetBackup server, perform the following steps:

As root user, add the following entry to the /usr/openv/netbackup/bp.conf file:

FORCE_RESTORE_MEDIA_SERVER = fromhost tohost

where fromhost is the media server that performed the original backup and tohost is the desired media host to use for the restore.

If the master server is a Windows NT NetBackup server, then perform these steps instead:

Warning: Incorrect use of the Windows registry editor can have disastrous results on a server operating system. Great care should be taken when making changes to a Windows registry. 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 and workstation be made prior to making any registry changes.

Use the RegEdit application to modify the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VERITAS\NetBackup\CurrentVersion\Config to add the value FORCE_RESTORE_MEDIA_SERVER and then set the newly added value to fromhost tohost, where fromhost is the media server that performed the original backup and tohost is the desired media host to use for the restore.

  1. Force the NetBackup request daemon (bprd) on the master server to re-read its configuration by either using the appropriate File menu item on the main NetBackup administrative utility or by stopping and restarting bprd.

To revert back to the original configuration for future restores, simply delete the changes made in Step 2 above.

Bob Stump Just because the VERITAS documentation states a certain thing does not make it a fact and that is truth.

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