Dell Replay Manager Version 8.0 Administrator’s Guide June 2020 Rev.
Notes, Cautions, and Warnings NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your product. CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem. WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death. © 2019 - 2020 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Dell, EMC, and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries.
Contents About this Guide............................................................................................................................. 7 Revision History..................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Related Publications...........................................................................................................................................................
Backing Up and Restoring Data....................................................................................................24 Using the Replay Manager Explorer..................................................................................................................................24 Display Storage Components and Restore Points.................................................................................................... 24 View Component Details.........................................
Advanced Recovery Scenarios for SQL Server...............................................................................................................42 Recover a Database Using Replay Manager and Transaction Log Backups..........................................................42 Recover System Databases......................................................................................................................................... 43 Recovering Databases in a Clustered Instance of SQL Server.....
Protecting Microsoft SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups............................................................................ 58 VMware................................................................................................................................................................................ 59 Backup Extensions for VMware..................................................................................................................................
Preface About this Guide This guide provides information on Replay Manager. Revision History Document Number: 680-008-017 Revision Date Description A August 2019 Initial release B June 2020 Update supported VMware versions Related Publications In addition to this guide, refer to the following related publications for more information on related topics. • Dell Storage Manager Administrator’s Guide • Describes the Dell Storage Manager software that manages an individual Storage Centers.
1 Overview Introduction to Replay Manager Replay Manager is a client/server application that creates and manages application-consistent Replays on a Dell Storage Center. NOTE: Snapshots, Shadow Copies, and Replays: Snapshot is an industry-standard term used for a point-in-time copy; shadow copy is the term used by the Microsoft VSS for a point-in-time copy; Replay is the term used by Replay Manager for a point-in-time copy.
Verification Service for Microsoft Exchange If installed, the Verification Service provides verification for Microsoft Exchange backup and restore processes. Dell recommends installing a Verification Service on a server other than the server that is hosting Microsoft Exchange. For clustered environments, install the Verification Service on a server outside the cluster.
Replay Manager Service Extensions The following table lists requirements for using Replay Manager to take Replays. Requirement Description Volume Types • • • • SMB File Shares The following criteria must be met to support SMB file shares: • • • • • • Microsoft Exchange Server • • • • Windows basic volumes are supported. Windows dynamic volumes are not supported. Storage Center Live Volumes are not supported. vVols are not supported for VMware extensions.
Requirement Description system administrator privileges. Alternatively, install Replay Manager using a Windows account that has SQL Server sysadmin role permissions. NOTE: Replay Manager Service requires SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) to be installed as part of Microsoft SQL Server 2017 and Microsoft SQL Server 2016.
Replay Manager Management Tools The following table lists requirements for installing and using the Replay Manager Management Tools. Requirement Description Processor 86-64-bit (AMD64-compatible only, including Intel 64) NOTE: The Itanium 64-bit architecture is not supported. Operating System Any of the following Microsoft Windows operating systems: NOTE: Replay Manager Explorer can be used only on operating systems with a graphical user interface.
IPv6 Support Replay Manager supports IPv6 addresses for the following connections.
2 Installing Replay Manager Components Licensing for Replay Manager Replay Manager requires a license purchased from Dell, but can be evaluated for a period of time. During the trial period, you can use all features of Replay Manager by leaving the Product Serial Number field in the License tab blank. The License tab in Replay Manager displays the message Evaluation Copy. Product will expire in X days, where X is the number of days left in the trial.
10. Click Next. The InstallShield wizard presents a summary screen. 11. Click Install. The InstallShield wizard installs Replay Manager and all selected features. When installation is complete, the Installation Complete page opens. 12. Click Finish to complete the installation. After installing Replay Manager Service for Windows, the service automatically starts. View and manage the service with the Microsoft Windows Services dialog box.
Related concepts Using Replay Manager Cmdlets on page 62 Installing and Configuring the Verification Service for Exchange Replay Manager provides a Verification Service that can be used to verify Exchange data during backup and restore operations. Once installed, the Verification Service is listed in the Microsoft Management console under Services. Install the Verification Service for Exchange Install the Verification Service on a server other than the Microsoft Exchange Server.
For general guidelines on Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2019 clusters and storage, see: https://technet.microsoft.com/enus/windows-server-docs/failover-clustering/whats-new-in-failover-clustering Follow these guidelines to install and configure Replay Manager on server nodes in a cluster: • • • • Run the Replay Manager Service using a domain user account that is a part of the local administrators group. Install a Replay Manager Service for Windows on each server node in the cluster.
3 Getting Started Starting and Stopping the Replay Manager Explorer This section provides the procedures for starting and stopping the Replay Manager Explorer. Start Replay Manager Explorer Use the following method to start the Replay Manager Explorer. The method for starting the Replay Manager Explorer differs slightly between Windows Server versions. Double click on the Replay Manager Explorer icon. The Replay Manager Explorer opens.
Stop or Restart the Replay Manager Service for VMware For information on stopping and restarting Replay Manager Service for VMware, see the Dell Storage Integration Tools for VMware Administrator’s Guide. Viewing Replay Manager Explorer Use the Replay Manager Explorer to add and configure servers, and then select components on the server(s) to back up and restore. Navigation Pane The navigation pane provides controls to select and configure servers and backup sets.
• When the icon in the top left corner inside the component pane is clicked, a drop-down menu opens. It allows users to select all items, deselect all items, and invert selection. Double-clicking the icon toggles between select all and deselect all. Related concepts Working with Backup Set Jobs on page 47 Viewing Backup Job Reports on page 50 Action Pane Displays the options available based on the content in the explorer.
Rename a Server or Host Use the Rename Server dialog box to change the server alias of a server or host. 1. In the Server Connections area of the navigation pane, right-click the server and select Rename [server]. The Rename Server dialog box opens. 2. Enter a new Server Alias, and click Rename. Disconnect from a Server or Host Follow these steps to disconnect from a server or host. In the Server Connections area of the navigation pane, right-click the server and select Disconnect from [server].
Configure Servers Once a server is added, configure the server using the Configure Server dialog box. Server configuration includes activating a license key, associating Storage Centers with the server, enabling email notifications, and setting options. Activate a Product Serial Number for a Server Use the following procedure to activate the product license by phone or Internet. The functionality can be evaluated for 30 days by leaving the Product Serial Number field blank. 1.
d. Click the appropriate button. The button is labeled as either Add or Update, depending on whether the Storage Center is being added for the first time or the Storage Center is already configured. 5. To remove a Storage Center: a. In the Defined Systems list, select the Storage Center you want to remove. b. Click Remove. Set Up Notifications for a Server or Host Configure notification services to send an email to designated recipients when snapshot creation is completed, or failed, or both.
4 Backing Up and Restoring Data Using the Replay Manager Explorer Use the Replay Manager Explorer to define backup sets, create and run backups, view and manage available restore points, and restore component data from an available restore point. Display Storage Components and Restore Points Replay Manager Explorer displays storage components and restore points for selected data sources. 1. In the Server Connections area of the navigation pane, connect to a server or host. 2.
Replay Manager Extension Details • • • VMware Virtual Machines Host name Label Disk serial number and product ID For each selected virtual machine, Replay Manager lists the following: • • • Affected Datastore inventory path Label or raw device mapping (RDM) name Disk serial number and product ID View Restore Point Details The Restore Point Details tab provides the details for the restore point, including the scheduling information, backup type and backup extension selected, and the status. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Item Description Schedule If scheduled, shows a brief description of the schedule. Related tasks Add a Note to a Restore Point on page 40 Edit a Note for a Restore Point on page 40 View a Restore Point Report The Restore Point Report shows the run time messages for the backup job that created the restore point. 1. 2. 3. 4. In the Server Connections area of the navigation pane, connect to a server or host.
NOTE: Windows guest virtual machines that store data for VSS aware applications (like SQL Server or Exchange) on physical RDMs, or iSCSI volumes mapped directly to the guest, may fail to create snapshots when using the VMware Virtual Machines backup extension. This is a known issue with Windows VSS snapshot integration and VMware snapshot creation. If a failure occurs, use the vSphere Client to change the value of the disk.EnableUUID parameter to FALSE. For further instructions, see: https://kb.vmware.
Related tasks View Queued Items on page 49 Display the Backup Schedule Run Time Report on page 47 Backing Up a Boot Volume (LUN 0) In some instances, backing up a boot volume may fail because the Virtual Shadow Copy Service (VSS) cannot suspend all IO on the volume. Therefore, do not use Replay Manager to back up boot volumes. To back up boot volumes, create a Storage Center Replay of the boot volume.
Action Description Resync Allows for a fast recovery for a restore point. Not available for Hyper-V, or for restore points containing SQL system databases or Cluster Shared Volumes (CSVs). If the resync fails with the message VSS restore completed with failure and the disk appears offline: 1. Open Server Manager and select Disk Management. 2. Right-click on the disk that is offline and select Online. 3.
Backup Option Description • Run Exchange Verification Select this option only when using the Exchange Server data verification service. Then select from the following: • • • Include virtual machine memory in vSphere snapshot For SQL Server: You cannot take a full backup of a read-only database such as a replica database. Microsoft SQL Server only supports copy-only backups of readonly databases.
Create and Run a Backup Now Follow these instructions to create the backup set and immediately submit the backup job for execution. Running a backup job outside its normal window impacts a retention policy if the backup set is set to only keep some restore points. 1. In the Server Connections area of the navigation pane, connect to a server or host. 2. In the Backup Extensions area of the navigation pane, select a data source. 3. Select components to include in the backup set.
Managing Existing Backup Sets After a backup set is created, Replay Manager lists it in the Replay Manager Explorer main display and the Replay Manager Jobs display. The backup set settings and schedules can be managed from either display. Related concepts Working with Backup Set Jobs on page 47 Run an Existing Backup Set Now Use this procedure to immediately run a backup set job. 1. 2. 3. 4. In the Server Connections area of the navigation pane, connect to a server or host.
Delete a Backup Set Deleting a backup set deletes all restore points for the backup set and any corresponding Storage Center Replays. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. In the Server Connections area of the navigation pane, connect to a server or host. In the Backup Extensions area of the navigation pane, select a data source. Select an existing backup set. In the Backup Set area of the action pane, click Delete Backup Set. Click Yes to delete the backup set.
Restore Point Action Description Resync Allows for a faster recovery from a restore point by resetting the Storage Center volumes to the appropriate Replay. Make Writable For Windows extensions only. Makes an exposed restore point writable. Making a restore point writable removes it from Replay Manager control. Replays corresponding to restore points that have been made writable must be managed using Storage Center. Unmanage For VMware extensions only.
Transport-to-Server Scenarios Transporting a restore point across different operating system versions is possible only when the file system features of the source server are compatible with the target server. When possible, Replay Manager Explorer prevents an administrator from transporting a restore point to an incompatible target server by graying out incompatible servers in the Choose Target Server dialog box.
Windows Server 2019 Windows Server 2016 Windows Server 2012 R2 Windows Server 2012 CSVFS Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed NTFS Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed ReFS Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed NTFS with data deduplication Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed Restoring Data This section provides the procedures for restoring data. NOTE: The Restore action is not available for the Local Volumes and VMware Datastores backup extensions.
During a restore operation, the Hyper-V VSS writer deletes virtual machines before restoring them. This message does not indicate a problem. Click Exit to acknowledge the message. Restore SQL Server Components without Recovering the Database Use the Do Not Recover Databases option if you want to apply transaction logs or differential backups to the restored database. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. In the Server Connections area of the navigation pane, connect to a server or host.
3. In the left side of the explorer pane, select a component. Restore points for the component are displayed in the right side of the explorer. 4. Select a restore point. 5. In the Restore Points area of the action pane, click Restore. The Restore Snapshot dialog box opens. 6. Click in the row containing the database to be renamed and relocated. The Rename Database dialog box opens.
If you use vCenter to add an exposed/unmanaged VM to the Inventory, the restored VM includes both the original VM backup and a temporary snapshot of the VM. Use vCenter Snapshot Manager to either delete the temporary snapshot or use the temporary snapshot to revert the restored VM. 7. Click Expose. NOTE: A partial expose is not supported. You must specify Expose Path to all components in the backup set.
Make an Exposed Restore Point Writable (Windows Extensions Only) Use the following procedure to make an exposed restore point writable. Making a restore point writable removes the restore point from the control of Replay Manager. Exposed, writable restore points must be managed by Storage Center. 1. 2. 3. 4. In the Server Connections area of the navigation pane, connect to a server or host. In the Backup Extensions area of the navigation pane, select a data source. Select an exposed restore point.
3. Select the restore point you want to modify. 4. In the Restore Points area of the action pane, click Edit Notes. The Restore Point Notes dialog box opens. 5. Edit the note text in the text box, or click Clear to clear the text box and start over. Click Revert to undo any modifications made to the note. 6. Click OK to save the changes. The revised note is displayed on the Restore Point Details tab.
Restore points can be transported only to a server compatible with the operating system of the source server. NOTE: The Transfer Restore Points option is not available for VMware restore points or for any restore points with components stored on SMB file shares. NOTE: In a clustered-server environment, transporting a restore point to a node in the same cluster is not supported. 1. 2. 3. 4. In the Server Connections area of the navigation pane, connect to a server or host.
RESTORE DATABASE [ [database_name] ] WITH RECOVERY; Related tasks Restore SQL Server Components without Recovering the Database on page 37 Recover System Databases The Expose action in Replay Manager can be used as part of a recovery plan for the following system databases: master, model, and msdb. Use Replay Manager to recover these system databases by manually copying system database files from exposed volumes back to their original location.
Use Expose to Recover Databases in a Clustered Instance of SQL Server Expose the restore point containing the databases to be recovered. 1. On the Expose dialog box: a. Select Make exposed volumes writable. b. If assigning drive letters, choose drive letters that are available on all nodes of the cluster. 2. Map the exposed volumes to all nodes of the cluster. NOTE: Ensure that all servers (nodes) of the cluster are added in Storage Center under a cluster object. a.
Related concepts Advanced Recovery Scenarios for SQL Server on page 42 Related tasks Expose a Restore Point (Windows Extensions Only) on page 38 Expose a Restore Point Stored on an SMB File Share on page 39 Use a Replay to Manually Recover a Database Dell recommends using Replay Manager to manage Replays. However, databases can be recovered using Storage Center rather than Replay Manager during disaster recovery. This manual process provides the same functionality as the Expose action in Replay Manager. 1.
When the attributes have been cleared, the output will look like this: Read-only : No Hidden : No No Default Drive Letter: Yes Shadow Copy : No d. Exit the diskpart utility by typing exit and pressing Enter. e. Close the Command Prompt window by typing exit and pressing Enter. 4. Attach the desired databases from the new volumes. For information about how to attach SQL Server databases, see the Microsoft SQL Server documentation.
5 Working with Backup Set Jobs View the Backup Jobs Display To view Jobs, select a server or a host. From the Backup Sets pane of Replay Manager, select Jobs. For each backup set, the Backup Jobs display shows: Extension, Backup Sets Scheduler, and the Schedule State. Summary of Backup Job Actions The following table lists Backup Jobs actions. Action Description Schedule Reports Schedule Run Time Displays a graph of the selected job schedule.
Managing Job Schedules This section describes how to manage backup set schedules. Suspend a Schedule Use the following procedure to pause a schedule. Restart the schedule at any time by clicking Resume Schedule. 1. In the Server Connections area of the navigation pane, connect to a server or host. 2. In the Backup Extensions area of the navigation pane, select the data source. 3. In the Backup Sets area of the navigation pane, click Jobs.
he Backup Jobs display opens, showing all backup jobs for the server. 5. In the Scheduling area of the action pane, click Delete Schedule. 6. Click Yes to delete the schedule. Viewing Queued Items Replay Manager can display the active backup job, the jobs waiting to execute, the queued tasks and a list of the results. View Queued Items Use the following steps to view queued items in Replay Manager. 1. In the Server Connections area of the navigation pane, connect to a server or host. 2.
6 Viewing Backup Job Reports The Reports Explorer provides summary information for backup sets and their associated restore points. The Details tab of the Reports Explorer provides the run time messages generated by Replay Manager when the backup job runs and indicates the success or failure of the restore point. In cases of failure, viewing the error messages on the Details tab can be helpful in troubleshooting why the failure occurred.
Item Description Options Lists options for the backup set. Components Lists components included in the backup set. Extension Lists the backup extension of the backup set: Local Volumes, Exchange Stores, SQL Databases, Hyper-V guests, VMware Datastores, or VMware Virtual Machines.
Item Description Backup Type Shows the backup type: Copy (the default) or Full. Retention Policy Shows how many restore points to keep. Unchecking Delete Old Restore Points keeps all the restore points. The default is to keep 3 restore points. NOTE: If you decide to keep large number of restore points, check LUN availability. Schedule If scheduled, shows a brief description of the schedule.
7 Replay Manager Best Practices Backing Up Replay Manager Data The following options exist to create a backup of the Replay Manager data that can be leveraged for disaster recovery. Backing Up Service Configuration and Database The Replay Manager Service configuration data and Replay Manager database can be manually copied to another location for safekeeping.
4. In the Create Volume from Snapshot dialog box, accept the default, or enter a new name (such as Log Recovery). In the Create Volume from Snapshot you can map to the server by clicking Change. 5. Click OK. 6. The system creates a View Volume and displays the Map Volume to Server dialog box. 7. Select the server to which you want to map the Replay View Volume. If necessary, create a new server and then click Continue. 8. On the server, in Disk Management, right-click and select Rescan Disks.
Microsoft Exchange Server The Replay Manager Microsoft Exchange Extension can back up and restore data for Microsoft Exchange Server 2019, Microsoft Exchange Server 2016, Microsoft Exchange Server 2013, and Microsoft Exchange Server 2010. General Guidelines for Exchange Servers Follow these general guidelines for backing up and restoring Microsoft Exchange Server data.
a. Right-click the computer where the drive should appear and select Manage. b. In the Computer Management navigation tree, expand the Storage entry. c. Select Disk Management. d. If the drive does not appear, select Action→ Rescan Disks. 5. Use the Exchange Management Shell to recover the mailbox database: a. Create a database pointer for the recovery files. b. Specify the path to the exposed files. For example: C:\>new-mailboxdatabase -recovery -name Emailrecovery1 -server ex2010-mb1 -EdbFilePath “h:\repl
NOTE: When using Replay Manager with Microsoft Hyper-V, only volumes hosting virtual hard disk (VHD or VHDX) files are included in a snapshot. Virtual machine volumes are not included if the volumes are mapped to a virtual machine by iSCSI or pass-through. NOTE: Microsoft Hyper-V Replays create a view volume on the Storage Center for each Replay. All other Replay Manager extensions do not create a view volume for each Replay. This is a limitation of the Microsoft Hyper-V VSS writer.
Microsoft SQL Server Replay Manager supports backing up and restoring data for Microsoft SQL Server 2017, Microsoft SQL Server 2016, Microsoft SQL Server 2014, and Microsoft SQL Server 2012. General Guidelines for Microsoft SQL Server For all versions of Microsoft SQL Server, follow these general guidelines for backing up and restoring data.
5. Start data synchronization to the replica databases, if not done when the database was added back into the Availability Group. VMware Replay Manager supports backing up and restoring VMware datastores and virtual machines on VMware ESXi hosts that are managed by a vCenter Server. Backup Extensions for VMware Two VMware-specific backup extensions, VMware Datastores and VMware Virtual Machines, support VMware integration.
snapshot creation. If a failure occurs, use the vSphere Client to change the value of the disk.EnableUUID parameter to FALSE. For further instructions, see: HTTP://KB.vmware.com/KB/1031298 • Backing up virtual machine memory By default, a backup of a VMware virtual machine does not include machine memory. To include a dump of the virtual machine memory at the time of the backup, use the Include virtual machine memory in vSphere snapshot backup set option.
• • If the application needs to be recovered with VSS consistency, revert to the previous vSphere snapshot and then delete the vSphere snapshot using the vSphere Client. This must be done before the virtual machine is powered on automatically by SRM or manually through human intervention. If application or data consistency is not required for disaster recovery purposes, the virtual machines at the recovery site may be immediately powered on in a vSphere snapshot state.
8 Using Replay Manager Cmdlets The Replay Manager Command Set provides Windows PowerShell scripting support for all Replay Manager functions. NOTE: For Windows PowerShell downloads, as well as additional Windows PowerShell information, go to technet.microsoft.com/en-us/scriptcenter/default.
Cmdlet Description Get-RMBackupSet Gets backup set definitions. Get-RMCommandSetVersion Gets the version of the Replay Manager command set currently in use. Get-RMComponentInfo Gets the available components for use in a backup set. Get-RMComponentRestoreOptions Gets an array of component options that can be passed into Restore‐RMRestorePoint. These options include the ability to exclude components from restore and perform restore with rename on SQL Server Databases.
Cmdlet Description Remove-RMSystemSettings Deletes a Storage Center connection. Restore-RMRestorePoint Restores a component from an available restore point. Resync-RMRestorePoint Resyncs a volume back to its original location. NOTE: The Resync-RMRestorePoint cmdlet is not supported for SMB file shares. If the resync fails with the message VSS restore completed with failure and the disk appears offline: 1. Open Server Manager and select Disk Management. 2.
9 Troubleshooting Troubleshooting Table Use the following table to help troubleshoot issues with Replay Manager. Problem Solution Backup set name is different in Storage Center than in Replay Manager Names are truncated to 31 characters in Storage Center. For more information: User-Defined Name in Summary of Backup Set Options Connection failure • • • Check the firewall setting. This scenario is the most likely cause of the connection failure. Open port 27444.
Problem Solution Partial Replays created— Microsoft and VMware environments If components are moved after configuring a backup set, only the components in the original locations get backed up. To correct, move components back to their original locations or create a backup set with the new locations. Paths are truncated/different in SQL Server This scenario is a known issue with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) data files. The full path is displayed for data and log files.
Problem Solution Failed or missing VSS Writers Restart the correct service for the missing VSS Writer. To view the current VSS Writers, open an elevated command prompt and run vssadmin list writers.
