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#1 2021-05-16 22:35:49

herrep
Member
From: Munich
Registered: 2019-07-08
Posts: 104

XSIBackup-DC --replica=cbt: --options=R appears to be without function

Hi,

when executing XSIBackup-DC 1.5.0.3 with action -replica=cbt for ctk-enabled VMs, --options=R appears to be without function.

This is the command I executed right after having enabled cbt for the VM named vm:

"/vmfs/volumes/hdd1/XSIBackup-DC/xsibackup" \
--replica=cbt \
"VMs(vm)" \
"root@nas:22:/volume1/backup" \
--options=R \
--exclude="data[-.].*vmdk" \
--check=full \
--quiesce \
--config-backup \
--mail-to="<mail-recipient>" \
--use-smtp="1" \
--description="replica hot" \
--backup-how=hot \
--remote-path="/usr/bin/xsibackup"

I would expect that the vmx file at the target disk contains a VM name that is appended by _XSIREP and that the replicated VM is registered at the ESXi host. In the past, I used a similar setup where XSIBackup-Pro OneDiff resulted in replicated VMs. The corresponding VM names were automatically appended by _XSIBAK and registered at the ESXi host. The only change was that I now use XSiBackup-DC instead of XSIBackup-Pro.

However, the expected behavior does not take place. The files of the VM get copied, but there is no registration and also not alteration of the replicated VM name with an appaended _XSIREP. The first run of the above-shown command shows the following output in xsibackup.log:


Performing --replica action
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item number 1 in this job
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
vm Hardware Version is: 14
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All snapshots were removed, as vm is engaged in a CBT job
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virtual Machine Name: vm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Creating snapshot VM : vm (powered on)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Snapshot was successfully created ***
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remote target dir is empty, full sync will be performed
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virtual Machine: vm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Backup start date: 2021-05-16T22:15:32
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021-05-16 22:15:32 | Backing up 29 files, total size is 96.46 GB
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    NUMBER	                                                   FILE             SIZE          PROGRESS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1/29                                                         vm.vmx          3.45 KB    | Done   0.00%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    2/29                                      vm-flat.vmdk (CBT 1 full)         64.00 GB    | Done   0.00%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    3/29                                                        vm.vmdk        583.00 B     | Done  66.35%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    4/29                                                        vm.vmsd        540.00 B     | Done  66.35%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    5/29                                                       vm.nvram          8.48 KB    | Done  66.35%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    6/29                                                        vm.vmxf        150.00 B     | Done  66.35%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    7/29                                                     vm-aux.xml        142.00 B     | Done  66.35%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    8/29                                                 vmware-162.log        319.17 KB    | Done  66.35%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    9/29                                       vmx-vm-2040435808-2.vswp         94.00 MB    | Done  66.35%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   10/29                                                 vmware-161.log        244.02 KB    | Done  66.44%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   11/29                                                 vmware-163.log        382.70 KB    | Done  66.44%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   12/29	                                   vmx-vm-2040435808-1.vswp                    [open excluded]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   13/29                                                     vmware.log        220.79 KB    | Done  66.44%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   14/29                                                 vmware-164.log        237.37 KB    | Done  66.44%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   15/29	                                                 vm.vmx.lck                 [skipped excluded]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   16/29                                                 vmware-165.log        254.22 KB    | Done  66.44%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   17/29                                                 vmware-166.log        438.32 KB    | Done  66.44%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   18/29                                                        vm.vmx~          3.44 KB    | Done  66.44%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   19/29                                            vm-flat.vmdk___hash         82.00 B     | Done  66.44%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   20/29	                                           vm-799e9460.vswp                    [open excluded]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   21/29	                                                vm-ctk.vmdk                 [skipped excluded]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   22/29                                                    vm.vmsd.tmp         45.00 B     | Done  66.44%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   23/29                                                     vm.vmx.tmp          3.44 KB    | Done  66.44%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   24/29                                            vm-Snapshot662.vmsn         28.25 KB    | Done  66.44%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   25/29                                                vm.vmdk.extents          8.63 KB    | Done  66.44%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   26/29	                                    vm-000001-sesparse.vmdk                 [skipped excluded]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   27/29	                                             vm-000001.vmdk                 [skipped excluded]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   28/29	                                         vm-000001-ctk.vmdk                 [skipped excluded]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   29/29                                     vm-quiesce_manifest662.xml        120.00 B     | Done  66.44%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total size:                                                                     64.09 GB    | Done 100.00%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Snapshot was removed ***
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Backup end date: 2021-05-16T22:22:43
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time taken: 00:07:11 (431 sec.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total time:      431 sec.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full file speed:	                                                                   152.28 mb/s
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Real data speed:	                                                                   163.36 mb/s
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item backup completed without errors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What needs to be done that _XSIREP is appended to the VM name of the replicated VM and that the replicated VM is registered?

Best regards,
Peter

Last edited by herrep (2021-05-17 09:44:05)

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#2 2021-05-17 09:21:39

admin
Administrator
Registered: 2017-04-21
Posts: 2,055

Re: XSIBackup-DC --replica=cbt: --options=R appears to be without function

Please, provide both the full command and its associated output every time.
Just make sure that you have written a well formed job command any run the CBT replica again, you are just reporting a first full copy.

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#3 2021-05-17 09:54:19

herrep
Member
From: Munich
Registered: 2019-07-08
Posts: 104

Re: XSIBackup-DC --replica=cbt: --options=R appears to be without function

The original post is now updated so that it also shows the full command in addition to the already provided xsibackup log output.

From the log output, the CBT cycles appear to work, as after a second and now a third run, I can see more or less the same output as for the first run, but instead of "CBT 1 full" I can see "CBT 3".

However, due to the use of --options=R I would expect that the replicated VM is registered under the name vm_XSIREP. But this does not happen although the ESXi host can access the backup directory (NFS mount). It already worked fine with XSIBackup-Pro. I can also not see that the replicated vm.vmx includes a VM name that has been appended by _XSIREP. It is still a copy of the original VM.

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#4 2021-05-18 09:34:59

admin
Administrator
Registered: 2017-04-21
Posts: 2,055

Re: XSIBackup-DC --replica=cbt: --options=R appears to be without function

We'll revise that and continue the post

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#5 2021-05-18 15:26:55

admin
Administrator
Registered: 2017-04-21
Posts: 2,055

Re: XSIBackup-DC --replica=cbt: --options=R appears to be without function

We can't reproduce your issue. Our local --replica=cbt VMs are indeed registered and can be switched on.
There are still some limitations that we will waive in next minor releases, like not being able to switch the _XSIREP VM on when you --exclude some disk, as the remains of the disk are still present in the replica .vmx file. We will need to add extra logic to remove those config lines in case of excludes.

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#6 2021-05-18 15:49:19

herrep
Member
From: Munich
Registered: 2019-07-08
Posts: 104

Re: XSIBackup-DC --replica=cbt: --options=R appears to be without function

I understand that using --exclude might cause issues.  However, I already re-run the command on other VMs where I did not need to exclude anything so that I could omit --exclude.  So the issue does not appear to be related to the --exclude option.

As already reported, I had absolutely no issues with XSIBackup-Pro and --backup-prog=Onediff.  The replica were written, the display name in the replicated vmx file got appended by _XSIBAK and verything worked fine. The only change I applied was activating ctkEnable and using XSIBackup-DC 1.5.0.3.  Everything else remained untouched.

Please let me know whether I can provide any further log files.

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#7 2021-05-19 11:01:49

admin
Administrator
Registered: 2017-04-21
Posts: 2,055

Re: XSIBackup-DC --replica=cbt: --options=R appears to be without function

We aren't saying that using --exclude will cause issues. We are saying that it's not compatible with --options=R, which a different thing.
We can't introduce comparisons with other editions that have nothing to do with the issue. We know how Pro worked, still it's different software.

What we are stating is that we have revised the software and that we are indeed getting an _XSIREP replica with no issue and that we can't reproduce your problem.

So, please, simplify your job to the extreme, remove any unnecessary options and add --options=R at the end of the job from the command line.

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#8 2021-05-19 12:30:32

herrep
Member
From: Munich
Registered: 2019-07-08
Posts: 104

Re: XSIBackup-DC --replica=cbt: --options=R appears to be without function

In the mean time, I simplified the backup command as follows:

"/vmfs/volumes/hdd/XSIBackup-DC/xsibackup" \
--replica=cbt \
"VMs(ups-vm)" \
"root@nas:22:/volume1/backup" \
--options=R

Prior to backup, I emptied the vm directory at the target. However, the result was unchanged. The backup as such was reported as successful, but when analyzing the replicated vmx-file, I noticed that it is still unchanged, i.e. no _XSIREP appended. There is also no registration on the ESXi host. Here is the xsibackup.log:

|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
||-------------------------------------------------------------------------------||
|||   (c)XSIBackup-DC 1.5.0.3: Backup & Replication Software                    |||
|||   (c)33HOPS, Sistemas de Informacion y Redes, S.L. | All Rights Reserved    |||
||-------------------------------------------------------------------------------||
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
                   (c)Daniel J. Garcia Fidalgo | info@33hops.com
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
System Information: ESXi, Kernel 6 Major 7 Minor 0 Patch 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
License: 000306E40000000000000000d89d67195a68 | (c)XSIBackup-DC
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remote system: Linux
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PID: 34570689, Running job as: root
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remote xsibackup binary found at: /bin/xsibackup
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(c)XSIBackup-DC replicating data to /volume1/backup
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Performing --replica action
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item number 1 in this job
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ups-vm Hardware Version is: 14
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All snapshots were removed, as ups-vm is engaged in a CBT job
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virtual Machine Name: ups-vm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Creating snapshot VM : ups-vm (powered on)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Snapshot was successfully created ***
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virtual Machine: ups-vm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Backup start date: 2021-05-19T11:34:43
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021-05-19 11:34:43 | Backing up 26 files, total size is 11.20 GB
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    NUMBER	                                                   FILE             SIZE          PROGRESS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1/26                                               ups-vm.vmx          2.86 KB    | Done   0.00%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    2/26                                ups-vm-flat.vmdk (CBT 17)         10.00 GB    | Done   0.00%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
::: detail ::: 100.00% done | block 10240 out of 10240                                      | Done  89.27%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    3/26                                              ups-vm.vmdk        596.00 B     | Done  89.27%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    4/26                                              ups-vm.vmsd        455.00 B     | Done  89.27%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    5/26                                           ups-vm-aux.xml         13.00 B     | Done  89.27%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    6/26	                     vmx-ups-vm-1802602466-2.vswp                    [open excluded]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    7/26	                                   ups-vm.vmx.lck                 [skipped excluded]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    8/26                                                 vmware-617.log        219.98 KB    | Done  89.27%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    9/26                                                 vmware-618.log        263.72 KB    | Done  89.27%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   10/26                                             ups-vm.nvram          8.48 KB    | Done  89.27%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   11/26                                                 vmware-619.log        223.89 KB    | Done  89.27%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   12/26                                  ups-vm-flat.vmdk___hash         82.00 B     | Done  89.27%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   13/26                                                     vmware.log        333.84 KB    | Done  89.27%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   14/26                                              ups-vm.vmx~          2.85 KB    | Done  89.28%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   15/26                                          ups-vm.vmsd.tmp         45.00 B     | Done  89.28%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   16/26                                           ups-vm.vmx.tmp          2.85 KB    | Done  89.28%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   17/26                                                 vmware-614.log        220.84 KB    | Done  89.28%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   18/26                                                 vmware-616.log        358.92 KB    | Done  89.28%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   19/26                                                 vmware-615.log        220.83 KB    | Done  89.28%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   20/26	                             ups-vm-6b7187e2.vswp                    [open excluded]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   21/26                             vmx-ups-vm-1802602466-1.vswp         80.00 MB    | Done  89.28%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   22/26	                                  ups-vm-ctk.vmdk                 [skipped excluded]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   23/26                                  ups-vm-Snapshot536.vmsn         19.48 KB    | Done  89.98%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   24/26	                      ups-vm-000001-sesparse.vmdk                 [skipped excluded]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   25/26	                               ups-vm-000001.vmdk                 [skipped excluded]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   26/26	                           ups-vm-000001-ctk.vmdk                 [skipped excluded]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total size:                                                                     10.08 GB    | Done 100.00%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Snapshot was removed ***
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Backup end date: 2021-05-19T11:35:37
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time taken: 00:00:54 (54 sec.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total time:       54 sec.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full file speed:	                                                                   191.15 mb/s
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Real data speed:	                                                                   104.84 mb/s
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item backup completed without errors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Final checksum: 110351964 bytes were sent and confirmed to have been written remotely
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Data processing completed successfully
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Removed host <tmp> dir        OK
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Removed prog <tmp> dir        OK
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unlocked backup               OK
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After this test, I run --reset-cbt, deleted the directory of that vm at the target and started again. Besides that now a CBT 1 full cycle was started, I had the same result of no changed vm name and no registration.

As the xsibackup.log is entirely silent about what is going on, is there any option to increase verbosity to see what is indeed happening?

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#9 2021-05-19 15:23:04

admin
Administrator
Registered: 2017-04-21
Posts: 2,055

Re: XSIBackup-DC --replica=cbt: --options=R appears to be without function

What a conundrum!
It has to be something really simple.
We'll increase verbosity on that part, which BTW is quite trivial from a programmatic point of view.

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#10 2021-05-19 17:52:59

admin
Administrator
Registered: 2017-04-21
Posts: 2,055

Re: XSIBackup-DC --replica=cbt: --options=R appears to be without function

OMG!, we just realized that you aren't backing up to an (c)ESXi server, but some sort of NAS.
How do you expect a VM to be registered in a NAS device?
This is just an imaginary issue.

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#11 2021-09-25 20:43:33

herrep
Member
From: Munich
Registered: 2019-07-08
Posts: 104

Re: XSIBackup-DC --replica=cbt: --options=R appears to be without function

I got the point that a backup destination specified on a remote host having no ESXi functionality cannot lead to a registration of a replicated VM. However, in my setup, the backup destination is also accessible as an NFS drive at the ESXi host.

Of course, I continued in the present case by replacing the remote destination by a local path which results in storing the replicated VM on the same location as previously, but with the ability of being registered afterwards. Now I wonder whether there is a way of optimizing this setup.

I would prefer transferring the VM data via the remote path with xsibackup remotely executed on the NAS. And then, once the data are over there, I would like to register the replicated VM, but of course over the local path. Would this be somehow possible, e.g. bei running --options=R separately or whatever?

Or would this be a new feature request resulting in an option to specify the local path?

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#12 2021-09-26 11:33:09

admin
Administrator
Registered: 2017-04-21
Posts: 2,055

Re: XSIBackup-DC --replica=cbt: --options=R appears to be without function

It's all simpler than that.
You want to register the VM to some (c)ESXi host?: no problem.
Replicate to some (c)ESXi host that has the NFS volume attached to it as a datastore.

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#13 2021-09-26 12:59:12

herrep
Member
From: Munich
Registered: 2019-07-08
Posts: 104

Re: XSIBackup-DC --replica=cbt: --options=R appears to be without function

If I understood you correctly, you suggest to replicate the VM to the NAS by addressing the NAS destination by its NFS volume that is configured as datastore at the local ESXi host. This is exactly what I did.

However, my question was a kind of optimization: I understand that using xsibackup remotely on the NAS reduces load on the ESXi host so that a replication using the remote address of the NAS would increase performance.  Therefore, my question arose whether it would be possible to use the remote address for the copy part and as soon as --options=R will result in VM registration, a local path of the NFS volume is specified so that the remotely stored VM will nevertheless be registered at the local ESXi host.

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#14 2021-09-26 16:16:18

admin
Administrator
Registered: 2017-04-21
Posts: 2,055

Re: XSIBackup-DC --replica=cbt: --options=R appears to be without function

You have to make too many assumptions to achieve that. You depend on the NAS type, not all Linux distros/flavours use compatible shells. We don't see it feasible. That should be left to an implementation development from part of the client, as it would be highly dependent on the set up.

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#15 2021-09-27 12:27:40

herrep
Member
From: Munich
Registered: 2019-07-08
Posts: 104

Re: XSIBackup-DC --replica=cbt: --options=R appears to be without function

I believe that there is still some room for discussion with regard to --options=R (registration) in conjunction with a remote path. I will describe the situation in a new post so that we can close the thread here.

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