Configure Dell EMC Networker backup plugin

Owned by MS (Unlicensed)

May 03, 2022

Requirements

When you create the Backup manager in Abiquo to configure the endpoint and credentials of the Networker system, you must enter Networker credentials and vCenter credentials

Configure Networker

To configure networker, do the following steps:

Design your backup system with sites, which can be two sites, or dual/stretched sites
For each site make a list of the hypervisor names (in Abiquo), e.g. esxi1.example.com, esxi2.example.com, or if you are using vCenter clusters as physical machines, make a list of vCenter cluster names.
Create one policy with multiple workflows – one workflow for each site using backup (with or without replication/clone action)

- The Abiquo integration supports Complete backups only and it does not manage Networker policies.

Configure Networker properties

To configure the Networker backup integration properties:

Log in to the Abiquo Remote Services server.
Go to the /opt/abiquo/config folder and create a networker.properties file. This is the default location, but you can configure your own file as required.
Enter the properties as described here. Default values are set and optional properties are commented out with a hash mark "#".

# Host name of the vCenter used with the Networker backup tool
abiquo.networker.vcenter.hostname=

# Optional port of the vCenter used with the Networker backup tool 
# Reloadable property
#abiquo.networker.vcenter.port=443


# Define storage of results for the site in Abiquo
# Reloadable property
abiquo.networker.siteA=
abiquo.networker.siteB=
abiquo.networker.siteC=
abiquo.networker.siteD=


# List of hosts to define site A (which is the group of VMs on these hypervisors to back up), separated by commas.
# Enter hypervisor machine names, for example, "esxi1.example.com,esxi2.example.com".
# Or if you are using vCenter clusters as physical machines, enter the vCenter cluster name, for example,
# "vCenter-cluster1.example.com-domain-c1"
# Reloadable property
abiquo.networker.siteA.hosts=

# List of hosts to define site B (which is the group of VMs on these hypervisors to back up), separated by commas.
# Enter hypervisor machine names, for example, "esxi3.example.com,esxi4.example.com".
# Or if you are using vCenter clusters as physical machines, enter the vCenter cluster name, for example,
# "vCenter-cluster2.example.com-domain-c2"
# Reloadable property
abiquo.networker.siteB.hosts=


# List of hosts for dual / stretched sites; used in the same way as properties for site A and site B
# Reloadable properties
abiquo.networker.siteC.hosts=
abiquo.networker.siteD.hosts=


# Policy Name for on-demand backups without replication. 
# Reloadable property
abiquo.networker.backup.ondemand.policy=

# Policy Name for on-demand backups with replication. 
# Reloadable property
abiquo.networker.backup.ondemand.policy.replication=


# Workflow within a policy to back up to for replication of site A. 
# Reloadable property
abiquo.networker.backup.workflow.replicationA=

# Workflow within a policy to back up to for replication of site B. 
# Reloadable property
abiquo.networker.backup.workflow.replicationB=



# Workflow within a policy to back up to replication of dual / stretched sites; used in the same way as properties for site A and site B
# Reloadable properties
abiquo.networker.backup.workflow.replicationC=
abiquo.networker.backup.workflow.replicationD= 



# Optional timeouts for client to connect, read, and write with networker API, with default of 10 seconds. To disable a timeout, set the value to 0 
# Reloadable properties
#abiquo.networker.client.timeout.connectionms=10000
#abiquo.networker.client.timeout.readms=10000
#abiquo.networker.client.timeout.writems=10000



# Track on-demand backup and restore operations at this interval
# in the configured time unit
#abiquo.networker.client.tracker.interval=1

# Fail on-demand backup and restore operations after no response
# in the configured time unit
#abiquo.networker.client.tracker.timeout=30

# Time unit for tracking on-demand backup and restore operations
#abiquo.networker.client.tracker.timeunit=minutes


# Duration to store cache of Networker data
#abiquo.networker.cache.expire.duration=90

# Time unit for duration to store cache of Networker data
#abiquo.networker.cache.expire.duration=minutes


# Period for reloading the properties that are reloadable to avoid tomcat restarts
#abiquo.networker.config.reload.period=60

# Time unit for period for reloading properties that are reloadable to avoid
# tomcat restarts
#abiquo.networker.config.reload.timeunit=minutes


# If true, log debug information for Networker client
# Reloadable property
#abiquo.networker.client.debuglog=false


# If true, verify SSL for Networker client
#abiquo.netwoker.client.verifyssl=false


# Optional results safety range time value
# Reloadable property
#abiquo.networker.results.safetyrange.amount=15


# Optional results safety range time unit
# Reloadable property
#abiquo.networker.results.safetyrange.chronounit=minutes


# Optional character to split users for backup system and vCenter (to restore undeployed VMs)
# Reloadable property
#abiquo.networker.credentials.splitter.user=#


# Optional character to split passwords for backup system and vCenter (to restore undeployed VMs)
# Reloadable property
#abiquo.networker.credentials.splitter.pass=#

Configure Abiquo Properties

To activate the Networker plugin and define the location of the configuration file:

Log in to the Abiquo Remote Services server
Edit the abiquo.properties file.
Set the path to the plugin properties file using the following property.

abiquo.backup.networker.config.path=/opt/abiquo/config/networker.properties

Table of plugin properties

Name		Default value	Type
abiquo.networker.backup.ondemand.policy	Policy name for on-demand backups without replication		String
abiquo.networker.backup.ondemand.policy.replication	Policy Name for on-demand backups with replication		String
abiquo.networker.backup.workflow.replicationA	Workflow within a policy to back up to for replication of site A		String
abiquo.networker.backup.workflow.replicationB	Workflow within a policy to back up to for replication of site B		String
abiquo.networker.backup.workflow.replicationC	Workflow within a policy to back up to for replication of site C		String
abiquo.networker.backup.workflow.replicationD	Workflow within a policy to back up to for replication of site D		String
abiquo.networker.cache.expire.duration	Duration to store cache of Networker data	90	Long
abiquo.networker.cache.expire.timeunit	Time unit for duration to store cache of Networker data	minutes	TimeUnit
abiquo.networker.client.debuglog	If true, log debug information for Networker client	false	Boolean
abiquo.networker.client.timeout.connectionms	Optional timeouts for client to connect to networker API, with default of 10 seconds. To disable the timeout, set the value to 0	10000	Long
abiquo.networker.client.timeout.readms	Optional timeouts for client to read from networker API, with default of 10 seconds. To disable the timeout, set the value to 0	10000	Long
abiquo.networker.client.timeout.writems	Optional timeouts for client to write to networker API, with default of 10 seconds. To disable the timeout, set the value to 0	10000	Long
abiquo.networker.client.tracker.interval	Track on-demand backup and restore operations at this interval in the configured time unit	1	Long
abiquo.networker.client.tracker.timeout	Fail on-demand backup and restore operations after no response in the configured time unit	30	Long
abiquo.networker.client.tracker.timeunit	Time unit for tracking on-demand backup and restore operations	minutes	TimeUnit
abiquo.networker.client.verifyssl	If true, verify SSL for Networker client	false	Boolean
abiquo.networker.config.reload.period	Period for reloading the properties that are reloadable to avoid tomcat restarts	60	Long
abiquo.networker.config.reload.timeunit	Time unit for period for reloading properties that are reloadable to avoid tomcat restarts	minutes	TimeUnit
abiquo.networker.credentials.splitter.pass	Optional character to split passwords for backup system and vCenter (to restore undeployed VMs)	#	String
abiquo.networker.credentials.splitter.user	Optional character to split users for backup system and vCenter (to restore undeployed VMs)	#	String
abiquo.networker.results.safetyrange.amount	Optional results safety range time value	15	Long
abiquo.networker.results.safetyrange.chronounit	Optional results safety range time unit	minutes	ChronoUnit
abiquo.networker.siteA	Define storage of results for the site in Abiquo		String
abiquo.networker.siteA.hosts	List of hosts to define site A, separated by commas. Enter the machine names of the hypervisors (for example, "esxi1.example.com,esxi2.example.com") that contain the VMs to back up. Or if you are using vCenter clusters as physical machines, enter the vCenter cluster name (for example, "vCenter-cluster1.example.com-domain-c1").		List
abiquo.networker.siteB	Define storage of results for the site in Abiquo		String
abiquo.networker.siteB.hosts	List of hosts to define site B, separated by commas. Enter the machine names of the hypervisors (for example, "esxi3.example.com,esxi4.example.com") that contain the VMs to back up. Or if you are using vCenter clusters as physical machines, enter the vCenter cluster name (for example, "vCenter-cluster2.example.com-domain-c2").		List
abiquo.networker.siteC	Define storage of results for the site in Abiquo		String
abiquo.networker.siteC.hosts	List of hosts to define site C, separated by commas. Enter the machine names of the hypervisors (for example, "esxi5.example.com,esxi6.example.com") that contain the VMs to back up. Or if you are using vCenter clusters as physical machines, enter the vCenter cluster name (for example, "vCenter-cluster3.example.com-domain-c3").		List
abiquo.networker.siteD	Define storage of results for the site in Abiquo		String
abiquo.networker.siteD.hosts	List of hosts to define site D, separated by commas. Enter the machine names of the hypervisors (for example, "esxi7.example.com,esxi8.example.com") that contain the VMs to back up. Or if you are using vCenter clusters as physical machines, enter the vCenter cluster name (for example, "vCenter-cluster4.example.com-domain-c4").		List
abiquo.networker.vcenter.hostname	Host name of the vCenter used with the Networker backup tool		String
abiquo.networker.vcenter.port	Optional port of the vCenter used with the Networker backup tool	443	integer

Description of plugin properties

For on-demand backups, to indicate which policy to execute depending on the user request, set the following properties:

abiquo.networker.backup.ondemand.policy=policyName
abiquo.networker.backup.ondemand.policy.replication=policyName

To indicate the name of the workflow inside a policy used to backup to one site or the other, set:

abiquo.networker.backup.workflow.replicationA=workflow
abiquo.networker.backup.workflow.replicationB=workflow

To identify the sites of the VMs, define a list of the hypervisor machine names at each site with the following properties:

abiquo.networker.siteA.hosts=esxi1.example.com,esxi2.example.com
abiquo.networker.siteB.hosts=esxi3.example.com,esxi4.example.com

Or if you are using vCenter cluster as physical machine, enter the vCenter cluster name:

abiquo.networker.siteA.hosts=vCenter-cluster1.example.com-domain-c1
abiquo.networker.siteB.hosts=vCenter-cluster2.example.com-domain-c2

The configuration properties could require changes every time a new host is added to infrastructure or a policy name is changed in NetWorker, so the plugin integration reloads them in order to avoid a tomcat restart. Only the properties defined as reloadable will be reloaded. To configure when the properties will be reloaded, set:

abiquo.networker.config.reload.period=60
abiquo.networker.config.reload.timeunit=minutes

On demand backup and restore operations are tracked by a job. To configure the tracking and set a timeout to fail a job if it appears it will not finish, set the properties starting with:

abiquo.networker.client.tracker.