Free Veeam for DGraph Linux Restore
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Hi Folks,
I have used the free Windows Veeam backup tool for a while, love it. Works perfectly. We have a Linux machine (CentOS 7) which needs to be backed up regularly, so I have turned to the Linux Veeam tool (I expect it would be just as good as the tool for Windows).
Installed, updated, and setup to backup to our NAS. Backup ran successfully. I am able to restore the backup using the recovery disk from Veeam and the backup file from my NAS. Seems smooth... the problem though, the software on the Linux server (DGraph) stops working when restored from the backup.
The machine boots fine, I can access the desktop, but when trying to run DGraph I get errors. I expect the application isnt happy about being backed up by Veeam when on, so I tested some more.
I reinstalled DGraph and got it working again. Then, I ended the DGraph process (or service - whatever its called in Linux?)... then I ran the backup. I guess if the application is offline when the backup is made, the backup must work fine. But upon restore DGraph still does not work.
Not sure what is going on, even with DGraph off before the backup the application fails. Any ideas?
In Windows, if the software isnt running I have always seen a backup work successfully. Not posted on to Veeam forums yet, wanted to see if any ideas from here.
Any other tools I should try other than Veeam?
Best,
Jim
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@Jimmy9008 Just guessing here, but it probably has something to do with the Windows agent using VSS to capture an exact "moment in time" for the backup. To achieve the same result the linux one would require something like btrfs integration or another snapshot-type mechanism. Assuming that the linux agent is simply doing a file copy and the db is still live during the copy, the backed-up data is not being captured in a consistent state and ends up as a useful as a bowl of puke.
As far as other tools... is this a physical machine or a VM?
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This is a VM. CentOS 7. From what I gather the Linux Veeam agent is taking a complete image...
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@Jimmy9008 Since it's a vm, do you have the option to capture at the VM or hypervisor storage level? Something like Xen-Orchestra or Veeam Zip?
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I dont think so...
The host is HyperV server. Doesn't Veeam Zip require a license for use, or to be able to set a backup schedule...
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@Jimmy9008 I don't know the specifics for HyperV, I know that the free Veeam product requires that a VMWare host be licensed to expose the backup API, I didn't think that the same principle applied for HyperV but could be mistaken.
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@Jimmy9008 said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
I dont think so...
The host is HyperV server. Doesn't Veeam Zip require a license for use, or to be able to set a backup schedule...
Hyper-V backup API is always free.
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I dont know Dgraf but almost certainly some process is holding the data files open and you havent identified it yet.
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@notverypunny said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@Jimmy9008 I don't know the specifics for HyperV, I know that the free Veeam product requires that a VMWare host be licensed to expose the backup API, I didn't think that the same principle applied for HyperV but could be mistaken.
It does not as there is no such thing as a Hyper-V license.
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@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@notverypunny said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@Jimmy9008 I don't know the specifics for HyperV, I know that the free Veeam product requires that a VMWare host be licensed to expose the backup API, I didn't think that the same principle applied for HyperV but could be mistaken.
It does not as there is no such thing as a Hyper-V license.
That's what I thought, but my only experience with Hyper-V has been to export a VM and then wipe the host
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@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@notverypunny said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@Jimmy9008 I don't know the specifics for HyperV, I know that the free Veeam product requires that a VMWare host be licensed to expose the backup API, I didn't think that the same principle applied for HyperV but could be mistaken.
It does not as there is no such thing as a Hyper-V license.
Doesn't Veeam Zip its self require a license to be able to use the scheduling feature? Its useless to me without that.
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@Jimmy9008 said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@notverypunny said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@Jimmy9008 I don't know the specifics for HyperV, I know that the free Veeam product requires that a VMWare host be licensed to expose the backup API, I didn't think that the same principle applied for HyperV but could be mistaken.
It does not as there is no such thing as a Hyper-V license.
Doesn't Veeam Zip its self require a license to be able to use the scheduling feature? Its useless to me without that.
That would not be Veeam Zip if you do that. Veeam Zip is the free non-scheduled tool.
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A "service" on Linux is called a dæmon.
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What command are you using to shut down Dgraph? And is this part of a cluster?
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@Jimmy9008 said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
I dont think so...
The host is HyperV server. Doesn't Veeam Zip require a license for use, or to be able to set a backup schedule...
You can just create a custom powershell script and use Windows task manager to run it on a schedule.
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This is the command for a Dgraph backup...
curl localhost:8080/admin/backup
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@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@Jimmy9008 said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@notverypunny said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@Jimmy9008 I don't know the specifics for HyperV, I know that the free Veeam product requires that a VMWare host be licensed to expose the backup API, I didn't think that the same principle applied for HyperV but could be mistaken.
It does not as there is no such thing as a Hyper-V license.
Doesn't Veeam Zip its self require a license to be able to use the scheduling feature? Its useless to me without that.
That would not be Veeam Zip if you do that. Veeam Zip is the free non-scheduled tool.
Thats what I thought. Any free tools I can look in to?
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@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
This is the command for a Dgraph backup...
curl localhost:8080/admin/backupI found that yesterday, we are thinking about using this whilst also looking for other options. Ideally we would use this for a backup at the application level, but also something like Veeam Linux Free to allow us to quickly restore the VM should we need to, rather than use the backup file from DGraph.
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@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
What command are you using to shut down Dgraph? And is this part of a cluster?
Not part of a cluster. Our development team are using this from the VM its self:
curl localhost:8080/admin/shutdown
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@Jimmy9008 said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@Jimmy9008 said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@notverypunny said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@Jimmy9008 I don't know the specifics for HyperV, I know that the free Veeam product requires that a VMWare host be licensed to expose the backup API, I didn't think that the same principle applied for HyperV but could be mistaken.
It does not as there is no such thing as a Hyper-V license.
Doesn't Veeam Zip its self require a license to be able to use the scheduling feature? Its useless to me without that.
That would not be Veeam Zip if you do that. Veeam Zip is the free non-scheduled tool.
Thats what I thought. Any free tools I can look in to?
Not that I know of. Nor will it make a difference. Its a false path. VM layer backups dont solve open file issues.
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@Jimmy9008 said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
This is the command for a Dgraph backup...
curl localhost:8080/admin/backupI found that yesterday, we are thinking about using this whilst also looking for other options. Ideally we would use this for a backup at the application level, but also something like Veeam Linux Free to allow us to quickly restore the VM should we need to, rather than use the backup file from DGraph.
Thats not a good path. Backup you data and be able to restore quickly through normal processes. You can still recover quickly uaing the proper tools. You cant work around them.
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@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@Jimmy9008 said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@Jimmy9008 said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@notverypunny said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@Jimmy9008 I don't know the specifics for HyperV, I know that the free Veeam product requires that a VMWare host be licensed to expose the backup API, I didn't think that the same principle applied for HyperV but could be mistaken.
It does not as there is no such thing as a Hyper-V license.
Doesn't Veeam Zip its self require a license to be able to use the scheduling feature? Its useless to me without that.
That would not be Veeam Zip if you do that. Veeam Zip is the free non-scheduled tool.
Thats what I thought. Any free tools I can look in to?
Not that I know of. Nor will it make a difference. Its a false path. VM layer backups dont solve open file issues.
I thought that was the issue too, thats why I tested after shutting down the software using: curl localhost:8080/admin/shutdown
Must be something open then. I thought that the command would shut down the DGraph server, release all files... so then the image made by Veeam is good. But after trying it this just didnt work...
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@Jimmy9008 said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
What command are you using to shut down Dgraph? And is this part of a cluster?
Not part of a cluster. Our development team are using this from the VM its self:
curl localhost:8080/admin/shutdown
That "should" bring it down.
I wonder if something else is using Badger.
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@Jimmy9008 said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@Jimmy9008 said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@Jimmy9008 said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@notverypunny said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@Jimmy9008 I don't know the specifics for HyperV, I know that the free Veeam product requires that a VMWare host be licensed to expose the backup API, I didn't think that the same principle applied for HyperV but could be mistaken.
It does not as there is no such thing as a Hyper-V license.
Doesn't Veeam Zip its self require a license to be able to use the scheduling feature? Its useless to me without that.
That would not be Veeam Zip if you do that. Veeam Zip is the free non-scheduled tool.
Thats what I thought. Any free tools I can look in to?
Not that I know of. Nor will it make a difference. Its a false path. VM layer backups dont solve open file issues.
I thought that was the issue too, thats why I tested after shutting down the software using: curl localhost:8080/admin/shutdown
Must be something open then. I thought that the command would shut down the DGraph server, release all files... so then the image made by Veeam is good. But after trying it this just didnt work...
You can use LSOF to query the data files and see what is holding them open.
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@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@Jimmy9008 said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
What command are you using to shut down Dgraph? And is this part of a cluster?
Not part of a cluster. Our development team are using this from the VM its self:
curl localhost:8080/admin/shutdown
That "should" bring it down.
I wonder if something else is using Badger.
Possibly. Our dev guy is back in tomorrow so will look in to this.
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Why no cluster? Not enough hardware?
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This is an example of where modern Devsops backups solve these problems. If you do that way this whole thing is resolved.
Databases are ideal for this. Backup using the only working tool, the built in one. Build the box itself with a state engine like Ansible. Now your restore is faster and safer and your backups faster and smaller. Win win win.
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@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
Why no cluster? Not enough hardware?
I imagine that will be the end position. But, the decision is not under my control and as it stands its the single instance. We have the hardware though.
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@Jimmy9008 said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
Why no cluster? Not enough hardware?
I imagine that will be the end position. But, the decision is not under my control and as it stands its the single instance. We have the hardware though.
But your backup thought process is 100% dependent on there never being a cluster. So if thats a possibility you have to plan for it
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@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@Jimmy9008 said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
@scottalanmiller said in Free Veeam for Linux/Restore:
Why no cluster? Not enough hardware?
I imagine that will be the end position. But, the decision is not under my control and as it stands its the single instance. We have the hardware though.
But your backup thought process is 100% dependent on there never being a cluster. So if thats a possibility you have to plan for it
That is correct. Will have a chat when the dev guy is in tomorrow to see where this is going.
