Sandbox invalid characters in Network Name

[nickfurnell]

Hi Guys

I have been using Veeam for a number of years, but only recently started using the Sandbox features - unfortunately I have come across an issue. Within VMware I name my Networks using the following format: description, vLAN id, IP range and subnet. For eample; Server vLAN 110 (192.168.1.0/24)



I have seen this anonomly before, but it's never caused an issue - but when I am configuring my Virtual lab in Veeam, I have to select the Production Network. The Veeam interface substitutes the / character for %2f in the drop down. This doesn't initially cause a problem as it lets you proceed, but at the next screen I am told that the % is an invalid character!





The invalid characters can be removed and retyped as a '/', but then I am then seeing issues with the Sandbox not finding the Network. Bit of a chicken and egg problem I guess.

Ultimately my question is who is in the wrong; me for using / in my naming standard, VMware for allowing the / character or Veeam for substituting / for % which is a restricted character?

Thanks

[foggy]

Nick, thanks for the heads up. I've passed this to our QC team, we will try to confirm this behavior internally and plan the fix for the future version, if required.

[nefes]

Could you please tell a little more about your infractructure:
What version of Veeam B&R do you use? What version of VCenter/ESX(i)?
I was unable to reproduce that problem on latest B&R patch and both VMware 5.1 and 5.5.
All "/" in network names are correctly resolved as "/"

[nickfurnell]

Thanks for the quick reply, here are the details:-
Example Sandbox environment: IIS Server - Win 2008 R2, 4Gb, 1 vCPU, VMXNET3 NIC

Infrastructure:
VMware 5.0 Build 913577
vCenter 5.0 Build 455964
Veeam 7.0.0.839 Release 3

Thanks, Nick

[nickfurnell]

..some more info..
I currently have a support case open (00548389) which revolves around my Sandbox IIS server NOT getting a NIC assigned to it at power on. In the process of troubleshooting that issue, I have discovered the 'invalid character' problem. In order to fix the missing NIC problem I have applied MS HotFix KB2550978 as referenced in http://www.veeam.com/kb1570 and http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/micros ... Id=1020078

.. but I think the 'network name' may be the underlying cause?

[nefes]

Thanks for details.
Now "network name" issue have been reproduced in our environment.
You are correct in your assumption, that SureBackup job does not map Production network to Isolated one because of it.
We will take a look into our code to find out if this issue is caused by VMware or us and try to find resolution for it.

[nickfurnell]

Here is a screen shot of what I see on the Veeam Backup server

[nefes]

Nick, I've found out that we have registry key that allows you to change the set of restricted symbols.

Code: Select all

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Veeam\Veeam Backup and Replication
[STRING] RestrictedNetworkSymbols = ~`!@#$%^&*+=;'><|?*:\"

You can create this key with value not containing %.
After it restart Veeam Backup Service (be careful, it will stop all your running jobs, if any) and reopen Backup Console.
You will be able to create VLab with Production network name "Server vLAN 110 (192.168.1.0%2f24)".
After that your job should be running fine.

[nickfurnell]

Hi Nikita
Thanks for getting back on this one, the Registry Key looks like it has worked – I can now create a vLab without the error messages

Unfortunately, the NIC is appearing on the SandBox VM, something which was also causing an issue. Unfortunately, it's getting a DHCP address and not the static address which is assigned to the original machine. This appears to be addressed in MS HotFix KB2550978 as referenced in http://www.veeam.com/kb1570 and http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/micros ... Id=1020078

The cause appears to be the new SandBox VM NIC getting a different virtual PCI slot, and hence been seen as a different device. I do have a current Support Case (00548389) for this issue – hopefully they will get to the bottom of the problem.
Thanks again, Nick

[nickfurnell]

Hi All

Just as a quick update, following on from the Registry changes suggested above - I was able to successfully create the vLab BUT the NIC issue was still there. I applied the Hotfix again, but this time removed the NIC both from the VMware machine and as a hidden device in 'Device Manger'. This then worked correctly.

To read more check out this http://www.talking-it.com/2014/backup/v ... work-card/