How to activate freeze/thaw scripts

[H in OH]

Hello,

Sorry if this may seem like a complete noob question, but I am now stuck with some services that have to be manually set on a Windows 2008 R2 VM before and after each backup. I found the threads discussing using VMware's pre-freeze and post-thaw scripts, and some examples. How do you get the Veeam backup process to trigger the VMware freeze and thaw scripts?

I am using Veeam Backup 4.1.1 in Windows 7 for the backup server, and ESXi 4.0u1 for the VM host. The Veeam backup job is configured to use the vStorage API in SAN mode. Based on the other posts on this forum, here is what I have tried so far: I placed a simple "vcb.bat" test script in the backupScripts.d folder under VMware Tools in the VM. In the Veeam backup job settings, "Enable VMware tools quiescence" is checked, and "Enable Veeam VSS integration" is not checked. As far as I can tell, the script is not running at all.

Would someone who is running the VMware freeze/thaw scripts please tell me how you have the Veeam backup process trigger the VMware scripts?

Thanks.
---H

[Gostev]

In the Veeam backup job settings, "Enable VMware tools quiescence" is checked, and "Enable Veeam VSS integration" is not checked. As far as I can tell, the script is not running at all.

These settings are perfectly correct for what you are trying to achieve.

What is the OS version for the VM you are backing up?
I am guessing it is Windows 2000? (otherwise you would not need to use scripts)

In that case, here is the answer:
Prefreeze and postthaw scripts not fired

[H in OH]

What is the OS version for the VM you are backing up?
I am guessing it is Windows 2000? (otherwise you would not need to use scripts)

The VM is Windows 2008 R2. The problem is that it is running a Pervasive PSQL database. The Pervasive Backup Agent has to be turned on with a script to allow the database to be backed up reliably, and then turned off with another script.

[Gostev]

I believe script processing is logged in the hostd.log on host, check it out to see if the script is called.

[H in OH]

I believe script processing is logged in the hostd.log on host, check it out to see if the script is called.

Can't find the hostd.log file anywhere on the host or the VM.

[Gostev]

/var/log/vmware/hostd.log on the ESX host running the VM

[H in OH]

/var/log/vmware/hostd.log on the ESX host running the VM

Thanks. The log file shows that VMware is trying to run the scripts "C\Windows\pre-freeze-script.bat" and "C:\Windows\post-thaw-script.bat" in the VM. I thought this was changed by an earlier version. We are running with ESXi 4u1 and the associated VMware Tools. I split the script into those two scripts, and it worked.

From now on I would recommend that the two scripts in C:\Windows always be used with a wrapper in the VMware Tools\BackupScripts.d folder pointing back to them just to stay covered for whatever update causes VMware to change their minds and go one way or the other.

I have to wonder what we are sacrificing by only using the VMware VSS but not Veeam VSS integration. If getting Veeam Backup to directly trigger pre and post snapshot scripts on each VM is proving too difficult, then you could at least allow options to run pre and post snapshot scripts for each VM on the Veeam Backup server. It is then up to the user to have scripts on the Veeam Backup server remotely shut down and start up processes on a VM with tools such as Sysinternals PStools. This is what I did with a quick little backup utility for XenServer. Such an option should be very easy to implement in your product and would not require a sacrifice of the Veeam VSS integration.

Thanks.
---H