VAL on Linux Gentoo

[levente18]

Hello,

I was wondering if there is any way to install VAL on a Linux Gentoo distribution. I have a few critical servers that need to be backed up and I'm getting tired of manually managing backups with tar. The convenience of VAL is amazing especially because I already run Veeam Backup and Replication. I couldn't find an installer for Gentoo and was wondering if there is a plan to develop it in the near future? Knowing the stability and the popularity of Gentoo, I'm sure others would benefit from it as well. If not is there a way to compile VAL from source on Gentoo? Or any other way to get it working? Even if it's not officially supported, I would be willing to try it.

Thanks,

Levi

[PTide]

Hi and welcome to the community!

Have you already tried to compile kernel module from source (you can unpack veeamsnap rpm package to obtain sources)? If it works then please try to install veeam rpm package with el7 in its name. If that does not work we will try to provide you with a portage package.

P.S. Please also check this thread as it might be useful

Thanks

[levente18]

Hello PTide,

Thanks very much for the quick response. I am not as comfortable compiling stuff from source and would probably need more guidance (like exact steps) if I go this route but I'm willing to try if that is the only way. However if you could provide a portage package that would be so awesome!

Thanks

[levente18]

Hello PTide,

I was wondering if you made some progress with the portage package. If not can you please provide some details on how to compile from source on gentoo? Also it is not clear how to obtain the source files. I have downloaded and extracted veeam-release-el7-1.0-1.x86_64 but am not sure which files are the actual source files.

Your help and guidance is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

[PTide]

Hi,

I was wondering if you made some progress with the portage package.

Not yet, unfortunately. I hope that I'll be able to bring good news next week.

Thanks

[levente18]

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate it! Looking forward to be the first Gentoo tester

Thanks,

[PTide]

Hi,

First of all I have to warn you that the Agent has not been fully tested on Gentoo and support is provided via forum on the best effort basis.

Also please keep in mind that the installation procedure that is described further has been tried on a fresh minimal gentoo installation (kernel 4.4.39) and might be different for you particular system.

<<< USE AT YOUR OWN RISK AND RESPONSIBILTY! >>>

1. Download veeam and veeamsnap packages (PMed you the link) and place the packages into a dedicated directory on you gentoo server. Let it be /veeam directory, cd into it.

2. While in the /veeam directory, execute:

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rpmunpack veeamsnap-*

if it says "command not found" install rpm2targz package:

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emerge -a app-arch/rpm2targz

3. Switch to the root directory of your source tree (in my case it was /usr/src/linux-4.4.39-gentoo), create a directory for veeamsnap kernel module, and copy content from /veeam/veeamsnap-1.0.0.944-1.noarch/usr/src:

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cd /usr/src/linux-4.4.39-gentoo
mkdir drivers/veeamsnap
cp /veeam/veeamsnap-1.0.0.944-1.noarch/usr/src/veeamsnap-1.0.0.944/* drivers/veeamsnap

4. Execute:

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make modules SUBDIRS=drivers/veeamsnap
make modules_install SUBDIRS=drivers/veeamsnap

Wait for it to finish, and try to load and check the module:

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modprobe veeamsnap
lsmod | grep veeamsnap

If you see an output then everything is fine.

5. cd back to /veeam and unpack the veeam-1.0.0.944-1.el7.x86_64.rpm package:

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cd /veeam
rpmunpack veeam-1*

Copy the content of the package into corresponding directories on your system:

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cd veeam-1*
cp -r lib/* /lib/
cp -r etc/* /etc/
cp -r usr/* /usr/

Install fuse:

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emerge -a sys-fs/fuse

6. start veeamservice daemon and try to start the UI:

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/usr/sbin/veeamservice -d
veeam

Most likely it will tell you that it needs some shared libraries, in my case those were libpanel.so.5 and libncursesw.so.5.
Since we are using CentOS 7 rpm for installation you can simply copy those from some CentOS machine.

The described approach works smooth on a fresh minimal gentoo installation.

Please let me know if it works for you and should you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Thanks.

[levente18]

Thank you very much! This is great! I will test it out ASAP and will let you know how it goes.

[levente18]

Hello PTide,

I managed to successfully install the agent on a brand new Gentoo install just like you did. Your instructions were spot on and all worked as expected. I was able to create a file level backup job and ran it successfully using Veeam Backup and Replication repository. The backup showed up but I am unable to restore a folder from it using the B&R Console. Once the Helper device starts up and I select the folder to restore with overwrite option I get a pop up prompting me for credentials. The only credentials I have configured on the test server are the Root credentials. So I enter those but i get an error message stating that the connection was unsuccessful. Screenshot can be seen here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/livrkaklbl74r ... e.JPG?dl=0

What credentials is it looking for? I have verified that network connectivity is there and SSH works to the test server.

I tried to install the agent on one of our production servers and was unsuccessful. Screenshot can be seen here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/iykatscs9h9po ... e.JPG?dl=0

Looks like veeamsnap is 32bit and our server doesn't support that. (Weird because I installed a 64bit Gentoo onto my test server as well and that gave me no issues). What can be done here?

Thanks for your help!

[PTide]

So I enter those but i get an error message stating that the connection was unsuccessful

I assume that ssh server does not allow root login with password. Have you managed to login using root credentails via putty? If not then please check ssh server settings, you should be able to find those in /etc/ssh directory.

Looks like veeamsnap is 32bit and our server doesn't support that.

veeamsnap is distributed as a source code and does not depend on the architecture.

Please go into the directory where your have veeamsnap module sources and execute make all and send me the result. Also what version of gcc do you have on your production server?

Thanks

[levente18]

Unfortunately SSH using root does work from my PC and from the server that runs Backup and Replication as well. I did a packet capture on my test server running VAL and you can access it here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hfxg1sonw66vx ... .pcap?dl=0

This shows a successful SSH connection from the server running Backup and Replication as well as the packets received when I try to do the restore and get the credentials error. Hope it helps.

As for the info requested from our production server, please find it here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zph6c1tsnv83f ... n.JPG?dl=0

Thanks,

[PTide]

Unfortunately SSH using root does work from my PC

I believe you meant does not?

This shows a successful SSH connection from the server running Backup and Replication as well as the packets received when I try to do the restore and get the credentials error. Hope it helps.

Please check if you have the following line uncommented in /etc/ssh/sshd_config file on your test server:

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PermitRootLogin yes

If "yes" value is not set, then set it and restart ssh server

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/etc/init.d/sshd restart

Info about the production server that you've provided has been passed to development team. On more question - do you have /lib/modules/<your-kernel-version> directory in place? Also it's a Bicom Systems PBXware, isn't it? What's the exact version that you have?

Thank you!

[ndum]

Hello PTide

Could I perhaps also get the download link to the veeam and veeamsnap?
So we could test whether our gentoo-server could be backuped with VAL.

Thanks

[nielsengelen]

You can download all files via https://www.veeam.com/linux-cloud-serve ... agent.html for several distro's including the required RPM's.

[PTide]

@vmniels

That link will provide only repository RPM package which won't work on Gentoo out of the box.

@ndum

PMed you the link

[levente18]

Hello PTide,

Sorry for the late response, I was out of the office and could not do more testing. So the restore still doesn't work, even though SSH settings are fine and I can SSH from the Veeam server using DNS resolution to the test server:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/livrkaklbl74r ... e.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yy3wvxyd0kt3m ... s.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/oxaxc7pmoe611 ... r.JPG?dl=0

I have taken a packet capture on the test server while doing the restore. Maybe that will help you identify the problem:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hfxg1sonw66vx ... .pcap?dl=0

As for installing it on my production server, the /lib/modules/ is in place:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gryqduk8863kh ... s.JPG?dl=0

This is actually Bicom Systems Serverware product version 1.9 Rev 46. (the latest version). I can get you in contact with their systems architect if you want to ask him more detailed questions about the build.

Thanks,

Levi

[PTide]

Hi,

No problem!

So the restore still doesn't work, even though SSH settings are fine and I can SSH from the Veeam server using DNS resolution to the test server

I assume that you use a VM for testing, is that correct? Have you tried to backup the VM using VBR and perform FLR? I'm curious if that would work.

As for installing it on my production server, the /lib/modules/ is in place:

I can clearly see from your screenshot that two symlinks ("build" and "source") are highlighted with red which means that target directories for both of them do not exist.

build is supposed to point to /usr/src/kernels/<your-kernel-version> and source is supposed to point either to build or to /usr/src/kernels/<your-kernel-version> as well. Without kernel sources in place you cannot install the module. If /usr/src/<your-kernel-version> is not present then you should ask the architect where are the kernel sources.

[levente18]

I've done the test you requested and I get the same result. I have tried with two of my Linux production VMs(1 Gentoo and 1 CenOS) and they don't work either. I actually never tried FLR on a Linux VM so I never noticed it not working. It definitely works on Windows VM. So looks like this is not a VAL issue. Do you want me to open a ticket with Veeam support on Linux FLR and see what they say?

As for the kernel stuff, thanks for the pointers. I will forward this to their systems architect and ask him to compile these package. Will update you with the results.

Thanks

[PTide]

Then please check whether all troubleshooting measures mentioned in this article have been taken and contact support if needed.

Thank you

[levente18]

The instructions in the article solved the issue! I was able to successfully restore through the VBR console! All is working as expected! Now all I need to do is deploy it on my production boxes which I will work on with Bicom Systems and will let you know if we have any more questions! Thanks so much for your efforts to get this going! You are awesome!

For anyone reading this wanting to set up VAL on a gentoo server, just follow the deployment instructions above and make sure both PermitRootLogin and PasswordAuthentication are set to yes in /etc/ssh/sshd_config on the Gentoo server in order for the recover via VBR console works.

Thanks

[PTide]

Good to know that you've nailed it. Please keep me updated about the progress with Bicom, and don't forget that the software has not been fully tested on Gentoo yet, and I strongly recommend you to take a copy of configuration files of your production server prior to VAL installation.

Thank you.

[levente18]

Will do and noted! Thanks!

[ndum]

After set the right ssh options according to the documentation, everything works also for me.

Is it planned to make Gentoo officially supported? this would be very nice

@PTide Will you update the files in your private link when a new VAL version is coming out?

Thanks you.

[PTide]

Is it planned to make Gentoo officially supported?

Currently we don't have such plans on our roadmap.

PTide Will you update the files in your private link when a new VAL version is coming out?

Yes, I'll do that. Also I think we will place those files on a repository later.

Thank you

[levente18]

Ptide,

Target directories have been fixed on my production server. I still get the same error message as before when I try to build:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/iykatscs9h9po ... e.JPG?dl=0

Any ideas how to troubleshoot this?

Thanks,

[PTide]

Please go into the directory where your have veeamsnap module sources and execute make all one more time and send me the result. It complained about missing kernel sources, let's see what will happen this time.

Thank you

[levente18]

Here is the output you asked for:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/r9nxp60kud6h2 ... 1.JPG?dl=0

Thanks,

[levente18]

PTide,

Just wanted to let you know that my systems engineer shed some light on the issue:

Thats because, system you are compiling on is 32 bit and kernel 64bit.
It works, no probleme there, but if you want to compile kernel module you are in trouble.
I will have to do this on the system I compiled kernel. And then send you binary module.

I'm waiting on him to come back with the binary module and see if I can get that working. Will let you know.

Thanks,

[PTide]

That's interesting...totally forgot about that scenario, looking forward to hear about the results from you.

Thanks!

[levente18]

Hello PTide,

We managed to compile the veeamsnap into the kernel:

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SNT-CTR-01 ~ # lsmod | grep veeamsnap
veeamsnap             306599  0

I continued with your walkthrough steps and got stuck on the last one when trying to start the service:

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SNT-CTR-01 ~ # /usr/sbin/veeamservice -d
-bash: /usr/sbin/veeamservice: No such file or directory
SNT-CTR-01 ~ # 
SNT-CTR-01 ~ # /usr/sbin/veeam          
veeamagent    veeamjobman   veeamservice

After invesigating a little further and comparing it to my working system we found the following:

Working system:

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VAL-TST-LEVI / # file /usr/sbin/veeamservice
/usr/sbin/veeamservice: ELF 64-bit LSB executable, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked, interpreter /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2, for GNU/Linux 2.6.18, BuildID[sha1]=d34180b98bba2a6cb2bc52a5c41fb5cbb8c20c6d, stripped

Not working system:

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SNT-CTR-01 ~ # file /usr/sbin/veeamservice   
/usr/sbin/veeamservice: ELF 64-bit LSB executable, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked (uses shared libs), for GNU/Linux 2.6.18, BuildID[sha1]=d34180b98bba2a6cb2bc52a5c41fb5cbb8c20c6d, stripped

To which my engineers explanation was:

Actual problem is

Requesting program interpreter: /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2

This is 32bit system, all tools and libraries. Only kernel is 64bit.
Can you compile 32bit veeam version?

I realize this is a unique situation and a little weird but is there a way you can compile and send me a 32bit version of Veeam?

Thanks