Host-based backup of VMware vSphere VMs.
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EBoucq
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VMware Tools quiescence...but no script

Post by EBoucq »

Hi,

I always thought that activating the "Enable VMware Tools quiescence" option in a job without pre-freeze / post-thaw script in the VM, would generate an error.
I have this situation for one of my customers and I don't understand why the job is running without any error or warning...
Am I missing something ?

Thanks,
Eric
PTide
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Re: VMware Tools quiescence...but no script

Post by PTide »

Hi,

That checkbox orders Veeam to use VMWare tools quiescence. As per VMware knowledge base:
<...> VMware Tools is used to quiesce the file system in the virtual machine. Quiescing a file system is a process of bringing the on-disk data of a physical or virtual computer into a state suitable for backups. This process might include such operations as flushing dirty buffers from the operating system's in-memory cache to disk, or other higher-level application-specific tasks.
That is, it is not mandatory to place pre-freeze/post-thaw scripts in their corresponding locations (/usr/sbin/pre-freeze-script and /usr/sbin/post-thaw-script in case of Linux OS) inside the guest.

What is your guest OS by the way?

Thanks!
Andreas Neufert
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Re: VMware Tools quiescence...but no script

Post by Andreas Neufert »

Basically the VMware Tools quiescence setting works exactly like the same setting at VMware vcenter snapshot creation wizard.

What it will do and do not do depends on the VMware Tools Client within the VM

For Windows by default it perform simple VSS plus only if present scripting.

For Linux by default it performs scripting if added.

If no script was added it will be just ignored and process additional option.

So by default under Linux nothing is performed. In Linux you can enable File Sync driver but not many applications support this so it is deactivated by default.
EBoucq
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Re: VMware Tools quiescence...but no script

Post by EBoucq »

Hi,

Thanks for your replies.
I'm surprised because many times in the past (and again with another SLES 11 VM now), the jobs fail because I have enabled the quiescence option and not created the scripts. I always have this message "error occurred while saving the snapshot: failed to quiesce the virtual machine"...
PTide
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Re: VMware Tools quiescence...but no script

Post by PTide »

Actually there can be many reasons for that error, and personally I don't recall the absence of the scripts to be on the list.

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Re: VMware Tools quiescence...but no script

Post by Andreas Neufert »

Same here, usually we try to stay far away from the VMware tools quiescence processing as it is not as reliable as our own guest processing and trouble shouting is hard to do (VMware inguest and host logs). I can remember cases where I had to deactivate the Floppy drive in windows device manager as it was detected as volume for processing (while no floppy disc was present).

If user rights and/or network allow it, please use Veeam guest processing.

I have written about it in detail here
https://bp.veeam.expert/job_configurati ... processing
EBoucq
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Re: VMware Tools quiescence...but no script

Post by EBoucq »

Except Veeam guest processing is for Windows OS only...
I
Andreas Neufert
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Re: VMware Tools quiescence...but no script

Post by Andreas Neufert »

This is not correct. We do Application Aware Backup for supported applications (Oracle for this moment) and pre/post-thaw script processing (optional) as well.
The above link list the possibilities in a table at the bottom.
EBoucq
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Re: VMware Tools quiescence...but no script

Post by EBoucq »

Application-Aware Processing in only for Windows VM since it's using VSS. So if your virtual machine is a Linux, you have to use pre-freeze / post-thaw scripts. If you don't, good luck restoring your database in a consistent state.
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Re: VMware Tools quiescence...but no script

Post by Andreas Neufert »

Yes correct VSS is part of Veeam Application Aware Processing but there is so much more we do with it. For example we detect supported applications running on windows and linux and then decide depdendant on the detected application to process those with VSS or with direct processing. Of cause for Applications on Windows without support from us we will trigger VSS processing for everything that has an VSS writer. Then there are restore awareness settings, where we leave things within the backed up VM that automatically process recovery steps when the VM is restored. Active Directory goes automatically in non-authoritative restore mode to not harm older Windows based AD versions. Exchange goes in Recover Mode. Granluar restore from Inactive Exahnge DAG mailboxes can be performed, Special Snapshot processing for Application with hard timeout to address VSS issues (Exchange),...

An example of our own Application Aware engine for Oracle. We can bring it with Alter Database begin backup and other commands in a consistent state. We can perform Archive Log Truncation and perform every 5-60 minutes additional Archive Log backups if selected.

Veeam Applicatio Aware processing partly uses VSS when availabe but is not limited to it. As well we have added special processing for Sharepoint, SQL Always on, Exchange DAG which is not limited to only VSS processing. For example we can handle Logfile Truncation and Logfile Backup for supported applications. Please look at our Helpcenter for documentation.

Of cause on the Linux side you need to perform pre and post thaw scripting for non supported applications. You can use Veeam own guest processing for it.

And btw... for Oracle/SQL/Exchange/AD/Sharepoint beside our Application Aware processing we support point of backup restore or granluar restore out of Crash Consistent Backup or Storage Snapshots as well.
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Re: VMware Tools quiescence...but no script

Post by EBoucq »

Thanks for all this info.
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