Pre- and Post- Scripts for SOBR Tiering Operation

[edingc]

Will there be support for pre- and post- scripts for the SOBR tiering operation in an upcoming release?

[wishr]

Hi Cody,

Could you please clarify in detail your use-case?

Thanks

[edingc]

Specifically, thinking about file immutability on a Linux repository as a protection mechanism from accidental deletion. Presumably, the SOBR tiering operation requires the VBK/VIB/VBM files to be modifiable as the operation happens and data is transferred. I would need some way to notify the repository to remove the immutable flags once the operation starts and reset them when it ends.

Additionally, I could see us having a simple Send-MailMessage or something when an operation kicks off and ends just for debugging/logging purposes.

Thanks!

[veremin]

I don't think we have a way to return offload sessions in PowerShell, but even if we had one, it would work only for move policy (copy policy works more or less contioniously, no start or stop time).

And I would be aware, while commiting to custom immutability option, so, consider thoroughly testing this configuration before going all in.

Thanks!

[dalbertson]

@edingc Once minio supports object lock you could leverage that tool to present the linux repo as a immutable s3 bucket and reach your objective in some fashion

[edingc]

@dalbertson

Something like that does look like an option for us right now, too.

I have had no issues in limited testing with pre/post scripts that set and remove immutable flags in the Linux OS on the repository before any data transfer or storage operations are done. But I do need to do more testing before that would roll out in production.

I suppose since SOBR tiering doesn't have the pre/post scripts, I would need some logic to account for whatever the tiering logic is (i.e. backups over X days old are not set with the immutable flag so that Veeam can do what it needs to with them).

[dalbertson]

My concern with the pre/post scripts would be that removing the flag even for short periods of time opens that file up to corruption. using a repo that supports the API calls is a more secure approach.

[oleg.feoktistov]

Actually, it is possible to return offload sessions in Powershell with .NET methods.
Both move and copy policies do have CreationTime/EndTime as they don't linger in UI awaiting for operational restore window check to be done or job to finish:

Code: Select all

$allOffloadSessions = @()
$moveJob = [Veeam.Backup.Model.EDbJobType]::ArchiveBackup
$moveSessions = [Veeam.Backup.Core.CBackupSession]::FindLastByJobType($moveJob)
$copyJob = [Veeam.Backup.Model.EDbJobType]::ArchiveCopy
$copySessions = [Veeam.Backup.Core.CBackupSession]::FindLastByJobType($copyJob)
$allOffloadSessions += $moveSessions
$allOffloadSessions += $copySessions
$allOffloadSessions | select Name, JobType, CreationTimeUTC, EndTimeUTC 

Name                  JobType CreationTimeUTC      EndTimeUTC          
----                  ------- ---------------      ----------          
SOBR-02 Offload ArchiveBackup 5/18/2020 7:21:28 PM 5/18/2020 7:21:36 PM
SOBR-02 Offload   ArchiveCopy 5/16/2020 7:28:35 PM 5/16/2020 7:28:46 PM 

However, it wouldn't help us in any way as we control offload policies on SOBR level and not with a regular job entity.
So seeking for any offload job info in backup job classes would return nothing:

Code: Select all

$jobs = [Veeam.Backup.Core.CBackupJob]::GetAll() | where {$_.Id -eq $moveSessions[0].JobId -or $_.Id -eq $copySessions[0].JobId} 

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> $jobs
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>  

Adding to the point @dalbertson highlighted, here is another thing that bothers me:
Due to the reasons I appealed to above, pre- and post- scripts would be also controlled on SOBR level.
Then, for instance, if the same SOBR is configured as a target for several jobs, I don't know, I think we basically open a Pandora's box.

[edingc]

Thanks for all of the comments. It's much appreciated. This really helped me think through the process and I can go back to and come up with something that works for us.