Immutable.until not changed in file-attibute when running Set-VBRImmutabilityLockExpirationDate

[woifgaung]

Just played around with PowerShell command Set-VBRImmutabilityLockExpirationDate. When I change immutable period with this command, GUI and PowerShell commands show the changed date. But when I run

Code: Select all

getfattr VM02.vm-6058D2021-09-11T220637_E65E.vbk -n user.immutable.until

in shell, the un-changed date is still shown. Just wondering if this is a bug or by design? Is this the place where the original date is saved?

[Mildur]

There should be a file (.veeam.N.lock) on the system with the time of immutability. Is the time correct in there?

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=110

Veeam Backup & Replication creates .veeam.N.lock file with the information about immutability time period of each backup file in the active chain. Files .veeam.N.lock are stored on a Linux host.

[woifgaung]

Good point Fabian! Date there was changed. It looks like, it also gets a different tag: /ExtendedImmutableTillUtc instead of /ImmutableTillUtc. This seems to be new in v11a.

[Mildur]

Could be. Need to find some time to test it myself.
But at the moment, time is luxury

[woifgaung]

Think so too. Otherwise this information would be lost when VBR database is gone for good.
sleep is luxury too

[Mildur]

I don‘t think veeam will store that information only in the database.
In the database, it can be manipulated.

Who needs sleep? (need to be awake in 4 hours xD)

[oleg.feoktistov]

Yes, correct. <ExtendedImmutableTillUtc /> tag was added to 11a to contain the date you adjust with Set-VBRImmutableLockExpirationDate cmdlet and support the requirement to reset lock to original value if legal hold is not needed anymore. Thanks!

[woifgaung]

Thanks Oleg for your answer!
And is it correct, file-attribute user.immutable.until stays unchanged to keep the information about original expiration-date?

[Gostev]

That's right.

BTW this attribute is nothing but an additional failsafe, which can never be manipulated as it is a part of immutable file.
It's value is checked in addition only when the "main" logic allows immutability flag to be removed.

However, the main actor is the lock file. This one can be extended after it was set, which enables additional features.

[woifgaung]

Thanks for clarification! This helps for understanding!

[woifgaung]

One final question: could it be that is is not possible to reset expiration date to original on a restore point that was extended in v11 (prior v11a)? Tried this but it did not change immutability date.

[Gostev]

This is quite likely, because the ability to reset is the new 11a feature.

[oleg.feoktistov]

Yes, that's precisely the case.