Move oldest GFS full backup file

[perjonsson1960]

Folks,

We have a GFS backup chain for our file cluster. The oldest full backup at the far back of the chain resides in a different repo than the rest, and that is a yearly backup. In front of it are a number of monthly full backups that reside on a different repo, which is also a SOBR.

Is it possible to move that yearly backup to another repo without messing up the GFS chain?

The reason for asking is that we want to decommision and shut down the server where that yearly backup resides.

We are running B&R v12.0.0.1420 P20230718.

Kind regards,
PJ

[david.domask]

Hi Per,

Is simply Evacuating the Extent an option here? As I understand it, you're decommissioning the extent anyways so you can just put it in maintenance mode, evacuate it, and then decommission it.

Else, a manual move is possible but a bit more involved: https://www.veeam.com/kb3100

[perjonsson1960]

I never thought of evacuating... Thanks! That seems to be the simplest way to go.
If I evacuate, will B&R choose the same SOBR extent as where all the other backups in the chain reside, or will it choose the extent with the most free space? I am hoping for the latter.

[david.domask]

Glad I could inspire an idea

I had to test quick since there are a few considerations, and it should try to follow usual placement rules (Data Locality or Performance in the Scaleout Backup Repository settings), but there are a few nuances to consider here due to fast cloning:

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ents-works

If it's feasible, you can just put all undesired extents in maintenance mode, start the evacuation, and once you see it's starting to move the file, you can disable maintenance mode on the still in use extents.

Edit: As a note though, my first test with Performance and just setting the desired extent to receive only Full backups and others to Incremental backups worked as expected, I just changed it back later. A bit of extra clicking but I think should get the job done for you.

[perjonsson1960]

The SOBR is configured for Data Locality.
So, if I put all extents, except the one where I want the file to be put, in Maintenance Mode, then the file will end up where I want it to be?
The file is around 18 TB, so it kind of matters where it ends up...

[david.domask]

Yep, should be just fine If there is an issue you can stop the Evacuation task (it will not affect the existing backup until it confirms that the backup was copied to the new extent(s) first), but just ran it through a few tests and it worked as prescribed (even without putting unnecessary extents in maintenance, but would not hurt to do that _just to be safe_)

[perjonsson1960]

Thank you!

Kind regards,
PJ