Support for GPFS metadata attributes: storage pools, metadata replication, and data replication
NetBackup has added support for the backup and restore of the following GPFS metadata attributes: storage pools, metadata replication, and data replication. By default, NetBackup backs up and restores the ACLs, the extended attributes, and these additional metadata attributes for GPFS volumes. No additional configuration is necessary.
The following information is pertinent if, after restoring a file, the illplaced or the illreplicated flags display in the status of the file. (View the status of the file by using the GPFS mmlsattr command.)
The illplaced flag displays if the file was restored to a different GPFS storage pool than where it was when it was backed up. The change could be due to a change in creation rules or the result of migration rules in the GPFS file placement policy. Or the GPFS administrator may have used the mmchattr command to manually move the file to a different storage pool.
The illreplicated flag displays when the storage pool containing the restored file has fewer failure groups than required by the data replication setting or the system pool has fewer failure groups than the metadata replication setting.
The GPFS administrator can rebalance the replication factor of the file and resolve the illplaced or illreplicated flags by running one of two GPFS commands, depending on the number of the files that are involved and the network traffic:
For a single file: mmrestripefile
For the complete file system: mmrestripefs
Note:
Restoring files with GPFS attributes and ACLs to an alternate platform does not restore the metadata attributes or the ACLs. For example, backing up files from an RHEL system and restoring to an AIX system. The restore may generate an error such as "Invalid system call." (Extended attributes can be restored to the alternate platform, however.)
Restoring files with GPFS attributes and ACLs to an alternate platform does not restore the metadata attributes or the ACLs. For example, backing up files from an RHEL system and restoring to an AIX system. The restore may generate an error such as "Invalid system call." (Extended attributes can be restored to the alternate platform, however.)
When NetBackup 7.6.1 is used to restore a backup that was created with a NetBackup 7.6.1.1 client, any GPFS Extended Attributes or newly supported GPFS metadata attributes that were backed up are not restored. (ACLs are restored, however.) Depending on the verbose logging level used, the progress log may display a message similar to the following:
Unknown extended attribute (3 - META_GPFS) - information will be lost