Backing up to tape question

[Brian@MCC]

We have our Veritas netbackup client installed on our zimbra mail server, and I'm wondering what essential files/folders I should back up for disaster recovery. I'd like to be able to just rebuild the server if needed, restore from tape and be off to the races.

Any advice?

[dwmtractor]

You haven't mentioned if you are on open source or Network Edition, so I'm going to assume open source. This wiki gives you a lot of detail, but the basic take-home message is that, WHILE ZIMBRA SERVICES ARE STOPPED, you back up the entire contents of /opt/zimbra.

Then, if you need to restore, you simply install the same OS and same version on your box, and once it's up you replace the contents of /opt/zimbra in the restored install with the contents of your backup and you will be back in business.

Cheers,

Dan

[Brian@MCC]

We're running the network edition. Am I only going to need to do this once?

[mmorse]

Not quite sure what you mean by 'once' because well, a backup is only good if you can keep it recent...not in that wiki but there's also rsnapshot HOWTO

I assume this is an extension of this thread Veritas netbackup

But now that we know your NE with 30k accounts (http://www.zimbra.com/forums/announc...r-profile.html) see this page for methods, your probably interested in the bottom sections: /docs/ne/latest/administration_guide/10_Backup_Restore.13.1.html

Alternatively you could change your backup path to go directly to tape instead of /opt/zimbra/backup
You can change the backup target for one backup with zmbackup -t
Set it more permanently through the admin console gui backup tab OR zmprov mcf zimbraBackupTarget /location
(check current with zmprov gacf | grep zimbraBackupTarget)

Do be aware that you need to be able to write to that location in the first place Bug 13198 - Proper error message should show when backup target directory does not have proper rights to take backup

[dwmtractor]

We're running the network edition. Am I only going to need to do this once?

Actually I should've included this link on my last post. For Network Edition there's a detailed wiki document for disaster recovery. As you can tell, between the two systems (FOSS vs NE) there are significant differences.

For NE disaster recovery you basically want to backup your /opt/zimbra/backup folder contents to tape, as I read the document (a Zimbra employee can clarify). Then for disaster recovery you want:

1. The necessary installation files to restore an identical operating system to the current install
2. The binaries to install your current version of Zimbra (be sure and update these every time you upgrade your Zimbra install),
3. A record of the various details called for in the above-referenced document--for example, the ip addresses, domain names, spam and ham accounts, etc., and
4. The contents of /opt/zimbra/backup (which is an empty folder on FOSS installations). This, therefore, is all you really need on tape, but I would back it up to removable media daily if I were in your shoes.

However, and here I'm guessing based on the FOSS behavior, you could back up the whole /opt/zimbra (which would preserve the various settings described in (3) above, restore it to /opt/zimbra of your re-constructed server, and then run the backup commands listed in the wiki. THIS IS A GUESS AND SHOULD BE CONFIRMED WITH ZIMBRA SUPPORT.

Which brings me to my last point, which is: since you have paid for Zimbra NE, you have technical support in the package. It would behoove you to confirm your backup strategy with Zimbra support just to be sure that any uniquenesses about your setup are properly covered. That's one of the benefits of purchasing the network edition.

[Brian@MCC]

If I'm reading everything correctly, in the event of a server crash that destroys all data.....

I rebuild the server, reload zimbra and restore the files that are backed up in /opt/zimbra/backup (assuming all I did was back those up to tape) I can then restore (using the zimbra restore) those files in /opt/zimbra/backup?

...hopefully that made sense.

[dwmtractor]

If I'm reading everything correctly, in the event of a server crash that destroys all data.....

Well, unless you're a better man than I, you cuss heartily first. . .

I rebuild the server, reload zimbra and restore the files that are backed up in /opt/zimbra/backup (assuming all I did was back those up to tape) I can then restore (using the zimbra restore) those files in /opt/zimbra/backup?

...hopefully that made sense.

If I understand you understanding me. . .yes! It takes some time, but since Zimbra has all of its config files, ancillary programs (e.g. spamassassin), and mailstores in the same /opt/zimbra tree, it's a fairly straightforward file structure to restore.

[Brian@MCC]

Well, unless you're a better man than I, you cuss heartily first. . .



If I understand you understanding me. . .yes! It takes some time, but since Zimbra has all of its config files, ancillary programs (e.g. spamassassin), and mailstores in the same /opt/zimbra tree, it's a fairly straightforward file structure to restore.

That's pretty awesome actually, thanks!