Testing CommServe Failover Using Disaster Recovery (DR) Backups

1. From the CommCell Browser, right-click Client Computer Groups and then click New Group.

2. Add the necessary information in Create New Client Group dialog box.

3. Select the Manual Association check box and add the Client(s) and MediaAgent(s) that will be used to perform the test restore.

4. Click OK.

   See Creating a Client Computer Group for additional information.

1. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the CommServe and select All Tasks > Disaster Recovery Backup.

2. Click OK to start the disaster Recovery Backup.

   See Perform a Disaster Recovery Backup for additional information.

• Ensure that the associated DR backup folder (SET_XXX folder) is accessible from the new host that is used for recovery.

• If you are using DR backup from disk or tape media, then Retrieve the Disaster Recovery Backup from Media.

• See Install the CommServe for additional information.

• In addition, verify and install all the other packages that are installed in the production CommServe host.

• Skip this step if the CommServe is already installed.

The DR dump files are located in the DR export location specified for disaster recovery (DR) backups. You can view the location as follows:

1. From CommCell Browser, right-click the CommServe, click Control Panel, and then click DR Backup.

2. The DR export location is displayed in the Back Up Metadata to this folder box.

3. See Configure a Cloud Library as the Export Destination for Disaster Recovery (DR) Backups for additional information.

4. Skip this step if the DR export location is accessible from the new test CommServe host.

To run the Recovery Assistant tool:

1. Login to the test CommServe host.

2. Open Command prompt.

3. Navigate to the following folder:

   <Software_Installation_Directory>/Base

4. Type the following command after substituting the appropriate parameter values:

   CSRecoveryAssistant.exe -operation Maintenance -dbdumplocation <db dump location> -groupName "Test_Failover_Group"

   Where:

   <db dump location> is the location where you copied the DR dump files on the test CommServe host.

   Test_Failover_Group is the name of the 'Test' Client Computer Group created in Step 1 above.

   See Recovering the CommServe Database from the Command Line Interface, for additional instructions on using the Recovery Assistant tool.

   Note: The above command will disable all the clients in the new test CommServe host except the clients in the 'Test Failover Client Group'.

1. Click Start and point to All Programs.

2. Click Commvault > Process Manager.

3. Under the Services tab, right-click a stopped service and then click Start.

   See Starting a Service for additional information.

1. Login to the standby CommServe host and open the CommCell Console.

2. Navigate to the 'Test Failover Client Group' .

3. For each test failover client / MediaAgent, right-click the client and click Properties.

4. Click the Edit button.

5. Change the CommServe Hostname to the standby CommServe host name.

6. Click OK.

7. Repeat the steps in the production CommServe host.

The client / MediaAgent in the 'Test Failover Client Group' now points to the standby CommServe host.

After restoring the CommServe database, you must test client restore operations on the recovered CommServe host. For testing purposes, you can choose a subset of clients that represent each data type being backed up in the CommCell. For example, select an Exchange Server client for Exchange data type backups, a SQL Server client for SQL data type backups, and so on.

1. Perform restore operations from the clients in the 'Test Failover Client Group'.

   The restore operation ensures that the data backed up using the original production CommServe host is still accessible and retrievable. Depending on the client used for testing, perform a basic restore operation. For example, to restore existing Windows File System client data, see .Perform a Restore.

2. Optionally, install new application agents on virtual machine clients and point them to the test CommServe host.

   Perform cross-machine restores from the production clients to the new application client to ensure that the data gets restored.

1. Login to the production CommServe host and open the CommCell Console.

2. Navigate to the 'Test Failover Client Group' .

3. For each test failover client / MediaAgent, right-click the client and click Properties.

4. Click the Edit button.

5. Change the CommServe Hostname to the production CommServe host name.

6. Click OK.

7. Repeat the steps in the standby CommServe host.

The client / MediaAgent in the 'Test Failover Client Group' now points to the production CommServe host.

1. Click Start and point to All Programs.

2. Click Commvault > Process Manager.

3. Under the Services tab, right-click a stopped service and then click Stop.

   See Starting a Service for additional information.