Using the Enable Subclient Index Workflow

You can enable subclient indexing on clients or a client group using the Enable Subclient Index workflow. You can use the workflow to convert existing backupset indexing to subclient indexing on a client or client group.

Note

The CommServe server must be at Service Pack 18 or later to run this workflow.
Beginning Feature Release 11.24, note the following:
- All new file system clients use subclient indexing.
- If you upgrade an existing Indexing Version 1 file system client to Indexing Version 2 using the Upgrade to Indexing Version 2 workflow, the client will use subclient indexing.
- To convert all other Indexing Version 2 clients from backupset indexing to subclient indexing, use the Enable Subclient Index workflow.
If there are running jobs for a client or client group which you are trying to convert to subclient level index using this workflow, those clients will be skipped.
After running this workflow, the index server properties are moved from the backupset to the subclient. For more information, see Subclient Indexing.

When to Use the Enable Subclient Index Workflow

Important

Do not use this workflow if you are not storing index backups primarily on disk and you intend to browse older data often.

If you are experiencing disk space issues with supported agents in Feature Release 11.19 or later service packs, you can use this workflow to convert existing backupset indexing to subclient indexing on a client or client group.

This workflow is helpful if the current backupset index is very large and has multiple subclients. Performance can be improved by using subclient indexing, even though you may have enough disk space for the index cache.

Note

The workflow converts the existing backup set index to a subclient index, and also enables pruning for older cycles. The workflow will only reconstruct the last two cycles of data in the new subclient index and will only keep the two latest cycles going forward.
After the backup set index is converted to a subclient index, moving stubs from one subclient to another subclient might result in data loss if the other subclient has a lower retention period.
Over time, the system logically prunes index records of older cycles from the active index in the cache. If you browse data from older cycle(s) that have already been pruned from the index, the system will restore that index using an older checkpoint that still contains the index of those cycles.
The browse operation will be triggered to reconstruct the last two cycles of data for each subclient for the clients or client group affected by the workflow.

Agent Support

The Enable Subclient Index workflow supports the following agents:

File System
GlusterFS
Hadoop (HDFS)
IBM Spectrum Scale (GPFS)
Lustre File System
NAS File System
NAS NDMP
Windows/UNIX File System under NAS/Network Share

Before You Begin

Ensure that there are no jobs running for the clients or client group which you are converting to subclient level index using this workflow. If there are running jobs, those clients or client group will be skipped.
If you are backing up index data to tape media, you must have the tapes for the last two cycles of jobs on site before you run the workflow. By default, the system plays back the latest two cycles for each subclient.
The Commvault Workflow solution must be deployed in your CommCell environment. Typically the Workflow Engine is installed with the CommServe software. If you need to install the Workflow Engine separately, see Installing the Workflow Engine.
Ensure that you download the latest version of the Enable Subclient Index workflow from the Commvault Store. See Download Workflows from the Commvault Store.
Gather the following information, which you will enter into the workflow configuration when it runs:
- The name of the client or client group that you want to run the workflow on.
- The agent that you want to run the workflow on.

Procedure

From the CommCell Browser, in Workflows, right-click Enable Subclient Index, point to All Tasks, and then click Execute.

The Enable Subclient Index Options dialog box appears.
Click Run workflow on, and then select the Workflow Engine that you want to use to perform the workflow.
Next to Choose the component you would like to enable subclient index on, select the option to either run the workflow on Clients or on a Client Group.
Configure the workflow as follows:
1. For clients:
  - Client(s): Select the clients that you want to run the workflow on.
  - Agent: Select the type of agent that you want to change on the clients. Note that all of the clients included in the workflow must have the same type of agent installed.
  - Reconstruct from original index: Select this to tell the system to use the existing backupset index to convert into one or more subclient indexes. If this option is selected, it is recommend to have available disk space of twice the size of the original index.
  - Custom Retention (Cycles): Minimum number of backup cycles to retain in the index cache.
  - Select this checkbox to reconstruct index with 1 cycle: Select this to play back the subclient index only for the latest cycle. This is useful when you don’t want to reconstruct the index for the previous cycles.
  - Temp Directory Path: Temporary directory to use if there isn't enough available free space in the index cache. This option is applicable only if you select the Reconstruct from original index option above.
  - Pre-Upgrade Check (Recommended): When this is selected, the system skips the following clients and doesn't enable subclient level indexing for them:
    - Deconfigured clients.
    - Clients with subclient(s) for which at least one backup job is available and backup activity is disabled.
2. For a client group:
  - Client Group: Select the name of the client group that you want to run the workflow on.
  - Agent: Select the type of agent that you want to change on the clients. Note that all of the clients included in the workflow must have the same type of agent installed.
  - Reconstruct from original index: Select this to tell the system to use the existing backupset index to convert into one or more subclient indexes. If this option is selected, it is recommend to have available disk space of twice the size of the original index.
  - Custom Retention (Cycles): Minimum number of backup cycles to retain in the index cache.
  - Select this checkbox to reconstruct index with 1 cycle: Select this to play back the subclient index only for the latest cycle. This is useful when you don’t want to reconstruct the index for the previous cycles.
  - Temp Directory Path: Temporary directory to use if there isn't enough available free space in the index cache. This option is applicable only if you select the Reconstruct from original index option above.
  - Pre-Upgrade Check (Recommended): When this is selected, the system skips the following clients and doesn't enable subclient level indexing for them:
    - Deconfigured clients.
    - Clients with subclient(s) for which at least one backup job is available and backup activity is disabled.
Click OK.

What to Do Next

If the workflow job completes successfully, check the index state for each subclient (from all backupsets of all the clients or client group on which you executed the workflow). Note that, after converting a client or client group from backupset indexing to subclient indexing, each subclient will have its own index server.

For more information, see Index State Report.