Decommissioning a Server or Laptop From Backups

You can release the license for a client, MediaAgent, Agent, or File Archiver instance.

Before You Begin

To release license for a MediaAgent, verify that all the storage policies or copies associated with the configured libraries (or drive pools) in the MediaAgent are deleted or re-associated to another MediaAgent.

Procedure

From the CommCell Browser, go to the CommCell entity.
Right-click the name of the CommCell entity, and then release the license.
- For a client computer or MediaAgent, select All Tasks > Release License for Client/MediaAgent.
  
  A dialog box appears.
  1. From the Licenses Consumed pane, select the license to release
  2. Click Add, and then click OK.
- For other entities, select All Tasks > Release License.
A message appears that asks you to confirm that you want to release the license.
Click Yes.

If the license is successfully released, the entity becomes unavailable, and you can then delete it.

If the license is not released, a number of messages appear. In some cases, the message says that you must perform a corrective action. For example, the message might say that you should ensure that there are no jobs running on the agent. In this case, click OK and take the appropriate action.

Results

When a license is released, the following results occur for a client, agent, and file archiver instance.

Clients

When the license for a client is released, the following actions occur:

All backup functionality associated with the client will be unavailable on the deconfigured client, except restore jobs and synthetic full backup jobs.
The related files and registry entries associated with the client will not be removed from the computer.
To permanently delete all data and job history, delete the client in the CommCell Console.
After the license for the entity is released, all backup job and restore job schedules (independent and those part of a schedule policy) that are related to the specific CommCell entity are displayed in the Schedule Details dialog box. You cannot run, edit, or perform a Run Immediately operation on the schedule unless the CommCell entity is reconfigured.
For VSA clients, this operation purges the VM child jobs without affecting the other VMs (or the jobs for those VMs) in the subclient.
For NDMP agents, which do not have a software install or uninstall procedure, releasing the license for the NAS client is the same as uninstalling other agents. After releasing the license, the following occurs:
- The backup data is still available on the media for the retention period defined in the associated Storage Policy copy. You can browse the backup data or perform restore operations from the client to another active client of the same type within the same CommCell. However, you cannot, restore the data to the original NAS File Server, because the client is no longer present.
- The corresponding client icon in the CommCell Browser will appear dimmed. While this icon exists, the client can still perform restore operations. If you delete this icon, all of the client data is irretrievably lost.

Agents

When the license for an agent is released, the following will occur:

The Agent License will be recaptured, allowing it to be reused.
Related files and registry entries associated with the Agent will not be removed from the computer.
To permanently delete all data and job history, delete the Agent in the CommCell Console.
All backups associated with the Agent whose license was released will be available for restore.
After the license for the entity is released, all backup job and restore job schedules (independent and those part of a schedule policy) that are related to the specific CommCell entity are displayed in the Schedule Details dialog box. You cannot run, edit, or perform a Run Immediately operation on the schedule unless the CommCell entity is reconfigured.
Restore jobs can be performed or scheduled on the deconfigured agent.

File Archiver Instances

Releasing the license is supported only for the File Archiver for Windows Agent. All instance types can be deconfigured: Local File System, FPolicy, Celerra, and Network File Share.

When releasing the license, the following will occur:

The license is released if the instance being deconfigured is the last instance to use that license. The license will be consumed again when a new Instance is created or if the instance is reconfigured.
All archived data associated with the instance will be available for recovery. However, functionality related to issuing an archive job will not be available.
The related files and registry entries associated with the instances will not be removed from the computer. For example, the subclients associated with the instance will be hidden and can be re-displayed if the instance is reconfigured.
To permanently delete all data and job history, delete the instance in the CommCell Console.
After the license for the entity is released, all backup job and restore job schedules (independent and those part of a schedule policy) that are related to the specific CommCell entity are displayed in the Schedule Details dialog box. You cannot run, edit, or perform a Run Immediately operation on the schedule unless the CommCell entity is reconfigured.
Restore jobs can be performed or scheduled on the deconfigured file archiver instance.
To clean up the proxy registration on the NetApp filer, after deconfiguring the FPolicy File Archiver instance, the admin user must run the following commands:
1. Disable the policy.
```
 
fpolicy disable -policy-name CVNSDM 
```
2. Delete the scope of the policy.
```
 
fpolicy policy scope delete -policy-name CVNSDM
```
3. Delete the policy.
```
fpolicy policy delete CVNSDM
```
4. Remove the event.
```
 
fpolicy policy event delete -event-name CVNSDMEvent
```
5. Remove the external engine.
```
 
fpolicy policy external-engine delete -engine-name CVNSDMEXTERNALENGINE
```