SA - Bimonthly Backup Review
This document provides an overview on how to review the status of SA endpoint backups
Bi-Monthly Review
Overview
There are three things that need to be done as a part of this review and you will need to use a spreadsheet to track your work. Also note that not all computers need to have backup nodes; in general shared computers do not have them. There is a table at the bottom of this document where exemptions are listed. You can locate the last review sheet here and make a copy of it to start from. For the "SA Backup Report" tab you will copy all of the data in the SA Endpoint Backup Report. For the "BigFix" tab you will copy all of the endpoints from the BigFix console. The "Cross Reference" tab is where you will compare the endpoints in the backup system against BigFix to look for computers in BigFix that don't have a backup node. OK let's get to work!
Make sure existing nodes are backing up
- Start with the SA Endpoint Backup Report tab. Look at any nodes that have a yellow/red color status. You will need to do a little bit of detective work and look at the computer in AD/BigFix to figure out its status and the action to take. If it's for someone who has left then the node can be decommissioned. If it is for an active employee and the computer is currently reporting into BigFix you will also need to put on your detective hat and try to figure out why the node is not backing up (see below for troubleshooting ideas).
Remove nodes for known decommissioned computers
- If you have identified nodes that exist for departed staff you can follow the steps here to delete them
Create nodes for any computers that are active, but don't have one
- If you identify active endpoints that don't have a backup node follow the steps here to create the node and then deploy the IBM software to the endpoint
| Problem | Possible Reason | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Endpoint is active in BigFix but does not exist in Spectrum | Node was never created | Create the backup node on the server using the directions above and action out the Spectrum baseline in BigFix |
| Endpoint is active in BigFix but does not exist in Spectrum | Node was never created but Spectrum software was deployed | If the Spectrum baseline was pushed out without the node existing on the backup server it will break the Spectrum client as it will try to log into the backup server but there will be no node for it to log into; you will probably need to uninstall Spectrum on the endpoint and start over |
| Node exists in Spectrum but not BigFix | Endpoint was likely decommissioned | If the backup node hasn't been active for a long period of time and the endpoint no longer exists in BigFix it is probably safe to remove the endpoint from the backup server |
| Endpoint exists on both servers but hasn't backed up recently | The endpoint may not have been on long enough to back up but has reported into BigFix | Determine if it's a single user or shared machine. If it's a single user machine it could be an older machine that they still have but it isn't turned on much, if at all. If it's a shared machine like at Glass Lab, SLH, or WVDL it may not be on enough for it to complete a backup. Additionally, if a machine is ever re-imaged it will need to be recreated in Spectrum as the certificate thumbprint will change so even though the node name is the same the re-imaged device won't be able to log into it. |
| Node exists in Spectrum but shows no activity or backup data | Something may have been misconfigured when the node was created like the password being typed in wrong or something is broken with the client and it's not able to back up | In this case it's usually best to start over by removing the node from the server and recreating it. You can check installed applications in BigFix to see if the endpoint has the correct Spectrum software installed. If that looks correct you can recreate the node and see if it starts backing up. |
| Mac is not backing up, but has previously | Scheduler is not running and/or set to run automatically; this could happen if the backup software was installed manually |
There is a BigFix fixlet that is part of the deployment baseline named "DS - Config - IBM Spectrum/Storage Protect - Set As Startup Item - 8.1.21 (macOS)" that can be run to try to get the scheduler running again. |
Exemptions from Backups
- Shared machines are not usually good candidates for having a backup node since they aren't always on enough to get backed up and they aren't someone's primary machine. We can create nodes for these types of machines but in general it is OK to exclude them.
| Machine | Usage |
|---|---|
| IRI-HT78ZM2 | Amy Kuehn Old Laptop |
| SA-HYWGGX7F77 | Collin Mac |
| SA-BOX-VM | Collin VM |
| SA-1T99Q04 | Control Works Laptop |
| SA-4W42XD3 | DoIT Patch Test Machine |
| SA-1TDJHL3 | Glass Lab Shared Laptop |
| SA-2413QL3 | IRI BSL3 Computer |
| SA-4SDJHL3 | IRI BSL3 Computer |
| SA-DRDJHL3 | IRI BSL3 Computer |
| SA-2TDJHL3 | IRI BSL3 Computer |
| SA-3413QL3 | IRI BSL3 Laptop |
| SA-GXHZ903 | IRI Shared Desktop |
| PAT-VM-B213 | Pat VM |
| SA-GSDJHL3 | Salcedo Shared Laptop |
| SA-3P2KHS3 | Salcedo Shared Laptop |
| SA-JW42XD3 | Scott Buckingham |
| SA-2GFDHG3 | SLH Shared Laptop |
| SA-3F6TRG3 | SLH Shared Laptop |
| SA-1F6TRG3 | SLH Shared Laptop |
| SA-GD6TRG3 | SLH Shared Laptop |
| IRI-JJF8ZM2 | Tadashi Old Laptop |
| SA-8KL8FX3 | WVDL Shared Laptop |
| SA-9KL8FX3 | WVDL Shared Laptop |