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EMC Networker: Search the backups for a specific file?
Hi there,
EMC Networker noob here. I have this problem: A user is missing a file. They remember what it was called, e.g. "ABCDEF.txt" ... but they unfortunately can't remember the path, share, drive, etc. where this was stored.
Of course they now accuse us admins of not doing our job properly, of having "lost" that file (us??), and so on. How can I use the command line tools such as mminfo and nsrinfo to search the savesets, indexes and what not for that specific file?
I have googled around and found pages like this one, e.g.
Basics – Listing files in a backup » NetWorker Information Hub
http://nsrd.info/blog/2009/10/01/using-networker-for-live-search/
Basics – Listing files in a backup « NetWorker Blog
Is there any more elegant way this could be achieved than doing "nsrinfo ServerName | grep Filename" loops in bash or PowerShell ...?
Thank you in advance!
DJ.
crazyrov
4 Operator
4 Operator
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1.3K Posts
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October 14th, 2014 23:00
DJ,
I would say Yes ! but you could add a -i with the grep and also redirect the out of this command to a file so that in case there are more than one file on one server the information is not lost because of the screen buffer capacity. so my recommendation - nsrinfo client_hostname | grep -i filename > /tmp/client_hostname.txt
DJ_
8 Posts
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October 14th, 2014 11:00
I managed to narrow the possible location of that file down to 8 x or so file servers where that affected user had access to. So ... if the file isn't on any of those file servers, then the missing file must have been locally on their laptop I guess?
So what I am doing now is 8 x "nsrinfo SRV001 | grep Filename", "nsrinfo SRV002 | grep Filename" etc. in different shell windows and I am leaving it running over the night.
So by tomorrow I should have results... if none of the commands produce any results, I'd say it's safe to assume that the file was not on any of those 8 x servers ... or else Networker would have made a backup.
Right?
DJ_
8 Posts
0
October 14th, 2014 11:00
Hi Bill,
> I would just do the nsrinfo command for the client where the file was
And how do I find that out? As I said above: All I know is the name of the file, e.g. "ABCDEF.txt". I do *NOT* know on which file server / Networker client this file was physically stored. Thanks to things like folder redirection, DFS and what not, the file could have been on a dozen or so different servers.
And the affected user isn't any help regarding that question. On the contrary, they have triggered an internal escalation which means I now have all kinds of elegantly-dressed non-tech-savvy people breathing down my neck. And they can't understand why I am "not able" (or worse: "not willing"...?!) to find that one oh-so-important file.
See what I mean?
I only know the file name, they were not able or willing to give me more information than that. I am supposed to find out myself on which Networker client that file was stored....
Nice challenge, eh? :-)
masonb
445 Posts
1
October 14th, 2014 11:00
DJ,
I would just do the nsrinfo command for the client where the file was and redirect the output to a file. You could then search the file with grep or notepad++ depending on your OS to see if there are any matches.
Simple but should get you what you need.
Regards,
Bill Mason
bingo.1
2.4K Posts
1
October 14th, 2014 15:00
Piping the exported CFI output through a search tool is not a good idea.
I have to deal with such issues from time to time. And here is my procedure:
- Find the server (the NW client)
- Run "nsrls clientname" to verify the size of the CFI
- Make sure that you have 50% more free space on your disk
- Export the file index (nsrinfo -v clientname > textfile)
This can take some hours - last time a 12GB CFI resulted in a 15GB textfile (took about 4hrs)
- Now you can search the file for a certain string (findstr /I /C:"string" textfile)
This took about 5mins so you can easily modify and repeat the search if necessary.
Do not forget ...
- to delete the exported index later
- to advise the user to help you by at least pointing to the most likely area (host, drive, path) - it is not your task to sort his data.
DJ_
8 Posts
0
October 15th, 2014 01:00
Yay, it worked.
"nsrinfo FILESERVER00xxx | grep ABCDEF.txt"
... produced results in only 1 x out of 8 x open terminal sessions. So... that makes it kind of obvious on which Networker client the file must have been.
So now all I need to know from the affected user is which version of that file they want to have back and I'm done here
Thanks guys!
bingo.1
2.4K Posts
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October 15th, 2014 10:00
Of course this method works but once again I encourage you not to use this method.
Why? - because you have to start all over in case of a typo or when your customer replies "I am sorry but the string was in fact a different one. Could you please rerun the query?". Then you are instantly ready to rerun a search on the exported CFI.