NetWorker for Linux: How to save a bootstrap to an optical device

Summary: NetWorker Linux/UNIX How to save a bootstrap to an optical device.

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Instructions

OVERVIEW:

This KB is intended for Linux NetWorker servers. For Microsoft Windows based instructions, see: NetWorker for Windows: How to save a bootstrap to an optical device

  1. Create an empty file
  2. Create a networker device, media type: Optical, the name points to the empty file
  3. Label the optical device into a pool for bootstraps (backup type pool).
  4. Create a bootstrap (nsrpolicy start for the "Server Protection" policy).
  5. If it has already been saved to other than an optical device, clone or stage the bootstrap to an optical device
  6. Dismount the device, and create a compressed file
  7. Submit the compressed file (attach the result to the Request)


STEPS:

NOTE: The following is an example session of how to work through the overview from the command line. When following this procedure, ensure to replace the device, group, and pool names with the values from your environment. 
  1. Open root shell prompt on the NetWorker server.
  2. Create an empty file called bootstrap under /nsr/tmp
touch /nsr/tmp/bootstrap
  1. Create an optical device and pool resources in NetWorker, using the nsradmin command prompt:

nsradmin

create type: nsr device; name: "/nsr/tmp/bootstrap"; media type: optical

create type: nsr pool; name: optical-bootstrap; devices: "/nsr/tmp/bootstrap"

Example: 
# nsradmin
NetWorker administration program.
Use the "help" command for help, "visual" for full-screen mode.
nsradmin> create type: nsr device; name: "/nsr/tmp/bootstrap"; media type: optical
                        type: NSR device;
                        name: /nsr/tmp/bootstrap;
                  media type: optical;
Create? y
created resource id 51.0.236.26.0.0.0.0.121.196.254.103.192.168.0.11(1)
nsradmin> create type: nsr pool; name: optical-bootstrap; devices: "/nsr/tmp/bootstrap"
                        type: NSR pool;
                        name: optical-bootstrap;
                     devices: /nsr/tmp/bootstrap;
Create? y
created resource id 52.0.236.26.0.0.0.0.121.196.254.103.192.168.0.11(1)
nsradmin> quit
  1. Use the nsrmm command to label and mount a volume for the new optical device:

    nsrmm -lm -b "optical-bootstrap" -f "/nsr/tmp/bootstrap" bootstrap.001
     
    Example:
# nsrmm -lm -b "optical-bootstrap" -f "/nsr/tmp/bootstrap" optical-bootstrap.001
# nsrmm
optical disk optical-bootstrap.001 mounted on /nsr/tmp/bootstrap, write enabled
  1. Use the nsrpolicy command to find the existing pool for the "Server Protection" policy:

Example:

# nsrpolicy action display -p "Server Protection" -w "Server backup" -A "Server db backup"
{
    "actionName": "Server db backup",
    "actionSpecific": {
        "actions": {
            "actionType": "server backup",
            "asbDestinationPool": "Default",
            "asbDestinationStorageNode": "nsrserverhost",



.
.
  1. Use the nsrpolicy command to change the pool to optical-bootstrap:
# nsrpolicy action update server-backup -p "Server Protection" -w "Server backup" -A "Server db backup" -o optical-bootstrap
121404:nsrpolicy: action 'Server db backup' was successfully updated
    1. Use the nsrpolicy command to start a Server Protection backup:
       
      nsrpolicy start -p "Server Protection" -w "Server Backup"
    2. Once the backup completes, use the mminfo command to confirm the bootstrap is successfully saved to the optical device:

    mminfo -B

    Example:

    # mminfo -B
      date     time       ssid         file record volume                device
   4/17/2025 11:30:43 AM  4261486243      0     4  optical-bootstrap.001 /nsr/tmp/bootstrap
    1. Use the nsrmm command to unmount the optical bootstrap device:

    nsrmm -u optical-bootstrap.001

    Example:

    # nsrmm -u optical-bootstrap.001
Unmounted device: /nsr/tmp/bootstrap
    1. Zip the bootstrap file from the tmp directory:

    cd /nsr/tmp ; tar cvzf bootstrap_`date -I`.tgz bootstrap

    NOTE: In this example, bootstrap_DATE.tgz can be used to transport the bootstrap media to another machine. To repeat the process for further (future) bootstraps, if the resources have not been deleted, re-label the volume, re-run the policy, unmount the device, and "Compressed (zipped) folder" it up again.

    NetWorker (Linux): How to Copy Files to or from a Linux NetWorker Server

    1. Reconfigure the Server Protection policy to use the original pool as per the output collected in step 5.

    nsrpolicy action update server-backup -p "Server Protection" -w "Server backup" -A "Server db backup" -o <POOL_NAME>

    Example:

    # nsrpolicy action update server-backup -p "Server Protection" -w "Server backup" -A "Server db backup" -o Default
121404:nsrpolicy: action 'Server db backup' was successfully updated

    Additional Information

    How To Export the NetWorker Media Database Using nsrmmdbasm

    Affected Products

    NetWorker

    Products

    NetWorker
    Article Properties
    Article Number: 000020848
    Article Type: How To
    Last Modified: 17 Apr 2025
    Version:  5
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