Avamar: How to Restart Management Console Server

How to perform a controlled MCS restart:

There are times (for example, if an update is made to the MCS configuration file) that MCS must be restarted. 

1. For a controlled restart of MCS, perform an MCS backup first:

mcserver.sh  --flush

The results should be similar to the following:

=== BEGIN === check.mcs (preflush)
+++ WARN +++ check.mcs: [my-grid1.company.com] checking if avmaint version equal to dpnmcs version CHECK FAILED: ("7.5.1-101_HF301593" eq "7.5.1-101"  && "7.5.1-101_HF301593" ne "unknown")
+++ WARN +++ check.mcs: [my-grid1.company.com] checking if avmgr version equal to dpnmcs version CHECK FAILED: ("7.5.1-101_HF301593" eq "7.5.1-101"  && "7.5.1-101_HF301593" ne "unknown")
check.mcs                        passed with warnings
=== PASS === check.mcs PASSED OVERALL (preflush)
Flushing Administrator Server...
Administrator Server flushed.

(Warnings can be safely ignored if the flush is successful.)

2. Stop MCS by typing:

dpnctl stop mcs

The results should be similar to the following:

Identity added: /home/admin/.ssh/admin_key (/home/admin/.ssh/admin_key)
dpnctl: WARNING: 2 warnings seen in output of "[ -r /etc/profile ] && . /etc/profile ; /usr/local/avamar/bin/mcserver.sh --flush"
dpnctl: INFO: Shutting down MCS...
dpnctl: WARNING: 2 warnings seen in output of "[ -r /etc/profile ] && . /etc/profile ; echo 'Y' | /usr/local/avamar/bin/mcserver.sh --stop --force"
dpnctl: INFO: MCS shut down.

3. Restart MCS by typing: 

dpnctl start mcs

The results should be similar to the following:

Identity added: /home/admin/.ssh/admin_key (/home/admin/.ssh/admin_key)
dpnctl: INFO: Starting MCS...
dpnctl: INFO: To monitor progress, run in another window: tail -f /tmp/dpnctl-mcs-start-output-6856
dpnctl: WARNING: 2 warnings seen in output of "[ -r /etc/profile ] && . /etc/profile ; /usr/local/avamar/bin/mcserver.sh --start"
dpnctl: INFO: MCS started.
dpnctl: INFO: No /usr/local/avamar/var/dpn_service_status exist.

Optional: To monitor the progress, run with the tail -f command in the output above.

4. Restart the backup scheduler by typing:

dpnctl start sched 

The results should be similar to the following:        

Identity added: /home/admin/.ssh/admin_key (/home/admin/.ssh/admin_key)
dpnctl: INFO: Resuming backup scheduler...
dpnctl: INFO: Backup scheduler resumed.
dpnctl: INFO: No /usr/local/avamar/var/dpn_service_status exist. 

How to start MCS if it is not running: 

If MCS is not running or was not taken down in a controlled manner, perform these steps to restart it:    

1. Make a copy of the current mcserver.out file to enable later troubleshooting, if required:

cp -p /usr/local/avamar/var/mc/server_log/mcserver.out /usr/local/avamar/var/mc/server_log/x_mcserver.out.`date +%Y%m%d_%H%M`

2. Start MCS by typing:

dpnctl start mcs

The results should be similar to the following:

Identity added: /home/admin/.ssh/admin_key (/home/admin/.ssh/admin_key)
dpnctl: INFO: Starting MCS...
dpnctl: INFO: To monitor progress, run in another window: tail -f /tmp/dpnctl-mcs-start-output-6856
dpnctl: WARNING: 2 warnings seen in output of "[ -r /etc/profile ] && . /etc/profile ; /usr/local/avamar/bin/mcserver.sh --start"
dpnctl: INFO: MCS started.
dpnctl: INFO: No /usr/local/avamar/var/dpn_service_status exist.

Optional: To monitor the progress, run with the tail -f command stated in the output.

3. Restart the backup scheduler by typing:

dpnctl start sched 

The results should be similar to the following:

Identity added: /home/admin/.ssh/admin_key (/home/admin/.ssh/admin_key)
dpnctl: INFO: Resuming backup scheduler...
dpnctl: INFO: Backup scheduler resumed.
dpnctl: INFO: No /usr/local/avamar/var/dpn_service_status exist. 

If MCS does not start, create a service request and provide the mcserver.out file.

If the MCS service is down and requires further investigation, create a service request and provide both the mcserver.out and x-mcserver.out file created in step 1 above.

• MCS cannot be backed-up or flushed if the grid is suspended.
• Restarting the MCS service on the Avamar grid clears out the history of the backup or replication jobs in the Activity Window of the Avamar console.
• If a backup or replication job is running when MCS is stopped, it can no longer be monitored in the UI once the service is restarted. Usually, jobs resume. However, the individual client logs must be accessed to confirm.
• Where possible, perform any controlled MCS restarts outside of the backup, replication, and maintenance windows.