Avamar: "mccli backup validate" Command Does Not Work for VMware Image Backup

The Management Console Command Line Interface(MCCLI) backup validate does not work when using VMware image backup.

The mccli backup validate starts:

admin@av-server:~/>: mccli backup validate --name=/vCenterProd/VirtualMachines/VM-Prod-01 --labelNum=10 --plugin=1016
0,22315,client validate scheduled
Attribute   Value
----------- ----------------------------------------------------
client      /vCenterProd/VirtualMachines/VM-Prod-01
activity-id 9172719295543209
admin@av-server:~/>:

The validated job remains in Waiting-Client until it Timed Out - Start:

admin@av-server:~/>: mccli activity show | grep Timed | grep Validate
9172719295543209 Timed Out - Start        0          2024-09-24 10:49 CDT 00h:09m:56s 2024-09-24 10:59 CDT Validate                0 bytes        0%              VM-Prod-01_NqZVjpzBOs6dD9iX6AhgIA /vCenterProd/VirtualMachines
admin@av-server:~/>:

This feature works for other types of backups.

Example of Linux file system backup:

admin@av-server:~/>: mccli backup validate --name=/clients/linux-prod.lab.com --labelNum=7 --plugin=1001
0,22315,client validate scheduled
Attribute   Value
----------- ---------------------------------------------
client      /clients/linux-prod.lab.com
activity-id 9173376417059609
admin@av-server:~/>:


admin@av-server:~/>: mccli activity show | grep Validate
9173376417059609 Completed 0          2024-12-09 11:09 CST 00h:00m:55s 2024-12-09 11:10 CST Validate           68.4 MB        0.2%            linux-prod.lab.com /clients
admin@av-server:~/>:

VMware image backup requires additional information for backup validation to function properly. However, mccli does not support the inclusion of extra parameters.

Use the Avamar User Interface (AUI) or Avamar Administrator console (UI) to validate VMware image backup.

Another solution is using the avtar validate command.

1. Collect the client name and the backup label number.

2. Log in to the Avamar server as admin.

3. Run the validate command:

   avtar --validate --labelnum=<backup label number> --acnt=<client fully qualified name>

   Example:

   admin@av-server:~/>: avtar --validate --labelnum=2 --acnt=/clients/vCenter1/esctest_LKar3Z6AMGWcRP1mSd8kjg
   avtar Info <5551>: Command Line: /usr/local/avamar/bin/avtar.bin --flagfile=/usr/local/avamar/etc/usersettings.cfg --server=av-server --vardir=/usr/local/avamar/var --bindir=/usr/local/avamar/bin --id=root --password=**************** --vardir=/usr/local/avamar/var --bindir=/usr/local/avamar/bin --sysdir=/usr/local/avamar/etc --validate --sequencenumber=2 --account=/clients/vCenter1/esctest_LKar3Z6AMGWcRP1mSd8kjg
   avtar Info <7977>: Starting at 2024-11-19 17:29:42 IST [avtar Dec  8 2023 07:07:43 19.10.100-135 Linux-x86_64]
   avtar Info <6555>: Initializing connection
   avtar Info <5552>: Connecting to Avamar Server (av-server)
   avtar Info <5554>: Connecting to one node in each datacenter
   avtar Info <5583>: Login User: "root", Domain: "default", Account: "/clients/vCenter1/esctest_LKar3Z6AMGWcRP1mSd8kjg"
   avtar Info <5580>: Logging in on connection 0 (server 0)
   avtar Info <5582>: Avamar Server login successful
   avtar Info <10632>: Using Client-ID='00be5081c15db98be5f496754fb9ae970509ef05'
   avtar Info <5550>: Successfully logged into Avamar Server [19.10.0-135]
   avtar Info <5295>: Starting validate at 2024-11-19 17:29:42 IST as "admin" on "av-server.lab.com" (2 CPUs) [19.10.100-135]
   avtar Info <41359>: Backup #2 had been created by avtar version 19.10.100-135 as plugin 3016-VMWare Image
   avtar Info <5949>: Backup file system character encoding is UTF-8.
   avtar Info <8745>: Backup from Linux host "/clients/vCenter1/esctest_LKar3Z6AMGWcRP1mSd8kjg" (a4t134.lab.com) with plugin 3016 - Windows VMWare Image
   avtar Info <5538>: Backup #2 label "MOD-1731919024567#1" timestamp 2024-11-18 14:09:38 IST, 0 files, 40.00 GB
   avtar Info <40107>: Validating location information
   avtar Info <40121>: Checking location information
   avtar Info <5262>: Validate completed
   avtar Info <7924>: Examined selection(s) with 40.00 GB (8 files, 3 directories) in 0.34 minutes: 7,093 GB/hour
   avtar Info <7883>: Finished at 2024-11-19 17:30:03 IST, Elapsed time: 0000h:00m:20s
   avtar Info <6645>: Not sending wrapup anywhere.
   avtar Info <5314>: Command completed (exit code 0: success)
   admin@av-server:~/>: