NetWorker: How to Use the NetWorker nsrworkflow Command

Summary: How to use the NetWorker nsrworkflow command to start backups from the command line.

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Instructions

The nsrworkflow command is used to run a particular NetWorker workflow based on its definition in the NetWorker resources. Use this command to run a workflow as-is or with modified parameters to change its behavior from a standard run.

Open an Administrator command-prompt, or root shell on the NetWorker server. If you are unable to open an elevated prompt, use the NetWorker nsrlogin command to authenticate the session and allow NetWorker administration commands to be run. If you can access an elevated prompt, this is not required.

Local NetWorker user account: 
nsrlogin -u [username] -p [password]

External user account (Requires External Authority configuration in NetWorker)

nsrlogin -t [tenant name] -d [domain name] -u [username]

NOTE: When using nsrlogin to issue an authentication token, run nsrlogout once you are done performing NetWorker actions.


The nsrworkflow command is used to start a workflow and has several different options available.

Required parameters:

-p [policy]
-w [workflow]

Optional parameters:

-s [NetWorker server]
-D [debug level]
-R [ jobid | mostrecent | servercrash ]
-c [work items]
-A [action overrides] 
-a [adhoc mode settings]
-L [redirect workflow debug messages to /nsr/logs/policy/[policy]/

Usage examples:
Start a workflow using its standard parameters.

nsrworkflow -p [policy] -w [workflow] 
nsrworkflow -p Mona -w Mona_wf

Start a workflow in debug mode.

nsrworkflow -D9 -p [policy] -w [workflow]
nsrworkflow -D9 -p Newt -w newt1

Start a workflow only for specific items in the workflow.

nsrworkflow -p [policy] -w [workflow] -c [workitem]
nsrworkflow -p Mona -w Bokonon_wf -c vm-lego-231:/alice

Restart a failed workflow.

nsrworkflow -p [policy] -w [workflow] -R mostrecent 
nsrworkflow -p Zinka -w Zinka2_wf -R mostrecent

Start a workflow with one action override setting.

nsrworkflow -p [policy] -w [workflow] -A "[action] [command line flag for savegrp command]"
nsrworkflow -p Mona -w Bokonon_wf -A "backup -l full"

Start a workflow with two action override settings.

nsrworkflow -p [policy] -w [workflow] -A "[action] [command line flags for savegrp command]
nsrworkflow -p Mona -w Bokonon_wf  -A "backup -l full -y '3 days'"

Run a manual backup (run backup ignoring current action start time and level settings).

nsrworkflow -p [policy] -w [workflow] -A "[action] -l [level]" -a
nsrworkflow -p Mona -w Bokonon_wf -c vm-lego-231:/alice -A "backup -l incr" -a

Using nsrworkflow to debug a failing or unresponsive backup.

nsrworkflow -D9 -p [policy] -w [workflow] -c [workitem]
nsrworkflow -D9 -p Mona -w Bokonon_wf -c vm-lego-231:/alice

The backup logs can be found in the following location on the NetWorker server:

  • Linux: /nsr/logs/policy/POLICY_NAME/WORKFLOW_NAME
  • Windows (Default): C:\Program Files\EMC NetWorker\nsr\logs\policy\POLICY_NAME\WORKFLOW_NAME
Find the most recently updated files 
ls -lrt | tail -2 drwxr-xr-x. 2 
root root     74 Jan 19 14:39 backup_384706_logs
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 154814 Jan 19 14:39 backup_384706.raw
Read the raw file to see what is happening with the backup. 
nsr_render_log backup_384706.raw

Affected Products

NetWorker

Products

NetWorker, NetWorker Series
Article Properties
Article Number: 000009016
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 11 Sept 2025
Version:  5
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