Data Protection Advisor: When Exporting Database Receive Message "Unable to backup the Application server lockbox file"

A database export is deemed a valid backup of the Data Protection Advisor (DPA) datastore.

To run:

• Windows: 

<DPA install dir>\dpa\services\bin> dpa datastore export --debug

• Linux:  

<DPA install dir>/dpa/services/bin> ./dpa.sh datastore export --debug

A warning message appears upon completion of a database export. The warning is either output to the screen if debug command is used, or is seen in datastore.log

[DEBUG] Successfully backed up the Datastore lockbox file at: /opt/emc/dpa/dpa_backup/datastore-19_9_0_64-2023-12-04-2029/ds-lockbox-19_9_0_64-2023-12-04-2030.lb

[DEBUG] Successfully backed up the Lockbox configuration file at: /opt/emc/dpa/dpa_backup/datastore-19_9_0_64-2023-12-04-2029/lockbox-config-19_9_0_64-2023-12-04-2030.lb

[WARNING] Unable to backup the Application server lockbox file ,Please back it up along with DataStore Export to ensure Application Server lockbox is available post replication or disaster recovery.

The warning is not an issue.

The lockbox files on the datastore are automatically backed up when exporting a database. The above warning is a reminder that the backup must be done on the application server. This is a new recommendation in more recent code versions for precautionary measures.

As per the Admin Guide:

In DPA, a lockbox is essentially a collection of files where an encryption key, which is used for encrypting sensitive data is stored. The lockbox file containing the encryption key is secured with a password, which is encrypted and stored inside the file called lockbox.conf.

DPA has three lockbox-related files that are on the DPA application server. The files are:

/opt/emc/dpa/services/executive/application.lb

/opt/emc/dpa/services/executive/application.lb.FCD

/opt/emc/dpa/services/executive/lockbox.conf

These files are created during DPA installation, and the encryption keys are randomly generated every time that they are created. These files are not modified during upgrades.