PowerProtect Data Manager 19.15 SAP HANA User Guide

Add a protection policy for SAP HANA database protection

Use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to add a protection policy to protect the SAP HANA databases.

1. From the left navigation pane, select Protection > Protection Policies.
   The Protection Policies window appears.
2. In the Protection Policies window, click Add.
   The Add Policy wizard appears.
3. On the Type page, specify the following fields, and then click Next:
   • Name—Type a descriptive name for the protection policy.
   • Description—Type a description for the policy.
   • Type—Select SAP HANA.
4. On the Purpose page, select from the following options to indicate the purpose of the new protection policy group, and then click Next:

   • Centralized Protection—The backup is triggered according to the schedule. PowerProtect Data Manager manages all protection centrally.

   • Set Credentials—Click this option to specify the credentials. The Set Credentials dialog appears.

     NOTE:

     Policy-level credentials are mandatory. Credentials that you set at the asset level take precedence over the credentials that you set at the protection policy level. Asset-level credentials have the highest precedence.

     An SAP HANA instance can have one system database SYSTEMDB and multiple tenant databases. The SYSTEMDB database and each tenant database can have its own credentials. A tenant database can be backed up with either its own credentials or the SYSTEMDB credentials. Both the SYSTEMDB database and tenant databases support two types of credentials:

     • SAP HANA Database credentials, for which you must specify the database username and password.
     • SAP HANA Userkey credentials, for which you must specify the user key (created with hdbuserstore command) and OS username of the SAP HANA instance.

     In the Set Credentials dialog, the drop-down list includes all the credentials that are created for SAP HANA. You can select from the existing credentials, or you can create new credentials.

     To create new credentials, click Create New to open the Add Credentials dialog, where you can set the authentication type as either User Name/Password or User Key and then specify the credential values. For a tenant database, you can specify the credentials of either the SYSTEMDB database or the tenant database itself. When you specify the SYSTEMDB credentials for a tenant database, select the System Database check box; otherwise, clear the System Database check box and click Save.

   • Self-Service Protection—You trigger the backup manually from the SAP HANA server. PowerProtect Data Manager creates a protection policy and manages extra objectives.

   • Exclusion—Select this type if there are assets within the protection policy that you plan to exclude from data protection operations.
5. On the Assets page, select the unprotected assets that you want to add to the backup of this protection policy group. The window enables you to filter by asset name to locate the required assets.
   You can also change the assets view to display all assets that are discovered by PowerProtect Data Manager or a hierarchical view with the assets in a tree structure underneath the application host. For example, a hierarchical view might be helpful when you have added multiple SAP HANA databases, so that you can more easily identify which assets belong to which database.
6. Click Next.

   If you selected Exclusion on the Purpose page, the Summary page appears. Proceed to the final two steps.

   If you selected Centralized Protection or Self-Service Protection on the Purpose page, the Objectives page appears for creating the protection policy backup configuration.

7. Complete the required steps for the specified type of protection policy group:

   • For Centralized Protection:

     1. Click Add under Primary Backup.

        The Add Primary Backup dialog appears.

     2. On the Target pane of the Add Primary Backup dialog, specify the following fields:

        • Storage Name—Select a backup destination from the list of existing protection storage systems, or select Add to add a system and complete the details in the Storage Target dialog.

        • Storage Unit—Select whether this protection policy should use a New storage unit on the selected protection storage system, or select an existing storage unit from the list. Hover over a storage unit to view the full name and statistics for available capacity and total capacity, for example, testvmpolicy-ppdm-daily-123ab (300 GB/1 TB).

          When you select New, a new storage unit in the format policy name hostname unique identifier is created in the storage system upon policy completion, for example, testvmpolicy-ppdm-daily-123cd.

          NOTE:The Space field indicates the total amount of space, and the percentage of available space, on the storage system.
        • Network Interface—Select a network interface from the list, if applicable.

        • Retention Lock—Move the Retention Lock slider to the right to activate retention locking for these backups.

          The retention lock mode setting comes from the configuration of the selected storage unit. When you activate retention locking, the Retention Lock Mode field displays the corresponding storage unit setting.

          Setting a retention lock applies to the current backup copy only, and does not impact the retention lock setting for existing backup copies.

     3. On the Schedules pane of the Add Primary Backup dialog:

        1. To schedule the full backup of this protection policy, specify the following fields:

           • Create a Full backup every—Specify how often to create a full backup.

           • Retain for—Specify the retention period for the backup.

             NOTE:For database backups, PowerProtect Data Manager chains the dependent backups together. For example, the incremental or transaction log backups are chained to their base full backup. The backups do not expire until the last backup in the chain expires. This ensures that all incremental and transaction log backups are recoverable until they have all expired.

           • Start and End—The activity window. Specify a time of day to start the full backup, and a time of day after which backups cannot be started.

             NOTE:Any backups started before the End time occurs continue until completion.

        2. To add an incremental or differential backup, click Add backup and then specify the following fields to schedule the backup of this protection policy:

           NOTE:When you select this option, the backup chain is reset.

           • Create a <backup_type> backup every—For <backup_type>, select Incremental or Differential from the drop-down list, and then specify the interval at which the backup job runs within the window that you specify. The backup interval depends on the backup interval of the full backup schedule:

             • If the full backup schedule is hourly or daily, the backup interval of subsequent backup levels can be between 1 and 12 hours or between 1 and 60 minutes.
             • If the full backup schedule is weekly or monthly, the backup interval of subsequent backup levels can be daily, between 1 and 12 hours, or between 1 and 60 minutes.
             NOTE:

             An incremental backup backs up the data since the previous full, incremental, or differential backup.

             A differential backup backs up the data since the previous full backup.

             SAP HANA automatically performs the log backups and catalog backups. PowerProtect Data Manager refers to a catalog backup as an AUXILIARY BACKUP TYPE.

           • Retain for—Specify the retention period for the backup.

             CAUTION:If you set a shorter retention period for an incremental or differential backup than for the corresponding full backup, then data loss might occur and you might be unable to recover the point-in-time copies.
             NOTE:The retention time of the log backup is set to the retention time of the full backup.

           • Start and End—The activity window. Specify a time of day to start the backup, and a time of day after which backups cannot be started.

             NOTE:Any backups started before the End time occurs continue until completion.

        3. Click Add Backup and repeat the procedure for creating full backups if you want to create additional backup copies at different intervals with different retention periods.

           Within this protection policy, when a full schedule conflicts with another full backup schedule, a message appears, indicating that there is a conflict. Schedule occurrences can conflict with each other when the activity windows are identical or occur entirely within the same time range. To avoid full schedule conflicts in a policy, edit the activity windows. If you proceed with conflicting schedules, the backup of the lower priority schedule will be skipped. Schedule priority is ranked according to the following criteria:

           • Full schedules have a higher priority than Synthetic Full schedules.
           • For schedules of the same backup type, the schedules that run less frequently have a higher priority than schedules that run more frequently.
           • For schedules with the same backup type and frequency, the schedule with the longest activity window has the higher priority. If the activity windows are also identical, only one of these schedules will run.
           NOTE:When a schedule conflict between full backups occurs, PowerProtect Data Manager runs the full backup with the longest retention period.

     4. Click Save to save the changes and return to the Objectives page.

        The Objectives page updates to display the name of the target storage system under Primary Backup.

        After completing the objective, you can change any details by clicking Edit next to the objective.

   • For Self-Service Protection:

     1. Click Add under Primary Retention.

        The Add Primary Retention dialog appears.

     2. On the Target pane of the Add Primary Retention dialog, specify the following fields:

        • Storage Name—Select a backup destination from the list of existing protection storage systems, or select Add to add a system and complete the details in the Storage Target dialog.

        • Storage Unit—Select whether this protection policy should use a New storage unit on the selected protection storage system, or select an existing storage unit from the list. Hover over a storage unit to view the full name and statistics for available capacity and total capacity, for example, testvmpolicy-ppdm-daily-123ab (300 GB/1 TB).

          When you select New, a new storage unit in the format policy name hostname unique identifier is created in the storage system upon policy completion, for example, testvmpolicy-ppdm-daily-123cd.

          NOTE:The Space field indicates the total amount of space, and the percentage of available space, on the storage system.
        • Network Interface—Select a network interface from the list, if applicable.

        • Retention Lock—Move the Retention Lock slider to the right to activate retention locking for these backups.

          The retention lock mode setting comes from the configuration of the selected storage unit. When you activate retention locking, the Retention Lock Mode field displays the corresponding storage unit setting.

          Setting a retention lock applies to the current backup copy only, and does not impact the retention lock setting for existing backup copies.

     3. On the Retention (Self Service) pane of the Add Primary Retention dialog, change any required retention times.

        CAUTION:If you set a shorter retention period for an incremental or differential backup than for the corresponding full backup, then data loss might occur and you might be unable to recover the point-in-time copies.

        By default, all backup types have the same retention time. To change the retention times for specific backup types, clear Set the same retention time for all backup types and change the Retain <backup_type> For field values as required.

        When a different retention time for all backup types is set, you can create additional full backup patterns with different retention times. For example, you can add a full backup pattern Retain full backups created every week on the Monday and Tuesday for 2 months.

        NOTE:The retention time of the log backup is set to the retention time of the full backup.

     4. Click Save to save the changes and return to the Objectives page.

        The Objectives page updates to display the name of the target storage system under Primary Retention.

        After completing the objective, you can change any details by clicking Edit next to the objective.

8. Optionally, replicate the backups:
   NOTE:

   To enable replication, ensure that you add remote protection storage as the replication location. The PowerProtect Data Manager Administrator Guide provides detailed instructions about adding remote protection storage.

   When creating multiple replicas for the same protection policy, it is recommended to select a different storage system for each copy. If you select a storage unit that is the target of another objective for the same policy, the UI issues a warning. The PowerProtect Data Manager Administrator Guide provides information about replicating to shared protection storage to support PowerProtect Cyber Recovery. Verify the storage targets and the use case before you continue.

   When you create a replication objective, you can specify either scheduled replication or replication after backup completion.

   NOTE:For replication after backup completion, it is recommended that you update the application agents to the latest version.

   Depending on the type of backup, the following versions are required to ensure that replication occurs immediately after the backups complete:

   • For self-service primary backups, update all application agents to PowerProtect Data Manager version 19.12 or later.
   • For centralized primary backups, update all application agents to PowerProtect Data Manager version 19.11 or later.

   If you want to replicate only specific backups, perform a manual replication of these backups in advance.

   The retention time of the log backup is set to the retention time of the full backup.

   1. Click Replicate next to Primary Backup or Primary Retention. An entry for Replicate is created to the right of the primary backup objective.
   2. Under Replicate, click Add.
      The Add Replication dialog appears, with information in the left pane for each schedule that has been added for the primary backup objective of this protection policy.

      NOTE:Backups for all of the listed schedules will be replicated. You cannot select individual schedules for replication.
   3. Select a storage target:
      • Storage Name—Select a backup destination from the list of existing protection storage systems, or select Add to add a system and complete the details in the Storage Target dialog.
      • Storage Unit—Select an existing storage unit on the protection storage system. Or, select New to automatically create a storage unit.
      • Network Interface—Select a network interface from the list, if applicable.

      • Retention Lock—Move the Retention Lock slider to the right to activate retention locking for these replicas.

        The retention lock mode setting comes from the configuration of the selected storage unit. When you activate retention locking, the Retention Lock Mode field displays the corresponding storage unit setting.

      • SLA—Select an existing replication service level agreement that you want to apply to this schedule from the list. Or, select Add to create a replication SLA within the Add Service Level Agreement wizard.

      The PowerProtect Data Manager Administrator Guide provides more information about replication targets, such as SLAs.

   4. Select when to replicate the backups:

      Replication triggers provides more information.

      • To replicate after the backup finishes, move the Replicate immediately upon backup completion slider to on.

      • For scheduled replication, move the Replicate immediately upon backup completion slider to off, and then complete the schedule details in the Add Replication dialog.

        For replication of the primary backup, the schedule frequency can be every day, week, month, or x hours.

        For daily, weekly, and monthly schedules, the numeric value cannot be modified. For hourly, however, you can edit the numeric value. For example, if you set Create a Full backup every 4 hours, you can set a value of anywhere from 1 to 12 hours.

      By default, all replicas of the primary backup objective inherit the retention period from the Retain For value of the synthetic full and full backup schedules.

   5. To specify a different retention period for individual synthetic full and full replicas, clear Set the same retention time for all replicated copies, click Edit in the row of each schedule that you want to change, update the value in the Retain For field, and then click Save.
      CAUTION:Setting a retention period for the replicas of other backup types (such as log backups, incremental, and differential backups, where applicable) that is shorter than the retention period of the corresponding full backup may result in being unable to recover from those replicas.
   6. Click Save to save your changes and return to the Objectives page.
9. Optionally, to move backups from protection storage to Cloud Tier, add a Cloud objective for the primary or replication objective:
   NOTE:To move a backup or replica to Cloud Tier, objectives must have a retention time of 14 days or more. PowerProtect Data Manager also requires the discovery of protection storage with a configured Cloud unit.
   1. Click Cloud Tier next to Primary Backup or Primary Retention. Or, if adding a Cloud objective for a replication objective that you have added, click Cloud Tier under Replicate.
      An entry for Cloud Tier is created to the right of the primary objective, or below the replication objective.
   2. Under the entry for Cloud Tier, click Add.
      The Add Cloud Tier Backup dialog appears, with summary information for the parent objective to indicate whether you are adding this Cloud Tier objective for the primary objective or the replication objective.
   3. Keep the All applicable full backups slider to the right if you want to tier the backups from all of the full primary backup or replication schedules of this policy. Otherwise, move the slider to the left and select the full schedule(s) that you want to tier.
      NOTE:If the retention period of a schedule is less than the minimum 14 days required before tiering occurs, or is less than the value in the Tier After field, you can still select this schedule for tiering. However, if you do not edit the retention period of this schedule or its backup or replication copy to a value greater than the Tier After field before the retention period of the copy expires, the backup or replication copy of this schedule will not be cloud tiered.
   4. Complete the objective details in the Add Cloud Tier Backup dialog, and then click Save to save your changes and return to the Objectives page.
      The PowerProtect Data Manager Administrator Guide provides detailed instructions for adding a Cloud objective for a primary or replication objective.
10. Click Next.
    The Options page appears.
11. On the Options page, select the additional option if required for the policy:
    • Troubleshooting—Select this option to enable the debug logs for troubleshooting purposes.

    When you set the troubleshooting option, ensure that you also set the DEBUG_LEVEL and DPRINTF parameters in the configuration file /usr/sap/<SID>/SYS/global/ppdmconfig/<SID>_<database_name>_data_user.utl, as described in Modify the configuration file parameter settings.

    To enable logging by the ddbmcon program, create the file /opt/dpsapps/dbappagent/tmp/.ddbmcon.debug.

12. Click Next.
    The Summary page appears.
13. Review the protection policy group configuration details. You can click Edit next to any completed window's details to change any information. When completed, click Finish.
    An informational message appears to confirm that PowerProtect Data Manager has saved the protection policy. When the new protection policy group is created, PowerProtect Data Manager automatically performs a full backup. Subsequent backups are performed according to the schedule specified.
14. Click OK to exit the window, or click Go to Jobs to open the Jobs window to monitor the backup of the new protection policy group.

    You can monitor and view detailed information in the Jobs window for both centralized and self-service backups and restores of database application agents.

    NOTE:

    The Cancel and Retry options are not available for self-service jobs that are created by database application agents.

    The Jobs window does not display the system database recovery statistics for an MDC configuration or the SDC recovery statistics because the databases are inaccessible during the restores.

    When a backup fails or a backup is skipped, a particular backup job step appears as canceled, depending on which step failed or was skipped for a particular database. The backup job steps are displayed on the Step Log tab in the details section of the Job ID Summary window.