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PowerProtect Data Manager 19.15 Microsoft SQL Server User Guide

Using the backup discovery tool for PowerProtect Data Manager management of existing backups

To enable the PowerProtect Data Manager management of existing backups after you have updated the Microsoft application agent or imported the current version, you must run the backup discovery tool, AgentBackupDiscovery.exe. Existing backups are Microsoft application agent backups that you performed before integrating the Microsoft application agent with the PowerProtect Data Manager software.

At the end of an update of the Microsoft application agent with the installer, the wizard displays a message about running the AgentBackupDiscovery.exe tool to discover existing backups and manage them in PowerProtect Data Manager software.

CAUTION:

Importing Microsoft SQL Server backup copies to PowerProtect Data Manager is supported only from backups that are performed with Microsoft application agent 4.7 and later.

Retention locking is not supported for discovered existing backups in PowerProtect Data Manager.

You cannot use the backup discovery tool to discover existing DD Boost-over-FC backups or 32-bit FCI instance backups.

If you delete a Microsoft SQL Server database before importing but the database backup copies exist on the DD system, then after importing, PowerProtect Data Manager will not manage those backup copies.

After you run the backup discovery tool, you can continue to use the existing backup scripts to perform the Microsoft application agent backups. Ensure that all the databases backed up with a particular script are added to a single protection policy. By default, the PowerProtect Data Manager overrides the DD details by using the storage unit from the protection policy. If you do not want the DD details to be overridden, use the -a "SKIP_DD_OVERRIDE=TRUE" option in the backup scripts.

To discover the existing backups by using the backup discovery tool, perform the following steps.

  1. In the Microsoft application agent installation directory, C:\Program Files\DPSAPPS\MSAPPAGENT\bin, run AgentBackupDiscovery.exe as the administrator.

    The Discovery of existing backups dialog box appears.

    NOTE:If the program does not start but displays the following message, an ongoing backup discovery process is running, as invoked by the PowerProtect Data Manager:
    Backup discovery is in progress. Please wait for it to complete.

    When the discovery process is complete, you can run the backup discovery tool.

  2. In the DD system list in the dialog box, select the appropriate DD IP address or hostname, storage unit, and username for the existing backups that you want the PowerProtect Data Manager software to discover.

    NOTE:Select only one storage unit at a time. After discovery is complete for the storage unit, you can run the backup discovery tool again to discover the backups of another storage unit.
  3. In the Client hostname field, you can change the client hostname from the default local hostname as needed.

    To enable the backup discovery for an AAG or FCI, you must specify the appropriate client hostname:

    • If the host is part of an AAG, specify the Windows cluster name.
    • If the host is part of a Microsoft SQL Server virtual server or FCI, specify the virtual server name.
  4. In the Backup discovery time period field, select the number of months for the time period, as the time in the past when the backups were performed. You can select 1 month, 2 months, or 3 months for the time period.
  5. In the Application field, select SQL as the application.
  6. After you have specified the required field values, click Generate.

    When the PowerProtect Data Manager software completes the generation of the backup metadata or breadcrumbs, the following message appears in the dialog box. Depending on the number of old backups, the generation of breadcrumbs can take some time:

    Breadcrumbs generated successfully.

The retention time for the discovered backup is the same as the expiration time set when the backup was taken.


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