Backing up planning to restore failed device.

[Dan Loring]

Can someone tell me the best procedure to backup and restore a WAAS device(274).  I have the device being backed by Symantec, but that is just a virtual device.  I'm assuming these devices are like routers and need there config file backed up as well??  What would be the best back up and restore plan if One of these devices fails??

[Bhavin Yadav]

Hi Dan,

On regular basis, the configs are stored on CM database for all the WAEs registered in the CM. If the WAE goes down, you can repalce it and restore the config from CM using this process:
Recovering WAAS Device Registration Information

However, truly said, WAEs are also like router. You can download the sh run / sh start and capture the output to save the config.

You can also use the method provided in the config guide here:

Backing Up and Restoring a WAE Device

Hope this helps.

Regards.

PS: Please mark this as Answered, if this answers your question.

[Dan Loring]

okay, so lets say we have a hardware failure at a remote site.  Can I have Cisco ship the replacement device to the remote site have someone plug it in and I will be able to restore a basic config from the CM, then I will be able to restore the blade from the backup tapes??  Having a little trouble visualizing if the chicken came first or the egg.

[Bhavin Yadav]

Hi Dan,

You can not backup the whole of the cache you have built in the unit. The backup is only for the config, not for the data.

CM has the config stored in its database so when you replace the device, you only need to put in some basic config like ip address and gateway to reach CM and then apply recovery process from CM as mentioned in the link I posted.

As a side note: There are no chickens to backup, we can only backup eggs. the reason might be - chickens are more sensitive and may not be alive / working if we restore / transpond them to new chamber !!!.

Regards.

[Dan Loring]

Ok, so that gets my config back on the device. I don't mean to beat a dead horse(sorry for all the animal references), but will Symantec backup see this as a device now and be able to restore  the server side of it???  Or is there a better way to restore the virtual server, is it as simple as copying a vmdk file once the config is back on??

[Bhavin Yadav]

Hi Dan,

Not sure how and what Symantec will do but from the virtualization perspective, it's a whole different story. I have not trired this any time but the vmdk file is all you need to backup the whole parition and restore it on new different server. The possible issues that you might face are : MAC addresses duplication and CMS registration. You will probably also need new license file for the new server installation.

Regards.

[Dan Loring]

Ok, so I got into the device manager and was able to backup the configs for all our 274 devices.  Now I would like to back up the 574(CM), also what is the recomended way to backup the blade(not sure if this is the correct terminology?) on the 274 devices?  I do not want to duplicate servers accross our environment I just want to have a backup ready to go in case a device goes down.  I see the instruction below to enable virtualization, once this is enabled is there a particular directory that I need to copy the virtual server to?

Enable the Virtual Blade feature on the selected device by clicking Admin > Virtualization -- General Settings, click the Enable  Virtualization check box, then click Submit

[Bhavin Yadav]

Hi Dan,

You can backup and restore virtual blade. Here is the link:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/app_ntwk_services/waas/waas/v431/configuration/guide/virtual.html#wp1051516

To backup CM, here is the process:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/app_ntwk_services/waas/waas/v431/configuration/guide/maint.html#wp1113704

Hope this is what you are looking for.

Regards.

[Dan Loring]

Great, thank you for all your help.  One last question how do I get to a command prompt on the CM to issue the the backup command?  Is there a port number that I need to telnet to?

[Bhavin Yadav · Accepted solution]

Hi Dan,

Just use plain telnet / putty using telnet port. By default telnet is ON.

Regards.

[Dan Loring]

Thanks! Putty did the trick.