Commvault® Education

Services
Commvault®
Professional
Foundations
Student Guide
Copyright
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©1999-2021 Commvault Systems, Inc. All rights reserved

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For comments, corrections, or recommendations for additional content,

contact: [email protected]

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Contents
Commvault® Professional Foundations................................................................................................................................... 8
Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Commvault® Professional Foundations Course............................................................................................................. 10
Course Overview ........................................................................................................................................................... 11
Education Advantage ..................................................................................................................................................... 12
Class Resources ............................................................................................................................................................ 13
Commvault Education Career Path ............................................................................................................................... 14
Commvault® On-Demand Learning ............................................................................................................................... 15
Education Services V11 Certification............................................................................................................................. 16
Cloud Resources ........................................................................................................................................................... 18
Module 1 – CommCell® Environment.................................................................................................................................... 19
CommCell® Overview ........................................................................................................................................................ 19
Commvault® Software Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 20
Content Store ................................................................................................................................................................. 23
Physical Architecture ..................................................................................................................................................... 24
Logical Architecture ....................................................................................................................................................... 27
Product Lines ..................................................................................................................................................................... 28
Protect, Activate, Orchestrate ........................................................................................................................................ 29
Commvault Command Center Console ......................................................................................................................... 30
Protect – Commvault Complete™ Backup and Recovery ............................................................................................. 32
Protect – Commvault Complete™ Backup and Recovery Functions ............................................................................ 33
Commvault Activate™ - Data Management .................................................................................................................. 34
Commvault Activate™ - Data Management Functions .................................................................................................. 35
Commvault® Disaster Recovery..................................................................................................................................... 36
Commvault® Disaster Recovery Functions .................................................................................................................... 37
Commvault Command Center™ Core Setup..................................................................................................................... 38
Download Commvault® Software ................................................................................................................................... 39
Guided setup .................................................................................................................................................................. 44
Commvault® Command Center Navigation ....................................................................................................................... 52
Navigation Overview ...................................................................................................................................................... 53
Navigating the Commvault Command Center ............................................................................................................... 54
Features............................................................................................................................................................................. 82
Features Overview ......................................................................................................................................................... 83
Commvault Command Center™ Customization .............................................................................................................. 103
Customize Views ......................................................................................................................................................... 104
Customize Navigation .................................................................................................................................................. 111
Customize Theme ........................................................................................................................................................ 114
Provide Feedback ........................................................................................................................................................ 126

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CommCell® Core Components ........................................................................................................................................ 129

CommServe® Server .................................................................................................................................................... 130
CommServe® DR Backups .......................................................................................................................................... 132
MediaAgent .................................................................................................................................................................. 142
Module 2 - Storage Configuration ....................................................................................................................................... 149
Storage Overview ............................................................................................................................................................ 150
Disk Storage .................................................................................................................................................................... 151
Disk Storage Design .................................................................................................................................................... 152
Adding Local or Network Disk as Storage ................................................................................................................... 155
Cloud Storage .................................................................................................................................................................. 169
Cloud Storage Design .................................................................................................................................................. 170
Adding Cloud Storage .................................................................................................................................................. 171
Deduplication ................................................................................................................................................................... 174
Deduplication Overview ............................................................................................................................................... 175
Enabling Deduplication ................................................................................................................................................ 179
Tape Storage ................................................................................................................................................................... 184
Tape Storage Design ................................................................................................................................................... 185
Adding Tape Storage ................................................................................................................................................... 187
Module 3 – Security ............................................................................................................................................................ 191
Users Security ................................................................................................................................................................. 192
Companies ................................................................................................................................................................... 193
Role Based Security .................................................................................................................................................... 197
Users ............................................................................................................................................................................ 198
Roles ............................................................................................................................................................................ 208
Security Associations ................................................................................................................................................... 216
Network Topologies ......................................................................................................................................................... 222
Network Topologies Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 223
Automatic Tunneling .................................................................................................................................................... 225
Restricted Network Topology ....................................................................................................................................... 227
Blocked Network Topology .......................................................................................................................................... 228
Network Gateway Topology ......................................................................................................................................... 229
Configuring a Network Topology ................................................................................................................................. 230
Module 4 – Servers and Features ....................................................................................................................................... 233
Servers and Server Groups ............................................................................................................................................. 234
Server Administration Overview .................................................................................................................................. 235
Server Administrative Tasks ........................................................................................................................................ 238
Server Groups .............................................................................................................................................................. 245
Agent Deployment ........................................................................................................................................................... 253
Agent Deployment Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 254

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Files and Network Storage Protection ............................................................................................................................. 259

File System and OS Protection .................................................................................................................................... 260
Operating System File Protection ................................................................................................................................ 261
Network File Protection ................................................................................................................................................ 262
Subclient Overview ...................................................................................................................................................... 263
Virtual Machines Protection ............................................................................................................................................. 277
Virtualization Overview ................................................................................................................................................ 278
Add a Hypervisor ......................................................................................................................................................... 285
Virtual Machine Backups ............................................................................................................................................. 299
Recovery using the Virtual Server Agent ..................................................................................................................... 304
Cross Platform Recovery ............................................................................................................................................. 314
Database Protection ........................................................................................................................................................ 315
Database Protection Overview .................................................................................................................................... 316
Database Recovery ..................................................................................................................................................... 328
Module 5 – Data Management ............................................................................................................................................ 332
Plans ................................................................................................................................................................................ 333
Plans Overview ............................................................................................................................................................ 334
Configure a Server Plan............................................................................................................................................... 336
Data Protection ................................................................................................................................................................ 353
Data Protection Methods ............................................................................................................................................. 354
Index vs. Non-Index vs. Live Browse Jobs .................................................................................................................. 359
Backup Types .............................................................................................................................................................. 362
File System Manual Backup ........................................................................................................................................ 366
Data Recovery ................................................................................................................................................................. 370
Data Recovery ............................................................................................................................................................. 371
Job Management ............................................................................................................................................................. 377
Managing Active Jobs .................................................................................................................................................. 378
Job Activity Control ...................................................................................................................................................... 392
Blackout Windows........................................................................................................................................................ 398
Module 6 - Monitoring ......................................................................................................................................................... 403
Views ............................................................................................................................................................................... 404
Dashboards .................................................................................................................................................................. 405
Jobs View ..................................................................................................................................................................... 407
Event View ................................................................................................................................................................... 408
Alerts................................................................................................................................................................................ 409
Alerts View ................................................................................................................................................................... 410
Reports ............................................................................................................................................................................ 420
Reports View ................................................................................................................................................................ 421
Health Reports ............................................................................................................................................................. 432

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Support ............................................................................................................................................................................ 433

Creating Service Tickets .............................................................................................................................................. 434
Thank You ........................................................................................................................................................................... 438

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COMMVAULT® PROFESSIONAL FOUNDATIONS

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INTRODUCTION

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Commvault® Professional Foundations Course

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Course Overview

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Education Advantage
The Commvault® Education Advantage product training portal contains a set of powerful tools to enable Commvault
customers and partners to better educate themselves on the use of the Commvault software suite. The portal includes:

 Training Self-Assessment Tools

 Curriculum Guidance based on your Role in your Commvault Enterprise
 Management of your Commvault Certifications
 Access to Practice Exams and Certification Preparation Tools
 And more!

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Class Resources
Course manuals and activity guides are available for download for Instructor-Led Training (ILT) and Virtual Instructor-Led
Training (vILT) courses. It is recommended to download these documents the day prior to attending class to ensure the
latest document versions are being used.

Self-paced eLearning courses can be launched directly from the EA page. If an eLearning course is part of an ILT or vILT
course, it is a required prerequisite and should be viewed prior to attending class.

If an ILT or vILT class will be using the Commvault® Virtual Lab environment, a button will be used to launch the lab on
the first day of class.

Commvault® certification exams can be launched directly from the EA page. If you are automatically registered for an
exam as part of an ILT or vILT course, it will be available on the final day of class. There is no time limit on when the
exams need to be taken, but it is recommended to take them as soon as you feel you are ready.

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Commvault Education Career Path

The Commvault platform leapfrogs legacy solutions in capabilities and functionality fully modernizing the performance,
security, compliance, and economic benefits of a holistic data management strategy. The key concepts covered in this
first step learning module highlight the core features of the newest platform. To realize the full value of these features,
Commvault provides multiple levels of education and certification from core training, through specialized learning
sessions, from introductory modules for those new to Commvault to expert level training for Commvault power-users.

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Commvault® On-Demand Learning

Commvault On-Demand Learning offers an array of digital learning assets, selected virtual instructor-led events and other
learning development tools. With an annual subscription, you have continuous access to hundreds of hours of on-demand
learning, over a thousand pages of content and more than a hundred technical training videos. Content is created by
seasoned Commvault experts and updates are posted weekly so you can be sure you can take advantage of the full
breadth of the Commvault data platform when you need it.

Commvault On-Demand Learning is a convenient, flexible, and cost-effective training solution that gives you the tools to
keep a step ahead of your company’s digital transformation initiatives. You and your company will benefit by:

 Learning just what you need, when you need it

 Accessing exclusive expert sessions and on-demand content
 Receiving knowledge updates from Commvault experts in near real-time
 Building skillsets that can be applied to Commvault certification
 Applying knowledge and seeing impact immediately.

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Education Services V11 Certification

Commvault's Certification Program validates expertise and advanced knowledge in topics, including Commvault®
Professional, Engineer and Expert-level technologies. Certification is a valuable investment for both a company and the IT
professional. Certified personnel can increase a company's productivity, reduce operating costs, and increase potential for
personal career advancement.

Commvault's Certification Program offers Professional-level, Engineer-level, and Expert-level certifications. This Program
provides certification based on a career path, and enables advancement based on an individual’s previous experience
and area of focus. It also distinguishes higher-level certifications such as Engineer and Expert from lower-level
certification as a verified proof of expertise.

Key Points

 Certification is integrated with and managed through Commvault's online registration in the Education Advantage
Customer Portal.
 Cost of certification registration is included in the associated training course.
 Practice assessments are available at ea.commvault.com.
 Students may take the online certification exam(s) any time after completing the course.
 Although it is recommended to attend training prior to attempting an exam, it is not required.

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Commvault Version 11 Certification Exams

Exams available for Commvault Version 11:

 Commvault® Professional Foundations 2020 Exam

 Commvault® Professional Advanced 2020 Exam
 Commvault® Professional 2020 Update Exam
 Commvault® Engineer 2020 Exam
 Commvault® Engineer 2020 Update Exam
 Commvault® Expert 2020 Exam
 Commvault® Expert 2020 Update Exam

Commvault® Certified Professional 2020

A Commvault® Certified Professional certification validates the skills required to install, configure, and administer a
CommCell® environment using both the CommCell console and Commvault Command CenterTM. It proves a professional
level skillset in the following areas:

 CommCell Administration – user and group security, configuring administrative tasks, conducting data protection
and recovery operations, and CommCell monitoring.
 Storage Administration – deduplication configuration, disk library settings, tape library settings, media
management handling, and snapshot administration.
 CommCell Implementation – CommServe® server design, MediaAgent design and placement, indexing settings,
client and agent deployment, and CommCell maintenance.
Certification status as a Commvault Certified Professional requires passing the Commvault® Certified Professional Exam.

Commvault® Certified Engineer 2020

A Commvault Certified Engineer validates advanced level skills in designing and implementing Commvault software.

 Engineer – this exam validates expertise in deploying medium and enterprise level CommCell® environments
with a focus on storage design, virtual environment protection, and application data protection strategies.
Certification status as a Commvault Certified Engineer requires certification as a Commvault Certified Professional and
passing the Advanced Infrastructure Design exam.

Commvault® Certified Expert 2020

A Commvault Certified Expert validates expert level skills in specific areas of expertise. This is the highest achievable
level of certification.

Certification status as a Commvault Certified Expert requires certification as both a Commvault Certified Professional and
Certified Engineer, and successful completion of Expert certification requirements. These Expert certification requirements
include attending the Expert class and passing the Expert Certification exam.

Additional benefits of attaining the Expert Certification include:

 Opportunity to attend free invitation only training events

 Opportunity to attend free beta and early release training courses
 Special benefits when attending Commvault GOTM conferences

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Cloud Resources
The site http://cloud.commvault.com provides additional resources to help you manage and maintain a Commvault®
installation.

 Download Center section – lets you download service packs, hot fixes, and binaries for new installations.
 Documentation section – provides a link to the documentation which is updated for each service pack
 Forms and Store sections – allows new features and components like workflow or custom reports to be
downloaded and installed into an existing installation.

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MODULE 1 – COMMCELL® ENVIRONMENT

CommCell® Overview

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Commvault® Software Introduction

The Commvault® platform fundamentally redefines data protection, archiving, and cloud data management by creating an
all-inclusive platform that incorporates 'application aware' functionality, significantly reduced backup windows, and instant
data recovery. Through advanced data analytics, block-level intelligence, robust automation, and orchestration
capabilities, Commvault® software helps customers of all sizes transform from traditional legacy and point products to
modern hyper-converged infrastructure.

Commvault® platform overview

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Where Commvault Fits in your Environment

How does the Commvault® platform enable your enterprise to be successful in its transformation to a services-oriented
architecture? Consider legacy and point products which focus on traditional protection methods such as tape and disk
storage with off-site copies for disaster recovery purposes. These solutions may lack complexity, but in a modern world,
they fail to align with the overall realities of a modern IT infrastructure.

Data management is only as valuable as the effective ability to access the data. High availability solutions including
clustering, replication, snapshots, and virtualization provide added value through quick recovery times and more frequent
recovery points. The complexity to manage all of these solutions, however, increases without a centralized management
system.

Cloud solutions enhance high availability and disaster recovery, but even though the platform is still sufficiently "new,"
there is a lack of standards on information management and protection.

Commvault® software overcomes the complexity in managing data protection and data access through its platform. The
industry's largest supported number of hardware vendors, cloud providers, and virtualization solutions are all managed
through Commvault's central platform improving data availability and recovery times.

Data protection and access, however, only tell a portion of the story. The ability to share data across all devices, including
mobile Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) devices and endpoint access from any system that uses native applications such
as Windows Explorer, Outlook, or standard web browsers, should be ubiquitous for end users. Commvault software
provides all these capabilities with intuitive end-user features.

Finally, for many organizations, especially those with hybrid data services with content in the data center, as well as
hosted or As a Service, compliance of managed data may be the most complex solution to implement, but it provides the
highest value. Intelligent legal holds, records management, analytics, eDiscovery, and data loss prevention are all
centrally managed through the Commvault® platform.

Commvault software capabilities

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Commvault® Software Overview

Commvault® software streamlines all data and information management operations within a centralized platform. This
platform functions at the core of Commvault - integrating software components that protect, store, index, and retrieve
data. The indexing layer provides seamless access to data regardless of where the data is stored. Administrators manage
backend functions such as backup and recovery, scheduling, and monitoring using a single user interface. End users can
access protected data using web browsers, or perform tasks using their mobile device. Comprehensive enterprise
reporting capabilities and automation using the Workflow engine and REST APIs provide a complete and powerful
software solution.

Commvault comprises the following data and information management capabilities:

 Data Access – Documents and messages are retrieved seamlessly from mobile devices, web pages, and native
application tools.
 Storage – Data is protected and stored on disk, tape, and cloud storage locations. Advanced features such as
deduplication to disk and tape, job and object retention, and independent multiple copy management are used to
meet all Disaster Recovery (DR) and compliance requirements.
 Indexing – A distributed self-protecting indexing structure maintains metadata information for all protected data.
Additionally, content indexing is used to provide detailed content searches for files and email.
 Data Protection – File system and application agents are deployed to production systems to protect all major
operating systems and applications.
 Administration – Administrative tasks are centrally managed through a single administrative interface. Tasks can
also be performed from mobile devices and web pages.
 Management – All activity is centrally controlled and managed using a common code base. Whether using
traditional backups, replication, archiving, or snapshots to protect physical or virtual environments; the same core
technology is used to provide a solid and flexible management platform.
The Commvault® platform provides a fully integrated software suite guaranteeing flexibility in infrastructure, platform,
compute, and storage providers.

Commvault software high-level concept

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Content Store
The Commvault® platform structures all managed data in virtual containers using the Content Store. The content store is a
storage abstraction that allows for data that resides within it to be viewed as a single entity, no matter where that data is
otherwise stored.

Data in the Content Store is protected and retained in the 'storage layer.' Functionality, including deduplication, archiving,
hardware snapshot management, and FIPS certified encryption, securely protects data to disk, tape and cloud storage.
Protected data is replicated, mirrored, and synchronized to secondary storage devices for near instant access.

The 'indexing layer' of the Content Store maintains 'lightweight metadata' indices for object management and retrieval, as
well as 'content indices' for end user and compliance searches.

All protected data and indices are accessed through the 'security layer,' which features full role-based access control
security. Commvault security provides granular access control and distributed security roles, allowing users access only to
what they need and managers to assign permissions to their groups.

Access is granted to users to retrieve or restore data using web consoles, mobile devices and endpoint applications.
Compliance tools include content-based eDiscovery, Case Manager, Legal Hold, and data analytics. All data managed in
the Content Store is sharable through the 'security layer' and accessed from the Commvault Command CenterTM,
CommCell® console or any number of secure endpoints.

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Physical Architecture
Commvault® software is deployed in a cell-like structure called a CommCell® environment. One or more cells can be
deployed to manage small to enterprise global environments. Consider the following advantages and disadvantages when
planning for a single cell or multi-cell structure.

Design Type Advantages Disadvantages

Single CommCell Provides central management. If the central site hosting the CommServe server goes
environment offline, all data management activities will be disrupted.
Allows data to easily be restored
across all sites.

Multi-CommCell Provides full autonomy and Cross-site restore operations are more complicated if
environment resiliency. each site is its own CommCell structure.

Allows each IT group to

independently manage their
environment.

The central component of a CommCell environment is the CommServe® server which coordinates, manages and monitors
all CommCell activity. Production data is protected by installing agents which directly communicate with the operating
system or application being protected. Any production server with an agent installed is referred to as a client. Data is
protected by transferring data through MediaAgents to storage, which can be disk, cloud or tape.

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CommServe® Server
The CommServe® Server is the central management system within a CommCell® environment. All activity is coordinated
and managed by the CommServe server. The CommServe server runs on a Windows platform and maintains a Microsoft
SQL metadata database. This database contains all critical configuration information. It is important to note that
Commvault® software does not use a centralized catalog system like most other backup products. This means the
metadata database on the CommServe server will be considerably smaller than databases that contain catalog data. Due
to the small size of the database, an automated backup of the database is executed by default every morning at 10:00
AM.

CommServe® server high level diagram

MediaAgents
A MediaAgent moves data from production systems to protected storage during data protection jobs and moves data back
to production systems during recovery operations. It is a software module that can be installed on most operating
systems. All tasks are coordinated by the CommServe® server. MediaAgents are also used during auxiliary copy jobs
when data is copied from a source library to a destination library such as off-site Disaster Recovery (DR) copies.

There is a basic rule that all data must travel through a MediaAgent to reach its destination. One exception to this rule is
when conducting Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) dumps directly to tape media. In this case the MediaAgent
is used to execute the NDMP dump and no data will travel through the MediaAgent. This rule is important to note as it will
affect MediaAgent placement.

Storage
Disk
A disk device is a logical container which is used to define one or more paths to storage called backup locations, or mount
paths. These paths are defined explicitly to the location of the storage and can be defined as a drive letter or a UNC path.
Within each mount path, writers are allocated, which defines the total number of concurrent streams for the mount path.

Tape
A tape unit or removable media library is a storage device where media can be added, removed and moved between
multiple units. The term removable media is used to specify various types of removable media supported by
Commvault® software including tape and USB disk drives, which can be moved between MediaAgents for data protection
and recovery operations.

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Cloud
A cloud storage device is cost-effective storage that reduces the need to maintain hardware resources, such as tape or
disk storage devices. It also provides the ability to easily increase your storage capacity when required. Cloud storage
provides centralized data access, better failover capabilities and reduces the day-to-day storage administration tasks.

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Logical Architecture
Commvault® software logically manages data by containerizing production data, moving the data through logical streams,
and managing protected data using plans.

Client Servers and Agents

A client server is any production system that is protected by Commvault® software. Client servers use agents to protect
the production data by installing the agent directly on the server or using an access node to protect the data. When an
agent is deployed to a, the client server appears in the Server section of the Commvault Command CenterTM or under the
Clients entity in the CommCell® Browser.

Agents can be deployed in several ways:

 Physical clients can have agents installed directly on them.

 Virtual clients can have agents installed directly on them or protected by the Virtual Server Agent (VSA) which
would be installed on a physical or virtual access node.
 Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices, which cannot have software installed directly on them, are managed
and protected by installing NAS agents on access nodes.

Backup Sets and Subclients

A backup set is a master container which manages all data the agent is responsible to protect. Subclients define data that
will be protected and how it will be protected. Each subclient container manages specific content within a backup set.
Each backup set can have one or more subclients.

Plans
The Commvault® software suite offers a wide range of features and options to provide great flexibility in configuring and
managing protected data. Protection capabilities such as standard backup, snapshots, archiving and replication can all be
incorporated in a single environment for a complete end-to-end data protection solution. No matter which methods are
used within a Commvault® environment, the concepts used to manage the data remain consistent.
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Product Lines

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Protect, Activate, Orchestrate

The Commvault software portfolio has a set of powerful products and features designed to manage the daily challenges of
data protection. These products and features fall into several different product lines: Commvault Complete™ Data
Protection, Commvault Activate™, and Commvault HyperScaleTM X.

Protect
Commvault® Backup & Recovery includes everything you need to conduct backup, recovery and archiving activities,
enable operational reporting and perform hardware snapshot management, all in one complete solution.

Disaster Recovery
Commvault® Disaster Recovery is end-to-end data syncing for faster disaster recovery, dev/test operations and workload
migration. This component allows you to provision, sync and validate your data in any environment for important IT needs
like Application Disaster Recovery testing, Dev/Test, and Workload Migration. This module is typically a separately
licensed module above the Commvault® Backup and Recovery.

Activate
Commvault® Activate is an insight toolset for utilizing your data in business, search, discovery and governance contexts.
Commvault Activate can help you overcome your data governance and compliance challenges. This module is typically a
separately licensed module above the Commvault Complete™ Data Protection.

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Commvault Command Center Console

The Commvault Command CenterTM is a powerful web-based user interface that provides a simplified, service-oriented
approach to managing on-premises and cloud backup infrastructures. With an easy-to-use and flexible interface, you can
configure and manage a broad range of features including file systems, databases, and hypervisors backup settings.

By using out of the box configurations and streamlined procedures, you can automate common tasks including:

 Setting up your data protection environment features and settings

 Easily configure cloud, disk and tape storage
 Enable Commvault® software for disk and cloud backup locations
 Identifying content that you want to protect using Plans
 Set the RPO for datasets (backup frequency)
 Initiating and monitoring backups and restores
Granular access and permissions are assigned to users, backup administrators, and system administrators providing
them with the essential tools required by their respective roles. This level of security safeguards your environment so
users and administrators do not modify nor impact environment components that are not relevant to their work.

Managed Service Providers (MSPs)

The Commvault Command CenterTM is used by Managed Service Providers (MSPs) offering backup-as-a-service (BaaS).
In a multi-tenant environment, an MSP administrator can mirror real-world organizations by setting up logically separate
companies within a single instance of the Commvault® software. For each company, the MSP administrator can assign
separate Service Level Agreements (SLAs) so that the agreed upon level of data protection is offered to each tenant.

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The Commvault Command Center™ Sections

The Commvault Command Center console is the main administration console that is used to manage a Commvault
installation. The screen is divided into three sections. The left section is a navigation menu that dynamically changes
based on what the user selects. The top of the menu allows you to search specific items rather than using the navigation
menu to drill down and find specific items.

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Protect – Commvault Complete™ Backup and Recovery

Protect consists of multiple modules that are included with the Commvault® Backup & Recovery package. This section
protects physical, virtual, and cloud servers and integrates storage on-premises or in the cloud as a backup target. Filesystem
and operating systems (Windows and UNIX/Linux) are protected to provide simple backup and data replication to a secondary
system, and ransomware protection.

Backup & Recovery also provides management of applications like database and email servers that run in on-premises or in
the cloud. Backup & Recovery can manage a hybrid configuration that blends services like Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft
Office 365 and provides transport mechanisms to move users from one deployment to the other and back.

Backup & Recovery also provides protection of Software as a Service (SaaS) like SalesForce and Database as a Service
(DBaaS) like AWS RDS. Oracle Cloud Database, or Microsoft Azure SQL Database and provides mechanisms to move data
between the SaaS/DBaaS and on-premises systems.

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Protect – Commvault Complete™ Backup and Recovery Functions

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Commvault Activate™ - Data Management

Activate provides advanced features like data governance and analytics for data on-premises and in the cloud. The
product includes features like searching, indexing, and categorizing files and databases to find sensitive data, redundant
data, and data that can be categorized as high risk or high value to a company.

Custom reports are available to identify standard data requests like Freedom of Information Act requests or GDPR data
redaction requests. These reports help find data on-premises servers, in backup storage, and in the cloud. The system
also integrates into a legal hold, case management, data retention, and redaction procedure allowing for complete
management of data requests from outside the organization.

Searching for redundant data provides a mechanism to reduce disk usage across a company if data is unnecessarily
replicated across multiple sites and backed up independently providing unneeded copies of the same data.

Activate provides a mechanism to report on multiple copies of the same data and management to reduce the overall disk
consumption to save resources and cost. Locating data replicas can also reduce risk of data loss in sites that do not have
strong security mechanisms as required at a central location. Remote data can be managed and referenced back to a
central site. This help prevent data loss through theft of unintended insecure copies at remote sites or on laptops.

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Commvault Activate™ - Data Management Functions

The Commvault Activate™ product includes applications to help search for and find sensitive data, analytics tools to help
find data duplication and redundancy, case management and legal hold to prevent data from being deleted, and
compliance search to help with compliance reporting for various government and organizational requirements.

The Commvault Activate™ product also includes a user interface to help manage requests, review requests, and provide
responses to requests in the form or web pages, workflows, and search configurations.

The settings section of Commvault Activate™ helps search for and index data that is not managed or protected with
Commvault Complete™.

The Inventory and Entity Managers allow you to define sources that are searched, but not protected, to provide
compliance and risk reporting. Note that data protection is not offered for these data elements.

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Commvault® Disaster Recovery

The Commvault® Disaster Recover product provides faster disaster recovery, development/test operations and workload
migration. Most systems do not consist of one server but an aggregation of servers:

A web server or application server is typically tied to a database server. Moving one of these servers to an alternate
location or replicating production into a dev/test environment must be done at the same time to prevent unlinking these
systems.

For workload migration, moving an application server to the cloud without moving the associated database to the cloud as
well results in a significant latency and performance issue for users.

Commvault Disaster Recovery provides workflows and integration of systems to replicate and migrate systems as a unit
rather than individual operating systems or virtual machines. Live Sync and Replication operations provide disaster
recovery features to keep production systems in sync with secondary or backup systems at an alternate on-premises data
center or in the cloud. As data changes on the production system, the changes are replicated to the secondary location
and applied to the standby (or live system) and failover/failback is supported through the user interface for manual or
automated disaster recovery.

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Commvault® Disaster Recovery Functions

Commvault Disaster Recovery also provides configuration of replication for systems, groups, and storage. File system
replication is performed between two similar systems (Windows to Windows or Linux to Linux) to provide a master and
slave copy of data that can be used at alternate locations.

Virtual machines can be copied and replicated individually or as a group to provide a disaster recovery copy at an
alternate site or cloud locations.

Databases can be replicated from clustered databases to single instance databases, as well as cloud database instances.

Monitoring is available for all of these features to provide risk analysis to see how long it would take to recover a given
system or group of systems (Recovery Time Objective), as well as failover and failback controls for manual and
automated disaster recovery through a common user interface.

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Commvault Command Center™ Core Setup

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Download Commvault® Software

Installing Commvault® software is a straight-forward process. However, it is important to note that a full
CommCell® deployment must be well-planned and executed. Within a modern data center, components such as the
network, hardware, operating systems, and applications all play a significant role in creating a sound data protection
strategy. This section presents the high-level steps and best practices for deploying a CommCell® environment.

It is highly recommended to consult with Commvault Professional Services to assist with any deployment. They can
provide help with the architecture, physical resources assessment, planning or deployment as required.

Deployment phases:

 Planning
 Downloading the Commvault® software
 Installing the CommServe® server and executing post-install tasks
 Installing the MediaAgents and executing post-install tasks
 Configuring storage and deduplication
 Configure solutions
 Apply security

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Commvault® offers several methods for obtaining the software installation media required for installing a
CommCell® environment. The Commvault software installation media is available for download from the Maintenance
Advantage website or from the Commvault Software Cloud Services download center.

The Commvault Maintenance Advantage website or Commvault Cloud website provides the latest version of the
Commvault installation media. By clicking Downloads & Packages, you can access the most current software installations
and service packs or select a previous version.

There are two options to download the Commvault software:

 Resumable Download Manager – Based on the Bootstrapper download manager, this option is activated by
selecting the required files from the list and then selecting Launch Download Manager at the bottom of the
screen.
 Bootstrapper Direct Download – This option reduces deployment time by selecting only the required
Commvault software components and download of installation media.

Download using the bootstrapper from Maintenance Advantage

1. Click to open the Downloads page.

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2. Click to download the media kits including the most recent service pack.
3. Click to download the hot fixes that were launched after the latest service pack.

4. Click to launch the downloader

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Download using the bootstrapper from cloud.commvault.com

1. To download from cloud.commvault.com, click on Download Center.

2. Download the service pack to be installed (SP18 in this example)

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Running the Setup.exe command

1. Once the file is downloaded, extract the contents into a directory and run the Setup.exe as administrator.
2. This will launch the screens to install the CommCell®, MediaAgent, and optional agents to manage and protect
resources.

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Guided setup
Once the web-based console component is installed in the environment and you logged into the Commvault Command
CenterTM for the first time, the Core Setup wizard is launched from the Guided setup section. This interface guides you
through the setup process, which is required by the applications available in the Commvault Command CenterTM.

The Core Setup includes the following:

 Configuring an email server

 Adding storage
 Configuring the first server plan
 The information you will need to complete the Core Setup:
o The name and port number of your email server
o The location of the disk library where you want to store backed up data
When the Command Center is first launched, a message may display that a permanent license, email, storage, and a
backup plan must be configured.

Storage can be configured as a local disk, network disk, or cloud storage using the Add Storage
screen in the Core setup or Getting Started navigation link.

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To execute the Commvault Command CenterTM Core Setup

1. Open a supported web browser window and enter the URL - http://<CommServeServerName>/adminconsole.
2. Provide your login credentials.

3. Click Let’s get started.

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4. Provide a name for the new storage target.

5. Use the drop-down to select previous installed MediaAgent.
6. Click “+” to install MediaAgent software to a server.
7. Select a local or network location for storage. Local is used with direct attached or SAN-based storage while
network is used for NAS storage.
8. Click to browse for storage location.

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9. Check the box to select the mount path for backup location.
10. Click the Save button to continue.

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11. Slide to enable or disable the use of deduplication for the storage.
12. Enter path to folder for deduplication database.
13. Click for option to browser to volume for storing the deduplication database.
14. Click Save button to continue.

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15. Select the folder to host the DDB partition.

16. Click Save to continue.

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18. Enter descriptive name for default server plan.

19. Define the backup frequency. These settings can be modified later.
20. Click the Save button to continue.

21. Click on Configure email to setup connection to Mail server. This is used for emailed reports and alerts.

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22. Enter SMTP Email Relay server name.

23. Enter SMTP port if different from the default.
24. Enter a sender email address for notifications.
25. Enter a sender name.
26. Optional Test send message button used to verify connectivity to SMTP server.
27. Click Save to continue with core setup.

Once the email server and storage locations / backup policies are set, the administrator should see the Overview
Dashboard when they first log into the Commvault Command CenterTM.

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Commvault® Command Center Navigation

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Navigation Overview
The Commvault Command CenterTM Console navigation is divided into four major sections.

The top section is the Guided setup and Dashboards which help with initial configuration and when you first log into the
system.

 The Protect, Activate, and Disaster Recovery sections provide views of systems in the datacenter and in the cloud
based on how they are protected. Much of the activity that most users will focus on is within the Protect section—
unless you have specific needs for Activate or Orchestrate products.
 The navigation menu can be customized using the Customize section under Manage to hide products or features
that are not being used.
 The Jobs, Reports, and Monitoring section are day-to-day operational functions that a typical administrator uses
to check the health of systems and look at systems that need attention. The dashboard is a good place to get an
overview of daily system health. Clicking on a specific item in the dashboard will take you into the Monitoring or
Reports section to look a little deeper at why something is reporting that it needs attention on the dashboard.
 The Storage, Manage, Developer tools, and Web console are system wide configuration and management
functions that are typically setup once and periodically reviewed or reconfigured as needed.
 The Manage section includes security administration, as well as systems administration to help reconfigure a
CommCell® environment to adapt to a constantly changing corporate environment.

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Navigating the Commvault Command Center

The Commvault Command CenterTM has an easy-to-use sidebar navigation menu. Many sections are common to all
solutions. These sections provide tools that allow you to configure CommCell® components, run day-to-day operations
and monitor the environment. If the sidebar does not fit the window, it is possible to use the mouse to scroll the sidebar up
or down.

If you are looking for a specific section of the sidebar, use the Filter navigation box to type characters and sort the sidebar
content.

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To navigate the Commvault Command CenterTM

1. The left sidebar menu provides easy to navigate organized menus.

2. The mouse wheel can be used to scroll up or down the sidebar when it does not fit the screen.

3. A filter can be applied to display specific content in the sidebar.

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4. The search bar can be used to find specific entities.

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Guided Setup
The Guided setup window is used to configure or add features to the Commvault Command CenterTM products, which are
Protect, Activate and Disaster Recovery. To add a feature, select the appropriate product tab, and locate and click the
feature tile. If you need to learn more about the feature, click the link that opens the Commvault® Online documentation
and provides additional information.

Guided setup view

1. This menu opens the features initial configuration screen.

2. Select the appropriate product tab; Protect, Activate or Orchestrate.

3. Click a feature tile to add it to the Commvault Command CenterTM.

4. If additional information is needed, click the link to open Commvault® Online documentation.

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Dashboard
The dashboard view provides an overall view of the status of the CommCell® and client protection jobs. By default, the
view displays information about all clients. If needed, other specific dashboards can be accessed.

Use your mouse to hover over and identify active areas of the dashboard that can be expanded for additional information.

The Dashboard view:

1. The Overview Dashboard provides summary information about protected servers, storage capacity, and health in
the CommCell environment.

2. Active links in the dashboard sections can be expanded with a mouse click to provide additional information.

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3. Feature specific dashboards can be accessed from the drop-down list.

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Products and Features

The product sections contain a subsection for every feature that was added to the Commvault Command CenterTM, such
as Virtualization, File servers, etc. Each feature subsections expands to display information about entities that belong to
the features, such as database instances, hypervisors, virtual machines and more. In some views, each entity has an
Actions button that provides access to management options.

The Features view

1. Click on the product; Protect, Activate or Disaster Recovery.

2. A features subsection can be clicked to display servers or applications belonging to the feature.

3. Servers are displayed in the main window.

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Jobs
The Job view provides monitoring functionality for all active jobs within the CommCell® environment. The Jobs view
displays current running jobs by default. But it can also be used to see the job history of the last 24 hours or the last three
months. From this view, any job can be controlled to kill, suspend, resume and view the job logs.

A progress bar clearly indicates the progress of the job, while its Status column indicates if the job is still running, and if so
in which phase it is, or if it failed, is suspended or was killed.

The Jobs view

1. This section displays all active jobs.

2. Select a job or jobs to control their activity.

3. A job can be killed, suspended and resumed.

4. A progress bar displays the progress of the job.

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5. Click to access job history.

6. The drop-down menu is used to select the history period.

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Reports
The reports view can be expanded to display available reports as tiles. To generate any of the reports, simply click the tile
to generate up-to-date information. Most reports have a graphic view followed by a detailed table. Filters can be applied to
table sections. Table columns can also be selected to be displayed or deselected to be hidden, allowing to customize the
report to clearly identify the relevant information. Reports can also be scheduled and sent by email to an administrator or
a distribution list.

The Reports view

1. This section displays lists of CommCell® reports to run on-demand, schedule and send to email account.

2. A tile can be clicked to generate its report.

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Alerts
The alerts view displays all alerts that were triggered in the CommCell® environment. Displayed alerts can be filtered to a
specific severity level. The Alert info column provides a link to display additional information about the alert. Use the
checkbox to select one or many alerts. Use the Delete link to delete selected alerts. This link appears when at least one
box is checked.

The Alerts view

1. This section displays all configured alerts in the CommCell® environment.

2. Triggered Alerts can be filtered using the drop-down list.

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Events
All Commvault® software related events are reported in the Events view. By default, 500 events are displayed, but the
event log can maintain up to 10,000 events or 7 days of events. Events can be filtered by severity level and can also
provide Job ID and Event ID links that can be clicked to display detailed information about the event or the job that
triggered it.

The Events view

1. Displays events that occurred in the CommCell® environment.

2. Events can be filtered using the drop-down list.

3. Use Search to locate Events by content.

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3. Click a Job Id or Event ID number to get detailed information.

4. Detailed information related to the job or the event is displayed.

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Storage
The storage section and subsections allow managing the CommCell® storage. Different storage types can be added. They
are as follows:

 Disk - Direct-attached, SAN-based or NAS storage can be defined as Commvault® disk storage. Deduplication
can be enabled for this type of storage.
 Cloud - Any supported cloud vendor storage can be defined as Commvault® cloud storage. Deduplication can be
enabled for this type of storage.
 Tape - Removable tape storage units can be configured as Commvault® tape storage. This type of storage cannot
be deduplicated.
 HyperScale - This type of storage when using Commvault HyperScaleTM appliance or HyperScale Reference
Architecture.

The Storage views

1. This section contains subsections for configuring storage in the CommCell® environment, also referred to as
backup locations.

2. Several types of storage can be defined; disk, cloud, tape and HyperScaleTM scale-out storage.

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CommCell
The CommCell view provides tools to configure or control CommCell® level settings. The following are some of the
settings that can be configured:

 Activity Control – Allows to easily enable/disable specific or all activities for a CommCell® environment
 Email Settings – Allows configuring the connection information of the organization email server that is used to
relay emailed reports or alerts on behalf of Commvault® software.
 Default Plans – Allows setting the default backup plan that is used for each solution.

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Servers
The Servers view lists all servers on which Commvault® software is installed, regardless of the feature to which it belongs.
This provides a global view of which entities can be managed using the Actions button.

The client name of an entity can also be clicked to reach additional configuration options.

The Servers view

1. This section displays all servers that are part of the CommCell® environment.

2. Servers are displayed in the main window.

3. Click the Actions button for additional tasks.

4. Click Add server to install software to new servers.

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Server Groups
The Server groups view displays all existing client computer groups. Click on the client computer group name to display
configuration options. The Actions button provides access to options such as deleting the group.

The Server groups view

1. This section displays all server groups that are part of the CommCell® environment.

2. Click the Actions button for additional tasks.

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Companies
The companies section allows to create companies (also referred to as tenants) in a Managed Services Providers (MSP)
environment. Each company is logically isolated and tenant administrators of a company cannot access data nor
information from other companies. To create a new company, simply click the Add company link.

The Companies section

1. Used to create companies (tenants) in a Managed Services Provider (MSP) environment.

2. Click to Add company.

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Plans
The Plans view displays and lets you manage all existing backup plans created in the CommCell® environment. A plan
can be modified by clicking its plan name or can be deleted by clicking the Actions button. A new plan can also be created
by using the Create plan link.

The Plans view

1. This section displays all backup plans created in the CommCell® environment.

2. Plans are displayed in the main window.

3. The Actions button provides additional management tasks.

4. Click link to create a new backup plan.

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Infrastructure
The Infrastructure view displays and lets you manage additional CommCell® components. The Hybrid file stores tile allows
to configure NFS ObjectStore server shares and publish them to users. The Arrays tile allows to configure storage array
communication allowing to use the IntelliSnap® feature when protecting clients with datasets hosted on the array. The
MediaAgent tile provides tools to deploy MediaAgents and configure their settings.

The Infrastructure view

1. This section displays infrastructure components of the CommCell® environment.

2. Click this tile to configure NFS ObjectStore (Network stores).

3. Click this tile to configure storage arrays that are protected using the IntelliSnap® feature.

4. Click this tile to configure MediaAgent settings.

5. Click this tile to configure Index Servers used by features such as Commvault ActivateTM.

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Regions
The regions section allows to define regions used in an elastic plan. An elastic plan is used to protect geographically
scattered clients (i.e. roaming users’ laptops) by sending the data to the closest MediaAgent storage target. This greatly
simplifies management by preventing from having to create many plans based on storage location.

The Regions view

1. This section displays all defined regions used by elastic plans.

2. Click link to define a region.

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3. Enter the new location including State and Country.

4. Enter the Region Name.

5. Click Save to finish.

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Additional Administration Views

Several additional subsections are available from the Administration section. They are as follows:

 License – Provides licensing information and allows to apply a license file.

 Customization – Configures the Commvault Command CenterTM layout and colors.
 System – Configures global exceptions, system owner permissions, DR backups, download software, and more.
 Network – Configures network components such as network topologies and data interface pairs.

Additional Administration views

1. Expand Manage.

2. Provides licensing information, allows administrator to order additional licenses, or register the product.

3. This subsection is used to customize the Commvault Command CenterTM layout and colors.

4. This subsection provides access to additional configuration including Maintenance, Global filters, Operation
windows, Metrics Reporting and the SNMP connector.

5. This subsection is used to configure and manage network components such as network topologies and data
interface pairs.

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Security
The security section allows a user to create and manage users, user groups, and domains that are used in security
associations. The security associations define access and permitted tasks on CommCell® entities that are assigned to
users.
From this section, the following security components can be configured:

 CommCell users – Users created in Commvault software used for access to the console.
 CommCell user groups – User groups created in Commvault software used in security association.
 Roles – Set of access permissions and permitted tasks for users. This set of permissions is assigned to users
through a security association including the role.
 Identity servers – Domains that are integrated to Commvault software to leverage domain user accounts and
user groups instead of CommCell users and groups. Also allows to integrate with third-party identity providers
such as Okta and ADFS.
 Key management servers - Third-party key management servers managing hardware and/or software
encryption keys.
 Credential manager - Stores all credentials required to access resources such a NAS or cloud storage.

The Security view

1. This subsection allows to implement security for the CommCell® environment.

2. The subsections allow to configure Users and Groups, add domains to leverage domain users and groups, and
define Roles to provide access to resources and tasks.

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Replication
The replication section provides tools to synchronize virtual machines and file systems from a source system to a target
infrastructure, potentially in a remote site. The section is divided in tabs allowing to configure replication and failover
automation:

Replication Groups

The replication groups view lets you configure Commvault® Live Sync replication for groups of virtual machines. This
efficient method prevents the Commvault® administrator from having to configure replication pairs, one VM at a time. This
view displays configured groups and lets you add addition VM groups.

Failover Groups

Commvault® software implements disaster recovery orchestration for virtual machines. If a VM or a group of VMs suffer
from any type of disaster, Commvault® software provides mechanisms to failover the virtual machines to a secondary site.
This feature requires the implementation of Commvault® Live Sync. The Failover Groups view displays the configured
recovery groups and lets you add additional groups.

Storage

The Storage section allows configuration of recovery point stores on the destination site when replicating virtual machines
using Live Sync I/O. For each replication pair, application-consistent recovery points and updates are recorded in the
store, allowing to recover VMs when needed.

The Replication section

1. Used to configure replication and failover for different systems.

2. Displays replication groups and options to configure.

3. This section is used to configure virtual machine group failover using DR orchestration.

4. This section displays configured replication targets (stores) for Live Sync I/O replication pairs.

5. Click to configure a new replication group.

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Recovery Targets
Commvault® software provides options to mount virtual machines from Commvault® storage, using Live Mount or virtual
labs. The backup administrator can set boundaries, for users mounting VMs, by using recovery targets policies. These
policies allow to define settings, such as where the VM is mounted (host), or its lifespan (retention). The Recovery targets
view displays existing policies and allows you to create more.

The Recovery targets view

1. Displays existing recovery targets.

2. Click to add a new recovery target.

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Periodic Replication Monitor

The Commvault Command CenterTM lets an administrator configure virtual machine, database and file system replication
from the replication group’s view. The replication monitor view displays the replication status of each configured
replication pairs.

The Periodic Replication monitor view

1. Click Replication monitor.

2. Then click the Continuous tab.
3. This section displays the Live Sync replication status for VMs, databases and file systems.

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Continuous Replication Monitor

The Continuous Replication monitor displays the replication status for virtual machine pairs that are replicated using the
Live Sync I/O feature.

The Continuous Replication monitor view

1. Click Replication monitor.

2. Then click the Continuous tab.
3. This section displays the replication status for virtual machines.

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Features

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Features Overview
Once the Core Setup is complete, you now begin to add and configure features. Features provide tools that let you
seamlessly perform day-to-day tasks such as: monitoring backup infrastructure, performing the backup and recovery of
laptops, desktop computers, servers and virtual machines, and protecting cloud applications such as Google and
Salesforce. Features are published to end-users or system administrators granularly using Commvault® software role-
based security.

Virtualization Feature
The Virtualization feature provides a simplified management interface for administrators to conduct day-to-day operations
to configure, protect and recover virtual machines using the Virtual Server Agent (VSA).

Use the Commvault Command Center's Virtualization dashboard to check the status of hypervisors, such as VMware® or
Hyper-V®. This view shows information specifically tailored for Virtualization jobs. From here you can check the number of
Hypervisors in your environment and the number of VMs protected. The virtualization dashboard also includes backup job
summaries with details such as how many jobs were completed, failed or killed.

As of Feature Release 22, the virtualization feature provides tools to manage virtual machine protection for the following
hypervisors:

 Alibaba Cloud
 Amazon
 Citrix Xen
 Docker
 Google Cloud Platform
 Huawei FusionCompute
 Microsoft Azure

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 Microsoft Azure Stack

 Microsoft Hyper-V
 Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV)
 Kubernetes
 OpenStack
 Oracle Cloud Classic
 Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
 Oracle VM
 Red Hat OpenShift
 Red Hat Virtualization (RHV)
 vCloud Director
 VMware (vCenter or ESX server)
Hypervisors and subclients can be configured directly from the Commvault Command CenterTM.
During configuration, a backup plan can be created. Otherwise, the system uses the default plan. The plan dictates when
VMs are backed up and where the data is stored. Additional backup plans can later be defined.

To configure the virtualization feature

1. From the Commvault Command CenterTM sidebar, click Guided setup.

2. Locate the Virtualization section and click on tile to start configuration.

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3. The feature uses the plan created during the Core setup by default.

4. An additional plan can be created and used instead.

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5. Select the hypervisor.

6. Provide the FQDN name of the vCenter server or host.

7. Provide the client name to display in the console.

8. Provide credentials with required permissions.

9. Provide the list of VSA access nodes to use.

10. Click Save to continue.

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11. Provide a name for the VM group.

12. Select the virtual machines to protect.

13. Use the drop-down arrow to display a list of backup plans to associate with this VM Group.

14. Click Finish to complete.

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File Servers Feature

The file servers feature provides tools to manage UNIX and Windows servers protection. Once the Commvault Command
CenterTM core setup is complete, the file servers feature can be configured. Clients and subclients are configured directly
from the Commvault Command CenterTM.

Commvault® software provides the following features so that you can efficiently manage your data protection:

 Job monitoring
 Alerts
 Events
 Resource reports
During configuration, a backup plan can be created. Otherwise, the system uses the default plan. The plan defines
protection settings, such as the backup destination to receive data, as well as the retention of the data.

To configure the file server feature

1. From the Commvault Command CenterTM sidebar, click Guided setup.

2. Locate the File server and click on tile to start configuration.

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3. The feature uses the plan created during the Core setup by default.

4. An additional plan can be created and used instead.

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5. Provide a name to the plan.

6. Continue with default Backup Location or Click link to change the storage pool and set its retention.

7. Define the frequency of data protection jobs.

8. The window during which backups can be modified by clicking the link.

 Full Backup Window – Only applies to full backup jobs

 Backup Window – Applies to any other backup type (i.e. incremental, differentials, etc.)

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9. This section defines what gets protected on the server.

10. Select the platform to define settings.

11. The entire server is protected by default. Click Add to define custom contents.

12. There are no filters applied to backups by default. Click Add to filter specific files or folders for servers that will use
this plan. If you need to exclude a list of files across the organization, create and apply global filters at the
CommCell® or Server group level.

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13. For Windows operating systems, System State is protected by default, but could be skipped or protected during
full backups only.

14. Click on Save to continue.

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15. Check to allow overriding options on derived plans.

16. Click Save to create the plan.

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17. Enter fully qualified server name and click ‘+’ to add to list.

18. Enter a user account and password with permissions to install software on the servers.

19. User the drop-down button to display list of Server plans.

20. If a reboot is required and this option is not engaged, then all software will not be installed on those servers.

21. Click Save of complete.

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Databases Feature
As of Feature Release 22, the Databases feature provides tools to manage databases protection for the following
vendors:

 Oracle
 Oracle RAC
 Cassandra
 DB2
 Documentum
 Greenplum
 Microsoft SQL
 SAP HANA
 SAP MaxDB
 Sybase
 PostgreSQL
 MySQL
 Splunk
 Cloud Databases
Once the Commvault Command CenterTM Core Setup is complete, the databases feature can be configured. Database
instances and subclients can be configured directly from the Commvault Command CenterTM.

During configuration, a backup plan can be created. Otherwise, the system uses the default plan. The plan dictates when
databases are backed up and where the data is stored. Additional backup plans can later be defined.

To configure the databases feature

1. From the Commvault Command CenterTM sidebar, click Guided setup.

2. Locate the Databases tile and click it.

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3. If a default backup plan is available, the system uses it.

4. Click to create an additional plan if needed.

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5. Click on drop-down button to display and select the database engine.

6. Select the platform hosting the database.

7. Provide the server’s FQDN or IP address.

8. Provide credentials with administrative privileges on the server.

9. Click on drop-down button to display and select a backup plan.

10. Click Add button to continue. A task is created to install the database agent to the defined server.

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Laptop Feature
The laptop feature provides tools to manage end-users' laptop and desktop protection.
Once the Commvault Command CenterTM core setup is complete, the laptop feature can be configured. Clients and
subclients can be configured prior to the Commvault Command CenterTM configuration or configured directly from the
Commvault Command CenterTM. During configuration, some information must be provided, as follows:

 The Domain Name Server information.

 The users, user groups or email addresses of users for which data will be protected.
 The Commvault gateway computer used to conduct backups of remote or mobile users.

To configure the laptop feature

1. From the Commvault Command CenterTM sidebar, click Guided setup.

2. To configure the Laptop feature, locate the Laptop tile and click it.

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3. Provide a name for the backup plan.

4. Use the drop-down menu to select a storage pool to receive the backup data.

5. Define the frequency at which backups are conducted.

6. Click each platform tab to define the content to protect.

7. The default content to protect can be modified if needed.

8. Check to allow to override when creating derived plans.

9. Click on Save to create plan.

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10. Select a backup plan.

11. Enter Users to protect by typing either the username, user group or email address.

12. Click on Save to continue. By default, an email will be sent to all selected.

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13. Provide the FQDN name and display client name of the DMZ machine used as a gateway to receive laptop
backups.

14. Click on Save to complete.

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Commvault Command Center™ Customization

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Customize Views

Create Custom Views

Several Commvault Command CenterTM sections offer the option to create customized views. This allows filtering
information that is relevant to the user role. For instance, a view can be created for a UNIX system administrator to display
only UNIX and Linux servers. The custom view can also be defined as the default view for a section.

To create the custom view, open the section from which it will be created, click to display options, and choose Create
view.

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To create a custom view

1. In any view where available, click the gear to open the display options | Create view.

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2. Provide a name for the view.

3. Check to define the custom view as the default view.

4. Define the rule using available criteria.

5. Click to add one or many additional rules.

6. Click to save the custom view.

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7. The view can be selected when needed.

8. Window content is filtered based on the rules.

9. When selected, the custom view can be edited or deleted.

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Define Columns to Display in a View

In any view, the columns that are displayed can be modified, added or removed. Uncheck a column to filter it out or check
it to display the column in the view. Once the columns selection is set, it is automatically saved to the user's profile. Even
if the user were to close the Commvault Command CenterTM, on the next login, the same column selection is applied.

To select columns to display

1. From the view, click the options button of any column.

2. Click Columns.

3. Click to select or deselect a column.

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Apply Filters to Views

Filters can be applied to most views. The option to apply filters must first be toggled on before selecting the filters from the
column header drop-down list. One of many filters can be applied to one or many columns.

Once filters are no longer required, they can be cleared to return to the default view.

To apply filters to a view

1. From the view, click the options button of the desired column.

2. Click Filter.

3. Click the field and select the entries to display.

4. Click Filter to apply it to the view.

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5. The view is filtered based on the rules.

6. Click to remove the filters.

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Customize Navigation
The Commvault Command CenterTM navigation is customized based on the type of users logged in. The following options
can be customized:

 Navigation preferences – Defines which sidebar entities are visible for each type of users.
 Initial landing - When users log into the Commvault Command CenterTM the main dashboard appears as the
default landing page. This landing page can be changed to another view.

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To customize the Commvault Command CenterTM layout

1. From the Commvault Command CenterTM sidebar Expand Manage | Customization.

2. Click Navigation tile to open.

3. For any type of users, select the views to display.

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4. Click to define the users’ default landing page.

5. For any type of users, select the landing page from the list.

6. Once landing pages are set, click Save.

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Customize Theme
The Commvault Command CenterTM can be re-branded using your company's colors and logo. This gives a personalized
experience to your users. This option is also frequently used by Managed Services Provider (MSP) to provide their
personalized console to their Backup-as-a-Service clients. Several colors can be changed, such as the sidebar, the
header, the text, and icons. A company logo can also be added as well, using a standard image file (JPEG, JPG, PNG or
GIF). Even the login page can be customized by adding your own company's logo and set a background image.

To customize the Commvault Command CenterTM colors, expand the Manage | Customization sections and click the
Theme view. If you are unhappy with the changes, the default colors can be reverted by clicking the Reset to default
button.

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To customize the Commvault Command CenterTM with your company’s colors

1. From the Commvault Command CenterTM sidebar expand the Manage section and select Customization.

2. Click the Theme tile to start customization.

3. The Customization view is opened displaying all fields that can be modified.

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4. Set the desired login screen color.

4. The color of the login page is adjusted accordingly.

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5. Set the desired header color.

6. The header color defines the color for the upper bar.

7. Set the desired header text color.

8. The header text color defines the color for the upper bar text.

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9. Set the desired navigation icon color.

10. The sidebar icon color is adjusted accordingly. However, the button primary color is not overridden.

11. Set the color for the Navigation text.

12. The color is applied to the sidebar entities text.

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13. Set the page header color.

14. The color is applied to all headers of the page.

15. Set the action button color.

16. The color is applied to all buttons of the page.

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17. Set the button text color.

18. The color is applied to the text of each button.

19. Set the link color.

20. The color is applied to all links on a page.

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21. Set the icon color.

22. The color is applied to all icons in the sidebar.

23. Click to import a logo image and browse to the file.

24. Select the desired image file and click Open.

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25. The logo replaces the Commvault® logo.

26. Colors can be reverted to factory default at any time by clicking the reset button.

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27. Click Yes to revert colors.

Customize the Commvault Command Center Login Page

Basic customization options can also be applied to the Commvault Command CenterTM login screen, although these are
not as granular as the Commvault Command CenterTM colors options.

Few options can be configured:

1. A text warning/disclaimer can be displayed to users.

2. A company logo can be added to the login screen.
3. A background image can be applied.

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To customize the Commvault Command CenterTM login screen

1. From the Commvault Command CenterTM sidebar expand the Manage section and select Customization.

2. Click Theme tile to start customization.

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3. Click to browse for a logo image file.

4. Click on Select file to browse the system for corporate image background to add to the login screen.

5. Type any text to make it appear on the login screen.

6. The Commvault Command CenterTM login screen now displays the custom changes.

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Provide Feedback
Feedback is an essential component of the Commvault Command CenterTM and Commvault's team is constantly updating
and improving the software. If you have enhancement suggestions on improving the Commvault Command CenterTM, we
strongly encourage you to provide feedback.

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To provide feedback

1. On any screen, click your username.

2. Select Feedback.

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2. Select a topic from the list.

3. Type any feedback in the Message window.

4. Click Submit.

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CommCell® Core Components

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CommServe® Server
The CommServe® server is the central management system within a CommCell® environment. All activity is coordinated
and managed by the CommServe server. The CommServe system runs on a Windows® platform and maintains a
Microsoft® SQL metadata database. This database contains all configuration information. It is important to note that
Commvault® software does not use a centralized catalog system like most other backup products. This means the
metadata database on the CommServe server is considerably smaller than databases that contain catalog data.

Based on the size of an environment, the CommServe server must be scaled appropriately. For current scalability
guidelines, refer to the Commvault Online Documentation section, 'Hardware Specifications for the CommServe.'

Key points regarding the CommServe server:

 For CommServe server high availability the following options are available:
 The CommServe server can be clustered – This is recommended for larger environments where high
availability is critical.
 The CommServe server can be virtualized – This is suitable for small to mid-size environments.
 It is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL that the CommServe database is properly protected. By default, every day at 10
AM, a CommServe DR backup job is conducted. This operation can be completely customized and set to run
multiple times a day if required.
 All activity is conducted through the CommServe server. Therefore, it is important that communication between
the CommServe server and all CommCell® components is maintained.

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CommServe® server roles and tasks

CommServe® Server Performance Requirements

CommServe® server performance is essential for a well performing data protection environment. Although data is moved
from client to MediaAgent or MediaAgent to MediaAgent; communication and job checkpoints are constantly occurring
between CommCell® components and the CommServe server. The CommServe server also serves other functions such
as reporting, and the user experience may be impacted during peak periods of data protection operations.

CommServe Server Communication Services

During data protection jobs, the CommServe JobMgr process initiates job operations. The CVD process, which exists on
all CommCell components, provides communication with all resources. As each chunk of a job completes, it must be
registered in the CommServe database before the next chunk begins.

During auxiliary copy jobs, the JobMgr initiates the job and spawns the AuxCopyMgr process on the CommServe server.
This process is responsible for sending chunk information to the source MediaAgent and recording chunk updates from
the destination MediaAgent. In Commvault V11, a good portion of this workload is distributed to on demand services on
MediaAgents to assist in the workload. This offload is enabled using the 'use scalable resource allocation' setting in the
auxiliary copy configuration.

During data protection and auxiliary copy jobs, the CommServe server has a substantial responsibility. Consider this when
planning the resources for the CommServe server, especially in larger environments where hundreds of jobs will be
running in parallel.

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CommServe® DR Backups
By default, every day at 10:00 AM, the CommServe DR backup process is executed. This process first exports the
CommServe SQL database to a local folder path. An export process then copies the folder's content to a user-defined
drive letter or UNC path. A backup phase subsequently backs up the DR Metadata to the first defined storage target. If a
secondary tape target is configured, a copy of the DR Metadata is sent offsite to a secondary location. Schedules and
export location are customizable in the DR Backup applet in the Maintenance section of the Commvault Command
Center™.

Additionally, a copy of the DR backup can be uploaded to Commvault® Cloud Services, which guarantees that an offline
copy exists and is accessible during recovery if a disaster was to occur.

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CommServe® DR backup process overview

Database Staging Export

During the staging export phase, the system stores the export files in the following location:

V11 upgraded environment:

<install path>\CommVault\Simpana\CommServeDR folder.

V11 New Installation:

<install path>\CommVault\Content Store\CommServeDR folder.

Export
The Export process copies the content of the \CommServeDR folder to the user defined export location. A drive letter or
UNC path can be defined. The export location should NOT be on the local CommServe server. If a standby CommServe
server is available, define the export location to a share on the standby server.

By default, five metadata backups are retained in the export location. It is recommended to have enough disk space to
maintain one weeks' worth of DR exports and adjust the number of exports to the DR backup schedule frequency.

Configure and Run DR Backups

DR backups are automatically configured and scheduled upon software installation. The default settings and schedule can
be edited to fit your needs, and manual DR backups can be executed on demand if needed.

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To access CommServe DR Settings

1. Expand Manage | System.

2. Click Maintenance.

3. Click DR backup (Daily) to access the DR backup settings.

4. Click the gear icon to edit DR backup settings.

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5. Set to number of metadata backups to keep.

6. Select the type of destination to use.

7. Provide the share UNC path.

8. Provide credentials with access permissions to the destination.

9. Set the time of execution.

10. Enable to run multiple DR backup per day.

11. Set the frequency at which the backup will be executed.

12. Click to save changes.

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To manually run a DR backup

1. Expand Manage | System.

2. Click Maintenance.

3. Click to access the DR backup settings.

4. Click to execute a backup.

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5. Select the backup type and additional backup options.

6. Click to launch the job.

DR Backups to the Cloud

Commvault® offers a free cloud service that allows DR backups to be uploaded to the cloud. The service stores the last
seven metadata backups for download if needed. This ensures that a recent copy of the database is offsite and cannot be
accessed by a rogue process such as a ransomware attack.

The free cloud service requires a Commvault Cloud Services account, which is created using the following URL:

http://cloud.commvault.com

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To configure DR backups to Commvault® cloud

1. Expand Manage | System.

2. Click Maintenance.

3. Click DR backup (Daily) to access the DR backup settings.

4. Click to edit DR backup settings.

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5. Toggle the switch to enable DR Backups to the cloud.

6. Provide the cloud services account credentials.

7. Click Save to apply changes.

DR Backups to a Cloud Storage Target

For several versions, Commvault® software provided the ability to send backups to a cloud storage. It required a
configured storage target with a supported cloud vendor. The DR backups were therefore stored in the storage using
Commvault® software proprietary chunk format. If a disaster was to occur, accessing the DR backup required to be
accomplished using a tool called Commvault® Media Explorer, provided by Commvault® support. This added additional
steps and required to spend time to catalog the content of chunks.

In order to improve the process, service pack 15 introduced the option to send a copy of the DR backup in its native
format to a cloud storage. This removes the requirement to use Media Explorer to index the chunks. The administrator
simply needs to connect to the cloud storage and download the DR backup copy.

Please note that the cloud storage must first be created before configuring DR backups.

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To configure DR backups to a cloud storage target

1. Expand Manage | System.

2. Click Maintenance.

3. Click DR backup (Daily) to access the DR backup settings.

4. Click to edit DR backup settings.

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5. Slide to send a copy to a cloud storage target.

6. Select the storage target and the vendor.

Backup Frequency
By default, the DR backup runs once a day at 10:00 AM. The time the backup runs can be modified, and the DR backup
can be scheduled to run multiple times a day.

Consider the following key points regarding the scheduling time and frequency of DR backups:

 If tapes are being sent off-site daily prior to 10:00 AM then the default DR backup time is not adequate. Alter the
default schedule so the backup can complete, and DR tapes can be exported from the library prior to media being
sent off-site.
 The DR Metadata is essential to recover protected data. If backups are conducted at night and auxiliary copies
are run during the day, consider setting up a second schedule after auxiliary copies complete.

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MediaAgent
MediaAgents are the multifunction workhorses of a Commvault® software environment. They facilitate the transfer of data
from source to destination, hosts the deduplication database, metadata indexes, and run analytic engines.

For MediaAgent resource requirements and guidelines, refer to the Commvault Online Documentation.

MediaAgents responsibilities include the following functions:

 Data Mover – moves data during data protection, data recovery, auxiliary copy, and content indexing jobs.
 Deduplication Database (DDB) – hosts one or more deduplication databases on high speed solid state or PCI
storage.
 Metadata indexes – hosts both V1 and V2 indexes on high speed dedicated disks.
 Analytics – runs various analytics engines including data analytics, log monitoring, web analytics, and the
Exchange index for the new Exchange Mailbox agent.

Data Mover Role

The MediaAgent is the high-performance data mover that transmits data from source to destination, such as from a client
to a library during data protection operations or vice-versa during data recovery. They are used during auxiliary copy jobs
when data is copied from a source library to a destination library. The MediaAgent software can be installed on most
operating systems in physical, virtual, and clustered environments. Note that all tasks are coordinated by the
CommServe® server.

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MediaAgent and Data Movement

There is a basic rule that all data must travel through a MediaAgent to reach its destination. One exception to this rule is
when conducting Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) dumps directly to tape media. In this case, the
MediaAgent is used to execute the NDMP dump and no data travels through the MediaAgent. This rule is important to
note as it affects MediaAgent placement.

Since all data moving to/from protected storage must move through a MediaAgent, resource provisioning for MediaAgent
hosts (e.g., CPU, memory, and bandwidth) must be adequate for both the volume and the concurrency of data movement
you expect it to handle.

MediaAgent Device Control

A MediaAgent provides device control over media changers and removable media devices - and writers to disk devices.
This control defines the path upon which data moves to/from protected storage. In addition to normal device integrity
checks, the MediaAgent can validate the integrity of data stored on the media during a recovery operation and validate the
integrity of the data on the network during a data protection operation.

In the scenario where the MediaAgent component is co-located on the same host as the client agent, the exchange of
data is contained within the host. This is called a SAN MediaAgent configuration, or sometimes referred to as LAN-free
backups, and has its advantages of keeping data off potentially slower TCP/IP networks by using local higher
performance transmission devices (e.g., Fibre Channel, SCSI, etc.). On the other hand, a MediaAgent component located
on a host by itself can provide dedicated resources and facilitate exchange of data over longer distances using TCP/IP
(e.g., LAN, WAN, etc.).

MediaAgent Hosting Functions

The MediaAgent component also achieves additional functions other than moving data. First, the MediaAgent hosts the
index directory. Every protection job allowing granular recovery must be indexed. The MediaAgent oversees indexing the
jobs and keeping the indexing information in the index directory. If Commvault® deduplication is enabled on a disk or a
cloud library, the MediaAgent also hosts the deduplication database containing the deduplication information. Finally, if
Data Analytics is in use, it requires the Analytics Engine to be installed on the MediaAgent.

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MediaAgent data movement overview

Deduplication Database
The Deduplication Database (DDB) maintains all signature records for a deduplication engine. During data protection
operations, signatures are generated on data blocks and sent to the DDB to determine if data blocks are duplicate or
unique. During data aging operations, the DDB is used to decrement signature counters for blocks from aged jobs and
subsequently prune signatures, and block records when the signature counter reaches zero. For these reasons, it is
critical that the DDB is located on high performance, locally attached solid state or PCI storage technology.

Metadata Indexes
Commvault® software uses a distributed indexing structure that provides for enterprise level scalability and automated
index management. This works by using the CommServe® database to only retain job-based metadata such as chunk
information, which keeps the database relatively small. Detailed index information, such as details of protected objects is
kept on the MediaAgent. The index location can maintain both V1 and V2 indexes. Ensure the index location is on high
speed dedicated disks.

Analytics
One or more analytics engines can be installed on a MediaAgent. The following provides a high-level overview of the
commonly used analytics engines:

 Data analytics – provides a view into unstructured data within an environment. Some capabilities include:
o identifying old files and emails
o identifying multiple copies of large files
o removing unauthorized file types
 Log monitoring – identifies and monitors any logs on client systems. The monitoring process is used to identify
specific log entries and set filters based on criteria defined within a monitoring policy.
 Exchange index engine – maintains V2 metadata indexing information for the new Exchange Mailbox Agent. It is
recommended when using the Exchange index server that no other analytic engines are installed on the
MediaAgent hosting the index.

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Physical vs. Virtual MediaAgent

Commvault recommends using physical MediaAgents to protect physical and virtual data. The advantages for using a
physical MediaAgent are better performance, more versatility as a multi-purposed data mover (protect VMs and physical
data), and resiliency. If using a tape library, presenting it to a virtualized MediaAgent adds an additional layer of
complexity for configuration and troubleshooting (should an issue arise). A MediaAgent can be virtualized if all
performance requirements including CPU, RAM, index directory location and deduplication database location are being
met.

Tip: Remote Site MediaAgents

You need to protect a smaller remote site and want to keep a local copy of data for quick restore. However, you are
concerned about hardware costs for a MediaAgent.

Solution: Virtualize the remote site MediaAgent and keep a shorter retention for the local copy, producing a smaller
footprint. Then replicate the data using DASH Copy to the main data center physical MediaAgent where it can be kept for
a longer retention.

Deploy the MediaAgent

To install the MediaAgent package

1. Expand Manage | Infrastructure.

2. Click the MediaAgents tile.

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3. This window displays all configured MediaAgents.

4. Click to add a new server.

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5. Type the name of the MediaAgent server and click the plus sign to add it to the list. Repeat for all MediaAgents
you need to install.

6. Provide credentials with administrative privileges on the systems.

7. Select one or many components to install, in this case MediaAgent.

8. Check to reboot the system upon installation if needed.

9. Click to launch the installation.

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10. Installation progress can be monitored by clicking the job id link.

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MODULE 2 - STORAGE CONFIGURATION

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Storage Overview
Commvault® software logically addresses storage systems to allow virtually any storage target to be used. The three
primary target types are disk, cloud, and tape

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Disk Storage

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Disk Storage Design

A Commvault® disk storage is a logical container which is used to define one or more paths to storage called backup
locations (mount paths). These paths are defined explicitly to the location of the storage as a drive letter or a UNC path.
Within each mount path, writers are allocated which defines the number of concurrent streams for the mount path.

There are two primary types of disk storage:

 Dedicated disk storage is configured by clicking Add Storage and selecting Disk from the list. One or more
backup locations can be created/added to the disk storage. Backup Locations are configured as Shared Disk
Devices. The Shared Disk Device in a dedicated disk storage has only one Primary Sharing Folder.
 Shared disk storage is a target with more than one Primary Sharing Folder configured on a Shared Disk Device.
This enables other MediaAgents access to the same shared volume resource. Common Internet File System
(CIFS) protocol is used to manage multiple MediaAgent access to the same directory. For UNIX hosted
MediaAgents, Network File System (NFS) protocol can be used. NFS shared disks appear to the MediaAgent as
local drives.

There are three methods that disk storage can be configured:

 Network Attached Storage or NAS

 Storage Area Network or SAN
 Direct Attached Storage or DAS

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Disk storage best practices:

 If using DAS or SAN, format mount paths (backup locations) using a 64KB block size.
 If using DAS or SAN, try to create multiple backup locations (mount paths). For instance, if there are 10 mount
paths, and there is a maintenance job, such as a defrag job running on one, the mount path can be set to read-
only, leaving 90% of the storage available for backup jobs.
 Share the disk storage if required.
The following explanations assume Commvault® deduplication is being used.

Network-Attached Storage (NAS)

Network-Attached Storage provides the best connection method from a resiliency standpoint since the storage is
accessed directly through the NAS device. This means that by using a Common Internet File System (CIFS) or a Network
File System (NFS), Universal Naming Convention (UNC) paths can be configured to read and write directly to storage. In
this case, the target can be configured as a shared disk storage, where all MediaAgents can see stored data for data
protection and recovery operations.

Disk storage using Network Attached Storage (NAS)

Storage Area Network (SAN)

Storage Area Networks or SANs are very common in many data centers. SAN storage can be zoned and presented to
MediaAgents using either Fibre Chanel or iSCSI. In this case, the zoned storage is presented directly to the MediaAgent
providing Read / Write access to the disks.

When using SAN storage, each building block should use a dedicated MediaAgent, DDB and Commvault® disk storage.
Although the backend disk storage in the SAN can reside on the same disk array, it should be configured in the
Commvault® software as two separate Commvault® disk storage; where Logical unit numbers (LUNs) are presented as
mount paths (backup locations) in dedicated targets for specific MediaAgents.

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Disk storage using Storage Area Network (SAN)

Direct Attached Storage (DAS)

Direct attached storage is when the disk storage is physically attached to the MediaAgent. In this case, each building
block is completely self-contained. This provides for high performance but does not provide resiliency. If the MediaAgent
controlling the building block fails, data stored in the disk storage cannot be recovered until the MediaAgent is repaired or
replaced. Keep in mind that, in this case, all the data in the disk storage is still completely indexed and recoverable, even
if the index directory is lost. Once the MediaAgent is rebuilt, data from the disk storage can be restored.

Disk storage using Direct Attached Storage (DAS)

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Adding Local or Network Disk as Storage

Before adding a Commvault® disk storage, the operating system must have access to the storage. For SAN or DAS
storage, volumes must be created and formatted in the operating system. For NAS, try to access the storage CIFS shares
using the credentials.

Once the operating system has access to the storage, the Commvault® disk storage can be created.

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To add a disk storage

1. Expand Storage | Disk.

2. This window displays the disk storage currently configured in the CommCell® environment.

3. Click Add to add a disk storage.

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4. Provide the name for the new disk storage.

5. Click Add to add storage.

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6. Select the MediaAgent used to reach the target storage.

7. Select Local path for DAS and SAN targets or Network path for NAS targets.

8. Browse to the location of the first backup location (mount path).

9. Enable/disable deduplication for the disk storage.

10. Click to create the disk storage.

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11. Click Save to complete the disk storage configuration.

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Add Backup Locations to the Disk Storage

Creating the disk storage also defines the first backup location (mount path). Any additional backup location will need to
be defined.

To add a backup location (mount path) to disk storage

1. Expand Storage | Disk.

2. This view displays the disk storage currently configured in the CommCell® environment.

3. Click the name of the disk storage for which you want to add a mount path.

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4. This section displays usage information.

5. This section displays mount path information.

6. Click to add a new mount path.

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7. Select the MediaAgent having access to the mount path.

8. Choose to use a local or network path.

9. Browse for the mount path location.

10. Click to add the mount path.

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Share the Disk Storage

If the Commvault® storage is using NAS storage, it can be shared with other MediaAgents. Sharing storage is achieved by
sharing its backup locations. Apply the sharing procedure on each backup location (mount path).

Note that before sharing the backup locations, the credentials used to access the NAS storage must first be configured in
the Credential Manager applet.

To configure credentials

1. Expand Manage.

2. Click System.

3. Click Credential manager.

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4. Click Add.

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5. Provide a descriptive name for the credential.

6. Enter a security account from the account type selected.

7. Select the CommCell® user account to be owner of the credentials.

8. Select the CommCell® security group which is allowed to manage the credential.

9. Click Save to create the new credential.

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To share a disk storage

1. Expand Storage | Disk.

2. Displays the disk storage currently configured in the CommCell® environment.

3. Click the name of the disk storage for which you want to share the backup locations (mount paths).

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4. Configured backup location (mount paths) are displayed.

5. Click the name of the first backup location.

6. This view displays the paths accessing the disks. In this example, only one MediaAgent has access to the disk.

7. Click Add MediaAgent.

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8. Select the MediaAgent with which the backup location (mount path) will be shared.

9. Click Save to add the MediaAgent.

10. The second access path is added to the list. Repeat the same process to all other backup locations.

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Cloud Storage

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Cloud Storage Design

Cloud storage is an emerging technology that is quickly being integrated into data centers for its availability and, in some
cases, lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). As a DR solution, however, there are still significant questions on its
effectiveness. The two biggest questions regarding cloud storage for DR are bandwidth availability and data security.

Using advanced features such as Commvault® deduplication can greatly reduce the bandwidth requirements of backing
up to cloud storage. However, in a disaster situation where a significant amount of data must be restored, bandwidth can
become a serious bottleneck.
Data transfers are achieved using secured channels (HTTPS) and are optionally encrypted to further secure the data sent
to the cloud.

Cloud storage best practices:

 Properly plan and analyze if the cloud storage scenario meets the needs (i.e. restoring an entire data center).
 If the link is shared with users, consider throttling Commvault® bandwidth usage during business hours.
 If the MediaAgent does not have direct access to the internet, define the access nodes settings in the cloud
storage access nodes configuration page.
 If the cloud storage is accessed through a high-speed internet link (1GB or higher), consider tuning the
connection. For more information, refer to the Commvault Online Documentation, 'Cloud Connection Performance
Tuning' section.
The list of supported cloud providers for Commvault® software grew over the years — over 40 providers as of Service
Pack 22. For a complete list of supported providers, please refer to Commvault Online Documentation.

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Adding Cloud Storage

To configure a cloud storage target

1. Expand Storage | Cloud.

2. This window displays the existing cloud storage, if any.

3. Click to add cloud storage.

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4. Select the type of cloud storage to use.

Metallic cloud storage – Commvault provided storage.
Cloud storage – Your preferred cloud storage provider.

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5. Provide a meaningful name for the target.

6. Select the cloud provider from the list.

7. Select the MediaAgent with access to the cloud storage.

8. Provide the address of the cloud provider service.

9. Select the authentication type from the list.

10. Select a saved cloud credential set from the list. If it does not exist, click the plus sign to create it.

11. Type the name of the bucket to use to store backup data.

12. Depending on the cloud provider, you may have to define a storage class.

13. Once the cloud storage is configured, click Save.

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Deduplication

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Deduplication Overview
In any modern data center, duplicate data exists on storage-based media, networks, and virtual servers. Some examples
include identical DLL files existing on different servers, or multiple users working on the same document—each user
modifies different blocks in the file while other blocks remain unchanged. Traditionally this redundant data is stored on
disk or tape, which requires a significant amount of space to protect. With Commvault® deduplication storage techniques,
a single copy of redundant data (and any subsequent references to the same data) is stored only once; reducing the
amount of space needed to save data and protecting against data loss.

Benefits and Features

Commvault® software has a unique set of deduplication features that are not available with most third-party deduplication
solutions. By taking full advantage of Commvault deduplication, you can reduce storage and network resource
requirements, shrink backup windows, efficiently copy data to off-site locations, and copy deduplicated data to tape, disk,
or to a cloud environment.

Commvault deduplication offers the following benefits:

 Efficient use of storage media

 Efficient use of network bandwidth
 Significantly faster Synthetic Full operations
 Significantly faster auxiliary copy operations
 Resilient indexing and restorability

Efficient use of Storage Media

Commvault deduplication provides two storage policies that are used to efficiently move large amounts of data:

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Efficient use of Network Bandwidth

Client-Side Deduplication is used to deduplicate block data before it leaves the client. From that point forward, only
changed blocks are sent over the network. This greatly reduces network bandwidth requirements after the first successful
full backup is complete.

Faster Synthetic Full

Using the Deduplication Accelerate Streaming Hash (DASH) full backup reduces the time to perform synthetic full and
traditional full backup operations. The DASH full runs as a read-optimized synthetic full operation, which does not require
traditional full backups to be performed. Once the first full backup has completed, blocks that have changed are protected
during incremental or differential backups. A DASH full runs in place of a traditional full or synthetic full, does not require
movement of data, and updates the index files and Deduplication Database (DDB) when a full backup has completed.

Faster Auxiliary Copy Operations to Disk Storage

The DASH Copy operations are optimized auxiliary copy jobs that require only modified blocks to be sent to a second disk
target. Because secondary copies do not require high bandwidth requirements, this is an ideal solution for sending off-site
copies to secondary disaster recovery facilities.

Resilient Indexing and Restorability

Although the Deduplication Database (DDB) checks signature hashes for deduplication purposes, it is not required during
restore operations. Instead the standard indexing methodology is used. This includes using the index directory and index
files written at the conclusion of the job. This resiliency ensures that deduplicated data is restored even during unforeseen
events, such as disaster recovery.

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The Deduplication Process and Data Protection

The following process provides a high-level overview of the deduplication process during a data protection job.

1. Production data is read from the source location and written into a memory buffer. This memory buffer is filled
based on the defined block size. Note that the block size is referred to as a data block with a default of 128KB.
2. A signature is then generated on the data block. The signature uniquely represents the bit makeup of the block.
3. The signature is compared in the DDB to determine if the data block already exists.
Deduplication data movement process high level overview

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Partitioned Databases and Network-Attached Storage (NAS)

If partitioned deduplication is going to be implemented using two MediaAgents, it is recommended to use a shared disk
library with a Network-attached Storage (NAS) device. The NAS storage allows either MediaAgent to recover data even if
the other MediaAgent is not available.

Partitioned Database for Scalability

The primary purpose for partitioned DDBs is to provide higher scalability. By balancing signatures between database
partitions, you can scale up the size of a single deduplication store. If you have two partitions, the size of the store
doubles – and having four partitions quadruples its size.

Partitioned Database for Resiliency

Using partitioned databases ensures resiliency. For instance, if one MediaAgent hosting a Deduplication Database (DDB)
goes offline, the other MediaAgent continues data protection jobs as the available DDB continues signature lookups.
However, with the loss of one database, all signatures previously managed by the off-line database would now be looked
up in the remaining online database. This causes existing signatures managed in the off-line database to be compared in
the online database, which results in the signatures being treated as unique, and additional data being written to the
library.

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Enabling Deduplication
When configuring storage, you can enable deduplication with a simple click. The deduplicated storage can then be
selected in a plan, which means that all subclient protected by this plan will see their datasets stored in the same storage
and deduplicated against each other. When enabling deduplication, the location for the deduplication database partition
(DDB) must be defined. If more than one MediaAgent is sharing the storage unit (Network-attached storage or cloud),
multiple partitions (up to four) can be created, providing scalability.

Deduplication can be enabled for primary storage as well as secondary storage. When enabling deduplication on a
secondary copy, the data transfer leverages deduplication by sending only the new blocks. All existing blocks are simply
dropped from the source, avoiding unnecessary transmission of data.

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Deduplicated disk/cloud storage overview

Configure Deduplication for Storage

Configuring deduplication for disk or cloud storage is achieved from the Commvault Command CenterTM, under the
Storage section. Enabling deduplication is only available during the storage initial configuration and cannot be turned on
later. On top of the storage configuration, it is also important to collect information on the location of the deduplication
database (DDB). It should be a dedicated set of disks, preferably SSD, located on the same MediaAgent to which the
storage is configured.

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To configure deduplication for a disk storage

1. Expand Storage and click on Disk.

2. This window displays the existing configured storage.

3. Click on the Add link to create new disk storage.

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4. Provide a name for the disk storage.

5. Click Add to configure the storage target.

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6. From the list, select the MediaAgent with access to the storage.
7. Define the storage connectivity. Local is used with Direct-Attached or SAN-based storage, while Network is used
with Network-Attached storage (NAS).
8. Browse or type the path of the first storage mount path.
9. Enable deduplication using the slider.
10. Browse or type the path to the location to host the deduplication database.
11. Click Save.

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Tape Storage

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Tape Storage Design

A tape storage is a target where media can be added, removed, and moved between multiple targets. The term
removable media is used to specify various types of removable media supported by Commvault® software, including tape
and USB disk drives, which can be moved between MediaAgents for data protection and recovery operations.

Tape storage best practices:

 Configure the tape storage cleaning method to use. Software cleaning (Commvault) or hardware cleaning (tape
unit) can be used, but not both. A choice must be made.
 Share the tape storage if required.
 Create a barcode pattern for cleaning tapes and assign it to the Cleaning Media group (CommCell® Console).
 If using multiple scratch media groups, create scratch groups and barcode patterns to use (CommCell® Console).
 Validate drive speed (from the CommCell® Console) and document for future reference.

Tape Storage Types

Commvault software supports the drives for the following tape storage:

 Standalone
 Blind
 Dedicated
 Static Shared
 Dynamic Shared
 Virtual Tape Library (VTL)
 USB Devices

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Standalone

A standalone tape drive has no robotic media changer and no internal storage slots. Multiple standalone drives controlled
by the same MediaAgent can be pooled together to support multi-stream jobs or cascade of a single stream job without
having to respond to media handling requests. Media used by a Standalone tape target can be pre-stamped or new, and
will be prompted for, by backup or restore jobs as necessary.

Blind

A 'blind' tape target has no barcode reader and is supported by the Commvault® software maintaining the map/inventory
externally in the CommServe® server metadata.

Dedicated

A static configuration where the drives and media changer are connected to only one MediaAgent.

Static Shared

A static configuration where the drives and media changer are connected to only one of several MediaAgent hosts.

Example: In a target with four tape drives, one MediaAgent may have control of the media changer and two drives within
the target while another MediaAgent may have control over the other two tape drives. A drive connected to one
MediaAgent host is not accessible from the other MediaAgent hosts. Should the MediaAgent component having media
changer control fail, no further loading/unloading of media can occur until that MediaAgent is active again. Shared tape
storage in today's world of Storage Area Networks (SAN) are not common.

Dynamic Shared

In a Dynamic Shared tape storage, the drives and media changer are on a SAN and can be accessed by multiple
MediaAgent hosts. Drives not being used by one MediaAgent can be assigned to and used by another MediaAgent. If the
MediaAgent with control of the media changer fails, the control can be automatically passed to another MediaAgent. The
primary advantage of a Dynamic Drive tape target is the use of multiple MediaAgents for processing reads/writes.
Dynamic Drive capability is referred to as GridStor® Technology. GridStor technology is an option that enables load
balancing and failover of data protection jobs.

Virtual Tape Library (VTL)

A Virtual Tape Library (VTL) is a disk-based target that emulates the traditional tape devices and formats, and can be
installed onto any disk space. Refer to the manufacturer's documentation to see if a disk-based storage subsystem
supports VTL emulation mode. Follow the manufacturer's instructions to create the virtual tape library and make sure that
the MediaAgent can detect the virtual arm changer and the drives created.

USB Devices - PnP (Plug and Play) Disk Libraries

For some environments with remote office locations connected to a main data center with limited bandwidth such as
'fractional T1' or 'satellite,' USB backup devices may provide the best protection solution. PnP (Plug and Play) Disk
Libraries (USB devices) are configured and recognized by Commvault® software as standalone tape devices. This allows
data to be protected to USB devices using MediaAgents at remote locations, removed and sent to another location and
connected to a different MediaAgent where the data can be accessed and restored. Since the USB device is detected as
a tape device it is considered portable and any Windows MediaAgent within the CommCell® environment can recognize
the device and access/restore the data. This method can also be used for seeding stores when using Commvault
deduplication for remote office protection.

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Adding Tape Storage

Before you configure a tape storage in Commvault® software, it first must be attached or zoned to be seen by the
MediaAgent operating system. The device manager should detect one medium changer and one or many drives. It is
recommended to install the vendor drivers specific to the target storage.

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To add a tape storage

1. Expand Storage | Click Tape.

2. All existing tape storage are displayed in this view.

3. Click Add to configure a new tape storage.

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4. Select the MediaAgent from the list.

5. Click to scan the hardware connected to the selected MediaAgent.

6. Configured and unconfigured hardware is displayed. Select the unconfigured tape storage and its drives
(recognizable by the red exclamation mark in a yellow circle).

7. Click Save to configure the tape storage.

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8. The newly configured tape storage is displayed in the window.

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MODULE 3 – SECURITY

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Users Security

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Companies
Companies are the first layer for security. A company is defined in the Manage section of the Commvault Command
Center™. A master administrator for that company can be defined to manage the operation of the CommCell®
environment for that company. The information needed to define a Company includes:

 A Company Name (or department name)

 Email address for the Company administrator
 Contact Name for Company administrator
 Default backup plan for the company
 Company alias (which might be different from Company Name)
 Associated SMTP for email communications to the Company administrator
 Option for welcome email and template for setting up Company users

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To create a company

1. Expand Manage | Click Companies.

2. Click Add company.

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3. Provide the tenant company name.

4. Provide the tenant administrator’s information.
5. Select the default protection plan for the tenant.
6. Provide the domain NetBIOS name for the company.
7. Provide the SMTP server to use.
8. If required, slide and provide the tenant’s domain name.
9. Click to create the company.

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10. Once added, the company is listed in the view.

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Role Based Security

Role-based security in Commvault® Version 11 uses roles to grant access to CommCell® resources and tasks, such as
performing backup, restore, and administrative operations on entities. It's a granular mechanism that clearly defines what
resources are displayed to a user and the available tasks provided. For instance, role-based security can be implemented
to display only SQL servers to database administrators and only the backup and restore tasks that are assigned to them.

To use role-based security, you must create a 'security association' between users or user groups, a role, and entities:

 User(s) – defined by using a CommCell® user, an external domain user, a CommCell® user group, or an external
domain user group.
 Role – A collection of permissions that defines the level of access granted to a user or a user group.
 Entity – A CommCell® resource, such as a server, server group, plan, etc.
For instance, the separation of user/user group (who), role (permissions), and entity (what) allows a user or user group to
have different permissions depending on what their role is for a specific entity.

Example: A user requires backup and recovery permissions for a file server. The same user requires restore only
permissions for a mail server. The user is associated with the file server entity and assigned the backup and recovery
role. The same user is assigned to the mail server entity with the recovery role.

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Users
CommCell® users are created to grant access to the Commvault Command CenterTM and CommCell® resources. During
initial installation, a built-in administrative account, called 'Admin,' is created. This account has all privileges to all
CommCell resources.

During the creation of a user, the password can be generated by the system. The user receives an email prompting him to
connect for the first time with the generated password. At this point, the system prompts the user to change it.

Tip: CommCell users for DR purposes

Commvault recommends that you create at least another account with all permissions. This can be used by the main
backup administrator to ensure that in case of a disaster (e.g., directory services are unavailable), the administrator can
still use his or her account to execute restores.

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To create a new CommCell® user:

1. Expand Manage.
2. Click Security.
3. Click to manage CommCell® users.

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4. Click Add user.

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5. Define if it is a local (CommCell®) or external (i.e. Active Directory) user.

6. Type the Full Name of the user.
7. Enter a login name for the user.
8. Type the Email ID of the user.
9. The user can be associated to a user group by selecting it from the list.
10. Type and confirm the password for the user.
11. Click to create the user.

Disable a User Account

A user account can be disabled or enabled. When disabled, the user can no longer connect to any of the
CommCell® consoles (Commvault Command CenterTM, CommCell® Console, Web Console), nor execute any tasks in the
Commvault environment.

Tip! When working with contractors, create accounts they can use to work in the environment, and once they leave,
disable the accounts.

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To disable/enable a user account

1. Expand Manage | Click Security | Click Users.

2. Click the username.

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3. Toggle to the left to disable account.

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Delete a User Account

At any time, a user account can be deleted. This removes the user account preventing any future connection in the
Commvault® environment. However, deleting the user does not delete entities or configurations created by the user (i.e.
plans, storage, servers, etc.).

To delete a user account:

1. Expand Manage | Click Security | Click Users.

2. Click the Actions next to username, select Delete.
3. Confirm the Delete.

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Add an External Domain

External domain users are used to define security associations in Commvault® software. This allows a user to use his or
her regular domain account, thus preventing the need to remember an additional login and password. Several LDAP
vendors are supported. They are as follows:

 Active Directory
 Apple Directory Services
 Oracle Directory
 Open LDAP
 LDAP Server
Note that SAML authentication is also supported.

To add an external domain:

1. Expand Manage.
2. Click on Security.
3. Click on Identity Servers.

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4. Click Add.

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5. Define if AD (LDAP) or SAML authentication is used.

6. Select the LDAP technology to use.
7. Provide the NETBIOS name of the domain.
8. Provide the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).
9. Provider service account credentials used to query the domain controller.
10. Enable/Disable the use of Single Sign-on, which allows users to connect without having to type in a username or
password.
11. Click to create the connection to the domain.

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Roles
A role is a consolidated set of permissions that is used when creating a security association. A role can be part of as
many security associations as needed to make managing permissions much easier, but each security association can
only have one role. A wide variety of associations are available to define user tasks, such as: ‘in-place recovery,’ ‘out-of-
place recovery,’ ‘tape media operation,’ ‘scheduling,’ VM operations,’ and ‘Content Search.’

Example: If User01 requires backup and restore permissions on server A and User02 requires backup and restore
permissions on server B, you can create a single role called ‘Backup and Restore’ with the appropriate permissions set.
This role can then be used on two different security associations, one for User01 and one for User02.

For a complete list of permissions, refer to Commvault® Online Documentation.

Create a Role
During the role creation process, you can create a security association with it. All of the users and user groups that are a
part of the security association inherit the permissions in the role.

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To create a new role:

1. Expand Manage.
2. Click on Security.
3. Click to manage roles.

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4. Click to add a role.

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5. Provide a name for the role Existing roles are displayed in the main window.
6. Select the required permissions.
7. Check/uncheck to enable/disable the role.
8. Click to create the role.

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Edit a Role
To edit an existing role:

1. Expand Manage.
2. Click on Security.
3. Click to manage roles.

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4. Click the name of the desired role.

5. Uncheck to display all permissions.

6. Select the required permissions.
7. Click to save modifications.

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Delete a Role
To delete a role:

1. Expand Manage.

2. Click on Security.

3. Click to manage roles.

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4. Click to delete the role.

5. Click to confirm the deletion of the role.

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Security Associations
To use role-based security you must create a security association between users or user groups, a role, and
CommCell® entities. The entity defines the object or group of objects on which the defined user or users can execute tasks
defined by the role. For instance, if a user needs to achieve tasks on a server, create the security association on the
server entity. If the user needs to execute tasks on several servers, a server group can be leveraged on which the security
association can be defined.

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To configure a security association:

1. Expand Manage | Click Servers.

2. Click the CommCell® entity for which you want to create a security association.

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3. Click the Configuration tab.

4. From the Security section on the Configuration tab, click Edit to add a security association.

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5. Search for the CommCell® user, CommCell® user group, domain user or domain user group.
6. Select the role from the list.
7. Click to add the security association.
8. Click to create the security association.

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View an Object Security Associations

To view object security associations:

1. Click Manage | Click Servers.

2. Click the name of the entity.

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3. Locate the security section and click to display inherited association.

4. Security association are displayed and can be scrolled down if needed.

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Network Topologies

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Network Topologies Overview

In most modern data centers, corporate networks use one or many firewalls. A firewall blocks TCP and UDP ports
between two networks, to ensure restricted users cannot access sensitive resources and data. An example is computers
that are required to have direct access to the internet, such as web servers. These servers are usually isolated in a
dedicated network called a demilitarized zone, or DMZ. This ensures that if a hacker successfully breaks into and
accesses a web server, he or she cannot reach the corporate network since the machine is isolated in the DMZ.

There are two methods of implementing network routes:

 Physical network appliance that segregates networks through physical connections

 Software-based firewall that restricts inbound and/or outbound traffic

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Commvault® Software Default Ports

Commvault® software uses predefined ports to handle communication and data transfer. Some are static, and some are
dynamic.

Commvault® Software Default Ports

Service Port Number Protocol

Commvault® Communications Service, GxCVD service, found on all 8400 TCP

CommCell® computers.

Commvault® Server Event Manager, GxEvMgrS service, available on CommServe® server. 8401 TCP

GxCVD service dynamically uses free ports for communication during data protection and 1024 to TCP
data recovery jobs. 65535

Since multiple ports are used, especially dynamic ports, it makes it hard to protect a computer behind a firewall if no other
mechanism is in place. If this is the case, you would have to ask your network team to open ports 1024 to 65535 between
all clients in the DMZ and the internal servers. Because this scenario is not an effective solution, Commvault® software
has a set of network routes in place.

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Automatic Tunneling
Since service pack 15, the network configuration is easier than ever. The Commvault® components communicate using
the traditional communication port and dynamic ports. If the system notices that the dynamic ports are blocked and
therefore unavailable, it automatically encapsulates data transfers through a tunnel port. There is no need to configure
any network topologies nor network routes in Commvault® software.

The only requirement is that the communication port (8400) and tunnel port (8403) are opened and accessible between
the components.

Automatic tunneling requirements

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Network Topologies
Network topologies provide a simplified template to deploy network route configurations to CommCell® components.
There are three network topology groups to configure: One-Way, Two-Way, or Network Gateway. Once the simplified
topology is configured, advanced network route settings remain available at the client group and client levels to further
configure settings.

To use network topologies, client computers groups must be created first.

Network topologies for client computer groups:

For One-Way Network Topology

 Servers
 DMZ Servers

For Two-Way Network Topology

 Servers
 Infrastructure Machines

For Proxy Network Topology

 Servers
 Infrastructure Machines
 DMZ Gateways

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Restricted Network Topology

A restricted network route configuration is when Commvault components can communicate through a firewall, but only on
specific ports. A listening port is used to establish a connection between resources. In a restricted configuration, any
resource can initiate communication. Before setting up network routes, the listening port must be opened bi-directionally
on the firewall between components.

Two-Way Firewall Topology Groups

 Servers – These are the systems on the first side of the firewall. When implementing the network topology, the
Servers group has restricted communication on a specific port with the Infrastructure Machines group.
 Infrastructure Machines – The clients in the Servers group can be the CommServe server, MediaAgents, or
client components. When implementing the network topology, the Infrastructure Machines group has restricted
communication on a specific port with the Servers group.

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Blocked Network Topology

A blocked network route configuration is when only components on one side of the firewall initiates communication. This is
typically used in a strongly secured DMZ or when external clients such as laptop clients are connecting to the
CommCell® environment from unsecured networks.

The CommCell component that establishes connection attempts to communicate with other CommCell resources when
Commvault services start. Connection attempts and 'keep alive intervals' are set in the Options tab of the firewall settings.

One-Way Network Topology Groups

 Servers – The clients in the Servers group can be the CommServe server, MediaAgents, or client components.
By default, there is a system created computer group called Infrastructure that can be leveraged for network
topologies. When creating a network topology, the Servers group has restricted communication on a specific port
with the DMZ Servers group.
 DMZ Servers – These are the systems located in the untrusted networks, such as the DMZ. When implementing
the network topology, the DMZ Servers group has blocked communication with the Servers group.

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Network Gateway Topology

A Network Gateway route configuration is used when resources cannot directly communicate using a blocked or restricted
connection. A network gateway is designated in the DMZ by selecting the Network Gateway Topology. Network routes
must be configured from resources outside the firewall to the proxy and then from the proxy to resources inside the
firewall.

Network Gateway Topology Groups

 Servers – These are the clients that are using the proxy to reach the Infrastructure Machines group on the
internal network. It has restricted communication on a specific port with the DMZ Gateway Group but has blocked
communication with the Infrastructure Machines group.
 Infrastructure Machines – These are your CommCell® components such as the CommServe® server and the
MediaAgents. By default, there is a system created computer group called Infrastructure that can be leveraged for
network topologies. When creating a network topology, the Infrastructure Machines group has restricted
communication on a specific port with the DMZ Gateways group but has blocked communication with the the
Servers group.
 DMZ Gateways – These are the systems that acts as gateways in the DMZ to relay any communication between
the Servers group and the Infrastructure Machines group. When creating a network topology, the DMZ Gateways
group has blocked communication with both the Servers and Infrastructure Machines groups. By default, there is
a system created Proxy Clients group. Any system that are defined to act as network gateways are automatically
associated with this group.

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Configuring a Network Topology

Before configuring a topology, create the required server groups if needed. You can then launch the network topology
configuration wizard.

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To configure a Network Topology

1. Expand Manage | Network.

2. Click Network Topologies.

3. This window displays configured network topologies if any.

4. Click to add a new topology.

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5. Provide a name for the topology.

6. Select to configure a Servers or a Laptops topology from the list.

7. Choose the topology type based on your network configuration.

8. Select the required computer groups for which the topology will be applied.

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MODULE 4 – SERVERS AND FEATURES

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Servers and Server Groups

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Server Administration Overview

When using the Commvault Command CenterTM, Commvault® software uses agents to communicate with file systems
and applications that require protection. Any server with an agent installed on it is referred to as a 'server.' Each agent
contains code that is used to communicate directly with the system requiring protection. The agent communicates using
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) or scripts that are native to the file system or application.

For example, a Windows 2019 file system uses Volume Shadow Service (VSS) to protect file data, so the Windows agent
has the option to enable VSS during backup operations. The agent then has a backup set defined. The backup set is a
complete representation of all data the agent is responsible to protect. Within the backup set, subclients are used to
define the actual data requiring protection. By default, a default subclient is used to define ALL data requiring protection
within the backup set.

Additional subclients can be created to define specific content requiring protection. When content is defined within the
user defined subclient, it automatically is excluded from the default subclient. An example for a custom subclient could be
defining a specific drive containing user data where VSS is initiated for the drive during backup jobs to ensure all open
files are protected.

Server Navigation Structure

The Server navigation structure defines a hierarchy for arranging various components of a server. This hierarchy remains
consistent throughout servers with different agents installed, which results in simplified administration of a
CommCell® environment.

Each component in the server navigation structure provides specific functionality to properly configure, manage and
protect production data. Each of these components has specific features and properties that are configured to provide a
comprehensive protection strategy.

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The Server navigation structure consists of the following components:

 Server — identifies the client system by CommCell® server name and Host name or IP address.
 Agent — is installed on the server, or an access node, to protect specific data such as files, databases, emails or
virtual machines.
 Instance — is used with specific agent types such as database application or hypervisors to define specific
configuration for an instance.
 Backup Set — is a complete representation of all content the agent is responsible to protect.
 Subclient — defines the actual data within the backup set that requires protection.

Accessing Server Properties

Few options and parameters are available for servers. These options are applied to the server, therefore applied globally
to any agent types installed on the server. Options are grouped in categories such as:

 Security
 Agents
 Activity control

To access client properties

1. Expand Manage | Click Servers.

2. All servers are displayed in the view.
3. Click the server to open properties.

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4. Select the Configuration display.

5. Client options are divided in different sections.

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Server Administrative Tasks

To help the Commvault® administrator manage servers, several tasks are available to perform on a server:

 Check Server Connectivity

 Release a License
 Delete a Client
 Client Activity Control
 Client Update Status

Check Server Connectivity (check readiness)

Connectivity to a server and storage data paths for configured subclients, are checked and reported on at the server level.
The Check Readiness command ensures that the CommServe® server can communicate with the server. It also checks
data path connectivity to all MediaAgents and paths for storage that are associated with subclients.

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To check server readiness

1. Expand Manage | Click Servers.

2. Click the actions button of the server and select Check readiness.

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3. Once completed, the result is displayed in the Status column.

4. The Reason column describes reason for readiness failure.

Retiring a Server (Delete)

Retiring a server is a task that removes the server completely from the CommCell® environment. It is considered a
destructive operation, since the data associated to that server is marked to be destroyed. During the next data aging
operation, which is scheduled every day at noon by default, the server's data is physically purged from the disk or cloud
storage. Data on tapes is also marked as aged, and tapes can be recalled as scratch media if empty.

Retiring a server key points:

 All licenses for the server must be first released to allow the deletion
 Retiring a server is a destructive operation that purges the server's data on the next data aging
 Consider releasing licenses instead of retiring a server if data needs to be preserved

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To retire a server (delete a server)

1. Expand Protect | Click File servers.

2. Click the actions button of the server and select Retire.

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3. Type Retire and click the Retire button to confirm retirement of the server.

Server Activity Control

Data protection and data recovery jobs are enabled or disabled in the server properties view. If activity is disabled, an
Enable after a Delay button is displayed. This is used to automatically enable the activity on a specific date and time.
Client activity control is useful when a client is offline, since any scheduled operations are, by default, ignored if activity is
disabled.

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To configure server activity control

1. Expand Protect | Click File servers.

2. Click the name of the server.

3. Use the control switches to enable or disable activity.

4. The enable after delay button allows to re-enable activity after a time period, or a specific time.

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Server Update Status

Update status for servers are viewed from the Servers view of the Commvault Command CenterTM.
The current Commvault® software version, service pack level, update status, and operating system platform are displayed
for all clients providing summary information on their status.

Update status key points:

 Installed packages contains:

 The status of Up-to-Date
 Needs Updating
 Ahead of cache
 The Ahead of cache may appear in situations where updates have been applied to the system prior to their
general release
 Commvault recommends keeping all software up-to-date

To check update status of all servers

1. Expand Manage | Click Servers.

2. Select All from the drop-down list.
3. The update status is displayed.
4. The software version of each server is also displayed.

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Server Groups
Server Groups are used to group like servers to simplify CommCell® administration. Servers can be added to one or more
server groups.

Server Groups provide the following benefits:

 Simplified navigation when locating servers within the Commvault Command CenterTM.
 Configuring user group security to manage entire server groups.
 Simplified activity control, such as enabling or disabling data protection or recovery for an entire group.
 Assigning server groups when configuring reports and alerts automatically adds/removes clients when changes
are made to the group.

Server Association Methods

When using the Commvault Command CenterTM, there are two association methods for server groups. First, computers
can be associated manually to a group. This method requires manual intervention to associate servers to the group. This
is accomplished during the agent installation or by editing the server group.

In addition to the manual association method, automatic association rules can also be used. This efficient method
automatically associates servers to a group based on a set of predefined rules. Many criteria can be used to define the
rules.

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To create a new server group

1. Expand Manage | Click Server groups.

2. Existing server groups are displayed in this window.

3. Click to add a new server group.

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4. Provide a name for the new group.

5. Choose between manual or automatic association using rules.

6. If manual association is selected, check the computers.

7. Click to create the server group.

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To create a server group using automatic association

1. Enter a name for new server group.

2. Ensure to select Automatic association.
3. Select Client scope from drop down window.
4. Click to add a rule.

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5. Select the criteria the rule will use.

6. Use Scroll Bar Up/Down to view additional appropriate rules.

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7. Select the operator to use against the criteria.

8. Select entities based on the selected criteria, in this case agents.
9. Click to save the server group settings.

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Activity Control
As with a server, activity can be controlled for an entire server group. This is useful when maintenance requires activity to
be disabled and later re-enabled on several computers at once.

To disable activity for a server group

1. Expand Manage | Click Server groups.

2. Click the Server group name.

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3. Use the slider to disable the activity type.

4. The enable after a delay button allows to re-enable activity after a time period, or a specific time.

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Agent Deployment

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Agent Deployment Overview

Push Install
From the Servers view | Add Server

The Commvault Command CenterTM is used to push the Commvault® software to servers. The following specific ports are
used to achieve the install:

 Commvault base services – Ports 8400 and 8401 are used

 Linux – port 22 is required
 Windows — ports 135, 139, 445 are required

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To execute a push install

1. Expand Protect | Click File servers.

2. Click the Add server link.

3. Select the type of file server to configure. For a Windows or Linux server, select File server.

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4. Select this option to install agent(s) on a new server.

5. Select this option to complete the configuration of agent(s) already installed on the server.
6. Provide the server name(s), or IP address(es), then press ”+” to add additional server names.
7. Provide credentials with administrative privileges to install software on server.
8. Select the platform.
9. If you do not want to install the software in the default directory, provide the new location..
10. Expand the Backup configuration section.

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11. Select a server plan from the list.

12. By default, the system backs up the content that is defined in the plan.
13. If you want to override and define the data requiring protection, toggle the switch.
14. Click Install.

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15. Click Jobs to expose the Job monitor screen.

16. The progress of the installation is displayed. In this example, the job failed.
17. Click the Job id link to get detailed information.

18. The details of the job are displayed, including the error description. In this example, the wrong hostname was
used.

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Files and Network Storage Protection

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File System and OS Protection

The file server solution provides tools to manage UNIX and Windows servers protection as well as network storage
devices that share content via SMB or NFS file systems. Once the Commvault Command CenterTM core setup is
complete, the file server solution can be configured. Clients and subclients are configured directly from the Commvault
Command CenterTM.

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Operating System File Protection

Commvault® software provides the following features so that you can efficiently manage your data protection:

 Job monitoring
 Alerts
 Events
 Resource reports
 File archive and stubbing
 Ransomware Protection
 Filesystem synchronization between two similar systems
During configuration, a backup plan can be created. Otherwise, the system uses the default plan. The plan defines
protection settings, such as the storage targets to receive data, as well as the retention of the data.

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Network File Protection

A MediaAgent can be used to protect network storage leveraging the hardware capabilities of the storage hardware.
Support for Clustered File Systems, Big Data stores, and Metro-Cluster support are integrated into the Commvault
solution through agent capabilities. Different vendors have different options that are reflected in the properties sheet for
the backup subclient.

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Subclient Overview
Subclients are used to define data that is protected in a containerized format. Each subclient container manages specific
content within a backup set. Each backup set has one or more subclients.

Default Subclient
By default, most agents have a default subclient. The default subclient acts as a catch all for all data managed within
a backup set. This means the default subclient automatically detects and protects all data the agent is responsible to
protect. When custom subclients are defined, any data managed by the custom subclients is automatically excluded from
the default subclient. This is the concept of mutual exclusiveness of contents within a backup set. Data is mutually
exclusive to the subclient in which it is defined and data cannot be defined in multiple subclients within the backup set.
The concept of Commvault® software is to ‘Copy Once and Reuse Extensively (CORE).’ In other words, protect the data
to the storage target and use secondary copies to create additional copies of data. There are situations where protecting
data from the source location multiple times may be required. To accomplish this, you can create additional backup sets.

Define Contents for the Subclient

The Contents section is used to define the content for the subclient.

Administration | Servers | Agent | BackupSet | Subclient properties view | Content section | Edit

Key points to review before configuring subclient content:

 The contents of a default subclient, for most backup agents, is a \ (Windows-based) or / (Linux/Unix based). This
represents an auto-detection functionality that protects any newly added volumes. If the default subclient's content
is modified, the \ or / is removed and auto-detection is disabled. Do NOT modify the contents of the default
subclient. If only certain drives are to be protected, use the Filter tab to exclude the unwanted drives.
 Add content by using the Browse button or manually entering it using the Add/Edit Paths button.
 Use the Add Paths button to enter UNC paths to protect data on systems that do not have Commvault agents
installed. Then use the 'As user' button to enter a user account with proper permissions to read the data from the
shared location. This feature is only recommended when protecting small amounts of data
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 The option to 'Backup System State' is used to protect system state data for Windows servers. By default, the
default subclient automatically protects system state data. If required, a separate subclient can be defined to
specifically protect system state. Only one subclient within a backup is be designated to protect system state
data.

Defining Content Using Wildcards and Patterns

When defining content using the Add Paths button, regular expressions (or wildcard characters) can be used. Wildcard
expressions are characters such as * or ?. Regular expressions include patterns such as [a-f] or *.[l-n]df. The terms are
interchangeable.
You can use the regular expressions for defining content at any level in the data path. For example:

F:\Users
[A-L]* or *.pst.

The expression ** represents any folder structure. For instance, C:**\data\ means that any data, from the C: drive, in any
folder structure, is backed up.

To edit subclient content

1. Expand Protect | Click File servers.

2. Click the name of the file server.

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3. Click the subclient name.

4. Locate the Content section and click Edit.

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5. Click Browse to navigate to the location.

6. Use the folder tree browser to select drives or folders.

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7. You can also manually enter full paths or use wildcards and patterns.
8. Click to add it to the list.
9. This area displays the added content.
10. You can back up the Windows system state using the toggle switch.

Add Subclients
Key points for adding subclients:

 When new subclients are added, the content defined in the new subclient is automatically removed from the
default subclient.
 Content within a backup set cannot be defined in more than one subclient, except for VSA subclients.

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To create a new subclient

1. Expand Protect | Click File servers.

2. Click on the server for which you want to create a new subclient.

3. Subclients are listed in this window.

4. Click to add a new subclient.

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5. Provide a name for the subclient.

6. Choose a protection plan from the list.
7. Use the slider to add content manually.
8. Type paths and click the plus sign to add them to the list.
9. To browse and select content click the Browse button.

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10. Exclusions can also be applied to prevent backing up unnecessary data.

11. Exceptions can also be applied to exclusions, providing granularity if needed.

12. Click to create the subclient.

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Delete a Subclient
To delete a subclient

1. Expand Protect | Click File servers.

2. Click the server name for which you want to delete a subclient.

3. Click the ellipsis of the subclient you want to delete. This will open the options menu.

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4. Click Delete to remove the subclient.

5. Type “Delete” to confirm and click Delete to remove.

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Filtering
Administration | Servers | Agent | BackupSet | Subclient | Content section | Edit

Filters are defined at subclient level to remove specific folders and objects that do not require protection.

Key points for subclient filters:

 Can be defined for Windows and UNIX subclients.

 Subclient filters include exclusion and exception filter entries:
 Exclusion filters – determines which folders and/or objects will be excluded from the subclient.
 Exception – is an override for exclusion. This means any folders and/or objects defined in the exception entry is
protected by the subclient. An example would be filtering a temporary directory by defining it in the exclusions
section but adding an important folder to the exceptions section for backup.

Similar to defining content, wildcards and patterns are used to define exclusion filters and exceptions.

To edit subclient filters

1. Expand Protect | Click File servers

2. Click the file server name

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3. Click the subclient name.

4. Locate the Content section and click Edit.

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5. Click Exclusions to add local exclusions to backups.

6. Type a path to exclude content during backups.

7. Click the plus sign to add the exclusion to the list.

8. Once added, the exclusions are displayed in this section.

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9. Local Exceptions can also be applied to exclusions, providing granularity if needed.

10. Type a path to apply as an exception to filterered content.

11. Click the plus sign to add the exception to the list.

12. Once added, the exclusions are displayed in this section.

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Virtual Machines Protection

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Virtualization Overview
Virtualization has become the standard of data center consolidation whether on-premises or in the cloud. As the number
of virtual machines and the physical hosts they run on grows, a comprehensive protection strategy is required to ensure
proper protection. Commvault® software provides several protection methods for virtual environments on-premises and in
the cloud. These methods provide a comprehensive enterprise hybrid protection strategy.

There are four primary methods Commvault® software can use to protect virtual environments:

 Virtual Server Agent (VSA)

 Application Aware backup integrating the VSA and application plugins
 Agents installed within virtual machines
 IntelliSnap® Technology
The best method to use depends on the virtual infrastructure, type of virtual machines being protected, and the data
contained within the virtual machines. In most cases using the Virtual Server Agent (VSA) is the preferred protection
method. For specific virtual machines, using 'application aware' backups or an agent directly installed within the VMs is
the preferred method. For mission critical virtual machines, large virtual machines or virtual machines with high I/O
processes, the IntelliSnap feature is used to coordinate hypervisor software snapshots with array hardware snapshots to
efficiently protect virtual machines while minimizing the performance impact of the virtual infrastructure.

Virtual Server Agent (VSA)

The Commvault Virtual Server Agent (VSA) interacts with the hosting hypervisor to provide protection at the virtual
machine level. This means agents do not need to be installed directly on the virtual machines, although installing restore-
only agents provides a simplified method for restoring data back to the VM.

Depending on the hypervisor application being used and the virtual machine's operating system, different features and
capabilities are available. The VSA interfaces with the hypervisor's APIs and provides capabilities inherent to the
application. As hypervisor capabilities improve, the Commvault VSA agent is enhanced to take advantage of new
capabilities.
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Agent-Based Protection
Agent-based protection uses Commvault agents installed directly in the virtual machine. When an agent is installed in the
VM, it appears in the CommCell® console just like a regular client and the functionality is the same as an agent installed
on a physical host.

The main advantage with this configuration is that all the features available with Commvault agents are used to protect
data on the VM. For applications, using a Commvault agent provides complete application awareness of all data
protection operations including streaming log backups, granular item-based protection, archiving and content indexing.

VSA Application Aware Protection

VSA application aware backups insert an 'application plugin' into the VM during a VSA backup. When a VM backup runs,
the plugin quiesces the application using a VSS snapshot. The VSA coordinator then communicates with the hypervisor to
conduct a VM snapshot. This protection method provides a hybrid approach using the VSA to conduct data protection
jobs, and agent-based functionality for recovery, like installing an agent directly in the VM.

VMware® Transport Modes

The VMware® VADP framework provides several transport modes to protect virtual machines:

 SAN transport mode

 NAS transport mode
 HotAdd mode
 NBD and NBD SSL mode
Each of these modes has their advantages and disadvantages. Variables such as physical architecture, source data
location, ESX resources, network resources and VSA proximity to MediaAgents and storage have an effect on
determining which mode is best to use. It is also recommended to consult with Commvault for design guidance when
deploying Commvault® software in a VMware environment.

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SAN Transport Mode

SAN Transport Mode is used on a VSA access node with direct Fibre channel or iSCSI access to snapshot VMs in the
source storage location. This mode provides the advantage of avoiding network movement of VM data and eliminates
load on production ESX servers.

Virtual machines are backed up through the VSA and to the MediaAgent. If the VSA is installed on an access node
configured as a MediaAgent with direct access to storage, LAN-Free backups can be performed. For best performance,
Commvault recommends that the VSA have a dedicated HBA to access the VMDK files. If an iSCSI SAN is used, we
recommend a dedicated Network Interface Card on the VSA for access to the SAN.

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NAS Transport Mode

NAS Transport Mode is used on a VSA access node with direct network access to the datastore NFS volume exports in
the source NAS filer. This mode provides the advantage of avoiding data movement of VM data through the production
ESX servers.

Virtual machines are backed up through the VSA and to the MediaAgent. In such scenario, the VSA access node is
typically installed directly on the physical MediaAgent. For best performance, Commvault recommends that the VSA have
a dedicated Network Interface Card for access to the NAS.

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HotAdd Mode

HotAdd mode uses a virtual VSA in the VMware environment. This requires all data to be processed and moved through
the VSA access node on the ESX server. HotAdd mode has the advantage of not requiring a physical VSA access node
and does not require direct SAN access to storage. It works by 'hot adding' virtual disks to the VSA access node and
backing up the disks and configuration files to protected storage.

A common method of using HotAdd mode is to use Commvault deduplication with client-side deduplication, DASH Full
and incremental forever protection strategy. Using Change Block Tracking (CBT), only changed blocks within the virtual
disk have signatures generated and only unique block data are protected.

This mode is also useful when there is no physical connectivity between the physical VSA access node and the Datastore
storage preventing the use of SAN transport mode. Some examples of such scenarios are when using NFS Datastores or
using ESX hosts local disk storage to host Datastores.

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NBD Mode

NBD mode uses a VSA access node installed on a physical host. The VSA connects to VMware and snapshots will be
moved from the ESX server over the network to the VSA access node. This method requires adequate network
resources. NBD mode is the simplest method to protect virtual machines.

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Hyper-V Transport Modes

Commvault® software uses VSA access nodes to facilitate the movement of virtual machine data during Hyper-V backup
operations. The VSA access nodes are identified in the instance properties. For Microsoft Hyper-V, the VSA is installed on
each hypervisor host. VMs can be protected from each host or a VSA access node can be designated to protect VMs.
The access node must have access to all clustered shared volumes where VMs reside.

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Add a Hypervisor
Once the VSA software has been installed on all the access nodes, the hypervisor (also known as an instance) can be
configured. One or many hypervisors from any supported vendor can be added in a CommCell® environment using the
Hypervisors view of the Commvault Command CenterTM.

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®
To add a VMware hypervisor:

1. Expand Protect | Click Virtualization.

2. Click the Hypervisors tab.
3. Click to add a new hypervisor.

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4. Select a hypervisor vendor.

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5. Provide the host name to use to reach the hypervisor management server or host.
6. Provide a meaningful hypervisor name to display in the Commvault Command CenterTM console.
7. Provide a service account having administrative. privileges in the virtualization environment
8. Select the VSA access nodes to use from the list.
9. Click Save to add the hypervisor.

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10. Click to add a VM group and define which virtual machines to protect…
11. …or click to use the default VM group which protects all virtual machines.

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12. Provide a name for the subclient.

13. Select the grouping type to use when browsing VMs.
14. Select the VMs.
15. Choose a protection plan from the list.
16. Click Save to create the subclient.

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17. The Overview page displays a summary of the VM group.

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Subclient Filters
Subclient filters are used to filter virtual machines or virtual machine disks. This provides the necessary granularity when
using auto-discovery rules. For instance, a subclient can be defined to discover all VMs in a cluster, for which VMs not
requiring protection can be filtered out.

To configure VM Group filters:

1. Expand Protect | Virtualization.

2. Click the VM groups tab.
3. Click the name of the subclient.

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4. Locate the Content section and click Manage. You may need to scroll down the screen.

5. Select the Filters tab.

6. Click to manually select VMs to filter.

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7. Select the browsing mode to use.

8. Select the VMs to filter….

9. …or click to automatically filter VMs based on rules.

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10. Choose a criterion to build the rule.

11. Choose the operator to use.
12. Define the condition to meet.

13. Open the Disk Filters tab.

14. Click to define VM disks to filter.

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15. Select the filter type to use.

16. Define the disk to filter.

17. Defined filters are displayed in the Content section.

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View VM group Job History

To view job history of a VM group:

1. Expand Protect | Click Virtualization.

2. Click the VM Groups tab.
3. For the subclient, click the Actions button and choose View jobs.

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4. The view displays the history of backups, restores and Live Sync replications.

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Virtual Machine Backups

There are two places from which manual VM backups can be initiated in the Commvault Command CenterTM Console. It is
important to understand the difference between the two as it may launch a backup for more VMs than required.

Methods to launch a manual VM backup:

 From the VM Group view – This initiates a backup for all the VMs defined in the VM Group/subclient.
 From the virtual machine – This initiates a backup only for the selected virtual machine.
A manual backup can be initiated for a VSA subclient, also called VM group. This protects all the virtual machines defined
in the subclient. Use this method to re-conduct a backup job that has failed but is not suited for an on-demand protection
of a single VM.

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Backup a VM Group
To run a VM group manual backup:

1. Expand Protect | Virtualization.

2. Click the VM groups tab.
3. Click the Actions button for the subclient and choose Backup.

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4. Click the type of backup to run.

5. Click OK.

6. Click to view detailed information and job progress.

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Backup a Single VM
A single virtual machine can be backed up manually using the Commvault Command CenterTM. Running this manual
backup does not affect any configured subclient.

Points to consider when running a VM manual backup:

 Virtual machines must be backed up at least once before you can request a backup on demand.
 An on-demand VM backup is always an incremental backup.
 If a VM is included in multiple subclients, an on-demand backup is run for the subclient that performed the latest
backup of the VM.

To run a VM manual backup:

1. Expand Protect | Virtualization.

2. Click the Virtual machines tab.
3. Click to run a Backup for the virtual machine.

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4. A manual single VM backup only allows an incremental backup.

5. Click OK.

6. Click to view detailed information and job progress.

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Recovery using the Virtual Server Agent

Several restore options are available when using the Virtual Server Agent (VSA), such as entire VMs, VM disks and VM
files. Advanced options such as using live recovery allows to bring VMs online quickly, by powering on the virtual machine
from Commvault® storage.

Recover a Full VM
A virtual machine can be fully recovered in the same virtual environment, or a different environment accessible by a VSA
agent. The VM can be restore with the same name or can be renamed to avoid overriding the source virtual machine.

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To recover a virtual machine:

1. Expand Protect | Virtualization.

2. Click the Virtual machines tab.
3. For the VM, click the Actions button and choose Restore.

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4. Click to recover the full VM.

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5. Default option is to restore the VM in place.

6. Select VSA access node that will execute the restore.
7. Options to Power on the VM upon restore.
8. Slide to overwrite the VM if it already exists.
9. This option defines the disk provisioning type to use for the restored virtual machine.
10. Let the system use the best available transport mode or specify one by selecting it from the list.

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11. If Out of place recovery was selected...

12. …select the Virtualization vendor and the hypervisor to restore the VM on.
13. Select the VSA access node that will execute the restore.
14. Rename the VM on restore if needed.
15. Additionally, select the datastore, resource pool and folder to recover in.
16. Use scroll bar to display additional restore options.

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17. Select to add or modify Network and IP settings.

18. Define if the VM should be powered on upon restore.
19. Click to use live recovery by mounting the VM and using a vMotion operation.
20. Click to launch the recovery.

Guest File Recovery

The Virtual Server Agent for some hypervisors, such as Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware, supports agentless restores of
files and folders into a virtual machine, without requiring the installation of the File System Agent on the destination VM.
Using this feature simplifies deployment and reduces the impact of backup and restore operations for virtual machines.

Setup Requirements for Hyper-V:

 The Hyper-V host must be running on a Windows 2012 R2 server operating system
 For Windows, the destination VM must be running on Windows 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1 or later
 The destination VM must be powered on
 Ensure the latest integration services are running on the destination VM
 Enable Guest file services on the destination VM. If not enabled, the restore operation enables the services
Setup Requirements for VMware:

 For Windows, the virtual machine must have the NTFS file system
 Requires ESX 5.x, 6.0, 6.5
 The virtual machine must be powered on
 The latest release of VMware Tools must be installed and running

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 You can use open-vm-tools on guest VMs

running http://documentation.commvault.com/commvault/v11/article?p=system_requirements/vs_vmware.htm" \l
"vm_tools; open-vm-tools must be installed and running
 The user account that is used to browse the destination VM must have write permissions for the VM
Whether the traditional file recovery or the Live File Recovery is used, the restore screens are the same. Only the
mechanics under the hood differs to achieve the restore.

To recover a guest file:

1. Expand Protect | Virtualization.

2. Click the Virtual machines tab.
3. For the VM, click the Actions button and choose Restore.

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4. Click Guest files to recover individual files, folders and volumes.

5. From the list, select a method to browse backups.

6. Click to drill down to the location.

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7. Check the files and folders to restore.

8. Click to select from which copy the file will be recovered.
9. Click to open the restore options window.

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10. Select where to restore files:

a. My VM – Same VM from which files were protected.
b. Other VM – Another VM than the one where files were protected.
c. Guest agent – A physical system on which a file system agent is installed.
11. Select the VSA access node from the list.
12. Select the guest in which files will be restored.
13. Provide credentials with administrative privileges in the target system.
14. Browse the location or type a path where the files must be restored.
15. Click to initiate the restore.

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Cross Platform Recovery

Backup and restore is not platform dependent. Restores can be done between hypervisors with a conversion happening
during the restore process. This useful feature can be used as a migration tool, or to provide recovery capability between
two datacenters using different hypervisors. There are some limitations on the source and destination so refer to the
Commvault Online Documentation for the latest matrix of source and destination hypervisors.

NOTE: Cloud virtual machines are configured as generic hypervisors and act as a source or target to the virtual server
agent. Conversion is automatically done when the destination hypervisor is selected during the restore process.

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Database Protection

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Database Protection Overview

Faced with the exponential growth of applications and databases, many organizations find it challenging to keep data
protected while extracting value from it at the same time. With a Commvault® environment, a single solution protects data
in your Oracle, SAP, MySQL, PostgresSQL, MongoDB, and Microsoft SQL Server environments, and it provides a unified
approach to administration, policy management, and data access. From dev/test to production to archiving and retirement,
The Commvault® software covers the entire lifecycle of your enterprise's most important data — improving application
performance, accelerating innovation, reducing costs and bringing copy data management under control.

The Commvault Command CenterTM console is configured to protect a variety of databases that run on physical servers,
virtual machines, or cloud instances. Features like database snapshots, replication between two systems, database
snapshots, database cloning with data masking, and restore to a sequence number or time interval are supported across
a variety of database engines.

Database backups are performed the same way file system or virtual machines backups are executed. A subclient is
defined and backups are scheduled or run manually from the console. The key advantage to a Commvault database
backup feature is that scripting for a specific database or database type is not needed. With an easy to use Command
CenterTM console, administrators can define and perform backup procedures for a variety of databases without having to
create scripts, special functions, or specific processes and procedures.

Database protection can be done by installing a database agent on the client which is running the database or on a
MediaAgent that can connect to the database using the vendor supported database connections. The database agent can
connect to the database instance and copy the whole instance, the transaction logs, and individual tables.

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To add a database agent

1. Launch the setup.exe and select Add Packages.

2. Select the Database package.
3. Select the database types.
4. Click through to begin the installation.

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To configure a database agent

1. Expand Protect | Databases.

2. This view displays database instances already configured in the environment.
3. Click to add a new instance. This requires the agent to be already installed.
4. Click to deploy and configure the agent on the server.

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5. Select the database type to configure.

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6. Select the OS type.

7. Enter the IP address or server hostname and click the plus(+) sign. If needed, add additional server.

8. Enter the credentials for the operating system.

9. Select a data protection plan from the list.

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To configure a database instance

1. From the Databases screen, click on Add Instance to add a database instance.

2. From the Databases screen, click on Add Instance to add a database instance.

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3. Select the server where the database is running.

4. Select local system account or enter new credentials.

Configure Database Agent Security

An important step in configuring a database agent is to define a security account to use to connect to the database
instances. A good example is the Microsoft SQL agent that traditionally used a local system account to backup SQL
databases. The most recent versions of MSSQL no longer allow local accounts to be used and therefore require the agent
to be configured with a service account with the proper permissions.

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To configure a database agent security

1. Expand Protect | Databases.

2. If an agent security is not properly configured, a status of Nor Ready is displayed

3. Click the server's name to configure the security.

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4. Locate the General section and click Edit.

5. Use the local system account or provide a specific account.

6. Click Add.

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7. The status is now set to Ready.

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Backing up a Database Instance

To back up a database instance:

1. Expand Protect | Databases

2. Click the Actins button of the desired server and select Back up.

3. Select the type of backup to execute.

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4. A notification confirms the execution of the job. Click the link for more details.

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Database Recovery
Databases can be recovered using a variety of mechanisms but must be recovered back into a similar database.

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Restoring a Database Instance

To restore a database instance:

1. Expand Protect | Databases.

2. Click the Actions button of the desired server and select Restore.

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3. Select the database to restore.

4. Click Restore.

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5. A Database can be restored in place, in other words, over the production database (overwrite).
6. It can also be restored in another.
7. Database files can also be restored to disk.
8. If Out of place is selected, provide the instance in which to recover the database.
9. Provide a name for the restored database.
10. Provide a location for the database files and log files.
11. Select the recovery type to use.
12. Click Submit.

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MODULE 5 – DATA MANAGEMENT

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Plans

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Plans Overview
The configuration of data protection is greatly simplified in the Commvault Command CenterTM. It is achieved by creating
a server protection plan, which consists of several configuration options easily set in a single wizard. Options included are
storage, retention, backup schedule (RPO), and offsite copy configuration.

Different plans can be created, each used for a specific goal.

 Server plan – Used to define data protection settings for file system and application agents.
 Exchange plan - Used to configure the Exchange Mailbox agent.
 Data classification plan – Used to configure the indexing of the content of backup data (content indexing).

Derived Plans
When creating a plan, several options can be enabled as settings that can be overridden. This is used in conjunction with
the derived plan feature. For any configured plan, it is possible to use it as a base plan and create a derived plan from it.
The derived plan has all the same protection options by default, but overridable options can then be modified. When
modifying the base plan, changes are also applied to derived plans unless they are overridden.

Overridable options can have the following settings:

 Override must
 Override optional
 Override not allowed

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Tip: Using plan templates

Scenario: You have multiple servers for which protection requirements are similar except for one option, such as
the backup frequency. Every other requirement (i.e. retention, storage targets) are the same for all servers.

Solution: Create a base plan with all settings defined and set the RPO option to ‘Override must’. Use the plan as
a template from which administrators will create derived plans and set the backup frequency.

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Configure a Server Plan

A server plan is used to protect servers using the file system agent. Supported operating systems are:

 Microsoft® Windows
 Unix/Linux
 Mac OS
It protects virtual machines protected using the Virtual Server Agent (VSA).

It is also used to configure application agents except for the Exchange Mailbox agent, which is configured using an
Exchange plan.

Finally, if the file system, virtual machine or application requires protection using hardware snapshot, Commvault
IntelliSnap® can be configured under the snapshot section of the server plan.

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To configure a server plan:

1. Expand Manage | Plans.

2. This window displays the existing plans.
3. From the Create plan list, select Server backup.

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4. Provide a descriptive name for the plan.

5. Click Add to select storage for the primary copy of backup data.

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6. Provide a descriptive name for the copy of data.

7. Select the primary storage from the list.
8. Set a retention for the primary storage.
9. Click Save.

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10. It is recommended to create an additional offsite copy, such as tapes, cloud or remote site MediaAgent.
11. Set the frequency at which backups will be conducted.
12. Click the link to set the window during which backups are allowed to run
a. Full backup window – Defines the window during which full backup can run
b. Backup window – Defines the window during which any other type of backup can run (i.e. incremental,
differential, etc.)

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13. Click the squares to change their color.

14. Blue means backups can run.
15. White means backups are prevented from running.
16. Click Save.

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17. Expand this section to define what gets backed up by the file system agents.
18. Select the operating system tab.
19. This section defines the files and folder to backup, which by default is the entire server.
20. Click to modify the content to protect.
21. This section defines files and folder to skip during backups.
22. Click to modify the exclusions.
23. Define when to back up the Windows system state.

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24. Expand this section to configure Commvault IntelliSnap® snapshots.

25. Define how many snapshots to keep on the array.
26. Enable to send a copy of the snapshot to a Commvault® storage target.
27. Define the frequency at which the backup copy must be conducted.

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28. Expand this section to define database agent options.

29. Define the frequency at which transaction log backups are conducted.

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30. Expand this section to configure the plan as a master for derivative plans.
31. Check to allow derivative plans to override options set by this master plan.
32. Define which options can/must be overridden.
33. Click Save to create the plan.

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34. This window displays the plan options, which can be modified if needed.
35. Click to create a derivative plan if needed.

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A secondary copy is used to synchronize protected data with a source copy. All valid data (jobs that completed
successfully) written to the source copy are copied to the secondary copy via an update process called an auxiliary copy
operation. This means that all full, incremental, differential, transaction log, or archive jobs from a source copy, are also
managed by the secondary copy. Secondary copies are useful when you want a consistent point-in-time copy at any point
within the cycle of all protected data available for restore. It is recommended to have at least one offsite secondary copy
to ensure full recovery of data, should a disaster occur.

The following storage devices can be used as a secondary copy:

 Disk
 Cloud
 Tape

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To configure a secondary copy:

1. Expand Manage | Click Plans.

2. Click the name of the plan.

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3. The Backup destinations section displays copies currently configured.

4. Click to add a copy to the plan.

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5. Provide a name for the secondary copy.

6. Select the storage to use from the list.
7. Check to set a retention other than the primary copy.
8. Set the retention.
9. Click to create the secondary copy.

Auxiliary Copy Schedule

A built-in auxiliary copy schedule is created when adding a secondary copy to a plan. By default, every 30 minutes, the
system validates if new jobs exist in the primary copy that were not copied to the secondary copy. If jobs do exist, they are
copied. If not, the auxiliary copy job simply completes without copying data.

Although it is recommended to keep the default schedule to ensure the best synchronization possible between copies, it
can be modified if needed.

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To edit the auxiliary copy schedule:

1. Expand Manage | Plans.

2. Click the name of the plan.

3. Locate the Secondary schedule section and click the schedule name.

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4. Modify the schedule frequency to meet your needs.

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Data Protection

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Data Protection Methods

Commvault® software provides the following data protection methods for your Windows Servers, applications, data and
systems:

 Traditional Backups
 Archiving
 Snapshots
 Replication
 Block-Level Backups

Traditional Backups
Traditional backups to tape or disk protect data by backing up each object to protected storage. One advantage of using
traditional backups is that each item protected is a complete separate copy that is backed up to separate media. When
using tape media, the backup becomes portable.

Many modern backup solutions incorporate traditional backups to disk storage, which is then replicated to a Disaster
Recovery (DR) site. For example, Commvault deduplication and DASH Copy uses traditional backups with a scheduled
replication, where only changed blocks are transmitted to the DR location.

Traditional backups are usually slower than some modern protection technologies. Time-consuming backups can have a
negative effect on Service Level Agreements (SLAs). This performance bottleneck is more severe when millions of items,
such as large file repositories, require protection.

While there are positive and negative results of traditional backups, this method has been the most common and cost
effective because it's a reliable data protection solution.

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Illustration of a traditional backup

Archiving
Data Archiving is not technically a data protection technology, but it can be used to improve SLAs. Archiving removes
infrequently accessed data from production disks and moves it to less expensive secondary storage. The archived data
can also be recalled by end users or Commvault® administrators.

Illustration of Commvault® archiving

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Snapshots
Snapshots are logical point-in-time views of source volumes that are conducted almost instantaneously. This allows for
shortened RPOs since the snapshots can be conducted more frequently throughout the day. A snapshot is not truly
considered a DR protection strategy since the protected data is not physically moved to separate media.

Advanced snapshot technologies allow for data to be mirrored or vaulted to separate physical disks, which can be located
at off-site DR locations. Snapshot technologies are used to meet strict SLA requirements, but are considerably more
expensive to implement because dedicated hardware is required. Commvault's Continuous Data Replicator (CDR) is a
software-based snapshot and replication technology, which is a cost-effective alternative to hardware snapshots.

For supported hardware and CDR, IntelliSnap® technology is used to conduct and manage snapshots.

Illustration of snapshots

Replication
Replication technology is used to reproduce block or object changes from a source volume to a destination volume.
Replication methods use synchronous or asynchronous replication to synchronize source and destination volumes using a
one-to-one, one-to-many (fan out), or many-to-one (fan in) replication strategy. Production data is replicated providing fast
SLAs for high availability. Backup data or snapshot data is replicated providing a more complete DR solution.

If corruption occurs at the source, it may be replicated to the destination. Therefore, replication should be used along with
point-in-time snapshots.

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Illustration of a replication scenario

Block-Level Backups
Block-level backups use a Commvault® driver and Volume Shadow Services (VSS) to quiesce and conduct a software
snapshot of a disk volume. A block-level backup protects data much quicker than traditional object-level backups. Indexes
can optionally be generated for granular recovery, or a live browse operation can be conducted to virtually mount the
volume to provide full or granular recovery. Block-level backups are recommended for volumes with many small files.

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Illustration of block-level backup

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Index vs. Non-Index vs. Live Browse Jobs

Commvault® software provides several methods to backup and restore data that has been lost, accidentally
deleted, corrupted or made inaccessible. The following methods offer different benefits depending on your situations:

 Index
 Non-Index
 Live Browse and Deferred Index-Based jobs

Index-Based Jobs
For many agents, Commvault® software provides granularity during restores. For example, you can use the file system
agent to recover a single deleted file without restoring the entire drive. To restore that single file, Commvault software has
a mechanism that indexes the backup jobs. The index contains the information about all objects that are protected in the
job, as well as the chunk information to locate the object in the library. A data protection job for such agents is referred to
as an index-based job.

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Index based data protection job workflow

Non-index-Based Agents
Some other agents, such as database agents, only support a full database recovery and do not rely on indexes. This is
referred to as non-index-based agents. But not all database agents are non-index based. For instance, the Oracle agent
offers granularity that requires the protection jobs to be indexed.

Non-index-based data protection job workflow

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Live Browse-Based and Deferred Index-Based Jobs

Only a few agents offer the capability to run an indexed job or to defer the indexing process to be executed during the
browse operation. These are referred to as live browse-based jobs and deferred index-based jobs.

Live Browse Jobs

Live browse has the capability to allow some agents use a mechanism that mounts the backup from the library and
display its content in the console. An example of a Live Browse-based agents is the Virtual Server Agent (VSA) which will,
if configured as such, mount the VM from backups to recover granular files and folders in guest VMs.

Deferred Index Jobs

Another option for some agents is to defer the creation of the index of a backup job. This is referred to as a deferred-index
job. An example is the IntelliSnap® snapshot; where the option to create an index can be deferred later. In this case, the
snapshot created during the backup job is mounted when scheduled and the index is generated. This is useful to
complete the backup quickly and defer the creation of the index out of peak hours.

Deferred index (Live Browse) based data protection job workflow

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Backup Types
Commvault® software provides the following backup types for protecting data:

 Full
 Incremental
 Differential
 Synthetic Full
 DASH Full

Full
A full backup protects all data within a subclient each time it is run. This provides the most complete level of protection by
backing up all data every time the job runs. It also provides the fastest recovery time since all data is contained within a
single job.

NOTE: Full backups require the most storage space and take the longest time to complete.

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Full backup process

Incremental
Incremental backups protect all data that has been added or modified since the last successful backup operation. Based
on the average incremental rate of change and growth, the incremental backups should remain consistent in size. An
incremental backup is considered a dependent operation, as it is dependent on previous incremental backups and the full
backup which started the cycle. For a full restore of data, the full and all incremental backups are required.

Incremental backup process

Differential
A differential job backs up all data that has been modified or added since the last full backup job. The first differential job
following a full backup just contains incremental changes since the full backup completed. As subsequent differential
backups are run, the backup size increases since all changed and added data is backed up in each differential. As the
cycle progresses and more differential backups are executed, they continually increase in size requiring more storage
until the next full backup runs. Restores are slower than a full, but faster than using incremental jobs since only the full
and most recent differential is required for a complete restore.

Another advantage of differential jobs is that modified data is being redundantly stored throughout the cycle as each
differential completes. This could potentially limit data loss if a differential job is lost or damaged.

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Differential backup process

Synthetic Full
A synthetic full backup synthesizes full backup operations by copying previously backed up data into a new full backup
job. It works by using the Image file from the most recent backup. The image file contains a list of all objects that existed
at the time the backup operation was run. The synthetic full uses the image to determine which objects require protection
and copies the objects from previous backup jobs into a new synthetic full backup. No data is backed up from the
production client, which can reduce the time required to generate the synthetic full backup as opposed to a traditional full
backup.

For synthetic full backups to work properly, an initial full must be run which provides the foundation in which the synthetic
full backups will be based on. Incremental backups must be run after the initial full and subsequent synthetic full to ensure
all required objects are in protected storage. When the synthetic full runs, it copies all required objects into a new
synthesized full backup, which will then become the foundation for the next synthetic full backup.

Synthetic Full key points:

 Synthetic full backups are useful for large volumes or Exchange mailbox backups where many objects require
protection or when the production client has very short operation windows.
 Synthetic full backups work best on non-deduplicated disk storage. When using Commvault deduplication, use
DASH Full backups instead of traditional synthetic full backups.
 Using Synthetic full backups on appliance-based deduplication devices can have a negative impact on
performance. In some cases, the performance can be slower than running regular full backups.
If using 3rd party deduplication solutions, test this option before implementing.

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Synthetic full backup process

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File System Manual Backup

To ensure proper protection of your data, backup jobs should be scheduled through protection plans, however there might
be situations requiring the execution of a manual backup job. These jobs must be initiated from the subclients. If an entire
server requires being protected, be sure to initiate a backup for every subclient created on this client.

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To run a manual file system backup

1. Expand Protect | Click on File servers.

2. Click on the Action button to display menu for the server.
3. From the Action menu select backup.

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4. From the Backup window, select the subclient to run a manual backup for.
5. Click Select to continue.

6. Select the backup level.

7. Click OK to submit the job.

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8. Once started, click to see the detailed information of the job.

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Data Recovery

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Data Recovery
When using the Commvault Command CenterTM, recovering data is accomplished from the client or subclient view. There
are several options available for restoring data depending on the agent type and the operating system.

Key points when restoring data:

 Data can be restored in-place, which is on the same system, in the same location.
 Data can be restored out-of-place, on the same server in an alternate location or on a different server.
 Files can be restored in a remote location by providing a UNC path and the user who has access to the share.
 Data can be overwritten if it already exists in the destination location.

There are three options to locate the data to restore:

 Show latest backup – Self-explanatory.

 Show backup as of specific date – Point-in-time browse based on a date and time.
 Show backup for a date range – Displays files protected during a specific time range.

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To browse and recover data

1. Expand Protect | File servers.

2. Click the Actions button of the desired server and select Restore.

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3. Click the ellipses icon.

4. Click to display deleted items.
5. Show the latest backup or a specific point-in-time.

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6. Use the navigation pane to locate the folder containing the data to recover.
7. Select the files or folders to recover.
8. Files can be downloaded in your default download location or…
9. …or click to restore the files.

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10. Select the client on which you want to restore the files.
11. Define if you want to recover the files/folders (Data) and/or their permissions (ACLs).
12. Check to do an in-place recovery, uncheck to recover elsewhere on the same server or any other server.
13. If restoring to another location, you can use alternate credentials.
14. If recovering to out of place location, browse to the desired location or type a path.
15. Click to initiate the restore.

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16. A message confirms the restore being launched.

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Job Management

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Managing Active Jobs

The Jobs view is the most effective tool for managing and troubleshooting all active jobs within the
CommCell® environment. Regardless of which method is used to initiate a job (schedule, on demand or script) the job
appears in the jobs view.

Use Jobs View Options

The following actions can be performed from the jobs view:

 View job details

 Suspend/Resume/Kill a job
 View logs
 Send logs
Each job includes information about the job status, data path, and media usage or job events and errors.

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View Job Details

To view job details:

1. Click on Jobs.
2. Click the job ID number for the job.

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3. Detailed information can be displayed by clicking on View job details.

4. If the job is pending, the middle section provides information about the reason for which the job is pending.
5. Job events and errors are displayed in the bottom section of the view.

Change Job Status

Job status can be changed from the Commvault Command CenterTM Jobs view. A job can be suspended to later be
resumed or killed. If needed, any job, whether it was successful, failed or was killed, can later be resubmitted. This can be
useful to re-execute a failed job that encountered an issue after it was resolved. Instead of having to initiate the job
through the Servers view and select all options, it can simply be resubmitted from the Jobs view.

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To control active jobs:

1. Click on Jobs.
2. Click the Active jobs tab.
3. Check to select one or multiple jobs.
4. Change the job or jobs status by clicking it.

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To re-submit a job

1. Click on Jobs.
2. Select the Job history tab.
3. Select the history range.
4. Click to include Commvault® software administrative jobs.
5. Click the Job Id of the desired job.

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5. From the job details view, click Resubmit.

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View Job Logs

Running a job involves many CommCell® components and processes interacting with each other, which could make it
hard to troubleshoot if an efficient tool was not provided. Consider a backup job, which requires the CommServe® Server,
the MediaAgent, and the client components. Each component has several processes triggered, each having a dedicated
log file. This is potentially a dozen log files containing entries relevant to this job, but also entries from other jobs.

The Jobs view simplifies the scavenging of information from log files by concatenating it in a central window. Each section
has a header providing information on the server and log filename from which the entries were extracted.

To view job logs:

1. Click on Jobs.
2. Select the Job history tab.
3. Select the history range.
4. For the job, click the Job Id.

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5. From the job details view, click More actions | View logs.

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6. Displays the server name and log filename from which entries are extracted.
7. Displays all lines extracted from the log file that are relevant to the job.

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Send Logs to Commvault® Support

Situations may occur where job logs must be sent to Commvault® Support. After gathering the appropriate server and log
file information in the jobs view, you can send job logs by simply using the job's option, Send logs.

To send logs to Commvault® support:

1. Click on Jobs.
2. Select the Job history tab.
3. Select the history range.
4. For the job, click the Job Id.

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5. From the job details view, click More Actions | Send logs.

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6. Logs can be uploaded to Commvault® support automatically or exported to a folder.

7. Define which information should be sent.
8. If Commvault® support requests that you send a copy of the CommServe® Server database, simply send the logs
and check the CommServe Database box.
9. Click to send the logs.

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Apply Filters to the Jobs View

To apply filters to the Jobs view, filters must first be toggled on. Any filter can then be applied to a column. Several filters
can be concurrently selected and applied to the same column and more than one column can have filters applied at the
same time. This provides the necessary granularity to refine the view to better monitor and troubleshoot the
CommCell® environment.

To apply filters to the Jobs view:

1. Click on Jobs.
2. Select the Active Jobs or Job history tab.
3. Click to open the column options.
4. Click Filter and click in the field to define filters.
5. Select the desired filters from the list.

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6. Once filters are applied, the view is refreshed displaying only relevant information.

7. When no longer needed, click the gear icon and select Clear all filters.

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Job Activity Control

Commvault® software offers a great deal of flexibility for controlling job activity. Data protection, recovery, and
administrative jobs can be temporarily disabled and then re-enabled at a specific date and time. Activity control can be set
for the entire CommCell® environment, server group, and server levels.

Job activity key points:

 If activity is disabled for a parent object in the Commvault Command CenterTM, activity is automatically disabled
for any child objects.
 Activity can be disabled until manually enabled or set to automatically re-enable at a specific date and time.
 If activity is enabled for a parent object, activity can be enabled or disabled for any child objects.

Which Activity can be controlled?

 All activity for the entire CommCell® environment can be enabled / disabled.
 Disabling activity at the CommCell level will disable all activity in the CommCell environment.
 Enabling (default) allows activity to be controlled at child levels.

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Activity control at the various levels of the CommCell® environment

Activity that can be enabled or disabled CommCell Server Group Server Agent Subclient

All activity Yes No No No No

Data Backup Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Data Recovery Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Schedule Activity Yes No No No No

Enabling or Disabling CommCell® Activity

Disabling Job Activity

If job activity is disabled at any level, it will automatically disable activity for any child objects. Activity cannot be overridden
at any child levels.

Example: A server group representing servers for a specific location is disabled for maintenance. By disabling activity at
the group level, all servers within the group are automatically disabled.

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To control activity for the CommCell® environment

1. Expand Manage | CommCell.

2. Locate the Activity Control section and disable any activity.

3. Activity can be re-enabled after a delay.

Enabling Job Activity

If job activity is enabled at any level within the Commvault Command CenterTM, activity can be disabled at any child level
object within the tree.

Example: A specific server has a maintenance window scheduled. By disabling the activity for that server, no operations
will run. All other servers within the group will operate normally.

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To control activity for a server

1. Expand Manage | Servers.

2. Click the name of the client.

3. Locate the Activity control section under the Configuration tab and disable activity.

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Enabling After Delay

If activity is disabled at any level in the Commvault Command CenterTM, the option 'Enable after a Delay' can be used to
automatically re-enable activity after a specific delay or at a specific date and time.

To automatically re-enable activity for a client

1. Once activity is disabled for an entity, click Enable after a delay.

2. Select a delay in hours or click Custom to set a specific date and time.

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3. If Custom was selected, click to set a specific date and time.

4. Pick the date from the calendar.
5. Click to set the time.

6. Set the desired time.

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Blackout Windows
Blackout windows allow the Commvault® administrator to designate periods in which operations do not run. These rules
can be set at the CommCell® environment or at the server plan level. For example, if the plan backup window prevents
backups from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., no backups will run between 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. for all clients covered by that protection plan.

CommCell® Level Blackout Window

Configuring a blackout window at the CommCell environment level prevents scheduled or manual backups from running.
This can be useful to prevent backups from running during peak hours, leaving all client server resources to the users.

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To create a CommCell® level Blackout window

1. Expand Manage | Click System.

2. Click Blackout window.

3. By default, no blackout windows are defined. Click to add a blackout window.

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4. Provide a descriptive name.

5. Select jobs to prevent from running.

6. Select the days during which the window is applied.

7. Highlight in blue the hours during which operations are prevented from running.

Plan Level Backup Window

A backup window can be defined in a server plan. This dictates when the backups are allowed to run. By default, backups
can be conducted all day on every day. To prevent backups from running during specific hours, edit the server plan's
backup window.

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To configure a plan level backup window

1. Expand Manage | Click on Plans.

2. Click the plan name.

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3. Click the backup window definition link.

Full backup window – Define when full backups are allowed to run

Backup window – Defines when other backup types are allowed to run (i.e. incremental, differential, etc.)

4. Highlight in blue, the time period during which backups are allowed to run.

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MODULE 6 - MONITORING

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Views

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Dashboards
Monitoring is traditionally done daily to view the status and condition of a CommCell® environment. The Dashboard is
used as a starting point to monitor the CommCell® environment. It shows key information for a component or aggregation
of components. The dashboard provides an overall status view of the CommCell® environment and client protection jobs.
By default, the view displays information about all clients of all features. If needed, other specific feature dashboards can
be accessed.

Use your mouse to hover over and identify active areas of the dashboard that can be expanded for additional information.

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The Dashboard view:

1. The Overview Dashboard provides summary information about protected servers, storage capacity, and health in
the CommCell® environment.
2. Active links in the dashboard sections can be expanded with a mouse click to provide additional information.

3. Feature specific dashboards can be accessed from the drop-down list.

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Jobs View
The Job view provides monitoring functionality for all active jobs within the CommCell® environment. The Jobs view
displays current running jobs by default. But it can also be used to see the job history of the last 24 hours or the last three
months. From this view, any job can be controlled to kill, suspend, resume and view the job logs.

A progress bar clearly indicates the progress of the job, while its Status column indicates if the job is still running, and if so
in which phase it is, or if it failed, is suspended or was killed.

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Event View
All Commvault® software related events are reported in the Events view. By default, 500 events are displayed, but the
event log can maintain up to 10,000 events or 7 days of events. Events can be filtered by severity level and can also
provide Job ID and Event ID links that can be clicked to display detailed information about the event or the job that
triggered it.

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Alerts

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Alerts View
The Commvault Command CenterTM provides several pre-configured alerts, which monitor the health of
CommCell® components and activities. Additional alerts definitions can also be created. Once triggered, it appears in the
Triggered alerts view, where detailed information can be accessed by clicking the information link. Keeping a close eye on
alerts ensures that issues are addressed as soon as they arise.

Once a triggered alert is no longer required, it can be deleted. The view can be filtered by severity, and the search box
can be used to find an alert.

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Triggered Alerts
To manage triggered alerts:

1. Expand Monitoring | Alerts.

2. Click the triggered alerts tab.
3. Alerts can be filtered using the drop-down list.

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4. One or many alerts can be selected.

5. Selected alerts can be deleted.
6. Click on the Alert info description to get more information on the alert.

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Manage Alert Definitions

The following tasks are available to manage alerts:

 Enable/disable an alert definition

 Delete an alert definition
 Define users or user groups to notify when triggered

To manage alerts:

1. Expand Monitoring | Alerts.

2. Click to view the alerts definitions.
3. Check to enable an alert.
4. Click an alerts definition name to view its settings.

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5. Click to delete the alert.

6. Click to define entities to monitor with this alert definition.

7. Uncheck to see all entities available.

8. Click entities to monitor with this alert definition.
9. If changes are made, click Save to continue.

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10. Click to define the notification recipients when the alert is triggered.

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11. Select notification delivery type.

12. Start typing user or group name. you can also manually add a SMTP email address for non-registered users or
groups.
13. Select from the drop-down window.
14. Click to save the recipients of this alert.

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Create an Alert Definition

Several alert types are available for which a value or condition can be set. When the value is reached or the condition
met, the alert is triggered. Notifications can be configured for an alert. In addition to showing up in the triggered alerts
view, an email will be sent to the defined recipients.

To create an alert definition:

1. Expand Monitoring | Alerts.

2. Click to view the alerts definitions.
3. Click to add an alert definition.

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4. Provide a name for the alert.

5. Choose an alert type from the list.
6. Set the criteria to trigger the alert.

7. Select entities to monitor with this alert.

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8. Type a username, user group, or email address in the search field and add the recipient.

9. Format the body of the notification as needed.

10. Click to save the alert

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Reports

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Reports View
An administrator can quickly import, customize, and share reports for their installation. Reports are available in the
Commvault Command CenterTM, as well as the Web Console for non-administrative user to consume report content. In
addition to these, you can download a wide variety of reports from Commvault® store for monitoring, trend analysis, and
various statistical information. This set of tools allows an organization to ensure the proper functioning of the environment,
to control its growth, and to optimize its performance.

Reports, such as web reports, PDF reports, or email reports, can be scheduled on a regular basis. New reports can be
downloaded from the Commvault Store or customized to pull data from the CommCell® Database or other external
sources using the Report Editor.

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The reports view:

1. Click Reports.
2. The number indicates reports requiring to be updated.
3. Use the search for report by name.
4. Run a report by clicking the icon.

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The Reports navigation page shows reports that are installed on this CommCell® environment. An administrator can add
more reports by visiting the Commvault Store and downloading new reports.

Work with Charts

Any chart within a report can be printed or downloaded. The chart can also be maximized to full screen. To revert it back
to its original size, simply click the Exit full screen button.

To work with charts

1. Click Reports and select any report to open.

2. Any chart can be maximized to full screen or downloaded. Move mouse to display additional setting for download
and expand to full screen.
3. Click on Gear to expand menu.
4. Select Columns to add additional information to chart view.
5. Click on More Actions for expand menu to Save, Email, Schedule, Edit and Delete options.

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Downloading Reports
To download a report from the store:

1. Click Reports.
2. Click Actions to select options.
3. Select Connect to store from the list.

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4. Provide credentials to log into cloud.Commvault.com then click Login button.

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5. Search for report or browse through sections.

6. Download and install any report by clicking the Install button.
7. Red dot indicates installed reports that need update.
8. Turn switch on to automatically update install reports.

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Scheduling a Report
Once a report is downloaded and installed it can be scheduled to be published to a web page or sent via email.

To schedule a report:

1. Click Reports.
2. Click on report icon to run the report.

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3. Click More actions, then Schedule.

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4. Provide a name for the scheduled report.

5. Select from drop-down list an export format for the report.
6. Select the users that will receive the report or type a SMTP email address of a non-registered user or group.
7. A copy of the report can be saved to a network share.
8. Define the frequency and time at which the report is executed.

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Editing or Deleting a Report

To edit or delete a scheduled report:

1. Click Reports.
2. Click on Actions to display the list and select View schedules.

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3. Check the box to select the report.

4. Once selected, a report can be enabled/disabled.
5. A report schedule can be edited by clicking its name.

6. A report schedule can be run on demand, edited or deleted.

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Health Reports
Health Reports are designed to assist with the overall system health of a CommCell®. This report is not designed to be a
daily tool but a weekly, monthly, or quarterly tool. The Health Report shows four different reports; critical issues, issues
that need attention, things that are working well, and general information about the CommCell® environment. Each
window pane includes a section that describes the issue at the top and recommended fixes to help resolve the issue.

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Support

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Creating Service Tickets

If you need assistance with configuration or any unforeseen issues that cannot be resolved, you can create a new service
ticket using the Maintenance Advantage website. Simply log into the http://ma.commvault.com and click on Create a
Support Incident.

Support tickets can be categorized into three categories:

 Medium – 3-hour response time

 High – 2-hour response time
 Critical – every hour until the issue is resolved
The information that you will need to have available when submitting a service ticket includes:

• CommCell ID (CCID)

• Version and Service Pack

• Brief Description of the issue

• Job ID – task that failed

• Error Code – of failed task

• Incident Classification

• Primary and Secondary Contact

The incident classification is key is used to route the service ticket to the right support team within Commvault. The better
classification that can be defined at the creation of the service ticket, the higher probability of a quicker resolution of the
issue.

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To review an opened ticket:

Open the Create a Support Incident and view the Active Incidents or Resolved Incidents.

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To get detailed information on a ticket:

Click on the Incident Number or Incident title to view more detail on an incident.

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To create a new ticket:

Click on the “Create a Support Incident” on the home screen and fill out the information relating to your problem or issue.

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THANK YOU

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