A guide on how to add Linux Servers and Desktops as Sources within the Zmanda Management Console.
An agent is required before you can add these systems as sources. Please see these pages on how to Install Linux Agents and link them to a backup server.
Before adding sources, it is best to create the Backup Set that you wish to link the sources to. You can, however, add a source at any time and link it to as many Backup Sets as you want.
This page covers Linux Filesystems. Stay tuned for articles on how to add other sources to be backed up within the ZMC.
Click on Sources in the left navigation panel.
Click Add Source in the top right corner of the screen.
Select Filesystem.
Note: A configuration pop-out will appear. By default, the advanced menu options will be displayed. In this guide, we will only cover essential configurations. Please see this page for more detail on the function of each of the fields. If you choose, you can collapse the advanced menu by de-selecting Advanced at the lower left of the menu.
The process to add a Linux Filesystem is nearly identical to that of adding a Windows Filesystem. Here are the steps:
Type - Select Linux.
Hostname - Enter the IP address of the source where you have already installed the agent.
Directory Path - Enter the path of the directory you wish to back up in Linux's format (forward slashes). For example, enter / to back up the entire filesystem, or enter /home/ to back up the home directory.
Note: Just like with Windows, there are two strategies to add granularity to your backups: First, you may create new sources using the same IP address and specify a different directory path each time. Or, you can use the Exclude Paths field, which is covered in Step 5 of this section.
Data Deduplication, Encryption Strategy, and Compression Strategy - These features will be covered in a separate article. For now, we will leave them in their default states.
Exclude Paths - This is an optional field where you can enter any directories that you wish to exclude from your backup, with each entry on a new line. For example, if you wish to backup the entire filesystem, but do not wish to backup the var directory, you can enter /var/ on this line. You can also exclude more granular directories, for example, /home/<username>.
Global Exclude Paths - Selecting this option enables the exclusion of paths specified in the Policies tab in the left Zmanda navigation window.
Comments - An optional field.
Backup Sets - This is where you will specify the unique Backup Set(s) that you wish to link this source to. You MUST link the source to a backup set in order for the data to be backed up. If you do not have a backup set to link the source to, please see this page. You may also link a source to more than one backup set, and the data will be backed up to the storage and on the schedule specified by each set.
Save - Click the SAVE button on the bottom right of the configuration window.
Once you have added your Linux Filesystem, you can click on the blue circular arrows to the right of each source entry. This performs a check to make sure that the ZMC can successfully connect with the agents installed on either system. If you have done everything correctly, you will see green checks along with OS information next to the sources that you have added, and you are now ready to start backing up your data!
If you see an error after performing the check host operation, please follow these steps to troubleshoot:
Make sure that the agent is properly linked to the backup server that you are using (see the same pages as above if not).
If you still have issues, please contact Zmanda support team at [email protected]
If you need to protect your Red Hats, Almas (Spanish for Souls), Ubuntu Animal Sanctuaries, or any other distribution of the beloved OS that uses a penguin as a mascot, you're in the right place.
Zmanda can back up data from over 22+ enterprise workload types. This video will demonstrate how to set up your Linux instance as a source to be backed up.
Zmanda can easily protect data residing on Linux systems. Whether they be desktops, or more likely, servers, simply install and configure the Zmanda agent, then add the system as a source in the Zmanda Management Console.
The Linux Agent is also required to protect Fileshares, as well as the Zmanda Backup Server itself.
Please see our compatibility matrix for a list of distributions supported by Zmanda. If you don't see your favorite on this list, please reach out to us at [email protected] and ask about your desired distro and version.
How to download and install the Zmanda Linux agent on Desktops and Servers.
This guide will take you through the process of installing the Zmanda Agent on a Linux Desktop or Server. Everything will be done using the command line. We will go over everything beginning with prerequisites, to downloading and installing the agent, to configuring the agent to be able to talk to your Backup Server. Let's get started!
1.1 Login to the source Linux system using the SSH terminal access tool of your choice (e.g. putty, mobaxterm). Update the target Linux system by running one of the following commands based on the Linux distribution.
For RPM-based systems, use dnf/yum:
For Debian-based systems.
1.2 Depending on the Linux distribution, SELinux may come pre-enabled. If your system has SELinux enabled and set to enforcing mode, please change it to Permissive mode.
Check the SELinux mode by running the getenforce command.
If the mode is set to Enforcing, execute the following commands to change it to Permissive mode:
1.3 **Zmanda requires specific ports to be open (**see below). For more information, please see this KB Article.
10080:10081
800:840
Run the following command to open these ports. (ufw may not be installed depending on the Linux distribution. If not, see the next steps below)
If your system does not have ufw installed (i.e. RHEL where adding UFW and EPEL is not an option), follow the instructions below. Execute the first command to see if the firewall is running. If the firewall is not running, you can skip the other two commands.
1.4 Install the Perl library by using the following command:
For RPM based systems (use dnf/yum):
For Debian based systems:
2.1 Login to network.zmanda.com with your credentials and navigate to the Download section on the left. Note: If you cannot open a browser directly on the system that is being backed up, or if you need to install the agent on multiple systems, get the CDN link for the installer binary by following these instructions.
2.2 Navigate to the Enterprise clients section and select the Linux Client OS from the dropdown. The corresponding client binaries will appear on the right of the drop-down once you select an OS.
2.3 Click on the binary to download the tar file.
2.4 If you are installing the agent on a different machine than the one you just downloaded it to, copy the CDN link of the file from your browser downloads folder (you can go there by clicking on "show all" when you download or by selecting downloads from browser menu).
2.5 Download the Linux agent on to the system that is being backed up using curl -O (capital O) and the CDN link.
2.6 Unzip the Linux agent using the tar command.
2.7 This will unpack 2 packages. One is the backup client that performs core Zmanda operations, and the other is an extensions client that helps with the restore operations. To ensure we install Zmanda correctly, we install amanda-enterprise-backup-client first, followed by amanda-enterprise-extensions-client
Some RHEL distributions are missing perl(Filesys::Df), which is a dependency for the extensions client.
Run the below commands to install the missing dependency.
Please type in yes, when prompted for confirmation via the CLI.
2.8 To validate a successful installation, you can use the below command.
3.1 You must now link the Backup Server to your Linux system. Execute the following command using the IP address of your Zmanda Backup Server where it is required using sudo:
3.2 If you have a cluster of Zmanda Backup Servers, repeat the above command for each server making sure to use a unique IP address each time.
Congratulations! You have successfully made another step towards protecting your data by installing the Zmanda Agent on a Linux system and linking the Agent to your Backup Server. You can now log in to the Zmanda Management Console and add your system as a source.
