Scheduling SnapVault Snapshot copy updates

About SnapVault Snapshot copy update schedules

After you have completed the initial baseline backup of qtrees on the primary storage systems to qtrees on the SnapVault secondary storage system (see Starting a SnapVault backup relationship), you must use the snapvault snap sched command to schedule

Regular SnapVault Snapshot copy times of volumes on the primary storage system to capture new and changed data in the qtrees that have a SnapVault relationship configured through the snapvault start command
Regular transport of new or modified data in the primary qtrees to their associated secondary qtrees on the SnapVault secondary storage system
Regular Snapshot copies of the volume containing the updated secondary qtrees for archiving by SnapVault
Note
The descriptions and procedures in this section pertain to SnapVault backup of Data ONTAP storage systems only. For descriptions and procedures pertaining to SnapVault backup of Open Systems drives and directories, see Setting up SnapVault backup on Open Systems platforms and Managing SnapVault backup of Open Systems platforms.

Snapshot schedule conflicts

If the SnapVault feature is scheduled to perform Snapshot management at the same time as default snap sched activity, then the Snapshot management operations scheduled using the snap sched command might fail with syslog messages, "Skipping creation of hourly snapshot," and "Snapshot already exists." To avoid this condition, disable the conflicting times using snap sched, and use the snapvault snap sched command to configure equivalent schedules.

Scheduling Snapshot copies on the SnapVault primary storage system

To schedule a set of Snapshot copies on the SnapVault primary storage system, you use the snapvault snap sched command to specify the volume to create Snapshot copies for, the Snapshot copy basename, how many versions of the Snapshot copies to be retained, and the days and hours to execute this set of Snapshot copies.

To set a schedule for the primary storage system, complete the following step.

Step	Action
1	From the primary storage system, enter the following command: snapvault snap sched volume_name snap_name schedule_spec volume_name is the name of the volume on the primary storage system on which to create this set of Snapshot copies. snap_name is the basename of a Snapshot set, for example, sv_nightly. The name of this Snapshot copy must be the same on the primary storage system and on the secondary storage system. The snap_name must not be "hourly," "nightly," or "weekly" to avoid conflict with `snap sched` Snapshot copies. schedule_spec is made up of count[@day_list][@hour_list]. count is the number of Snapshot copies to retain for this Snapshot set. A zero (0) in this field means no new instance of this Snapshot copy will be created. Caution The combined total of Snapshot copies retained for this and other Snapshot sets cannot exceed 251 Snapshot copies per volume. If it does, SnapVault will not create new Snapshot copies. @day_list is a comma-separated list that specifies the days on which a new Snapshot copy for this set is created. Valid entries are `mon tue wed thu fri sat sun.` They are not case-sensitive. You can specify a range using a dash (-), for example, `mon-fri.` The dash (-) by itself means no Snapshot copy will be created automatically. You can create the Snapshot copy manually. The default value is `mon-sun`. @hour_list specifies the hours at which a new Snapshot copy is created for this set. Valid entries are whole numbers from 0 to 23. You can specify a range using a dash (-), or use a comma-separated list, for example, `7, 8-17, 19, 21, 23`. The default is midnight (`0`).

Step

Action

From the primary storage system, enter the following command:

snapvault snap sched volume_name snap_name schedule_spec

volume_name is the name of the volume on the primary storage system on which to create this set of Snapshot copies.

snap_name is the basename of a Snapshot set, for example, sv_nightly. The name of this Snapshot copy must be the same on the primary storage system and on the secondary storage system. The snap_name must not be "hourly," "nightly," or "weekly" to avoid conflict with snap sched Snapshot copies.

schedule_spec is made up of count[@day_list][@hour_list].

count is the number of Snapshot copies to retain for this Snapshot set. A zero (0) in this field means no new instance of this Snapshot copy will be created.

Caution
The combined total of Snapshot copies retained for this and other Snapshot sets cannot exceed 251 Snapshot copies per volume. If it does, SnapVault will not create new Snapshot copies.

@day_list is a comma-separated list that specifies the days on which a new Snapshot copy for this set is created. Valid entries are mon tue wed thu fri sat sun. They are not case-sensitive. You can specify a range using a dash (-), for example, mon-fri. The dash (-) by itself means no Snapshot copy will be created automatically. You can create the Snapshot copy manually. The default value is mon-sun.

@hour_list specifies the hours at which a new Snapshot copy is created for this set. Valid entries are whole numbers from 0 to 23. You can specify a range using a dash (-), or use a comma-separated list, for example, 7, 8-17, 19, 21, 23. The default is midnight (0).

Example

The following three snapvault snap sched command lines schedule three sets of SnapVault Snapshot copies on volume vol1 of the primary storage system.

systemB> snapvault snap sched vol1 sv_weekly 1@sat@19

systemB> snapvault snap sched vol1 sv_nightly 2@mon-fri@19

systemB> snapvault snap sched vol1 sv_hourly 11@mon-fri@7-18

Result

SnapVault primary storage system creates Snapshot copies on the specified volume, as follows:

SnapVault creates sv_weekly.0 every Saturday at 7:00 p.m., and keeps one copy.
SnapVault creates sv_nightly.0 every Monday through Friday at 7:00 p.m., and keeps two copies.
SnapVault creates sv_hourly.0 every Monday through Friday, every hour from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and keeps eleven copies.

Scheduling Snapshot copy backups to the SnapVault secondary storage system

To schedule the backup of SnapVault Snapshot copies from the primary storage systems to the secondary storage system, use the snapvault snap sched -x command.

Complete the following step.

Step	Action
1	From the secondary storage system, enter the following command on a single line: snapvault snap sched -x sec_vol snap_name schedule_spec

In the command line just described:

The -x portion of the command is required on the secondary storage system. This parameter specifies that the SnapVault secondary qtrees on the specified volume are updated from their associated primary system qtrees just before the new Snapshot copy of the specified volume is created.
sec_vol is the name of the volume on the secondary storage system for which this Snapshot copy is scheduled.
snap_name is the basename of the set of Snapshot copies to create, for example, sv_nightly. The basename of this Snapshot set must match the basename of the corresponding Snapshot set configured on the primary storage system volume. Each new Snapshot copy created for this set is numbered 0, the number of each previous Snapshot copy in this set is increased by 1, and the oldest Snapshot copy in this set is deleted. The snap_name must not be "hourly," "nightly," or "weekly" to avoid conflict with regular Data ONTAP snap sched Snapshot copies.
schedule_spec is made up of count[@day_list][@hour_list].
- count is the number of Snapshot copies to retain for this set. A zero (0) in this field means no new secondary storage system Snapshot copy will be created for this set, although the qtrees on the secondary storage system will be updated by the transfers from the primary storage systems.
  Caution
  The combined total of Snapshot copies retained for this and other Snapshot sets cannot exceed 251 Snapshot copies per volume. If it does, SnapVault will not create new Snapshot copies.
- @day_list is a comma-separated list that specifies the days on which a new Snapshot copy is created for this set. Valid entries are mon tue wed thu fri sat sun. They are not case-sensitive. You can specify a range using a dash (-), for example, mon-sun. The dash (-) by itself means no Snapshot copy will be created automatically. You can create the Snapshot copy manually.
- @hour_list specifies the hours at which a new Snapshot copy is created for this set. Valid entries are whole numbers from 0 to 23. You can specify a range using a dash (-), or use a comma-separated list, for example,
  6, 8-17, 19, 21, 23. The default is midnight (0).
  Note
  Turn off the SnapVault Snapshot schedule on the primary storage system or the secondary storage system at any time with the snapvault snap unsched command. (See Unscheduling SnapVault Snapshot copies.)

Example

The following three snapvault snap sched command lines schedule three sets of SnapVault transfer updates and Snapshot copies on volume vol1 of the secondary storage system.

systemA> snapvault snap sched -x vol1 sv_weekly 5@sat@21

systemA> snapvault snap sched -x vol1 sv_nightly 5@mon-fri@20

systemA> snapvault snap sched -x vol1 sv_hourly 4@mon-fri@8-19

Result:

SnapVault transfers qtree data from the primary storage system's Snapshot copy as follows:

SnapVault transfers sv_weekly.0 to the secondary storage system every Saturday at 9:00 p.m., makes a new Snapshot copy with the same name containing all the transferred data, and keeps five copies.
SnapVault transfers sv_nightly.0 to the secondary storage system every Monday through Friday at 8:00 p.m., makes a new Snapshot copy with the same name containing all the transferred data, and keeps five copies.
SnapVault transfers sv_hourly.0 to the secondary storage system every hour from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, makes a new Snapshot copy with the same name containing all the transferred data, and keeps four copies.
Note
Snapshot copies scheduled on the secondary storage system with the snapvault snap sched -x command are created five minutes after the hour you specify to give SnapVault on the primary storage systems enough time to create Snapshot copies before the secondary storage system updates from them.

Scheduling Snapshot copies on the secondary system for archiving

You might want to schedule some Snapshot copies on the secondary storage system that do not require a transfer from the primary storage system. For example, you might want to maintain hourly and nightly Snapshot copies on the primary storage system and you might want to keep only weekly Snapshot copies on the secondary storage system. To schedule Snapshot copies on the secondary storage system without having to create a corresponding Snapshot copy on the primary storage system, complete the following step.

Step	Action
1	Enter the following command: snapvault snap sched sec_vol snap_name schedule_spec Note The `snapvault snap sched` command is used because it waits for any active SnapVault transfers to finish before creating the Snapshot copy.

Example

The following command schedules a weekly Snapshot copy at 11 p.m. on Saturdays and keeps the last five Snapshot copies:

snapvault snap sched vol2 sv_weekly 5@sat@22

How to display the currently configured Snapshot schedule

Enter the snapvault snap sched command without a schedule specification to show the current schedule values. If no snap_name is given, the command shows the basenames of all Snapshot sets scheduled for the specified volume. If no volume_name is given, the command shows the basenames of all Snapshot copies sets for all SnapVault volumes.

Example

systemA> snapvault snap sched

xfer   vol1 sv_weekly 5@sat@21

xfer   vol1 sv_nightly 5@mon-fri@20

xfer   vol1 sv_hourly 4@mon-fri@8-19

xfer   vol2 sv_nightly 5@mon-fri@20

xfer   vol2 sv_hourly 4@mon-fri@8-19