This article provides information about Dell EMC NetWorker 19.1 support for VMware Cloud on AWS. With Dell EMC NetWorker 19.1, you can administrate backup, cloning and restore operations in VMware Cloud on AWS environments.

Disclaimer: The partner solution referenced in this article is a solution that is developed and supported by a partner. Use of this product is also governed by the end user license agreement of the partner. You must obtain from the partner the application, support, and licensing for using this product. For more information, see Dell EMC NetWorker.

Target use cases:

Use cases that are supported on VMware Cloud on AWS

Use cases that are not supported on VMware Cloud on AWS

• File-level restore from an image-level backup.
• Instant access recovery of an image-level backup.
• Emergency restore (image-level restore directly to an ESXi host, bypassing the vCenter).
• Image-level backups and restores using NBD or NBDSSL transport mode.
• vProxy appliance configured with “dual stack” or “IPv6 only” is not supported.
• Application-consistent data protection for MS-SQL with the vProxy appliance.
• If datacenter is placed inside a folder in the SDDC, image backup and restore is not supported
• vProxy backups are currently not supported with CloudBoost, however cloning of vProxy backups to cloud object storage is supported via the CloudBoost appliance.
• VM Backup and Recovery plugin (flash or HTML5) for vSphere is not supported.

Solution Architecture

• Dell EMC NetWorker Server 19.1 or later, running on supported Windows, Linux platforms or as a NetWorker Virtual Edition (NVE)
• Data Domain Virtual Edition (DDVE) version 3.1 or later
• vProxy appliance version 4.0.0-7 or later

• NetWorker Server: it is recommended to deploy Dell EMC NetWorker server in VMware Cloud on AWS environment. The machine can either run supported Linux or Windows platforms or as a virtual appliance (NVE).
• NetWorker vProxy: it is recommended to deploy the vProxy appliance in VMware Cloud on AWS environment. Deploy at least one vProxy per each SDDC cluster in the VMware Cloud on AWS.
• Data Domain Virtual Edition: it is recommended to have your backups stored outside of the VMware Cloud on AWS environment, for example, on the Amazon AWS VPC. This type of deployment allows for efficient data transfer over the fast ENI connection used by VMware to communicate with Amazon AWS. It is also recommended to clone your backups to another Data Domain running either in the same AWS geographical location or in a different AWS geographical location. This type of deployment allows backup copies to be stored for longer retention, leveraging the AWS network for transferring data at lower latency and cost when compared to the public Internet. The Dell EMC NetWorker 19.1 VMware integration guide provides details on how to set up and configure the NVP solution for VMware Cloud on AWS.

Dell EMC NetWorker CloudBoost solution for VMware Cloud on AWS

• Dell EMC NetWorker Server 19.1 or later version, running on either supported Windows or Linux virtual machines or NetWorker Virtual Edition (NVE)
• CloudBoost appliance.

• It is recommended that an Elastic Network Interface (ENI) is already configured, allowing your SDDC and services in the AWS VPC and subnet in your AWS account to communicate without needing to route traffic through the internet gateway. This enables the CloudBoost appliance to use the ENI channel to send backup data directly to the S3 cloud object storage residing in the AWS VPC, as a preferred data path for the backups to the cloud.
• It is recommended to install the CloudBoost appliance in the SDDC vCenter environment instead of installing the appliance inside the AWS VPC.

VMware Cloud on AWS Network configuration

Domain Name System (DNS) resolution is critical for Dell EMC NetWorker deployment and configuration. All infrastructure components should be resolvable through a fully qualified domain name (FQDN). This is especially important for the Dell EMC NetWorker Server, Dell EMC NetWorker vProxy, Data Domain appliance, and CloudBoost appliance. Resolvable means that components are accessible through both forward (A) and reverse (PTR) look-ups. Review the following prerequisites prior to configuring Dell EMC NetWorker in a VMware Cloud on AWS. Also, ensure that you plan your firewall according to these prerequisites.

VMware Cloud on AWS web portal console

In the “VMware Cloud on AWS” web portal console please ensure the following:

• By default, there is no external access to the vCenter Server system in your SDDC (Software Defined Data Center). You can open access to your vCenter Server system by configuring a firewall rule. Set the firewall rule in the compute gateway of VMware Cloud on AWS to enable communication to the vCenter public IP address and tcp port 443 from the desired logical network of your SDDC. The Dell EMC NetWorker server will not allow you to add the vCenter Server if this firewall rule is not configured in the SDDC.

• The default compute gateway firewall rules prevent all virtual machine traffic from reaching the internet. To allow your Dell EMC NetWorker Server virtual machine to connect to the internet, you need to create a compute gateway firewall rule to allow outbound traffic on the logical network that your Dell EMC NetWorker Server virtual machine is connected to.

• Configure DNS to allow machines in your SDDC to resolve fully-qualified domain names (FQDNs) to IP addresses belonging to the internet. The Dell EMC NetWorker Server will not allow you to add the vCenter Server using the server's public FQDN or IP address if the DNS server is not configured in your SDDC.

• It is recommended that you deploy the Data Domain system as a virtual appliance in the Amazon VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) of your choice. During the SDDC creation, ensure that you connect your SDDC to an AWS account, and select a VPC and subnet within that account.

• The Data Domain system running in your Amazon VPC must be connected to your VMware SDDC by way of the VMware Cloud Elastic Network Interfaces (ENIs), allowing your SDDC and services in the AWS VPC and subnet in your AWS account to  communicate without needing to route traffic through the internet gateway.

The same ENI channel is recommended for access to Data Domain systems (for the vProxy solution) and access to cloud object storage (for the CloudBoost solution)

Detailed steps on configuring ENI are provided by VMware at https://vmc.vmware.com/console/aws-link.

• Ensure that you configure the inbound and outbound firewall rules of your compute gateway for Data Domain connectivity if DDVE is running in your Amazon VPC.

• If using NSX-T then you need to configure the DNS to resolve to internal IP address of the vCenter (Go to your SDDC Management > Settings > vCenter FQDN and select the Private vCenter IP address) so that you can directly access the management network over the built-in firewall. TCP Port 443 of the vCenter needs to be opened in both the management gateway as well as compute gateway.

• Refer to the section Port Requirements in Chapter 1 of Dell EMC NetWorker 19.1 VMware integration guide for detailed information on what incoming/outgoing ports need to be opened for NetWorker-vProxy solution.

Amazon AWS web portal

In the “Amazon AWS” web portal, note the following requirements:

• Configure the inbound and outbound firewall rules of your Amazon VPC security group to provide connectivity between the VMware SDDC compute gateway and Data Domain connectivity if Data Domain is running in your Amazon VPC.

• If replicating from one Data Domain system to another, ensure that you configure the inbound rule for the security group in AWS to allow all traffic from the respective private IPs of Data Domain Virtual Editions running in your Amazon VPC.

• If you have more than one Data Domain running in AWS to perform replication, then ensure that both Data Domain systems can ping each other using the FQDNs. 

vCenter Server inventory

In the vCenter server inventory of your SDDC, note the following requirements:

• An internal DNS name lookup server must be running inside the vCenter inventory. This will be referenced by all the workloads running in the VMware SDDC.

• The internal DNS server must have Forwarders enabled to access the internet. This is required in order to resolve the vCenter Server's public FQDN.
  

Interoperability with VMware Cloud on AWS product features

VMware Cloud on AWS has certain restrictions when it comes to workloads and resource pools. For proper operation, you can select the specific areas marked as “Workload” or “Compute”. Avoid using the non-accessible areas, for example:

• vsanDatastore datastore

• Management VMs folder in VMs and Templates view

• Mgmt-ResourcePool resource pool in Hosts and Clusters view

Support Information

Configuration best practices:

1. If using any version of NetWorker server lower than 19.1.0.2, then it is mandatory to turn off “console events” and “console cancel” if using VMC vCenter, please follow below steps to turn them off.

If using NetWorker server 19.1.0.2 or later versions, then you can skip this step:

1. Launch a admin/root command prompt on the NetWorker server.
   Run: nsradmin
   Enter: print type: nsr hypervisor; name: vcenter_server_name
   Note: replace vcenter_server_name with the name of your vCenter as seen in the NetWorker Management Console (NMC).
   Enter: update console cancel: no
   Enter: yes
   Enter: update console events: no
   Enter: yes
   Enter: print and confirm the setting is No

nsradmin> print
type: NSR hypervisor;
name: vcenter_server_name;
version: vcenter_version;
comment: ;
service: VMware VirtualCenter;
endpoint: "https://vcenter_server_name/sdk";
username: "vcenter_user_name";
password: *******;
command: nsrvim;
proxy: networker_server_name;
console events: No;
console cancel: No;

2. To exit nsradmin, enter: quit

2. When deploying or configuring the Dell EMC NetWorker server or vProxy, please ensure that correct DNS server IP pointing to the internal DNS server running in the vCenter inventory is specified.

3. Also ensure that both forward and reverse lookup entries in the internal DNS server are in place for all the required components such as Dell EMC NetWorker server, Dell EMC NetWorker vProxy, DDVE, CloudBoost appliance etc.

4. When adding the vCenter server to NMC’s VMware View, ensure you select the “Deployed in Cloud” checkbox.

Note: This setting is mandatory for any vCenters running in VMware cloud on AWS, if not selected then few of the Dell EMC NetWorker operations will fail in the VMware cloud on AWS environment.

5. If using NSX-T, add the vCenter server to the Dell EMC NetWorker server using either the private IP address or the FQDN, it is recommended to use FQDN.

6. If using NSX-V, add the vCenter server to the Dell EMC NetWorker server using either the public FQDN of the vCenter server or the public IP address of the vCenter server. It is recommended to use FQDN.

7. While adding the vCenter server to the Dell EMC NetWorker server, specify the login credentials for the cloudadmin account.

8. While configuring the vProxy in the Dell EMC NetWorker server, ensure you set vProxy “Maximum NBD sessions” to zero.
   VMware Cloud on AWS does not support NBD transport mode, hence we recommend to always set the “Maximum NBD sessions” for all the vProxies to zero.
   

Troubleshooting

The vProxy restores as new VM via NetWorker Management Console and NetWorker HTML5 Admin Console fail with errors stating that the vProxy is not able to register the VM onto the destination. The restore log shows:

159373:nsrvproxy_recover: vProxy Log: ERROR:  [@(#) Build number: 28] Error registering VM: ServerFaultCode: Permission to perform this operation was denied.
159373:nsrvproxy_recover: vProxy Log: [@(#) Build number: 28] Error in registering VM "[WorkloadDatastore]VM_Name.vmx". "ServerFaultCode: Permission to perform this operation was denied."

This issue is not seen if customer is using VMware Cloud on AWS version 1.7 or earlier.
The Cloudadmin user has to manually add vcenter permission to the desired “VMs and Templates” folder that the restored VM needs to be placed into.

As seen in the screenshot below, the target VM folder should be associated with permissions as follows “user=cloudadmingroup” and “role=cloudadmin”, and enable “propogate to children”.

Once permission is added manually, NetWorker NMC and NWUI will show the desired folder and restore as new VM should be successful if correct folder is chosen in the UI.

When restoring as new VM, the reconnect NIC option may not work correctly. Workaround is to edit settings of the restored new VM and change the network to "VM Network" and Apply, reopen again the edit setting configuration pane of the VM, and change the network to the correct desired NSX-T network logical switch and click "Connect".

For VMware Protection using NVP, please refer to in Chapter 3 - Troubleshooting Data Protection Policies section and Protecting virtual machines section in Dell EMC NetWorker 19.1 VMware integration guide.
 
For CloudBoost solution, refer to Chapter 8 - Troubleshoot CloudBoost device configuration issues section  and Configuring NetWorker with a CloudBoost appliance in Dell EMC NetWorker 19.1 CloudBoost Integration Guide.

Log collection

For VMware Protection using NVP, refer to Chapter 3 - NMC function to collect vProxy log bundle information section and Protecting virtual machines in Dell EMC NetWorker 19.1 VMware integration guide.
For CloudBoost solution, refer to Chapter 10 - Monitoring, managing, and supporting a CloudBoost appliance in Dell EMC NetWorker 19.1 CloudBoost Integration Guide.

See Also

Documentation available at https://support.emc.com/products/1095_NetWorker/Documentation/, provides additional and detailed information on setup as well as configuration for all of the solution components.