Disaster Recovery BMR

The Bare-Metal Restore (BMR) feature is available in JetBackup 5 v5.3.0

The Bare Metal Restore feature for JetBackup 5 allows for a backup job to be created that contains operating system, panel, panel accounts, and server files/configuration data. This information is stored in an ISO format that can be used for a server-level restore.

The JetBackup 5 Disaster Recovery BMR Process is split into 2 Separate Backup Jobs:

1. A Disaster Recovery Backup Job that backs up data required for the server-level restore (OS, disks, Panel, Server files, and configuration) and generates a bootable ISO to execute the server-level restoration.
2. A Standard Full Account Backup Job that stores all data at the account level which is then restored after the server-level restore is complete.

Here are the steps to take when performing a Disaster Recovery BMR:

1. Create a Disaster Recovery Backup Job and Full Account Backup Job

We suggest adding these recommended files and folders to exclude

By default, the following files/directories are excluded from the BMR backup job:

/proc
/sys
/home/virtfs/\*
/home/{linux_users}
/usr/share/cagefs-skeleton/\*
JetBackup 5 Workspace directory 
JetBackup 5 /lib/mongod/* directory 
JetBackup 5 tmp folder

2. Download the Bootable Recovery ISO

3. Boot up the ISO and run the recovery

Initial Boot Configuration

On initial boot, the new server will still have the original IPs that were set on the source server.

To prevent any conflicts, update your IP and network configuration. You are able to update the IPs by editing your server's network configuration with the following command:

ifconfig \<interface_name\> \<ip_address\> netmask \<netmask_address\>

You can verify your changes by executing ifconfig

Execute chroot /mnt/local and make any necessary IP changes to /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts.

Once you have completed all of the IP/network configurations run rear recover in the CLI. This will automatically configure the recovery process to fetch server level data, operating system, disks, server and Panel files and configurations, etc. When finished, reboot the server.

You have now completed the server-level restore. When JetBackup 5 is launched, it will begin the Disaster Recovery process to restore accounts and JetBackup configurations.

Common BMR FAQs and Errors

This section lists the common questions and errors you may encounter during the BMR process.

1. libsystemd-shared-252.so => not found Error:

The error indicates that the BMR process is attempting to load the shared library (libsystemd-shared-252.so), however, it cannot be found.

To resolve this issue, verify which package provides the missing library and ensure it is installed:

CentOS / AlmaLinux / RHEL / CloudLinux:

yum provides */libsystemd-shared-252.so

Debian / Ubuntu:

dpkg -S libsystemd-shared-252.so

If the file isn’t found, you may need to reinstall the appropriate version of the systemd package:

CentOS / AlmaLinux / RHEL / CloudLinux:

yum reinstall systemd

Debian / Ubuntu:

apt update
apt install --reinstall systemd

2. grub2-mkstandalone: error: /usr/lib/grub/x86_64-efi/modinfo.sh doesn't exist / type: grub-probe: not found / no /usr/*/grub*/x86_64-efi/moddep.lst file / ERROR: Failed to make bootable EFI image of GRUB2 (error during grub2-mkstandalone of grub2-mkstandalone may fail to make a bootable EFI image of GRUB2 (no /usr/*/grub*/x86_64-efi/moddep.lst file)

This error indicate that your system is missing essential GRUB2 EFI components required to build a bootable standalone EFI image using grub2-mkstandalone.

To resolve, ensure the required GRUB packages are installed on your system.

RHEL / AlmaLinux / Rocky / CentOS:

yum install grub2-efi-x64-modules grub2-tools

Debian / Ubuntu:

apt update
apt install grub-efi-amd64 grub-efi-amd64-bin grub2-common

3. Broken symlink '/boot/grub2-bkp/grubenv.rpmnew' in recovery system because 'readlink' cannot determine its link target

This error is caused by the server admin creating a “backup” of their original grub configuration, however those symlinks are now invalid.

This can be resolved by adding “Directories and Files to Exclude” list to the BMR backup job or clearing up the broken symlinks.

4. Adjusting ReaR Config options

JetBackup 5 allows you to adjust the configuration options used during Rescue ISO generation by creating a custom configuration file at:

/usr/local/jetapps/etc/jetbackup5/rear.default.conf

This file overrides the default settings used by the ReaR tool during the ISO creation process.

Example:

To disable serial console output in the generated ISO, add the following line to the config file:

USE_SERIAL_CONSOLE="no"