Debian/Ubuntu Linux (64-bit)¶

There are two ways of installing the software needed for the Safespring Backup service:

Automatically signing up nodes
Manually signing up nodes,

In both cases, the software is distributed through deb repositories, and the first parts of the installation are identical.

1. Configure the repository¶

Packages are provided for the following distributions:

Debian 10 Buster
Debian 9 Stretch
Ubuntu 20 Focal Fossa
Ubuntu 18 Bionic Beaver
Ubuntu 16 Xenial Xerus

The following table contains the apt configuration for each of the supported distributions:

Distribution	Apt repository configuration
Debian 10 Buster	deb https://repo.service.safedc.net/debian buster main
Debian 9 Stretch	deb https://repo.service.safedc.net/debian stretch main
Ubuntu 20 Focal Fossa	deb https://repo.service.safedc.net/debian focal main
Ubuntu 18 Bionic Beaver	deb https://repo.service.safedc.net/debian bionic main
Ubuntu 16 Xenial Xerus	deb https://repo.service.safedc.net/debian xenial main

Find the apt configuration for your server in the table above and run the following commands on the server that will run the backup client software. In the example below, we will configure the repository for a Debian 9 server.

Create the file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/safespring-backup with the following content:

DISTRIBUTION="stretch"
echo "deb https://repo.service.safedc.net/debian ${DISTRIBUTION} main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/safespring-backup.list

Fetch the repository key and install it in the file /tmp/safespring-repo-key:

wget -O /tmp/safespring-repo-key https://repo.service.safedc.net/repokey/PACKAGES-GPG-KEY-Safespring

Import the key:

apt-key add /tmp/safespring-repo-key && rm /tmp/safespring-repo-key

Note

If you are using Debian you are required to install the package apt-transport-https before updating the repository caches.

Update repository caches:

apt-get update

2. Installation of software¶

2.a) Installation with automatic node registration¶

The safespring-backup-setup package contains an enrollment-script which will install backup client software as well as enable and run the dsmcad service. The bare metal restore service TBMR is installed as a dependency.

apt-get install safespring-backup-setup

2.a.1) Automatic enrollment¶

After installation the server can be automatically registered in the Safespring Backup service by using the safespring-backup-setup script. A brief usage instruction is listed below:

# safespring-backup-setup 
safespring-backup-setup [-a application] [-c ON|OFF] [-C cost_center] [-d ON|OFF]
   [-D ON|OFF] [-e ON|OFF] [-f credentials_file] [-H host_name]
   [-i host_description] [-m mail_address] [-p platform]
   [-t auth_token]

The safespring-backup-setup script requires an authentication token to communicate with the API.

Note

It is recommended to use an API key with enrollment capabilities since these keys have limited permissions and will only be able to register a configured number of backup clients.

The API-key can be given to safespring-backup-setup in two ways:

A) Via safespring-backup-setup -f $path-to-file which expects a YAML formatted file like the following:

access_key_id: $the_access_key
secret_access_key: $the_secret_key

Warning

Strict permissions on the credentials file is required! The script will fail if strict permissions are not set. A malicious user can use the credentials to delete or modify backup nodes and schedules.

B) Via safespring-backup-setup -t $token which expects a base64 encoding of the key and secret key as in the following command:

echo -n $the_access_key:$the_secret_key | openssl enc -base64 -e

A typical invocation of the script would be something like:

/usr/bin/safespring-backup-setup -f /root/safespring-backup-credentials.yaml \
    -m user@example.com \
    -C $costcenter \
    -p Debian-7

More detailed usage instructions are found in the man-page, man safespring-backup-setup. Please study the man page to see all the available instructions.

2.a.2) Service activation¶

The safespring-backup-setup script will enable and launch the dsmcad service (as a systemd unit). There is however one final task to be done before the service is fully activated and the client will start to perform backup, which is explained in step 3 below.

2.b) Installation with manual node registration¶

The manual node registration procedures follows a similar method. Issuing the following command will install the meta-package which depends on TSM:

apt-get install install safespring-backup

It will install TSM and prepare it for operations with the service (i.e. install CA certificates, etc) but it will not register the client with the Backup service. The manual routine for node registration is described below.

2.b.1) Create a node in the Backup Portal¶

You must first create a node (backup client entitlement) in the BaaS Portal (or using the API). When you create a node, you receive both a nodename and a password. Keep these for the duration of the installation.

2.b.2) Retrieve and install TSM configuration files¶

The TSM configuration files are unique to each node, and if you created the node on the BaaS Portal, you were prompted to download the configuration there. It can also be retrieved from the API directly.

Place the two files according to below:

/opt/tivoli/tsm/client/ba/bin/dsm.sys
/opt/tivoli/tsm/client/ba/bin/dsm.opt

2.b.3) Initialize TSM¶

When you start the TSM client for the first time, you will be prompted for your password. If you get asked for the nodename, accept the default which is configured in dsm.sys already (see previous step).

dsmc query session

2.b.4) Service activation¶

systemctl enable dsmcad

2.b.5) Start Backup client service¶

systemctl start dsmcad

3) Activation of backup schedule and backup policy¶

Currently it is required to wait until after the creation of the node, to configure a backup schedule and backup policy for it. This is either done via the Portal, or via the API directly.

4) Activation of TBMR and generation of machine restore configuration¶

The safespring-backup-tbmr package provides a simple script to request a new TBMR licence and generate a bare metal restore machine configuration:

/usr/bin/safespring-backup-tbmr