NetApp SnapDiff v3 requirements

Thanks Rashid, I’ve passed that along to our storage admins.

Is there anything like the following, describing exactly how and what’s required from the NetApp side?

https://documentation.commvault.com/v11/expert/33807_frequently_asked_questions_for_netapp_storage_array.html

That’s the document the storage admins used last, but I see it hasn’t been updated since 2018.

I’m asking due to the problems Luis Constantino found in this thread:

We have found this out from the Commvault logging were we found that SnapDiff was falling back from V3 to V2 during a back-up: Please verify that array [xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx] is a cluster interface and login [vsadmin] has a role on the file server which allows access_tokens.

 

And from a NetApp KB article which states that for SnapDiff to work it needs:

• to target a LIF with a default-management policy
• to use a valid snapdiff user on SVM

 

Would it be possible to have BOL update so these requirements are clear on forehand

 

And 9.10 doesn’t have the option of falling back to SnapDiff v2 if v3 fails.

Maybe @MMoret can be of assistance on this subject!

Hello,

do I really  need a NFS  data-LIF on a SMB//CIFS_only SVM to get rid of SnapDiff_v3.

regards,

Christian

Hello @Brendon McGrath, @Christian Hoffmann,

I was reviewing this thread and reached out to our Development Team and confirmed that @R Anwar’s answer was correct and that those are the requirements for SnapDiff V3.

Thank you,

Collin

Hello @Collin Harper 

if this is correct, (I won’t believe that) someone at Commvault should bring this to ‘docs.commvault.com’

Although the needed Commvault-Versions to support ‘BackupCopy from Snapshot over NDMP’ from 11.24.(later HPK) and ‘BackupCopy from Snapshot over Share’ from v11.26.22.

These are the informations//version I got from my Commvault-SE after long time poking around in the dark.

Is there a chance to read about the configuration an requirements about Commvault and NetApp with Ontap >9.9.1 at ‘docs.commvault.com’?

regards,

Christian

@Christian Hoffmann , once @Collin Harper gets confirmation, I’ll put a documentation change request in for this.

@Christian Hoffmann 

I have submitted a Documentation Modification to have the requirements for SnapDIff V3 more clearly outlined in our documentaiton.

Thank you,

Collin

An update to this, @Collin Harper .  Two days ago one of the nearstores was upgraded to 9.10.1P7, since then none of the backup copy jobs have run sucessfully.  For whatever reason It’s still attempting only V2 and V1, I see no V3 attempts.  What other setting needs to be enabled to have this work?

@Brendon McGrath 

At this point it may be best to get a case created so we can see the behavior of the job through the logs to determine if something is not configured correctly or if we need to get Development involved to review.

Thank you,
Collin

Already raised one with our local partner, it’s currently working it’s way though their support.

Thanks for the reply.

@Brendon McGrath , can you share the Commvault case number so I can track it?

Thanks!

SnapDiff v3 is not supported yet.

We did some testing today and can confirm the following:

• No SnapDiff v3 support for Network Share Backups
• SnapDiff V3 does work for NDMP Backups, if
  • SVM tunneling through the cluster is used (this is necessary for the REST access-token and therefore snapdiff)
  • the CIFS Data-Lif is using a service-policy with data-nfs enabled (NFS does not need to be configured)
  • vserver snapdiff-rpc-server on
  • security login role and user as described in the documentation

Regards,
Mario

Hi @MWeise 

For NAS shares configured using a client/MA, it should be doing recursive scan.

You can check the FileScan.log on the server to confirm this.

For the LIF configured with data-nfs, the connectivity should be happening on port 2049 on the MA used.

Regards,

Rashid

Recursive scan does indeed work as “fallback” on Network Share Backups, but this wasn’t the question. 

CMVA.log
5044  1fcc  01/03 13:47:51 ##### SnapDiff V1 or V2 is not supported for release [9.11.1].
5044  1fcc  01/03 13:47:51 23390 CvNetAppSnapBase::advArrayOpsOnPrepare(1212) - SnapDiff v1/v2 stopped for volume [cifs02] on this ONTAP version.
FileScan.log
7520  23e4  01/03 13:48:01 23390 CJobInfoIndexLiveBrowsePrivate::CheckSnapDiffSupportForFileServer(834) - NetApp SnapDiff cannot be used. True-Up conversion complete. Using classic recursive scan and setting Subclient property [Disable SnapDiff Scan] to 1.

Since SnapDiff v1 and v2 did work on network share backups in the past, one would assume that SnapDiff v3 will also be supported. But this is not the case, for whatever reasons on both sides (Commvault and NetApp).

SnapDiff v3 needs a Snap mirror copy to cloud which is requirement from NetApp. Commvault can only use this when customer can fall in in line and are okay with this requirement.

As a fall back we can always use a recursive scan option instead of SnapDiff V3, the process would be slower but should make the backup work with the existing configurations, work around of the NetApp requirement