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How to perform a nightly Linux RAID configuration backup on NetWitness Platform appliances

Issue

How to perform a nightly Linux RAID configuration backup on NetWitness appliances.


Resolution

NetWitness Support recommends that the hardware RAID configuration of all NetWitness appliances be backed up on a daily basis to allow for easy recovery in the event of a RAID hardware failure and to avoid data loss.

Note: If you are running NetWitness Platform 11.3.x or later, check the note below to see if you need to install the perccli RPM.

In order to configure the nightly backup, follow the steps below:

  1. Download the nwraidbackup.sh script attached to this article.
  2. Use scp or another file transfer client to move the file to your NetWitness appliance.
  3. Copy the file to /usr/sbin
  4. The script is executable with the following command:
    chmod +x /usr/sbin/nwraidbackup.sh
  5. Run the following command:
    ln -s /usr/sbin/nwraidbackup.sh /etc/cron.daily/nwraidbackup

 
The configuration of all hardware RAID controllers will now be backed up into an archive file as /var/raidbackup/raidbackup- .tar.bz2 .
image.png

The following are the contents of a sample backup archive:

> tar tjf /var/raidbackup/raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04.tar.bz2 raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/pdlist.out
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/adaplist.out
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/ldpdinfo.out
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/etc/
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/etc/lvm/
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/etc/lvm/archive/
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/etc/lvm/archive/netwitness_vg00_00000-737886835.vg
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/etc/lvm/backup/
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/etc/lvm/backup/netwitness_vg00
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/etc/lvm/cache/
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/etc/lvm/lvm.conf
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/etc/lvm/lvmlocal.conf
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/etc/lvm/profile/
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/etc/lvm/profile/cache-mq.profile
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/etc/lvm/profile/cache-smq.profile
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/etc/lvm/profile/command_profile_template.profile
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/etc/lvm/profile/lvmdbusd.profile
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/etc/lvm/profile/metadata_profile_template.profile
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/etc/lvm/profile/thin-generic.profile
raidbackup-2024.05.03-15.09.04/etc/lvm/profile/thin-performance.profile

If you are unsure of any of the steps above or experience any issues, contact Technical Support and reference this article number for further assistance.


Notes

This script will delete any files older than 365 days in its output directory.

If you are running 11.3.x or later, check if perccli RPM is installed using the command:
# rpm -q perccli
If the above command returns no output, install the RPM (if present from the rsa-sa-tools RPM) using the command:
# find /opt/rsa/saTools/NwDiskFw -name "perccli*.noarch.rpm" -type f -print0 | xargs -0 -I % --no-run-if-empty yum localinstall -y %
Note: If this RPM is already installed, this command does nothing.

Internal Comments



Product Details

NetWitness Product Set: NetWitness Logs & Network
NetWitness Product/Service Type: NetWitness Hardware, PowerVaults, Storage  
NetWitness Version/Condition: 11.x , 12.x
Platform: CentOS , AlmaLinux


Summary

How to perform a nightly Linux RAID configuration backup on RSA NetWitness appliances


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