Quantum| SmartMotion |
SmartMotion is one of two ways to configure vmPRO as a backup solution. The other is SmartView.
SmartMotion is vmPRO’s own end-to-end direct-to-storage backup solution. SmartMotion allows for backup policy configuration for VMs (including start times, retention schedules, etc) and setup of network storage location where the VMs are backed up to.
Configuring SmartMotion
Use the GUI’s Config Wizard > SmartMotion on the Configure menu to set up the following:
The following image shows some of the SmartMotion configuration options.
Once the customer has SmartMotion fully configured, it will run according to the policies created. Each policy will start at the configured time each day (if it is configured to start daily) or it can be triggered manually. When a backup operation begins, it gathers the list of folders assigned to the policy and then the list of VMs from each folder. The backup then runs, copying each VM to the network storage location until it has copied all of the VMs according to the policy configuration. Once the SmartMotion finishes the backup, it will wait for the next task.
After the customer has configured SmartMotion and has a working configuration, they will likely be interested in finding out about the status of recent backup operations. The status of recent backup is available by clicking the “Tasks” button at the top and clicking the “SmartMotion” tab in the main area. This tab lists folders that have been backed up recently and their status (finished, running, aborted, etc). A list of VMs copied is also available for operations that have finished. The view provides the start and end time for each backup, and the size of each VM is available in the VM details pop up.
Lastly, how do you start or stop SmartMotion? If SmartMotion is configured on a schedule, it will trigger automatically when the scheduled time arrives. If it is not scheduled, you can manually trigger a backup policy by clicking “SmartMotion” -> “Sync now” on the Task menu. To abort a running SmartMotion, click the “Abort Sync” button on the Task menu. This will terminate the running backup immediately.
From an implementation perspective, each backup operation is a “command” in vmPRO terminology. For example, when a policy is executed, it is executed as a “tomato_sync_policy” command. When a policy executes, it triggers a series of “tomato_sync_folder” commands, one for each folder assigned to the policy. Only one “tomato_sync_folder” command can run at a time (as of the 3.0 release), these processes are queued on a lock object by the controller. When a “tomato_sync_folder” command is run, it gathers the list of VMs from the /export directory and creates a new directory on the network storage (typically based on the date and time). The VMs are then copied to target storage, either as a full backup or as a partial (CBT) backup. When the backup completes, it writes status out in a json file and stores the information in a local SmartMotion database. This database is also exported to the network storage location.
Troubleshooting
When troubleshooting SmartMotion, it is simplest to begin with the command log (if you have access to the running vmPRO appliance). You can log into the appliance and look at “Tasks”, “history” tab. This lists the recent commands executed by the appliance. If this doesn’t give you enough information, you can look into /var/log/messages files to review the system logs. Version 3.0 will add additional log /var/log/smartmotion (for SmartMotion specific messages). The logs reveal which commands were run and when, and provide a lot of details about files being copied and their status/completion time.
If this does not help resolve the problem, or you need more details about a problem, you can also adjust the logging level for SmartMotion. To change the log level for SmartMotion, enter “reg set logging.smartmotion.level NN” where NN is one of: 10 (debug), 20 (info), 30 (warning), 40 (error), or 50 (critical). The change takes effect immediately, so you should begin seeing the log messages you requested in /var/log/smartmotion. Each level is cumulative so 10 (debug) is debug and higher, while 50 (critical) is only the critical-level messages.
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