Networker Backup automation using REST API

As the Enterprises embrace the Cloud Computing (be it public, private or hybrid), all of it's components (VM, Storage, Network etc) must be automated. And Backup or Data Protection is no exception. As someone said.... Automate or Perish.

The NetWorker REST API is an interface that provides programmatic access to the NetWorker data protection service. By using this REST API, one can build applications to automate NetWorker operations. This  helps Networker to be integrated with most Cloud Management Platforms to provide"Backup as a Service".

Starting from version 9.0.1, Networker released support for REST API and in version 9.1 it is upgraded to version two (v2) - with backward compatibility support for v1.

Here I have tested some basic operations like

1. Configure a new client
2. Perform backup of a client
3. Configure a new VM client for VMWare level backup
4. Perform image level backup of a VM
5. Perform image level restoration of a VM

So let's get the hands dirty!

Installation:

As the NetWorker REST API service is deployed in the same Apache tomcat container as the NetWorker authentication service, no separate installation is required.

In my setup, the Networker Server hostname is "NWServer" so the REST API is exposed at URL https://NWServer:9090/nwrestapi/.

1. Configure a new client

1-1. List the Networker clients

1. #curl -X GET -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: Basic XXXXXXXX" -H 
2. "X-PrettyPrint:1" "https://NWServer:9090/nwrestapi/v2/global/clients" -k -1  
3.   
4. {  
5.     "clients": [  
6.         {  
7.             "aliases": [  
8.                 "Client01",  
9.                 "Client01.vlab.local"  
10.             ],  
11.             "applicationInformation": [],  
12.             "blockBasedBackup": false,  
13.             "checkpointEnabled": false,  
14.             "clientId": "25f4943c-00000004-58aeae7b-58c8ee86-00025000-ff74b956",  
15.             "hostname": "Client01.vlab.local",  
16.             "indexBackupContent": false,  
17.             "links": [  
18.                 {  
19.                     "href": "https://NWServer:9090/nwrestapi/v2/global/clients/47.0.232.4.
20. 0.0.0.0.137.10.173.88.192.168.1.241",  
21.                     "rel": "item"  
22.                 }  
23.             ],  
24.             "nasDevice": false,  
25.             "ndmp": false,  
26.             "ndmpMultiStreamsEnabled": false,  
27.             "ndmpVendorInformation": [],  
28.             "parallelSaveStreamsPerSaveSet": false,  
29.             "parallelism": 4,  
30.             "protectionGroups": [],  
31.             "remoteAccessUsers": [],  
32.             "resourceId": {  
33.                 "id": "47.0.232.4.0.0.0.0.137.10.173.88.192.168.1.241",  
34.                 "sequence": 1  
35.             },  
36.             "saveSets": [  
37.                 "All"  
38.             ],  
39.             "scheduledBackup": true,  
40.             "tags": []  
41.         },  
42.         {  
43.             "aliases": [  
44.                 "NWServer",  
45.                 "nwserver.vlab.local"  
46.             ],  
47.             "applicationInformation": [],  
48.             "blockBasedBackup": false,  
49.             "checkpointEnabled": false,  
50.             "clientId": "b0556c84-00000004-58ad08e3-58ad08e2-00015000-ff74b956",  
51.             "hostname": "nwserver.vlab.local",  
52.             "indexBackupContent": false,  
53.             "links": [  
54.                 {  
55.                     "href": "https://NWServer:9090/nwrestapi/v2/global/clients/82.0.114.31
56. .0.0.0.0.160.8.173.88.192.168.1.241",  
57.                     "rel": "item"  
58.                 }  
59.             ],  
60.             "nasDevice": false,  
61.             "ndmp": false,  
62.             "ndmpMultiStreamsEnabled": false,  
63.             "ndmpVendorInformation": [],  
64.             "parallelSaveStreamsPerSaveSet": false,  
65.             "parallelism": 12,  
66.             "protectionGroups": [],  
67.             "remoteAccessUsers": [],  
68.             "resourceId": {  
69.                 "id": "82.0.114.31.0.0.0.0.160.8.173.88.192.168.1.241",  
70.                 "sequence": 3  
71.             },  
72.             "saveSets": [  
73.                 "All"  
74.             ],  
75.             "scheduledBackup": true,  
76.             "tags": []  
77.         }  
78.     ],  
79.     "count": 2  
80. }  

The same thing can be queried using any REST API client

1-2. Create a new client

Let us create a client name "01-SCM.vlab.local" and configure it to backup "/tmp/" saveset

  POST /nwrestapi/v2/global/clients

List  clients using REST API, however just filter the two fields (hostname and savesets) to be displayed

1. #curl -X GET -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: Basic XXXXXXXX" -H 
2. "X-PrettyPrint:1" "https://NWServer:9090/nwrestapi/v2/global/clients?fl=hostname,savesets"
3.  -k -1   
4. {  
5.     "clients": [  
6.         {  
7.             "hostname": "01-SCM.vlab.local",  
8.             "saveSets": [  
9.                 "/tmp"  
10.             ]  
11.         },  
12.         {  
13.             "hostname": "Client01.vlab.local",  
14.             "saveSets": [  
15.                 "All"  
16.             ]  
17.         },  
18.         {  
19.             "hostname": "nwserver.vlab.local",  
20.             "saveSets": [  
21.                 "All"  
22.             ]  
23.         }  
24.     ],  
25.     "count": 3  
26. }  

1-3. Add the Client to an existing Protection Group

It is possible to create protection group, policy, workflow, action etc via REST API. However these are one time effort in most cases. Here it is assumed that Networker protection policies are setup and the newly created client needs to be added in the group to schedule the regular backups.

Let us make a PUT call to the protection group "Bronze-Filesystem" and add the "resourceId" of the client as a "workItem". The resourceId can be obtained from above mentioned GET API for a client.

PUT /nwrestapi/v2/global/protectiongroups/Bronze-Filesystem

2. Perform Backup of a Client

2-1. Perform On-demand Backup

Now let us run an on-demand backup for workflow "Filesystem" in Policy "Bronze".

POST /nwrestapi/v2/global/protectionpolicies/Bronze/workflows/Filesystem/op/backup

2-2. List the Backups

We can generate a list of all the backups performed for the client. This output shows that there are two backups found for this client.

1. # curl -X GET -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: Basic XXXXXXXX" -H 
2. "X-PrettyPrint:1" "https://NWServer:9090/nwrestapi/v2/global/clients/45.0.92.4.0.0.0.0.
3. 213.71.54.89.192.168.1.101/backups?fl=name,saveTime,retentionTime,instances" -k -1  
4. {  
5.     "backups": [  
6.         {  
7.             "instances": [  
8.                 {  
9.                     "clone": false,  
10.                     "id": "1496737359",  
11.                     "status": "Browsable",  
12.                     "volumeIds": [  
13.                         "2353985"  
14.                     ]  
15.                 }  
16.             ],  
17.             "name": "/tmp",  
18.             "retentionTime": "2017-07-06T23:59:58+08:00",  
19.             "saveTime": "2017-06-06T16:22:38+08:00"  
20.         },  
21.         {  
22.             "instances": [  
23.                 {  
24.                     "clone": false,  
25.                     "id": "1496736942",  
26.                     "status": "Browsable",  
27.                     "volumeIds": [  
28.                         "2353985"  
29.                     ]  
30.                 }  
31.             ],  
32.             "name": "/tmp",  
33.             "retentionTime": "2017-07-06T23:55:26+08:00",  
34.             "saveTime": "2017-06-06T16:11:09+08:00"  
35.         }  
36.     ],  
37.     "count": 2  
38. }  

3. Configure a new VM client for VMWare level Backup

For most VMWare based cloud platforms, this is a mandatory step and can be provided as self service. Users can select their own VMs and add them to backup.

First let us get the UUID of the VM that needs to be protected

1. # curl -X GET -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: Basic XXXXXXXX" -H "X-PrettyPrint:1" "https://NWServer:9090/nwrestapi/v2/global/vmware/vcenters/vc01.vlab.local/vms?fl=hostname,uuid" -k -1   
2. {  
3.     "count": 2,  
4.     "vms": [  
5.         {  
6.             "hostname": "vproxy_1",  
7.             "links": [  
8.                 {  
9.                     "href": "https://NWServer:9090/nwrestapi/v2/global/vmware/vcenters/vc01.vlab.local/vms/50390eb3-02e9-19d7-3aa8-f5652bb40dbe",  
10.                     "rel": "item"  
11.                 }  
12.             ],  
13.             "uuid": "50390eb3-02e9-19d7-3aa8-f5652bb40dbe"  
14.         },  
15.         {  
16.             "hostname": "prodserver",  
17.             "links": [  
18.                 {  
19.                     "href": "https://NWServer:9090/nwrestapi/v2/global/vmware/vcenters/vc01.vlab.local/vms/5039d1fc-00a0-0758-cfe8-16438fb2ea7c",  
20.                     "rel": "item"  
21.                 }  
22.             ],  
23.             "uuid": "5039d1fc-00a0-0758-cfe8-16438fb2ea7c"  
24.         },  
25.     ]  
26. }  

Here our VM "Prodserver" needs to be backedup and it's UUID is "1fc-00a0-0758-cfe8-16438fb2ea7c".

Let's add it to the VMWare protection group "Gold-Vmware"

POST /nwrestapi/v2/global/protectiongroups/Gold-Vmware/op/updatevmwareworkitems

The VM will be included in the backup from next schedule.

4. Perform image level Backup of a VM

With this, Cloud Management Platform can provide the on-demand backup feature for users.

POST /nwrestapi/v2/global/vmware/vcenters/vc01.vlab.local/vms/5039d1fc-00a0-0758-cfe8-16438fb2ea7c/op/backup

5. Perform image level Restoration of a VM

Here is how to restore a VM to revert to it's old state as of last successful backup.

Get the required the IDs of the backup to restore

1. # curl -X GET -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: Basic XXXXXXXX" -H 
2. "X-PrettyPrint:1" "https://NWServer:9090/nwrestapi/v2/global/vmware/vcenters/vc01.vlab.
3. local/protectedvms/5039d1fc-00a0-0758-cfe8-16438fb2ea7c/backups/80524b93-00000006-
4. fe36ac21-5936ac21-00045000-7a80b956/instances" -k -1   
5. {  
6.     "backupInstances": [  
7.         {  
8.             "clone": false,  
9.             "id": "1496755233",  
10.             "links": [  
11.                 {  
12.                     "href": "https://NWServer:9090/nwrestapi/v2/global/vmware/vcenters/
13. vc01.vlab.local/protectedvms/5039d1fc-00a0-0758-cfe8-16438fb2ea7c/backups/80524b93-
14. 00000006-fe36ac21-5936ac21-00045000-7a80b956/instances/1496755233",  
15.                     "rel": "item"  
16.                 }  
17.             ],  
18.             "status": "Recoverable",  
19.             "volumeIds": [  
20.                 "2353985"  
21.             ]  
22.         },  
23.         {  
24.             "clone": true,  
25.             "id": "1496755806",  
26.             "links": [  
27.                 {  
28.                     "href": "https://NWServer:9090/nwrestapi/v2/global/vmware/vcenters/
29. vc01.vlab.local/protectedvms/5039d1fc-00a0-0758-cfe8-16438fb2ea7c/backups/80524b93-
30. 00000006-fe36ac21-5936ac21-00045000-7a80b956/instances/1496755806",  
31.                     "rel": "item"  
32.                 }  
33.             ],  
34.             "status": "Recoverable",  
35.             "volumeIds": [  
36.                 "4263771792"  
37.             ]  
38.         }  
39.     ],  
40.     "count": 2  
41. }  

then trigger the restoration

POST /nwrestapi/v2/global/vmware/vcenters/vc01.vlab.local/protectedvms/5039d1fc-00a0-0758-cfe8-16438fb2ea7c/backups/80524b93-00000006-fe36ac21-5936ac21-00045000-7a80b956/instances/1496755233/op/recover

Hope this was useful and hope to see more and more Data Protection and Automation for Cloud.

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