Prevent EMC Avamar Duplicate Clients
In a specific circumstance, EMC Avamar data collection can persist duplicate clients in the Portal database. This occurs in the following case:
• Multiple enterprise domains are configured.
• The same host name is used in multiple domains, but for different hosts.
If your Portal has the above configuration, the following system parameters can be configured to prevent the creation of duplicate Avamar clients. And, logging can be configured to identify how a host is determined and persisted in the Portal database.
Note: An existing system parameter, USE_IP_ADDRESS_FOR_HOST_MATCHING, also is used by the new Avamar host-matching algorithm. If your environment has already enabled this parameter, it will be honored by the host-matching algorithm.
System Parameter: SEARCH_DOUBLE_SIDE_SHORT_NAME
This parameter is used to enable comparisons of a client’s base name. During data collection, the data persistence logic will compare the short name retrieved by data collection and compare it to what exists in the Portal database. This parameter currently is used only while searching for a host in Avamar data.
For example, the host name in the database might be xyz.aptare.com, but the collected host name is xyz.apt.com. If this SEARCH_DOUBLE_SIDE_SHORT_NAME parameter is enabled, the host-matching algorithm will find the host with the name, xyz.aptare.com, based on matching the short name, xyz, thereby preventing the creation of a duplicate host.
1. Log in to the Portal Server as user aptare.
2. Type the following command:
sqlplus portal/<portal_password>
3. Update the system parameter to enable short-name matching. This parameter is enabled by default. Modify the parameter value: Enable = 1, Disable = 0.
UPDATE ptl_system_parameter
SET PARAM_VALUE = <newValue>
WHERE param_name = 'SEARCH_DOUBLE_SIDE_SHORT_NAME';
COMMIT;
System Parameter: AVM_CLIENT_EXIST_LOGGING
This parameter is used to enable historic logging of collected Avamar host data, including the criteria by which the host was found in the database. This information is logged in the database table, apt_avm_server_exist_log. This log table contains all the data points used to find the host, along with the algorithm that successfully found the host.
Information logged includes: Internal Client ID, Avamar Client ID (CID), Log Date, Client Name, Client IP Address, Client Display Name, and the matching criteria.
1. Log in to the Portal Server as user aptare.
2. Type the following command:
sqlplus portal/<portal_password>
3. Update the system parameter to enable short-name matching. This parameter is disabled by default. Modify the parameter value: Enable = 1, Disable = 0.
UPDATE ptl_system_parameter
SET PARAM_VALUE = <newValue>
WHERE param_name = 'AVM_CLIENT_EXIST_LOGGING';
COMMIT;
System Parameter: REMOVE_PATTERN_IN_HOST_SEARCH
This parameter will enable stripping of unwanted suffixes while searching for hosts based on host name. This parameter is currently used only while searching for a host in Avamar data.
Prerequisite: Any suffix that needs to be ignored must first be inserted into the apt_host_name_excld_suffix database table, as described in the following procedure. When the REMOVE_PATTERN_IN_HOST_SEARCH is enabled, the host-matching algorithm searches this table for suffixes that should be ignored.
1. Log in to the Portal Server as user aptare.
2. Type the following command:
sqlplus portal/<portal_password>
INSERT INTO apt_host_name_excld_suffix (excld_suffix, suffix_length, priority) VALUES (<<excludeSuffixInitials>>,<<totalSuffixLength - lengthOfexcludeSuffixInitials>>, <<priority>>);
COMMIT;
4. Update the system parameter to ignore suffixes when searching for hosts. This parameter is enabled by default. Modify the parameter value: Enable = 1, Disable = 0.
UPDATE ptl_system_parameter
SET PARAM_VALUE = <newValue>
WHERE param_name = 'REMOVE_PATTERN_IN_HOST_SEARCH';
COMMIT;
Examples
The data searching logic used when this system parameter is enabled is described in the following examples.
• Host name in the database is xyz and the collected host name is xyz_UCMAAZWlR6kihhBHN5R8iA. The host-matching algorithm will find the host with the name xyz and _UCMAAZWlR6kihhBHN5R8iA will be removed while searching.
• Host name in the database is xyz and the collected host name is xyz_UA3rT06VdULrQyViIxEFuQ2011.07.22.16.05.49. The host-matching algorithm will find the host with the name xyz and _UA3rT06VdULrQyViIxEFuQ2011.07.22.16.05.49 will be removed while searching. The time portion, 2011.07.22.16.05.49, is automatically removed if the parameter is enabled.
• Host name in the database is xyz and the collected host name is xyz2011.07.22.16.05.49. The host-matching algorithm will find the host with the name xyz and 2011.07.22.16.05.49 will be removed while searching. The time portion, 2011.07.22.16.05.49, is automatically removed if the parameter is enabled.
• Host name in database is xyz and the collected host name is xyz2011.07.22.16.05.49_UA3rT06VdULrQyViIxEFuQ. The host-matching algorithm will find the host with the name xyz and 2011.07.22.16.05.49_UA3rT06VdULrQyViIxEFuQ will be removed while searching. The time portion, 2011.07.22.16.05.49, is automatically removed if the parameter is enabled.
Example of the apt_host_name_excld_suffix Database Table
EXCLD_SUFFIX | SUFFIX_LENGTH | PRIORITY
------------------------------------
'_U' 21 1
The above values will enable removal of suffixes that start with _U and the remaining length of the unwanted suffix is 21. Therefore, suffixes of a total length of 23 will be removed.