Issue

Volume Integrity Checks fail on Windows 2003 servers with SQL Server installed. A Chkdsk error will occur when a database consistency check (DBCC) is run via the following commands:

• dbcc checkdb
• dbcc checkalloc

Cause

This is due to the chkdsk.exe utility reporting an error when sparse attributes of a sparse file is deleted.

Solution

A hotfix is available from Microsoft to resolve this issue. Please refer to Microsoft KB 932021 for instructions on how to download and install the hotfix on the Core machine.

Before beginning the migration process, be sure to back up the AppAssure registry settings by opening regedit and exporting the AppAssure key below using the following steps:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AppAssure

Right-click on AppAssure, click Export, and then save the key to a memorable place.

Move a server to a new Core

1. On the Admin Console, click the machine to be moved, remove all of the protection settings, and pause its snapshots.
2. Got to the old Core machine and stop the Replay Core service.
3. Navigate to the repository, find the folder for the Agent machine to be moved, and rename it so it won’t be deleted during the process. Make sure to do this for all of the Agent’s configured repositories.
4. Restart the Core service.
5. In the Admin Console, right-click on the machine to be moved and click Delete.

   WARNING: If the repository has not been renamed as suggested in Step 3, the backup data may be lost.

6. Go to the new Core machine and, in the Admin Console, add the Agent machine to protection.
7. Under Volume Protection, select the radio button next to Advanced: Let me decide which volumes to protect.

   

8. Choose the Protection Start Time, check Perform Nightly Volumes Integrity Check, and then click Finish to complete the protection process.
9. Stop the Core service on the new machine.
10. Navigate to the repository for the new Core and find the folder that was created for the new Agent machine.
11. Copy the contents of the repository folder (the one renamed in Step 3) from the old Core to the new repository.
12. Restart the new Core service.
13. Launch the Console and set the protection interval for the volumes. Replay will take a snapshot immediately. The original recovery points will show up under the Recovery Points tab.

Customers, partners, OEMs, and MSPs can now change the headers of the reports generated by AppAssure. This allows the recipient of the report to see what the administration team wants displayed. The procedure is simple. This must be done on each Core server that generates reports that you want modified.

1. Create two new images, one for landscape- and one for portrait-formatted reports.
   
   • For the portrait-orientated reports, the file must be a width of 650 pixels and a height of 77 pixels.
   • For the landscape-orientated reports, the file must be a width of 900 pixels and a height of 77 pixels.
2. Place the two files in the same folder as the TevoTarget.exe file.
3. As a precaution, rename the following files:
   
   • ReportHeader.png to ReportHeader.png.orig
   • ReportHeaderLandscape.png to ReportHeaderLandscape.png.orig

   NOTE: The new files must be in PNG format and be created at 100DPI.

4. Name the file ReportHeader.png for the portrait-orientated report header.
5. Name the file ReportHeaderLandscape.png for the landscape-orientated report header.
6. Stop and start the Replay Core service for the changes to take effect.
]]> http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610039/feed/ 0 http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610038/ http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610038/#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:38:47 +0000 KGriffin http://www.appassure.com/support/?p=3604 Article: 4610038

A rescue image is a recoverable image of a protected machine that can be saved to any type of storage; NAS, USB, removable disks. The rescue image can be recovered directly from the failed machine with the use of a Replay Boot CD. Rescue images can be continuously updated when recovery points are updated enabling additional protection from a server failure.

Before you perform a server restore, the Replay Recovery ISO must be created using the Replay Recovery Console.

1. Boot the server from the Boot CD into the Replay Recovery Console (RRC).

   

2. Click on Recovery Image.

   

3. Use the Available Volumes drop-down menu to select the volume you would like to recover. Click on map network drive to access a share that contains the rescue image.
4. The interface will read the settings from the rescue image and present a map of the imaged disks. Assign the images to the destination disks and click Save and Apply Images.
5. The restore will begin. All of the formatting is handled automatically.

WARNING: Don’t reboot until the restore is complete. If you do, the server will be in an inconsistent state and you will need to perform the restore again.

]]> http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610038/feed/ 0 http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610037/ http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610037/#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:54:50 +0000 KGriffin http://www.appassure.com/support/?p=3665 Article: 4610037

In order to change the way that Agents are being protected, create a hosts file entry to assign a new name to the server’s IP address and then add the server to protection using the name given in the hosts file.

If the server is already protected, it’s possible to keep the recovery points with a few additional steps.

1. Stop the Replay Services.
2. Delete the original Agents registry entry from the Core and the Agent

   ex. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AppAssure\ReplayEPS\Agent Name

3. Rename the repository folder from the original Agent to the name of the new Agent.
4. Make additions to the hosts file (on the Core) for the Agent server’s IP address and alias name.
5. Start both Replay services
6. Add the Agent to protection using the new alias name specified in the hosts file.

NOTE: The hosts file is located in this path: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc.

]]> http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610037/feed/ 0 http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610036/ http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610036/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:30:16 +0000 KGriffin http://www.appassure.com/support/?p=3643 Article: 4610036

Replay supports centralized reporting by hosting the report data from several Cores on a single SQL Server.



All cores are configured to host their reporting data in a central database on a SQL Server. That data can be used for reporting across several Cores.

NOTE: The reports created from a Core will show data only for that Core; however, the centralized database is available for generating reports across several Cores using either the customer’s own SQL queries or other reporting tools.

A Note about Firewalls

If you are connecting the SQL Database over a WAN, please make sure that you specify the SQL server’s IP address instead of the name in the “report_db_aliase” registry key as in the example below:

10.10.20.7\MyInstance

Make sure that the port on which remote SQL Server is listening is open on the firewall and reachable from the Core.
If your SQL Server is listening on a port other than the default one, please specify that port as part of the report_db_alias like so:

10.10.20.7, 1433

Configuring Cores to use SQL Server

By default Replay Cores store their reporting data in the local database on the core.
To host the Core reporting database on the SQL Server several configuration changes should be made to a Core.

1. Open the Core’s registry.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AppAssure\ReplayReport key and note the following settings:

   

3. Set the following registry keys according to your system requirements:
   • Set “report_db_aliase” to string {MySqlServerName\MySQLInstanceName} where
     1. MySQLServerName is the name of your SQL Server
     2. MySQLInstanceName is the name of your DB Engine instance (if other than default)
   • Set “report_db_name” to a name you would like your reporting DB to have (if the database with that name does not exist, the Core will create it).
   • Set “report_db_type” to “2” (meaning SQL Server).
   • Set “report_db_user_auth_type” to “1” (SQL authentication).
   • Set “report_db_user_name” and “report_db_user_password” accordingly.
   • See the screenshot below for an example of configuration.

     

4. Restart the Core service.

The Core service will create a database with the name configured on the SQL Server and start logging the reporting data into that database. Repeat the above procedure for all Cores where you will use centralized reporting.

Once the centralized database is established, a variety of data mining tools such as SQL Server Reporting Services can be used to create cross-core reports.

See below for the schema of a Replay Reporting database for reference.



]]> http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610036/feed/ 0 http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610030/ http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610030/#comments Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:22:00 +0000 KGriffin http://www.appassure.com/support/?p=3621 Article: 4610030

Issue

The virtual machine (VM) export for the Agent fails due to the following error: The partition sector count (0×15dff000) cannot be represented as a 32-bit value; the partition is too large to be represented in the partition table.

Cause

This warning appears because the Replay Agent service is attempting to export a disk larger than 2TB and there is a 2TB limit on virtual hard disks (VMDKs and VHDs). The size of the exported disk may be the result of an export that uses thick provisioning, and may be resolved through a thin-provisioning export.

• Thick provisioning: Creating a disk the size of the original disk, regardless of used space.
• Thin provisioning: Creating a disk using only the used space on the original disk, not the whole disk.

Solutions

There are two possible solutions to this issue:

• Reduce the volume size to less than 2TB; or
• If the used space on the disk is less than 2TB, choose an export method in the Virtual Machine Wizard that performs thin provisioning.

VM Export Methods

• Thin-provisioned exports
  • VMware Workstation 6.x, Server 2.0, or player to a path
  • Hyper-V R2 to a path
• Thin- or thick-provisioned export
  • Direct to VMware vSphere 4 ESX(i) host or vCenter
• Thick-provisioned exports
  • ESX(i) format to a path
  • Directly to an ESX Host or vCenter (legacy)

Example of a thin-provisioning export selection:



]]> http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610030/feed/ 0 http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610035/ http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610035/#comments Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:15:23 +0000 KGriffin http://www.appassure.com/support/?p=3617 Article: 4610035


Issue

A virtual machine (VM) will successfully complete an export, but a black screen with a white cursor in the upper-left corner appears upon booting.

Cause

The disk geometry of the default VM export isn’t suitable for the original source disk.

Solution

1. On the Replay Core, go to the AppAssure key in the registry:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AppAssure\ReplayEPS

2. Click on the Agent to be exported. On the right side, enter a new DWORD:

   DWORD: vm_export_disktype
   Value: 2

3. Start a new VM export.
4. Once the export is complete, boot the VM.
]]> http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610035/feed/ 0 http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610028/ http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610028/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:58:58 +0000 KGriffin http://www.appassure.com/support/?p=3577 Article 4610028

When creating a self-hosted Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) service with the WSHttpBinding class that uses transport security, you must also configure a port with an X.509 certificate. If you are not creating a self-hosted service, you can host your service on Internet Information Services (IIS). For more information, see HTTP Transport Security.

To configure a port, the tool you use depends on the operating system that is running on your machine.

If you are running Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP, use the Httpcfg.exe tool. With Windows Server 2003 this tool is installed. With Windows XP, you can download the tool at Windows XP Service Pack 2 Support Tools. For more information, see Httpcfg Overview. The Windows Support Tools documentation explains the syntax for the Httpcfg.exe tool.

If you are running Windows Vista, 2008, or 7, use the Netsh.exe tool that is already installed.

This topic describes how to accomplish several procedures:

• Determining a computer’s current port configuration.
• Getting a certificate’s thumbprint (necessary for the following two procedures).
• Binding an SSL certificate to a port configuration.
• Binding an SSL certificate to a port configuration and supporting client certificates.
• Deleting an SSL certificate from a port number.

NOTE: Modifying certificates stored on the computer requires administrative privileges.

Determine how ports are configured

1. In Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP, use the Httpcfg.exe tool to view the current port configuration, using the query and ssl switches, as shown in the following example:

   httpcfg query ssl

2. In Windows Vista, 2008, or 7, use the Netsh.exe tool to view the current port configuration, as shown in the following example:

   netsh http show sslcert

Get a certificate’s thumbprint

1. Use the Certificates MMC snap-in to find an X.509 certificate that has an intended purpose of client authentication. For more information, see How to: View Certificates with the MMC Snap-in.
2. Access the certificate’s thumbprint. For more information, see How to: Retrieve the Thumbprint of a Certificate.
3. Copy the thumbprint of the certificate into a text editor, such as Notepad.
4. Remove all spaces between the hexadecimal characters. One way to accomplish this is to use the text editor’s find-and-replace feature and replace each space with a null character.

Bind an SSL certificate to a port number

1. In Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP, use the Httpcfg.exe tool in “set” mode on the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) store to bind the certificate to a port number. The tool uses the thumbprint to identify the certificate, as shown in the following example:

   httpcfg set ssl -i 0.0.0.0:8005 -h 0000000000003ed9cd0c315bbb6dc1c08da5e6

   • The -i switch has the syntax of IP:port and instructs the tool to set the certificate to port 8012 of the computer. Optionally, the four zeroes that precede the number can also be replaced by the actual IP address of the computer.
   • The -h switch specifies the thumbprint of the certificate.
2. In Windows Vista, 2008, or 7, use the Netsh.exe tool, as shown in the following example:

   netsh http add sslcert ipport=0.0.0.0:8005 certhash=0000000000003ed9cd0c315bbb6dc1c08da5e6 appid={00112233-4455-6677-8899-AABBCCDDEEFF}

   • The certhash parameter specifies the thumbprint of the certificate.
   • The ipport parameter specifies the IP address and port, and functions just like the -i switch of the Httpcfg.exe tool described.
   • The appid parameter is a GUID that can be used to identify the owning application.

Bind an SSL certificate to a port number and support client certificates

1. In Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP, to support clients that authenticate with X.509 certificates at the transport layer, follow the preceding procedure but pass an additional command-line parameter to Httpcfg.exe, as shown in the following example:

   httpcfg set ssl -i 0.0.0.0:8005 -h 0000000000003ed9cd0c315bbb6dc1c08da5e6 -f 2

   • The -f switch has the syntax of n where n is a number between 1 and 7. A value of 2, as shown in the preceding example, enables client certificates at the transport layer. A value of 3 enables client certificates and maps those certificates to a Windows account. See Httpcfg.exe Syntax for the behavior of other values.
2. In Windows Vista, 2008, or 7, to support clients that authenticate with X.509 certificates at the transport layer, follow the preceding procedure, but with an additional parameter, as shown in the following example:

   netsh http add sslcert ipport=0.0.0.0:8005 certhash=0000000000003ed9cd0c315bbb6dc1c08da5e6 appid={00112233-4455-6677-8899-AABBCCDDEEFF} clientcertnegotiation=enable

Delete an SSL certificate from a port number

1. Use the Httpcfg.exe or Netsh.exe tool to see the ports and thumbprints of all bindings on the computer. To print the information to disk, use the redirection character “>”, as shown in the following example:

   httpcfg query ssl>myMachinePorts.txt

2. In Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP, use the Httpcfg.exe tool with the delete and ssl keywords. Use the -i switch to specify the IP:port number, and the -h switch to specify the thumbprint, as shown here:

   httpcfg delete ssl -i 0.0.0.0:8005 -h 0000000000003ed9cd0c315bbb6dc1c08da5e6

3. In Windows Vista, 2008, or 7, use the Netsh.exe tool, as shown in the following example:

   netsh http delete sslcert ipport=0.0.0.0:8005

NOTE: If you accidentally add the wrong port, use the following delete commands.

• Windows 2003 and XP: httpcfg set ssl -i 0.0.0.0:8005 -h d352af55d940a2a1a3b2d313ff89ab532351ed42 -g {c4d13d5c-0fd0-4203-87ef-6e0d65e45e97} -f 2
• Windows Vista, 2008, and 7: netsh http add sslcert ipport=0.0.0.0:8005 certhash=d352af55d940a2a1a3b2d313ff89ab532351ed42 appid={c4d13d5c-0fd0-4203-87ef-6e0d65e45e97}
  ]]> http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610028/feed/ 0 http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610027/ http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610027/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:05:32 +0000 KGriffin http://www.appassure.com/support/?p=3563 Article 4610027

  Issue

  The error Reporting database was not initialized appears multiple times per second among the Events in the Replay Admin Console.

  Cause

  This error will appear in the database path in the registry doesn’t exist. This can happen when a new machine becomes the Core, such as migrating from a 32-bit Core to a 64-bit Core.

  Solution

  1. Go to the Admin Console and run a report. The error should prevent Replay from generating the report.
  2. Once the reporting process is done and the progress bar disappears, navigate to:

     C:\\Program Files (x86)AppAssure Software\Replay Server\ReplayAdminConsole

  3. Sort by Date Modified and open the newest ReplayAdminConsole.txt log.
  4. Conduct a search for compact. If a SQL server compact error is found, download the hotfix below and continue with Steps 5-9.

     http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=5783

     NOTE: If a compact error is not found, run the installer for Replay 4.7 and then run a repair on the Core to solve the issue.

  5. After downloading the hotfix, stop the Replay Core service and close the Admin Console.
  6. Extract the files from the hotfix and run the x86 version first. This may throw an error, which is normal. Then, if the Core uses a 64-bit OS, run the 64-bit version.
  7. Navigate to:

     C:\\Program Files (x86)\AppAssure Software\Replay Server\Server64

  8. In the Server 64 folder, find Reporting.Database.sdf, rename it to .old, and then start the Replay Core service. Replay will create a database in the Server64 folder.
  9. Open the Admin Console to confirm that the solution resolved the issue and that the error is gone.

  NOTE: If the registry was imported from a 32-bit Core to a 64-bit environment, verify that the path of the registry key (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AppAssure\ReplayReport\report_db_aliase) is correct.

  • 64-bit path: C:\Program Files (x86)\AppAssure Software\Replay Server\Server64\Reporting.Database.sdf
  • 32-bit path: C:\Program Files\AppAssure Software\Replay Server\Reporting.Database.sdf
  ]]> http://www.appassure.com/support/KB/4610027/feed/ 0