Dell Appassure 5 User Guide

							Dell AppAssure User Guide
Version 5.4.3 Revision B209 8 Create an archive of the failed-over protected machine and output it to disk or a network share location. 
For more information, see the section, Creating an archive.
9 After you create the archive, navigate to the AppAssure Core Console on the newly repaired source core, 
and then click the Tools tab.
10 Import the archive you just created in Step 8. For more information, see the section, Importing an 
archive.
11 Go back to the Core Console on the target core, and click the Replication tab.
12 Under Incoming Replication, select the failover protected machine and expand the details.
13 In the drop-down menu for the protected machine, click Fail Back.
14 In the Fail Back dialog box, click Continue.
15 Shut down the machine that contains the exported protected machine that was created during failover.
16 Perform a bare metal restore (BMR) for the source core and protected machine. For more information, 
see Performing a bare metal restore for Windows machines.
17 Wait for the BMR reboot and for the AppAssure Agent service to restart, and then view and record the 
network connection details of the machine.
18 Navigate to the Core Console on the source core, navigate to the machine, and then modify the machine 
protection settings to add the new network connection details. For more information, see Configuring 
machine settings.
19 Navigate to the Core Console on the target core, and delete the protected machine from the Replication 
tab. For more information, see Removing replication.
20 In the Core Console of the source core, set up replication again between the source and target by 
clicking the Replication tab, and then adding the target core for replication. For more information, see 
the section, Replicating to a self-managed target core.
NOTE: When you launch the restore as described in, Selecting a recovery point and initiating BMR, 
you will need to use the recovery points that were imported from the target core to the protected 
machine on the virtual machine. 
						

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Managing events
This chapter describes how to manage events on the AppAssure Core that monitor the state of the AppAssure 
Core and its protected machines.It includes the following topics: 
•Viewing tasks, alerts, and events
•Understanding email notifications
•Configuring notification groups
•Configuring repetition reduction
•Configuring event retention
The Core includes predefined sets of events, which can be used to notify administrators of critical issues on the 
Core or with backup jobs on protected machines. 
•You define the event types that trigger alerts, and which approaches to use for these notifications, by 
configuring notification groups. For more information, see Configuring notification groups.
•If you want administrators to receive notifications using email, refer to the section Configuring 
repetition reduction. In addition to configuring a notification group, receiving alerts by email requires 
Configuring an email server and Configuring an email notification template.
•You can reduce the number of events of the same type and scope that appear in the Events tab, using the 
repetition reduction feature, which is enabled by default. You can disable this feature, or you can 
control the span of time for which events are combined into a single occurrence in the event log. For 
more information, see Configuring repetition reduction.
•You can control how long events and job history information is retained in the Events tab in the Core 
console. For more information, see Configuring event retention.
Viewing tasks, alerts, and events
The Events tab on the Core Console displays a log of all system events related to the AppAssure Core. When you 
view the Events tab for a selected machine, you see a log of all system events related to that specific machine.
The contents of the Events tab is divided into three sections: Tasks, Alerts, and Events, for you to view details 
about each event as appropriate.
You can define how you are notified of various events by configuring notification groups. For more information, 
see Configuring notification groups.
Complete the steps in the procedures below to view tasks, alerts, or all events, respectively.
Viewing tasks
A task is a job that the AppAssure Core must perform, such as transferring data in a regularly scheduled backup, 
or performing a restore from a recovery point.
As a task is running, it is listed in the Running tasks drop-down menu at the top of the Core Console.
You can also view all tasks for the AppAssure Core, or all tasks associated with a specific machine. 
						

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To  v i e w  t a s k s
1 To view all tasks for the AppAssure Core, navigate to the AppAssure Core Home tab and then click the 
Events tab.
If you want to view tasks for a specific protected machine, then navigate to the Events tab for that 
machine.
2 To view only tasks, at the top left-hand side of the page, click Ta s k s.
The list of events is filtered to display only tasks for the Core or for the machine you selected.
3 Optionally, to filter the list of tasks by keyword, start date, end date, or any combination, do the 
following:
a To filter by keyword, enter the keyword in the Search keyword text box.
b To filter by start date and time, enter the starting date and time using one of the following 
options:
•In the From text box, type the date and time in format MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM AM/PM. For 
example, to search from the first day of January in 2014 at 8:00 AM, enter 1/1/2013 8:00 
AM.
•To select the current data and time, click the Calendar widget in the From text box and 
then click Now.
•Click the Calendar widget, select the date and time using the calendar and slider controls, 
and then click Done.
c To further refine the list of tasks that appears, you can also define an end date and time in the 
same format.
The list of tasks is immediately filtered based on the criteria you selected.
4 Optionally, you can filter the tasks appearing in the list as follows:
•To see only active tasks, click the Active Tasks icon.
•To see only tasks that are in the queue to be performed, click the Queued icon.
•To see only tasks that are waiting to be performed, click the Waiting Tasks icon.
•To see only tasks that have been completed, click the Completed Tasks icon.
•To see only tasks that have failed, click the Failed Tasks icon.
5 To export the list of tasks, select a format from the list and then click Export the report.
You can export using the following formats:
6Click the Job Details icon for any task to launch a new window with task details, which include:
•Start Time
•End Time
•Status
•Elapsed Time
•Pr ogr es s Table 111. Export formats
Format Description
PDF Portable Document Format
XLS Excel 1997 - 2003 Workbook
XLSX Excel Workbook
RTF Rich Text Format
CSV Comma-separated values 
						

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•To t a l  W o r k  ( s i z e  o r  percentage completed)
•Child Tasks (if applicable)
•Failure Reason (if applicable)
Viewing alerts
An alert is a notification related to a task or event. Alerts types include errors, warnings, or information.
You can view all alerts for the AppAssure Core, or all alerts associated with a specific machine.
To view alerts
1 To view all alerts for the AppAssure Core, navigate to the AppAssure Core Home tab and then click the 
Events tab.
If you want to view alerts for a specific protected machine, then navigate to the Events tab for that 
machine.
2 To view only alerts, at the top left-hand side of the page, click Alerts.
The list of events is filtered to display only alerts for the Core or for the machine you selected.
3 Optionally, if you want to remove all alerts, click Dismiss All.
Viewing all events
You can view all events for the AppAssure Core, or all events associated with a specific machine.
To view events
1 To view all events for the AppAssure Core, navigate to the AppAssure Core Home tab and then click the 
Events tab.
If you want to view events for a specific protected machine, then navigate to the Events tab for that 
machine.
2 To view all events, at the top left-hand side of the page, click Events.
All events display for the Core or for the machine you selected.
Understanding email notifications
The events which trigger alerts are defined in the notification group.
If you choose email as one of the notification options, you must also configure an email SMTP server. The 
AppAssure Core uses the server you define to send alerts based on the parameters in the notification group.
Additionally, you must also define an email notification template. The Core uses this to define the email subject 
line for each alert, as well as the content in the email message body. The template has default settings; you can 
use the default as-is or you can test and make modifications to serve your needs.
This section includes the following topics:
•Configuring an email server
•Configuring an email notification template
NOTE: Notification groups must be established regardless of whether you use email as a notification 
method. For more information, see Configuring notification groups. 
						

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Configuring an email server
Complete the steps in this procedure to configure an email server.
To configure an email server
1 Navigate to the AppAssure Core, click the Configuration tab, and then click Events.
2 In the Email Settings pane, click SMTP server.
The SMTP Server Settings dialog box appears.
3 Enter details for the email server as described in the following table.
4Click Send Test Email and then do the following:
a In the Send Test Email dialog box, enter a destination email address for the test message and then 
click Send.
b If the test message fails, exit the error dialog box and the Send Test Email dialog box, and revise 
your email server configuration settings. Then repeat Step 4.
c Once the test message is successful, click OK to confirm the successful operation.
d Check the email account to which you sent the test email message.
e Once you are satisfied with the results of your tests, return to the SMTP Server Settings dialog 
box, and click Save to close the dialog box and save your settings.
NOTE: You must also configure notification group settings, including enabling the Notify by email option, 
before email alert messages will be sent. For more information on specifying events to receive email 
alerts, see Configuring notification groups.
Table 112. SMTP server settings
Te x t  B o x D e s c r i p t i o n
SMTP Server Enter the name of the email server to be used by the email notification 
template. The naming convention includes the host name, domain, and 
suffix; for example, smtp.gmail.com.
From Enter a return email address. It is used to specify the return email address 
for the email notification template; for example, [email protected].
User name Enter a user name for the email server.
Password Enter the password associated with the user name required to access the 
email server.
Port Enter a port number. It is used to identify the port for the email server; for 
example, the port 587 for Gmail.
The default is 25.
Timeout (seconds) Enter an integer value to specify how long to try to connect to the email 
server. It is used to establish the time in seconds before a timeout occurs.
The default is 60 seconds.
TLS Select this option if the mail server uses a secure connection such as 
Transport Layer Security (TLS) or Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). 
						

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Configuring an email notification template
Complete the steps in this procedure to configure an email notification template. This template is used by your 
SMTP email server to send notifications regarding AppAssure events by email.
To configure an email notification template
1 Navigate to the AppAssure Core, click the Configuration tab, and then click Events.
2 In the Email Settings pane, click change.
The Edit Email Notification Configuration dialog box appears.
3Select Enable Email Notifications.
4 In the Email Subject text box, enter a subject for the email template.
The Email Subject is used to define the subject of the email notification template, for example, 
 -  .
5 In the Email text box, enter the information for the body of the template which describes the event, 
when it occurred, and the severity.
6Click Send Test Email and then do the following:
a In the Send Test Email dialog box, enter a destination email address for the test message and then 
click Send.
b If the test message fails, exit the error dialog box and the Send Test Email dialog box, click OK to 
save the current email template settings, and modify your email server settings as described in 
the procedure Configuring an email server, ensuring you reenter the password for that email 
account. Save those settings and then return to this procedure.
c Once the test message is successful, click OK to confirm the successful operation.
d Check the email account to which you sent the test email message.
Once you are satisfied with the results of your tests, return to the Edit Email Notification Configuration dialog 
box, and click OK to close the dialog box and save your settings.
Configuring notification groups
Notification groups let you define sets of specific events for which users are alerted, and the manner in which 
that notification takes place. You can configure alerts to be sent by the following methods:
•By email
•In the Windows event log
•Using syslogd,
•Using Toast alerts
•Using alerts
•Using SNMP trap
Complete the steps in this procedure to configure notification groups for alerts.
NOTE: You must also configure an email server and notification group settings, including enabling the 
Notify by email option, before email alert messages will be sent. For more information about configuring 
an email server for sending alerts, see Configuring an email server. For more information on specifying 
events to receive email alerts, see Configuring notification groups.
NOTE: You must also configure Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server settings if you want to send 
alerts as email messages, as described in this procedure. For more information on setting email server 
configuration settings, see Configuring an email server. 
						

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To configure notification groups
1 Navigate to the AppAssure Core, click the Configuration tab, and then click Events.
2Click Add Group.
The Add Notification Group dialog box displays.
The Add Notification Group dialog box contains a general description area and two tabs:
•Enable Alerts
•Notification Options
3 Enter the basic information for the notification group, as described in the following table.
4 On the Enable Alerts tab, define the set of system events that you want to log, create reports for, and 
for which you want to be alerted, as follows:
•If you want to create alerts for all events, select All Alerts.
•If you want to create alerts specific to errors, warnings, informational messages, or a 
combination of these, then next to Select Types, click the appropriate option:
•Error (red triangle icon)
•Warning (yellow triangle icon)
•Info (blue circle)
•Restore default (curved arrow)
•If you want to create alerts for specific events, then do the following:
a Click the right angle bracket > symbol next to All Alerts to expand to view to show Groups. 
Then click the right angle bracket > symbol next to Groups to display groups of related 
events for which you can set alerts. The event group categories include:
•Clouds
•Server Logs
•Exchange
•Scheduled Archives
•Auto Update
•Dedupe Cache
•Recovery Point Check
•Remote Mount
•Boot CD
•Security
•Database Retention
•Local Mount
•Metadata
•Clusters
•Notification Table 113. Notification group information
Te x t  B o x D e s c r i p t i o n
Name Enter a name for the event notification group. This information is required.
Description Enter a description that clarifies the purpose for the event notification group. This 
information is optional. 
						

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•Push Install
•Attachability
•Jobs
•Licensing
•Log Truncation
•Archive
•Core Service
•Export
•Pr ote ct io n
•Replication
•Repository
•Rollback (Restore)
•Rollup
b To view the individual events in any group, click the right angle bracket > symbol next to 
the relevant group, and then select those specific events for which you want to log, 
report, and set alerts.
c To define alerts for all events within any group, select the checkbox next to that group.
5 Click the Notification Options tab.
6 On the Notification Options tab, specify how to handle the notification process.
The following table describes the notification options.
Table 114. Notification options
Te x t  B o x D e s c r i p t i o n
Notify by email Designate the recipients of the email notification. You can 
choose to specify separate multiple email addresses as well as 
blind and carbon copies.
Yo u  c a n  c h o o s e :
•To :
•CC:
•BCC:
Notify by Windows Event Log Select this option if you want alerts to be reported through the 
Windows Event Log.
Notify by sys logd Select this option if you want alerts to be reported through 
syslogd. Specify the details for the syslogd in the following text 
boxes:
•Host:
•Po rt :
Notify by Toast alerts Select this option if you want the alert to appear as a pop-up in 
the lower-right corner of your screen. 
						

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You will see a message indicating that the notification group name you defined cannot be changed after 
creating the group. Other properties within the notification group can be changed at any time.
•If you are satisfied with the group name, confirm this message and save your work.
•If you want to change the group name, click No to return to the Create Notification Group 
window, update the group name and any other notification group settings, and save your work.
Configuring repetition reduction
The ability for administrators to receive alerts upon certain events is critical. Nonetheless, in certain 
circumstances, receiving repeated notification of events that you are aware of can also be frustrating or 
inconvenient. Even if an alert is generated due to an environmental failure that you wish to know about 
immediately, it is possible for the same error condition to generate hundreds or thousands of events in the 
event log.To reduce repetition in the event log, and reduce the inconvenience of receiving repeated e-mail 
notifications for the same event in the Core Console, AppAssure includes a repetition reduction setting, which is 
enabled by default and set at 5 minutes. This setting can be set as low as 1 minute and as high as 60 minutes. It 
can also be disabled entirely.
When repetition reduction is disabled, then every time an event of the same type and scope occurs, it is logged 
in the database. Regardless of how much time passed since that event previously occurred, each new 
occurrence is shown in the Alerts portion of the Events tab.
When repetition reduction is configured (for example, with the default time of 5 minutes), then the first time 
that specific event occurs, it is logged in the database and shown in the alerts log. If subsequently an event of 
the same type and scope is again logged within the threshold of time established, then the count for the event 
in the database increases by 1 for each repeat occurrence within that threshold. The log shown in the Alerts 
portion of the Events tab, however, shows the event only once, with the date and time of the most recent 
occurrence. is not updated with the same event until the threshold of time from the first occurrence expires.
Complete the steps in this procedure to configure repetition reduction for events.
To configure repetition reduction
1 On the AppAssure Core home page, click the Configuration drop-down menu, and then click Events.
2 From the Repetition Reduction area, click Change.
The Repetition Reduction dialog box displays.
3Select Enable Repetition Reduction.
4In the Store Events for text box, use the up and down arrows to enter the number of minutes to store 
the events for repetition reduction.
5Click OK. Notify by Alerts
Notify by SNMP trap The AppAssure Core serves as an SNMP agent, sending traps 
(notifications about specific events) to an SNMP manager. The 
result is the reporting of Core information such as alerts, 
repository status, and protected machines. Select this option if 
you want to notify Core events by SNMP trap. You must also 
specify a trap number. For example, the default trap number 
used by the AppAssure Core is 162.
NOTE: Repetition reduction settings apply only to event logging, and do not have any effect on email 
notifications.Table 114. Notification options
Te x t  B o x D e s c r i p t i o n 
						

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Configuring event retention
Complete the steps in this procedure to configure retention for events.
To configure event retention
1 On the AppAssure Core home page, click the Configuration drop-down menu, and then click Settings.
2 Under Database Connection Settings, click change.
The Database Connection Settings dialog box displays.
3In the Retain event and job history for text box, enter the number of days that you want to retain 
information about events; for example, 30 days (default).
4Click Save.