To install Symantec Backup Exec 12 agent under Debian Linux (32 and 64 bit). Version numbers have been masked with “xxx” to make it a general post.
Find the appropriate agent from the installer CD or download the latest version from Symantec website. 32 bit packages are normally under /Linux/RALUSx86/pkgs/Linux and 64 bit under /Linux/RALUS64/pkgs/Linux. Both packages must be properly installed: VRTSralus and VRTSvxmsa.
To untar:
tar -zxvf VRTSralus.tar.gz tar -zxvf VRTSvxmsa.tar.gz
Symantec provides rpm packages so we will have to convert them to deb. If you don’t have the package “alien” installed use the command “aptitude install alien” to install the package.
Converting rpm to deb:
alien --scripts VRTSralus-xxx.rpm alien --scripts VRTSvxmsa-xxx.rpm
(64 bit packages end with x86-64.rpm).
Installing deb packages:
dpkg -i vrtsralus-xxx-.deb dpkg -i vrtsvxmsa-xxx-.deb
RALUS runs under a backup user called beoper. Go ahead and add the user/group and give it root access:
addgroup beoper adduser root beoper
Before loading the agent for the first time install the following packages:
aptitude install libstdc++5
for 64 bit Debian you will need an additional package:
aptitude install ia32-libs
Now load the agent for the first time to have it create your configuration file. Backup Exec installation will copy your init script to /opt/VRTSralus/bin/VRTSralus.init. Either run it directly from there or create a symbolic link where your other scripts are:
ln -s opt/VRTSralus/bin/VRTSralus.init /etc/init.d
Load the agent:
/etc/init.d/VRTSralus.init start
OK confirms that your script ran properly, and if you followed my direction it should. Now kill the process
/etc/init.d/VRTSralus.init stop
and go open the configuration file
nano /etc/VRTSralus/ralus.cfg
Insert the following string and replace the IP to match your media server’s:
Software\Symantec\Backup Exec For Windows\Backup Exec\Engine\Agents\Agent Directory List_1=192.168.1.35
I have highlighted what I think is important: agent advertising option and your media server IP. Make sure they are correct and if you don’t have any of those lines go ahead and add them to your config file.
Save/close the file and re-run your agent. You’re all set! If you like to have the agent run every time your box reboots navigate to /etc/init.d/ and:
update-rc.d -f VRTSralus.init defaults
Note that Backup Exec 12.5 comes with a pre-compiled .deb package. Hooray for Symantec!
