DELL Data Protection Advisor Owner’s Manual

DELL Data Protection Advisor

Notes
These release notes contain supplemental information about Data Protection Advisor 19.10.

Current Release Version: 19.10

• Release Type: Major (MA)

Topics

• Revision history
• Product Description
• New features
• Changed features
• Resolved issues
• Known issues
• Environment and system requirements
• Installation and upgrade considerations
• Where to get help

Revision history

The following table records revisions that are made to this document.

Table 1. Document revision history

Advisor 19.10.

Document revision Date Description

• April 2024 Updated limitations in the Known Issues section.
• January 2024 First release of this document for Data Protection Advisor 19.10.

Product Description

Data Protection Advisor is a reporting and analytics platform that provides full visibility into the effectiveness of your data protection strategy. Data Protection Advisor monitors the technologies that you use to protect your data, including backup software, backup devices, storage array replication, servers, databases, and virtual infrastructure. The Data Protection Advisor reporting engine provides many standard reports that are frequently requested and allows you to modify an existing report or create your report for your data protection environment. It enables you, among others, to emphasize or detect issues within your environment, and perform capacity management, service-level reporting, chargeback, change management, and troubleshooting.

The Data Protection Advisor Predictive Analysis Engine provides early warning of problems and generates alerts that enable you to resolve problems sooner and reduce negative business impacts. This product may be distributed with open-source code, licensed to you by the applicable open-source license. If you would like a copy of any such source code, Dell Technologies provides a copy of the source code that is required to be made available by the applicable open-source license. Dell Technologies may charge reasonable shipping and handling charges for such distribution.

Direct your requests in writing to Dell Legal, 176 South St., Hopkinton, MA 01748, ATTN: Open Source Program Office.” Should If you require the license or copyright information for the open-source software, contact Dell Support.
NOTE: Any references to the PowerProtect DD System and the PowerProtect DD devices in the document indicate PowerProtect DD appliances.

New features
Learn about the new features and changes that are introduced in Data Protection Advisor 19.10.

Table 2. New features in Data Protection Advisor 19.10

reports, where the reporting functionality fetches and displays more than 10,000 resources.| Enables reports to display more data.
Data collection – Avamar| Added the Show dataset value for the jobname option to the Avamar configuration function.| Enables you to specify either the dataset value or the dataset name in the Jobname field.

See the Data Protection Advisor product support pages at https://www.dell.com/support for user documentation about the new features.

Expanded qualifications for Data Protection Advisor 19.10 interoperability
The Data Protection Advisor Software Compatibility information in E-Lab Navigator provides information.

1. Go to https://elabnavigator.dell.com/eln/elnhome.
2. Click Data Protection and Availability Solutions and then select the Data Protection Advisor link to access the compatibility information.

Platform upgrades
Table 3. Platform versions in Data Protection Advisor 19.10

Changed features
The following table lists the changed features in this release:
Table 4. Changed features in Data Protection Advisor 19.10

Table 4. Changed features in Data Protection Advisor 19.10 (continued)

Report Actions| The Email Report dialog box enables you to enter a custom filename in the

< report_name>Report<mi nutes > format in the Filename field. This field is visible only when you select Attach from the Email behavior list.

The maximum size of a filename is 250 characters.

| Enables customized filenames.
---|---|---
Dashboard Actions| The Email Report dialog box enables you to enter a custom filename in the Dashboard_ <hour **s

_ format in the Filename field. This field is visible only when you select Attach** from the Email behavior list.

The maximum size of a filename is 250 characters.

| Enables customized filenames.
Scheduled Report| The Create Publish Settings and Edit Publish Settings dialog boxes enable you to enter a filename even when you select Email as the Method. The File name field is enabled and mandatory only when you select Attach from the Email behavior list.

The maximum size of a filename is 250 characters.

| Enables you to specify filenames even when you publish reports or dashboard templates by using the email method.
Alert Trigger – Edit Filter| Added another SELECT VALUE button on the left for

• ADD CONDITION in the Edit Filter dialog box for Alert Trigger when creating a custom rules template.

This left SELECT VALUE button enables you to specify Attributes and

Calculated Value.

| Enables you to effectively create conditions.

Resolved issues
The following high-severity issues have been resolved in this release.

Table 5. Resolved issues in Data Protection Advisor 19.9

chandleMallocFailure error about memory allocation
DPA-69155| Data Collection| Not able to trigger “Full Backup Larger than average for time window” with PPDM
DPA-69282| Reports| After upgrading to 19.8 b33 custom report with displayed as Pie returns no results
DPA-69286| Security| DPA Password limitations are not working
DPA-69287| Security| DPA utilizes a database access library that contains an information disclosure vulnerability
DPA-69288| Reports| Schedule with weekday filters does not generate reports as expected
DPA-69290| Secure Emails| Email via TLS-encrypted SMTP server fails
DPA-69292| Secure Emails| Cannot send schedule report by email with error “Could not convert socket to TLS”
DPA-69915| Policy| Protection Policy: The protection Rule is not showing under the Protection Rules Tab
DPA-69940| Alerts| Alerts: UI is shown as distorted when the user runs the selected report from Alerts
DPA-70045| Dashboard| Dashboard does not save correctly if the scope is set to an NW workflow object
DPA-70046| Custom Reports| Unable to set Input Type field in properties of User Input data source
DPA-70047| Custom Reports| In the custom report, the operator “Extended Job Rollup” is reverting the parameter “interval” to 86400 days
DPA-70049| Data Collection| networker job monitor request on 19.8 build 50 failing with EOF

Table 5. Resolved issues in Data Protection Advisor 19.9 (continued)

items regardless of the status of either item
DPA-70062| Data Collection| The “Full Backup files Smaller than average for time window” rule is not working for PPDM
DPA-70069| Custom Reports| Unable to set Input Type field in properties of User Input data source
DPA-70079| Custom Reports| Custom Report Templates – Backup Job Status: Is the Snap field not selected on the SELECT ALL checkbox selected
DPA-70159| Data Collection| After the TSM server upgrade from 8.1.17000 to 8.1.19000, all data collection fails with failed to find server version
DPA-70174| Custom Reports| Unable to add or modify a condition on a data source in the report editor
DPA-70270| Reports| Incorrect year conversion in date when rendering report in CSV format
DPA-70294| Reports| Drill down reports where the child report uses a “Database Query” data source to produce Error 500
DPA-70343| Dashboard| Not able to create a dashboard using a Template having a name of >219 characters
DPA-70433| Power Protect Data Manager| 19.8 build 33 creating duplicates of successful backup jobs for PPDM
DPA-70587| Policy| Analysis Policy: Unable to delete custom rule template if present in two policies
DPA-70588| Policy| Analysis Policy: Not able to add rule again if we delete the custom rule template from the policy
DPA-70924| Custom Reports| Report Templates -> CONDITIONs not working in preview
DPA-70938| Reports| Report Editor Cell Style Unavailable if 10 or more cell styles configured

Known issues
The following table lists the known issues and limitations of Data Protection Advisor 19.10.
Table 6. Known issues in Data Protection Advisor 19.10

the hosts on which you performed the DPA split installation, multiple errors appear in the server logs though the operation succeeds.| None.
DPA-70923| UI| The Run Reports tab does not respond when you rerun a report after making changes.| Close the tab, open another tab, and then run the report.
DPA-70712| UI| A drag separator appears at a random place in the Drilldown Menu list on the Report Templates tab. It must exist between the Drilldown Menu list and Details sections.| None.
DPA-70569| S

Authentication

| The DPA login credentials dialog box appears when you click the SSO link for the first time.| Enter the credentials.
DPA-70070| UI| If you enter an incorrect username or password on the DPA login page, the login credentials dialog box appears instead of a validation message.| Refresh the browser, and provide the correct credentials.
DPA-70931| Application server| When the application server starts, the server log file logs the following messages:| Ignore the messages because they do not affect the functionality of the application.
| | [stderr] (ServerService Thread Pool – 206) SLF4J: Failed to load class “org.slf4j.impl.StaticLoggerBinder”. [stderr] (ServerService Thread Pool – 206) SLF4J: Defaulting to no-operation (NOP) logger implementation. [stderr] (ServerService Thread Pool – 206) SLF4J: See SLF4J Error Codes for further details.|
---|---|---|---
DPA-61625| CLI| When you try to stop the application server using the dpa app stop command, an error is displayed even though stopping the application server succeeds.| None.
DCE-5376| Data collection| Data Protection Advisor cannot process data collection files larger than 2 GB due to the limitation of the third-party tool being used.| None.
DCE-4030| Data collection| The PowerProtect DD Analysis request works on Windows x64 or Linux x64 agents only.| None.
DPA-67179| Data collection| The PowerProtect DD Analysis function when run in debug mode collects incorrect data.| None.
DPA-63580| Data collection| The Data Protection Advisor agent does not collect protection-policy-related data as part of PowerProtect Data Manager Config data collection.| None.
DPA-63292| Data collection| The NetBackup SLP Job Status request might take a long time to process if there is a high volume of SLP jobs on the NetBackup server.| None.
DPA-63209| Data collection| The NetWorker Job Monitor request does not report warnings on backups.| None.
DPA-63205| Data collection| The Data Protection Advisor agent does not collect De-Dupe data from the PowerProtect Data Manager. Therefore, the De-Dupe data is shown blank in the Data Protection Advisor reports for PowerProtect Data Manager.| None.
DPA-62827| Data collection| The Job Monitor request for Data Protector servers which generate more than 1000 backup sessions per day might take a long time

to complete. This delay can lead to a situation where no recent backup information is available within the Data Protection Advisor for the Data Protector server. This delay occurs due to limitations with the command options currently available with Data Protector to collect information about backups along with the current design of the Job Monitor request.

| None.
DPA-61063| Data collection| Data Protection Advisor does not accept any schema name other than RMAN. If a catalog is created with any other user, the Data Protection Advisor fails to fetch data.| None.
DPA-65319| Discovery| Multiple hard-coded cryptographic keys that are discovered in Data Protection Advisor.| None.
DPA-62456| Discovery| You cannot select, edit, or enter credentials when discovering a new host.| You can create credentials from the Create Credential page.
DPA-68394| Installation| The Data Protection Advisor Application clustering feature is deprecated and no longer supported in version 19.8 or later.| See the knowledge base article 00020285 for more information.
DPA-61282| Installation| The uninstallation of the Data Protection Advisor server, DataStore, and the Agent completes with the following message:| None.
| | |
---|---|---|---
| | Some of the items could not be removed|
DPA-64225| Policy| Applying a chargeback policy to an ACSLS node fails with an error and disables the TURN POLICY ON/OFF, APPLY DIFFERENT POLICY,

and REMOVE APPLIED POLICY buttons.

| Reselect the ACSLS node again to enable the buttons.
DPA-64224| Policy| Alerts are generated even when the policy is disabled.| None.
DPA-64211| Policy| On the Applied Analysis Policies page, the Groups tree does not expand automatically to the level that the user has specified under User Preferences.| Manually go to the specified level.
DPA-62702| Policy| You can delete the analysis policy even if it is applied to objects.| None.
DPA-68804| PowerProtect Data Manager| The PowerProtect Data Manager asset total capacity report data does not match the PowerProtect Data Manager set-up data.| None.
DPA-68802| PowerProtect Data Manager| The discovery of the PowerProtect Data Manager 19.13 system adds an extra object in the object library.| None.
DPA-67381| Reports| Unable to sort reports based on start time.| None.
| Reports| Saving a 3D chart as favorites shows the data in the 2D chart. There is no functionality impact.| Select a 3D chart from the chart type drop- down menu.
| Reports| Email report shows data in the 2D chart instead of the 3D chart. There is no functionality impact.| None.
DPA-67288| Reports| The PowerProtect DD Boost Configuration details report is not displayed under the Run Report section.| None.
DPA-66629| Reports| Fetching the bullet chart type report for DD Active Stream Report fails with the 500 Server error.| None.
DPA-59529| Reports| The Status Details column is hidden in Reports.| Check both the “Status Details” and the “Status Description” in the template to see the “Status Details” column.
DPA-54999| Reports| The report Cluster Filesystems Not Backed Up shows different results depending on the scope. Report on the Cluster server level shows correct results for underlying filesystems, the difference appears if particular filesystems are selected as a scope, there is a false positive “backup did not run” appeared.| Use the Cluster server level or parent Cluster group as a scope for the report.
DPA-65308| Security| Unable to import the CA-signed certificate on the Data Protection Advisor Application server.| Add -signals rosacea-pss to your key tool command to generate the

CSR. Signing the CA accepts a CSR signed with this algorithm.

This uses the default provider (Crypto-J, if configured that way).

DPA-66668| UI| In HTML UI, you cannot select reports for rates for federated remote report data sources.| None.
DPA-65879| UI| In the HTML UI Report Editor, the child node inherits the default null value field from the root node.| None.
DPA-64163| UI| In HTML UI, Monitoring Options are not available in the Add Data Collection Agent dialog.| None.
---|---|---|---
DPA-63926| UI| The Data Protection Advisor Dashboard does not display Protection server details in the backup and summary tabs.| None.
DPA-63630| UI| Data is not visible in the PowerProtect Overview dashboard template.| None.
DPA-63574| Upgrade| When upgrading the Data Protection Advisor server, the RUN_AS_USER configuration is not retained.| None.
DPA-62700| UI| Unable to delete TSM.| None.
DPA-62058| UI| The vtl templates only support the HTML format.| None.
DPA-61043| UI| IP addresses are not listed consistently for hosts in the Object Library section.| None.
DPA-61042| UI| Unable to delete PowerProtect DD. Even after you delete, the Delete object status prompt continues to appear.| None.
DPA-60810| UI| The Delete multiple node success window intermittently shows an empty status and hostname.| None.
DPA-59529| UI| When you generate custom reports, the Status Details column is hidden.| None.
DPA-62943| Upgrade| When you upgrade the application server, the installer does not prompt you to change the Datastore password.| Run the dpa

app password command on the Data Protection Advisor server to change the datastore password.

DPA-48309| Upgrade| On upgrade, Secure Remote Services shows that it is already registered with the following error: [ERROR] This node is already registered with an EMC Secure Remote Support Service.| See the knowledge base article 000482259 on Dell Online support for more information.

Limitations

• DPA is not receiving information from NetWorker whether the save sets of NetWorker clients are backed up using Client Direct or not. Hence, the system alert ‘NetWorker Client Direct was not used’ is not operating properly.
• In the Conditions filter, the Calculated Numeric value and Calculated Timestamp value options are not available. If you have an existing Alert Trigger with the Calculated Numeric value or Calculated Timestamp value options, you cannot edit it.
• Data Protection Advisor does not support using an answer file with silent installation to install a system that is using the Advanced Layout installation options for the Datastore Storage Files and Datastore Transaction Log. This is about DPA-37355.
• When discovering RecoverPoint and RecoverPoint for VMs, the Data Protection Advisor supports discovering only one management IP. Also, the Data Protection Advisor supports monitoring only the management IP and not the RPA IP.
• Note the following limitations regarding Datastore Replication:
  • In busy environments, the best practice is to stop the Application servers for a Datastore Replication export so that the export can complete and import to the secondary Datastore, and resync with the primary Datastore.
  • Data Protection Advisor supports Datastore Replication exports from the primary Datastore only. Data Protection Advisor does not support Datastore Replication exports run from the secondary Datastore.
  • Data Protection Advisor does not support the discovery of additional schemas on existing database hosts.
• Data Protection Advisor supports a maximum of four nodes in a cluster:
  • One Primary
  • Three Secondary
• For Datastore Replication, Data Protection Advisor must be the same operating system and version and running the same version of Data Protection Advisor. Ensure that Primary and Secondary Datastores are on the same operating system and version, and running the same version of Data Protection Advisor.
• Data Protection Advisor does not support the option to test the Lack of event trigger for the Number of samples, even though the option still appears as valid in the Data Protection Advisor web console. Data Protection Advisor still supports the Number of samples option for the Time window.
• For the PowerProtect DD Client Deduplication Ratio and Clients with Low, Dedup Ratio reports, the dedup ratio field referenced is based on metrics at the time that the data was ingested on the PowerProtect DD. It is not possible to report on the physical size of files being stored on the PowerProtect DD. This is a current limitation within PowerProtect DD.
• For ProtectPoint support, Data Protection Advisor does not support:
  • VMAX3 features
  • Disaster Recovery host
  • PowerProtect DD is not shown as a host in the case that a host is not connected to the VMAX3. This is because all the images that are collected on each application technology are not associated with each other properly.
• The root cause for a backup agent being down is not supported on Puredisk.
• Third-party applications with which Data Protection Advisor is qualified for interoperation are supported for English language installations and configurations only. The exceptions to this limitation are:
  • The following Backup Applications can be in any language:
  • Avamar
  • BackupExec
  • CommVault
  • TSM TDP (Data Protection module) on the client is supported in German, although the server must be in English.
• The Data Protection Advisor Software Compatibility Guide available on E-Lab Navigator provides details about the Dell
  and third-party product requirements for Data Protection Advisor interoperability.

Environment and system requirements
The Data Protection Advisor Software Compatibility Guide, and the Data Protection Advisor Installation and Administration. The guide provides details on system requirements, a list of supported operating systems, and compatible third-party software.

Installation and upgrade considerations
The Data Protection Advisor Installation and Administration Guide, available on Dell Online Support provides instructions for installation, post- installation configuration tasks, and administration procedures. The installation chapter includes separate sections on fresh installations and upgrades. The Patch Installer is used for all upgrades and for applying Generally Available (GA) and non-GA patches.

Supported upgrades
The following table provides information about supported upgrades and methods to Data Protection Advisor 19.10:
Table 7. Supported upgrades to Data Protection Advisor 19.10 Contact Customer Support for the latest Data Protection Advisor patches.

1.      Data Protection Advisor 6.5

2.      Data Protection Advisor 18.1

3.      Data Protection Advisor 18.2

4.      Data Protection Advisor 19.1

5.      Data Protection Advisor 19.2

| 1.      Upgrade Data Protection Advisor to 19.3.

2.      Upgrade Data Protection Advisor to 19.8 or 19.9.

3.      Upgrade Data Protection Advisor to 19.10.

1.  Data Protection Advisor 19.3| 1.  Upgrade Data Protection Advisor to 19.8 or 19.9.
Existing version| Upgrade method
---|---
2.      Data Protection Advisor 19.4

3.      Data Protection Advisor 19.5

4.      Data Protection Advisor 19.6

5.      Data Protection Advisor 19.7

| 2. Upgrade Data Protection Advisor to 19.10.
1.      Data Protection Advisor 19.8

2.      Data Protection Advisor 19.9

| Upgrade Data Protection Advisor to 19.10.

Software media, organization, and files
Data Protection Advisor 19.10 and the GA Refresh builds are full package releases. To download the Data Protection Advisor 19.10 packages, go to the Data Protection Advisor downloads section on the Dell Support site. The following table provides build numbers and descriptions for Data Protection Advisor 19.10 packages.

Table 8. GA components and installation packages

Where to get help
The Dell Technologies Support site contains important information about products and services including drivers, installation packages, product documentation, knowledge base articles, and advisories. A valid support contract and account might be required to access all the available information about a specific Dell Technologies product or service.

Additional resources
You can use these resources to find more information about this product, get support, and provide feedback.

Related Documentation
Additional electronic versions of Data Protection Advisor 19.10 documentation are available and updated periodically.

• Data Protection Advisor Documentation Portfolio
• Data Protection Advisor Release Notes (this document)
• Data Protection Advisor Installation and Administration Guide
• Data Protection Advisor Product Guide
• Data Protection Advisor Data Collection Reference Guide
• Data Protection Advisor Report Reference Guide
• Data Protection Advisor Custom Reporting Guide
• Data Protection Advisor Security Configuration Guide
• Programmers’ Guide to Using Data Protection Advisor REST API

The Data Protection Advisor Online Help is packaged with and deployed from the Data Protection Advisor 19.10 web console. To deploy the Data Protection Advisor online help in the Data Protection Advisor web console:

• Go to Setup Guide and click Help at the bottom-left of the page.
• Alternatively, in any area, section, or tab of the Data Protection Advisor web console, click the question mark icon.
• The question mark icon in the upper right opens the complete Data Protection Advisor online help document. The question mark icon within the particular area, section, or tab opens context-sensitive help for that particular topic.
• Where to find the Data Protection Advisor Software Compatibility Guide
• The latest compatibility information is available at https://elabnavigator.dell.com/eln/elnhome. For information about earlier versions, click Other DPA versions compatibility.
• Where to find product documentation
• https://www.dell.com/support
• https://www.dell.com/community

Where to get support
The Support website https://www.dell.com/support provides access to product licensing, documentation, advisories, downloads, and how-to and troubleshooting information. The information can enable you to resolve a product issue before
you contact Support.

To access a product-specific page

1. Go to https://www.dell.com/support.
2. In the search box, type a product name, and then from the list that appears, select the product.

Knowledgebase
The Knowledgebase contains applicable solutions that you can search for either by solution number (for example, KB000xxxxxx) or by keyword.

To search the Knowledgebase

1. Go to https://www.dell.com/support.
2. On the Support tab, click Knowledge Base.
3. In the search box, type either the solution number or keywords. Optionally, you can limit the search to specific products by typing a product name in the search box and then selecting the product from the list that appears.

Live chat
To participate in a live interactive chat with a support agent:

1. Go to https://www.dell.com/support.
2. On the Support tab, click Contact Support.
3. On the Contact Information page, click the relevant support, and then proceed.

Service requests
To obtain in-depth help from Licensing, submit a service request. To submit a service request:

1. Go to https://www.dell.com/support.
2. On the Support tab, click Service Request

NOTE
To create a service request, you must have a valid support agreement. For details about either an account or obtaining a valid support agreement, contact a sales representative. To find the details of a service request in the Service
Request Number field, type the service request number, and then click the right arrow.

To review an open service request

1. Go to https://www.dell.com/support.
2. On the Support tab, click Service Requests.
3. On the Service Requests page, under Manage Your Service Requests, click View All Dell Service Requests.

Online communities
For peer contacts, conversations, and content on product support and solutions, go to the Community Network https://www.dell.com/community. Interactively engage with customers, partners, and certified professionals online.

How to provide feedback
Feedback helps to improve the accuracy, organization, and overall quality of publications. Perform one of the following steps to provide feedback:

• Go to https://contentfeedback.dell.com/s, and submit a ticket.
• Send feedback to DPADDocFeedback@dell.com.

Notes, cautions, and warnings
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your product.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem.
WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.

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References

• Submit Form
• SLF4J Error Codes

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