Workloads

Definition

A workload is a backup job that protects one or more Virtual Machines according to a configured policy. There can be as many workloads as needed. But each VM can only be part of one Workload.

Using encrypted Workload will lead to longer backup times. The following timings have been seen in Trilio labs:

Snapshot time for LVM Volume Booted CentOS VM. Disk size 200 GB; total data including OS : ~108GB

1. For unencrypted WL : 62 min

2. For encrypted WL : 82 min

Snapshot time for Windows Image booted VM. No additional data except OS. : ~12 GB

1. For unencrypted WL : 10 min

2. For encrypted WL : 18 min5

List of Workloads

Using Horizon

To view all available workloads of a project inside Horizon do:

1. Login to Horizon

2. Navigate to Backups

3. Navigate to Workloads

The overview in Horizon lists all workloads with the following additional information:

• Creation time

• Workload Name

• Workload description

• Total amount of Snapshots inside this workload

  • Total amount of succeeded Snapshots

  • Total amount of failed Snapshots

• Workload Type

• Status of the Workload

Using CLI

workloadmgr workload-list [--all {True,False}] [--nfsshare <nfsshare>]

• --all {True,False}➡️List all workloads of all projects (valid for admin user only)
• --nfsshare <nfsshare>➡️List all workloads of nfsshare (valid for admin user only)

Workload Create

The encryption options of the workload creation process are only available when the Barbican service is installed and available.

Using Horizon

To create a workload inside Horizon do the following steps:

1. Login to Horizon

2. Navigate to the Backups

3. Navigate to Workloads

4. Click "Create Workload"

5. Provide Workload Name and Workload Description on the first tab "Details"

6. Choose between Serial or Parallel workload on the first tab "Details"

7. Choose the Policy if available to use on the first tab "Details"

8. Choose if the Workload is encrypted on the first tab "Details"

9. Provide the secret UUID if Workload is encrypted on the first tab "Details"

10. Choose the VMs to protect on the second Tab "Workload Members"

11. Decide for the schedule of the workload on the Tab "Schedule"

12. Provide the Retention policy on the Tab "Policy"

13. Choose the Full Backup Interval on the Tab "Policy"

14. If required check "Pause VM" on the Tab "Options"

15. Click create

The created Workload will be available after a few seconds and starts to take backups according to the provided schedule and policy.

Using CLI

workloadmgr workload-create --instance <instance-id=instance-uuid>
                            [--display-name <display-name>]
                            [--display-description <display-description>]
                            [--workload-type-id <workload-type-id>]
                            [--source-platform <source-platform>]
                            [--jobschedule <key=key-name>]
                            [--metadata <key=key-name>]
                            [--policy-id <policy_id>]
                            [--encryption <True/False>]
                            [--secret-uuid <secret_uuid>]

• --display-name➡️Optional workload name. (Default=None)
• --display-description➡️Optional workload description. (Default=None)
• --workload-type-id➡️Workload Type ID is required
• --source-platform➡️Workload source platform is required. Supported platforms is 'openstack'
• --instance➡️Specify an instance to include in the workload. Specify option multiple times to include multiple instances. instance-id: include the instance with this UUID
• --jobschedule➡️Specify following key value pairs for jobschedule Specify option multiple times to include multiple keys. 'start_date' : '06/05/2014' 'end_date' : '07/15/2014' 'start_time' : '2:30 PM' 'interval' : '1 hr' 'snapshots_to_retain' : '2'
• --metadata➡️Specify a key value pairs to include in the workload_type metadata Specify option multiple times to include multiple keys. key=value
• --policy-id <policy_id>➡️ID of the policy to assign to the workload
• --encryption <True/False> ➡️Enable/Disable encryption for this workload
• --secret-uuid <secret_uuid> ➡️UUID of the Barbican secret to be used for the workload

Workload Overview

A workload contains many information, which can be seen in the workload overview.

Using Horizon

To enter the workload overview inside Horizon do the following steps:

1. Login to Horizon

2. Navigate to the Backups

3. Navigate to Workloads

4. Identify the workload to show the details on

5. Click the workload name to enter the Workload overview

Details Tab

The Workload Details tab provides you with the general most important information about the workload:

• Name

• Description

• Availability Zone

• List of protected VMs including the information of qemu guest agent availability

The status of the qemu-guest-agent just shows, whether the necessary Openstack configuration has been done for this VM to provide qemu guest agent integration. It does not check, whether the qemu guest agent is installed and configured on the VM.

It is possible to navigate to the protected VM directly from the list of protected VMs.

Snapshots Tab

The Workload Snapshots Tab shows the list of all available Snapshots in the chosen Workload.

From here it is possible to work with the Snapshots, create Snapshots on demand and start Restores.

Please refer to the Snapshot and Restore User Guide to learn more about those.

Policy Tab

The Workload Policy Tab gives an overview of the current configured scheduler and retention policy. The following elements are shown:

• Scheduler Enabled / Disabled

• Start Date / Time

• End Date / Time

• RPO

• Time till next Snapshot run

• Retention Policy and Value

• Full Backup Interval policy and value

Filesearch Tab

The Workload Filesearch Tab provides access to the powerful search engine, which allows to find files and folders on Snapshots without the need of a restore.

Please refer to the File Search User Guide to learn more about this feature.

Misc. Tab

The Workload Miscellaneous Tab shows the remaining metadata of the Workload. The following information are provided:

• Creation time

• last update time

• Workload ID

• Workload Type

Using CLI

workloadmgr workload-show <workload_id> [--verbose <verbose>]

• <workload_id> ➡️ ID/name of the workload to show
• --verbose➡️option to show additional information about the workload

Edit a Workload

Workloads can be modified in all components to match changing needs.

Editing a Workload will set the User, who edits the Workload, as the new owner.

Using Horizon

To edit a workload in Horizon do the following steps:

1. Login to the Horizon

2. Navigate to Backups

3. Navigate to Workloads

4. Identify the workload to be modified

5. Click the small arrow next to "Create Snapshot" to open the sub-menu

6. Click "Edit Workload"

7. Modify the workload as desired - All parameters except workload type can be changed

8. Click "Update"

Using CLI

usage: workloadmgr workload-modify [--display-name <display-name>]
                                   [--display-description <display-description>]
                                   [--instance <instance-id=instance-uuid>]
                                   [--jobschedule <key=key-name>]
                                   [--metadata <key=key-name>]
                                   [--policy-id <policy_id>]
                                   <workload_id>

• --display-name ➡️ Optional workload name. (Default=None)
• --display-description➡️Optional workload description. (Default=None)
• --instance <instance-id=instance-uuid>➡️Specify an instance to include in the workload. Specify option multiple times to include multiple instances. instance-id: include the instance with this UUID
• --jobschedule <key=key-name>➡️Specify following key value pairs for jobschedule Specify option multiple times to include multiple keys. If don't specify timezone, then by default it takes your local machine timezone 'start_date' : '06/05/2014' 'end_date' : '07/15/2014' 'start_time' : '2:30 PM' 'interval' : '1 hr' 'retention_policy_type' : 'Number of Snapshots to Keep' or 'Number of days to retain Snapshots' 'retention_policy_value' : '30'
• --metadata <key=key-name>➡️Specify a key value pairs to include in the workload_type metadata Specify option multiple times to include multiple keys. key=value
• --policy-id <policy_id>➡️ID of the policy to assign
• <workload_id> ➡️ID of the workload to edit

Delete a Workload

Once a workload is no longer needed it can be safely deleted.

All Snapshots need to be deleted before the workload gets deleted. Please refer to the Snapshots User Guide to learn how to delete Snapshots.

Using Horizon

To delete a workload do the following steps:

1. Login to Horizon

2. Navigate to the Backups

3. Navigate to Workloads

4. Identify the workload to be deleted

5. Click the small arrow next to "Create Snapshot" to open the sub-menu

6. Click "Delete Workload"

7. Confirm by clicking "Delete Workload" yet again

Using CLI

workloadmgr workload-delete [--database_only <True/False>] <workload_id>

• <workload_id> ➡️ ID/name of the workload to delete
• --database_only <True/False>➡️Keep True if want to delete from database only.(Default=False)

Unlock a Workload

Workloads that are actively taking backups or restores are locked for further tasks. It is possible to unlock a workload by force if necessary.

It is highly recommend to use this feature only as last resort in case of backups/restores being stuck without failing or a restore is required while a backup is running.

Using Horizon

1. Login to the Horizon

2. Navigate to Backups

3. Navigate to Workloads

4. Identify the workload to unlock

5. Click the small arrow next to "Create Snapshot" to open the sub-menu

6. Click "Unlock Workload"

7. Confirm by clicking "Unlock Workload" yet again

Using CLI

workloadmgr workload-unlock <workload_id>

• <workload_id> ➡️ ID of the workload to unlock

Reset a Workload

In rare cases it might be necessary to start a backup chain all over again, to ensure the quality of the created backups. To not recreate a Workload in such cases is it possible to reset a Workload.

The Workload reset will:

• Cancel all ongoing tasks

• Delete all existing Openstack Trilio Snapshots from the protected VMs

• recalculate the next Snapshot time

• take a full backup at the next Snapshot

Using Horizon

To reset a Workload do the following steps:

1. Login to the Horizon

2. Navigate to Backups

3. Navigate to Workloads

4. Identify the workload to reset

5. Click the small arrow next to "Create Snapshot" to open the sub-menu

6. Click "Reset Workload"

7. Confirm by clicking "Reset Workload" yet again

Using CLI

workloadmgr workload-reset <workload_id>

• <workload_id> ➡️ ID/name of the workload to reset