Oracle RAC - installralus session (Backup Exec agent)

category: solutionz · date: 2016-12-31 · updated: 2026-10-02 · author: LALA

Oracle RAC Solution · Config document · referenced from Backup Exec agent

The dialogue of installralus, the installer of the Symantec Backup Exec Agent for Linux (RALUS), as it ran on the first node. It installs the package VRTSralus, creates the group beoper, adds root to it, creates the configuration files and starts the agent.

Item	Value
Started with	`./installralus` in `/data/install/RALUS64`, as root
Shown here	`oradb01`, installed under its backup-network name `ORADB01-BCK`
Also run on	`oradb02`; that run is not in the notes
Installer from	`RALUS_RMALS_RAMS-1180.3142.tar.gz` on the Backup Exec 15 (14.2 FP5) medium
Package installed	`VRTSralus` 14.2.1180-3142
Operating system	SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3, kernel 3.0.76-0.11-default
Response file	`/var/tmp/vxif/installralus1025131129/installralus1025131129.response`
Installer log	`/var/tmp/vxif/installralus1025131129/installralus.log`

The session

The installer pads every status line with a long row of dots between the text and the result. That filler is trimmed here to ... ; nothing else is left out. The answers are marked the way the notes mark them: the installer's default stands in round brackets, what was typed stands in square brackets after it, and [ENTER] is the Return key. [y, n] is the installer's own list of choices.

output 91 lines

Enter the system names separated by spaces on which to install RALUS: (ORADB01) - [ORADB01-BCK] [ENTER]

Checking system communication:

    Checking OS version on ORADB01-BCK ... Linux 3.0.76-0.11-default
    Checking system support for ORADB01-BCK ... Linux 3.0.76-0.11-default supported by RALUS

Initial system check completed successfully.

Press [Return] to continue: [ENTER]

installralus will install the following RALUS packages on Linux target system: ORADB01-BCK

VRTSralus        Symantec Backup Exec Agent for Linux

Press [Return] to continue: [ENTER]

Checking system installation requirements:

Checking RALUS installation requirements on Linux target systems: ORADB01-BCK

Checking RALUS installation requirements on ORADB01-BCK:

    Checking file system space ... required space is available

Installation requirements checks completed successfully.

Press [Return] to continue: [ENTER]

To perform backups, you must have a 'beoper' user group configured with root account priviledges on the system. The 'beoper' user group can be created on all systems except NIS Servers.

After pressing [Return], the system 'ORADB01-BCK' will be scanned to detect a 'beoper' user group with root account privileges. It will also scan for a NIS server.

Press [Return] to continue: [ENTER]

    Checking for NIS server: ... No

    Checking for 'beoper' user group: ... Not Found
    Checking for 'root' user membership in 'beoper' user group: ... Not Found

You can create 'beoper' user group manually or you can choose to have it created automatically.

Do you want installer to create 'beoper' user group on 'ORADB01-BCK'? [y, n] (y) [ENTER]
Do you want to use specific group ID when creating 'beoper' user group? [y, n] (n) [y]
Enter group ID for 'beoper' user group: [666] [ENTER]

Creating group 'beoper'with group ID '666': ... Done

Do you want to add the 'root' user to 'beoper' user group? [y, n] (y) [ENTER]

Adding 'root' user to 'beoper' user group: ... Done

Press [Return] to continue: [ENTER]

Checking Symantec Backup Exec Agent for Linux on ORADB01-BCK:

    Checking VRTSralus package ... not installed

Press [Return] to continue: [ENTER]

Installing Symantec Backup Exec Agent for Linux on ORADB01-BCK:

    Installing VRTSralus 14.2.1180-3142 on ORADB01-BCK ... done 1 of 1 steps

Symantec Backup Exec Agent for Linux installation completed successfully.

Press [Return] to continue: [ENTER]

Configuring Symantec Backup Exec Agent for Linux:

    Creating configuration files on ORADB01-BCK ... Done

The agent installer can automatically start the agent after the installation completes. Do you want to automatically start the agent on 'ORADB01-BCK'? [y, n] (y) [ENTER]

Starting agent on ORADB01-BCK ... Done

To establish a trust between the Backup Exec server and the agent, move to the Backup Exec server and add the agent computer to the list of servers.

To add the agent computer, click Add on the Backup and Restore tab.

Symantec Backup Exec Agent for Linux configured successfully.

Press [Return] to continue: [ENTER]

The response file is saved at:

    /var/tmp/vxif/installralus1025131129/installralus1025131129.response

The installralus log is saved at:

    /var/tmp/vxif/installralus1025131129/installralus.log

The answers that matter

Question	Default	Answer
System names on which to install RALUS	`ORADB01`	`ORADB01-BCK`
Create the group `beoper`	`y`	Return
Use a specific group ID	`n`	`y`
Group ID for `beoper`	none	`666`
Add `root` to `beoper`	`y`	Return
Start the agent after the installation	`y`	Return

The name given in the first answer is the name of the node on the backup network (oradb01-bck.example.net, 10.30.30.11), not the host name the installer offered. The installer's first step is a check of "system communication" with the name it is given; the name was in DNS by then.

The group ID 666 was given by hand instead of letting the installer pick one; the notes do not say why this number. The spelling priviledges and the missing space in 'beoper'with are the installer's own.

The number in the name of the response and log directory, 1025131129, reads as a date and a time (25 October, 13:11:29). That is my reading of it; the notes do not comment on it.

Checked against Backup Exec 25.1

As built	Today
Backup Exec 15 (14.2 FP5)	End of Support Life was 7 November 2019. The current release is 25.1
`RALUS_RMALS_RAMS-1180.3142.tar.gz`, unpacked with `tar`	The guide still has an archive `RALUS_RMALS_<version number>.gz` unpacked on a Linux system
`./installralus`, run locally	Unchanged. `./installralus -usessh` installs to other Linux hosts; without the option RSH is used
The installer creates `beoper` and adds `root`	Unchanged; with NIS the group is created by hand
SLES 11 SP3, "supported by RALUS"	Not on the compatibility list of Backup Exec 25, which has SLES 12 SP5 and SLES 15 up to SP7

The dialogue would look much the same today. The product is no longer Symantec's: it passed to Veritas in 2016, to Arctera in 2024 and to Cloud Software Group in 2025.