How to start a backup from a client in NetWorker 9

Correct - since NW 9.0 you must start a policy or workflow.

Consequently, you must use the appropriate command which is "nsrpolicy".

Welcome to read 35 Command Reference pages to get all the details.

However, what you do is that you are using the nsradmin interface as you obviously cannot login to the server.

So you deal with resources, not with commands.

Here you must update the appropriate resource type, "NSR Protection Policy". "NSR Group" is history.

But have you ever looked at one of the policies? - Now everything/each parameter is inside a huge 'policy definition' (workflows as well) which is only one large string containing all the info you need to update :-( .

It obviously makes no sense to alter it from the command line.

Please get in touch with support and ask for a more convenient solution (if such exist at all).

Please post it here to share.

Thank you for the response.  I did contact EMC NetWorker support, and after a bit of time spent with the support person, I was told that there is no way to do it in NetWorker 9.  He was obviously not familiar himself with the topic and was consulting with someone else.  He kept telling me to try the commands that only existed on the NW 9 server.  My experience is this is one of those areas where EMC support may not be the best resource since it is usually professional services who get involved with scripting and such.  I was hoping that I would be able to find some answer between support and the community.

Unless someone else has come up with a way to do it, it looks like we may have to change how we are handling these particular backups and use probes instead.

You could try the following syntax

Run from the client:

save -o "vss:*=off" -s nw-01.brsvlab.local -b ADME_1week -q  C:\ADME\winfs01\INCREMENTAL

Run from the client:

Savefs is linteded to one path being specified, setup client resource normally with appropriate path, retention, schedule level etc.

savefs -o "vss:*=off" -s nw-01.brsvlab.local -g Cloud_Array -q C:/ADME/winfs03/BYDATE

Run from Networker server.

nsrpolicy call will return immediately therefore your unable to monitor its completion RC, nsrworkflow returns only once the process is completed and with a meaningful RC

nsrworkflow -p ADME_Policy -w ADME_1week

Thanks, Adam.  We are trying to keep the overall configuration of the backups on the NetWorker server side.  This was very easy to do in NW 8.  I could even chain backups to be triggered as the previous group completed.  NW 9 is making this a bit more complicated through the use of probes.  We should still be able to accomplish the same thing.  However, it would still be great if there were a way to trigger a policy/workflow/action from the nsradmin command on the client.

We are talking about NW which basically relies on RPC Remote Procedure calls. Correct?

So it should be possible to setup the appropriate command and use RPC to execute it.

Thinking more abstract it is pretty much like SCSI - the only general difference is that with SCSI you talk to physical IDs/LUNs.

I am not a programmer, especially not with with respect to security issues, but the general roadmap is something what I demoed years ago - how to start a savegroup from a remote client.

For UNIX clients:

For Windows clients:

This is what should still work.

Now you only have to find the appropriate "nsrpolicy" command.

It's at least worth to test it.