Avamar: Avamar Log collector for Windows client

"Avamar Log collector for Windows client" collects the following logs:
- For each client two .zip files are being created, one for Avamar logs and another for Event Viewer logs.

• Avamar logs - Avamar client logs from Avamar Client installation path (Avamar var folder), excluding cache files (*.dat) and some folders like "avfscache", "update"
• Event Viewer Logs - Event Viewer Logs from the client (in .csv format):
  • Application Logs
  • System Logs
  • Virtual Machine Management Service (VMMS) Logs (for Hyper-V Nodes)

- For Avamar clustered client (federated client) a single .zip file is being created. This file contains Avamar logs.

• Avamar logs - Avamar clustered client logs from Avamar clustered (federated) client path, excluding cache files (*.dat).
  • Supported clusters: SQL (cluster and Always On), Exchange DAG, Hyper-V.

Before collecting and zipping up the files, the script estimates the total size of them. It compares this with the free space in the TEMP folder drive. This ensures that there is enough space to create a .zip archive.  
The script checks for free space on disk to ensure there is enough space for the files before it copies the .zip files to the client.

Running the script

• From the command prompt in PowerShell: .\ava_log_collector.ps1

• Alternative method using Windows PowerShell ISE.
  1. Start Windows PowerShell ISE.
  2. Select "File" > Open > find "ava_log_collector.ps1" > "Open"
  3. Select all lines in Script Pane.
  4. Click the "Run Selection" button to start the script.

Avamar Log collector for Windows client: Log collection scenarios

After the script started, select one of the following scenarios:

1. Running the script as a user with LOCAL ADMIN rights on all members of the cluster.
   • The script collects Avamar and Event Viewer Logs from all members of the cluster, and Avamar clustered (federated) client Logs. 
2. Running the script as a user, which has LOCAL ADMIN rights on the clients you must collect the logs from. 
   • The script collects Avamar and Event Viewer Logs from the specified clients. 
   •  The list of the clients (comma separated) must be specified.
3. Running the script as a user, which does not have LOCAL ADMIN rights on this client. 
   • The script collects Avamar and Event Viewer Logs from this client only.

After the scenario is selected, the "log history (days)" must be specified for the logs (Avamar/Event Viewer). 
 
The Avamar logs stored on the client have two weeks retention.
The Event Viewer Logs are log-rotated based on log file-size settings in Event Viewer on the client. 


Avamar Log collector for Windows client: Limitations

The script is using the Microsoft .NET API "System.IO.Compression.ZipArchive" to compress files. 
The maximum file size is 2 GB due to a limitation of the underlying API.

• Files exceeding 2 GB are excluded.
• Open files (backup or restore job is running) are excluded during log collection.

Avamar Log collector for Windows: Error handling

The error log file is created to track warnings and errors, which may occur during the execution of the script:

• The file size exceeds 2 GB. 
• The file is in use by other process (open file). 

The script and README can be downloaded from the below location:

Avamar Scripts 
Script and Readme (.zip archive): https://central.dell.com/zuul/titan-solutions/download/19645fb2-769c-4412-89e4-02e90768bd26