Installing the EMC NetWorker 7.6 client on a Ubuntu Server (UNSUPPORTED)

As a NetWorker consultant, I'm often asked if it's possible to install the EMC NetWorker client software on platforms currently not supported by EMC. The most common asked platform for an EMC NetWorker client is the Ubuntu server (a Debian derivative).

As Ubuntu (and Debian) are not officially supported platforms for EMC NetWorker there is no direct method to install the NetWorker client out of the box. Below are the steps needed for this UNSUPPORTED installation.

1. Download the NetWorker 7.6 Linux Client package from EMC and upload to a temporary location on your Ubuntu server (ie: /tmp). As of writing the latest Linux client for download is 7.6.2
2. Install the alien package converter on the Ubuntu server:

   # apt-get install alien

3. Convert the RPM package to DEB format using the alien command:

   # alien lgtoclnt-7.6.2.x86_64.rpm

4. Install the DEB package:

   # dpkg -i lgtoclnt_7.6.2_amd64.deb

5. Start and stop the NetWorker client (this creates the /nsr directory):

   # /usr/sbin/nsrexecd
   # /usr/sbin/nsr_shutdown -q

6. Create the /nsr/res/servers file, adding the FQDN of your NetWorker server. For example:

   # echo "nwsvr1.churchill.ddns.me.uk" > /nsr/res/servers

7. Create a startup script named /etc/init.d/networker (optionally, download it from here and copy it to /etc/init.d/networker on your NetWorker client)
8. Once your NetWorker startup script is in place, run update-rc.d to set up the start/stop sequences. For example:

   # update-rc.d networker defaults

9. The NetWorker daemon will now automatically start/stop when you next startup or shutdown your Ubuntu server.
10. To manually start/stop the NetWorker client, simply run:

    # /etc/init.d/networker start
    # /etc/init.d/networker stop

NOTE: Whilst you now have a working NetWorker client running on your Ubuntu server. It is still UNSUPPORTED by EMC.