Technical White Paper Information Map. Taking Action on Information Map Insights

Transcription

1 Taking Action on Information Map Insights 1

2 Contents Executive Summary... 3 Copying Files... 4 Identifying the Locations of VBS Files via Information Map... 4 Narrow Down to a Particular Source Location or Filer/File Server... 5 Optionally Previewing the Metadata before Exporting... 6 Exporting the Dataset... 7 Downloading the Exported Dataset... 8 Extracting the List of Files from the Export... 9 Sample Copy Script Moving Files Identifying the Locations of Log Files via Information Map Exporting the Dataset Sample Move Script Deleting Files Identifying the Locations of Tmp Files via Information Map Exporting the Dataset Sample Delete Script Summary For More Information

3 Executive Summary Organizations who use Information Map will discover data sets that they wish to take action on such as delete, move or copy. This whitepaper will talk about these different use cases and describe how to identify information and take action. 3

4 Copying Files Customers may identify data via Information Map that needs to be copied from one location to another for various reasons. In this particular use case example, an administrator has identified some old, forgotten VBScript files (.vbs) that are stored on a file server and needs to copy these script files to a group folder on another server. The steps involved are below: Identifying the Locations of VBS Files via Information Map The administrator will first want to search for vbs files by clicking on the ALL Item Extensions filter and then selecting or searching for vbs as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 - Searching for item extensions using the All Item Extension filter 4

5 Narrow Down to a Particular Source Location or Filer/File Server Once the vbs files have been identified across the organization, it may be necessary to further filter down to one or two locations and/or filers/file servers. In the Dashboard view of Information Map, the administrator will be able to quickly identify which locations and filers/files servers contain the file type in question as shown in Figure 2. The administrator can then narrow down the dataset by selecting a location or filer/fileserver, or by any of the other reported metadata fields such as owner, file share, date, etc. In some cases, information on reported content may have local file names (such as D:\group_project\filename.vbs) instead of UNC pathnames (\\server\d$\group_project\filename.vbs). In situations where a local path is provided, an administrator is likely to execute copy actions on that same server. Therefore, it will sometimes be necessary to export results from Information Map on a server by server basis. Figure 2- Dashboard View 5

6 Optionally Previewing the Metadata before Exporting Once the administrator has narrowed down the dataset, a sampling of the metadata can be viewed in more detail by clicking on Item List Preview as shown in Figure 3. This helps to give confidence that the data set selected is indeed the correct data set to take action against. Figure 3 - Item List Preview 6

7 Exporting the Dataset Once the administrator is satisfied with the filtered dataset, it can be exported to a text file by performing the following steps: 1. To export the dataset, click on the green New Action button in the upper right corner and select Export as shown in Figure 4. Figure 4 Exporting the dataset 2. A new dialog window will appear that asks for details on the Export as shown in Figure 5. Figure 5 The Export dialog window 7

8 3. As this will be a file copy operation, the administrator will need to change the Export type from Export xxx items (full details) to Export xxx items (file paths only for scripting) as shown in Figure 6. The additional metadata items that Information Map can provide will not be necessary. Figure 6 Selecting the Export type 4. The administrator will need to fill in the Export name box and optionally provide a description. 5. Once completed, the administrator would then click on Export to start the export operation. Downloading the Exported Dataset Once the export process has started, the administrator will go to the Actions section in Information Map to download the ZIP file. Once in the Action section of Information Map, select the export name and then click on Download export file on the right side of the screen as shown in Figure 7. Depending on how many files were identified, the export process may take a few minutes to complete before the ZIP file is ready to download. Figure 7 Downloading the exported metadata set 8

9 Extracting the List of Files from the Export The list of files will be saved in a ZIP file. This file will contain a text file with the filtered dataset from Information Map as well as a manifest file that provides details on the export as shown in Figure 8. The administrator will need to only extract the text file contain list of files (VBSFiles-001.txt in this example) to a temporary location. Figure 8 Viewing the ZIP file The administrator may wish to view the contents of the text file before executing any script to copy files. Ensure that the path names appear valid and that files are not being copied from a system location such as the recycle bin as shown in Figure 9. Figure 9 Examining the list of files 9

10 Sample Copy Script The following sample PowerShell script will copy the files identified by Information Map: #USE SCRIPT AT OWN RISK. Veritas Technologies LLC does not provide a warranty of any kind. $FileList = "C:\temp\scripts\VBSFiles-0001.txt" $DestDir ="D:\group_share\scripts" Get-Content $FileList % { # Create the destination folder path $NewFolder = "$DestDir$(Split-Path $_ -Parent Split-Path -NoQualifier)" } # Check if the path exsists - create if it doesn't exist If(!(Test-Path $NewFolder)){ New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $NewFolder -Force } # Copy the file to new location Copy-Item $_ $NewFolder -Force The administrator would need to change the following variables to match their environment: - $FileList Full path and file name to text file contain the list of items to copy - $DestDir The destination path for the copied files When executed, the script will automatically create the folder structure that currently exists on the source on the destination. The script assumes that the current user has at least read access to the files and directories that will be copied. 10

11 Moving Files In this use case, customers may be consolidating file servers or file shares. For this example, we will identify log files generated by applications and move them to a new location. The steps will be similar to that of copy files example, but there will be changes to the example PowerShell script. Identifying the Locations of Log Files via Information Map Once again, the administrator will use the All Item Extensions filter. This time, the administrator is filtering by the log extension as shown in Figure 10Figure 10. Figure 10 Filtering by the log file extension Exporting the Dataset Once the administrator is satisfied with the filtered dataset, the dataset can be exported to a text file similar to the manner described in the Copying Files section of this document. 11

12 Sample Move Script The following sample PowerShell script will move the files identified by Information Map: #USE SCRIPT AT OWN RISK. Veritas Technologies LLC does not provide a warranty of any kind. $FileList = "C:\temp\LogFiles-0001.txt" $DestDir="c:\movedfiles" Get-Content $FileList % { # Create the destination folder path $NewFolder = "$DestDir$(Split-Path $_ -Parent Split-Path -NoQualifier)" # Check if the path exsists - create if it doesn't exist If(!(Test-Path $NewFolder)){ New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $NewFolder -Force } # Move the file to new location Move-Item $_ $NewFolder -Force } The administrator would need to change the following parameters to match their environment: - $FileList Full path and file name to text file contain the list of items to move - $DestDir The destination path for the moved files When executed, the script will automatically create the folder structure that currently exists on the source on the destination. The script assumes that the current user has read-write access to the source directories and files. Note: As this is a move operation, the files will automatically be deleted from the source location. 12

13 Deleting Files Customers have many reasons for deleting files. Perhaps an old project is no longer needed and the files can be deleted. There may be a directory or folder containing an old version of files that is no longer needed. Perhaps a directory or file share contains files types that are not allowed by the organization. Applications can generate a lot of temp files and not clean them up afterwards. In this example, the administrator will identify.tmp files and then delete them. Identifying the Locations of Tmp Files via Information Map The identification process starts once again by filtering the dataset by file extension. The administrator will use the All Item Extensions filter and only select the tmp extension as shown in Figure 11. Figure 11 Identifying tmp files Exporting the Dataset Once the administrator is satisfied with the filtered dataset, the dataset can be exported to a text file similar to the manner described in the Copying Files section of this document. 13

14 Sample Delete Script The following sample PowerShell script will delete the files identified by Information Map. It is highly recommended that files identified by Information Map have a backup before executing the script. #USE SCRIPT AT OWN RISK. Veritas Technologies LLC does not provide a warranty of any kind. $FileList = get-content "C:\temp\TmpFiles-0001.txt" ForEach ($file in $FileList) { Remove-Item $file -Force } The administrator would need to change the following parameters to match their environment: - $FileList Full path and file name to text file contain the list of items to delete Once the script is executed, the script will delete the files listed in the file identified by the $FileList parameter. The script also assumes that the current user has permissions to delete files. It should be noted that the sample script will not delete the folder structure. Summary This whitepaper provides examples of how to copy, move, and delete files identified by Veritas Information Map. The process is straight forward and easy to execute. The script examples provided are for Windows PowerShell. Similar scripts can also be generated for files located on NFS-based file shares for UNIX and Linux systems using other scripting languages such as bash, ksh, etc. 14

15 For More Information Visit VOX for more example scripts: 15

16 About Veritas Technologies LLC. Veritas Technologies LLC enables organizations to harness the power of their information, with solutions designed to serve the world s largest and most complex heterogeneous environments. Veritas works with 86 percent of Fortune 500 companies today, improving data availability and revealing insights to drive competitive advantage Veritas Technologies LLC. All rights reserved. Veritas and the Veritas Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Veritas Technologies LLC or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Visit our website Veritas World Headquarters 500 East Middlefield Road Mountain View, CA (650) This document is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as advertising. All warranties relating to the information in this document, either express or implied, are disclaimed to the maximum extent allowed by law. The information in this document is subject to change without notice. 16